How a CPA Lost Millions and Started Again

Summary

Podcast Summary: Living The Red Life

Episode: How a CPA Lost Millions and Started Again

Date: June 11, 2026
Host: Rudy Mawer
Guest: Benedet Diaferria (“Ben”), CPA, founder of B. Diaferia CPAPC

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Episode Overview

In this vibrant and candid episode, host Rudy Mawer welcomes Benedet Diaferria, a resilient CPA from Brooklyn who has built — and lost — a fortune multiple times over. Ben shares her journey of recovery, the importance of integrity in business, and her belief in building true wealth through relationships, community, and a passion for helping others. The conversation is rich with practical advice, uplifting anecdotes, and unfiltered truths about the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Resilience and Starting Over

• Ben’s Personal Journey: Ben reveals she has become a millionaire three times, lost all her money (due to being stolen from), and started again each time, undeterred.

  • "I've been a millionaire three times over. Lost it all because people stole it from me. And I started again. I'm starting again already and I don't care. I don't care. I want to start again. And I know I can help a lot of people out there." (00:00)

• Lessons in Perseverance: She cites the story of Milton Hershey, who failed nine times before finding massive success, encouraging listeners to “keep going.”

  • “He failed nine times. Some king in England loved his chocolate and that's how he became famous. Nine times. So think about that, guys. Made me keep going... He learned, he learned, he learned and he finally hit it. Hershey's chocolate. What's better than that?” (00:23, 14:50)

2. Defining Wealth Beyond Money

• Ben’s Philosophy: Ben stresses real wealth is about health, relationships, support systems, and giving back — not just accumulating dollars.

  • “Wealth encompasses a lot of things. It's not only dollars. It has to do with health and it has to do with friends and family and love and relationships and just giving back to your community and just making people happy, making people smile. Even if you just say hello to make them happy. To me, that's wealth.” (00:45, 06:06, repeated later)

• Experience Over Luxury: After having to sell an expensive bracelet in hard times, she learned not to chase material status symbols.

  • “Who needs all that? You don't need it. What you need is some good shoes, some nice clothes. You can buy everything on sale. Everything's, everything's for sale.” (12:02)

3. Background and Motivation

• Family Influence: Ben was the first in her family to graduate college, credits her immigrant parents’ support, drive, and wisdom.
  • “My parents didn't have a lot of money, but they had support and they helped me a lot through life. And I want to give that back...” (04:04)
• Giving and Gratitude: She finds joy in giving and helping others, rather than in what she receives.
  • “I give great presents. It's like when I think of something that is a great gift, my God, I'm overjoyed... I get insane. Yeah. Yeah, I love it.” (06:13)

4. Entrepreneurship and Control

• Advocacy for Self-Employment: She urges young people to pursue entrepreneurship due to lack of traditional job stability and greater financial control.

  • “It's time to think of something different and do what helps people and do what you love... The only way to [take control] is to be in your own business.” (04:16, 08:24)

• Tax and Business Structure Wisdom: Ben shares that self-employment offers more opportunity for tax advantages and building long-term security versus being an employee.

  • “When you work for yourself, you can control that — you want to put away for retirement, you want to do this. There’s ways to save your tax dollars that working as an employee doesn’t afford you.” (08:24)

5. Authenticity and Integrity

• Honesty as a Core Value: Ben discusses always telling the truth, being accountable, and learning from mistakes.

  • “It's being honest. My parents taught me all of this. Even if you have to close your eyes and you have sweaty palms and you tell the truth. Mistakes, guess what? They're learning experiences.” (09:02)

• Street Smarts and Versatility: Raised in Brooklyn, Ben credits her street smarts and adaptability to her father’s advice:

  • “He had analogously analogy...Don't be the smartest one, be the dumbest one. Don’t you want to learn?” (10:16)

6. Practical CPA Advice

• Restaurant Ownership: She gives pragmatic advice about owning restaurants and real estate, encouraging equity partnerships and long-term strategy over risky leases.

  • “If you want to do that [open a restaurant], my suggestion is to get a group of people together, do an LLC partnership, buy the building, have a piece with the contingency...You have longevity there. That's the way to succeed in a restaurant now.” (21:07)

• Tax Law & Global Clients: Specializes in helping international and US clients understand complex cross-border tax rules and encourages proper disclosure of foreign accounts and gifts.

  • “Now we share...US and all these foreign countries except for very few...share bank information...If you get a foreign gift...If it's over 100 grand, you have to disclose it...It's not taxable to you, but...you better follow the rules.” (27:21–28:00)

• Ethics in Accounting: Warns about unscrupulous accountants who put clients at risk by treating S corps like C corps, for example, leading to tax evasion charges for innocent clients.

  • “There's a difference between an S corporation and a C corporation. Oh, yeah. Okay. A big difference. And this one guy, CPA was opposite. He was treating the S like the C and C. Did that put somebody in jail.” (24:00–25:30)

7. Building a Team and Culture

• Hiring Philosophy: Ben hires for intelligence and adaptability, not resume credentials.

  • “I don't discriminate. I go for smarts. I've hired people who were managers in good restaurants...who worked at a bagel store, who I was a regular.” (19:22)

• Leadership Style: “I work seven days a week, 24 hours a day... Sometimes I sleep and I wake up. If there's a deadline, it's deadline. Everybody has the same deadline.” (18:55)

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Notable & Memorable Quotes

• On true wealth:

  "Money may make you rich, it doesn't make you wealthy... Wealth is health. It's time being control of your own time. It's worth more to me than money sometimes... Having that time to feel that people around you and you have support is wealth to me."
  — Benedet Diaferria (29:00)

• On adversity:

  “I've been a millionaire three times over. Lost it all because people stole it from me. And I started again. I'm starting again already and I don't care. I want to start again. And I know I can help a lot of people out there.”
  — Benedet Diaferria (00:00, 13:31)

• On resilience:

  “Hershey. He failed nine times. Some king in England loved his chocolate and that's how he became famous... So think about that, guys. Made me keep going.”
  — Benedet Diaferria (00:23, 14:50)

• On authenticity:

  “As an Italian, you're saying truth whether you like it or not. Oh, your mother will tell your face is dirty. You know, like, you have to be straight up with people because bullshit doesn't help. Yeah, I'm lying to you. The worst lies, the ones you tell your[self].”
  — Benedet Diaferria (14:14)

• On ethics in accounting:

  "There's a difference between an S corporation and a C corporation...this one guy, CPA was opposite...put the taxpayer in jail for tax evasion...I'm not the antithesis of that. I want to help you."
  — Benedet Diaferria (24:35)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:00 — Ben on losing and regaining fortunes, helping others
• 04:00 — Childhood, parental influence, and first steps into business
• 06:00 — The definition of real wealth and deriving joy from giving
• 08:24 — On entrepreneurship vs. employment and financial control
• 12:02 — Lessons from tough times: why status symbols aren’t real wealth
• 13:31 — Adversity and resilience: recovering from losing millions
• 14:50 — Hershey’s legacy as inspiration
• 19:22 — Team-building and unconventional hiring in business
• 21:07 — Smart business structures for restaurants
• 24:00 — Ethics, legal risks, and pitfalls in CPA work
• 27:00 — Global tax issues, compliance, and disclosure
• 29:00 — Closing thoughts on being a woman in power and true wealth

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Episode Tone & Atmosphere

The conversation is lively, deeply personal, and unscripted — filled with Brooklyn bravado, humor, and warmth. Ben’s energy and authenticity shine, inspiring listeners to pursue meaningful work, hold on to their integrity, and support others on the journey. The rapport between the hosts and guest is lighthearted and genuine, making even complex financial topics accessible and engaging.

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Closing

Ben wraps up by reiterating her desire to help others, sharing her website (bdiaria.global) for those seeking tax or business advice, and emphasizing the importance of self-worth, ethics, and resilience. Rudy and the crew express admiration and excitement for Ben’s ongoing journey and impact.

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Actionable Takeaways:

• Build wealth in all aspects of life (not just financially).
• Embrace resilience—failure can precede great success.
• Be authentic and uphold your integrity, no matter the environment.
• Consider entrepreneurship for greater control and fulfillment.
• In business, focus on relationships as well as results.
• Always hire for character and smarts, not just credentials.

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To connect with Ben for international tax guidance or business support, visit:
bdiaria.global (26:00)

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“Money comes and goes. Wealth stays.” — Ben (29:00)

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For entrepreneurs seeking inspiration, practical wisdom, and a jolt of real New York energy, this episode delivers on every level.

Transcript

[A]

I've been a millionaire three times over. Lost it all because people stole it from me. And I started again. I'm starting again already and I don't care. I don't care. I want to start again. And I know I can help a lot of people out there.

[B]

Benedet Diaferria is a trailblazing and resilient CPA and the founder of B. Diaferia cpapc. Best known for helping clients save thousands through creative financial strategies and her outside the box approach to accounting and business.

[A]

Hershey. He failed nine times. Some king in England loved his chocolate and that's how he became famous. Nine times. So think about that, guys. Made me keep going. I'll tell you honestly, there's a way. He learned, he learned, he learned and he finally hit it. Hershey's chocolate. What's better than that? You have to love what you do. If you love what you do, think money will come. We talk about getting rich. Get rich rich quick. It doesn't work. You want to build wealth and wealth encompasses a lot of things. It's not only dollars. It has to do with health and it has to do with friends and family and love and relationships and just giving back to your community and just making people happy, making people smile. Even if you just say hello to make them happy. To me, that's wealth. My name's Rudy Moore, host of Living the red life podcast and I'm here to change the. You see your life in your earpiece every single week. If you're ready to start living the red life. Ditch the blue pill. Take the red pill. Join me in wonderland and change your life.

[B]

Welcome back to another episode of the living your legacy podcast, the red life edition for inside Success. I am Rig Gutierrez joining me today all the way from where?

[A]

Brooklyn, New York.

[B]

Is it amazing CPA and her name is Benedetti Ferri. Welcome to the red light.

[A]

Thank you very much.

[B]

I love how I was the ventriloquist and you were the puppet or yeah, puppet. I was a rich.

[A]

Any way you want it.

[B]

Whatever, baby.

[A]

I love it.

[B]

I love it. Your energy is magnetic, is amazing. I've been bouncing off the walls with you the last couple hours.

[A]

Thank you.

[B]

I knew we were going to have a great time and hell, we're going to run over it. I don't care. Harry, I'm warning you. Gosh, what brought you here? Like, how does your journey begin? Guys, I don't even know where to begin it.

[A]

It belinds when I'm having a bad day, having a really Bad day and being. Trying to get really pissed off.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

As a New Yorker would say about the way my life was going and I wanted to change. So I'm just going to give. You know, when you get to the point, the boiling point, like, you know, something's got to give. Yeah. And you got to make it happen yourself, because now there's going to come help you. You got to help yourself. Meet myself. And I often say, trio. That's all you got? Yeah. So I was going through Facebook, like, purposely, like, lunatic. And I saw this thing, Women in Power, and. And, you know, fill out the application. I said, yeah, okay, let me just do it. I filled it out. It wasn't a long, long application, which was good because I would, you know, like, my. My kicked in, and I would have, like, just said, forget it. Submitted it. Two days later, I get this email. I'm like, what? I was like, this has got to be. This has got to be a joke. He's got me a Pam. He's got me a joke. Not for me. I'm not that lucky. So I went along with it. And I leave out of Zoom. Okay. I don't like Zoom. I'm not that technologically, like, inclined. So my good friend who's sitting here, Christine. Hi. Christine was out all along, actually. Best friend since kindergarten said, don't worry, I got you on the zoom. We'll do a practice run. So we did a practice run and. Okay, I got it. I got it, too. I interviewed with this guy named Ben of Ben. Everybody calls me Ben, even though it's Benedet. It's Bennett. They call me Ben Ben. I said, ben squared. And he got engaged in New York, and we just. I love your personality.

[B]

Yeah, that's great.

[A]

And I said, is this for real? I said, listen, this can't be. I said, listen, I'll tell you right now, if this is for real and you change my life, God's going to bless you because I need to change. And the Lord, the higher power is going to help you and help me. And don't. You know, I got on the show, here I am, and I still can't believe it, guys. It's a wonderful experience. These people are awesome. They're behind. It's a great feeling. It's a great feeling. Especially something different in life. It's a way to pivot your life and get out there to people that will never know who you are until

[B]

now you're in it.

[A]

Thank you very much.

[B]

Oh, no, I thank you so much just for just Being so awesome. You've been so giving your energy, your story. You even gave me an amazing bracelet. Where would you like to begin? Your story?

[A]

Wow.

[B]

You just want to talk numbers, philosophy, childhood.

[A]

Let's say awesome. Parents.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Not rich. My head of dad. I talk about it all the time. It was amazing because this exercise had you write, write and write and write about your life, segments of your life. And it started with childhood. And I'll tell you, I ran with it. I mean it was probably one big run on sentence because English is not like grammar is on my y forte numbers are. But I enjoyed myself and things that came to my mind that I haven't thought about in years. How precious would my support 14. My parents didn't have a lot of money, but they had support and they helped me a lot through life. And I want to give that back because I find that the youth today doesn't have that either. The parents are not there. Even if the parents are there, they're throwing money at them. It's not the same. And maybe some people do have what I have. I'm not saying it's exclusive to me, but those who don't is really where I want to start. It's a time of the entrepreneur. There's no more like, you know, a set, set, set steps. Like years ago you went to college, you got a job. Jobs aren't around today. You can even be an attorney. You come out with a ton of debt and you can't get a job. It's terrible. It's time to think of something different and do what helps people and do what you love. Do what you love. That's. That'll get you by. And I happen to love what. Because I know they say accounting is boring, but I don't make it boring. We have a lot of fun. I learn every day. I'm excited about what I do. And I hear my father still say, keep punching Ben. Keep going, keep going. No matter what happens, no matter if you lose a client, you get a client. You don't have a client. You have to go to work every day. You don't feel like it. You have to love what you do. If you love what you do, think money will come. We talk about getting rich. Get rich rich quick. It doesn't work. You want to build wealth, and wealth encompasses a lot of things. It's not only doll, it has to do with health and number one, then it has to do with friends and family and love and relationships and just giving back to your community and just making people Happy making people smile. Even if you just say hello to make them happy. To me that's wealth. And the money comes. If people like it, money will come. And enjoy what you do, love what you do and give to get. You know what I mean? You give first and then you get. And I get out of giving and I really do enjoy. Like on Christmas, I'd rather give presents than get the presents. And I give great presents. I love you great presents. It's like when I think of something that is a great gift, my God, I'm overjoyed. You can see my. And I get insane. Yeah. Yeah, I love it. I can't wait till I'm open. All right, open it. I'll have to give it to them.

[B]

I love that there's happy and then there's insane.

[A]

There's happy, happy and insane happiness. Exactly. So and then, you know, I started my own business. I got very blessed with getting a bunch of clients that from a law firm that I've never seen in my lifetime. I'm a first college graduate from parents that went. My mom went to high school, my dad went to second grade. My dad was a swans person you could ever meet in your life. You know, I always say school educates you. You're born smart.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I learned, I learned from both sides. I have a photograph memory from my mom. Beautiful and smart lady and a wonderful father. And they really helped me with confidence. And you need confidence to move along and people then support you. If you have support, you can do anything on your worst days. They got me through it. Then I met a really wonderful. My first girlfriend was wonderful. She helped, she said, ben, I was getting like kind of abused at a job. Okay? Like toxic, toxic relationship. Toxic relationship, Toxic, toxic business relationship. And she said to me, ben, you could do it. And I said, I said, rose, how am I going to get clients? I get you clients. And don't, you know, she got me one, got me two. She got me this big spot in Brooklyn at this like, top of the line spot for sure. He went to. And little by little, she, she was a spokesperson for me because I'm not a good salesman. I'm not like, hey, come, you know, I'm a great accountant. Come, you know, come vote for me. I have to be introduced to people and if they like what I have to say, they become clients. And that's what I do. I, I, I, I'm out there and right now I'm at a time in my life where I want to work for people that I really Care about people that appreciate me. I don't want to just punch in numbers to save people money. I don't want to say millionaires money. I seeing young entrepreneurs, I want to teach them the way. Because you want to be in control of your money. You know, even like, you know, the Social Security system. I don't. I honestly, I don't believe in it too much because there's more people work. There's more now the baby boomers. I'm the last of the baby boomers. More people working than they are retired. It's going to be the opposite. Less people are working than there are retired people having little children. There's less people in the workforce, and there's not going to be enough. There's no Social Security. Save for yourself. And the only way to do that is to be in your own business. Because when you work for somebody, you get a W2. You can't help what taxes they take out. When you work for yourself, you can get control that you want to put away from retirement. You want to do this just ways to save your tax dollars that, that working as an employee doesn't afford you. So if you can go in your own business and provide the same service to somebody, go for it. Go for it.

[B]

Gosh. Holy shit, man. That's fudgeing. Awesome. It's a truth what you just did, naturally or inorganically. Folks pay a fortune to get coached to just do that.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Can you talk about the Italian guff? Like, where does this, like, energy come from?

[A]

Totally, totally. It's. Listen, I'm Italian, Brooklyn from New York. And we're tough. We're wonderful people. Yes. You know, I walk down the streets of Manhattan, you know, and people ask me for directions all the time. I go, why do I really belong here? I guess I do. And I'm like, sure, somebody had to go, you're so nice. New Yorkers are so nice. I said, the real New Yorkers are so nice people. Born and bred here. I just look like I belong. And it's just passion, it's work ethic, it's integrity. It's being honest. My parents taught me all of this. Even if you have to close your eyes and you have sweaty palms and you tell the truth. Mistakes, guess what? They're learning experiences. It's like paying for college. You pay a mistake, right? You get. You pay for it. Like, you know, you're paying for a friendship or you pay for in a job by telling the truth. It's the same thing as going to college. You pay for it right. It's a real learning experience. So treat that way. Don't treat it as such a bad thing in life. Get over it, say you're sorry, be, be, you know, be accountable. You move on and fix it. Fix it. And if people don't want it fixed, it's on them. You could only do so much. You have to, you know, listen, don't be a doormat. Could be, you could be an area around. They can walk on you. But don't let them wipe your feet. That's a big thing I go by. You know, it's, it's like I said, you could be, you could be looking. But don't let them wipe your feet. Once they wipe their feet, you're done for sure.

[B]

We were, while we were doing the interview, I was just like, gosh, you just spoke to a 25 year old that has no idea how to do their taxes or LLC. And then you could also speak to a 52 year old that is like senile old and a trillionaire. Like, it's just great. It's like a lot of folks don't understand that.

[A]

That's quite a superpower, I tell you. I could, I can play with the boys in the park and I could play with the girl in the dollhouse. I always, I use that analogy a lot. I'm like here and I'm there. Yeah, I have a young soul. I'm an old soul and a young soul. And I, I got stuff I think from my parents and like just being very well rounded. Having street smart, street smarts is a very important thing. And unfortunately you can't let your kids out in the streets. I learned, learn certain things in the streets that you didn't learn. My father taught me that. My father taught me a lot of. He had analogously analogy, man, let's left hand know what your right hand's doing. Tell me who your friends are. I'll tell you what you are. Don't. You're gonna learn for the dummy. Hang out with people smart so you learn. Keep your mouth shut and learn. And say, listen, don't talk. What are you going to learn from dummies? He said, don't be the smartest one, be the dumbest one. Don't you want to learn? And that's what I did. I had to be honest. I followed his advice and really it brought me to a place where I am now where I could be here and there. You know, I could be in the park, play ball. I could be in the dollhouse with the girls. I Could be uptown, I could be downtown.

[B]

I watch videos of snobby influencers selling multi million dollar jets to billionaires. And they have this very eccentric script

[A]

and all this character.

[B]

You don't shoot any content. You don't have a TikTok. No social media presence.

[A]

Not really. I didn't even know what that is. The only way my friends did it for me, I had a Facebook only. But my friends, there's so much money on the table.

[B]

So much money on this table. I was just like, holy.

[A]

Thanks to my, let's go get it. Help a lot of charities. That's for sure. Listen, you only need so much. Listen, I tell you this true story. Yes, please. I couldn't wait to have one of those Cartier bracelets. Right, right here. Right from these guys, right? Well, guess what? This was not real. But the one I had was real.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

Made five grand for it. When push came to shove and I needed money, I had to sell it for 15. Oh, you know what pissed me off? So guess what? I bought one of these. Does it look real? Sure it does.

[B]

True.

[A]

Who needs all that? You don't need. You don't need it. You don't need it. What you need is some good shoes, some nice clothes. You can buy everything on sale. Everything's, everything's for sale. The most expensive stuff go on sale. Like Costco is on sale. And I buy like, yeah, what, what

[B]

did Kanye west say, billionaires, the world wear gold chains or some like that?

[A]

Yeah, exactly. I, I, you know, this is white silver. This is silver people, they use white gold silver. That's why it's, who cares?

[B]

It's funny because the billionaires are always the ones that are always not dressed well.

[A]

They don't give money that' they should like save their money. You have the fake diamonds. I'm telling you that that's exactly the truth.

[B]

Why is that?

[A]

That's why they're billionaires. That's why they have so much. They don't tip well. I tip very, I tip very well. I don't be rich, rich rich. You don't be billion. I realized that they don't tip low. They never not generous. I've taken billionaires out to eat.

[B]

It's such a flex.

[A]

I went out the peon, I, I offered. They say, okay, I'm sitting, I'll buy. I really, I'm like, what I already offer.

[B]

That's an Italian Cuban thing. That's a flex.

[A]

Yeah, that's right.

[B]

That's a flex. That's such a flex.

[A]

You know it my father especially bad service.

[B]

I'll look you right in the percent.

[A]

Like, really? You're gonna just did that last night, Eh,

[B]

you better get.

[A]

It was so nice. It was only the Fiend song, but the people were so nice. We, we. We cooked them to like, don't worry about it. Give it to them. Yeah.

[B]

It's like with a food like this,

[A]

you're gonna need the kiss. I don't leave that hard. It's not their fault, right? You can't, you can't. You can't punish them. That's why I don't want to be rich. Rich. It doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. It matters to have a good livelihood. Not to worry and be happy. Yeah. That's all I want to do. I've learned my lessons. I've been a millionaire three times. Over. Over.

[B]

Hell yeah.

[A]

Lost it all. Lost it all because people stole it from me. And I started getting it. I'm starting again already and I don't care. I don't care. I want to start again. But on what I want to do. And I know I can help a lot of people out there.

[B]

Are you coming back to one of these masterminds?

[A]

I am good. Oh, yeah, please do. So you got to be good ones. January.

[B]

Are you coming in January? Yeah, but yes, please. Oh, gosh.

[A]

Yeah, I said I'm out there with the mic, you know, like those guys, like, have the bike, like the mic and they go and they can't grab food. But I said, excuse me, can I have that life?

[B]

No.

[A]

Let's go.

[B]

Yeah. You'll meet Paul. You'll. He's a great opening opener, but you would be a fantastic closinger like this.

[A]

All right. You're going to be there, right?

[B]

Oh, of course. I'll make a cameo.

[A]

Let's go. Oh, yeah, yeah.

[B]

We'll see how this works out.

[A]

Well, because I really could help a lot of people. And it's like, yeah, definitely. Can I give people a lot of advice? And I'll give you straight up advice. I mean, like I said, talk about New York. As an Italian, you're saying truth whether you like it or not. Oh, your mother will tell your face is dirty. You know, like, you have to be straight up with people because bullshit doesn't help. Yeah, I'm lying to you. The worst slides, the ones you tell your. And if somebody just keeps reiterating that it's good for you, it's bad for you. And I'll tell you straight up, listen, don't feel like it's a failure. Oh, I didn't say this before. This is very important for me, for everybody. We take our kids to Hershey Park, Pennsylvania.

[B]

Oh, God.

[A]

And we went on the ride because of free candy. Yeah. Okay. And it smells like chocolate, right? Exactly. So I went on the ride and I learned about Milton. Hershey. Hershey. He failed nine times. On the ninth time, finally a king. Some king in England loved his chocolate. And that's how he became famous. Nine times diversity. So think about that, guys. That made me keep going. I'll tell you honestly. He learned, he learned, he learned, and he finally hit it. Hershey's chocolate. What's better than that? Yeah. And that his wife was too old to have children. So what he did was he created an orphanage for boys. Because those days, apparently, they kept A lot of people adopted girls because they could work in the household. Boys were just another mouth feed. So for an orphanage for boys. And that's what Persian park was. Wow. So the hotel used to be an orphanage for little boy.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And that's nine times he fell. And that was. That hit me hard. Hard. I love chocolate. Look at me. I love chocolate. And we. I couldn't believe it. I didn't realize he fell in my heart. If he gave up, we'd have no. No recent pieces. None of that. We'd really be screwed.

[B]

Yeah. It's so funny how your intuition is firing off, because I dated a Tri Delta from, um. That is from Hershey, Penn. And I also lived in Switzerland. And Veve.

[A]

There you go.

[B]

There was. Veve had. Nestle is also the town that Charlie Chaplin was born.

[A]

Ah, okay.

[B]

So it's just so funny how we correlate these massive cor.

[A]

Sort of it's a battle things.

[B]

Oh, Hershey and the. And then the United States. Nestle. But it's the same kind of vibe and energy.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

It's kind of like when you see the Mayan temples looking kind of like the exact. Like the Aztecs look like. Like, are we all. Because you're all looking at the same stars on the same rock.

[A]

That's right. Hello. Exactly. Oh, wow. We're all the same. We're all the same. Like, we say, oh, I saw the Italian hand, my friends, and goes, oh, why do you talk like this, Banana? Why do you talk like this? Spin in up. There's always Jan. It makes fun of me. It's like I said, don't make fun. That's what we do.

[B]

So can. Now that I have a real Italian in this chair, can you Tell me as to why Ferrari enjoys losing so well in F1. Like it's so painful to be a Formula 1 Ferrari fan.

[A]

Italians, we love the way they look. It doesn't.

[B]

They were gorgeous men. Dry, gorgeous Prince of Morocco, for God's sake.

[A]

Gorgeous. But a ditto Pandit would have is how they look. Yeah, it doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. It's really how you love me.

[B]

Loses and goes. Writes a song on his piano and he looks beautiful doing it.

[A]

Exactly. He'll make funny next way. It's not only time look good, they don't care. Really. They make beautiful cars, right? It's mostly the men. Men look more beautiful than the women.

[B]

I know.

[A]

The men are more beautiful than the women. Okay, you tell me. I'm like a lot of them. You have the hair, you know, the. You know, they usually. Hat and bag. You know, they're men. Slender, always looking good. Gorgeous how they look.

[B]

Gordon walk everything on point.

[A]

The guy was our driver and he was like. It was everything done perfectly. Great pictures with it made us look bad. So.

[B]

So are you familiar with Morden Scorsese, the film director? So he did a film called the Wolf of Wall Street.

[A]

Yes. Love it.

[B]

True story. Please do not be insulted by this.

[A]

You know, have.

[B]

You have Jonah Hill energy. A lot of people told me that you are just.

[A]

A lot of people told me that. And I don't think it's solved.

[B]

Please don't. But the reason why I bring this up is because. Because you've already spent. Someone's already spent hundreds of millions of dollars advertising this energy that you could just use and be like, you know, Jonah Hill. I hooked them up. I hooked up the Wolf of Wall Street.

[A]

They believe me.

[B]

They'll eat it up.

[A]

You know what? You break this, I get very much my energy. I love when I have passion. Passion is key. Right? Talk about ties. Passion. Passion is key. Every day. I love. I can talk days and days and like, I love what I do. I love to hug people. I love to laugh. I love to dance. I listen to my disc. Also have something called a D day. A dumb day. You know, when you want to take the day off. Like I tell my. Even my staff take a D day. It's called a dumb day. You know, if they answer questions, you can do whatever you want. Sleep one day donates a.

[B]

Well, what's the one they call it? Monday.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. On Monday, right? No, I hate Monday.

[B]

Is that like a tax thing? No one, no CPAs or tax people work on Monday.

[A]

Full weekend.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I work a whole week. There's no day off. Yeah, right, Christine, there's no day off. I work seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Sometimes I sleep and I wake up. If you have, there's a deadline, it's deadline. Everybody has the same deadline. And no matter how I try to stagger it, I tell clients, you have to answer me by this day. Everybody pushes it to the last. No, they think they're the only one. But here's the thing.

[B]

I'm sorry to cut you off, but you have the ability, there's books written about this, to have a four hour work week because your margins are quite healthy. Like.

[A]

Yes. They can't be.

[B]

You can't be.

[A]

You don't do that well. I tell you, any good staff, and if you don't have good staff, you can't, you can't. We can't. You can't extrapolate from that.

[B]

Or as Rudy calls it, float.

[A]

Yeah, I know what I need. I know people with good eyes. Now, I'm older, I see age histories, I review, I can review, do 10 returns in an hour. I could do three of these. So if I do three, I have to review them a hundred times. There's money, right? So I need some good, some good selling people to work for me. I don't care how old you are, I don't discriminate. I go for smarts. I've hired people who were mature Ds in good restaurants, who did multi tail. Yes. I've hired people who worked at a bagel store, who I was a regular, had mine on the side, never had to wait online, had a terrific business. I hired, listen to this. The guy who did his own taxes, who inherited what he couldn't do with them, so I did them, loves me to death. And. And because he could do them on paper, I'm going to hire him, see if he wants to. But just input. If you do it on paper, you can do it. If you get it on the screen.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

A lot of it is just input.

[B]

Yeah, dude, a little shit. Born and raised in Miami, moves to the, moves to the west coast in the bay area within six months, gets hunted by PlayStation and becomes the face of the brand.

[A]

Fantastic.

[B]

Do you really think they hired me

[A]

because I'm good at videos, Right. Good at the golf, Is it financial joy? I could help us. I want people to succeed. And I could look at somebody's financials and tell you in a minute what's wrong, what's right, and I may not know your industry Perfectly. But I asked the right questions. Yes, and I know where to go. And you don't want that alone. People will tell you that. Like I said, these accountants, they don't even care. Oh, we just do. You. This is what you. Oh, nobody even cares. There's other things out there. Things change on a dime. Like I was saying earlier in a restaurant, restaurant business, years ago, when I was young, when I was a kid, they give you 30, 20, 25 year leases with 10 more years after. Today they're going to be five year leases. Why you become, you have a successful restaurant, right in brick and mortar, they can raise your rent to the roof.

[B]

Oh yeah.

[A]

If you're. Then what are you gonna do? Relocate after you put 200,000 into that beautiful restaurant. Now if you want to do that, my suggestion is to get a group of people together, do an LLC partnership, buy the building, have a piece with the contingency that you have to have a decent, a decent lease between you and the building. The building appreciates probably rentals on top. You make the right deal and that way when you have your restaurant, you can even give them a piece of the restaurant. They'll be able to invest in you. You succeed and you can stay. You have longevity there. That's the way to succeed in a restaurant. Now that's not a change in law, that's a change in the world law. Right the way the world is. So not only do I, there's changes in the tax law that I can help you with or have the have the ability or the make the time to go forward whether I succeed or not. You don't pay for it. I do with my time. And if I succeed, then we go forward. But if not, it's my loss. But these are the things. It's not only tax law, it's just common sense that. Think about that. Why would you put all that money into a restaurant in five years getting your red jacked up like twice or three times. They know. They know. Knows. Unless you're friends with them or it's a family member or you own it, don't bother. Yeah, don't bother. Brick and mortar, it's very difficult today.

[B]

Oh, for sure. Are you a fan of Muhammad Ali by any.

[A]

I do like.

[B]

Oh, great. Cuz I'd be more than happy to introduce you to Troy, which is our neighbor. He has a magnificent Muhammad Ali collection. He also owns half of Miami Beach.

[A]

Really? When I was younger I did in for George Fraser a little bit.

[B]

Oh, did you?

[A]

I'll let him know any you know why? Because it was too colorful.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I said the greatest. Anybody said the greatest. You thought makes a great villain. It did. That's why who now I I'm. Listen I interviewed Brian when I went fan never like the Yankees. Now he's the Yankees. Okay. And in New York, it's like Yankees death. I'm the favorite. Good. Mom threw me out of the house when I was rooting for Boston against President Bambini against.

[B]

That's a different podcast.

[A]

President Bambini against voting for the out of my house. Get out of here. Yeah. Every million years told me how that favorite. Okay so but okay. That's the way it is and that's why But I do I, I, I've mellowed over my. Of my. I like Muhammad Ali. I like his daughter too. Yeah.

[B]

Oh, yeah. Speaking of the Yankees, Rudy just assistant. He's officially an American. Yeah.

[A]

You know. All right. Yes.

[B]

American independence.

[A]

He's one of good for your night. You get to pay taxes. A lot of taxes.

[B]

I'm sure he's very quite aware. I've never seen that man go off on just the numbers of the, of the taxes. That guy is a G when it comes to like the shock.

[A]

He's a very swamp man. Yeah, he actually pretty young guy, let me tell you. Impressive.

[B]

I'm very impressed with. Back. Back in the day when he used to host the Red Life, we had a CPA here. The CPA just sat there while he schooled.

[A]

I'm sure I did. Let me tell you that, you know, I learned the most from. It wasn't a cpa. It was a gentleman, Venge Ortiz. And he was worked in the law firm and he had a high school. High school education. He taught me more about taxes than the CPAs did. Told you. CPAs don't know what they're doing. A lot of them don't. And that bothers me.

[B]

They're not strategists.

[A]

They're not. And they pretend.

[B]

It's a big difference.

[A]

I don't take anything on that I can't do, okay. Unless I could help somebody. But people, they take you on just for the money. And let me tell you something, they put unsuspecting people in a lot of danger. You know, when you get audited and you get screwed, it's you holding the buck, not your accountant. I mean, yeah, you'll have to sue them, but you know how long that's going to take? You have to pay the irs. You're on the hook because you signed that on the penalty of perjury.

[B]

Before you sign, I was going to just say, what is the proverbial oath that you give to the divine that lawyers do, that's on the dollar bill and God we trust. What is as a cpa.

[A]

Well, you have a. We do. We do. Listen, it's ethics. We have to go by cpa. The AICPA has certain ethics, right?

[B]

Sure.

[A]

And the state, also your state that you become a CPA and also has ethics. Ethics is fiduciary responsibility, producer responsibility, and you have to abide by those things. You could lose your license and a lot of people just go, go because nobody reports them. Big headaches everywhere. I tell you, I. I've seen some really horrible things. They. There's a difference between an S corporation and a C corporation. Oh, yeah. Okay. A big difference. And this one guy, CPA was opposite. He was treating the S like the C and C. Did that put somebody in jail. Okay. Put the taxpayer in jail for tax evasion. A tax avoidance tax evasion. And this unsuspecting woman did. No. Had no clue. I. I was like, against this. I couldn't even say. Like, people wouldn't even believe me. It sounded, it sounded like insane. I said, do I have to see this? I mean, I. It's like something you want to put a poster to show people. Like, do not do this. You know, don't go there. It's. It's, it's a. And I. I'm not complete antithesis of that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's like I want to help you. Like, and if I don't know what I'm doing, I'll tell you. Listen, it's beyond me above my pay grade. I can't do it. This is who you should go to Y. And I'm happy to do that.

[B]

How can folks you know, continue following your journey, learn more about you. Like, what is your day to day hustle now?

[A]

My day to day. I.

[B]

We.

[A]

I work pretty much 24 hours a day. You can email me. What's, what's our. What's our A website. B D Eria. D I A Everson. Frank. E R I A global. Right on. Yeah. So it's we do. You know, I do do taxes all over the world. Yeah. I have a lot of different clients. European clients are my specialty. I know a lot. I've learned a lot about. About how it works, you know, with. Yes. Different countries. Every country is different.

[B]

Yeah. I may need your advice because I'd lived in Switzerland for a year. I got a car to my face on it. And I haven't gone back in over two years, so I'm pretty sure I owe someone tax.

[A]

So we can look into that. We can look into any money there. You're a US Resident, correct?

[B]

Oh, no, I was born and raised here and I got, I got a homestead.

[A]

Well, probably, probably. They might have taken either the taxes down at source depending on where you worked. You know, they. Sometimes when you're a non resident, they'll take the tax down at source like we do here.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

In other words, if you're a foreigner, they, they take the money first and then, and then you file.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

They might have done that. All right. Okay.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. I'm curious to learn because I'm just like.

[A]

And residents will take you, you know, unless there's a treaty. That's why you need a good accountant. You have to know. But they'll take 30% right off the. Yeah, yeah. For sure, for sure, for sure. And no matter what. And if you're, you know, if you're non resident and you work, it's on the onus of the person paying you.

[B]

That's the thing.

[A]

I didn't work.

[B]

I was just working for ourselves. Yeah, I didn't, I didn't make any

[A]

here in the U.S. you're good. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Where are your resident citizens? Yeah, for sure. You see, because people don't realize that I've done work for people. There was an amnesty whereby you. If you live, born here, right. And then you move to, say, wherever in the world and then you want to come back, you have to file all those tax returns.

[B]

Oh, God.

[A]

Oh, yeah. And so is an amnesty where you filed last three years, years lasted videos. And now there's something called, you know, now we share. There's no more Swiss bank accounts, Right. We share it now. It's called firpta. US and all these foreign countries, except for very few. Yeah, share, share, share bank information. Really? So yeah, you can't have one of those offshore accounts to watch anymore.

[B]

Yeah, I. I just remember Switzerland was the country where it's like, if you don't belong here, we don't want you here. You can't just show up to Switzerland, be like, hey, I believe you're not listening.

[A]

If you have a few. About $10,000 in a farm banking CAC and wishes. Close it now. One F bar. You have to exclude it. And no big deal, just you're better off doing it than not. Okay. Because it could be a gift. Foreign gift. And no code income here. If you get audited, that's one thing I know about a lot too. When you get a foreign gift, it's very important they can give you a gift. It's all tax free. If it's over 100 grand, you have to disclose. Disclose it because it's doesn't mean you get. It's better. You're better ahead of the game because if you did get audit that money's in your bank account. They issue how you got it was a gift. Why didn't you file a gift tax charge? Foreign gift tax, it's not taxable to you, but they will be taxable if they. If you don't follow the rules. That's one thing. I do follow the rules. Trust me, follow the rules. You're better off your head in the game.

[B]

This is awesome. I cannot wait to collaborate and help you.

[A]

Anybody. Listen, I'm all open. Ask me anything. I mean, if I can't help you. I told you, I'm a one. I don't claim to. I don't have an ego. I don't claim to know something I don't know.

[B]

Gosh, let's close this out. Let's have you introduce yourself again.

[A]

You know what?

[B]

Tell us why you are a woman in power. My love.

[A]

Thank you very much. My name is Benedet Tiafari. Everybody knows me like Ben from Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. I am a woman in power because I am confident, I'm smart, I know who I am. I become into my own. It took a while, but you do you know my self worth And I know what I can give and I love to give and I love to help people. And because I had a support system that most people don't have. I don't care how much money you have in the world. It's about support. Money doesn't make you, doesn't make you rich. Money may make you rich, it doesn't make you wealthy. That's what I meant to say. Wealth is health. It's time being control of your own time. It's worth more to me than money sometimes to loved family, friends. Having that time to feel that, feel that people around you and you have support is wealth to me. And everybody should feel that. And your money's good, money's great, but it's not should be the number one. You want to create wealth, not become rich. Rich comes and goes and wealth stays. And believe me, it's happened to me. I've been a millionaire three times over, Lost it, got it back. And you just keep going. You got to keep going right on.

[B]

Keep going so much. Oh, gosh. What an honor. What a pleasure.

[A]

Thanks. Amazing.

[B]

I hope you had a great time. I hope you did not disappoint and I'm eager to see you continue to grow. Growing aside in him so much.

[A]

I think you're gonna help me out. Thank you. I really. I really appreciate that. I can help a lot of people and I really want to get out there. It's hard to get your name out there. You know, everybody's a consultant. You have to have something different. Oh, yeah, for sure. Definitely different. Walk to. For sure. For sure. Yeah.

[B]

We're eager to welcome you to our tribe.

[A]

Thank you, guys.

[B]

Appreciate it.

[A]

Great. It's a great team, folks.

[B]

Usually go death and taxes, but I'm pretty sure this is about giving in taxes.

[A]

Listen, I can help you. There's no problem I can't solve. And if I know how to solve it, I know a way to solve it. I can send send somebody who could

[B]

solve it because you're Italian in New York.

[A]

Ethics, Bab. It's the right thing, man. Be accountable. Accountable is key. Right on. Thank you.

[B]

Thank you so much for your time and energy.

[A]

Thank you very much.

[B]

And for that, we are inside success.

[A]

Peace, guys.

[B]

Good night.