Episode 1614 Interview with Gale Sciascia About Why Taxes are a Part of Stewardship

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Scott Maderer: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining us on episode 1,614 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

Gale Sciascia: I'm Gail, Sciascia, and I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to be aware and intentional is key.

And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this, the Inspired Stewardship podcast with my friend Scott Maderer.

But on the stewardship side of that, it does help with some social programs. Some people can't afford their food Every month we have disabled people, we have elderly people that. We should want to help some of those taxes go towards things like that. So it's not just what you can see, it's a bigger mission than that.[00:01:00]

Scott Maderer: Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling. In the Inspired Stewardship podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

In today's podcast episode, I interview Gail Sciascia. I ask Gail about why taxes are part of stewardship. I also asked Gail about how faith and finance are intertwined, and Gail also shares with you how her journey became her calling. I have a great book that's been out for a while now called Inspired Living.

Assemble the puzzle of your calling by mastering your time, your talent, and your [00:02:00] treasures. You can find out more about that book over@inspiredlivingbook.com. It'll take you to a page where there's information and you can sign up to get some mailings about it, as well as purchase a copy there. I'd love to see you get a copy and share with me how it impacted your world.

Gail is a recognized enrolled agent and co-founder of Sciascia Tax and Retirement, specializing in elite tax planning. IRS representation and advanced wealth strategies. With over 15 years of experience navigating complex tax matters, Gail is sought after by business owners, high net worth individuals and fellow tax professionals for her ability to translate intricate provisions of the IRS code into clear actionable strateg.

That, that deliver measurable results. Her expertise includes high level entity structuring, real estate taxation, cost segregation, and integrated retirement planning, always [00:03:00] executed with precision compliance and an unwavering commitment to client success, known for elevating the capabilities of other financial professionals.

Gail delivers engaging insight rich presentations that equip attendees to implement strategies used by the most sophisticated advisors in the industry.

Gale Sciascia: Welcome to the

Scott Maderer: show, Gail.

Gale Sciascia: Hi Scott. Thank you for having me.

Scott Maderer: Absolutely. I look forward to our conversation today. So we shared a little bit in the intro about some of the work you do around taxes and around retirement with you and your husband and work you've done, kind of becoming experts over the years.

What, however, I always think of intros as kinda like just showing part of the journey. They never show the whole journey. So take us back in time a little bit and talk a little bit about your journey and your evolution and what has brought you to the point where this is the work you do and this is the message that you put out into the world.[00:04:00]

Gale Sciascia: Okay. Uh, it's tall order there. So I myself been in account and. About 16 going on 17 years now. I've worked with small companies and large companies alike, and I found that there's a section of the population that are just missing elite or higher knowledge tax and financial information. And that bothered me.

And so my husband and I, we would, we would have these conversations 'cause he worked retirement and he came up with all the lease plans and, and help people with their investments and he saw the same thing. Um, and so we just, we decided to merge together so that we could bring. The same knowledge to the middle class and, and to the lower middle class so that they could [00:05:00] have some financial empowerment to help them fund their life and what their missions are in their life.

And that is really how company was born.

Scott Maderer: So you personally, why was that an area were you always interested in math and accounting and finance, or how did that come about?

Gale Sciascia: I had no financial background. Um, I actually started in a call center and being I, I realized I could pick it up. It was interesting to me. And just from learning in an accounting standpoint and then starting to look at taxes, I realized a lot of things. I realized that. People don't understand the tax code, that it's scary for them.

I realize people don't know how to handle their finances, and I was one of them. And I set out on a, a knowledge quest basically to [00:06:00] figure it out and figure out what I was doing wrong, how I could do it better. And then because I'm a knowledge sharer, I wanted other people to know about it as well.

Scott Maderer: So one of the things I like to highlight on the show is kind of the intersection between what I call our faith journey, whatever that is, and our life journey and how they kind of feed back one into the other.

How do you think your faith journey has evolved and influenced the decisions you make around your life?

Gale Sciascia: My faith journey is pretty big. My mom was a very big believer and she handed us our faith and everything that we know and that we've been taught, and I love her so much for that.

She's the best mom in the world just for that. And so she always gave us the mindset of if someone has less than you and you can share, share. And that for [00:07:00] me has been very big as far as the job, as far as our company. I've noticed that people aren't quite so comfortable sharing and lending a hand to community and others if they're not certain of their own position.

And so that has become one of our main goals, is to help people understand where they are, how they can progress, and then that. Helps alleviate that fear of giving and helping others. Because, you know, kind of know you're secure and you feel better in your giving, knowing you can still pay your own rent or your own mortgage, if that makes any sense.

Scott Maderer: What do you think, so from your point of view, you were doing it kind of as a help to, to help others. Why do you think money is one of those things that that gets in the way for so many of us when it comes to. Our relationship with, with [00:08:00] God or our feelings around, like you said, helping others.

What, why is money something that that can be a barrier for folks?

Gale Sciascia: I kind of think you work, there's some extremes, right? Some people read the Bible and they think they're supposed to be poor. I don't take that belief. I think we're just supposed to be good stewards of what we have. You have some people who are like that.

You do have some people who just don't understand their positioning and that helping others is being Christlike like they don't understand it. And if you're having difficult financial times yourself, then it's. I know psychologically, I think it's a little bit harder to go and buy a meal for someone else when you don't know if you're going to eat all week.

Mm-hmm. Um, so I think there's some complexities there as well as some [00:09:00] extremes, uh, that different people could fall into.

Scott Maderer: So obviously taxes is one of those areas that, like you said, a lot of folks don't necessarily really understand it or have a lot of knowledge around it, and yet it is something that we have stewardship over as, especially as business owners when we're thinking about how we set up our business and what we do with it.

What. What do you approach or how do you approach it with business owners to look at their taxes as part of the overall picture? You know, there, there's kind of two extremes, right? There's the, I wanna do everything possible to never pay any taxes. I don't really care if it's legal, if it's it, you know, I just wanna, I'll lie, cheat and steal, you know, kind of thing to, to not pay 'em.

And then there's people that are like. Do nothing and and pay way too many, you know, way too much taxes. 'cause they're not aware of the fact that there's things that they can do legitimately, you know, real [00:10:00] things that are, you know, that are good and legal and moral and everything else. How do you kind of help people navigate those extremes when, you know, people do have a tendency to have really strong feelings about taxes and what's going on with 'em and are they good, are they bad?

And so on and so forth.

Gale Sciascia: So my, my first big point that I bring to people is it's not just about being compliant or you, you wanna have clarity on what you're doing. And you don't need to be reactive. If you can be proactive about your taxes, you feel a whole lot better about your financial situation and it takes so much anxiety out of your annual filing when you are proactive.

I try to help people understand that stewardship is not just managing your revenue. Mm-hmm. It's a availability. [00:11:00] It's required. So we don't wanna ever wanna forget that it's required. But it's not just, um, it's not just a filing. When you plan, you can protect your business, you can reduce your stress you can help your company operate better, and you can lead your business and your employees and to some degree, your community with a lot more integrity and confidence.

Mm-hmm.

Scott Maderer: Why do you think it is that people have such strong feelings about taxes? Where, where does the emotion come from when it comes to money and business? Revenue, taxes, those sorts of things.

Gale Sciascia: It's a control issue. You don't like giving money for things that you can't see what was done with it, right?

And you pay your state taxes, but your road didn't get fixed. And, you know, you pay state taxes, but you still have rolling blackouts because power grid's not good. Like all of these things that you know, you're giving money for but [00:12:00] you can't see it. I think that's one of the, the bigger things that people have issues with.

But on the stewardship side of that, it does help with some social programs. You know, some people can't afford their food every month. You know, you have disabled people, you have elderly people that we should want to help and some of those taxes go towards things like that. So it's not just, you know, what you can see.

Mm-hmm. It's a bigger mission than that. Not to. That our taxes are 100% used the way they should be, but to, you know, to a degree there is still some stewardship involved in that as well.

Scott Maderer: So I've got a few questions that I like to ask all of my guests, but before I ask you those, what else do you feel is really important to share about the work you do and the [00:13:00] stewardship that you help business owners take when it comes to their finances?

Gale Sciascia: Um, I think that for me, clarity and having information is the goal. And we can't do anything without it. An informed decision is always better than an than one. That's not. And so it's the understanding, that understanding. I don't think the majority of people make poor financial decisions just because they're careless.

I think the majority of poor financial decisions are made because. You just don't have the information. You weren't taught, it wasn't explained well. You didn't know to look, and we all don't know what we don't know until we hit that wall. And so for me whether it's tax representation or masterclass or all the other things that we do, my, my goal is always just to make sure that people [00:14:00] don't feel bad about what they don't know.

They are in a position to embrace the knowledge that I'm, that I'm giving to them that can help make their lives better and to serve as many people as I can in the capacities that, that I have knowledge of.

Scott Maderer: So my brand is inspired stewardship, and I kind of run things through that lens of stewardship.

We've talked several times already in this episode, use that word stewardship, yet I've discovered that that's one of those words that can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. So for you, when you hear the word stewardship, what does that word mean to you?

Gale Sciascia: To me it is focused and intentional care. With whatever it is we've been entrusted with. And that can be our career gifts, it can be our time, it can be our resources, or whatever influence that we have in the [00:15:00] community or online is intentional care. I try to have that show up as, as much as possible in all of my work.

I try to. And let people feel it when I serve them. And, and I take it very seriously being the face of our business. And I also just, you know, I try to stay very aligned with what I think God's purpose is for me and be very intentional on how I treat others and relay the information that I give them.

Scott Maderer: So this is my favorite question that I like to ask everybody. Imagine for a moment that I could invent this magic machine. And with this machine, I was able to take you from where you are today and transport you into the future, maybe 150, maybe 250 years. And through the power of this machine, you were able to look back and see your entire life, see all of the connections, all of the ripples, [00:16:00] all of the impacts that you've left behind.

What impact do you hope you've had in the world?

Gale Sciascia: Boy, that's a really big question. I hope that people will look back and see my intentional care that I led them with grace and integrity and that my fruits will have shown. In that my walk with Christ is reflected in what I've given them and that they were able to receive it and do good things with it for everyone around them.

Scott Maderer: So what's on the roadmap? What's coming next for y'all as you continue on this new year?

Gale Sciascia: Um, so we're, we're kind of in a season of expansion. [00:17:00] Um, we are expanding in our education section. We're expanding our reach across, you know, our small town, which. And so small anymore with all the buildings going up really wanting to expand access and really reach a wider audience and how they can bring financial clarity to their own lives.

Scott Maderer: So you can find out more about Gale over@Sciasciat.com. Of course. I'll have a link to that in the show notes as well. Gail, is there anything else you'd like to share with the listener?

Gale Sciascia: I would actually if you are in any way feeling overwhelmed or ashamed or unsure about your finances, there's nothing wrong with you.

Uh, and I want people to know that you just [00:18:00] don't know what you don't know yet, you haven't been taught yet, and you can learn it. Clarity is definitely available. If you reach for it. And, and again, that comes with being intentional. Um, but if you want that information, it's definitely out there. Uh, and I don't think it's ever too late to get organized or educate yourself or realign yourself with what God's plan is for you, your life, or your finances.

Scott Maderer: Amen.

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