Frank Abate CPA CA CFP TEP
Frank Abate is a Chartered Professional Account (CPA, CA). He also holds a CFP designation (Certified Financial Planner), and TEP designation (Trust and Estate Practitioner Designation). Frank’s professional designations, along with his years of experience as a Tax Advisor (Primarily with Owners of Private Corporations and High Net Worth Individuals) have provided an excellent foundation for the area of advice he currently focuses on.
Frank acts as an independent advisor specifically in the area of Estate Planning with Life Insurance. Given Frank’s extensive tax expertise, the solutions he offers clients focus on ways to maximize transitions of wealth to loved ones, while minimizing taxation on death.
Frank works with numerous financial advisors across Canada dispensing advice to their clients, with a good portion of his time being spent working with the Ascendant Financial team and their clients.
Why do I love my job?
Business owners and high net worth individuals tend to pay large amounts of tax throughout their lives. They typically receive outstanding accounting and tax advice related to their short-term needs, however, when it comes to planning for the long term including estate planning, I see a gap in the advice being offered. Clients understand the fact that on their passing, taxes will need to be paid. Typically, they are accepting of this potentially gigantic tax liability at death since they have not been shown ways to mitigate or eliminate it. I really enjoy working with these clients to find out what their goals are, and provide solutions to efficiently and effectively achieve those goals. The underlying objective is to ensure we leave more to our loved ones, a specific charity, etc… and less to the government in the form of taxes, while never losing sight of our primary goals on passing!
When I’m not at work, you can find me....
On the golf course or snowboarding with my family. It’s funny how things change with time. Just a few years ago I remember how nice it was to cruise on the easy runs with my boys, all the while being excited for the time we could hit the double black diamond runs together. Well, now that they have become great at snowboarding, I kind of wish we could just hang back on the cruisers as the double black diamonds don’t seem as easy as they once were for me!
How does what I do impact others?
By helping people properly plan for the transition of their assets including their businesses, it ensures their loved ones are not left with what most people refer to as a mess. A common phrase I hear from clients is “Building up my Wealth was easy, compared to figuring out how it will be dealt with on my passing”. I hope that I can provide the support clients need to make this process less stressful.
2 favourite things about your life journey so far?
- Nothing is better than the satisfaction of raising a family and seeing your children grow to be young adults that you are proud of.
- Working in a career that you really enjoy and can add value to the clients you interact with is icing on the cake!
What type of clients do you enjoy working with?
Clients that realize they need help to ensure a smooth and efficient transition of their assets that took a lifetime to build. On the other hand, I also like to work with clients who think they have it all figured out, and I can open their eyes to the issues that they had never thought of before.