In addition to instructing clients in the performing arts how not to live above their means, the couple works with them to establish S corporations and SEP-IRAs. The firm also partners with a CPA specializing in self-employed people.
“Performance artists regularly overpay their taxes by not taking advantage of these tools that are available to them,” Olson says.
He says many creative people he works with are highly attuned to the social and moral element of investing and want to make sure their dollars are invested in a socially responsible way. As a result, the couple build those clients’ investment portfolios in the SRI space to align with what is most important to them.
In an initial meeting with a high-earning performing artist or business owner, Philip Olson says the firm’s first priority is to set up a last will and testament, power of attorney and disability and life insurance policies.
“It creates wonderful peace of mind for [the client’s] spouse and/or children,” he says.
Lorenz-Olson says both she and her husband are firm believers in the power of budgeting and its value to their clients.
“They’re timid about admitting to not understanding a particular financial concept,” Philip Olson says. “We let them know we’re not here to judge.”
That doesn’t mean the two don’t add their two cents’ worth of financial advice whenever they get the chance. Several years ago, PBS executives saw the couple’s marketing videos and asked them to make a pilot. The network was impressed with the result and gave the couple a contract to produce Two Cents as a PBS Digital Studios online educational series.
“We were just making those ourselves, in our own house,” Lorenz-Olson says. “This is a perfect fit for us since our personal mission is to educate people without scaring them.”
Some of the episode titles in the Regional Emmy award-winning series include “Moving Without Spending a Fortune,” “The Ugly Truth About Airplane Miles,” “Is It Even Possible to Save for Retirement?” and “Do Kids Need to Learn About Money?”