Dylan Paskell, Financial Advisor

06/23/2026

A 10-minute conversation just saved my client, Greg, about $18,000 in future taxes.

Greg was about to start receiving $5,000 a month from his military pension while still working, and his plan was to drop it into a regular brokerage account and pull from it in retirement.

Nothing wrong with that on the surface, but a brokerage account taxes you on the growth. So, we made one change. Instead of the brokerage, he max funds his 401(k) with Roth and after-tax dollars that grow tax free for the rest of his retirement. Same money, same investments, just a different bucket.

Over two years that's about $120,000 invested. If it doubles, that's another $120,000 in gains. In a brokerage, that growth gets taxed. This way it doesn't, which keeps about $18,000 in Greg's pocket instead of going to the IRS.

Most people focus on how much they invest. Where they put it can matter just as much.

If you've got new income coming in this year, do you know whether it's landing in the right place?

𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭.

06/16/2026

Several people I've met with recently were contributing to a Roth 401(k) and weren't sure where the Roth part actually was. One thought it was a separate account floating somewhere outside his plan.

Fair confusion. There isn't really formal education on this stuff unless you intentionally seek it out.

Roth isn't an account. It's a tax treatment. You pay tax on the money now, and in exchange the growth and qualified withdrawals are tax-free later.

That treatment lives in two main places.

A Roth 401(k) sits inside your employer's plan. Funded through payroll, employer match can still apply, and there's no income limit, so high earners can use it.

A Roth IRA is its own account, held outside any employer. You open it, you choose the investments. This one does have income limits.

Same tax treatment. Two different homes for it.

06/01/2026

Got to dive in one of my favorite places last week - Roatan, Honduras.

When I got back to work, the first two clients I met with are scuba certified as well.

Always nice when client meetings can go a little deeper than finances for a bit.

05/15/2026

A dollar from 2016 buys about 75 cents of stuff today.

A lot of people are still measuring their portfolios in raw dollars. They see "up 4% this year" and feel good about it. But if inflation ran at 3%, their real return was 1%.

For cash sitting in checking or low-yield savings, the math is rougher. $200k parked there in 2016 has lost roughly $50k in purchasing power.

This is one of the first things I look at when someone new comes in: not just what their portfolio earned, but what it actually earned after inflation, and which buckets are quietly falling behind.

Most people are surprised by the answer.

04/30/2026

I spent some quality time with my dad and brother this weekend fly fishing with the best guide in the smokies!

04/24/2026

I'm excited to lead our new office in Maryville, TN. Great things are in store for Elevate!

New Branch Alert!
Let’s congratulate Dylan Paskell, Financial Advisor on the launch of our newest Elevate branch!

We’re excited to see his leadership and dedication expand our mission of helping families build and protect their financial future. Growth isn’t just about numbers, it’s about impact. And we’re ready to make more of it in Knoxville, TN.

Stop by our newest location at 200 E Broadway Ave Ste 506 Maryville, TN 37804 Fifth floor, right corner.

04/14/2026

Most people don't avoid financial advisors because they don't want help, they avoid them because they just don't know what they're walking into.

I’d love to share what my process looks like so that you know exactly what you’re getting before you even start working with me.

Meeting 1 - About 30 minutes. You tell me where you are, what you're trying to do, and what's worrying you.

Meeting 2 - A little longer and more detailed. Around an hour. We build out exactly what your plan would include and what it would cost. I explain how I can help you with your goals and how we plan to get you there. At this point we determine together if it’s the right fit for you.

Meeting 3 - Short and simple and less than 30 minutes. All questions answered. If you're ready, we make it official and begin setting your plan into motion.

Three meetings. About two hours. That's it.

04/06/2026

We had a wonderful Easter weekend with family!

04/02/2026

I helped a client pay $6k less in taxes in his first year working with me.

He had $600k sitting in a HYSA accruing interest and was continuously adding to it each month as a second retirement account.

He wasn't taking full advantage of his 401(k) contributions.

Here's what we did:
• Moved the majority of that $600k cash into a brokerage account invested conservatively to optimize gains for long term capital gains rather than ordinary income ($4k taxes saved)

• Maximized pre-tax, roth, and after-tax 401(k) contributions to prioritize tax mitigation both now and in the future ($2k saved this year while building tax-free money for retirement)

Simple moves that busy professionals might not have the time to research and execute themselves. It only took four meetings over the course of a month to make a significant difference in his tax bill this year and in years to come.