College Planning

Have You Outgrown Your Advisor? (Rebroadcast)

This week, Angela discusses how to determine if you've outgrown your financial advisor. She shares anecdotes and insights to help listeners evaluate their current advisory relationships and understand the importance of holistic financial planning. The episode emphasizes the need for advisors who proactively work with other professionals and offer comprehensive solutions.
Key Takeaways 💡
Communication and holistic advice: An 88-year-old woman was nearly on the verge of running out of money because her advisor wasn't providing adequate communication or a comprehensive financial plan. The advisor was primarily focused on selling investments rather than offering holistic advice tailored to her specific needs, highlighting the importance of finding an advisor who understands your complete financial picture.
Outgrowing your advisor's expertise: An advisor's expertise may become insufficient as your financial situation evolves, even if they are well-intentioned. An advisor in the Form 400 group shared a story about his grandmother, who paid a substantial amount in taxes because her long-time advisor lacked the knowledge to minimize her tax burden, illustrating the need to reassess your advisor's capabilities periodically.
Finding the right advisor fit: Finding the right financial advisor is challenging, as different advisors have varying approaches and specializations. It's crucial to assess whether your current advisor's approach aligns with your needs and whether they can provide comprehensive guidance. The story of Hallie, the dog, and the yellow chair, illustrates how people tend to stick with things that no longer serve them.
Understanding advisor specializations: Different types of advisors, such as CPAs, bankers, insurance agents, and attorneys, have distinct areas of expertise. CPAs excel in taxes and accounting, bankers in banking products, insurance agents in insurance and annuities, and attorneys in law. It's important to recognize these specializations and seek advisors whose expertise aligns with your specific financial needs.
Captive vs. independent advisors: Captive advisors often have quotas to meet, which may influence their recommendations, while independent advisors may still have limitations based on their RIA or broker-dealer. It's important to understand whether an advisor is captive or independent and to consider the potential implications for their advice. Even amazing captive advisors may not be allowed to do a lot of things to help their clients.
Transparency of fees and commissions: Advisors can be paid through fees or commissions, and neither method is inherently bad. Fee-based advisors may be preferable for ongoing management, while commission-based advisors may be suitable for one-time transactions. It's essential to understand how your advisor is compensated to assess potential conflicts of interest and ensure their recommendations align with your best interests.
Proactive and holistic planning: A true advisor should proactively work with you and your other advisors to create a holistic life plan. This includes coordinating with insurance agents, accountants, and attorneys to address various aspects of your financial life, such as family support, charitable gifting, business succession, legacy planning, estate planning, liability issues, debt, tax issues, insurance, and investments.
Considering all available options: An effective advisor should make you aware of all available options, even if they don't have expertise in every area. Most advisors don't know everything, so it's important to seek help and advice from multiple sources when needed. If your advisor hasn't made you aware of the topics discussed in the podcast, you probably need to take a sit down and look at your situation.

Big Beautiful Tax Opportunities

This week, Angela joins the Slice Podcast to talk about the latest tax legislation and how it impacts families, business owners, and retirees. She discusses the extension of current tax rates, the SECURE Act 2.0, 529 plans, charitable giving, Roth conversions, estate tax exemptions, and Trump accounts. She also emphasizes the importance of planning and optimizing financial strategies to take advantage of available opportunities and achieve long-term financial confidence.
 
Key Takeaways 💡
The extension of current tax rates is a significant benefit, as reverting to old rates would have negatively impacted many, especially middle-class married couples. Under the old rates, a married couple with taxable income just under $80,000 would have faced a 25% tax bracket, whereas the current rate at that income level is 12%. Additionally, the standard deduction would have been lower, leading to higher tax burdens for many.
The SECURE Act 2.0 and expanded 529 plans offer new opportunities for financial planning. 529 plans can now be used more flexibly for online academies, tuition, books, and services for individuals with special needs. Grandparents can contribute to 529 plans without it affecting the student's eligibility for student aid, making it a valuable tool for generational educational funds.
Charitable giving strategies can be optimized by using donor-advised funds and gifting appreciated assets. Gifting appreciated assets allows individuals to avoid taxation on the gain and reset their portfolio. Additionally, the cash deduction to charity starts this year, and you get $1,000, which goes to $2,000 next year.
Roth conversions should be considered, especially during market downturns, to convert assets at a lower value and benefit from tax-free growth. By converting during a downturn, individuals pay taxes on a smaller amount and can see significant gains when the market recovers. Planning for Roth conversions should be done in advance to be ready to act when opportunities arise.
Estate tax exemptions are currently high, but nothing is permanent, and planning is essential to take advantage of the opportunity. With estate tax exemptions around $26 million for couples in 2026, families have a chance to transfer wealth without incurring estate taxes. However, it's crucial to stay informed about state estate tax laws and plan proactively, as estate tax laws can change.
Trump accounts, while offering some benefits like government contributions for newborns and employer contributions, require caution due to potential estate tax implications. Gifting to a Trump account requires using some of the lifetime gift exclusion, necessitating the filing of an estate tax return. Individuals with estates over $10 million should exercise caution and consider potential estate tax issues.
Planning is a continuous process that requires annual review to optimize financial strategies and adapt to changing laws. Changes to Trump accounts, 529s, charitable giving, standard deductions, and the SECURE Act all necessitate ongoing review and adjustments. Additionally, the rising costs of healthcare and potential changes to healthcare tax credits make planning more critical than ever.
High-income earners in the 37% tax bracket face caps on itemized deductions, impacting their ability to give back through charitable gifting. The cap on itemized deductions is calculated using a complex formula involving 2/37ths of $100,000 or 2/37ths of the excess over $650,000 of taxable income. Planning is essential to maximize charitable gifting within these limitations, and waiting until the last minute will make it impossible to take advantage of opportunities.

Where Are You Getting Advice?

In this episode, Angela discusses the importance of seeking sound advice and avoiding common pitfalls. She shares humorous anecdotes of bad advice and emphasizes the need to be cautious about the voices influencing our decisions. Angela highlights the significance of having a trusted team of professionals to address various aspects of life planning, including business, finances, and legacy.
Key Takeaways 💡
It is important to be mindful of the sources of advice we receive and how they impact our decisions, not only in faith but also in relationships, raising children, business, and financial matters. There is a lot of advice available on every topic, but it's crucial to discern whether it's accurate and appropriate for your specific situation, especially with the rise of AI and readily available information on the internet.
Relying solely on a single professional, even a trusted one, can lead to gaps and overlaps in financial plans because they may not have a holistic view or the necessary expertise in all areas. It is important to ensure that the professional is equipped with the right tools and knowledge to provide comprehensive guidance, as even well-intentioned professionals can give bad advice if they lack expertise in a particular area.
Bad advice from even skilled professionals can stem from two main reasons: they may not know what they don't know, leading them to offer advice outside their expertise, or the right questions are not being asked, resulting in a limited or biased perspective. For instance, asking a banker how to pay for a business succession plan may lead to solutions involving banking products, while a broader approach might consider tax benefits, insurance, or alternative funding methods.
As financial situations grow more complex, individuals outgrow the need for a single professional and require a team of experts, with a quarterback to lead the charge and coordinate efforts. The role of a life planner is to help individuals define what it means for them to live life on purpose, understand their future goals, current situation, family dynamics, and feelings about risk and money, and then identify the right professionals to involve at the appropriate times.
When seeking advice for business, money, or legacy matters, it's beneficial to consult with a life planner first to help formulate the right questions and avoid costly mistakes down the road. Life planners can help identify holes in financial plans, determine which professionals need to be involved, and ultimately guide individuals towards living life on purpose.

Life Planning at 18

In this episode, Angela addresses 18-year-olds and their parents about essential financial and legal considerations as they transition into adulthood. She emphasizes the importance of financial literacy and proactive planning to secure a stable future. The discussion covers medical and financial powers of attorney, building excellent credit, planning for the future, and investing in oneself through financial education.
Key Takeaways 💡
Upon turning 18, parents no longer have automatic access to their child's medical information or the ability to make medical decisions on their behalf; therefore, it is crucial for 18-year-olds to establish a medical power of attorney with HIPAA privileges, allowing their parents (or chosen representative) to access medical information and make informed decisions if the young adult is unable to do so themselves.
Similar to medical information, financial information becomes private at 18, and parents lose the automatic right to manage their child's finances; to address this, a durable power of attorney is essential, enabling parents to assist with financial matters such as bills and loans without needing court intervention, while avoiding the complications and liabilities of being directly on their child's bank accounts.
Having excellent credit is crucial and can save a person six figures over their lifetime by securing better loan terms and lower insurance premiums; building good credit involves using credit responsibly, such as through revolving lines of credit (credit cards) and installment credit (loans), and resources like "Seven Steps to 720" can provide valuable credit education.
It is important to think about the future and not get caught up in only living in the present; young adults should research and align their education and career paths with their life goals and desired lifestyle, considering the financial implications of different choices to avoid costly reinventions later in life.
Investing in oneself through financial literacy is essential for long-term financial stability; young adults should prioritize paying themselves first by saving and investing 20% of their income, learning to live off the remaining 80%, which will help them avoid financial struggles and make informed decisions about housing and other obligations.

Life After Graduation - What Your Kids Should Know

This week we discuss essential life planning advice for parents and graduates facing the transition after high school or college. The episode covers practical financial knowledge, legal considerations, and ongoing parental support to help young adults successfully launch and sustain their independence.

Have You Outgrown Your Advisor?

I believe one of the hardest things to do is find the “right fit” advisor for you and your family. Because of this, I thought I might take a minute to educate you a little about our industry.

College Saving Options

What will college or education look like for your child or grandchild? This week we discuss three different funding methods and the flexibility for each. Saving for higher education can be complicated. Don’t do the job alone, we’re here to help.

When to Start Planning (Rebroadcast)

Angela was honored to be a guest on the Real Wealth podcast with Jim Silbernagel to share the benefits and pitfalls that could occur when starting a financial strategy later in life. Please enjoy this gem from our archive.

Elf on the Shelf Money Advice (Rebroadcast)

What are your thoughts on money? Do you work for IT, or do you allow IT to work for you? This week we learn some helpful tidbits from an elf and how we can apply those to our lives. Please enjoy this episode from our archives.

The 8 Life Planning Issues

Over 35 years of working in various fields of Life Planning has shown us that most people don’t plan to fail –they just fail to plan. And one reason behind this procrastination is that they are overwhelmed by the complexity of the task and don’t know where to start. We feel it is very important for every family to seek help and take the time to focus on the questions that need to be addressed. I encourage you to be proactive as opposed to reactive and live your life on Purpose!

529s - You Have More Options Now

Thanks to legislation enacted over the past 5 years, you now have actual options when it comes to 529 plans. Here are some potential gems you may not know about.

Preventative Financial Care

Over 35 years of working in various fields of Life Planning has shown me that most people don’t plan to fail –they just fail to plan. I encourage you to be proactive as opposed to reactive and live your life on Purpose!