Our Taxpaying ‘Golden Hour’ Won’t Last: These 4 Urgent Moves Can Help Insulate Your Wealth Before It’s Too Late
As posted by Kiplinger For most Americans, the weeks and months following Tax Day are characterized by a collective sigh of relief. Returns are submitted, checks are cut, and paperwork is filed away for another year. This year, complacency is a risk you can’t afford. As a wealth planner, I view our current environment as […]
Probate Isn’t the Villain: The Real Estate Planning Risks Hiding in Plain Sight
The general consensus in wealth management is that probate should be avoided, but the reality is more complicated. Probate can be genuinely painful: public, slow, costly, and emotionally draining in the wrong jurisdiction with the wrong asset mix. Massachusetts and New York have reputations for being formal and expensive for a reason. But avoiding probate has been oversold […]
What to do with an Existing Permanent Life Insurance Policy
The decision of what to do with a permanent life insurance policy – such as a whole life or universal life policy – at the point of retirement is often treated as a binary choice: keep paying the premiums or surrender the policy and walk away. However, for most high-net-worth families, treating a permanent policy […]
A New Chapter for the 401(k): Access to Private Markets
U.S. retirement plans hold roughly $13.8 trillion in assets, with 401(k)s alone accounting for an estimated $8.7 trillion. For decades, that money has been almost entirely confined to public markets. That may be changing. Last August, President Trump signed Executive Order 14330, “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors.” The order directs the Department of Labor and SEC to clear regulatory […]
Gaps in Otherwise Good Estate Plans: Why Documents Are Only Half the Battle
Lately, a troubling pattern has surfaced in even the most carefully constructed estate plans. The work looks excellent on paper because competent attorneys drafted the documents, and specialized CPAs handled the tax compliance. Sophisticated structures were put in place, and on the surface, everyone feels protected. Look closer…and the loose ends start to show. Document creation is […]
The 2026 Property Tax Squeeze: Drivers and Mitigation Strategies
If you opened your latest property tax assessment with a wince, you are far from alone. Recent industry data suggests that nearly two-thirds of U.S. property owners were caught off guard by their most recent bills, and the increases are running well ahead of broader inflation. The good news is that property taxes, unlike many fixed costs, […]
Why Now May Be the Time to Lock in Today’s Tax Rates
April 15th has come and gone. For most taxpayers, the instinct is to file the return, pay the liability, and put taxes out of mind for another year. However, there is something worth thinking about before you do. We are currently living through a period of low tax rates, expanded deductions, and a diminished IRS: a window […]
Reduce the Risk of Retiring at the Wrong Time
Retiring this year? There is something worth thinking about before you circle that date on the calendar. Consider a scenario where the Iran conflict or other geopolitical events plunge your portfolio into a bear market for the next few years…. Just as you’ve stopped earning income, you could be withdrawing from your investment portfolio at depressed prices. […]
Why Staying Invested Is the Hardest, Smartest Choice Right Now
As published in Kiplinger April 13, 2026 – Geopolitical headlines in the past few weeks have been jarring. As joint U.S. and Israeli air strikes on Iran dominate the global news cycle, it’s natural for a sense of anxiety to surface. There is a direct impact on energy markets, with oil prices surging and the […]
Forgotten Annuities, Found Opportunities
A fair amount of people are sitting on old annuity contracts they haven’t thought about in years. These contracts typically carry values between $50,000 and $250,000 – and are often modest relative to a household’s broader balance sheet. Sometimes annuities were purchased years ago from a family friend entering the insurance business, or as a simple tax-deferral vehicle that never got revisited. Because […]
Roth Strategy, Earlier: The Planning Opportunity Behind “Trump Accounts”
Tax planning is often less about finding new strategies and more about applying familiar ones at the right time. In many cases, the timing of when income is recognized can have as much impact as the investment itself. A recent topic that fits into this broader idea is the concept of so called “Trump accounts.” […]
Proposed “Millionaires Tax”: Should Washington Residents Worry?
Approved by the state legislature this month, Washington’s proposed Millionaires Tax would impose a 9.9% levy on household income exceeding $1 million annually. The bill will become law in April unless Governor Bob Ferguson vetoes it. Critically, the tax applies only to earnings above that threshold – not total income. If a household earns $1,000,500, only $500 […]