Jamie Letcher's LTM E-Newsletter

Jamie Letcher

VP, Wealth Management

Summit Financial Advisors

Located at Summit Credit Union

401 S. Yellowstone Drive

Madison, WI 53719

Phone: 608-271-1012

Email: james.letcher@lpl.com

May/June 2024

Time for a Mid-Year Portfolio Check

Investment values aren’t static. They rise and fall throughout the year based on market performance. As 2024 approaches the halfway point, it is a smart move to review your portfolio to determine the impact of market fluctuations and make any needed changes to stay on track with your investment strategy.

Investing in Changing Markets

It seems like any piece of news can either rattle or encourage stock markets, propelling stock prices to decrease or increase rapidly and giving some investors heartburn as they worry and watch. If you are a long-term investor, you typically don’t need to fret about short-term volatility. But if you can’t help worrying or you have a shorter investment timeframe, consider the following tips to help ease your concerns.

Roth IRA: A Good Fit for Your Goals?

Traditional and Roth individual retirement accounts are both good choices for retirement investing. A Roth IRA offers tax advantages when you’re ready to withdraw your money, while traditional IRA contributions are tax-deferred until you make withdrawals. Reviewing both IRA options can help you decide.

Building Wealth for Retirement

Saving for retirement in an employer’s 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account (IRA) is only one part of a wealth accumulation strategy. A comprehensive wealth strategy involves a personalized, in-depth review of what your financial future may look like. Having a wealth strategy can help you set a course for financial stability in retirement.

Down the Aisle for Less

Beginning life as a married couple with significant debt can place a strain on your finances and your relationship. Wedding costs can be exorbitant, but, with a little ingenuity, you can find ways to control them. In addition to setting a wedding budget, consider these ideas for trimming costs.

Split Interest Trusts: The Basics

Split interest trusts are created to provide for both charitable and non-charitable beneficiaries. Donors can support an organization or a cause while still arranging for themselves or their loved ones to benefit from the assets placed in the trust.

Hidden Talents of Life Insurance

When someone mentions life insurance, what comes to mind? Most people think they are either content knowing they have enough coverage to meet their needs or concerned because they know they need to obtain coverage. While the primary purpose of life insurance is to protect loved ones, it has other talents.

Your Summer Financial To-Do List

Summer activities can take a toll on your finances, so it’s important to take control from the outset. The suggestions below can help keep your spending plan intact.

Help with Summer Camp Costs

Parents who send their child to summer camp may be able to deduct some of their expenses. The Child and Dependent Care Credit provides a tax break to working parents or guardians of children age 13 or younger or a dependent who is disabled. Parents who are full-time students or who are unemployed and looking for work may also qualify for the credit.

Building a Successful Partnership

Going into business with someone else requires more than just sharing good ideas. For a partnership to succeed, partners must make mutual decisions about the business’s structure, financing and conflict resolution.

Diversify to Mitigate Risk

Small business owners may find that most of their net worth is tied up in their business. But what happens if your business takes a downturn? This can happen if, for example, your business’s market sector experiences a decline. Diversification is the key to reducing risk to your personal and business wealth.

Should You Prepay Funeral Costs?

There is no right or wrong answer, but you’ll want to review the pros and cons of prepaying funeral expenses.

Saving on Funeral Costs

As with everything else, funeral and burial costs have risen over the years. Even a simple service and burial can cost more than expected. Pre-planning can prevent your loved ones from having to make decisions about your final wishes and help lower some of the costs.

The Facts About Tips and I Bonds

With fixed-income investment rates seeming to be holding higher, many investors are taking a second look at bond investments with a wary eye on inflation. If you’re one of those investors, Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) and I bonds offer inflation protection and currently attractive returns. Both are government-backed investments with interest rates that are periodically adjusted for inflation.

Leftover 529 Plan Funds

Congratulations, your youngest child has graduated college, and there’s money left in their 529 college savings plan.* Now, the question is what to do with that money. If you want to liquidate the account, you have several tax-advantaged choices.

A Different Graduation Gift

Are you sending your new high school graduate off to college this fall, or do they have travel plans for the summer? Be sure to send them with medical and financial powers of attorney (POAs).

Retirement Planning Tips for Physicians

A 2023 Medscape survey reported that 59% of physicians had a net worth of less than $1 million, an amount unlikely to be sufficient for them to live as they’d like in retirement.

More Income on Fixed-Income Investments

Be aware of the increased income you may be earning on bonds and other fixed-income investments this year. After all, higher returns mean higher income and potentially higher taxes.

The Average Cost of a Funeral

According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the average cost of a funeral with burial is $7,848 — $9,420 if a vault is included. At $6,971, cremation costs slightly less. Here’s a cost breakdown of select items.

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