Commentary on wealth planning, investing, tax strategy, and long-term stewardship.
The Vest Is Not the Tax Bill. · Tax Strategy / Equity Compensation · RSU vesting creates W-2 income. Supplemental withholding is a prepayment, not final tax. How basis and Form 8949 often go wrong.
The Harvest Is Easy. The Window Is Not. · Tax Strategy · Tax-loss harvesting depends on more than the sale. The 30 days before and after it, automatic purchases, and IRA activity can change whether a loss is deductible.
The IRA Gift That Can Stay Out of Taxable Income · Tax Strategy · Qualified charitable distributions can support your giving and satisfy IRA withdrawal requirements. Here is how the 2026 rules, limits, and reporting work.
Year-End Tax Planning Needs a Head Start · Tax Strategy · Tax-loss harvesting, charitable gifts, Roth conversions, and payroll changes can benefit from lead time. Confirm the deadlines and processing rules before year-end.
You Have a Window. Most People Notice It After It Closes. · Tax Strategy · Roth conversion planning often has a brief opening between retirement and required withdrawals. Taxes, Social Security, and Medicare can change the answer.
The Spouse Who Doesn't Handle the Money · Commentary · A shared account inventory is a start. Couples also need to understand who can act during incapacity or after a death, and how to obtain authorized access.
The Phone Call That Sounds Exactly Like Your Grandson · Commentary · Voice impersonation can make a fraudulent family-emergency call sound familiar. A callback rule, trusted contacts, and prompt reporting can help you respond.
You Inherited Money. What Should Happen in the First Year? · Commentary · Most financial planning content about inheritance is written for the person leaving it. Far less is written for the person receiving it, which is strange, because that is the harder position to be in.
How Much Cash Should You Actually Be Holding? · Commentary · Most financial questions people bring us are about what to buy. This one is the opposite, and it comes up more often than any of them: how much money should be sitting in the bank?
The Risk of a Concentrated Stock Position · Commentary · A large single-stock position can amplify risk. Compare staged sales, taxes, restrictions, charitable gifts, and any permitted hedges before choosing a plan.
How Do Financial Advisors Get Paid? · Commentary · How do financial advisors get paid? Commissions, asset-based fees, and flat retainers shape the advice you receive. What fee-only means, and what it does not.
Risk Tolerance in Investing: What It Really Means · Commentary · Risk tolerance in investing is more than a questionnaire score. The two sides of risk, why people misjudge their own, and how time horizon changes the answer.
Inflation: The Silent Tax on Your Portfolio · Commentary · Inflation can erode purchasing power even when an account balance rises. Consider after-tax yields, investment risk, and pricing power when planning for long-term spending.
Generational Wealth Planning: A Practical Guide · Estate Planning · Generational wealth planning is about more than passing along assets. It is about creating a durable framework that transfers purpose, values, and financial stewardship across generations.
Doing Well With Money Can Still Feel Unclear · Wealth Planning · An educational example of organizing savings around near-term needs, future goals, and present spending, without treating clarity as a guaranteed outcome.
What to Do With Unused 529 Funds · Retirement · Unused 529 funds no longer have to mean taxes and a penalty. How SECURE Act 2.0 allows rollovers to a Roth IRA, the limits that apply, and when it may fit.
A New Year Does Not Reset Your Investment Plan · Investment · Use the calendar to review allocations and meet tax deadlines. A new year alone does not justify abandoning a suitable long-term investment strategy.
Volatility Is the Price of Admission · Investment · Price swings are part of equity investing. Learn why volatility, permanent loss, liquidity, and valuation all belong in a long-term investment plan.
2026 May Look Different Than 2025, and That Could Be a Good Thing · Commentary · Through mid-November 2025, stocks had recovered strongly from a sharp spring selloff. Our outlook for 2026 considers broader leadership, valuation discipline, and the risks that come with changing markets.
2025: Strong Markets, Narrow Leadership, Familiar Lessons · Commentary · As November 2025 begins, US stocks have recovered from a sharp spring selloff. Concentrated leadership and a strong rebound make valuation, diversification, and realistic expectations as relevant as ever.
The Fed May End Quantitative Tightening: What That Would Mean for Investors · Commentary · On October 14, 2025, Jerome Powell said the Fed might approach the end of balance-sheet runoff in coming months. Ending QT would help maintain ample reserves; renewed QE would require a separate policy decision.
The Cost of Waiting to Invest · Commentary · Compare time in the market with cash reserves, expensive debt, spending needs, and investment risk before deciding when and how to invest.
Protecting Your Legacy — Estate Planning in Today’s Environment · Commentary · A coordinated estate plan can document your wishes, prepare your family, and align account titles and beneficiaries. Trust and tax choices depend on the assets, state law, and your circumstances.
Year-End Tax Planning: A 2025 Checklist · Commentary · A look back at the 2025 year-end rules for investment losses, retirement contributions, charitable gifts, and business deductions. Confirm current-year limits before using this checklist today.
Tax Saving Tips for Seniors: Making the Most of Charitable Giving · Commentary · Qualified charitable distributions are available beginning at age 70½ from an eligible IRA. They can satisfy an applicable IRA RMD and exclude qualifying gifts from income, subject to annual limits and other rules.
Artificial Intelligence: From Hype to Proof · Commentary · AI investment has raised expectations across markets. As of September 2025, our focus is on how companies turn infrastructure spending and new tools into measurable business results, while accounting for valuation and investment risk.
How Retirement Plan Tax Credits Can Benefit Your Business · Commentary · Eligible small employers may receive separate credits for retirement-plan startup costs and qualifying employer contributions. Plan history, employee counts, and contribution limits affect the result.
How Families Can Prepare for the Wealth Transfer of Our Time · Commentary · Large projected wealth transfers make family preparation worth discussing. Current documents, informed heirs, and coordinated tax planning can help a transition reflect your wishes.
Keep Track of Old 401(k)s Before Deciding Whether to Move Them · Commentary · Old retirement accounts deserve a review of fees, investments, beneficiaries, and required actions. Keeping the plan, moving to another plan, or using an IRA each has tradeoffs.
How Much Do You Need to Retire? · Commentary · Start with spending and other income, then test the gap investments need to cover. Averages and withdrawal rules are starting points, not a household’s required nest egg.
Your Portfolio Is Like Your Golf Game · Commentary · A golf analogy for coordinating investments, withdrawals, taxes, and estate plans—and for avoiding changes driven only by the last shot or market move.
Corrections, Bear Markets, Etc… Should We Care? · Commentary · A correction or bear market can test even a long-term plan. Historical declines offer context, but they do not arrive on a schedule or guarantee a recovery. Cash needs, valuation, and risk capacity matter when prices fall.
Investment Habits Worth Reconsidering · Commentary · Review how tips, price swings, overconfidence, and an unclear plan affect investment decisions—without assuming one explanation covers every investor.
Investing In The Stock Market Is Not Some Parlor Game · Commentary · Recently I participated on a panel where we fielded investment/finance related questions from members of a small business owners’ networking group. There were three professionals: a real estate investor / realtor, a sole practitioner in the entertainment industry, and me. I left this experience with one overarching...
Higher Education After the Shift to Remote Learning · Commentary · A look back at the pandemic-era debate over tuition and online learning, with the historical prices, financing limits, and investment uncertainties kept in context.
Inflation Explained… And The Future Opportunities It Foreshadows · Commentary · Inflation reduces purchasing power, but prices do not move evenly across the economy. This August 2023 commentary considers how changing costs and technology can create business opportunities without assuming every innovation lowers spending.
How Stock Investing Differs From Gambling · Commentary · Owning a business and placing a casino wager have different economic foundations. Historical stock returns can provide context, but they do not translate into fixed personal odds of profit or make a longer holding period risk-free.
Stock Market History Offers Context. Your Plan Still Matters. · Commentary · After a difficult 2022, historical returns can offer perspective on the year ahead. Another weak year would affect an investor adding to savings differently from a retiree making withdrawals, so the plan matters more than a calendar-year forecast.
The FTX Dumpster Fire: A Harsh Investment Reminder · Commentary · FTX’s 2022 collapse highlighted the importance of understanding custody, liquidity, and how an investment creates value. This historical commentary includes a clearly dated update on the later criminal case against Sam Bankman-Fried.
Thankful For Perspective · Commentary · A family scheduling mishap offered a reminder of how much technology has changed everyday life. This November 2022 reflection pairs optimism about future progress with the need to plan for an uncertain, potentially long retirement.
How Quickly We Forget The Recent Past… Why? · Commentary · The S&P 500 price index fell about 57% from October 2007 to March 2009. The recovery can look inevitable in hindsight, but it was uncertain at the time. Larger portfolio balances also make the same percentage decline feel very different in dollars.
The Opportunity Of The (In)Efficient Market · Commentary · A large share-price decline does not by itself prove that a company is undervalued or that markets are inefficient. Value investing requires a company-specific assessment of information, expected cash flows, risk, and the price paid.
What Your Tax Refund Says About Withholding · Commentary · A refund or balance due is a reason to review withholding, credits, and cash flow. The appropriate election depends on your circumstances and comfort with uncertainty.
An Executive’s #1 Job: Capital Management · Commentary · The 2019 debate over limiting stock buybacks raised a broader question: how should management allocate capital? Repurchases, reinvestment, debt reduction, and dividends need to be assessed against a company’s opportunities, obligations, and share price.
The Power of Dividends (Especially In A Nine-Year Bull Market) · Commentary · In early 2018, the long bull market and corporate tax cuts put dividends in focus. Dividend history can inform research, but distributions depend on company decisions, and total return also reflects price changes, taxes, and reinvestment.