True financial planning requires a team of qualified planners who can evaluate and recommend solutions based on their specialty. Paragon Tax Advisory Services is a tax planning and marketing organization with the ability for clients and financial planners to collaborate with CPAs, EAs, Attorneys, Tax Planners, Investment Advisor Representatives, Registered Representatives, CFPs and third-party administrators. Stephen Way, founder and CEO built this model with the end-user client in mind. He knew that he had to be in the field to build the company from the ground up. He placed Angel Way, who now serves as COO, as CEO so she could build the foundational processes and procedures Paragon would need to go to scale. When Paragon began to hit a pace of rapid expansion, Angel moved to operations and Stephen stepped back into the visionary role of CEO.
Stephen began this career as an insurance agent with an accounting background. He was appalled at the lack of communication between the CPA, financial planner, and attorney on a client’s behalf. He started on what would be a 13-year journey to build the solution, Paragon Tax Advisory Services. Paragon unites qualified professionals together on a client’s behalf, regardless of where a client lives or works. Serving as a mothership to the estate planning, investment management, employee benefits planning, tax planning, and financial planning arms of the system, Paragon has mastered the art of constant and current collaboration.
One of the most difficult parts of being the CEO of a virtually collaborative team is, managing professionals in multiple fields in multiple physical locations. Stephen often gets asked why he doesn’t build a core team in a singular brick-and-mortar location. Why should a client work with a local professional who cannot deliver the most robust and effective plan? The answer is simple. Clients deserve the most effective tax, estate, income, and investment plan regardless of their zip code.
As Paragon expanded across the nation, a technology system was needed so that professional planners could collaborate with each other on a client’s behalf. The Paragon Secure Cloud was born.
With over 30 different providers available, the Paragon Secure Cloud allows unlimited planning potential in a secure and compliant manner. This secure cloud is 256 bit encrypted with a SSAE-16 data center, that uses multi-factor access to meet and exceed the regulatory standards of the FDIC, HIPPA, IRS Circular 230, and more. The Paragon Secure Cloud is a portal which enables one client’s file to be accessed and worked on by an Attorney, a CPA, an Investment Advisor Representative, a third-party administrator, a CFO professional and any other planning partner needed.
Recently, one of Paragons planners needed a multi-point planning solution for a client in Hawaii. Using the Paragon Secure Cloud, an Investment Advisor in Ohio, a CFP in Arizona, a corporate trustee administrator in Nevada, a research analyst in Texas, and a CPA in Ohio collaborated on this client’s behalf. They used the Paragon framework to prepare and deliver the solution to the client. One of the Paragon planners located in Texas secured a plan for his client created through an insurance company in Vermont, a third part administrator in New Jersey, and a CPA in Ohio that will create over 2 million dollars of a tax-free asset in 6 years. These clients needed each professional specialty to deliver a customized solution.
Paragon Tax Advisory Services believes that a financial professional must always improve their craft. Stephen spends 30% of his calendar year traveling to workshops, recruiting events, sales meetings, educational forums, and hosting Paragons CPE events. These events expand the professional partnerships in the Paragon Secure Cloud by providing the platform and education system to partner financial planners with CPAs. Paragons Tax Planners are required to partner with Investment Advisor Representatives to ensure the planners and the planners clients are being serviced by a team.
Safe money or market money? Roth, Qualified, Non-Qualified and Tax-Free all matter! All money is part of a client’s estate and must be invested and coordinated according to the tax impact of each bucket of wealth. The Paragons competition simply cannot match the process or professional collaboration structure of this system. Financial Planners don’t understand the depth at which tax planning impacts a client’s financial successes or failures. Everything that happens in a client’s finances ultimately ends up on their tax return. With the partnerships of Third-Party Administrators, 401K administration and reporting companies, RIAs, Estate Planning companies, and life Insurance companies, clients can work with our planners to receive all the advanced planning techniques and tools in the marketplace. Each professional needs the Paragon Secure Cloud to facilitate collaboration on this large scale and relies on the leadership of Stephen Way.
“Paragon, where we plan from a Tax-Smart Perspective.” – Stephen Way.
The term employee is not commonly used at Paragon because the culture of the company is to experience successes and failures as a team. Focusing on team growth, allows members to be encouraged to help their internal partners succeed. Individual accomplishments will create impactful team accomplishments. Stephen admires Coach Tom Landry and often looks to him for leadership and inspiration. Asking, “Who wants the ball?” at our team meetings is a catchy philosophical phrase that reminds us that go-getters grow and those that sit back watching don’t get the same shot at success. The Paragon Team always responds, “We want the ball.” The Paragon Way, led by Stephen Way, is the way of the future.
