Father of 4. Owner of Meredith Wealth Planning, a flat fee financial planning firm that manages over $550 million for 200+ clients.
Maryville, IL
Joined March 2012
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In the past we have brought on clients with very large American Fund portfolios in taxable accounts.
Simply doing a tax-free share class conversion from their "A" share class to the "F-3" share class more than paid for our entire annual advisory fee.
The cap gain distribution tax nightmare from legacy American Funds never ends.
The Growth Fund of America is estimating 10% - 12% in LT gain distributions while American Balanced is estimating 12% - 15%.
The New Economy Fund takes the cake at a 20% - 25% estimate.
When prospective clients upload documents to us we are starting to see a lot of “AI generated financial plans” included.
These plans of course have brought no confidence or clarity to them, which is why they are reaching out to a real financial planner.
Mark Meredith, CFP®️ retweeted
Here’s what many miss:
During peak family years demands on your time are insane and give rise to fantasizing about optionality.
Then the kids grow up, begin lives of their own, and suddenly things get very quiet. That’s when things flip. Friends who retired early are bored and often end up doing dopey things trying to occupy their time. Those who stayed in the game wake up with purpose, stay engaged and avoid dopey destructive behaviors. It’s all about moving gracefully through the stages of life. To my friends in peak insane family years, take a moment to soak it all in. It will pass quickly and someday you’ll give anything to experience it one last time. 👊
Mark Meredith, CFP®️ retweeted
You’re right. That’s why the larger the “safe” allocation one has in their portfolio, the less sustainable higher withdrawal rates are over time (historically).
Sharing an example of the investment policy statement we use for clients.
meredithwealth.com/sample-in…
That sinking feeling when a client pulls out their phone in your office and you notice they have 350,000 unread emails.
Financial advisors often claim they provide comprehensive estate planning but they really just send you to an attorney down the street that does the work and charges you separately.
Unrelated, but Meredith Wealth now offers knee replacements.
A 1% AUM fee on several million dollars starts to seem light when you have to give your B/D 44.5% - 72% of that.
What I had to hear from my sister riding to school together in 1997: “put in that spice girls CD”.
What my son hears from his sister riding to school together in 2026: “Hey Siri play I’m a pancake with a chainsaw!”
A two income household born in 1985 that paid the max into Social Security every year can expect about $0.69 returned to them for every $1 they paid in, in real terms.
Every dollar you pay into Social Security counts, but the first $1,286 of your average indexed monthly earnings counts the most.
ssa.gov/oact/NOTES/ran7/an20…
According to the 2026 Social Security Trustees report, a 1% reduction in the annual cost of living adjustment would eliminate 46% of the 75 year shortfall.
The same reduction applied in 2021 would have eliminated 55% of the shortfall.
The longer you wait…
The Social Security insolvency crisis is a bipartisan failure of government that spans many decades, but there are two good examples of this in recent years:
*Trump's OBBBA sped up projected depletion by 6 months.
*Biden's SS Fairness Act also sped up projected depletion by 6 months.
Can a secondary cause of bond yields rising stem from allocators who chase performance that don’t like the trailing performance numbers?
