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Tonight in Kingwood!
10/24/2026

Tonight in Kingwood!

Mom has said it for years."Don't put me in a home. I want to stay in my own house."It's a reasonable wish. Most of us wo...
10/22/2026

Mom has said it for years.

"Don't put me in a home. I want to stay in my own house."

It's a reasonable wish. Most of us would say the same thing.

But wishing for it and paying for it are two very different things.

In-home help runs about $35 an hour nationally. Six hours a day comes to roughly $6,300 a month. (Illustrative example.)

And that's only the care.

The house still has property taxes, insurance, utilities, and a roof or water heater that always seems to need something.

So beyond where Mom wants to live, there's how the family would make it happen, and where the money would come from.

The easiest version of this talk happens while Mom can still tell you, in her own words, what matters most to her.

The hardest version happens after a fall, when decisions get made in a hurry by whoever happens to be in the room.

๐Ÿ‘‰ ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜'๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚'๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป?

No question is too basic.

You spent decades building it. Now it has to last just as long.That's why every dollar you've saved doesn't need to do t...
10/20/2026

You spent decades building it. Now it has to last just as long.

That's why every dollar you've saved doesn't need to do the same thing.

A portion has to pay you this year and next, and shouldn't have to ride every market swing.

Another share has time to keep growing, because you may not touch it until your 80s.

Part of it is your cushion for the new roof, the replacement car, or the dental work nobody planned for.

And some may never be spent by you at all. It could help cover care someday, or go to your kids or the causes that matter to you.

Once all of your savings has a clear job, your IRA, 401(k), brokerage account, and cash stop looking like a list of balances and start working like a plan.

๐Ÿ‘‰ ๐—œ๐—ณ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚'๐—ฑ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜, ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—”๐—ฆ๐—ฆ๐—˜๐—ง ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ฒ'๐—น๐—น ๐—ด๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚.

You have to take the RMD. How you take it is more flexible than it looks.๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—œ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ธ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ...
10/15/2026

You have to take the RMD. How you take it is more flexible than it looks.

๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—œ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ธ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐˜€.

If you give to your church or a charity, part of your RMD can go straight from your IRA to them. It counts toward your RMD and stays out of your taxable income. You need to be at least 70ยฝ, and the money has to go directly to a qualified charity.

You can choose when to take it. All at once, monthly, or later in the year, as long as it's out by the deadline.

You can have taxes withheld right from the withdrawal, so April doesn't bring a surprise bill.

And the part you don't need can be reinvested. It can't go back into the IRA or be converted to a Roth, but it can still be put to work.

None of these is right for everyone. But required doesn't mean automatic.

๐—ž๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜…๐˜ ๐—ฅ๐— ๐—— ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜.

- Mike

10/14/2026

๐—ก๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜† ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฝ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜.

So I don't try to guess when the next drop is coming. I'd rather make sure it doesn't wreck anyone's retirement when it does.

๐—”๐˜ ๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿฑ, a bad year in the market is an inconvenience. You're still working, still adding money, and you've got time to wait it out.

๐—”๐˜ ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿด, it's a different story. You might be pulling from that same account every month to cover the bills. Picture a 25% drop right when you need that money to live on. (Illustrative example.)

And recoveries don't run on a schedule. Some have come back in months. Some have taken years.

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜'๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐˜† ๐—ฎ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€. Your statements are at their best, and you have the most choices.

๐—ฆ๐—ผ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ'๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—œ'๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ธ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†: How much of what you've gained could you afford to lose?๐Ÿค”

๐Ÿ‘‰If you're not sure, send us a message with ๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—ฉ๐—œ๐—˜๐—ช and let's look at it together.

Picture two retirees. Same savings. Same market high.The first has about two years of spending covered by Social Securit...
10/13/2026

Picture two retirees. Same savings. Same market high.

The first has about two years of spending covered by Social Security, a pension, and cash set aside.

The second pulls every monthly check straight from investments.

Then the market drops 25%.

The first keeps living normally. The bills get paid from the cushion, and the investments get a chance to recover.

The second has to sell every month, at lower prices, just to cover groceries and the electric bill.

Same savings. A very different year.

The market won't send a warning before it turns. But you can decide now which of those two retirees you'll be.

๐Ÿ‘‰ ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—ฉ๐—œ๐—˜๐—ช ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ฒ'๐—น๐—น ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ด๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†.

Illustrative example for educational purposes only.

Six boxes. Take ten seconds and count how many you'd check today.A healthy savings balance can still leave a few of thes...
10/08/2026

Six boxes. Take ten seconds and count how many you'd check today.

A healthy savings balance can still leave a few of these empty. That's normal.

The empty ones are usually where the most useful planning conversation starts.

โœ๏ธ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜… ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—น ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜?

10/08/2026

๐— ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜…๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฝ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด.

For a lot of retirees, they don't.

Every dollar you take from a traditional 401(k) or IRA counts as taxable income.

Once RMDs start, you have to take money out whether you need it or not.

And as your other income goes up, up to 85% of your Social Security can become taxable too.

So some retirees land in the same bracket they had while working. Some land higher.

That's why I like to see ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜… ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜ before retirement starts.

Money you haven't paid tax on yet.

Money you've already paid tax on.

Money that may come out tax-free later.

When you have all three, you can choose where each year's income comes from. That choice can make a real difference in what you owe.

๐Ÿ‘‰๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ'๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ธ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ธ. If nearly every retirement dollar you have sits in a 401(k) or IRA, you're working with one bucket.

๐Ÿ“ฉSend us a message with ๐—ง๐—”๐—ซ๐—˜๐—ฆ and let's look at yours.

Life insurance policy loans and withdrawals may be income-tax-free when the policy is properly structured and maintained.

Loans reduce cash value and death benefit and may cause the policy to lapse.

The call usually comes on an ordinary weekday.Dad fell. He's going to be okay. But he can't go home alone.Within a few d...
10/07/2026

The call usually comes on an ordinary weekday.

Dad fell. He's going to be okay. But he can't go home alone.

Within a few days, the family is deciding who pays for help, which account to use, and what Mom needs to keep the house running.

Plenty of families believe they have this covered. The graphic shows five assumptions that tend to fall apart right when it matters.

๐Ÿ‘‰๐—œ๐—ณ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚'๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฎ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜, ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚'๐—ฑ ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ป ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ?

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Kingwood, TX
77345

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