Ethan Call

We get clients all the time from other advisors. Does it mean they are bad people? No. Why do clients switch? Here's the top 5 reasons we see clients make a change. 1. They want more value from their advisor. -They want more than just investment guidance. -They want tax planning, estate planning, planning for major purchases, insurance insight. 2. They want an advisor who is responsive and has a consistent communication cadence. -Formal meetings twice a year with informal communications throughout the year 3. They aren't getting educated -The advisor isn't explaining why they should do something. -The advisor isn't giving ongoing insight to current market conditions or planning for changes with regulation. 4. Their investments are underperforming -Most think their investments are doing "ok" or "pretty well" until you do an analysis 5. Their fees are too high -Clients typically don't know their fees are too high until they have something to compare to. What are some of the reasons you are looking to change or have changed in the past?

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“Are you really a financial advisor if you don't sell annuities and other insurance products clients need to implement their plan?” This argument falls apart when you ask the same about other financial planning areas: Are you a financial advisor if you don't draft estate documents? Are you a financial advisor if you don't file tax returns? Are you a financial advisor if you can't be their realtor? You don't have to sell what you recommend to provide valuable financial advice. In fact, NOT selling what you recommend can increase trust when moving into collaborative implementation. I've got insurance brokers/agents, estate attorneys, tax preparers, and mortgage lenders on speed dial.

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To Use or Not Use an HSA... 🔶 Medical Bill: $1,000 Paying with checking acct: ▶️ $1,333 earnings - 25% tax = $1,000 for bill Paying with HSA: ▶️ $1,000 earnings - 0% tax = $1,000 for bill _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Q: What if my employer 🏢 doesn't offer an HSA? A: You can open an HSA on your own. Q: What if I don't use my HSA funds by the end of the year? A: The funds in an HSA don't expire. They roll over in full each year. ♻️ Q: Don't I have to remember to bring my HSA card 💳 to the doctor? A: Typically, no. You can use your credit or debit card and simply reimburse yourself through your HSA portal later on. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🌐 Required supporting article: (https://lnkd.in/erCZkS7c) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ #investing #financialplanning #taxefficiency _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Disclosures: 🔹I do not sell HSA accounts and we do not hold them at Ameriprise. However, they are an effective tool that I recommend to my clients when appropriate. 🔹 The example above assumes a 25% effective income tax rate. Your tax rate may differ.

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Call Fidelity with the 800 number: They read you a script about your options. Call a real financial advisor: You get personalized advice instead of mass market options. Example: Called Fidelity with a client today who lives in Florida. The Fidelity rep read us a notice about her change in address might have a state tax withholding requirements. This is nonsense. 1. Client's OLD address was Florida and NEW address was Florida so there clearly no change in state to cause any issues. 2. We were working on a transaction that was not taxable so it would not have mattered either way. 3. Florida is a state income tax FREE state so there could be no tax issues with the state regardless. Do you think the script helped the client understand her situation or confused her? Good thing I was on the line with her.

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After several planning meetings between an advisor and their client... Client: Why are you spending all this time helping me? I have a bunch of debt and no money. (Client slides bank statement across the table, bank statement shows a balance of $7.12) Advisor: I see your potential. I believe in you. Acorns turn into oak trees. 5 years later... Client moved up the ranks at their law firm, has no credit card or student loan debt, owns a nice home, recently got married, and has a baby on the way. Advisor just finished reviewing Client's financial plan that consisted of significant and rapidly growing net worth, and an early retirement projection. Client: There's something that stuck with me over the years. I remember sitting in this exact room 5 years ago. You told me how much you believed in my future. Do you remember this statement? (Client slides same bank account from 5 years ago across the table) Advisor: I sure do remember that statement! Why did you keep it? Client: I wanted to remember where I once was. And because acorns turn into oak trees. Advisor: Just think of where you'll be in another 5 years! This was one of the most memorable stories I heard during Northwestern Mutual's recent Annual Meeting. It spoke to me in a big way. An advisor sees your potential. We can see your success before you can. We know the path to your financial goals. And we can help you navigate through countless situations and scenarios. We believe in you. I believe in you. Are you ready to work with an advisor that sees your potential? #NotSoBoringCPA #Money #Investing For more daily content, click Follow and the 🔔 on my LinkedIn profile.

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"I'm 43 shouldn't I be taking more risk than that?" This is one of the most common questions I get when speaking with people under 45 (give or take) about their portfolios. Unfortunately, the ol saying "risk it to get the biscuit" is not always true, or if it is, it's not the ideal way to invest for the future. There's a common misconception today that most people become wealthy by scoring big gains in the market, which of course usually comes with big risk. The truth (generally speaking) is compounding is that reason. Because of this, any extra risk you take (yes, even in your 30s and 40s) means you may be interrupting your most important contributor to future success...Compounding. Remember, there's a balance to all things. I think that's from Kung Fu Panda. Okay, be wise out there. As always - not a recommendation just my thoughts and some insight.

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The 1 thing that drove me crazy about papermills... "We just have to make it til the end of the month." Toward the end of every single month, we'd -> stop spending money to make budget -> push off projects to minimize downtime -> get put on 24/7 coverage to make sure machines ran & sometimes, we did accomplish those things. But most of the time, we didn't make budget anyway. What did happen? -> we'd burn out ourselves & our employees -> we'd kill morale by pushing off projects AGAIN -> we'd continue to perpetuate financial irresponsibility & ultimately - it's because we were stuck in a short term mindset. We couldn't see past the month in front of us to figure out how to think & act with the long-term in mind. So we had high turnover & high downtime. And we do this in our day-to-day lives too, right? -> buying fast food instead of spending 20 min cooking -> sacrificing a trip to the gym for 30 minutes of sleep -> avoiding hard conversations bc its uncomfortable -> spending $7 on a coffee instead of making one -> buying fancy things to impress people Because it's really hard to see past the "now." It's hard to envision where we could be in 6 months if we just had a "long term" mindset. So whether it's health, money, or paper mills.. Set goals. Start small. Hang in there for 6 months. Then look back & see what you accomplished. The short term pain of discipline always outweighs the long term pain of regret! We can agree that anything of significance takes longer to build than a day! I'm Goose 🖐️ Helping tired manufacturing and construction employees save time and find clarity in their financial journey Ex-Paper Maker making finance easy! p.s. what examples do you have of short term thinking and the impact it had on the long term result?

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Pay Medical Cost Out of Pocket & Treat Your HSA Like a 401(k) If you can cover your deductible and out-of-pocket healthcare costs yourself, consider letting your HSA grow! ◾ Keep enough liquid cash set aside to cover yearly out of pocket costs. ◾ Max out HSA contributions each year. ◾ Setup automatic investment of those contributions. Down the road, if you face a significant healthcare bill, you'll have a healthy HSA balance to rely on. If you never end up using those funds, once you turn 65, your HSA acts like an IRA, giving you another source of retirement savings. Plus, don't forget the tax deduction you get each year for HSA contributions!

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If I started over as a financial advisor, these are the steps I would take to find clients: STEP 1: Go knock down the door of literally everyone you know and offer your services. Because there is already trust, there's less anxiety about asking, and you can build up your own confidence faster as well. STEP 2: Ask for referrals from the people you help. Start small by helping the people you know with basic financial planning. Chances are, they probably know someone who could use your services, too. STEP 3: Phone people every single day. Call acquaintances, friends of friends, and the guy whose contact you don't even remember putting in. Try to get in front of as many people as you possibly can, finding out more about them and if their is a need and a want. The key in the beginning is to make yourself as available as possible. Once you get the ball rolling, it's not as hard as you think! Any advice you'd add?

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RSU's can make your financial plan feel like a roller coaster. I love roller coasters but, I don't want my finances to feel like one. If you're being gifted RSU's as part of your compensation package, you may be at risk of this. A lot of big companies compensate their employees with stocks from their company as part of an effort to retain higher earning employees. Here's why I like this: - Those stocks should appreciate over time - It's added on top of the normal salary you recieve - You can have non-qualified dollars growing for a future purchase However, here's the problem with those RSU's: Lack of diversification. If you work for some of the companies that gift RSU's like: - Salesfor - Amazon - Netflix - Cummins - Eli Lilly - Microsoft - Google Then you likely have thousand's of dollars all sitting in one companies stock. Don't get me wrong I think all the companies listed above are great companies and their stock SHOULD appreciate over time. But have you ever heard a good financial plan that's weighted almost entirely on the success of 1 company? Neither have I. That's why if you're gifted RSU's as part of your compensation package, meet with an advisor. I'll help you create a strategy to: - Diversify these dollars - Mitigate the future tax-burden these can be - Maximize your full compensation package at work Again, RSU's are great, until they make up too much of your plan. Shoot me a message and I'll help you create a plan around these today!

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“I’ve heard about this powerful, almighty Roth contribution but I make too much money to do that!” Yes, it’s true that you cannot directly make a Roth IRA contribution if your AGI is >$140k if single or north of $240k if married filing jointly. 2 workarounds: 1. Regardless of income, you can always make a Roth contribution in your 401k if your employer allows for it. 2. You make an indirect Roth IRA contribution via the “backdoor Roth IRA” strategy. Here’s how to execute the backdoor Roth IRA and it requires tact: 1. Make a “non-deductible” contribution to an IRA account (you won’t deduct this on this year’s tax return) 2. Immediately convert those dollars from your IRA into your Roth IRA. *Important: ensure that you have no other IRA account balances because the IRS will aggregate all of your IRA balances using the pro rata rule to determine taxability of the conversion. If you have a balance, you can move that into your 401k to make this work.* 3. Record the non-deductible contribution on IRS Form 8606 (or have your CPA do it). If executed properly, you can legally circumvent the income limitations on making Roth IRA contributions. However, it requires precise execution to make sure you’re doing it correctly. Careful eye to the pro rata rule and reporting your non-deductible contribution of Form 8606. You also must have “earned” income to make an IRA contribution. You can still take advantage of the mighty powerful Roth in both your 401k and IRA accounts REGARDLESS of income. You just have to follow the rules carefully.

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I convinced a prospective client to put less into an Annuity today. $400,000 was a DONE DEAL. but $180,000 was more appropriate. Why? A simple income and spending analysis showed that she didn't even know how to spend more than another $15,000 a year over her pension and SS. One of the WORST things to do with a Lifetime Income Annuity is put in too much and the client not spend or use the income, so they just throw it in savings. Instead, I told her to use a Dynamic Spending account and look into some safety laddering and reevaluate at each break point (every 6 months for 5 years). Then with the rest of her money work with a skilled money manager. That's Planning, Not Sales. #NotAFiduciaey #MoralObligation #PlanningOverSales

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Yesterday, I told you why everyone should have an HSA, but a great tool can be misused. 4 common mistakes people make with HSAs: ✅ Sitting in cash 88% of HSA owners do not invest their balances, leaving A LOT of tax-free growth potential on the table. Create an investment strategy and put your money to work. ✅ Paying current expenses Flexible *Spending* Account vs. Health *Savings* Account You have to spend your FSA money every year, but HSA money is yours forever. Ideally, you invest your HSA for as long as possible to maximize the tax-free growth potential, and use it during retirement when you’ll probably have more medical expenses and larger ones, too. ✅ Right tool, Wrong time To be eligible for an HSA, you need to be in an eligible high-deductible health plan. That generally means: --> Higher annual deductible --> Higher annual maximum out-of-pocket If you have chronic health issues or expect a change in your medical needs (planned surgery, having a baby, etc.), then an HSA might not make sense. ✅ Overcontributing Employer contributions to your HSA count toward your annual contribution limit. You need to adjust your contribution to account for that and avoid overcontributing. Do I love HSAs? Yes, but there’s a right time and way to use them. It’s open enrollment season. ♻️ so more people can learn about HSAs. #money #finances #investing #taxes

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52% of Americans avoid life insurance because they think it's too expensive. 82% significantly overestimate its cost, often guessing three times higher than the actual figures. As of April 2024, the average cost for a healthy 40-year-old purchasing a 20-year, $500,000 term life insurance policy is about $26 per month ($312 per year). However, a 30-year-old woman might pay approximately $205 per year for the same policy, while a 30-year-old man might pay around $352 per year. Life insurance isn’t just a smart choice. It’s a crucial step in securing your family’s financial stability and peace of mind. It's a simple conversation. Let's get started!

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What do you pay your Financial Advisor for? 1. Portfolio design - based on the foundation of diversification, taxes, and fees. 2. Investment account design - when you need your money, for what, and when. This is a deliverable from a written financial plan. 3. Active investments management - Gains harvesting, Tax loss harvesting, and rebalancing. "I trust my Financial Advisor (investments manager)." Good, and you should. We seek a second medical opinion often and without consideration; your retirement finances may be more impactful than a health concern yet we often blindly trust that their work is optimal. Ask another competent professional that is licensed and credentialed for a financial audit and a written financial plan if you don't have one. Red Flags: 1. "My advisor doesn't directly answer my question about exactly how much I am paying in fees." We audit portfolios often that have combined fees above 2% and occasionally above 3% (program, access, and fund fees are often additive to the advisory fees). 2. "No active management of investments" (avoiding "churning" of course). What do they get paid for? 3. "Individual accounts are not tailored to a financial purpose." (Timeline, goal, tax efficiencies, and should include one's values). 4. "High concentrations of speculative and/or single-stock assets." Everyone wants to win at investing, but how much unnecessary risk is involved? 5. "No distribution planning in retirement, with consideration for final wealth transfer and estate planning." Should money stay in a 401k and IRA, distributed, converted to Roth, and what is the effect on both taxes and Medicare payments of distributions? Is a family putting retirement goals at risk due to college funding, gifting, travel / hobbies, or charitable gifting? . . . a few thoughts to consider as we close out 2024!

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💡 How Business Owners Can Get Money Out of Their Company—Tax-Free Let’s talk about something that could change the way you handle your company’s cash flow: getting money out tax-free. 🎉 There are two ways to do this with an insurance policy: 1. When you pass away 2. When you need cash flow while you’re still alive Now, I know #2 is probably what grabbed your attention, but let’s quickly cover #1. If you’ve spoken with an insurance pro or done some digging, you’ve likely heard about the tax perks of life insurance death benefits. When your corporation receives a death benefit, a portion is credited to the Capital Dividend Account (CDA), which can be taken out tax-free. For example: If your company receives a $1,000,000 death benefit and the Adjusted Cost Base (ACB) is $500,000, then $500,000 can be withdrawn tax-free as a dividend. Over time, as your ACB reduces to $0, you can eventually pull the full death benefit tax-free. But what if you don’t want to wait until after you pass away to access your money? Here’s where things get interesting! 👀 You can access tax-free cash flow while you’re still alive. Many use this in retirement, but you can tap into it earlier—maybe for a new opportunity or an unexpected event (think pandemic or economic downturn). Here’s the kicker: You can take money out that would normally be taxed as salary or dividends—and do it tax-free. Now, this strategy is a bit “aggressive,” and it’s not for everyone, especially if you prefer more conservative financial strategies. But if you’re open to leveraging your assets and want to keep more of your money, this could be a game-changer. 💸 Here’s how it works ⚙️ You take out a corporate life insurance policy. When you’re ready, you set up a personal line of credit (not corporate). Then, draw income from it tax-free. The CRA will view this as a “shareholder benefit,” so it would normally be taxed. But there’s a workaround. By paying a guaranteed fee to your company (essentially, paying yourself), you allow the money you draw from the line of credit to be tax-free. You’re simply moving funds from your personal pocket into your corporate one, which makes it work. That’s it! You’ve just managed to take money out of your company tax-free—something every business owner dreams of doing. Of course, there are some risks with this strategy, and it’s not for everyone. But if you’re tired of watching your profits get taxed, this could be a valuable part of your financial plan. 🙌 Interested? Let’s chat! I’d love to dive deeper and show how this could benefit your business. https://lnkd.in/g7JQURzQ

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This is why you should have a HSA... An HSA, or Health Savings Account, is a tax-advantaged savings account designed to help individuals with high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) save money for medical expenses. Think of it like a piggy bank for medical expenses. You put money into it from your paycheck before taxes, so you save on taxes. This money can be used to pay for medical stuff like doctor visits, prescriptions, or even glasses. Plus, unlike other accounts, the money you put in rolls over year after year, so it's there whenever you need it. It's a way to save for health costs while getting some tax benefits.

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Today's Big Question: (1) Traditional, or (2) Roth 401k?! I'd love to give a simple "this one", but its annoying a classic "it depends" Key factors to consider are: ➡ What is your MARGINAL income tax bracket today ➡ What do you anticipate your MARGINAL tax bracket will be in the future/retired ➡ Do you plan to take a sabbatical or retire early? ➡ Your opinion (if any) if tax brackets will be higher/lower in the future ➡ What are the odds you'll relocate in the future? To try to give some directional help, the below are some decent guiding thoughts (while repeating that every situation is different): ➡ If nothing changes (your marginal bracket today = marginal in future), it's pretty much a coin flip ➡ If you anticipate your marginal tax bracket will increase (e.g. you're early in your career), Roth is probably better ➡ If you're worried about tax law changes in future years increasing rates, you'll likely be more comfortable with Roth ➡ If you anticipate your marginal tax bracket will decrease in retirement, traditional is probably better ➡ If you anticipate some low income years pre-retirement (sabbatical, starting a biz, early retirement), traditional is probably better, as it gives you more optionality for traditional>>Roth conversions in those years

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