J.W. Burt - Thrivent

08/19/2026

Why are you giving cash to charity?

You could be giving assets.

I funded my donor advised fund this month. Here's why I used a DAF instead of writing checks or transferring shares directly:

→ I gave appreciated equities I've held longer than a year. No capital gain recognized on the way out, and I'm itemizing, so I get the deduction this year too.
→ The money can be invested inside the DAF before they get granted out.
→ I get to separate when I take the deduction and when I make the gift.
→ I can set recurring grants and replenish with appreciated shares when the timing works.
→ My church receives cash, so they don't have to liquidate the shares or deal with volatility if prices move.


Disclosures: thrivent.com/social

08/19/2026

Debt Snowball says pay the smallest balance first.
Debt Avalanche says pay the highest rate first.

Neither is fully correct in my view. Here's why:

Send $20,000 at your car loan and you free up $461 per month.
→ $20,000 car loan at 5%, 4 years left. The whole $461 payment disappears.

Send $20,000 at your mortgage and you free up $120 per month.
→ $400,000 mortgage at 6%, 30 years left. Put $20,000 toward principal, recast, and the $2,398 payment drops to $2,278.

Payback period is the missing variable in Snowball vs. Avalanche. A short loan returns principal fast, so every dollar you pay back does more heavy lifting. A 30 year loan spreads those same dollars across 360 payments.

And if you don't recast, your monthly payment doesn't decrease at all. You save on interest, but your budget next month is unchanged.

💸 Rate tells you what the debt is costing you.
⏳ Payback period tells you what removing the debt frees up in cash flow.

I care about both.

Paying the highest rate off does save you the most interest. But it can also leave you with more monthly outflow and less flexibility if money gets tight.

You want to consider interest saved AND cash freed up.


Disclosures: thrivent.com/social

08/04/2026

You spent 40 minutes comparing car insurance quotes.
You spent 40 seconds on the life insurance checkbox during open enrollment.

The 40 second decision was the more expensive one.

Here's how that group policy you signed up for works:
→ Age banded...so the price goes up every five years.
→ Not portable...so if you leave the job, the coverage goes away.

A level term policy bought privately works the opposite way:
→ Locked rate, so the price never changes for the full term.
→ Individually owned, so it follows you, not your employer.

Group looks cheap when you're young. That is the whole trap.

By the time the age bands catch up, you're older and your health history is longer. The rate you could have locked in years ago was priced on a version of you that no longer exists.

For a healthy individual, group coverage can cost tens of thousands more than level term over the length of the coverage.

Ten minutes now, or tens of thousands later.


Disclosures: thrivent.com/social

07/30/2026

Your bond allocation shouldn't be based on your birthday.

But that's exactly what a target date fund does.

It knows the year you turn 65.

It doesn't know:
→ When you're actually going to retire
→ When you're claiming Social Security
→ Whether your spouse is still working
→ Whether this money is for you or your beneficiaries

Same problem with "100 minus your age in bonds."
Easy to remember. Entirely unhelpful.

The real question was never how old you are. It's how much you rely on the portfolio.

I have 85-year-olds whose income is fully covered by Social Security and pension income. They don't take any portfolio withdrawals. Their "time horizon" isn't their own life expectancy. It's their beneficiaries' life expectancy.

I have 65-year-olds who just retired and are bridging several years to Social Security. Every dollar of spending comes out of the portfolio.

The 85-year-old has far more capacity for risk than the 65-year-old.

An age-based allocation is not a financial plan.


Disclosures: thrivent.com/social

07/30/2026

You wouldn't pull cash out of your bank and put all of it into your employer's stock.

But that's effectively what you're doing when you hold onto your vested RSUs.

Think of RSUs like a paycheck deposited into company stock instead of your checking account.

Every day you keep them, you're choosing to buy them again.


Disclosures: thrivent.com/social
RSUs = Restricted Stock Units

07/30/2026

Your rate of return doesn't tell me how you're doing.

Here's what actually answers that question:

Risk:
→ Is your portfolio taking risks you're not being rewarded for?

Taxes:
→ Are your investments held in the right accounts?

Cash Flow:
→ Will your portfolio support your spending needs without disrupting your long-term plan?

A great return means very little if you overpaid in taxes to get it, took risks you weren't compensated for, and can't draw a stable paycheck from it.


Disclosures: thrivent.com/social

07/16/2026

"Comprehensive planning" might be the worst marketing phrase our industry has ever produced.

It means nothing to the person reading it. But it's pointing at something important.

Somebody comes in with one problem. Then we start pulling the thread.

📜 They say they want to update their estate documents...
But their biggest asset is a traditional IRA and a 401k. Their kids inherit those and get 10 years to drain them, right in their highest-earning years.
→ So what starts as an estate plan becomes a multi-year Roth conversion strategy to move money to tax-free before it ever passes.

🧾 The next person just wants to pay less in taxes...
Simple ask. Except to actually lower the bill, we have to change what investments they own, how they give to charity, and what company benefits they enroll in.
→ The tax return isn't the only place tax problems get solved. Sometimes it's your brokerage account, your paystub, your enrollment packet, your giving portal.

🎓 New parents just want to save for college...
But the money has to come from somewhere. Maybe it's dialing back their 401k contributions. Maybe it's selling an investment to jump-start the 529. Maybe the smartest way to fund college isn't an education account at all.
→ One new goal, and suddenly everything has to be reworked.

Each of them came in for one thing and left with something they hadn't thought about, or didn't know was connected.

Some people think they're choosing off a menu when they work with a financial advisor. Estate planning here, tax stuff there, college over there.

But change one and the others have to adjust.

That's what "comprehensive" actually means.

❌ Not a service tier.
❌ Not a sales line.

We actually can't advise well on one area without understanding the full picture.


Disclosures: thrivent.com/social

07/15/2026

"Should we get married? If you tell us it makes sense financially, we'll do it."

A client actually said that to me in a meeting.

I'm a financial advisor. Not a wedding officiant...

But the tax implications of marriage are real. Here's what we analyzed on their behalf:

→ Tax bracket shift
We modeled the real federal tax difference between filing as two singles and filing jointly. In their case, getting married saved thousands a year.
→ Concentrated stock
They have large individual stock positions in non-retirement accounts. Filing single vs. married changes how much they can sell each year while staying under a target bracket. That shapes the pace they can trim without triggering a higher rate.
→ The two-home question
They both own homes and haven't decided whether to sell one or keep it as a rental. We weigh that uncertainty against the primary residence capital gains exclusion.

None of this told them whether to get married. That part isn't on any spreadsheet.

But being trusted with a question like this is one of the coolest parts of the job.

Finance is personal.


Disclosures: thrivent.com/social

07/14/2026

Having a will doesn't mean you have an estate plan.
Having someone file your taxes doesn't mean you have a tax plan.

A will names who gets what.
An estate plan makes sure:
→ your beneficiary designations actually match it (they override the will)
→ your IRAs and 401k's don't hand your kids a tax bomb
→ nothing slips into probate by accident
→ your estate isn't blindsided by estate tax (state or federal)
→ your kids experience your legacy while you're alive, not just when you're gone
→ etc.

Your tax return records what has already happened.
A tax plan makes sure:
→ your HSA is maxed
→ your backdoor Roth is funded correctly
→ you hold tax-exempt bonds if you're in a high enough bracket
→ your capital gains get offset with tax-loss harvesting
→ you're giving to charity in an efficient way
→ etc.

CPAs and estate attorneys can be worth their weight in gold.
But simply having one doesn't always mean your plan is efficient.


Disclosures: thrivent.com/social

07/13/2026

I still prefer 529s over Trump Accounts for setting my kids up.

Here's why👇

A Trump Account (530A) becomes a traditional IRA once your child turns 18. Growth is tax deferred, then taxed as ordinary income on the way out.

A 529 does the opposite. Growth comes out tax free when it's used for education expenses.

A few more reasons I lean 529 right now:

→ Both have Roth strategies for leftover funds. But the 529 to Roth rollover is tax-free up to $35k. The Trump Account conversion could be partially taxable depending on how it's funded and when it's converted.
→ The 529 is more liquid in a break the glass moment. A Trump Account is locked until the year your child turns 18.
→ The 529 can pay for private school before college. A Trump Account can't be touched until 18.

Not an exhaustive list. Just where I land today. Of course I took the free $1k, I'm talking about where my own contributions go.

If the rules change or better guidance comes out, I'll change with them.


Disclosures: thrivent.com/social
Offered through a brokerage arrangement with Thrivent Investment Management Inc. 529 college savings plans are not guaranteed or insured by the FDIC and may lose value. Consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses associated before investing. Read the issuers official statement carefully for additional information before investing. Investigate possible state tax benefits that may be available based on the state sponsor of the plan, the residency of the account owner, and the account beneficiary. Consult with a tax professional to analyze all tax implications prior to investing.

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