Webinar Replay: Elevate Your Strategy: From Wrap-Up to Ramp-Up
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CWRU Presenter: Well, hello, everyone, and welcome to Part 2 of our Women in Wealth webinar series.
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CWRU Presenter: I'm Rachel Sampson.
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CWRU Presenter: Head of Community Banking and National Director of Key for Women, and I'm truly honored to be with you all today for our very first live and in-person session. That's the little echo that you're saying… you're hearing.
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CWRU Presenter: All right. So, as we approach the closeout of 2025, I'm so happy to be here with all of you today, but also continue this great
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CWRU Presenter: conversation that we've been having as we close out 2025, as this season naturally invites reflection on where we've been, what we've learned, and how we want to move forward.
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CWRU Presenter: Whether you're a business owner navigating growth, a professional exploring new opportunities, or someone just simply seeking greater clarity on your financial journey.
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CWRU Presenter: Today's session is designed to meet you where you are and help you step into 2026 with confidence and intention.
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CWRU Presenter: We'll be diving into topics that matter deeply. Tax strategy, charitable giving, succession planning, and overall financial wellness. They aren't just financial concepts, they're personal decisions.
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CWRU Presenter: Deeply rooted in decisions, in your values, your goals, and your vision for the future. Behind every financial choice is a story, and today, we're here to honor those stories and offer insights that empower you to take the next step.
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CWRU Presenter: Financial planning isn't a one-size-fits-all. It's dynamic, it's evolving, and it's deeply personal.
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CWRU Presenter: So whether you're here to learn, validate a decision, or simply get inspired, I'm glad you've joined us today. And without further ado, I would love to turn our program over to our esteemed panelists and our key private bank, national sales leader, Kathy Kearney O'Malley.
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CWRU Presenter: Thank you.
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CWRU Presenter: Thank you, Rachel. And to our guests, welcome to our Women in Wealth series. We're so pleased to have you with us here today.
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CWRU Presenter: And, what we have done in preparation for this conversation is really anticipate those important financial decisions and simple financial activities that will help you elevate your financial situation at year end.
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CWRU Presenter: The time is now, and we have a lot of opportunity to maximize our situation by year-end. So with that, let's jump right into it and get started.
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CWRU Presenter: So, as we kick off with our first question, and we approach year end.
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CWRU Presenter: We want to talk about our most critical planning considerations for individuals.
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CWRU Presenter: And so, Leah, what are you advising your clients to pay attention to at this time of the year? Absolutely. There's so much going on at this time of year. Sometimes it is really nice to just take a step back and inventory all of the different planning documents that you have in place, all of the different accounts that you have in place.
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CWRU Presenter: And spend some time looking at the asset titling. How are your accounts titled? Does that align with your intentions and your objectives? Do you have beneficiary designations on your accounts?
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CWRU Presenter: Is your life insurance policy still relevant and doing what you need it to do?
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CWRU Presenter: Do you have beneficiaries on that life insurance policy? Are they the beneficiaries that you intend to have? Even taking a look at your business succession plans to make sure they're always up-to- date, because just as we talked about in the last session, these documents are so important, and…
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CWRU Presenter: Really, whatever documents you have in place, and how they're titled, and what they say at the time of your passing, that's what gets set in stone. So using the end of each calendar year as an opportunity to take a fresh look at it, that doesn't mean you're updating your documents every time you're reviewing them.
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CWRU Presenter: But a lot can happen throughout the course of a year, so double checking.
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CWRU Presenter: Just to make sure they're doing what you want them to do, and using this as an opportunity if you do see something that's inconsistent with your goals and intentions.
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CWRU Presenter: to take an opportunity to schedule a meeting, it doesn't necessarily have to be before the end of the year, but maybe early in Q1 of the following year, to, schedule a meeting with your advisors and really make sure that you're getting those documents buttoned up.
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CWRU Presenter: And Kelly, we were just talking about a great story that you shared about one of your clients. Yes, so I want to discuss why good estate planning matters. So, in this story.
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CWRU Presenter: Husband and wife have 3 children. They started a business together, worked really hard to grow this business.
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CWRU Presenter: sold the business, and husband, wife passed away, husband remarried. His wife didn't
have any children of her own, but she did have nieces and nephews she was close to.
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CWRU Presenter: Husband wasn't in great health, so he met with his advisors, along with his wife, and we went through their documents, and
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CWRU Presenter: His revocable trust, would distribute to his wife.
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CWRU Presenter: during, her lifetime and upon her passing would distribute to his 3 children. And then her revocable trust would distribute to her nieces and nephews. Husband had met her nieces and nephews once or twice, had a good relationship with them, but they lived across the country. He wasn't really close to them.
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CWRU Presenter: So, after going through their assets,
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CWRU Presenter: it was noticed that their assets were titled jointly. Everything was held in the name of husband and wife.
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CWRU Presenter: So, this was a bit problematic, because if husband had passed away.
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CWRU Presenter: Everything would have passed to wife.
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CWRU Presenter: and then flowed through her revocable trust, and subsequently would have passed to her nieces and nephews. And husband was very surprised by this. He thought that, all the assets would pass to his children, upon his passing.
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CWRU Presenter: So, it was advised to husband and wife to title, their respective assets into the name of their revocable trust. So, the very next day, they went and changed their checking accounts, their, real estate, and their investment accounts.
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CWRU Presenter: to fund the trust so the assets could pass according to their intents and wishes. So husband was pleased that that was able to be caught, and that
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CWRU Presenter: Everything was titled correctly, and that his legacy, his, hard-earned
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CWRU Presenter: assets would pass to his children, because otherwise, if they would have left them as is, his children wouldn't receive anything, and the nieces and nephews of his wife would receive everything. So, that is why good estate planning does matter.
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CWRU Presenter: And really taking the time to meet with your advisors and ask the right questions and making sure you understand the documents and the titling. So, Kelly, that is a fabulous example.
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CWRU Presenter: Let me just take it in a little different direction if someone doesn't have a trust. So, imagine we're talking about titling our beneficiaries on an IRA, or joint bank accounts, or POD accounts on bank or investment accounts.
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CWRU Presenter: I would imagine, based on what the two of you are saying, if you've had a family death in the past.
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CWRU Presenter: year, or few years, if there's been a divorce, maybe if someone's health has changed.
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CWRU Presenter: it could be a great time to meet with your advisor, and not only take a look at your estate plan, but what do all of your accounts look like? Does that make sense? Absolutely, and the reality is, every family, every circumstance is different.
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CWRU Presenter: Estate planning is not a one-size-fits-all approach, but so much of what we talk about is just being intentional.
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CWRU Presenter: So, to be intentional, we have to take the time to take a look at the documents that we have, look at the asset titling, and just make sure they are flowing as you intend. There isn't a right or wrong way to do it, but paying attention to that flow of assets really is very important.
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CWRU Presenter: And, you know, just shifting gears a little bit, if we're talking about the things that you have to do before the end of the year, one of the things for those who are…
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CWRU Presenter: age 73 and older and have a traditional IRA, don't forget to take your required minimum distribution. And failing to do so, there is a penalty involved if you take… fail to take a distribution that you are required to take. But just making sure that you are being mindful of what that distribution amount is.
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CWRU Presenter: It's a calculation that is done typically at the beginning of each year, and taking that anytime during the calendar year, always earlier the better, is always advisable, just to make sure it goes through.
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CWRU Presenter: But that also applies to inherited IRAs. If there is a distribution that needs to be taken, that applies as well. The other topic that comes up a lot
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CWRU Presenter: especially as we approach the end of the calendar year with the holidays coming up, there are a lot of families that start to talk about gifting, and what that might look like. Maybe it's mom and dad gifting to children, grandparents gifting.
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CWRU Presenter: Whatever that might look like. There are some rules around that, but I think it's maybe not as overwhelming as some people might think.
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CWRU Presenter: So this year, the annual gift exclusion amount is $19,000 per person, or $38,000 for a married couple. And what that means is
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CWRU Presenter: You can give that much to as many individuals as you would like without even needing to report it.
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CWRU Presenter: But the question that I get sometimes from our clients is, oh, I can only give that much. And the answer to that is no. You can give as much as you want. Anything that's in excess of that annual gift amount.
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CWRU Presenter: Just has to be reported on a gift tax return.
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CWRU Presenter: And there's no immediate tax that's owed for anything that is in excess of that amount, but what it starts to do is chip away at that federal, estate, and gift tax exclusion amount.
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CWRU Presenter: That's a very high number these days. In 2025, that number's $13.99 million for an individual, and in 2026, that number has now gone up to $15 million for individuals, $30 million for a married couple. So that's a high threshold.
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CWRU Presenter: And really, all those gifts in excess of the annual exclusion amount, anything… it's just starting to chip away at that number, but that's not to say that you can't give more than that if you want to start transitioning wealth, perhaps.
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CWRU Presenter: to future generations, younger generations, maybe give it to them when they might need that money a little bit more than just, perhaps inheriting, inheriting the money, maybe when they're better established in their careers or something like that.
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CWRU Presenter: I'm gonna piggyback on that in regards to the giving.
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CWRU Presenter: what you give is just as important as how much you give, and it doesn't necessarily mean it's a cash gift, especially when you think for the business owners that are participating on today's call. You have that option of giving business interest and starting to spread out the ownership interest to perhaps the next generation, if that's your intention. You have to be careful with valuations and making sure you're doing everything properly, and to Leah's
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CWRU Presenter: point, filing that 709, the gift tax form, and declaring this gift on a proper manner. So, we always advise that you have all your advisors lined up and part of this conversation to make sure you're doing it right.
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CWRU Presenter: Great. And adding another layer of helping our, our families plan, Roth IRAs are also an opportunity that we have. For those who may have, you know, children who are working, or perhaps children who are working in our business.
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CWRU Presenter: Is there some planning that those parents should consider with their children?
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CWRU Presenter: Yeah, I'll grab… jump in there. So, in regards to being able to save, right, the Roth IRA, allowing you to set aside those funds and let them grow tax-free into the future, right, the withdrawals in the future are tax-free. So if you have a kiddo working for you at the family business, and, right, if there's an income stream you're able to contribute at a very young age to those Roths.
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CWRU Presenter: And the earlier you start, the larger that grows, and what a great benefit going on into the future. So, excellent tool for families involved with business to take advantage of, and also those kiddos that are working out there on their own. Of course, DOSO is applicable to them.
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CWRU Presenter: It's helping them maximize their long-term benefit.
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CWRU Presenter: So, 2026 brought us the big, beautiful bill.
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CWRU Presenter: What year-end planning opportunities does that give us? Kelly, I think you had some ideas there. Sure, so first of all, I would say make sure you understand what tax bracket you fall into.
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CWRU Presenter: Second of all, really try to understand whether you will be utilizing the standard deduction or itemizing your deductions.
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CWRU Presenter: For 2025, the standard deduction for single filers is $15,750.
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CWRU Presenter: And, for joint filers, it's $31,500, so that's…
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CWRU Presenter: quite a bit, of money that is shielded through the standard deduction, but the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
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CWRU Presenter: really, encouraged more deductions, so we expect more people to be itemizing. Currently, about 91% of people take the standard deduction.
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CWRU Presenter: Whereas only 9% itemize their deductions, so we're expecting that to change a bit, and more people will be taking the itemized deductions. One of the biggest, most important items to come out of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is, the state and local income tax.
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CWRU Presenter: deduction increase. So, prior to the bill being passed in July, it was a maximum of… salt deduction was a maximum of $10,000. Now, it is $40,000. This is a temporary deduction, it lasts through 2029.
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CWRU Presenter: But this provides a lot of planning opportunities, such as, if your income fluctuates, to try to bunch your SALT deductions into one year so you can maximize those deductions. And it's great news for those who live in high-income tax states.
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CWRU Presenter: So very, very exciting news on that front. But there is a…
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CWRU Presenter: with a lot of these deductions, there are phase-outs, and the SALT deduction has a particularly steep phase-out.
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CWRU Presenter: Anything over… any, modified gross income over $500,000, there's a 30% phase-out, which is quite a bit. So be very careful where you fall with your adjusted gross income.
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CWRU Presenter: If you're close to that phase-out threshold, think about accelerating your deductions or,
pushing income, into another year.
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CWRU Presenter: Another exciting, deduction that was brought upon by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is the senior deduction. And we've had a lot of questions, is Social Security still taxed? The answer is yes.
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CWRU Presenter: But these senior deductions were implemented to take the burden off of, the taxation of Social Security income.
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CWRU Presenter: So, this deduction is $6,000 per individual who is over the age of 65. If you're married, you must file jointly with your spouse, otherwise you can't take it, but it allows individual to take $6,000 deduction, and allows a married couple to take up to a $12,000 deduction.
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CWRU Presenter: There is a phase-out with this deduction as well. For an individual, it's $75,000, it starts to phase out, and for a couple, filing jointly, it's $150,000. So just be very mindful where you fall in your,
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CWRU Presenter: adjusted gross income to see if you… if you fall out of that phase-out amount. And then another exciting point is.
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CWRU Presenter: the Child Tax Credit, and this is great news for, all those with minor children under the age of 17. What the Child Tax Credit is, it's a dollar-for-dollar reduction on your
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CWRU Presenter: tax. So, say you owe $10,000 in tax, each child, each eligible child under the age of 17, you get a $2,200 credit. So, this comes directly off your tax bill, so that's…
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CWRU Presenter: That's huge. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention one of the big things to come out of the bill is also the increase in the federal estate tax exemption amount.
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CWRU Presenter: For 2025, it's $13.99 million per individual, so this shields that amount of gross income,
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CWRU Presenter: from taxation, and this is a bit different from the federal income tax. This is the federal estate tax, so they're two different things.
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CWRU Presenter: But what the one big, beautiful bill did is made permanent the higher exclusion amount. It was set to sunset at the end of this year and be sliced in half. So this was, huge. So next year, it will be $15 million, as Leah said.
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CWRU Presenter: So, great for high net worth clients and individuals. You will get $15 million shielded from federal estate tax, next year.
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CWRU Presenter: Wonderful. So, what I'm hearing is parents are benefiting, retirees are benefiting, estates are benefiting. One group we didn't mention was business owners. How can business owners… what opportunities do they have to leverage in this new bill?
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CWRU Presenter: Sure, there's the qualified business income deduction, and this is huge for any pass- through entity, because pass-through entities don't get the benefit of the corporate income tax, so this allows, under Section 199A, a 20%
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CWRU Presenter: deduction on any income earned by partnerships, S-Corps, and sole proprietorships. So this is a huge benefit to, pass-through entities.
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CWRU Presenter: And also Section 179, bonus depreciation. So typically, when a business buys, equipment, they have to depreciate the equipment over the life of the item, and this could be a number of years. What, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act did is allows you,
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CWRU Presenter: when you're a business, if you buy equipment, you can take that deduction right away in the first year, so this is
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CWRU Presenter: Huge. And you can deduct up to $2.5 million in equipment, and prior to the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, it was $1.25 million. So this is huge for business owners, and particularly for pass- through entities with a qualified business income,
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CWRU Presenter: deduction of 20%. Great, so it sounds like
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CWRU Presenter: We all have a lot of… a lot to discuss with our tax advisors this season, so, now is the time to start that planning. Let's move on to, charitable giving, and I don't know about everyone else, but when I hear charitable giving, I, you know, the Gilded Age comes to mind, right?
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CWRU Presenter: But what I think the way we would want to position this is that we all have causes that are important to us, right?
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CWRU Presenter: And we have an opportunity approaching year-end to benefit those causes
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CWRU Presenter: And also, maximize our financial opportunity as well. Maybe preserve a few tax dollars for ourselves. So, Leah, why don't you share some ideas, particularly for those who may be, 70 and a half?
Sure, absolutely. I wonder what we're talking about there.
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CWRU Presenter: So, you know, just before I dive into the qualified charitable distributions, I think you made a really important point, Kathy. We look at charitable giving, and while tax planning isn't usually the driver behind charitable giving.
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CWRU Presenter: why would we want to leave the opportunity for tax savings on the table? And what that means is…
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CWRU Presenter: we look at our different assets, our different accounts, and look at the most strategic way that we can facilitate those charitable gifts. And to your point, one of the best ways to facilitate charitable giving for anyone who is at required minimum distribution age, which is age 73,
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CWRU Presenter: But the caveat, not to confuse anyone, but the caveat is you can do this as young as age 70 and a half, is to facilitate gifts directly from your IRA,
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CWRU Presenter: They're called Qualified Charitable Distributions, or QCDs. And this is a really important opportunity, because the amount that you give to a qualified 501c3 organization, it goes directly from your IRA,
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CWRU Presenter: to the charitable beneficiary. It never routes through you or through your bank account first, and that's really important.
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CWRU Presenter: Because once you're at that required minimum distribution age, that would count as taxable income.
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CWRU Presenter: But, if you utilize the qualified charitable distribution, you're never receiving it, so it doesn't count as your taxable income. So it's a really fantastic way to reduce taxable income that you would otherwise be required to take
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CWRU Presenter: in the amount of your gift. This year, you can make… you can facilitate qualified charitable distributions of up to $108,000 per account owner.
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CWRU Presenter: Next year, it increases to $115,000. So I know something that we'll talk about more in a little bit is the idea of tax bracket management.
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CWRU Presenter: But when we get into that piece of the conversation, one of the things we're going to be looking at, did you, through your taxable income for the year, just cross over into the next bracket level?
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CWRU Presenter: And if you did, using a qualified charitable distribution is really a fantastic way of reducing that taxable income and dropping you back down to the…
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CWRU Presenter: the, prior tax bracket, the next lowest one, the next lower tax bracket. So that's a really great tool to think about.
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CWRU Presenter: But in line with looking at what assets we have, and what might make the most charitable impact.
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CWRU Presenter: Certainly, we could write a check, or make a cash gift.
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CWRU Presenter: But, if you've got highly appreciated stock.
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CWRU Presenter: that can be a really valuable tool to use. And maybe that's for someone, certainly you could be over 73 and do that, but that's really something that anyone can do. If you've got highly appreciated stock, you can transfer that
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CWRU Presenter: Those shares of stock directly to your charitable beneficiary, and not only does it count as a charitable tax deduction for you.
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CWRU Presenter: You also save on capital gains taxes, which is another opportunity to save on taxes. Again, not the driver behind the charitable gift in most cases, but why leave that opportunity for savings on the table?
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CWRU Presenter: The other thing that we look at sometimes is, with clients who have large concentrations in highly appreciated assets. If they were to sell those stocks to reduce the concentration, that's going to trigger capital gains taxes.
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CWRU Presenter: So, looking at those assets.
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CWRU Presenter: and saying, I want to use these, shares to reduce my concentration and also accomplish my philanthropic objectives can be very advantageous. So, I like to call it smart giving. Yes, yes. Well, and I think this ties back to
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CWRU Presenter: conversations we've had around planning, right? If you know what you need in a given year.
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CWRU Presenter: And perhaps you don't need that RMD, or you don't need the dividends from that stock, or the sale of that stock, the proceeds.
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CWRU Presenter: then you have an opportunity to say, oh, I can allocate these assets in another direction to support that cause that I really care about. And it's not all or nothing. You can carve off a portion of it.
Excellent point, excellent point.
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CWRU Presenter: Great.
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CWRU Presenter: So, let's do a quick financial pulse check here.
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CWRU Presenter: I would love to hear from one of you a success story around planning, a situation where a client, embarked on a financial plan.
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CWRU Presenter: And was surprised in the positive by the results of that plan.
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CWRU Presenter: Yeah, we just had a great example where the team was working with these clients, that are relatively new to us in the private bank. They've been banking, both business banking and retail banking, with Key for a number of years, and they wanted to understand
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CWRU Presenter: where they stood for retirement purposes with their needs, as well as an inheritance that was coming into play. They had done a great job of saving and trying to prepare, but they were kind of overwhelmed with the fact assets were here and there, spread across different places. Part of the process for us was to take all that information and drive into a financial plan that gave them an inventory of all their assets.
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CWRU Presenter: And an actual bottom line of what their net worth is.
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CWRU Presenter: We then overlaid their budget and what their needs were, because that was another question mark. They didn't really know how to qualify what their needs were, and we were able to provide ranges on would they be successful if they had this as their annual spending amount. And they were shocked to learn that their retirement was going to happen in their 50s, not their 60s. And I'm pleased to say that they're on the path of taking care of that.
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CWRU Presenter: They were hoping for the end of the year for one, and then the other to follow suit, so we'll see where they are, but it's pretty fun to see the revelations that happens through the proper financial planning.
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CWRU Presenter: That is so gratifying, and for those who haven't had this experience yet, those of us who are in this business, you actually see that quite often. People are kind of holding their breath, and then you discuss the plan, and they say, oh, really?
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CWRU Presenter: I can… you mean I could retire today? I thought I had to work for 15 more years.
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CWRU Presenter: Yeah, absolutely. I would add in, one of the pieces within the financial planning that folks overlook is, where is this money coming from with my resources? You know, folks worry about Social Security, and is it going to be there, and what does that look like? But that's only one element. You know, the retirement accounts that we're all trying to feverishly put away toward, as well as our personal savings, they all layer into the big picture.
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CWRU Presenter: And when you bring that all together and review, it's sometimes really insightful for folks that they've done a great job to prepare.
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CWRU Presenter: Excellent. Wonderful, wonderful story. And I think, Leah, you had a… you had a story that kind of went.
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CWRU Presenter: In the same direction, but with a different beneficiary outcome. Yes, in this scenario, we were working with a client who had some philanthropic intentions, but he was really trying to understand, he was…
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CWRU Presenter: in his mid-60s, really looking to understand, okay, how much can I give away? In this case, it was for philanthropic purposes, but it's a very transferable process if he were just hoping to pass on assets to future generations or other loved ones. It's not unique to the charitable perspective.
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CWRU Presenter: But he was trying to determine what his excess was, how much he could comfortably give on an annual basis without, you know, jeopardizing his own lifestyle, his own goals and, dreams of travel and all of those things that he wanted to do, and also thinking about things like long-term care.
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CWRU Presenter: So, in his mind, he had a $10,000
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CWRU Presenter: marker to say, I know I could do this comfortably. I'm thinking maybe, maybe I could do… maybe that's conservative, I could probably do a little bit more than that. I know 10,000 is comfortable.
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CWRU Presenter: Well, we ran a financial plan for him.
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CWRU Presenter: plugged in, to Suzanne's point, all of his different assets, which, in this scenario, were somewhat spread out at first, and
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CWRU Presenter: What we were able to show for him was that he was actually able… he had an excess of
$350,000. Is he gonna use all of that to facilitate those gifts every year? Maybe, maybe not, but now he knows what his runway is. He knows how much flexibility he has.
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CWRU Presenter: And I think that's really important, to be able to lean on a plan to show, you know, what opportunities are out there to accomplish whatever it is that you're working toward, and to plan around it. Wonderful. Great example.
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CWRU Presenter: And, so that's more, those two examples were very focused on the personal situation. We also know that there are many folks out there focused… considering
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CWRU Presenter: what they need to do to, properly transition their business. And we're very fortunate today, we have a special guest with us, Kalima White. Kalima, let me, pose a question to you. Sure.
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CWRU Presenter: What pitfalls have you seen
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CWRU Presenter: with clients who are attempting to, execute on that business succession planning strategy? I think… I think really one of the most…
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CWRU Presenter: Unfortunate, I would say, things that, business owner clients, look to do is not really planning in advance.
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CWRU Presenter: Right? Because a lot of the strategies that our Business Advisory Services group work with our business owner clients to sell their business, in order to maximize the proceeds that they bring home, right? Say the most… the biggest thing that's going to deplete, your proceeds upon a sale of business is taxes.
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CWRU Presenter: Right? So in order to
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CWRU Presenter: really understand what the tax burden is going to be. You're gonna have to really plan in advance. And the more you plan in advance, 5, 7 years, the better off you'll be, because there are a lot of different opportunities that we have. Like, you know, we could look at your entity and see if your entity structure, you know, is correct to maximize.
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CWRU Presenter: tax savings. We can, ensure we help you with maybe some qualified stock, business.
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CWRU Presenter: Succession planning, right? Some QSBS planning, right? It's Qualified Small Business Stock.
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CWRU Presenter: planning as well, under 1202. And so we've done that with a lot of our other clients by
creating, so we have a client who came to us 5 to 7 years before they, they wanted to, sell. We've been working with them for the past 5 years, 4 or 5 years, to create, some non-grantor trusts for them that would be able, some non-grantor trusts in Delaware, because we're looking at business assets, right?
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CWRU Presenter: We want to ensure, that these trusts are flexible trusts where the grantor will have the ability to be able to sell the business assets at some point, but also be able to maximize their tax burden on estate planning, on estate tax, and wealth transfer tax, but also, too, on income tax planning by…
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CWRU Presenter: I'm using the qualified small business stock.
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CWRU Presenter: exemptions. So, so I think that planning in advance and ensuring that there are a lot of things that we can, you know, help you with, because I always say the government wants their money, it doesn't really, you know, matter, and if you come to us early, we'll be able to help you, structure your entity in a way, that will provide most tax savings, and so I'll stop there. Oh, perfect. And so I think the…
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CWRU Presenter: The takeaway message I hear is
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CWRU Presenter: Before that calendar flips to 2026,
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CWRU Presenter: Those who own a business have an opportune time to say, what do I want to be doing with this business in 4, 5, 6 years, and begin to take some action. It doesn't have to be heavy or burdensome, but they can start that process.
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CWRU Presenter: So that 6 or 7 years from now, they're well situated from a…
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CWRU Presenter: from a tax and transition planning. Exactly, and one, understanding the value of your business is most important, just like, I think, what Leah was saying about understanding what you have to give and what you need to be able, to maintain your lifestyle. It's the same thing with valuation, right?
What's the value of your business, right? Will that… if you sell it in the next 4 to 5 years, will that be able to maintain the lifestyle you are?
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CWRU Presenter: you know, looking to have. Do you want to buy another business? Those types of goals. And so, you know, understanding the value of your business, what you have, and what you're going to do in the next 4 or 5 years is always best to do. And I always say, like, law professors always say, it depends. We always say plan in advance. Well said, Kalima.
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CWRU Presenter: So, with that in mind, we've discussed a lot of more complex strategies.
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CWRU Presenter: simple steps that can help us make the most out of those strategies. So,
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CWRU Presenter: What I'd like to do is maybe take it to a more general level and toss out the question, what are the key indicators that individuals should use to assess their financial health?
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CWRU Presenter: Sure. I think, you know, this ties directly into something that Suzanne mentioned a few minutes ago, and it's really understanding what you have.
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CWRU Presenter: doing a financial plan to put it all together, because it can be, misleading sometimes if you've got accounts in different places, and
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CWRU Presenter: It's a little bit hard sometimes to really understand what income is coming from where. Taking the time to do a financial wellness review, and that can take a lot of different forms.
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CWRU Presenter: Sometimes it's high level, sometimes it can be very, very much a deep dive.
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CWRU Presenter: But taking the time to really understand what you have, And…
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CWRU Presenter: understand how all of those assets flow together for your own financial well-being can be very important. Just as we started with, taking the time to understand what you have, how it's titled, where it's at.
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CWRU Presenter: Just to put it all in one place under one picture, so that you can really understand, how things flow.
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CWRU Presenter: Wow, it really seems, you know, back to the old adage, knowledge is power.
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CWRU Presenter: That's a pretty, you know, fundamental thing. Having the knowledge of what your assets really are and the types of assets can be so powerful. So, maintaining that, theme of simplicity.
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CWRU Presenter: Let's talk about one action item each of you would suggest
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CWRU Presenter: For our listeners to take away today, and
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CWRU Presenter: improve their financial position by year-end.
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CWRU Presenter: Sure,
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CWRU Presenter: I'll start. I think, the biggest thing to take away is to take action. Don't do nothing. I think the worst thing you could do is do nothing. Educate yourself, empower yourself, and even by attending this call today, I think you're taking those steps.
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CWRU Presenter: So, gather a good group of professional advisors, ask questions, make sure you understand your documents, make sure you understand the titling of your documents, and just really, really focus on finding advisors that you feel comfortable with.
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CWRU Presenter: That you can trust, and that you just educate yourself, understand your tax bracket, understand,
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CWRU Presenter: if you'll be utilizing standard deduction or itemizing your deductions, I think that's all very important, so I guess the underlying thing I have to say is take action, don't do nothing. Take that step.
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CWRU Presenter: I'm gonna piggyback on there.
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CWRU Presenter: And, I agree, and would echo everything Kelly just said. I'd also say, advocate for yourself. Women too frequently shy away from asking questions for fear of standing out, not knowing the answers.
You gotta take advantage of the time you have with others around you that do know the answers. Ask those hard questions, and again, advocate for yourself. I'll reference, there's a gender pay gap that's still out there.
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CWRU Presenter: Lots of headway has happened toward, you know, reducing that, but we're still 80, 85% less, or excuse me, of every dollar that a man has. And a lot of that has to do with complacency. Ladies, you gotta step up, stand up, and advocate for yourself in whatever manner makes sense for you.
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CWRU Presenter: I agree. Okay, I'm gonna interject on that one. This is Rachel. And I have to underscore that, because I think that is one of those drop-the-mic moments.
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CWRU Presenter: When we think about, for those who
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CWRU Presenter: may have entered the workforce later, some of those other things. That compounding money makes such a big difference, and I just really want the audience to let that resonate, because you have to advocate for yourself, and I think a lot of what we're doing, the conversation today, our programming is geared towards just that, is understanding what questions to ask. I know we're blowing up the chat right now, too, with just questions about
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CWRU Presenter: how to actually do that, so I'm excited to get going, but I really think that that was a pivotal moment, because the more you do that, the easier everything that we've talked about becomes.
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CWRU Presenter: Thank you.
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CWRU Presenter: I echo everything that we've said. The one point that I might drive home is something that Kelly shared, which is find a team of advisors that works for you. No one is expected to know how to do everything themselves.
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CWRU Presenter: And finding people that you're comfortable working with, that you trust, that understand what your goals and objectives are, is really, really important. So, in addition to everything that my colleagues have shared, I would just say, really find the team that works for you.
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CWRU Presenter: Okay, so I just want to summarize a couple things I heard here, because I think any one of these activities could be hugely beneficial. So first, I'm going to start… I'm going to start with you, Leah.
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CWRU Presenter: think about who your team might be, whether that's a financial advisor, an accountant, an attorney. I mean, you could probably pick one and have that conversation before year-end. And then, I think, you know, consider
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CWRU Presenter: you could think about your financial plan, Kelly, you could think about your estate plan, you could pick one and focus on that for this year. And then finally, Suzanne, you made an excellent point.
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CWRU Presenter: Ask the question.
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CWRU Presenter: Regardless of whether or not you feel like everyone else in the room knows the answer, first of all.
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CWRU Presenter: ask the question, and then secondly, you want to be asking the question about your compensation. And that
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CWRU Presenter: Honestly, in some research we've done, whether you are in a publicly traded business, or a closely held family business.
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CWRU Presenter: It can be even more important in that closely held business at a time of transition. So, it can be a very useful conversation, for you and for others. So, ladies, those were excellent, excellent points. Thank you so much. And I think at this point, we're gonna move on to our, our,
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CWRU Presenter: Q&A, and do you want me to go ahead with one question, or do you want to go right to the chat? We're gonna go right to the chat, because there are several questions that came into the chat, and it's right along some of the lines that we were just talking about in terms of a financial advisor.
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CWRU Presenter: How does one actually go about finding a trusted, all caps, trusted financial advisor? What are some questions that they should be asking, and is there a range of, when you think about fees and or services that they should consider during that process?
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CWRU Presenter: I can take that one.
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CWRU Presenter: I think, a lot of this depends on your area.
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CWRU Presenter: But I've found that one of the best ways of finding a trusted advisor is ask
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CWRU Presenter: Colleagues. Ask others that you know and trust who they use.
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CWRU Presenter: Is that always going to find the perfect solution? Maybe not, but it's a really great way of, starting the process.
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CWRU Presenter: And then, you don't have to select someone that you find online and then meet with them right away. Have a conversation with them, too. Take the time to have, a meeting, understand how they operate, what their process is, what their values are.
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CWRU Presenter: and see how they align with your own. To the feed question, I think that's really
dependent upon, area, area of expertise, background, any number of things, so that one's a tough one, I think, to answer.
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CWRU Presenter: But take the time to ask questions and get to know the people that you want to work with.
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CWRU Presenter: And I'm going to piggyback on that. One of the things I see is folks settle.
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CWRU Presenter: And they'll settle for someone that doesn't hear them.
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CWRU Presenter: Nor listen to them, right? That the whole thing is hearing and listening is important. So make sure that individual you're sitting with is paying attention and appreciating what's unique to you and your needs. So many people just assume, oh, well, it's the blanket, this is important for everyone. But no, we all have nuances, and we vary, and so you want someone that's hearing those nuances and answering to them.
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CWRU Presenter: I love that, and that really ties into our next question. I'd love to hear from each of you, and I know, Suzanne, we just heard from you, but what are some common mistakes or pitfalls that individuals make when selecting a trusted advisor and or in their finances in general? What are some of the pitfalls that you see?
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CWRU Presenter: I would say…
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CWRU Presenter: not knowing all your assets. Make sure you understand what assets you own, how they're titled, and make sure you know that, estate planning documents are important. What estate planning documents do you have? Do you understand what the estate planning documents say?
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CWRU Presenter: To Suzanne and Leah's point, ask questions. If you're confused about, something that… your trust, make sure you reach out to your advisor, and ask those questions. There aren't any silly questions.
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CWRU Presenter: That's what the advisors are there for. They're there to help you understand, how your estate plan flows, how your financial plan and balance sheet flow, so just really ask those questions, feel comfortable with your advisors. If you don't feel comfortable, if they're not responsive.
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CWRU Presenter: Find a different one. That's okay. You have to work until you find advisors that you feel like you can trust, you can tell them things, and they're responsive to you and your needs. So I think that's paramount. Yes.
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CWRU Presenter: I would also add, ask the advisor what their approach to planning is. So.
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CWRU Presenter: You are going to need planning as your financial life evolves.
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CWRU Presenter: as we mentioned earlier, you'll have deaths in the family, retirement, sale of a business… you may be in different earning capacities through the course of your life, so you need an advisor who will pivot through those with you. So I would ask.
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CWRU Presenter: If they're… if they say they're going to do planning, will that planning go on throughout our relationship versus
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CWRU Presenter: A plan that, is used to fund accounts or acquire assets.
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CWRU Presenter: And also, is it comprehensive versus, an action to sell you a single product, saying, oh, I… well, I can just advise you on this portion, and you can have someone else handle the rest of the assets, because that tends to be more transactional, and may cost a little bit more.
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CWRU Presenter: That's interesting. I'm gonna… I'm gonna just add, because we… I don't think we've touched upon this, is setting personal goals.
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CWRU Presenter: It's so important to know where you want to be 1 year, 5 years, 10 years out, whatever that time horizon looks like. You have little ones that are going to be going to college, are you preparing for
that adequately, or at least the best you can with your financial means? So setting those goals is part of the whole planning process, and it's really important. Be strategic on how you're going to acquire it, so identify the gold, but also identify
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CWRU Presenter: how you're going to obtain that goal. So many will set a goal, but they never set the path toward the goal. Yes, and be ambitious. Yeah. I love that.
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CWRU Presenter: Alright, Leah, anything to add? Really, I think that captures where I was going with this as well, knowing what you have, knowing what your documents say. I have said it a few times today, but it really is so important. Make sure you're…
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CWRU Presenter: documents and your accounts align with your goals and intentions, and review them periodically, because circumstances do change. I like that. And as we prepare to close out 2025, I'm gonna pivot here, because we had a number of questions to come in about charitable giving.
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CWRU Presenter: So, as we approach the end of the year, what are some strategic ways women can incorporate charitable giving, whether they're nonprofits or foundations, into their
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CWRU Presenter: personal wealth plans, while also maximizing tax benefits and impact. And I'm also gonna add, too, not just to nonprofits and foundations, but to religious organizations fall into that category as well? We'd love to hear more of your thoughts.
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CWRU Presenter: I think, first of all.
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CWRU Presenter: With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that changed, the landscape of charitable giving a little bit. If you're planning to make a large charitable cash gift to a public charity, you might want to consider doing it this year, because there's a
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CWRU Presenter: 0.5% floor that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, implemented for 2026.
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CWRU Presenter: Meaning, you lose some of your charitable deduction. So if, you have adjusted gross income of…
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CWRU Presenter: Say, $500,000, and you give $10,000 to charity.
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CWRU Presenter: 0.5% of that $500,000, so about $2,500, will be coming off of your charitable deduction. So you'll… instead of having a $10,000 charitable deduction in 2026, it'll be reduced to $7,500. So that's a big point. So if you're gonna make a large
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CWRU Presenter: If you're planning on making a large cash gift to a public charity.
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CWRU Presenter: maybe think about doing it this year. And if you're planning to make maybe a smaller, cash gift to charity, think about, doing it next year, because
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CWRU Presenter: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, allows you to take a $1,000 charitable deduction, whether or not you itemize or use the standard deduction.
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CWRU Presenter: if you're a single filer, but if you're a joint filer, it's more than that. But this year, you can only, if you make a small charitable contribution.
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CWRU Presenter: to a public charity, you have to itemize to take that deduction. So just being strategic about how much you're giving, and, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, how that changes how you give, how much you give, and when you give.
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CWRU Presenter: Most religious organizations are included as charities, so you can deduct that gift.
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CWRU Presenter: And, you know, that's why I mention all charitable organizations, because sometimes people think, oh, it's the museum or the orchestra. Meanwhile, they have been, you know, very loyally giving to their church, so that would count as well.
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CWRU Presenter: And I would add, as you're doing your financial plan, there are a whole myriad of more complex vehicles that can be used as part of your financial plan that would be too much to get into today, but well worth a conversation with your financial advisor or your accountant.
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CWRU Presenter: And so we talked about… we have another question in, and we talked about some of the best practices. Are there any types of contributions that would not be counted in gifting or towards other taxable income to ensure that they actually are counted when making a charitable donation?
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CWRU Presenter: Are there any things that don't count? So, I think looking at the organization itself and making sure that it's a qualified 501c3 is probably the best guidepost to confirm that it actually will
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CWRU Presenter: count as a, qualified gift for IRS purposes. Yes. The other thing is, I would talk to the charity.
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CWRU Presenter: Because there are a lot of things you can gift, you can, you know.
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CWRU Presenter: Donate physical items, you can donate art, you can donate real estate, you can donate cash or stock.
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CWRU Presenter: But not every, every 501c3 is capable of accepting those gifts, or chooses to accept those gifts. So it's really important, as you're doing that planning, to talk to the organization to whom you're gifting.
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CWRU Presenter: So those items could actually count towards… They could. Which is… As long as you, you know, there are rules around ascertaining the value and such, but then the charity has to accept them. So, you know, from time to time, we'll have clients that have something that has a great deal of market value, but the charity may say, well, that's…
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CWRU Presenter: not an asset that we are equipped to, to liquidate. So, you want to have the conversation with your advisor.
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CWRU Presenter: And the charity, if it's something other than cash or stock. That's great information, thank you. I was going to, make sure folks are mindful of their adjusted gross income. There's some limitations based upon your income in regards to how much you're giving, so this would be the much larger gifts. You can't really exceed your adjusted gross income with a gift. And so it used to be that we'd talk about, kind of, that roll forward and take the deduction in future
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CWRU Presenter: future years. Some of the one big, beautiful bill is changing that, and everything depends. That's our answer these days. Everything depends. So you may want to think about bunching and doing a larger, more impactful gift in one year, skipping the next. And it allows you with the standard deductions and everything else going on, but again, very specific to the individual and what their income looks like. And their tax advice.
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CWRU Presenter: Of course, sorry.
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CWRU Presenter: In the spirit of giving, you also talked a little bit about giving business interest. Can you talk more about that, and when is that more ideal, if at all, compared to giving cash, whether it's…
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CWRU Presenter: to anyone, in general. I have found in our space, high net worth families, that have a business entity, real estate, etc. It's a way to diversify ownership, and then it's also a way to get… take advantage of a multi-owner discount. And so if you are giving, say, some of the LLC share interest.
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CWRU Presenter: the member interest, any of that. The challenge will be having evaluation to be able to declare that gift. You can, remain within the annual thresholds or exceed them, as we've talked about.
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CWRU Presenter: In regards to your gift.
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CWRU Presenter: At the federal level, you need to declare it. At the state level, there's some benefits in regards to no gift tax. I'm from Maine, there is no gift tax in Maine, as long as you live 12 months post-date of gift. So that's beneficial. But again, in regards to gifting the business interest, it's one way to start passing the ownership, as well, but it needs to be part of a bigger plan.
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CWRU Presenter: You just don't start willy-nilly giving shares. We've come into that numerous times in regards to each child has the
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CWRU Presenter: 3% and the parents own the other 91%, it just becomes problematic in regards to who's assuming the ownership down the line. So be mindful of that, kind of the big picture of where you want to be in the end.
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CWRU Presenter: You really want to have a strategy. Absolutely. And you want to have it documented. Giving those sorts of gifts to…
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CWRU Presenter: To your family.
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CWRU Presenter: So we also talked a lot about succession in general.
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CWRU Presenter: in planning in advance, especially as more baby boomers look to transition their business. Are there some considerations that someone should think about as they're building wealth, their own wealth, but also looking to potentially take a risk and
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CWRU Presenter: potentially capitalize on those opportunities that are out there. Is that something that they should consider, think about, and what advice would you have for those folks? Well, I would want to make sure… let's engage Kalima, because she is really our business succession expert here.
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CWRU Presenter: No, no, thank you, Kathy. I think in that situation, I think asset protection is a really big point.
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CWRU Presenter: you know, business owners, these companies are their babies, right? They have, you know, a lot of times created them from scratch as founders, and, you know, and having a multi-family and generational business, passed down through generations.
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CWRU Presenter: is something that they all, you know, would want. And so being able to do that in a way that really creates protections for their family.
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CWRU Presenter: And doing that with trust planning, and being able to ensure, that these assets that they, love are contributed to.
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CWRU Presenter: Multi-generational trust, and being able to, you know, have control over those trusts, being able to, get ass protection for not only themselves, but for their families.
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CWRU Presenter: Right? You know, everyone's been in a situation where a client has come, you know, to them and say, you know, I love my daughter, but her son is a meathead, right? Right? So…
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CWRU Presenter: being able to ensure that, you know, the correct entities are set up for that action protection purpose, I think, is a big thing that we talk to our business owners about.
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CWRU Presenter: Excellent point. Thank you, thank you.
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CWRU Presenter: So, when we're talking about business owners, what's a tax strategy related to managing health insurance costs for business owners that they could take advantage of? Are there any?
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CWRU Presenter: Well, I think that that is very specific advice. There are some strategies out there, but that's definitely a situation where we would suggest engaging your CPA.
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CWRU Presenter: Okay, CPA, that's perfect, because we did have another more specific question that came in as well, in terms of… can you talk to us about, you know, pretty briefly, of what are some of the legs of the investments that are out there that folks should be considering when thinking about a full plan?
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CWRU Presenter: In terms of their… Of building wealth and retirement, their portfolio, yes.
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CWRU Presenter: I just think it's important to diversify your assets, and that's number one. That allows you, you know, in case one share of stock falls, the others will keep you level. So just making sure you have a diversification of assets is, critical in building your wealth.
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CWRU Presenter: And particularly if you are a business owner or a real estate owner.
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CWRU Presenter: You will have a basket that may lack some of that diversification, right, by asset class, because you may own a very big portion of your wealth in one or several businesses, or a certain
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CWRU Presenter: type of asset. So, it's very important that the investable assets that you have outside of that be fully diversified.
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CWRU Presenter: And so that can mean a range of different funds, different asset classes. It can also mean if you are someone who… who doesn't own a business or has sold their business, you may… you may want to invest with… within organizations that invest directly in businesses.
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CWRU Presenter: Because that may be your passion. And so, but in any of those cases, it's very, very important to have an investment policy statement so that you know you're fully diversified, and you understand what you're investing in, you understand the implications of liquidity.
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CWRU Presenter: And the risk of that investment policy statement.
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CWRU Presenter: Oftentimes, you know, you are paid for the risk that you take on, and but that investment policy will dictate all of those components, and is a great complement to other investments or types of assets that you may hold that may not be subject to the market as a whole.
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CWRU Presenter: I love it. Now, rapid fire, last parting 30 seconds of advice to wrap up 25, but to kick off a successful 26.
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CWRU Presenter: Suzanne, we'll start with you and end with you. Sure, we didn't touch upon making sure you look at your retirement account. Please, ladies, go in there, see what's going on. We've had a large run- up.
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CWRU Presenter: in, stocks, equity positions. Are you too slanted in that direction? You need to think about rebalancing and how to protect. Where are you in life? If you don't know how to do that and it overwhelms you, ask a friend. Phone a friend. But of course, ask any of us at KeyBank, we'd be happy to help you out with that discussion. And then the other element of that is kick up your contribution. Please, please, please make sure you're getting the company matched.
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CWRU Presenter: And if possible, exceed that, and go higher, to the limit set by the government.
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CWRU Presenter: Thank you. I would say to educate and empower yourself. Make sure that your estate planning documents fall in line with your intents and desires. Make sure, if you name a trustee, that
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CWRU Presenter: they understand what their duties might be, and that they are named in the document. Keep all your documents together, keep all your important documents together, because oftentimes, your heirs can't find them, so just make sure that you keep everything together, keep a good record, and,
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CWRU Presenter: Ask those important questions to your advisors. Don't be afraid to do so.
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CWRU Presenter: again, I echo my… I echo everything that everyone said, but really, I empower yourself to learn more and embrace your financial circumstances, because you're the one that has control over those things and can dictate the future that you have.
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CWRU Presenter: I just want to add one thing to Suzanne's comment.
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CWRU Presenter: When you're looking at your retirement plan, consider any…
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CWRU Presenter: company-owned stock you may have in there, too, in terms of concentrations, back to that discussion. And if you are a business owner, think about what… or someone who has a very large retirement plan and…
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CWRU Presenter: Think about your, taxable assets as well, because you may need a pool of taxable assets to help you transition if you have either a transition out of your workplace.
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CWRU Presenter: or you sell your business, you may not have access to those proceeds immediately. So, you want to make sure that you have the right level of flexibility, which will be addressed in your financial plan.
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CWRU Presenter: I appreciate that. So, to our audience, thank you all for…
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CWRU Presenter: joining us today as we wrap up this session. Thank you to all of our panelists who have been with us over these last two sessions. We're looking forward to continuing in 2026. But I encourage you all to take the time to reflect on what you've heard today and how it aligns with your values, your goals, and your visions for the future. Financial wellness isn't just about numbers, it's about clarity, confidence, and the courage
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CWRU Presenter: To make decisions that move you forward.
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CWRU Presenter: Whether you're planning your next big move, giving back to your community, or simply taking a moment to recalibrate, know that you're not alone. I leave you with a quote that speaks to the heart of today's conversations, because you all know I love a good quote. Don't wait for the right opportunity created. George Bernard Shaw. Thank you so much for joining, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.
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CWRU Presenter: Thank you.
As the year draws to a close, it’s the perfect time to take stock of your financial goals and set a confident course for the future. This session is meant to empower you to wrap up the year with clarity and confidence and begin the next chapter with purpose.
Key Takeaways:
- Year-End Tax Strategies: Learn how to optimize your financial position before the calendar turns
- Charitable Giving: Explore sophisticated ways to give back while maximizing the financial impact of your philanthropy
- Succession Planning for Business Owners: Discover how to ensure continuity and resilience in your enterprise
- Financial Pulse Check: Assess your current financial health and identify opportunities for improvement
Let's Work Together to Achieve Your Goals
For more Key4Women resources to help you reach your goals, visit key.com/women or email us to learn more.
This material presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is in no way to be construed as financial, investment, or legal advice. We cannot and do not guarantee its applicability or accuracy in regards to your individual circumstances. Any opinions, projections, or recommendations contained herein are subject to change without notice, are those of the individual author(s), and may not necessarily represent the views of KeyBank or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. All examples are hypothetical and are for illustrative purposes. We encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding all personal financial issues.
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