3-Minute Rule | Taxes

THE 3-MINUTE RULE: We constantly remind the families we serve of this rule: If you’ve spent more than 3 minutes discussing a financial topic, invite us in, or just send an email or leave a voicemail. Get it off your to-do list. Part of the value of having an advisory team is access:

• To brainstorm
• To reduce anxiety
• To be directed toward the right next step (or the right person to help)
• To outsource implementation & save time

Whether it’s frustration, anxiety, confusion, or simply something you’re tired of carrying around—don’t do it alone. After that third minute? Leverage your planning team to find answers and help ensure things get done.

WHAT IF?: The future is unknowable and unknown. How might the past help shape your view of investing and the future? Headlines, disasters, and hardships are the norm for investors. Good investors stay patient and disciplined.

*S&P 500 Index (TR) is a market‑capitalization‑weighted index of 500 large‑cap U.S. companies. Index returns are unmanaged, cannot be invested indirectly, and (if applicable) reflect the reinvestment of dividends.

PLANNING FOR ALL STAGES OF LIFE: There is no one-size-fits-all financial advice. Financial planning is always tailored to your personal situation and goals:

Building the Foundation: Age 20+

• High Income, limited clarity on financial trajectory
• Optimize for opportunity
• Starting with cash flow, tax, & investment discipline
• Equity education, career-driven planning

Growing Complexity: Age 30+

• Advanced tax planning & equity compensation strategy
• New relationships, home ownership, career changes
• Strategic use of cash flow for long-term wealth building

Pivotal Choices: Age 40+

• Create the path to a work-optional life
• Reassess your financial foundation of insurance and liquidity
• Confirm proper trust & will planning
• Liquidity events, equity exercises, educational costs, & aging parents

Focus: Age 50+

• Prepping for retirement, college tuition, supporting both dependents and retired parents
• Roth conversion strategies, long-term care prep, portfolio de-risking
• Modeling semi-retirement scenarios

Success: Age 60+

• Financial independence may become more tangible for many clients
• Financial opportunities to include children and grandchildren
• Income winds down, but complexity doesn’t
• Cash flow planning from portfolios, Social Security strategy, and legacy planning

Life happens. We are here to help you navigate changes and pursue your financial goals and greater financial independence.

TAXES: We are obsessed with taxes. Specifically, strategies to help our clients pay less in taxes over their lifetime. If moving, downsizing, relocating closer to grandchildren, or replacing your snow shovel with warm weather and sunglasses is a possibility, we can help with the tax planning. This chart, as well as your current and future state taxes, can contribute to a great conversation:

SORTING MACHINE: The IPO watch continues for Stripe and a long list of peers choosing to stay private. A thoughtful summary from Stripe’s annual letter:

“At heart, competitive markets are a sorting machine. They direct profits, capital, and talent to the places of greatest impact, as determined by customers voting with their wallets. Historically, this sorting happened methodically. It typically took decades for a household name to be unseated or for a new entrant to reach meaningful scale. The sorting machine is now whirring faster: winners and losers are being anointed more quickly and more intensely. Today, the most profitable third of publicly listed companies in the US account for two-thirds of total market capitalization, the highest share since data began in 1963. And much of this is a story of profit concentration, not just valuations: the top 10% of the S&P 500 by market cap now account for roughly 59% of the index’s total profits, which is elevated relative to recent history.”

MEMORY BANK: Sometimes it takes a song to remind us to spend.

*The views expressed represent the opinions of Compass Ion Advisors, LLC, as of the date noted and are subject to change. These views are not intended as a forecast, a guarantee of future results, an investment recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any securities. The information provided is of a general nature and should not be construed as investment advice or to provide any investment, tax, financial, or legal advice or service to any person. The information contained has been compiled from sources deemed reliable, yet accuracy is not guaranteed.

Additional information, including management fees and expenses, is provided on our Form ADV Part 2 available upon request or at the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website here. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.