I’ve been too busy to write lately, and I miss writing. All at once, five new families are coming on board as clients, and a few more are close to making a decision. We are holding year-end tax planning meetings with clients. Often these meetings result in action to be taken, such as opening new retirement or charitable accounts and transferring funds. There are proposed changes to tax law in Congress that have prompted discussions about estate plans and family gifts.
A client retires and needs to roll over a 401k with company stock. We identify an opportunity to execute a net unrealized appreciation (NUA) withdrawal. Another client’s father passes away at 96, leaving an unexpected multi-million portfolio and two properties. The sale of the family business we’ve been talking about all year finally closes, and there’s a tax bill to plan for and cash to invest. I’m introduced to the mother of a client who isn’t getting enough service from her existing wealth manager. I get a call from a client who has an offer on a new home but won’t list the existing home until January. How do we finance the closing with temporary funds?
This is just a snippet of the planning work I’ve done over the past four weeks. The stars have aligned, and work is raining down on me at a pace unimaginable to me earlier in my career. This is what it’s like to be on a rocket ship 30 seconds after launch. We are barrelling away from the surface of the Earth at Mach 5.
My cup runneth over. This is what I was born to do.
At the same time, life is returning to something resembling pre-pandemic normalcy. There are school field trips to chaperone, fundraisers to attend, in-person board meetings, lunches, and get-togethers. I took my first business trip in two years last month and spent three glorious days in New York City meeting with clients in person. I haven’t made it to a football game yet, but I’ve had a few opportunities.
Halloween with a 4-year-old and a 1-year-old was magical. One of the greatest benefits of being a parent is getting to experience childhood again as an adult. I know my son won’t want to dress in family costumes forever, so I took his invitation to dress as members of the Justice League this year. He wanted to be The Flash, and the other costumes fell from there. We enjoyed two nights of Halloween, once on Friday at the school “Trunk of Treat” and again walking door to door on Sunday night.
Thanksgiving turns into Christmas, and another year will close. I’ve never been more excited about life today and for what lies ahead. These are some of the best days and also some of the hardest working days of life.
Bat Girl, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Robin
Check out my Instagram interview series; This Week in Women LIVE. I’ve interviewed 16 amazing and talented women on topics ranging from pandemic parenting to planning for aging in place.
We announced Future Proof Festival in Huntington Beach, CA next September. This is not a conference; no more cold hotel ballrooms and Pepsi products. If you are in any way working in personal finance, asset management, or wealth management, you can’t miss it. It’s going to be the SXSW of finance. More on this later.
