Episode 128 – Finish the Year Strong: Tax, Estate & Investment Planning

A few smart moves before December 31 could help you save on taxes, protect the people you love, and begin the new year with greater confidence.

In this episode, Money Pig co-hosts Tim Goodwin and Joe Beckford share practical year-end reminders gathered from financial advisors, CPAs, and an estate attorney. They cover beneficiary updates, retirement contributions, Roth conversions, charitable giving, tax-gain and tax-loss harvesting, and why your will may not control your investment accounts.

Plus, hear how one client found a tax-smart way to fulfill a generous commitment to her church, even after learning she could not deduct the gift as originally planned.

🎧 Listen now for approachable planning ideas that could help you finish the year strong and avoid overlooking an opportunity with a December 31 deadline.

Ready to check those financial boxes? Download the free end-of-year tax, estate, and investment planning checklist or schedule a complimentary introductory call.

The following transcript of the podcast audio was software-generated, and not reviewed for accuracy. Therefore, the transcript below should not be used without verifying the validity and accuracy of its content. Please contact Goodwin Investment Advisory with any questions.

 

Joe Beckford (00:02)

And welcome back to the Money Pick Podcast. We’re your hosts Joe Beckford and Tim Goodwin. And today we’re super excited to talk about Finish the Year Strong, tax estate, and investment planning. But Joe, before we do, here it comes. Joe, why do accountants make terrible detectives? Why do accountants make terrible detectives? Yeah. Because they’re always following the paper trail.

 

Tim Goodwin (00:02)

And welcome back to the Money Pick Podcast. We’re your hosts Joe Beckford and Tim Goodwin. And today we’re super excited to talk about Finish the Year Strong, tax estate, and investment planning. But Joe, before we do, here it comes. Joe, why do accountants make terrible detectives? Why do accountants make terrible detectives? Yeah. Because they’re always following the paper trail.

 

Joe Beckford (00:31)

You know, there’s there’s sometimes there’s just some other evidence and other leads and you can’t just follow the paper trail. gosh. Sorry guys. I tried really hard. Me and my AI that I called Jarvis did our best to try to come up with a joke that was tied to the topics. That’s a rough one. Yeah. Hopefully our our CPAs don’t listen to this and get offended by my jokes about them. Hopefully not. yeah, so Joe, would you like to share something interesting about yourself with the audience today?

 

Tim Goodwin (00:31)

You know, there’s there’s sometimes there’s just some other evidence and other leads and you can’t just follow the paper trail. gosh. Sorry guys. I tried really hard. Me and my AI that I called Jarvis did our best to try to come up with a joke that was tied to the topics. That’s a rough one. Yeah. Hopefully our our CPAs don’t listen to this and get offended by my jokes about them. Hopefully not. yeah, so Joe, would you like to share something interesting about yourself with the audience today?

 

Joe Beckford (00:59)

S yeah. so

 

Tim Goodwin (00:59)

S yeah. so

 

Joe Beckford (01:03)

We all have different places we live, right? We live in Georgia here, but I actually have some land in what state, Tim. North Dakota. South Dakota. South Dakota. Dang it. It was so close. So close. So close so far away, yeah. Maybe I could just read the notes where you type that outright. Like why do you have land in South Dakota, Joe? That seems weird. So I inherited it like from homestead from my family when they started like my great grandfather and mother.

 

Tim Goodwin (01:03)

We all have different places we live, right? We live in Georgia here, but I actually have some land in what state, Tim. North Dakota. South Dakota. South Dakota. Dang it. It was so close. So close. So close so far away, yeah. Maybe I could just read the notes where you type that outright. Like why do you have land in South Dakota, Joe? That seems weird. So I inherited it like from homestead from my family when they started like my great grandfather and mother.

 

Joe Beckford (01:30)

That’s so cool. We were trying to expand west and it was just cool. Yeah. So anyway. That is super interesting. It’s kinda neat. I know something else about your land. I remember you telling me it’s landlocked. It is landlocked. So you have to take your private jet to get there, right? Is that right?

 

Tim Goodwin (01:30)

That’s so cool. We were trying to expand west and it was just cool. Yeah. So anyway. That is super interesting. It’s kinda neat. I know something else about your land. I remember you telling me it’s landlocked. It is landlocked. So you have to take your private jet to get there, right? Is that right?

 

Joe Beckford (01:48)

Helicopter. I usually well, I usually use yours because yours is better on gas than mine. gosh. Yeah, let’s keep going. No, but it yeah, there’s not even you can’t get to mine from a road. I have to depend on my neighbors to go to their road and then ride the fence along to get out to this little parcel. Isn’t it do you have like somebody farming that land or they cattle grazing on the road? They run they run cattle on it. Yeah, they they

 

Tim Goodwin (01:48)

Helicopter. I usually well, I usually use yours because yours is better on gas than mine. gosh. Yeah, let’s keep going. No, but it yeah, there’s not even you can’t get to mine from a road. I have to depend on my neighbors to go to their road and then ride the fence along to get out to this little parcel. Isn’t it do you have like somebody farming that land or they cattle grazing on the road? They run they run cattle on it. Yeah, they they

 

Joe Beckford (02:11)

Pay they pay enough for the property taxes. A land baron. South Dakota. Yeah. That’s awesome. Land baron, that’s me. That’s great. That’s great. How about you? What’s what’s interesting about you? While we’re talking about states, I have been to South Dakota and North Dakota. I’ve actually been to 49 states. So all the continental and your probably your favorite state. I don’t know. I might be putting words in your mouth, but Hawaii. Yeah. Hawaii. and we’re gonna wrap up the all fifty states tour with Alaska.

 

Tim Goodwin (02:11)

Pay they pay enough for the property taxes. A land baron. South Dakota. Yeah. That’s awesome. Land baron, that’s me. That’s great. That’s great. How about you? What’s what’s interesting about you? While we’re talking about states, I have been to South Dakota and North Dakota. I’ve actually been to 49 states. So all the continental and your probably your favorite state. I don’t know. I might be putting words in your mouth, but Hawaii. Yeah. Hawaii. and we’re gonna wrap up the all fifty states tour with Alaska.

 

Joe Beckford (02:40)

Alaska

 

Tim Goodwin (02:40)

Alaska

 

Joe Beckford (02:41)

next summer. So nice. Yeah, yeah. The girls still need to get my kids still need to get to Louisiana. Maury and I have been there, but we’ll get them to a Louisiana and then finish up with Alaska next summer. So that’s kind of fun. It was actually a goal that we started twelve years ago to get the kids to all fifty states before our oldest Canaan graduates from high school. That’s that is not been to forty nine states. Yeah. I keep going to the ones I like and I skip new ones too. I don’t blame you, but I will say like every state just says something awesome. Sure. Something something awesome.

 

Tim Goodwin (02:41)

next summer. So nice. Yeah, yeah. The girls still need to get my kids still need to get to Louisiana. Maury and I have been there, but we’ll get them to a Louisiana and then finish up with Alaska next summer. So that’s kind of fun. It was actually a goal that we started twelve years ago to get the kids to all fifty states before our oldest Canaan graduates from high school. That’s that is not been to forty nine states. Yeah. I keep going to the ones I like and I skip new ones too. I don’t blame you, but I will say like every state just says something awesome. Sure. Something something awesome.

 

Joe Beckford (03:10)

So all right, so today we are talking about finish the year strong with taxes, state planning and investment planning. So the reason that we’re doing this and that we’re having this episode is years ago, Tara, who’s sitting behind the camera here, got together with CPAs that we recommend and a state attorney that we recommend, and we created this like combo end-of-the-year tax planning guide. Okay. now for those of us that are eye daughters and T-crossers.

 

Tim Goodwin (03:10)

So all right, so today we are talking about finish the year strong with taxes, state planning and investment planning. So the reason that we’re doing this and that we’re having this episode is years ago, Tara, who’s sitting behind the camera here, got together with CPAs that we recommend and a state attorney that we recommend, and we created this like combo end-of-the-year tax planning guide. Okay. now for those of us that are eye daughters and T-crossers.

 

Joe Beckford (03:40)

And savers and planners like it

 

Tim Goodwin (03:40)

And savers and planners like it

 

Joe Beckford (03:43)

It it went off really well. Like people really love this thing. We put it online. A lot of folks download it. It’s it’s free. You can download it for free. we send it to our clients as well because they like it. And Terrace created it you know, as a kind of a it’s a it’s a graphic. It’s a it’s a beautiful checklist is what it is. Right. Okay. It’s a beautiful checklist with boxes. You know, everybody feels good about checking off boxes. There’s it’s a really long list, so I think we’d lose every listener, including my mom, if we finished this episode going through every single one. But we did want to share a bunch of them. to

 

Tim Goodwin (03:43)

It it went off really well. Like people really love this thing. We put it online. A lot of folks download it. It’s it’s free. You can download it for free. we send it to our clients as well because they like it. And Terrace created it you know, as a kind of a it’s a it’s a graphic. It’s a it’s a beautiful checklist is what it is. Right. Okay. It’s a beautiful checklist with boxes. You know, everybody feels good about checking off boxes. There’s it’s a really long list, so I think we’d lose every listener, including my mom, if we finished this episode going through every single one. But we did want to share a bunch of them. to

 

Joe Beckford (04:13)

Today,

 

Tim Goodwin (04:13)

Today,

 

Joe Beckford (04:13)

and just try to introduce like, hey, we do this with some of the partners that we love sending our clients to. and we just think it’s just really healthy, just a good best practice at the end of the year to kind of double check some of these things, either like what are some things that a CPA would tell you to do at the end of the year, and a state attorney or a CFP. So it’s the three of us putting it together. Tara’s been really great. Shout out to Tara over there behind the because she’s intentionally updated every year. So we’re not even like just rinse and repeating what we’ve had in years past. There’s there’s a new

 

Tim Goodwin (04:13)

and just try to introduce like, hey, we do this with some of the partners that we love sending our clients to. and we just think it’s just really healthy, just a good best practice at the end of the year to kind of double check some of these things, either like what are some things that a CPA would tell you to do at the end of the year, and a state attorney or a CFP. So it’s the three of us putting it together. Tara’s been really great. Shout out to Tara over there behind the because she’s intentionally updated every year. So we’re not even like just rinse and repeating what we’ve had in years past. There’s there’s a new

 

Joe Beckford (04:42)

Yeah.

 

Tim Goodwin (04:42)

Yeah.

 

Joe Beckford (04:43)

Yeah. Cause not not a lot changes in the estate planning sort of situation and in investments, you know, the strategies.

 

Tim Goodwin (04:43)

Yeah. Cause not not a lot changes in the estate planning sort of situation and in investments, you know, the strategies.

 

Joe Beckford (04:53)

The individual funds that you’re gonna choose, they change over time. It’s not our core strategy and philosophy doesn’t really change, but taxes change just a lot, right? Constantly, right? So there’s always going to be content for that part. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, you you are right that the tax code is huge and changing all the time. But with estate planning, you’ve got the lifetime exclusion that changes from time to time. In investments, we’ll probably talk here about this new Trump account thing. What is that? So even though our industries are a little bit sleepier or much sleepier.

 

Tim Goodwin (04:53)

The individual funds that you’re gonna choose, they change over time. It’s not our core strategy and philosophy doesn’t really change, but taxes change just a lot, right? Constantly, right? So there’s always going to be content for that part. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, you you are right that the tax code is huge and changing all the time. But with estate planning, you’ve got the lifetime exclusion that changes from time to time. In investments, we’ll probably talk here about this new Trump account thing. What is that? So even though our industries are a little bit sleepier or much sleepier.

 

Joe Beckford (05:23)

sleepier than than the tax than the CPAs. there’s still changes. And so it’s good. Like it’s hard to just when you’re not in the business like we are, it’s hard to keep up with all this stuff. you know what I mean? You’re busy very hard. Being good at your job and your family and your priorities and your activities. And so to keep up with all this. So it’s just a really great end of the year like, hey, let me just go through this checklist, you know, go to an investment advisory, aka Terra, very intentionally put this together to kind of help me at the end of the year just just double check my plan and that things are working and that I can, you know, achieve my goals. Yeah. So let’s hit

 

Tim Goodwin (05:23)

sleepier than than the tax than the CPAs. there’s still changes. And so it’s good. Like it’s hard to just when you’re not in the business like we are, it’s hard to keep up with all this stuff. you know what I mean? You’re busy very hard. Being good at your job and your family and your priorities and your activities. And so to keep up with all this. So it’s just a really great end of the year like, hey, let me just go through this checklist, you know, go to an investment advisory, aka Terra, very intentionally put this together to kind of help me at the end of the year just just double check my plan and that things are working and that I can, you know, achieve my goals. Yeah. So let’s hit

 

Joe Beckford (05:53)

some of the highlights. Come on, let’s do it, Joker. So tell me, what from you know, we’ve reached it to your point, we’d reach out to our partners. So what would an estate attorney tell me to do before the end of the year?

 

Tim Goodwin (05:53)

some of the highlights. Come on, let’s do it, Joker. So tell me, what from you know, we’ve reached it to your point, we’d reach out to our partners. So what would an estate attorney tell me to do before the end of the year?

 

Joe Beckford (06:05)

Yeah, and I know this sounds really boring, but you just got to double check your beneficiaries. Like every year you just gotta do it. And you you’re not thinking about it in real time. You s it’s it’s one of those great things that you can set and forget. And that’s totally fine. Set and forget it. Like the Roth 401k contribution and how much you’re putting in monthly into the Roth, but like every year, like just double check. Are those beneficiaries still there? Are those still who I want them to be?

 

Tim Goodwin (06:05)

Yeah, and I know this sounds really boring, but you just got to double check your beneficiaries. Like every year you just gotta do it. And you you’re not thinking about it in real time. You s it’s it’s one of those great things that you can set and forget. And that’s totally fine. Set and forget it. Like the Roth 401k contribution and how much you’re putting in monthly into the Roth, but like every year, like just double check. Are those beneficiaries still there? Are those still who I want them to be?

 

Joe Beckford (06:30)

You know, maybe you have kids like me, but your kids are getting older. and so maybe you decide to make them a primary beneficiary instead of a contingent beneficiary. maybe you double check that if it’s your spouse that’s a beneficiary, that you have the purse derpees box checked, which is Latin for by branch, which for me keeps it simple because you know, if my kids outlived her, which would be great, you know, that

 

Tim Goodwin (06:30)

You know, maybe you have kids like me, but your kids are getting older. and so maybe you decide to make them a primary beneficiary instead of a contingent beneficiary. maybe you double check that if it’s your spouse that’s a beneficiary, that you have the purse derpees box checked, which is Latin for by branch, which for me keeps it simple because you know, if my kids outlived her, which would be great, you know, that

 

Joe Beckford (06:57)

That it just goes right through to them whether I’ve got them listed as contingent beneficiars or not. Anyway, don’t want to lose you in the weeds there, but the whole point is that things change, marital status change, relationships with kids change, the account size changes. Sure. So maybe you want to spread it out a little bit, or maybe your priorities change in terms of generosity. You know, I could see at some point, I hope nobody from Barrie College is listening, but I think at some point I would think they’re all listening. Yeah, I’m sure, I’m sure. Yeah, I’m big. But my alma mater, shout out.

 

Tim Goodwin (06:57)

That it just goes right through to them whether I’ve got them listed as contingent beneficiars or not. Anyway, don’t want to lose you in the weeds there, but the whole point is that things change, marital status change, relationships with kids change, the account size changes. Sure. So maybe you want to spread it out a little bit, or maybe your priorities change in terms of generosity. You know, I could see at some point, I hope nobody from Barrie College is listening, but I think at some point I would think they’re all listening. Yeah, I’m sure, I’m sure. Yeah, I’m big. But my alma mater, shout out.

 

Joe Beckford (07:27)

College in Rome, but at some point I might designate, say, a life insurance policy or an account that would go to my alma mater or my church or something like that instead of my kids because the other accounts might grow. And I’m like, yeah, that’s enough. I want to be generous with some of my beneficiary designation. Does that make sense? And I love that you said insurance policies, because I think you know we we are dealing with everybody’s investments, and so we do that with people. We’re like, hey, your beneficiaries need to be updated. Make sure that one, make sure they’re there.

 

Tim Goodwin (07:27)

College in Rome, but at some point I might designate, say, a life insurance policy or an account that would go to my alma mater or my church or something like that instead of my kids because the other accounts might grow. And I’m like, yeah, that’s enough. I want to be generous with some of my beneficiary designation. Does that make sense? And I love that you said insurance policies, because I think you know we we are dealing with everybody’s investments, and so we do that with people. We’re like, hey, your beneficiaries need to be updated. Make sure that one, make sure they’re there.

 

Joe Beckford (07:53)

And then too, make sure they’re updated. I always tell clients they should match what your state documents say. So if your state documents are lined up with

 

Tim Goodwin (07:53)

And then too, make sure they’re updated. I always tell clients they should match what your state documents say. So if your state documents are lined up with

 

Joe Beckford (08:01)

I want my stuff to go to this person, these people, this charity, whatever that is, your accounts should reflect that. Yeah. Right. And but so should your insurance. And some people forget about that. That that’s a really good point. And you know, I’m laughing because my accounts, a bunch of them are managed by this company, you know. So right? And then we do this like annual thing where we make sure our clients have designated beneficiaries. And I got pinged by Justin that my HSA did not have a beneficiary set up. So I was like, man, I’m

 

Tim Goodwin (08:01)

I want my stuff to go to this person, these people, this charity, whatever that is, your accounts should reflect that. Yeah. Right. And but so should your insurance. And some people forget about that. That that’s a really good point. And you know, I’m laughing because my accounts, a bunch of them are managed by this company, you know. So right? And then we do this like annual thing where we make sure our clients have designated beneficiaries. And I got pinged by Justin that my HSA did not have a beneficiary set up. So I was like, man, I’m

 

Joe Beckford (08:31)

Being a bad client. I better get that done quick. So right. interested contacts are important, but you know, that’s that’s a that’s a great thing too. So yeah, I think the insurance policies, the the beneficiaries, hey, you know what? While you’re in there, and I’ll just skip ahead to something else here on our notes, while you’re logging into your 401k or your estate or your other accounts, just just look at that contribution level.

 

Tim Goodwin (08:31)

Being a bad client. I better get that done quick. So right. interested contacts are important, but you know, that’s that’s a that’s a great thing too. So yeah, I think the insurance policies, the the beneficiaries, hey, you know what? While you’re in there, and I’ll just skip ahead to something else here on our notes, while you’re logging into your 401k or your estate or your other accounts, just just look at that contribution level.

 

Joe Beckford (08:55)

Just look at that contribution level. Because 401ks, that they the amount you can put in every year increases every few years typically. And so maybe you could put more in the 401k if you can afford it. Maybe you couldn’t afford to even do the max before, but now you can. Maybe you paid off your house. Maybe you know there’s more margin in there. So you know, a lot of times when you sign up for that 401k, you put a percentage in and then it’s like, hey, do you want us to auto bump it up one percent per year? I’m always like, do that. Yes, do that. Do that. You can always undo it. But if you didn’t do that and you’re not maxing it out.

 

Tim Goodwin (08:55)

Just look at that contribution level. Because 401ks, that they the amount you can put in every year increases every few years typically. And so maybe you could put more in the 401k if you can afford it. Maybe you couldn’t afford to even do the max before, but now you can. Maybe you paid off your house. Maybe you know there’s more margin in there. So you know, a lot of times when you sign up for that 401k, you put a percentage in and then it’s like, hey, do you want us to auto bump it up one percent per year? I’m always like, do that. Yes, do that. Do that. You can always undo it. But if you didn’t do that and you’re not maxing it out.

 

Joe Beckford (09:25)

check that out. Same happens with the Roth IRA, right? Right. The max goes up. The max goes up every yeah. If you could max it out, then that’s something that’s certainly can worth looking at. You know, one thing along those lines, I’m glad you said that because I work with a lot of clients whose income kind of teeters.

 

Tim Goodwin (09:25)

check that out. Same happens with the Roth IRA, right? Right. The max goes up. The max goes up every yeah. If you could max it out, then that’s something that’s certainly can worth looking at. You know, one thing along those lines, I’m glad you said that because I work with a lot of clients whose income kind of teeters.

 

Joe Beckford (09:41)

So maybe one year they can contribute to a Roth IRA and the next year they’ve got a big year, they get a big bonus. you can’t contribute to a Roth IRA this year. So that’s something to look at every year. Like we tell people if you can afford it out of your budget, max your Roth IRA every year. For sure. Unless you’re making so much money that you’re phased out. Yep. And then to your point, maybe that goes in your four one K or something else. Well, and you said phased out too. So there’s another thing. If it’s the Roth IRA and your income’s gone up, you need to double check that you can contribute. Otherwise you’ve got to do this return of excess contribution and it is a

 

Tim Goodwin (09:41)

So maybe one year they can contribute to a Roth IRA and the next year they’ve got a big year, they get a big bonus. you can’t contribute to a Roth IRA this year. So that’s something to look at every year. Like we tell people if you can afford it out of your budget, max your Roth IRA every year. For sure. Unless you’re making so much money that you’re phased out. Yep. And then to your point, maybe that goes in your four one K or something else. Well, and you said phased out too. So there’s another thing. If it’s the Roth IRA and your income’s gone up, you need to double check that you can contribute. Otherwise you’ve got to do this return of excess contribution and it is a

 

Joe Beckford (10:11)

That is no fun. Yeah, I wanna come back to something else you said that you wanted their beneficiaries to match their will. Why did you say that? Well, because you just want your w I I’ve met lots of people who are like, that’s in my well. I’m like

 

Tim Goodwin (10:11)

That is no fun. Yeah, I wanna come back to something else you said that you wanted their beneficiaries to match their will. Why did you say that? Well, because you just want your w I I’ve met lots of people who are like, that’s in my well. I’m like

 

Joe Beckford (10:28)

Except good for your will. Good for your will. That’s great. Except that any account that has a name on it is going to not be a subject to your will. It passes outside of probate. So that just happens, right? So somebody gets divorced.

 

Tim Goodwin (10:28)

Except good for your will. Good for your will. That’s great. Except that any account that has a name on it is going to not be a subject to your will. It passes outside of probate. So that just happens, right? So somebody gets divorced.

 

Joe Beckford (10:43)

Ex-Spouse is still listed as beneficiary on that account, or maybe we’ve said, hey, you just got a divorce. Do you still want your beneficiaries like this? Maybe you don’t want that anymore. And then they forget to do it on their life insurance. And so ex-spouse is now inheriting the life insurance. Current spouse inherits the investment account. Those two spouses don’t like each other. Right. You know, so it just makes a mess. So it’s just

 

Tim Goodwin (10:43)

Ex-Spouse is still listed as beneficiary on that account, or maybe we’ve said, hey, you just got a divorce. Do you still want your beneficiaries like this? Maybe you don’t want that anymore. And then they forget to do it on their life insurance. And so ex-spouse is now inheriting the life insurance. Current spouse inherits the investment account. Those two spouses don’t like each other. Right. You know, so it just makes a mess. So it’s just

 

Joe Beckford (11:05)

Get your wishes all together and let’s line it up and make it match. Yeah. And I, you know, you said passes outside of the well. I use this word usually like supersedes, right? Like your your beneficiary supersedes the well. So let’s say you do get remarried, and you’re like, we met with the estate attorney and we updated everything, we’re good. Just like Joe was saying, you still gotta update your investment accounts, you still gotta update your life insurance because whatever beneficiaries you have, they are gonna supersede the well. Right. When Fidelity sees that beneficiary and gets your death certificate.

 

Tim Goodwin (11:05)

Get your wishes all together and let’s line it up and make it match. Yeah. And I, you know, you said passes outside of the well. I use this word usually like supersedes, right? Like your your beneficiary supersedes the well. So let’s say you do get remarried, and you’re like, we met with the estate attorney and we updated everything, we’re good. Just like Joe was saying, you still gotta update your investment accounts, you still gotta update your life insurance because whatever beneficiaries you have, they are gonna supersede the well. Right. When Fidelity sees that beneficiary and gets your death certificate.

 

Joe Beckford (11:35)

They’re not trying to ask for the will. No, don’t care. They’re just getting a sent for that beneficiary. Yeah. That that’s what they’re doing. So we’re big fans of having wills around here. We’re talking about estates, and we we we definitely pretty near strong arm our clients to have an updated will health care directive and power of attorney. but we definitely want those to work together with with the beneficiaries. One thing I’ll I’ll say on this one last thing is to make sure that sometimes people get really cute with I call it cute because you want to.

 

Tim Goodwin (11:35)

They’re not trying to ask for the will. No, don’t care. They’re just getting a sent for that beneficiary. Yeah. That that’s what they’re doing. So we’re big fans of having wills around here. We’re talking about estates, and we we we definitely pretty near strong arm our clients to have an updated will health care directive and power of attorney. but we definitely want those to work together with with the beneficiaries. One thing I’ll I’ll say on this one last thing is to make sure that sometimes people get really cute with I call it cute because you want to.

 

Joe Beckford (12:05)

sort of like avoid probate and you’re just like, look, I’m just gonna like have a beneficiary for every asset, and then all of a sudden you don’t really need the will for assets because it all kind of gets

 

Tim Goodwin (12:05)

sort of like avoid probate and you’re just like, look, I’m just gonna like have a beneficiary for every asset, and then all of a sudden you don’t really need the will for assets because it all kind of gets

 

Joe Beckford (12:16)

supersedes, right? It passes outside, but then there’s no money left to pay your executor or your executress to execute your will. So just make sure there is some money actually left in your estate to settle your estate, pay for burial, cleaning your house, selling your house. There’s things like that that still need to be paid. So yeah. Don’t get too crazy having all these beneficiaries that keep keep the estate like not funded. It can create also problems later. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Moving on, Joe, anything else on estate? Okay.

 

Tim Goodwin (12:16)

supersedes, right? It passes outside, but then there’s no money left to pay your executor or your executress to execute your will. So just make sure there is some money actually left in your estate to settle your estate, pay for burial, cleaning your house, selling your house. There’s things like that that still need to be paid. So yeah. Don’t get too crazy having all these beneficiaries that keep keep the estate like not funded. It can create also problems later. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Moving on, Joe, anything else on estate? Okay.

 

Joe Beckford (12:46)

so let’s jump into the CPA kind of recommended end-of-the-year checklist. What have you got what have got for us? Tax stuff. So we’ve got three listed here. And again, this is only partial list, right? So this is enough to whet your appetite to to actually get the guy to get the whole get the whole thing. But we talk a lot with our clients about something called a QCD.

 

Tim Goodwin (12:46)

so let’s jump into the CPA kind of recommended end-of-the-year checklist. What have you got what have got for us? Tax stuff. So we’ve got three listed here. And again, this is only partial list, right? So this is enough to whet your appetite to to actually get the guy to get the whole get the whole thing. But we talk a lot with our clients about something called a QCD.

 

And that stands for we we also love acronyms around here. We do. But that’s not a GIA created acronym. That’s a real acronym. QCD stands for a qualified charitable distribution. A lot of times we encourage people to be generous, right? That’s right. Peace, independence, generosity. We encourage people to be generous. And a lot of our clients actually in retirement, maybe they’ve got their social security running, they’ve got pensions running.

 

Joe Beckford (13:09)

And that stands for we we also love acronyms around here. We do. But that’s not a GIA created acronym. That’s a real acronym. QCD stands for a qualified charitable distribution. A lot of times we encourage people to be generous, right? That’s right. Peace, independence, generosity. We encourage people to be generous. And a lot of our clients actually in retirement, maybe they’ve got their social security running, they’ve got pensions running.

 

It’s not uncommon that we have clients who aren’t even spending into their IRAs. But they’re gonna get to an age where they’re gonna have to spend out of their IRA, or at least they’re gonna have to realize it is income and pay tax on it, right? So that’s a requirement of distribution. Exactly. RMD, different different acronym, right? Yeah. So the QCD is a way to help people be generous.

 

Tim Goodwin (13:33)

It’s not uncommon that we have clients who aren’t even spending into their IRAs. But they’re gonna get to an age where they’re gonna have to spend out of their IRA, or at least they’re gonna have to realize it is income and pay tax on it, right? So that’s a requirement of distribution. Exactly. RMD, different different acronym, right? Yeah. So the QCD is a way to help people be generous.

 

Joe Beckford (13:54)

And avoid paying taxes. And that just may basically means donating money out of your IRA instead of donating cash. You know, I I write a check to my church every week out of my cash. Why are you doing that? That should come from your IRA instead. At least save on the taxes if it’s not something you’re gonna do. You have to be seventy and a half to do it. So we always watch, hey, are you eligible for a QCD? Do we need to look at that for you? And I like QCD is one thing. I like that like with seventy and a half, like that has stayed as they’ve updated the code. the RMD.

 

Tim Goodwin (13:54)

And avoid paying taxes. And that just may basically means donating money out of your IRA instead of donating cash. You know, I I write a check to my church every week out of my cash. Why are you doing that? That should come from your IRA instead. At least save on the taxes if it’s not something you’re gonna do. You have to be seventy and a half to do it. So we always watch, hey, are you eligible for a QCD? Do we need to look at that for you? QCD is one thing. I like that like with seventy and a half, like that has stayed as they’ve updated the code. the RMD.

 

Joe Beckford (14:24)

Age has changed and been moved up, right? But the QCD still happens at 70 and a half. So you could you could be eligible to do the QCD before the RMD, right? And what Joe’s leading to here, and again, this is why you have a planner and shout out for planners here, but you know, by getting those QCDs done at 70 and a half before the RMDs, sorry for the

 

Tim Goodwin (14:24)

Age has changed and been moved up, right? But the QCD still happens at 70 and a half. So you could you could be eligible to do the QCD before the RMD, right? And what Joe’s leading to here, and again, this is why you have a planner and shout out for planners here, but you know, by getting those QCDs done at 70 and a half before the RMDs, sorry for the

 

Joe Beckford (14:49)

You know, acronyms that were the required minimum distribution. You c you could reduce that required minimum distribution and and that may be a goal in terms of of saving taxes. So I think I think that’s an important thing to think about. And when I first learned about QCD, as I’m like, why would I go through all that? Like I’m gonna realize the income taking it from the IRA, and then I’m just gonna give it to the nonprofit. And isn’t that just gonna wipe it out? Like what what’s the big deal? And I basically had to get Justin to explain it to me in a way I could understand. And he was like, Tim, it’s sort of

 

Tim Goodwin (14:49)

You know, acronyms that were the required minimum distribution. You c you could reduce that required minimum distribution and and that may be a goal in terms of of saving taxes. So I think I think that’s an important thing to think about. And when I first learned about QCD, as I’m like, why would I go through all that? Like I’m gonna realize the income taking it from the IRA, and then I’m just gonna give it to the nonprofit. And isn’t that just gonna wipe it out? Like what what’s the big deal? And I basically had to get Justin to explain it to me in a way I could understand. And he was like, Tim, it’s sort of

 

Joe Beckford (15:17)

Above the line deduction, the QCD actually reduces your your another acronym, AGI, like your adjusted gross income. But what that means is if you do it in a QCD, you may be eligible for certain credits and other deductions that you wouldn’t be eligible for if it’s part of your itemized deduction, right? So in order for me to give it away, I have to use an itemized deduction. If I’m using a standard deduction, it may not benefit me. But the QCD would still benefit me in addition to my standard deduction. That’s probably a better way to say I love that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

 

Tim Goodwin (15:17)

Above the line deduction, the QCD actually reduces your your another acronym, AGI, like your adjusted gross income. But what that means is if you do it in a QCD, you may be eligible for certain credits and other deductions that you wouldn’t be eligible for if it’s part of your itemized deduction, right? So in order for me to give it away, I have to use an itemized deduction. If I’m using a standard deduction, it may not benefit me. But the QCD would still benefit me in addition to my standard deduction. That’s probably a better way to say I love that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

 

Joe Beckford (15:47)

So another one. Yes. we use we talk about tax loss harvesting around here for people and that you know that’s super short way to describe that is you’ve got an appreciated asset in one of your accounts and

 

Tim Goodwin (15:47)

So another one. Yes. we use we talk about tax loss harvesting around here for people and that you know that’s super short way to describe that is you’ve got an appreciated asset in one of your accounts and

 

Then we have a down day. And so otherwise healthy asset, sell that asset, buy something substantially equivalent to it, we’ve locked in a loss on paper. The account’s still going up, but we’ve locked in a loss on paper. You can take those off your taxes. That’s great, right? The flip side of that coin is

 

Joe Beckford (16:02)

Then we have a down day. And so otherwise healthy asset, sell that asset, buy something substantially equivalent to it, we’ve locked in a loss on paper. The account’s still going up, but we’ve locked in a loss on paper. You can take those off your taxes. That’s great, right? The flip side of that coin is

 

Some people can realize tax capital gains for free. Mm-hmm. Depending on what you make. We call that tax gain harmony. Don’t miss that window. That window goes away. That window goes away, yeah. So if you’re in a situation depending on what your income looks like. Taxable income. Taxable income. You look at your what your taxable income looks like. if it’s low enough, you can potentially realize capital gains totally for free. For zero zero zero four zero Thank you. Love that. So if you need

 

Tim Goodwin (16:18)

Some people can realize tax capital gains for free. Mm-hmm. Depending on what you make. We call that tax gain harmony. Don’t miss that window. That window goes away. That window goes away, yeah. So if you’re in a situation depending on what your income looks like. Taxable income. Taxable income. You look at your what your taxable income looks like. if it’s low enough, you can potentially realize capital gains totally for free. For zero zero zero four zero. Thank you. Love that. So if you need

 

Joe Beckford (16:48)

Excuse me. It’s not uncommon. We we’re always asking

 

Tim Goodwin (16:48)

Excuse me. It’s not uncommon. We we’re always asking

 

Joe Beckford (16:53)

To help rebalance our portfolios, right? And we realize gains a lot. And those are conversations with clients we have. It’s a lot easier conversation to say, I need you to realize these gains this year. By the way, they’re gonna be free. So keep it keeps your portfolio fresh. Absolutely. quick aside, if you have a custodial account, there’s a certain amount you can realize every year for free. So you don’t just wanna set and forget it there. It’s also good to realize some of those gains. also on this conversation, you could have capital losses that you couldn’t absorb last year and they’re carried over. So it’s good to just double check like

 

Tim Goodwin (16:53)

To help rebalance our portfolios, right? And we realize gains a lot. And those are conversations with clients we have. It’s a lot easier conversation to say, I need you to realize these gains this year. By the way, they’re gonna be free. So keep it keeps your portfolio fresh. Absolutely. quick aside, if you have a custodial account, there’s a certain amount you can realize every year for free. So you don’t just wanna set and forget it there. It’s also good to realize some of those gains. also on this conversation, you could have capital losses that you couldn’t absorb last year and they’re carried over. So it’s good to just double check like

 

Joe Beckford (17:22)

Are there losses that I realized in the past that I didn’t absorb? Luckily, those don’t disappear, so that’s nice. And so they carry forward. And so you might want to just go ahead and realize some gains this year just to absorb losses that have carried forward. I think the other thing that our CPAs have said is just, hey, we would love it if our clients reached out to us at some point in the year if something drastically changed from their tax return last year.

 

Tim Goodwin (17:22)

Are there losses that I realized in the past that I didn’t absorb? luckily those don’t disappear, so that’s nice. and so they carry forward. And so you might want to just go ahead and realize some gains this year just to absorb losses that have carried forward. I think the other thing that RCPAs have said is just, hey, we would love it if our clients reached out to us at some point in the year if something drastically changed from their tax return last year.

 

Joe Beckford (17:47)

Right, maybe maybe their income, maybe there was a great bonus. maybe they’re in between jobs, right? certainly if you’re making estimated payments like I I do, I I keep up there’s a required amount that the government wants me to do based on my return last year, but I gotta make sure I don’t end up in a in a penalty if there if there’s a big difference there. So if the overall tax picture has changed, you know, our CPAs have given us feedback to put this on the guide to to definitely touch base with them. so there’s there’s a lot less surprises. Yeah.

 

Tim Goodwin (17:47)

Right, maybe maybe their income, maybe there was a great bonus. maybe they’re in between jobs, right? certainly if you’re making estimated payments like I I do, I I keep up there’s a required amount that the government wants me to do based on my return last year, but I gotta make sure I don’t end up in a in a penalty if there if there’s a big difference there. So if the overall tax picture has changed, you know, our CPAs have given us feedback to put this on the guide to to definitely touch base with them. so there’s there’s a lot less surprises. Yeah.

 

Yeah. Yeah. So anything else on the CPA side? Not really. Why don’t we move into investments? Let’s go. But this actually bleeds for last. It actually bleeds over into some CPA stuff as well, right? So you just mentioned like, okay, if your tax situation has changed, what what does that look like? We talked about tax gain harvesting, tax loss harvesting. What about Roth conversions? Is it good? We never talk about those on the money peg, do we?

 

Joe Beckford (18:17)

Yeah. Yeah. So All right, anything else on the CPA side? Not really. Why don’t we move into investments? Let’s go. But this actually bleeds for last. It actually bleeds over into some CPA stuff as well, right? So you just mentioned like, okay, if your tax situation has changed, what what does that look like? We talked about tax gain harvesting, tax loss harvesting. What about Roth conversions? Is it good? We never talk about those on the money pick, dude. Talk about those all the time, right?

 

Tim Goodwin (18:46)

And and sometimes it’s true, we don’t know if it’s gonna be appropriate for you to have a Roth conversion until towards the end of the year. Mm. So if we are in possession of your tax return, which we ask our clients to do, we can help you figure out does Roth Conversion make sense for you and does it make sense this year? And if it does, to what clip does it? But you gotta get that done by the end of the year. That’s great. And kind of in line with that if

 

Joe Beckford (18:46)

And and sometimes it’s true, we don’t know if it’s gonna be appropriate for you to have a Roth conversion until towards the end of the year. Mm. So if we are in possession of your tax return, which we ask our clients to do, we can help you figure out does Roth Conversion make sense for you and does it make sense this year? And if it does, to what clip does it? But you gotta get that done by the end of the year. That’s great. And kind of in line with that if

 

Kind of what I saying about the CPA like what if you’re in between jobs or your income actually lowered? Like tell your CPA and tell your financial planner. Cause you know, and and Justin brought up too, like you the common mistake is only focusing on lowering your taxes in a low income year. You may actually want to intentionally realize some taxes at a lower tax bracket, something that

 

Tim Goodwin (19:11)

Kind of what I saying about the CPA like what if you’re in between jobs or your income actually lowered? Like tell your CPA and tell your financial planner. Cause you know, and and Justin brought up too, like you the common mistake is only focusing on lowering your taxes in a low income year. You may actually want to intentionally realize some taxes at a lower tax bracket, something that

 

as low as zero like you were saying earlier. so it’s not just about lowering the taxes. You may actually want to intentionally realize some taxes as a strategy long term just to save taxes over your life and not just this year. Yeah, and I think I think that’s an important thing because I think even the CPAs would tell you that their focus is pretty much what are we doing this year? And then when when you ask them, they’ll do projections for next year. They’re not looking ten years out. Right. But that’s what your that’s what your planner is doing. How do I minimize taxes over the next thirty years? Lifetime. Yeah, lifetime. Yeah. So

 

Joe Beckford (19:32)

as low as zero like you were saying earlier. so it’s not just about lowering the taxes. You may actually want to intentionally realize some taxes as a strategy long term just to save taxes over your life and not just this year. Yeah, and I think I think that’s an important thing because I think even the CPAs would tell you that their focus is pretty much what are we doing this year? And then when when you ask them, they’ll do projections for next year. They’re not looking ten years out. Right. But that’s what your that’s what your planner is doing. How do I minimize taxes over the next thirty years? Lifetime. Yeah, lifetime. Yeah. So

 

one other thing I’ll add on investments. This is off script, Joe. I don’t have this on the list. He’s gone running. No, we’ll say we’ll see. We don’t know where this is going from. No, the editors might cut this. so and actually like you know, this you may not hear this from a lot of financial advisors, okay? But at the end of the year, what I want you to do is I want you to look at your investment return. Net of fees, how much return did you make?

 

Tim Goodwin (20:04)

one other thing I’ll add on investments. This is off script, Joe. I don’t have this on the list. He’s gone running. We don’t know where this is going from. The editors buckle up might cut this. so and actually like you know, this you may not hear this from a lot of financial advisors, okay? But at the end of the year, what I want you to do is I want you to look at your investment return. Net of fees, how much return did you make?

 

Joe Beckford (20:31)

Okay. And now at that point, you just need to determine my my advice would be, are you satisfied with that? Is that good enough for you? How do you know if that’s good enough? I think the the cru de gras, you know, the the holy grail is will that return help you achieve your goals?

 

Tim Goodwin (20:31)

Okay. And now at that point, you just need to determine my my advice would be, are you satisfied with that? Is that good enough for you? How do you know if that’s good enough? I think the the cru de gras, you know, the the holy grail is will that return help you achieve your goals?

 

Joe Beckford (20:50)

So if that helps you achieve your goals, great. Now some folks may say, well, the equity portion needs to be closer to the market or something at a fee. So but just need to be aware that your accounts are performing at the level you want them to perform and you expect them to perform.

 

Tim Goodwin (20:50)

So if that helps you achieve your goals, great. Now some folks may say, well, the equity portion needs to be closer to the market or something at a fee. So but just need to be aware that your accounts are performing at the level you want them to perform and you expect them to perform.

 

And if it doesn’t meet your expectation, then you need to talk to your financial advisor. If you don’t have a financial advisor, then you need to consider changing your investments or talking to somebody that could, you know, help you make the decision on do I need to change, you know, change my investments. So Tara, I hope you don’t mind. I’m gonna give you a shout-out behind the the camera. Tara’s over there. So Tara, you’re on the mic, are you okay if I talk about how you wanted to change your 401k allocation? Yeah, sure. Okay, she still doesn’t know what I’m gonna say. But Tara’s like, where is he going with Tara? Tara does this right.

 

Joe Beckford (21:04)

And if it doesn’t meet your expectation, then you need to talk to your financial advisor. If you don’t have a financial advisor, then you need to consider changing your investments or talking to somebody that could, you know, help you make the decision on do I need to change, you know, change my investments. So Tara, I hope you don’t mind. I’m gonna give you a shout-out behind the the camera. Tara’s over there. So Tara, you’re on the mic, are you okay if I talk about how you wanted to change your 401k allocation? Yeah, sure. Okay, she still doesn’t know what I’m gonna say. But Tara’s like, where is he going with Tara? Tara does this right.

 

and we have a 401k here at GIA, and I try to say that every year. Everybody, make sure you look at your own return, not just our clients, but here. And Tara was looking at her 401k, and she’s like, I don’t know if this return was good or not that I had. And I said, That’s fine, go talk to your financial advisor. I know we just keep talking about Justin like a nonstop broken record, but Justin is Tara’s financial advisor. So I think Tara sat down with Justin. And if Tara wanted to make changes, that Justin made sure to.

 

Tim Goodwin (21:35)

and we have a 401k here at GIA, and I try to say that every year. Everybody, make sure you look at your own return, not just our clients, but here. And Tara was looking at her 401k, and she’s like, I don’t know if this return was good or not that I had. And I said, That’s fine, go talk to your financial advisor. I know we just keep talking about Justin like a nonstop broken record, but Justin is Tara’s financial advisor. So I think Tara sat down with Justin. And if Tara wanted to make changes, that Justin made sure to.

 

Joe Beckford (22:00)

You he helped Tara change. Is that right? Am I telling the story accurately or am I making something up? He just took some I had it all in one. Right. And then he just decided, it would be actually be better if you can put some in these other spread it out a little bit. I didn’t know that. So yeah. Yeah, yeah. Exactly. So yeah. So I just think maybe what you had planned on doing and you made that investment, maybe it worked and maybe it didn’t. But you but you gotta look each year. You know, for our clients, we’re obviously looking and we’re obviously making sure that you’re it’s meeting your goals, but you

 

Tim Goodwin (22:00)

You he helped Tara change. Is that right? Am I telling the story accurately or am I making something up? He just took some I had it all in one. Right. And then he just decided, it would be actually be better if you can put some in these other spread it out a little bit. I didn’t know that. So yeah. Yeah, yeah. Exactly. So yeah. So I just think maybe what you had planned on doing and you made that investment, maybe it worked and maybe it didn’t. But you but you gotta look each year. You know, for our clients, we’re obviously looking and we’re obviously making sure that you’re it’s meeting your goals, but you

 

Joe Beckford (22:28)

You really should have an expectation. I want my investments to do X by the end of the year. So go check. Neta fees. Did they do X? And if not, then then make a change. But just be aware of it. Now I don’t think people should check every day. No or every week. Or every month. Or even every quarter, because you guys need to just be worried about other things, especially if you’ve hired us. You’ve delegated that worry to us, right? Exactly. We’ll worry for you. but once a year, definitely check in on that. So that’s all I got to say about investments. Tara’s raised her hands. Yes, Tara, you’re allowed to speak.

 

Tim Goodwin (22:28)

You really should have an expectation. I want my investments to do X by the end of the year. So go check. Neta fees. Did they do X? And if not, then then make a change. But just be aware of it. Now I don’t think people should check every day. No or every week. Or every month. Or even every quarter, because you guys need to just be worried about other things, especially if you’ve hired us. You’ve delegated that worry to us, right? Exactly. We’ll worry for you. but once a year, definitely check in on that. So that’s all I got to say about investments. Tara’s raised her hands. Yes, Tara, you’re allowed to speak.

 

Yes, lady behind the microphone. You’re all on. Thank you, caller. Thank you for having me. I was

 

Joe Beckford (22:58)

Yes, lady behind the microphone, you’re on. Thank you, caller. Thank you for having me. I was

 

thinking about a statistic that we sometimes tell people and hopefully compliance is okay with me sharing this, but typically it’ll be cut at the end if it’s not true. Right. But typically net of fees hiring an advisor helps you to have at least I think it’s three percent more in your investment accounts. I think it went up recently. okay. So I think the statistics even better, but correct me if I’m wrong, sorry. Well that’s great. You know, and I always love encouraging folks to just go find this stuff out on their own. Like

 

Tim Goodwin (23:06)

thinking about a statistic that we sometimes tell people and hopefully compliance is okay with me sharing this, but typically it’ll be cut at the end if it’s not true. Right. But typically net of fees hiring an advisor helps you to have at least I think it’s three percent more in your investment accounts. I think it went up recently. okay. So I think the statistics even better, but correct me if I’m wrong, sorry. Well that’s great. You know, and I always love encouraging folks to just go find this stuff out on their own. Like

 

Joe Beckford (23:36)

Search. Do your Google search. If you’ve got an AI, you know, assistant, you know, ask AI, like, what’s the difference that, you know, are there any reports out there that show that there’s a net difference in my investment returns if I hire an advisor? what Tara’s referencing, there’s a couple different reports out there. Van Gar Vanguard does one called Advisor Alpha. And then Financial Engines does one as well, which is a little bit more about folks that use help versus not help. They defined it as help. Yeah. Yeah. Like if you really read like

 

Tim Goodwin (23:36)

Search. Do your Google search. If you’ve got an AI, you know, assistant, you know, ask AI, like, what’s the difference that, you know, are there any reports out there that show that there’s a net difference in my investment returns if I hire an advisor? what Tara’s referencing, there’s a couple different reports out there. Van Gar Vanguard does one called Advisor Alpha. And then Financial Engines does one as well, which is a little bit more about folks that use help versus not help. They defined it as help. Yeah. Yeah. Like if you really read like

 

Joe Beckford (24:06)

How this how did this work? But basically, even like and define contribution plans like a 401k when folks go at it alone or they use somebody to help them with the allocation. And so Tara’s right, usually net of fees, there’s about a three percent on average over a long period of time bump for most people. A lot of that has to do with investment selection, but not all. A good bit of it has to do with investment behavior. A lot of it’s behavior. That’s right. And then the fees involved with the with the funds. Advisors are generally better at at making sure that you’re in the lowest share class and things like that.

 

Tim Goodwin (24:06)

How this how did this work? But basically, even like and define contribution plans like a 401k when folks go at it alone or they use somebody to help them with the allocation. And so Tara’s right, usually net of fees, there’s about a three percent on average over a long period of time bump for most people. A lot of that has to do with investment selection, but not all. A good bit of it has to do with investment behavior. A lot of it’s behavior. That’s right. And then the fees involved with the with the funds. Advisors are generally better at at making sure that you’re in the lowest share class and things like that.

 

Joe Beckford (24:36)

Probably controlling the turnover. folks on their own tend to make more traits that are usually led more by emotion and reaction to to the the hot topic on the news than a long-term planning decision. So yep, so I’m glad you brought that up, Tara. Thanks for letting us share your story. We got one more story to share. Joe, do you want to share that story? From Justin. Sure. Sure, sure. you know, we we usually try when we do these podcasts, we usually try to pull the advisors. Hey, do you have a client story that would kind of resonate with what we’re talking about here? And Justin gave us an example.

 

Tim Goodwin (24:36)

Probably controlling the turnover. folks on their own tend to make more traits that are usually led more by emotion and reaction to to the the hot topic on the news than a long-term planning decision. So yep, so I’m glad you brought that up, Tara. Thanks for letting us share your story. We got one more story to share. Joe, do you want to share that story? From Justin. Sure. Sure, sure. you know, we we usually try when we do these podcasts, we usually try to pull the advisors. Hey, do you have a client story that would kind of resonate with what we’re talking about here? And Justin gave us an example.

 

Joe Beckford (25:06)

of one of his clients who is female and she is very generous, always has been, been a client here for years and years. I know I know her. We know who this is. Yeah, we know who this is. And she’s very generous with her time, her money, and she is retired.

 

Tim Goodwin (25:06)

of one of his clients who is female and she is very generous, always has been, been a client here for years and years. I know I know her. We know who this is. Yeah, we know who this is. And she’s very generous with her time, her money, and she is retired.

 

And s and she spent so she spends a lot of her time in volunteerism and she gives a lot of her money. Time, talent, treasure, right? She shares all that stuff. Anyway, she committed, she wanted to help her church. What church doesn’t have a building fund or an above and beyond fund? We always gotta build build bigger, build something, get out of the high school, whatever the church looks like, right? We always there’s always capital that needs to be raised. So they’re always going to their members and she raised her hand, she was ready to go. Except her income was not going to.

 

Joe Beckford (25:25)

And s and she spent so she spends a lot of her time in volunteerism and she gives a lot of her money. Time, talent, treasure, right? She shares all that stuff. Anyway, she committed, she wanted to help her church. What church doesn’t have a building fund or an above and beyond fund? We always gotta build build bigger, build something, get out of the high school, whatever the church looks like, right? We always there’s always capital that needs to be raised. So they’re always going to their members and she raised her hand, she was ready to go. Except her income was not going to.

 

She was gonna the don I’m gonna back up. The giving that she wanted to do exceeded what she could deduct that year because of her income being low. It’s on brand for this client. It’s a percentage of It’s on brand for Betty Sue. So it’s it’s a percentage of your income that you get a tax deduction. So she’s like, wow, I mean, I’m gonna be generous anyway. She’s thinking this is kingdom work and I’m fine with doing that, but it would be nice if I didn’t have to pay tax on that. So

 

Tim Goodwin (25:54)

She was gonna the don I’m gonna back up. The giving that she wanted to do exceeded what she could deduct that year because of her income being low. It’s on brand for this client. It’s a percentage of It’s on brand for Betty Sue. So it’s it’s a percentage of your income that you get a tax deduction. So she’s like, wow, I mean, I’m gonna be generous anyway. She’s thinking this is kingdom work and I’m fine with doing that, but it would be nice if I didn’t have to pay tax on that. So

 

Joe Beckford (26:21)

We Justin said, Well, let’s do a qualified charitable distribution for you.

 

Tim Goodwin (26:21)

We Justin said, Well, let’s do a qualified charitable distribution for you.

 

Joe Beckford (26:25)

That doesn’t matter. We’re not talking about income. You’re not limited on an income to do that sort of thing. So boom. She was able to fulfill her generosity goal and still save on taxes. Sales. Still save on taxes. Win-win-win. Yep. All right. Well, very clearly, you would know what our call to action is at the end of this episode. What do we want people to do to Download this guide, guys. the 2026 year-end tax estate and investment planning checklist. so like I said, this is not like a long guide that you read.

 

Tim Goodwin (26:25)

That doesn’t matter. We’re not talking about income. You’re not limited on an income to do that sort of thing. So boom. She was able to fulfill her generosity goal and still save on taxes. Sales. Still save on taxes. Win-win-win. Yep. All right. Well, very clearly, you would know what our call to action is at the end of this episode. What do we want people to do to Download this guide, guys. the 2026 year-end tax estate and investment planning checklist. so like I said, this is not like a long guide that you read.

 

This is not a book. All those things are available and they’re fantastic. This is really just a beautiful checklist. You could print it out or you could just download it and you know click it off on Adobe Reader or something like that. So if you go to our website, there’ll be a period of time where it’s there probably on the homepage as a pop-up. But if not, you’re gonna be able to find it in the knowledge center under guides. So, right, Tara? Thumbs up. All right, yes. Okay, so as we end with gratitude, Joe, while you’re thinking about something, I will say that I am grateful for pools. Pools. On a previous episode, you might have mentioned.

 

Joe Beckford (26:55)

This is not a book. All those things are available and they’re fantastic. This is really just a beautiful checklist. You could print it out, or you could just download it and you know click it off on Adobe Reader or something like that. So if you go to our website, there’ll be a period of time where it’s there probably on the homepage as a pop-up. But if not, you’re going to be able to find it in the knowledge center under guides. So, right, Tara? Thumbs up. All right, yes. Okay. So as we end with gratitude, Joe, while you’re thinking about something, I will say that I am grateful for pools. Pools. On a previous episode, you might have mentioned a

 

Tim Goodwin (27:25)

ponds. Yeah, yeah. Bodies of water, man. Just love the water. The pools are just so fun for families and kids and we have a we have a playground slide that I turned into a pool slide.

 

Joe Beckford (27:25)

Ponds. Yeah, yeah. Bodies of water, man. Just love the water. The pools are just so fun for families and kids. And we have a we have a playground slide that I turned into a pool slide.

 

So one of our mutual beloved friends who used to be the podcast host Reetrigo back in the day I did not have a truck and I drove by this playground slide, just the slide itself, just the plastic thing laying on its side on the end of somebody’s driveway with a little sign that said 50 bucks.

 

Tim Goodwin (27:39)

So one of our mutual beloved friends who used to be the podcast host Reetrigo back in the day I did not have a truck and I drove by this playground slide, just the slide itself, just the plastic thing laying on its side on the end of somebody’s driveway with a little sign that said 50 bucks.

 

Joe Beckford (28:00)

And I had a instant vision. I was gonna turn this into a pool slide. I called Reed. He had a truck. We went picked it up, got it over to my pool. And actually before my father-in-law passed away, this was a project that we got to do together. I think we stayed up until like one in the morning, building out a frame to hold this you know.

 

Tim Goodwin (28:00)

And I had a instant vision. I was gonna turn this into a pool slide. I called Reed. He had a truck. We went picked it up, got it over to my pool. And actually before my father-in-law passed away, this was a project that we got to do together. I think we stayed up until like one in the morning, building out a frame to hold this you know.

 

Joe Beckford (28:23)

Somewhat MacGyvered pool slide that we put together on a streak shoestring budget. I literally just have like a hose that runs to it. And that thing, I mean, kids have been going down that thing thousands of times ever since. Yeah. Still going strong. Still going strong. Mm-hmm. so mine’s completely not pools. I mean, I like pools fine, but certainly not my thing, and I I never commandeered a a slide for for pool. So that’s kind of cool. I am grateful that we live in a country where I get to try.

 

Tim Goodwin (28:23)

Somewhat MacGyvered pool slide that we put together on a streak shoestring budget. I literally just have like a hose that runs to it. And that thing, I mean, kids have been going down that thing thousands of times ever since. Yeah. Still going strong. Still going strong. Mm-hmm. so mine’s completely not pools. I mean, I like pools fine, but certainly not my thing, and I I never commandeered a a slide for for pool. So that’s kind of cool. I am grateful that we live in a country where I get to try.

 

All kinds of different ethnic food. Dude, yeah. That’s what I really like. I mean, I could imagine like if I only lived in Thailand, maybe I’d have to eat Thai food all the time. I don’t know, but that is one of my favorites. And so I like being here and there’s a Laotian restaurant, there’s a Thai restaurant, there’s a French restaurant. I it the world’s your oyster. It is. It’s pretty cool. It is pretty cool. Awesome. Thanks for sharing that, Joe. Thanks for sticking with us listeners. We appreciate ya. And if you have any questions, reach out. Otherwise, we’ll catch you next time. Bye-bye.

 

Joe Beckford (28:52)

All kinds of different ethnic food. Dude, yeah. That’s what I really like. I mean, I could imagine like if I only lived in Thailand, maybe I’d have to eat Thai food all the time. I don’t know, but that is one of my favorites. And so I like being here and there’s a Laotian restaurant, there’s a Thai restaurant, there’s a French restaurant. I it the world’s your oyster. It is. It’s pretty cool. It is pretty cool. Awesome. Thanks for sharing that, Joe. Thanks for sticking with us listeners. We appreciate ya. And if you have any questions, reach out. Otherwise, we’ll catch you next time. Bye-bye.