Valued Clients & Friends, As 2024 comes to a close, I want to take a moment to reflect on what has been another remarkable year for the economy, markets, and our collective financial journeys. This year brought its share of uncertainties—ranging from geopolitical tensions to election-year dynamics—but it also underscored the resilience of the U.S. economy and the opportunities that arise when we remain disciplined and focused on long-term goals.

As the year ends, it’s time to reflect on the achievements of your 401(k) plan. For plan sponsors, celebrating success is about more than checking compliance boxes—it’s an opportunity to recognize the positive impact your plan has had on employees and your organization. Here’s how you can identify, celebrate, and communicate your 401(k) plan’s successes to build momentum and engagement for the year ahead.

In part one of this blog series, I discussed why cash value life insurance is often a poor investment choice. These products are, quite frankly, sold more often than they’re bought. A key selling point in recent years has been the concept of “infinite banking” and “tax free policy dividends.”

In a September blog post, I discussed annuities and my concerns about their widespread sales tactics. Staying in that vein, let's dive into another product often marketed as a hybrid insurance and investment vehicle: cash-value, whole life insurance. Cash Value Whole Life Insurance policies promise the security of a death benefit along with a tax-free savings component. But do they really deliver? To reveal the flaws, we will look at this as a math problem below.

Matt collaborates with Leanne Broyles, JD of Frost Law on the complexities of estate planning in our technologically advanced world.

The internet is a great place to find financial insights, and I love using X (formerly Twitter) to follow portfolio managers, macroeconomists, and advisors I respect. However, the algorithm also brings a lot of bad advice to my feed. Lately, I’ve seen a repetitive trope: “Buy VOO and chill” as the only retirement plan you need. For those not memorizing investment tickers, VOO is the Vanguard S&P 500 Index. I like VOO—it’s one of the cheapest ways to buy into one of the most important indices in the world. But, this raises, is it really a complete retirement plan? There are a few issues with this, but let’s focus on two: recency bias and liquidity.

As a 401(k) plan sponsor, you play a critical role in helping your employees save for retirement. But with that role comes significant fiduciary responsibilities. Fulfilling these obligations can be challenging, especially as regulations change and plan oversight becomes more complex. Understanding your fiduciary duties is crucial—not only for protecting your employees' retirement savings but also for minimizing your own liability. In this blog, we'll break down the key fiduciary responsibilities for plan sponsors and explore why outsourcing many of these duties to a retirement plan advisor can be a smart decision for your business.

In August and September, I happily welcomed two new clients to the firm who both had variable annuities or index-linked annuities. I very rarely advise clients to invest in annuities, and this recent onboarding experience has reminded me of why. In my opinion, annuities are financial products that are sold, not bought. As both a CPA and a CFP®, I have been consistently disturbed by the misleading information that annuity firms use as part of their sales pitch. This only reinforces my belief that a better investment solution often lies in a more traditional, albeit conservative, portfolio.

Recently, I was working with a client for whom I only provide tax services. She has a sizable taxable investment account, almost entirely invested in actively managed mutual funds, largely the Fidelity Magellan Fund. While I typically steer clients away from actively managed funds in taxable accounts due to the unpredictable capital gains distributions, in this case, the returns were undeniably strong. Paying taxes on profits is a problem we don’t mind having!

As a part of the BTC Financial Advisors Network, Matt shares his thoughts on bitcoin and how it can be an insurance with inflation.