The end of the year is great time for reflection and relaxation, particularly during the holiday season. It’s also a great time to do a little bit of planning. In this piece, we offer four conversation starters for discussing wealth planning concepts with family.

Elections and the policies they produce matter, but they have not been the primary driver of market returns over the long run. Economic fundamentals and earnings matter far more. Many investors understandably have strong feelings about the results, but it’s important not to let those emotions alter or derail your long-term goals--and the plans you’ve put in place for achieving them.

The country’s first state mandated, publicly funded long-term care insurance (LTC) program went into effect last year, in Washington state. Its aim is to address the massive financial burden that long-term care is placing on families, especially those with around-the-clock needs.

The first six months of 2024 featured strong stock market returns with relatively subdued volatility. But then late July and early August happened.

Politics and investment decision-making don’t mix very well. There’s a simple reason why: politics is usually filled with emotionally charged views and stubborn biases, neither of which have been known to serve investors well.

Since most people have just finished filing 2023 taxes, they have a data-rich, comprehensive view of their entire financial picture. That means having information readily available to inform tax mitigation strategies and guide tax-related decisions for the rest of the year.

Learning new technology can be cumbersome and complicated. But at the same time, RSMA Wealth Management is eager to embrace technology that actually improves the overall client experience without making everything harder.

Here are three new tools available to all RSMA clients.

In this year-end note, we cover key items like capital gains tax rates for 2024, IRMAA income limits, contribution limits for retirement accounts and HSAs next year, tax saving ideas for required minimum distributions (RMDs), and market insights from the past year – and for the year ahead....