Join John Skabelund as he explores how tax and asset protection systems work together to build wealth for entrepreneurs with his guest, Jeremy Lederer.
Jeremy Lederer is a CPA and tax strategist who helps entrepreneurs achieve financial freedom through legal, personalized tax planning. With over 15 years of experience and advanced degrees in tax, accounting, and finance, he designs strategies that minimize taxes and maximize long-term wealth.
A former professional golfer and winner of the 2008 San Juan Open, Jeremy brings discipline, precision, and a growth mindset to both his personal and professional life. He founded CPA Solutions in 2014 after leaving a traditional firm to build a company focused on innovation and results. In 2023, CPA Solutions was named to the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. In this episode, learn how you can shift your tax day to pay day, understand and visualize the relationship between your taxes, assets, and estate, and lastly how a “virtual family office” may be the final piece your wealth strategy needs.
Podcast Overview:
John Skabelund sits down with Jeremy Lederer, founder of Exit CPA, to explain how tax strategy and asset protection work together to help entrepreneurs grow wealth and protect it long-term.
They break down a simple idea: there are two major threats to your wealth, the IRS and lawsuits. A strong plan addresses both.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
Understanding the Difference: Tax Preparer vs. Tax Strategist
Many high earners assume their CPA is proactively minimizing taxes, but Jeremy explains why that is often not the case.
A tax preparer focuses on filing accurate returns based on past information. A tax strategist helps you use the tax code intentionally, in advance, to reduce taxes and build wealth.
“The tax preparer simply puts together the return based on historical information. A tax strategist focuses on creating value and helping the client achieve their wealth goals.” -Jeremy Lederer
What tax strategy actually means
Jeremy frames the tax code as a system of incentives that reward entrepreneurs who do what the government wants done, such as creating jobs, housing, and energy.
The Tax Code Is Built Around Incentives
Jeremy shares a memorable perspective: only a small portion of tax law is about paying tax, while the majority is about rules and incentives that can reduce tax through smart planning and documentation.
This flips the mindset from “how much do I owe” to “how do I structure my business and investments to use incentives legally.”
“Less than one percent of the tax code is about paying tax. The rest is about incentives for doing what the government wants you to do.” – Jeremy Lederer
Effective Tax Strategy Requires a Customized Strategy
Jeremy explains that most people want a quick answer, but real tax planning requires discovery.
Exit CPA starts with a strategy development process designed to understand:
- how you currently make money
- how you invest money
- what you want to happen to your money at the end of your life
With those answers, the plan can be customized, implemented correctly, and supported with documentation if questions come up later.
The Three Categories of Tax Strategies
Jeremy describes three buckets that help clients understand the landscape:
Core strategies
Common, practical deductions and structural moves that many business owners have heard of.
Advanced strategies
Higher-impact approaches, often tied to concepts like leverage and non-cash deductions, that can create dramatic tax reductions for high earners.
Exit strategies
Planning for large liquidity events, such as selling a business or portfolio, designed to reduce the tax hit that can come with a major sale.
Why Tax, Asset Protection, and Estate Planning Must Work Together
Jeremy and John emphasize that wealth building works best when tax planning, asset protection, and estate planning are aligned.
Jeremy highlights the value of an entity map to visualize the client’s full structure and help every professional on the team work off the same roadmap.
“You’re protecting clients from the IRS, and I’m protecting them from lawsuits. It’s still asset protection, just against different threats.” – John Skabelund
Why most people should not DIY tax strategy
Jeremy notes that ideas are easy to find, but the hard part is knowing what applies to your situation and implementing it correctly with the right documentation and professional support.
What a Virtual Family Office Means for Entrepreneurs
Jeremy explains the “virtual family office” model as a modern way to coordinate a specialized team without needing an in-house office.
This model typically includes a tax strategist, asset protection attorney, estate planning attorney, and other specialists who coordinate so the client does not have to play project manager.
Who Exit CPA Helps Most
Jeremy shares that Exit CPA tends to create the highest value for people earning $250,000+ per year, where meaningful tax savings can be redirected into investments that build long-term wealth.
How to Tell If You Have the Right Tax Strategist
Jeremy’s rule of thumb is simple: your strategist should bring you ideas, not the other way around.
They should be proactive, ask good questions, and stay engaged as your life and finances evolve.
Bringing Tax Strategy and Asset Protection Into One System
Tax strategy and asset protection work best when they are designed together, not in isolation. Reducing taxes is only part of the equation. The real objective is to redirect capital into opportunities that grow wealth, then protect those assets from lawsuits, creditors, and future risks.
This episode makes one thing clear: successful entrepreneurs do not rely on a single advisor or a single tactic. They build coordinated systems where tax strategy, asset protection, and long-term planning reinforce one another. When those pieces work together, you gain clarity, confidence, and control over your financial future.
If you believe you are paying too much in taxes or want to understand how to legally keep more of what you earn, you can learn more about Jeremy Lederer and his team at Exit CPA by reaching out at strategy@exitcpa.com.
To explore how proper legal structures, entity planning, and asset protection strategies can help safeguard what you build, visit UltimateAssetProtection.com.