November Newsletter, 2024

• Your Thanksgiving Financial Feast: Building a Bountiful Future
• Making the Most of Your Leftovers
• Vet Thrive 2025 Event

A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Valued Clients

This Thanksgiving  as we reflected on another year of serving you, our hearts are filled with genuine gratitude. Your trust is the foundation of everything we do, and we are deeply appreciative of the relationships we've built and the confidence you've placed in our team. Each referral, each conversation, and each opportunity to support your financial journey means more to us than words can express.

Our commitment to you goes beyond transactions—it's about partnership, protection, and helping you achieve your most important financial goals. Thank you for choosing us, for recommending us to your friends and family, and for allowing us to be a part of your financial story.

With sincere appreciation,

Joshua Cantrell & Amanda H. Cantrell, CF2 , MVMT Financial powered by Fiscal Designs

🦃🦃Building a Bountiful Future 🦃🦃

We hope you've all had a wonderful November and are enjoying rest and leftovers! Now that you are stuffed, let's reflect on what it takes to build a "menu" for your finances. Just as a memorable Thanksgiving dinner requires careful planning, precise timing, and thoughtful preparation, your financial future requires the same attention to detail. Let's explore your Recipe for Financial Success:

Appetizers: Building Your Foundation

• Emergency Fund Essentials: Like appetizers that prepare you for the main course, your emergency fund sets the foundation for financial security. Aim for 3-6 months of expenses in easily accessible accounts.¹ Think of it as your "kitchen essentials" – always stocked and ready when needed.
• Short-Term Savings Goals: Create "appetizer-sized" saving goals for specific purposes (holiday spending, upcoming travel, home repair reserve, and short term investment opportunities) to avoid dipping into long-term investments.

Main Course: Core Investment Strategy

• Retirement Accounts: Your 401(k), IRA, or TSP should be the centerpiece of your financial plan during your main working years. Like a perfectly cooked turkey, these take time and attention to prepare properly.
• Investment Diversification: Just as a memorable Thanksgiving dinner offers variety, your portfolio should include a mix of:Growth investments (stocks, ETFs)Income-producing assets (bonds, dividend stocks)Alternative investments (real estate, commodities)Risk-managed insurance products like IULs

Signature Dishes: Complementary Financial Strategies

These financial essentials are not mere afterthoughts, but critical components that add depth, flavor, and balance to your overall wealth management plan. These strategies work together to create a more robust and satisfying financial picture, protecting and growing your assets with thoughtful precision.

• Tax-Efficient Investing: Like perfectly seasoned side dishes, tax strategies enhance your overall financial picture
• Insurance Protection: Protection acts like the essential sides that complete your meal. Insurances also store and protect those precious leftovers!
• Estate Planning Basics: Prepare your financial legacy to pass down like cherished family recipes.

Sweet Endings: Legacy Planning

Legacy planning is the sweet finale to your financial story, ensuring that the wealth and values you've worked hard to build continue to nourish and support your loved ones long after you're gone. These strategies are about more than just financial transfer—they're about preserving your family's hopes, dreams, and memories for generations to come.

• Charitable Giving: Consider donor-advised funds or charitable trusts
• Education Funding: Education savings strategies for future generations
• Multi-generational Wealth Transfer: Family trust considerations³

Don't wait for the perfect moment to start—the best time to begin crafting your financial masterpiece is now. Reach out; we can help you blend these strategies into a personalized plan that reflects your goals, protects your dreams, and nourishes your family's future. Remember, financial success is not about perfection, but about consistent action, continuous learning, and adapting your recipe as life evolves.

Your financial feast awaits. Let's start cooking!

Making the Most of Your Leftovers:

📊Year-End Financial Moves 📊

Just as Thanksgiving leftovers can become delicious new meals, your year-end financial "leftovers" can be transformed into powerful opportunities. Here's a few topics to think about as you wrap up the year:

Bonus and Tax Planning

• Strategic timing of year-end bonuses
• Tax-loss harvesting opportunities
• Charitable giving strategies for tax benefits
• Review estimated tax payments and withholding

Investment Rebalancing

• Portfolio review and rebalancing
• Tax-efficient fund exchanges
• Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) planning
• Roth conversion opportunities

2025 Planning

• Update contribution limits for retirement accounts
• Review Social Security and Medicare changes
• Prepare for new tax provisions
• Set financial goals for the new year

The Surprising Origins of Black Friday: A Financial Tale

The term "Black Friday" has a rich history beyond shopping deals. Originally used in 1869 to describe a financial crisis when speculators nearly crashed the U.S. economy, the phrase later became associated with Philadelphia's chaotic post-Thanksgiving shopping crowds in the 1960s.

By the 1980s, retailers reframed the term's negative meaning. Accountants traditionally used "black" to signify profit (versus "red" for losses). Stores claimed this was the day they moved from "in the red" to "in the black" for the year.

Personal Finance Lesson: Just like the term's transformation, your financial journey is about perspective. What seems like a setback can become an opportunity for growth. Black Friday teaches us:

• Timing matters
• Perception can turn challenges into opportunities
• Smart moves can shift you from "in the red" to "in the black"

Pro Tip: Use Black Friday as a moment to reflect on financial goals, seek true value, and make strategic purchases that support your long-term financial health.

ARE YOU RETIRING FROM MILITARY SERVICE IN 2025?

If you or someone you know is retiring in 2025, VET THRIVE 2025 is a must attend event. 

This FREE WORKSHOP is packed with the information that you'll need in preparation for a strong financial transition. 

 This powerful training event will answer your questions and highlight important planning considerations as you prepare for your next chapter:

• Retirement Financial Planning
• Maximizing Your Retirement Pension
• Veterans Group Life Insurance (VGLI) Overview
• Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) Overview
• VA Dependency & Indemnity Compensation Overview
• Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Considerations & Rollovers
• Private Life Insurance Plans, Term and Permanent Options
• Building a Financial Legacy & Generational Wealth

Sign Up Here