Hi Clients,
I hope you’ve had a great first quarter to start the year! I have some firm news, financial news, and an attached copy of my updated ADV for you.
In Firm News
I alluded to this in my prior email, but 2025 was an amazing year for me personally and as a firm owner. Thank you to all the new clients who came on board last year and those of you who have been around for years now! I appreciate your support. If I can ever be providing better service to you as a financial planner, please let me know.
I have a title for my upcoming investing book. Informed Investing will be released by the end of June this year! While many of you already know the core lessons from the book (due to our work together), it still may be helpful reading or a great resource to recommend to friends and family who ask you how you seem to be such a financial wizard. In the meantime, feel free to point them to my other books.
In Financial News
- Interest rates have started to decrease to more approachable levels. For a few years, mortgage rates hovered around 7% and have since dropped to about 6%. Interest rates being this high have slowed housing market activity, meaning that sellers struggle to get their expected prices and homes are selling slower. This recent drop may open the door to more mortgage refinancing and homes selling, though we still have an affordability crisis in housing.
- Employment figures are still low. Employment figures are only aggregated data and subject to flaws/biases, but it’s disheartening to see healthcare workers be noted in the report as many areas already have a shortage. I am noticing that clients who have lost their job are also having a longer time between jobs, though this is anecdotal. Lower employment figures may mean that interest rates continue to trend downward, though the decisions of the Federal Reserve are never guaranteed.
- While projected to begin this year, OBBBA’s 530A “Trump” Accounts still await official implementation. There is a released tax form “4547” to file with next year’s taxes and a projected release date of July 4th, 2026 to get the accounts started. I will keep recent parents posted!
- Tax season is well upon us. If you have any concerns about tax forms or filing, please do not hesitate to reach out! I look forward to being able to help out with any coordination issues.
If you’d like to learn more about present financial news, feel free to ask in our meetings, check out the firm’s blog, or follow one of my social media accounts.
ADV Update
The ADV is a document I must amend every year around this time. It’s the disclosure document that informs potential and current clients how the firm operates. If you have any questions about it, let me know! There are no big changes this year. The biggest change to report is my decision not to renew the CDFA® designation. While I did enjoy learning more in this space to better serve current and future clients, the requirements to maintain it were specific and non-transferable. Other firm owner(s) seem to feel the same.
Anyway, those are all the updates for the last two months. There’s always more to share and learn, so I’ll be emailing again in May! If you need anything in the meantime, do not hesitate to reach out.
Best,
Ian