The Master’s Minute

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The Master’s Minute – High Income Professionals Should Know These 2025 Tax Updates (OBBA) | 2025 Tax Series III

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High-income professionals reviewing tax changes on a clipboard together, with other professionals in business attire, men and women, seated at a conference table behind them.

Welcome to the third installment in our Q3 blog series covering the recently-enacted tax bill that was signed into law earlier this summer. In our first blog, the series introduction, we explored a high-level overview of the tax changes in 2025 related to the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBBA). Then, we moved on and covered the most important things for retirees or those quickly approaching retirement. The focus of today’s… Read More

The Master’s Minute – Tax Changes That Impact You in the OBBBA | 2025 Tax Series

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On July 4th, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) was signed into law, and with it came a number of changes for current and future tax law. Over the next four weeks, we will break down these changes and how they will impact tax planning for our clients going forward. In Part I of our series, we focus on the big picture changes that the bill signed into law…. Read More

The Master’s Minute – Alternative Investments in 401(k) Plans: The Impact of the Recent Executive Order

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Image of a hand over paper charts and graphs with puzzle pieces and a red pen working on their 401k changes. The puzzle pieces say stocks, bonds, and on the paper is written alternative investments.

On August 7th of 2025, President Trump issued an executive order with the intent to allow defined contribution plans, such as 401(k)s, to include alternative investments as an available investment option in their fund lineups alongside more traditional equity and fixed income funds. 401(k) plans are essential and powerful parts of many retirement strategies. It’s important to understand any changes that impact them and any potential benefits or risks that… Read More

The Master’s Minute – Types of Life Insurance | Series Part IV

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By now, we hope you recognize the important role that life insurance plays in a financial plan. For this final installment in our series, we want to answer the question: What type of policy is right for me? The goal of today’s blog is to provide an initial framework for how to begin thinking about this question. We’ll discuss the basic types of life insurance, and move into how to… Read More

The Master’s Minute – Does Life Insurance Build Wealth? | Series Part III

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An umbrella shelters a small tree on a pile of coins, representing the protection of life insurance for the building wealth article.

  Today’s blog post begins by asking a fundamental financial planning question: Does life insurance build wealth? Or, to make it more personal, you might be asking: Should I use a life insurance policy as a long-term investment? To answer these questions, we need to first understand some regulatory compliance issues and essential cautions that you need to know before purchasing certain kinds of life insurance. These are great questions…… Read More

The Master’s Minute – Life Insurance and Wealth Management: Is It Essential? | Series Part I

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A family sits together for a portrait, with three generations shown - grandparents, adult children, and grandchildren, to illustrate the importance of life insurance.

It’s a common question: “is life insurance really essential for wealth management?” That’s likely because, when most people consider what wealth management entails, the aspect that comes to mind is managing investments. However, wealth management is much more than simply trading a portfolio of stocks and bonds. It involves other vital items, such as estate planning, tax planning, charitable giving, risk management, and cash flow (just to name a few)…. Read More

The Master’s Minute – When Should I Consider Hiring a Wealth Advisor?

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Woman with her hand on her head looking at papers, wondering if it's time to consider a wealth advisor.

The right time to hire a Wealth Advisor depends on several personal and financial factors. One of the biggest? Your own aptitude for making financial decisions. If you enjoy managing your finances, have a good grasp of investment principles, consistently make sound financial choices, and have the time to manage everything yourself, you may not need a Wealth Advisor—at least not right away. Your past performance is usually the best… Read More

The Master’s Minute – 4 Strategies for Maximizing Tax-Advantaged Accounts

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Investors discuss maximizing tax advantaged accounts at a conference table

Maximizing tax-advantaged accounts means utilizing them to their fullest potential in your portfolio, and that starts with ensuring that you are aware of all your options. Today, investors are fortunate to have access to a wider variety of these tax-advantaged investment accounts than ever before. Once your financial goals are established and sufficient cash reserves are in place, funding these accounts is typically one of the first priorities in any… Read More

The Master’s Minute – Maxed Out Your Retirement Account? Here Is What You Should Do Next!

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High earning professionals talk to their financial planner about their maxed out retirement accounts.

For most high-income professionals, the first step in a long-term savings strategy is to fund an employer-sponsored retirement account (such as a 401K or SIMPLE IRA).  There are several ways that you can position the income you have earmarked for retirement savings, often in accounts that have tax advantages, such as Traditional and Roth IRAs, but there are other options as well.   Each of these options offers unique benefits… Read More

The Master’s Minute – What Are Wealth Advisors?

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Couple discussing what are wealth advisors with a professional.

A wealth advisor is your financial architect—someone who understands your vision, creates a personalized financial “blueprint,” and brings in the right professionals to help you build a strong financial structure.   Think of your financial life like building a custom home. You wouldn’t start pouring concrete or picking out countertops without a blueprint.   In today’s blog, we will clear up a few very common misconceptions about financial advisors, explain… Read More