Your 70s should be a time to enjoy what you’ve spent decades working toward. For many people, the early part of this decade is an opportunity to travel, spend more time with family and friends, pursue hobbies, and finally make room for some of the things that were difficult to prioritize during their working years.

That doesn’t mean financial planning takes a back seat. In fact, having a solid financial plan can make it easier to enjoy this stage of life without constantly worrying about whether your money will last. The focus has simply changed. Instead of concentrating primarily on building wealth, you’re now managing the assets you’ve accumulated and using them to support the life you want.

Make Time for the Things You’ve Been Waiting For

If you’ve spent decades saving for retirement, don’t forget why you were saving in the first place. The early years of retirement can be some of the best years to travel and experience new things, particularly while you’re healthy and able to enjoy them.

Whether you’ve always wanted to visit a certain country, take a long road trip, spend more time with grandchildren, or finally pursue a favorite hobby, make room for those experiences in your financial plan. Retirement spending doesn’t have to be limited to the essentials. Your plan should account for the things that make retirement enjoyable.

Create a Retirement Income Plan

Once you’re no longer receiving a regular paycheck, your income may come from several places. Social Security, pensions, retirement accounts, and investment portfolios can all play a role.

Your spending may also change over time. Travel and other discretionary expenses may be higher early in retirement, while healthcare and other costs could become more significant later. Reviewing your withdrawal strategy as your circumstances change can help your income keep pace with your actual needs.

Stay on Top of RMDs

Required Minimum Distributions are an important part of financial planning for many retirees. Taking the appropriate amount from retirement accounts each year can help you avoid penalties, but the decision shouldn’t be viewed in isolation.

RMDs can affect your taxable income and may influence other parts of your financial plan. Coordinating withdrawals with Social Security, pensions, and other income sources can help you make better use of your retirement assets and manage your tax situation.

Keep Your Investments Working

Retirement doesn’t necessarily mean your portfolio should stop growing. For many people, retirement can last 20 or 30 years, which means inflation remains a concern.

Your portfolio still needs to support you over a long period of time. Finding the right balance between investments that provide stability, investments that generate income, and investments that offer long term growth is an important part of managing retirement assets.

Review Your Healthcare Coverage

Healthcare expenses can become a larger part of your budget as you get older. Medicare coverage, supplemental insurance, prescription costs, and other medical expenses are worth reviewing regularly.

Your healthcare needs can also change over time, so the coverage that made sense several years ago may not be the best fit today. Keeping an eye on these costs can help you make more informed decisions about your overall retirement budget.

Keep Your Estate Plan Current

Estate planning in your 70s is about more than deciding who receives your assets. It also involves making sure someone you trust can step in and make financial or healthcare decisions if you’re unable to do so.

Review your will, trusts, beneficiary designations, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives. If your family or financial circumstances have changed, your documents may need to change with them.

Be Careful With Financial Scams

Financial scams have become increasingly sophisticated, and retirees are often targeted because scammers know they may have significant savings and investment assets.

Be cautious about unexpected calls, emails, texts, or investment opportunities that create a sense of urgency or promise unusually high returns. If you’re unsure about something, take the time to verify it with someone you trust before sending money or providing personal information.

Give Thoughtfully

For many people, retirement provides more opportunity to think about how they want to use their wealth. That might mean helping children or grandchildren, supporting a favorite charity, or sharing experiences with the people who matter most.

If charitable giving is important to you, there may also be tax considerations worth discussing as part of your broader financial plan. Giving can be both personally meaningful and financially thoughtful when it is incorporated into the plan.

Talk With Your Family

Your financial plan doesn’t have to be a private conversation. Sharing your general wishes with the people closest to you can make things easier if they ever need to help manage your affairs.

Make sure family members or other trusted individuals know where important documents are located and understand your preferences regarding healthcare and finances. These conversations may not always be easy, but having them before they’re needed can prevent confusion later.

Enjoy the Retirement You’ve Built

By your 70s, financial planning should support more than just a number on a statement. Your money should give you the ability to spend your time in ways that are meaningful to you, whether that means traveling, spending time with family, volunteering, pursuing hobbies, or simply enjoying a slower pace.

The goal isn’t to spend without a plan or to worry about every dollar. It’s to understand what you can comfortably afford and then enjoy it. Regularly reviewing your income, investments, healthcare costs, estate plan, and giving goals can help keep your finances aligned with your life as it changes.

Retirement is the reward for years of planning and saving. Your financial plan should help you enjoy it.

Your 60s are often the decade when retirement shifts from a future goal to an immediate decision. After years of saving and investing, the focus begins to change. Instead of asking how much you should be saving, you’re more likely to ask how your savings will support the life you want to live.

Retirement doesn’t look the same for everyone. Some people leave the workforce as soon as they’re eligible, while others continue working because they enjoy it or want additional financial flexibility. Whatever your plans, this is a good time to review your financial picture and make sure you’re prepared for the years ahead.

Create a Plan for Retirement Income

One of the biggest adjustments in retirement is replacing your paycheck. For many retirees, income comes from several different sources, including retirement accounts, investment portfolios, pensions, and Social Security.

Having a plan for when to use each source of income can help your savings last longer and provide greater confidence as you move into retirement. The goal is to create a reliable income stream that supports your lifestyle while remaining flexible enough to adapt as circumstances change.

Decide When Retirement Makes Sense

Choosing when to retire is about more than reaching a certain birthday. Your savings, expected spending, healthcare costs, and personal goals all play a role in the decision.

Some people are financially prepared to retire earlier than expected, while others decide that working a few additional years better supports the retirement they have in mind. Taking the time to evaluate your options can help you make that decision with greater confidence.

Understand Your Social Security Options

For many households, Social Security is an important part of retirement income. The age at which you begin receiving benefits can affect the amount you receive each month for the rest of your life.

There isn’t one claiming strategy that fits everyone. Your health, marital status, other income sources, and retirement goals should all be part of the conversation before making a decision.

Prepare for Healthcare Costs

Healthcare often becomes a larger part of your financial plan during your 60s. Understanding when to enroll in Medicare, what it covers, and where additional insurance may be appropriate can help you avoid unexpected costs.

Planning ahead also gives you a better understanding of how healthcare expenses fit into your overall retirement budget.

Review Your Investment Strategy

Your investment portfolio should continue to reflect your goals as retirement approaches or begins. While preserving the wealth you’ve accumulated becomes increasingly important, your investments may still need to provide growth throughout a retirement that could last several decades.

Reviewing your allocation periodically can help ensure your portfolio continues to match your income needs, time horizon, and comfort with market fluctuations.

Plan Ahead for Required Minimum Distributions

Required Minimum Distributions may still be several years away, but understanding how they work before they begin can help you make more informed decisions today.

Future withdrawals may affect your taxable income and overall retirement strategy. Planning ahead provides more flexibility than waiting until distributions become mandatory.

Keep Your Estate Plan Current

Your estate plan should continue to reflect your family, finances, and personal wishes.

Review your will, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, beneficiary designations, and any trust documents to make sure they remain up to date. Major life events, changes in family relationships, or new financial goals are all good reasons to revisit these documents.

Plan for Life After Work

Preparing for retirement isn’t only about finances. It’s also about how you’ll spend your time once your career comes to an end.

Many retirees look forward to traveling, volunteering, spending more time with family, pursuing hobbies, or even working part time. Thinking through what retirement will look like on a daily basis can make the transition feel more rewarding and help you enter this next chapter with purpose.

Looking Ahead

Retirement is the result of years of planning, saving, and disciplined decision making. Your 60s provide an opportunity to bring those pieces together and prepare for the transition from earning an income to relying on the assets you’ve built.

By reviewing your retirement income plan, healthcare strategy, investments, Social Security options, and estate documents, you can move into retirement with a clearer understanding of how your financial plan supports the life you want to live.

Your 50s are often the decade when retirement starts to feel real. For many people, careers are well established, children are becoming more independent, and the focus begins to shift toward what life will look like after work. While there is still time to make meaningful financial progress, the decisions you make during these years can have a lasting impact on your retirement.

This is a good time to take a close look at where you stand today, identify any gaps in your plan, and make adjustments while you still have several working years ahead of you.

Increase Retirement Savings

Once you reach your 50s, you’re eligible to make catch up contributions to many retirement accounts. If your budget allows, this can be one of the most effective ways to strengthen your retirement savings during your highest earning years.

Even if you’ve been saving consistently throughout your career, increasing contributions now may provide additional flexibility later. The closer retirement gets, the more valuable it becomes to take advantage of every opportunity to save.

Measure Your Retirement Progress

Rather than focusing only on the size of your retirement accounts, consider whether your savings are likely to support the lifestyle you want in retirement.

Estimate your future spending, review your expected income sources, and think about when you plan to retire. Looking at your plan as a whole can provide a clearer picture than simply checking investment balances from time to time.

If you’re behind where you’d like to be, there may still be opportunities to adjust your savings, retirement timeline, or future spending expectations.

Review Your Investment Portfolio

Your investment strategy should continue to reflect your goals, but it may deserve another look as retirement gets closer.

That doesn’t necessarily mean moving everything into conservative investments. Most retirees will still need their portfolios to provide growth for many years. Instead, focus on making sure your allocation matches your comfort with risk, your expected retirement date, and your future income needs.

Reviewing your portfolio periodically can help ensure it hasn’t gradually drifted away from your original strategy.

Reduce Expensive Debt

Entering retirement with high interest debt can make it more difficult to manage your income once paychecks stop.

If you have credit card balances or other costly loans, paying them down before retirement can improve monthly cash flow and reduce financial stress. Lower interest debt, such as a mortgage, may require a different approach depending on your overall financial situation and retirement goals.

Prepare for Healthcare Costs

Healthcare expenses often become a larger part of financial planning during your 50s. Taking time now to understand your health insurance options and estimate future medical expenses can help you avoid surprises later.

If you’re eligible to contribute to a Health Savings Account, it may also be worth considering. An HSA offers valuable tax advantages and can be an effective way to save for qualified healthcare expenses in retirement.

Think Ahead About Long Term Care

Long term care is a topic many people would rather avoid, but planning ahead can provide more options.

Whether the solution involves insurance, personal savings, or another strategy, it’s worth understanding how a future need for care could affect your retirement plan and your family. Having these conversations before they’re necessary often leads to better decisions than waiting until a health event forces action.

Update Your Estate Plan

Your estate plan should change as your life changes.

Review your will, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, beneficiary designations, and any trust documents to make sure they still reflect your wishes. If your family has grown, your financial situation has changed, or you have charitable goals you’d like to support, this is a good opportunity to revisit those plans.

Start Planning for Retirement Income

Saving for retirement is only part of the process. It’s also important to think about how you’ll eventually use those savings.

Consider where your retirement income will come from, including retirement accounts, investment portfolios, pensions, Social Security, and other assets. Developing a withdrawal strategy before retirement can help you better understand how your different income sources may work together.

Understand Your Social Security Options

The age at which you claim Social Security can affect your monthly benefit for the rest of your life.

There isn’t one answer that works for everyone. Your health, other retirement income, marital status, and overall financial situation can all influence the right decision. Reviewing your options well before retirement gives you more time to make an informed choice.

Looking Ahead

Your 50s are an opportunity to turn years of saving into a clear plan for retirement. While there’s still time to make adjustments, it’s also a chance to evaluate whether your financial decisions are supporting the retirement you envision.

Reviewing your savings, investments, healthcare planning, debt, estate documents, and future income strategy can help you enter the next stage of life with a better understanding of where you stand and what steps, if any, should come next.

Your 40s often bring a different set of financial challenges than previous decades. Careers are typically more established, income may be higher, and you’ve likely accumulated more assets than you had in your 20s or 30s. At the same time, expenses can reach their peak as mortgage payments, children’s activities, college planning, and family responsibilities all compete for your attention.

With so many priorities pulling in different directions, your financial plan should help you make decisions about where your money can have the greatest long-term impact.

Take a Fresh Look at Retirement

Retirement may still be years away, but this is a good time to evaluate whether you’re on pace to reach your goals. Compare your current savings with the lifestyle you hope to have in retirement and determine whether your contributions need to increase.

As income grows, consider directing part of future raises or bonuses into retirement accounts before increasing spending elsewhere. Your 40s still offer many years for those additional contributions to grow, but waiting another decade can make catching up much more difficult.

Review Your Investment Strategy

As your portfolio grows, it’s worth stepping back to make sure your investment strategy still reflects your goals. Market performance over the years may have changed your portfolio’s allocation, making it more or less aggressive than you originally intended.

Rather than reacting to short-term market movements, focus on maintaining an allocation that matches your time horizon, financial objectives, and comfort with risk. Periodic rebalancing can help keep your portfolio aligned with your long-term plan.

Prepare for College Costs

For many families, college planning becomes more immediate during this decade. If you’ve been contributing to a 529 plan, now is a good time to review whether your savings are keeping pace with expected education costs. If you haven’t started yet, it’s still worth exploring your options and developing a realistic plan.

College is an important financial goal, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of your own retirement. Students have several ways to help pay for higher education, while retirement is something you’ll largely be responsible for funding yourself.

Make Sure Your Insurance Keeps Up

The insurance coverage you purchased years ago may no longer reflect your current financial situation. As income, assets, and responsibilities grow, it’s worth reviewing your life insurance, disability insurance, homeowners coverage, and umbrella liability policy.

A periodic review can help ensure that your coverage still fits your needs and that your family would be protected if something unexpected happened.

Be Intentional About Debt

By your 40s, many people are managing a mortgage, auto loans, or other long-term debt. Rather than focusing solely on becoming debt-free, consider how each obligation fits into your overall financial picture.

Paying off high-interest debt should generally remain a priority, while lower-interest loans may be balanced alongside retirement contributions and other long-term investment goals.

Have Conversations About Aging Parents

Many people find themselves caring for both children and aging parents during their 40s. While these conversations aren’t always easy, discussing healthcare wishes, estate plans, long-term care, and financial resources before they’re needed can make future decisions much less stressful.

Planning ahead also helps families understand expectations and avoid making important financial decisions during a crisis.

Review Your Estate Plan

Estate planning isn’t something that’s completed once and forgotten. Major life events, changes in family circumstances, and growing assets often make periodic updates necessary.

Review your will, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, beneficiary designations, and any trust documents to make sure they still reflect your wishes and your family’s current situation.

Look for Tax Planning Opportunities

As earnings increase, taxes often become a larger part of your financial picture. This is a good time to review retirement account contributions, charitable giving strategies, capital gains, and other planning opportunities that could improve your after-tax results.

While no single strategy is likely to make a dramatic difference on its own, consistent tax planning over many years can add meaningful value.

Keep Retirement at the Top of the List

It’s easy for retirement to move down the priority list when there are college bills, home projects, and family expenses competing for your attention. Those goals are all important, but your retirement deserves continued attention as well.

The closer retirement gets, the fewer years remain for additional savings to benefit from long-term growth. Staying consistent now can provide more flexibility and confidence later.

Bringing It All Together

Your 40s often involve balancing more financial priorities than any other stage of life. Career opportunities, family responsibilities, and long-term goals all require attention, and there are rarely perfect answers for every decision.

A thoughtful financial plan can help you navigate those competing priorities without losing sight of the bigger picture. By continuing to save for retirement, keeping your investments aligned with your goals, reviewing your protection strategies, and planning ahead for major family decisions, you can make steady progress toward the future you’re working to build.

Your 30s can be some of the busiest years of your financial life. Careers are moving forward, incomes may be increasing, and many people are buying homes, starting families, or taking on new responsibilities. With more happening at once, financial decisions often become more complicated than they were a decade earlier.

This stage of life is less about starting from scratch and more about building on the habits you’ve already established. The decisions you make now can have a lasting effect on your finances for years to come.

Save More as Your Income Grows

As your career progresses and your income increases, take another look at how much you’re contributing to retirement. Receiving your employer’s full match is important, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re saving enough to meet your long-term goals.

One simple approach is to increase your retirement contribution whenever you receive a raise. Even a small increase can add up over the course of a career, especially when those dollars have decades to remain invested. If your retirement plan offers automatic contribution increases, consider taking advantage of that feature.

Make Sure Your Income Is Protected

Your ability to earn a paycheck is likely one of your most valuable financial assets. If an illness or injury prevented you from working for an extended period, the impact could reach well beyond a missed paycheck.

Your 30s are a good time to review disability insurance, including any coverage provided through your employer. Understanding how much of your income would actually be replaced and how long benefits could last can help identify potential gaps in coverage.

Revisit Your Life Insurance

Life insurance needs often change significantly during your 30s. Marriage, children, a mortgage, or other financial responsibilities may mean that someone else is now relying on your income.

Coverage should reflect your current financial situation. Consider the income your family would need, outstanding debts, future education costs, and other major expenses. As your family and finances change, it’s worth reviewing your coverage rather than assuming a policy purchased several years ago is still appropriate.

Keep Cash Available for the Unexpected

Unexpected expenses can become more costly as life gets more complicated. Home repairs, medical bills, car expenses, and changes in employment can put pressure on a household budget.

An emergency fund can help cover these costs without immediately turning to credit cards or selling investments. Three to six months of expenses is a common starting point, although the right amount will depend on your income, job stability, and family responsibilities.

Take a Closer Look at Debt

High-interest debt can make it difficult to put money toward other priorities. Paying down expensive debt can improve monthly cash flow and free up money for saving and investing.

As your income grows, be intentional about where raises and bonuses go. Using a portion of additional income to reduce debt can make a meaningful difference without requiring major changes to your regular budget.

Start Planning for Family Goals

Financial priorities often expand during your 30s. You may be saving for a home, raising children, thinking about education costs, or helping aging parents.

These goals can compete for the same dollars, which makes planning increasingly important. If college savings is a priority, this may be a good time to consider a 529 plan and determine how education savings fit alongside retirement and other financial goals.

Be Mindful of Lifestyle Creep

A higher income can make it easy for spending to increase without much thought. A nicer car, a larger home, and more expensive vacations may all fit into the budget individually, but together they can quickly absorb additional income.

Enjoying the benefits of career growth is important. The key is making sure your savings increase along with your spending. Setting aside a portion of each raise before taking on new expenses can help keep long-term goals moving forward.

Put Basic Estate Documents in Place

Estate planning becomes more important as you accumulate assets and take on family responsibilities. If you own a home, have children, or have someone who depends on you financially, basic estate documents deserve attention.

A will, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives can provide clear instructions if you’re unable to make decisions or something happens unexpectedly. Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and insurance policies should also be reviewed after major life changes.

Stay Invested With the Long Term in Mind

Your 30s still leave plenty of time for long-term investing. Market declines and periods of uncertainty are inevitable, but frequently changing your investment strategy in response to short-term news can make it harder to stay focused on your goals.

Review your portfolio periodically, maintain an appropriate level of diversification, and continue investing consistently. Your investment strategy should reflect your own timeline and comfort with risk rather than whatever is receiving the most attention in the market.

Building on the Progress You’ve Made

Financial planning in your 30s often means managing several priorities at the same time. Retirement may feel far away, but today’s expenses and family responsibilities are very real.

The goal isn’t to handle everything perfectly or reach every financial milestone by a certain age. It’s to make thoughtful decisions, review your plan as life changes, and keep making progress. The habits and decisions you establish during your 30s can put you in a much stronger position for the decades ahead.

Your 20s are an exciting decade filled with major life changes: graduating college, getting your first job, buying your first car, or perhaps your first home. Here at Schenley Capital, we recommend that you establish healthy financial habits that can have a long-lasting impact on your future.

The good news is that small and consistent action now can create a strong financial foundation for years to come.

Establish Your Financial Accounts

One of the first steps toward financial independence is setting up the right accounts. At a minimum, you should have a checking account for everyday expenses, a savings account for short-term goals and emergencies, and a retirement or investment account to begin investing for your future.

If your employer offers a retirement plan, such as a 401(k) plan, consider participating in it as early as possible, especially if there is an employer match. An individual investment account can also provide additional flexibility for long-term wealth building.

Develop a Budget and Track Spending

A budget is about understanding where your money is going and ensuring it aligns with your priorities. Tracking your spending can provide insight into your financial habits and provide you with the confidence needed to make healthy financial decisions. Whether you use an app (like Rocket Money or Credit Karma), spreadsheet, or notebook, having a budgeting system is very important.

Build Your Credit

Establishing credit early can help for future financial opportunities such as renting an apartment, purchasing a vehicle, or getting a mortgage. To do this, open a credit card in your name and use it responsibly by making payments on time and avoid carrying large balances. Good credit is built over time, and starting in your 20s is an ideal opportunity.

Automate Your Savings

Setting up automatic transfers from your paycheck to savings and investment accounts can help ensure that saving becomes a habit. Regardless of your contributions, your savings will add up significantly over time (thanks to the power of consistency and compound growth).

Learn the Difference Between Wants and Needs

One of the most valuable financial skills is understanding the difference between things that are necessary and things that are not. Making intentional decisions about how you spend your money today will greatly impact your ability to make decisions for tomorrow’s goals.

Avoid Lifestyle Inflation

As your salary increases, it is important to refrain from increasing your spending along with it. Consistently increasing your spending can make it difficult to build long-term wealth.

Create an Emergency Fund

Building an emergency fund can help provide financial security and reduce the need to rely on debt when unexpected expenses occur. A common goal is to accumulate three to six months’ worth of essential living expenses, though starting with a smaller target (especially in your 20s) is perfectly acceptable.

The Bottom Line

Your 20s are less about perfection and more about establishing healthy financial habits. Building credit, budgeting, consistent savings, early investments, and smart decisions can put you in a very strong position for the future. The choices you make today do not need to be dramatic, just intentional. Small steps now will enable your financial foundation to support you for decades to come.

Artificial intelligence has quickly become one of the biggest stories in today’s markets. It seems like every week brings another announcement about a breakthrough in AI, another company incorporating it into its business, or another stock reaching new highs because of its perceived AI potential. As a result, many investors are wondering what role AI should play in their investment strategy.

The excitement is understandable. AI has the potential to improve productivity, lower costs, and change the way businesses operate across a wide range of industries. At the same time, investors should remember that technological innovation and successful investing are not always the same thing. While major advancements can create tremendous opportunities, they also tend to generate periods of heightened optimism that don’t always match reality.

Every Major Innovation Brings Opportunity

History offers several examples of this pattern. Railroads transformed transportation, electricity revolutionized manufacturing, and the internet fundamentally changed communication and commerce. Each of these innovations created lasting economic value, but the path was rarely smooth. Some companies became long-term winners, while many others that appeared promising early on ultimately struggled or disappeared altogether.

Artificial intelligence has the potential to be another technology that changes the way businesses operate. While the long-term impact remains uncertain, it’s clear that companies across many industries are investing heavily to better understand and utilize its capabilities.

Why Markets Are Paying Attention

Much of the market’s enthusiasm surrounding AI comes from its potential to improve business efficiency. Companies are using AI to automate repetitive tasks, analyze large amounts of data, improve customer service, and streamline operations. If these improvements continue, businesses may be able to increase profitability without significantly increasing costs. Investors have recognized this potential, which has contributed to strong performance among many companies associated with AI.

It’s important to remember, however, that markets tend to look well into the future. Stock prices often reflect expectations about tomorrow rather than today’s results, which means optimism can sometimes outpace reality.

AI Isn’t Just a Technology Story

Although technology companies receive most of the attention, AI’s impact extends well beyond the technology sector. Healthcare providers are using AI to assist with diagnostics and medical research. Manufacturers are improving production processes and quality control. Financial institutions continue to expand its use in fraud detection and risk management, while retailers are using AI to better understand customer behavior and improve inventory management.

As adoption continues to grow, many companies that benefit from AI may not actually be the ones developing the technology. Businesses that successfully use AI to become more efficient and better serve their customers could see meaningful advantages over time.

Innovation Still Comes With Risk

None of this means investors should ignore risk. New technologies often create high expectations, and markets have a tendency to price in future success well before it occurs. Even when an innovation proves to be transformational, not every company involved will become a long-term success. Competition increases, business models evolve, and today’s market leaders may not be the ones leading the industry ten years from now.

For investors, that serves as a reminder that strong fundamentals, reasonable valuations, and long-term business quality still matter. Exciting headlines alone rarely make for a sound investment strategy.

Why Diversification Still Matters

This is one of the reasons diversification remains such an important part of investing. Concentrating too much of a portfolio in one company, sector, or investment theme can increase risk, particularly when expectations are already high. A diversified portfolio allows investors to participate in areas of long-term growth while reducing the impact if one segment of the market experiences a setback.

Diversification doesn’t eliminate risk, but it helps ensure that a portfolio isn’t dependent on any single trend, industry, or company to achieve long-term success.

Keeping a Long-Term Perspective

It’s equally important not to let daily headlines dictate investment decisions. Financial news naturally focuses on what is new and exciting, and market sentiment can shift quickly as new information becomes available. Building long-term wealth, however, has rarely depended on reacting to every headline. Instead, it comes from maintaining a disciplined investment strategy that reflects an investor’s goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon.

Artificial intelligence will almost certainly remain a major investment theme for years to come, and its long-term impact on businesses and the economy could be significant. While no one can predict exactly which companies will emerge as the biggest winners, investors don’t need to make that prediction to benefit from innovation. A diversified portfolio built around high-quality investments and a long-term perspective remains one of the most reliable ways to participate in the growth of new technologies while managing the uncertainty that inevitably comes with them.

A Roth conversion is the process of repositioning your assets from a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. It is a unique and exciting retirement savings

opportunity! The purpose of the conversion would be to shift your assets into a Roth IRA which has the optimal tax-favored status.

So why would you consider such a move?

• Qualified distributions in retirement will be tax-free.

• Roth IRA owners are NOT required to take distributions while alive, allowing more flexibility on income tax planning.

• The Roth is a more flexible IRA for legacy planning or passing on to your heirs.

We had a client who came to us concerned about the substantial Traditional IRA they had amassed over their career. They were in a moderate tax bracket and were concerned that their Required Minimum Distributions from their IRA were going to be a burden. As this account was a substantial part of their wealth, they were also concerned about an efficient way to pass this asset on to their heirs. We recommended a Roth conversion over the next few years to slowly decrease their IRA balance to reduce future IRA RMDs.

Now, in retirement, our client enjoys unique tax diversification. Due to flexibility on if/when they take distributions from the Roth IRA, and the tax-free nature of these distributions; we can have better control over the distributions they take from the account, and their overall tax liability.

Our client was also very intrigued when we explained that their heirs would receive Roth IRA distributions tax-free. Their Roth is now allowing very flexible legacy planning.

The owner of the Roth IRA does not have to take Required Minimum Distributions from their account, unlike traditional IRA which require them to start distributions after they reach age 73. They can decide how much to take from the Roth IRA each year depending on their income, or one can
choose not to make any withdrawals.

In sum, it makes sense for you to make a Roth IRA conversion if:

• You expect to be in the same or higher tax brackets during retirement.

• You are looking for tax diversification in retirement.

• You may not need the funds for retirement and are considering transferring them to your beneficiaries.

• You won’t need the converted Roth Funds for at least five years.

It would be wise to find an advisor who could create an accurate projection for you to determine if a Roth IRA conversion would be the right decision for you. Our client’s projections were very advantageous; therefore, the Roth conversion was the right move.

Here at Schenley Capital, we focus on creating strategies that help you maximize the use of additional tax-saving vehicles. Whether it is planning for retirement, tax-efficient investing strategies, or figuring out the best way to leave assets to your heirs, we would love to talk to you. Additional strategies
can be implemented for large Traditional IRAs, such as donating your Required Minimum Distribution through a QCD, donor-advised fund, designated fund, or setting up specific trusts. We help shape investment plans that help achieve these goals, along with comprehensive financial planning for all
other aspects of life. Reaching your financial goals is a lifelong project – the sooner you start and the more you contribute, the quicker you can enjoy the benefits. Schedule a meeting to talk further with us about which financial strategies would be just right for your situation! Happy Holidays!

As we are quickly approaching the end of the year, we should all be thinking of actions we can take before year-end to reduce our taxes. For many of us, this is not a fun topic to think about. We thought it would be helpful to remind you of a couple of tax tips you can use with the help of your advisor or on your own. Below are five tax saving strategies to do before the end of the year.

#1: Complete Your Annual IRA Contribution:

• • In 2023 you can contribute $6,500 plus a $1,000 catch up provision if you are 50 or older. These can be towards either your Traditional IRA or Roth IRA. We encourage our clients to contribute to one of these accounts regardless of their income threshold.
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  • For 2023, the income limits to make a deductible contribution to a Traditional IRA are $116,000-$136,000 for MFJ or $73,000-$83,000 for MFS (along with Single filers). Although you will ALWAYS be able to make a nondeductible contribution to a traditional IRA, regardless of your level of income.
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  • Another alternative is the Roth IRA. This allows an individual to contribute after-tax money to grow tax free and have the chance to be completely tax free upon a qualified withdrawal. The income limit for a ROTH IRA in 2023 is $138,000-$153,000 for single filers and $218,000-$228,000 for Married filing jointly. If you are above these thresholds, consult with your tax advisor on options such as making a nondeductible Traditional IRA contribution or completing a Roth conversion.

#2: Maxing out your contribution to your company 401(K) plan.

• • Another end of year tax item is maxing out 401(K) contributions. Individuals are allowed to place $22,500 plus a $7,500 catch-up if 50 or older and up to $66,000 for the combined employee and employer contribution. For most people, their 401(K) is the largest retirement asset. Maxing out this vehicle can is a tax efficient way to fund your retirement.

#3: Tax Loss harvesting

• • It is wise to look at your individual investment portfolio and sell the losers you have been carrying in your portfolio and offset the losses by selling some stocks which you have experienced gains. Crossing your gains with your losses will result in no taxes being owed (0%-20% capital gains tax) on your investment gains, if done properly.
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  • In addition, this will rebalance your portfolio so that you can invest in new companies which will grow and produce dividends in the future.
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  • Due to recent market declines, many of our portfolios may be carrying losses. If your losses exceed your gains, you can carry these forwards to be used in the future. Beware, you can use up to $3,000 of losses per year in future years to offset capital gains. This is called a loss carry forward.

#4: Create a Donor Advised Fund

• • As the standard deduction in 2023 is high, ($13,850 for single and $27,700 for joint filers) less Americans are itemizing on their tax returns. It is smart to initiate a charitable fund for yourself with the goal of making charitable gifts in the future.
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  • This technique is called a Donor Advised fund. The Donor Advised Fund could be set up at The Pittsburgh Foundation or with your advisor at Schwab. This fund is used for making the gifts you normally make to your favorite non-profit organizations. Although you can “bunch” your gifts together and make one large gift to your Donor Advised Fund (DAF) you will have a large tax deduction in the year you make the donation. Individuals” bunch” their expected donations for multiple years into one year’s donation by contributing to a donor advised fund. The taxpayer will then be able to deduct the full amount contributed to this fund as a charitable contribution. The benefit of the DAF is the ability to make the gifts in the future while receiving an instant tax deduction in the current year when they make the contribution to the DAF.

#5: Required Minimum Distributions:

• • It is very important to remember to take your required distribution from your Individual Retirement Account, (IRA) if you are 73 or older. The penalty for missing this distribution is 25% of the amount not taken.
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  • You can better utilize your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) by making a gift to a non-profit organization. This strategy is highly effective, as you will NOT pay income tax on the amount which you gift to a 501 (c) (3) organization.
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  • If you are trying to figure out how to efficiently take your RMD without incurring a large tax in the current year, you may be interested in a Qualified Charitable Distribution. A Qualified Charitable Distribution allows the IRA owner to make a gift of up to $100,000 to a qualified charity without paying taxes on the Required Minimum Distribution. You could also make this $100,000 gift to your Donor Advised Fund annually. You would in turn give gifts from your donor advised fund to charities for many years as the funds grow.

We assist our clients in explaining and completing one or all these tax saving strategies each year. We begin reviewing and talking with our clients in August of each year to ensure we can complete each process by year-end

Our clients recently came to us to manage their family’s portfolios. They are nearing retirement and are concerned about taxes. They mentioned that they had just bought a beautiful home on the Isle of Palms in South Carolina near Charleston. They thought it was the place for them to retire and a convenient place for their three children to gather during the holidays. During one of our meetings, the Smiths asked how they could pass on the Isle of Palms home to their three children without paying a large gift tax on the transfer. We suggested the technique of initiating a QPRT – a Qualified Personal Residence Trust.

We explained that the purpose of this trust was to remove the home from their estate and reduce the gift tax on the appreciated value of their South Carolina home. This is huge – QPRTs are usually for second homes, beach homes, or ski houses which experience a great deal of appreciation. Therefore, removing the assets from the estate and making a gift to your children is a tax-efficient way to pass on a real asset to your children. Excited by the idea and the notion of lessening their estate tax burden they listened to the idea. They knew they wanted their children to have the Isle of Palms house.

We continued to clarify that a QPRT is an Irrevocable Grantor Trust, which means that you transfer your second home during your lifetime into a trust for a period of time and the grantor could name their children as beneficiaries who will receive the house after the term of the QPRT had expired. The Smiths liked the fact that they could continue to live and enjoy the property year-round and that of course the kids would be able to visit.

The Smiths would transfer the property by recording a deed with the local property registry and retitling the residence in the QPRT’s name such as the Smith Pennsylvania Personal Residence Trust. There is a time term, meaning that the Smiths must live for a period of time for the Trust to be effective. For example, seven (7) years. After seven years, the house and the appreciated value of the home now belong to their three kids. They said, “Wait a minute, we don’t want to be kicked out of our own home!” We reassured the Smiths that they would still live in their home, and maintain the house – business as usual. Although your children own the home.

They were thrilled to learn that they could enjoy the house and have the ownership passed to their kids in a smooth fashion. More importantly, the Smiths recognized the value and appreciated value of the home would be removed from their estate as a taxable asset. If the Smiths did not outlive the term for the QPRT then the value of the property would be included in their taxable estate.

The last little wrinkle, which was a bonus, we told the Smiths they could gift money to their kids in the form of “rent.” The QPRT rules state that the Smiths should pay fair market rent to their kids, as they are the new owners of the house. John Smith said, “Forget it, we are not paying our kids rent, as the house is our house!!”  We clarified that paying “rent” to your three kids is just another way to remove cash from the estate efficiently, by gifting it to their kids. After all the Smiths wanted their children to have the money so why not see them enjoy it? After John thought for a minute, he said he could see the value of giving his kids a little cash without having to consider the money as a gift for gift tax purposes.

As we walked through the idea of a QPRT with the Smiths for their Isle of Palms home there were so many positive attributes for this estate planning idea. They were fond of the idea of being able to give the house to their kids efficiently and effectively. They knew that the house was just going to increase in value each year and they did not want to have a large tax burden for their kids, this appreciation in the house would be sheltered inside the QPRT. What huge tax savings and a great relief!!

We are happy to talk about the idea of a QPRT or other thoughts concerning your investment portfolio.

Beth Genter 

Schenley Capital Inc. 

417 Walnut Street, Suite 200 

Sewickley, PA 15143 

(412)-749-9256

GENERAL DISCLAIMER:

This scenario is based on real client interactions but not on a specific client. Schenley Capital, Inc. does not provide legal, accounting, or tax advice. Any statement regarding such matters is explanatory and may not be relied upon as definitive advice. All investors are advised to consult with their legal, accounting, and tax advisers regarding any potential investment.