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The Value of Multi-Generational Family Meetings

By Estate Planning, Family Office

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The decisions families make about their wealth—how to manage, transfer and spend it—can lead to serious conflicts among family members. With affluence comes the risk of family in-fighting that can damage a family’s financial position and even ruin intra-family relationships forever. The good news: It doesn’t have to be that way.

This month’s Flash Report, The Value of Multigenerational Family Meetings, reveals a formal process used by ultra-wealthy families to educate heirs and potential heirs about sound financial decision-making, to identify shared family financial values and to maintain (and grow) family wealth in a unified and harmonious manner. Read More

Do I “lose” money by waiting to take Social Security?

By Retirement, Social Security

Executive Summary

Many retirees choose to take their social security benefit as soon as possible at age 62. But is this the right decision? We all know that the longer you wait to get started, the larger your monthly payment will be. In fact, for every year you wait, you earn an 8% increase in the monthly benefit payment. But for those who DO choose to wait, the missed monthly payments can begin to add up (in their mind), which can cause some uncertainty and have retirees asking the question: “Am I losing money by not taking my Social Security benefit payment?” Read More

The Importance of a Goals-Based Exit Plan for Your Business

By Business Owners

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

If you are one of the 40% of business owners who plan to sell their company in the next 5 years 1, what is your plan? If you are in the “wait and see” camp, then you are setting yourself up for disappointment and frustration. Instead, begin planning today so you can enjoy positive outcomes down the road. Don’t be one of the 83% of business owners who have no transition plan, or have not communicated or written it down. 2

You might wonder, where do I start? What if you started with the personal goals you are looking to accomplish in your life, and then planning for the exit of your business in the context of “what’s next?”

In this series, I want to discuss goals-based exit planning and today we’ll start by talking about why it’s important. Read More

Is Your Wealth Advisor a Fiduciary?

By Family Office, Retirement

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In the universe of financial professionals you will come across many types of individuals all with differing educational and experience backgrounds. Due to the overwhelming number of financial professionals it can be extremely difficult to distinguish one advisor from another. However, one simple distinction can help sort through a vast number of advisors within seconds. Ask them one question: are you a fiduciary advisor? Yes or No!

A fiduciary advisor is one that is required by law to act in your best interests whereas the non-fiduciary advisor (ie: stock broker) may face a strong conflict of interest when recommending “suitable” investment solutions to you which often lead you, the investor, down a path that is not in your best interest. Read More

Should I Take A Loan From My 401(k)?

By 401k, Retirement

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

401k loans are a feature that some 401k’s offer and may be an option you have in your financial toolbox. But is it the right choice?

The answer: It depends.

Your 401k is designed and works best as a tax efficient way of investing for your future retirement. Using the 401k loan feature as your own personal piggy bank is ill-advised.

But in some cases, considering a 401k loan may actually make financial sense and safeguard your retirement portfolio.

Keep reading as we discuss 401k loans.

Read More

Endowment Wealth Management CIO Prateek Mehrotra Named to Investopedia Top 100 Advisors List for 2018

By News

Appleton, WI – June 8, 2018 – Prateek Mehrotra, MBA, CFA®, CAIA®, Chief Investment Officer of Endowment Wealth Management, Inc. and ETF Model Solutions, LLC has been named to the Investopedia Top 100 Financial Advisors list for 2018.

The Investopedia 100 list celebrates financial advisors who have contributed significantly to conversations about financial literacy, investing strategies, life-stage planning and wealth management.

Investopedia’s 2nd annual rankings seeks to recognize advisors that are able to engage their audience across multiple platforms, measuring their reach and influence and quality of the information they produced and shared across a broad range of media platforms.

In developing their proprietary rankings, Investopedia’s data science and editorial teams reviewed the applications of hundreds of financial advisors to measure their impact and reach across Twitter, LinkedIn, personal and company blogs, and online publishers.  The strength of each applicant’s page rankings, followers, and citations of their work by other advisors, consumers and the financial media were all evaluated as part of their ranking process. The analysis seeks to identify not only the advisors with the largest followings, but also those who have dedicated their time to educating investors around the world.

For more information contact:

Endowment Wealth Management, Inc. 

www.EndowmentWM.com 

920.785.6010

Award recognition does not qualify as an endorsement. The Investopedia Top 100 Advisors for 2018 was awarded 6/8/2018 by Investopedia. No solicitation payment was made to the award sponsor to be nominated or to qualify for the award. Judging criteria for the award can be found at: https://www.investopedia.com/top-100-financial-advisors-4427912 .

Things To Know About Kimberly-Clark’s 401(k) Plan and Voluntary Severance Package

By Retirement

Founded in Neenah, WI in 1872, Kimberly-Clark is a multi-national personal care corporation that employs approximately 43,000 people worldwide. While the company is now headquartered in Texas, Kimberly-Clark still has a major presence in Wisconsin. 

Last week, K-C announced they are laying off approximately 5,000 employees, many through a voluntary severance program.  

John Weninger, CFP® of Endowment Wealth Management researched the Company’s Plan and the severance package.  He compiled a list of important things to know about the company’s 401(k) plan, and also issues that K-C employees who are considering accepting the severance package should evaluate when making their decision. 

In his blog post, 10 Things to Know About the K-C 401(k) Plan, John comments on the Plan’s wide ranging benefits and features, including annual contribution limits, Roth conversion features, profit sharing, vesting benefits, investment options, loan provisions, asset reallocation, rebalance notifications, and withdrawal provisions for both existing and former employees.

In K-C Voluntary Severance Package 2018, John covers the basic items employees should consider when reviewing a severance offer.  Since 401(k) contributions cannot be made from severance pay, anyone thinking about accepting a severance should consider increasing their 401(k) contribution for their remaining employment.

John’s extensive reviews on this issue are posted to his blog at MyCompanyRetirementPlan.com.  If you work for a major employer and would like to request that John review your company’s retirement plan on a future blog post, send him an email.  

Educational purposes only.  Not legal or tax advice.  You should talk to an investment professional before making investment decisions.

 

KKR’s 2018 Global Macro Outlook: “Investors may not be able to get what they want, but can still get what they need”

By Financial Markets & Economy

KKR today released the 2018 Global Macro Outlook piece by Henry McVey, Head of Global Macro and Asset Allocation (GMAA). In “You Can Get What You Need,” McVey outlines his perspective on the current investing environment.

“As we are poised to enter the 104th month of economic expansion amidst the second longest bull market on record in the United States, it is definitely harder to get ‘what you want’ when it comes to uncovering new and compelling investment opportunities. The good news is that our work shows that investors can still ‘get what they need’ in order to generate returns in excess of their liabilities.”

Overall, a major underpinning to Henry McVey and the GMAA team’s view for 2018 is that overly optimistic investors are currently overpaying for growth and simplicity in many instances, while at the same time ignoring stories with complexity, uncertainty, and/or cyclicality. Therein lies a huge, long-tailed investment opportunity to arbitrage the notable bifurcation that has already begun to occur across many parts of the global markets, according to the team.

Against this backdrop, the report outlines several actionable investment themes that multi-asset class investors should consider weaving into their portfolios in 2018 and beyond, including:

1. Equities Having More Potential Upside Than Credit

2. The Move Towards Mid-Cycle Phase of Emerging Markets Recovery

3. Central Bank Normalization

4. Shifting Preferences in Private Credit

5. Buy Complexity, Sell Simplicity

6. Experiences Over Things

7. Arrival of a Different Kind of ‘Political Bull Market’

In addition to the aforementioned themes, the report details specific macro influences that factor into the GMAA team’s updated asset allocation model for 2018, including GDP targets around the globe as well as outlook for earnings, rates, oil, cycle duration and expected returns. 

Read/Download KKR’s 2018 Global Macro Report

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Tax Law Changes Make Year-End Tax Planning More Important This Year

By MoneyTips

Changes in the Tax Bill Are Likely to Impact Your Tax Obligations. Consider Taking Immediate Action Before December 31st

Last week the US Federal Tax Codes had a major overhaul and the broad changes will impact almost everyone’s 2018 tax returns and beyond.  Since there is limited time left in 2017, everyone should take stock of their income and expense patterns, talk to their financial advisor and their tax planner and make any necessary changes before December 31st. You should review the list below and consider taking action if any apply to your tax situation:

  • If you typically itemize your deductions, consider paying all your 2017 property taxes by year end 2017 to capture this deduction in 2017 which could be lost in 2018.*Itemized State and Local tax (SALT) deductions will be capped at $10k in 2018, but are uncapped in 2017.  Therefore, if your state and property taxes are normally over $10k, you should consider moving as much of these payments as possible into 2017.
  • Pre-pay or pay your estimated 2017 STATE Income Taxes by December 31, 2017 to capture the deductions in 2017 which could be lost in 2018. *Itemized State and Local tax (SALT) deductions will be capped at $10k in 2018, but are uncapped in 2017.  Therefore, if your state and property taxes are normally over $10k, you should consider moving as much of these payments as possible into 2017.
  • Consider increasing your charitable deductions in 2017 to include your 2018 charitable donations to capture the deductions in 2017 which may not be available to you in 2018.
    Start family foundation account to hold these current charitable contributions which allows you to get the 2017 tax deduction and then allows you distribute donations over future years to the charities as you so desire.  Note time is limited to establish a Family Foundation account.
  • Donate appreciated stock to your family foundation to avoid paying taxes on the stocks appreciation  while capturing your full charitable donation equal to the market value of the shares in 2017
  • Defer any income until 2018 if possible.
  • You can still fund your IRA’s for 2017 up to April 15, 2018

Please note that this is a very general list of strategic tax steps which you should consider in 2017.  Everyone has their own personal tax issues and if your tax professional tells you differently please follow their specific instructions.

Read White Paper on the Potential Impact of Tax Reform 

Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is neither an offer nor a solicitation to buy and/or sell securities nor is it an offer to provide, nor shall it be construed to be the provision of, individualized investment advice in any state where Endowment Wealth Management, Inc. is not registered or notice filed and does not qualify for an exemption from such registration and notice filing requirements. Endowment Wealth Management is not soliciting or recommending any action based on this material. Any tax advice included in this written or electronic communication was not intended or written to be used, and it cannot be used by the taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding any penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer by any governmental taxing authority or agency.  

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EWM Wealth Bulletin- Tax Reform Legislation- Actions to Consider Before December 31st

By Weekly Capital Market Updates

December 22, 2017

IMPORTANT TIME SENSITIVE TAX INFORMATION 

Changes in the Tax Bill Are Likely to Impact Your Tax Obligations. Consider Taking Immediate Action Now

This week the US Federal Tax Codes had a major overhaul and these broad changes will impact almost everyone’s 2018 tax returns and beyond.  Since there is limited time left in 2017, please review the below commentary immediately so that if there are any that apply to you that you might be able to make any necessary changes to your advantage:

  • Pay all your 2017 property taxes by year end 2017 to capture this deduction in 2017 which could be lost in 2018.*Itemized State and Local tax (SALT) deductions will be capped at $10k in 2018, but are uncapped in 2017.  Therefore, if your state and property taxes are normally over $10k, you should consider moving as much of these payments as possible into 2017.
  • Pre-pay or pay your estimated 2017 STATE Income Taxes by December 31, 2017 to capture the deductions in 2017 which could be lost in 2018. *Itemized State and Local tax (SALT) deductions will be capped at $10k in 2018, but are uncapped in 2017.  Therefore, if your state and property taxes are normally over $10k, you should consider moving as much of these payments as possible into 2017.
  • Consider increasing your charitable deductions in 2017 to include your 2018 charitable donations to capture the deductions in 2017 which may not be available to you in 2018.
    Start family foundation account to hold these current charitable contributions which allows you to get the 2017 tax deduction and then allows you distribute donations over future years to the charities as you so desire.  Note time is limited to establish a Family Foundation account.
  • Donate appreciated stock to your family foundation to avoid paying taxes on the stocks appreciation  while capturing your full charitable donation equal to the market value of the shares in 2017
  • Defer any income until 2018 if possible.
  • You can still fund your IRA’s for 2017 up to April 15, 2018 so no rush here.

Please note that this is a very general list of strategic tax steps which you should consider in 2017.  Everyone has their own personal tax issues and if your tax professional tells you differently please follow their specific instructions.  If you want to talk about some of the above tactical year-end tax strategies, please contact our offices as soon as possible.  We will have people working on Saturday and next week to implement as many changes as humanly possible for our valued clients!

PDF

Read White Paper on the Potential Impact of Tax Reform 

Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is neither an offer nor a solicitation to buy and/or sell securities nor is it an offer to provide, nor shall it be construed to be the provision of, individualized investment advice in any state where Endowment Wealth Management, Inc. is not registered or notice filed and does not qualify for an exemption from such registration and notice filing requirements. Endowment Wealth Management is not soliciting or recommending any action based on this material. Any tax advice included in this written or electronic communication was not intended or written to be used, and it cannot be used by the taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding any penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer by any governmental taxing authority or agency.