EQB

EQB We obsessively find every legal way to reduce your taxes to 0 and grow your investments to FU money. You work hard. You provide. That’s true elsewhere.

You do all the right things for today and the future. The question you never asked -

What will hit zero first: me or my money? Too many end up with many years of life left, but no money. And social security is not the future anyone wants. The solution is good retirement planning and tax strategy. But you can’t afford a financial advisor. But not here. The 1% don’t need our help. We exist to help

everyone else. But you’ve probably heard this before. A big promise up front, and then a mile long disclaimer saying “well… nothing is guaranteed and markets fluctuate and we aren’t responsible for anything.”

Here is my disclaimer
If you follow our strategy - which is planning driven and goal focused - you will end up better off when you retire.

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Facts you can’t avoid

Fact:
At trendline inflation of three percent, the cost of living goes up almost two and a half times over thirty years. What this means for you:
If you haven’t got a plan to increase your income about as much as your living costs are going up in retirement, then you have a plan for running out of money. Fact:
The S&P’s stock index is currently made up of hundreds of the largest, best financed, most profitable companies in America and the world. Those companies have been raising their dividends at very nearly twice the inflation rate as long as anyone reading this has been alive. What this means for you:
Rising dividends are the most important strategy to keep your retirement income growing well beyond your living costs. Fact:
The only rigorous definition of money is purchasing power. Currency isn’t money; it’s just currency, and it loses some of its purchasing power every day, because of inflation. Even if you perfectly preserve your principal, and your cost of living doubles over time, you’ll have lost half your money. And

Since 1926, large company equities in the US have compounded at about a ten percent annual return. High quality bonds have compounded at about six percent, and inflation at about three percent. Thus the real return of owning good companies has historically been more than twice that of similar quality bonds. That’s the fundamental reason why it’s better to be an owner of companies (equities) rather than a lender to them (bonds). What this means for you:
History speaks louder than the emotion of the moment. You are statistically highly unlikely to gain an advantage over the equity market by going in and out of it because of current events or perceived threats. Our policy is to avoid radical changes based upon events, always. We counsel that if your goals haven’t changed, you ought not to change your portfolio.

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Richmond, VA
23113

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The One Question

At retirement, your whole financial life essentially collapses down to one binary question. It is, of course: will your money outlive you, or will you outlive your money? Most of the people we meet professionally aren't sure which retirement outcome they're going to get - in part because they didn't know that that's the overriding question. A nonsmoking couple of average retirement age - which is 62 - has a joint life expectancy of 30 years. In English, that means the second person will pass at age 92. I caution you that, like all actuarial numbers, that's an average. At trend-line inflation of 3%, therefore, the cost of living will rise nearly two and a half times in those 30 years. That is, it will cost about $2.40 in the 30th year of retirement to buy what a dollar bought in the first year. If you haven’t got a plan to increase your income about as much as your living costs go up in retirement, then you may in effect have a plan for running out of money. Our mission in life is to help people make the right kind of plan. It’s a much less complicated conversation that you might expect. For now, I leave you with one thought and two statistics. First the statistics: Just since 1960 - to pick a time frame that takes in the lifetime of most everyone who’s not retired yet - the Consumer Price Index has compounded at it’s long-term trend rate of close to 3%. The dividend - just the cash income, mind you - of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index has compounded at 5.9%. Now, the S&P 500 is made up of about that number of the largest, best financed, most profitable companies in America and the world. And what I’m telling you is that, taken as a group, those companies have been raising their dividends at something close to twice the inflation rate for as long as you’ve been alive. Those were the two statistics. Here’s that one thought: rising dividends are one important way smart people have kept their retirement incomes growing well beyond their living costs. We would be happy to meet to discuss this, or whatever is of financial concern to you and your family. Just call ahead and tell me how you take your coffee. Joshua Curtis Managing Partner, EQB Wealth