I was talking to an employee of a client and we were discussing how he does his and his families taxes. I was asking with whom does he talk to about any longer term planning. The software box apparently is not interactive, so none of them have any tax planning in place.
He also stated he did not need any long term planning. I then inquired how much longer he planned on living with his parents. Or was this the plan, wait for them to die then inherit the family homestead.
Then he stated that he wanted to move out, but did not want to rent and did not know where he wanted to buy a condo. He is afraid of having to sell at a later point in time, if he chose poorly.
I asked if he ever wanted rental properties, he does. So then I explained that he answered his own question. He could buy a place live there for a while and then move into another condo/home and rent the old one out. I broad brushed some other options for him.
He is now seeing the benefit of talking to someone who can assist with tax planning. Who knows he may move away from Turbo tax. I did not explain that any errors he or the software makes he is personally liable for. The Terms of Service and the IRS will not hold the software maker liable for any errors. I seldom mention this since it just scares people. I am not looking for scared clients, just those who want to minimize their tax liabilities and plan for their futures.