August: Universal Family Office Intro

 

August: Universal Family Office Intro.

 

August Power Hour Summary

Market Updates 

Ask Why?

Why supply chain issues, why high gas, what’s the underlining motive… Green New Deal? No war, no mass pandemic…

Then What?

What is being done to manage your accounts? What can you do?

There are things happening that we cannot change, so we must do what we can, be good stewards of our wealth and pray about the rest.

While the bad news is we cannot stop the craziness of the market, the good news is we can protect you! (Colors of Money3 M’s of Money ManagementMarch Power Hour – Investment Strategies)

Inflation is a hidden tax and the devaluation of the currency. If you haven’t yet, watch last month’s Power Hour where we talk about gold and silver as a hedge against both. Gold and silver have maintained their buying power over the years.

Notes From Our Portfolio Managers –

We are now in a technical recession – 2 Negative Quarters. The two negative quarters for GDP were using Real GDP….Real GDP may be negative because inflation is so high, but nominal GDP has been positive. But because of the strength in Labor Market, housing etc it will probably be a mild recession.

July experienced a good bounce back, however, we’re not seeing strong enough buying to be convinced this bounce has legs.

Maint Topic – Universal Family Office

A Universal Family Office is at the core, having all your financial professionals working together to help you live the lifestyle you want.

The sole focus is not on products or services, but on determining the specific freedoms you can take, allowing you to enjoy guiltlessly what you have sacrificed, disciplined, and worked so hard for.

Everyone has concerns, which are internal in nature, and risks that are external. The challenge is prioritizing what is most important.

The traditional approach is single focus be that tax, financial or estate planning, all about the logic or the numbers, siloed services about the what. It’s planning all about goal setting, game plans, and action items.

The Universal Family Office is all-encompassing and collaborative, about more than math, the emotions, and why behind any planning. It is agile to be able to deal with life’s uncertainties and focused on the positive future and lifestyle you want.

Here are 5 retirement questions no one is asking:

  • Where do you want to live? Why
  • What do you want to do? Why?
  • Where do you want to work?
  • What do you want to learn/improve?
  • What can you do for your community?

Retirement is not a lifetime vacation, having meaningful work (whether paid or unpaid), and meaningful relationships (where you are making an impact) leads to a meaningful, fulfilling life.

The Balance Wheel is a great tool for a little self-reflection on what areas of your life might be out of balance. It doesn’t matter how great your financial plan or estate plan is, if you are out of balance elsewhere, you will not enjoy life to the fullest.

Estate planning Spotlight with Nels Donovan

Nels shared a few stories about the importance of not just having legal documents in place but talking about what is important, how things will work, and your why.

There is a perceived midwestern mindset that everyone agrees and will help you out, but due to regulations and other restrictions, that is not always the case. Different generations even have different values. Legal documents without conversations are just that, documents, not a plan.

An estate plan is not just about who gets the money when you are gone, that’s the easy part. It’s about protecting your lifestyle and that of your loved ones.

 

Tax Talk with Mark Brandenburg

The only time we can tell you what the perfect plan would be is after the fact, but not looking ahead will guarantee you don’t have the best plan.

For example, last year many people ended up paying high capital gains despite the fact their accounts were down significantly at tax time as their financial team just re-invested gains without any thought about tax consequences. (note, this is why our team is very focused on tax-efficient management)

August Power Hour – Intro to the Universal Family Office: Another example of proactive planning is ROTH conversions. Sometimes they make sense, but sometimes you actually end up paying more tax on the conversion than you would if you didn’t convert.

With any tax planning, it is not just about this year, but future years as well and the best overall plan for both as well as how it will affect every other area of your financial life.

The key to all is you – lifestyle management is the driving force or should be behind all planning inside the Universal Family Office

Live Your Dream!

Michelle

If you’d like to schedule a personal one-on-one call with Michelle, click HERE to access Michelle’s calendar and schedule a day and time that is convenient for you.

We serve clients in Mineral Point WI, Dodgeville WI, Platteville WI, Lancaster WI, Fennimore WI, Boscobel WI, Richland Center WI, Muscoda WI, Spring Green WI, Mazomanie WI, Sauk City WI, Middleton WI, Madison WI, Fitchburg WI, Verona WI, Mount Horeb WI, Barneveld WI, New Glarus WI, Monroe WI, Belleville WI, Oregon WI, Stoughton WI, Darlington WI, Cuba City WI, Hazel Green WI, Belmont WI, Dubuque IA, Freeport IL

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