Justin Travis - Trek Wealth Solutions

08/18/2026

"I can't wait to pay more taxes when I retire."

Said no one ever.

Yet a lot of people approaching retirement may be surprised by just how much of their savings could eventually be taxable.

Traditional 401(k) contributions reduce your taxable income while you're working and let that money grow tax-deferred. That's a real benefit.

But tax-deferred doesn't mean tax-free. It means tax-later.

Every dollar withdrawn from a traditional 401(k) or IRA is generally taxed as ordinary income. For people who spent decades building a significant balance, that can mean a retirement tax bill they weren't expecting.

Then come required minimum distributions. Depending on your age, RMDs generally begin at 73 or 75. Once they start, the IRS requires you to withdraw a minimum amount each year, whether you need the income or not.

Those distributions add to your taxable income and, depending on your situation, can affect your tax bracket, Medicare premiums, and how much of your Social Security is taxable.

None of that means the 401(k) was the wrong choice.

It just means the strategy that made sense while you were accumulating may need to look different as you get closer to drawing down.

This is where tax diversification matters.

Having money in accounts with different tax treatment can give you more options in retirement. Traditional retirement accounts, Roth accounts, and taxable brokerage accounts each have different tax characteristics.

When you have different sources to draw from, you can be more strategic about where your income comes from each year.

That kind of flexibility doesn't happen by accident. It gets built over time.

Maxing out a 401(k) can absolutely be the right move. But assuming it's always where the next dollar should go, every year, without considering the tax picture on the other side, is not doing yourself a favor.

As retirement gets closer, how you've saved starts to matter as much as how much you've saved.

💬 As you've thought about retirement, has anyone walked you through not just your account balances, but how those accounts will be taxed when you actually need the money?

Whether you're withdrawing from an IRA or 401(k), you may consider these retirement withdrawal strategies.

08/13/2026

✨ Assuming You've Got It Right...

"My Beneficiaries Are Already Taken Care Of."

Earlier this week I got a call from a client who wanted to double check we'd done everything necessary to fully fund their trust.

Unfortunately, someone they knew had recently passed away.

We'll call him Ernie.

Ernie was the type of person who believed in planning ahead. He had a beautiful estate planning binder filled with every document his attorney recommended.

His family knew exactly where to find it and, presumably, felt everything was done as it should.

Only after Ernie had passed away did they learn the trust had never been properly funded. Some assets had never been retitled. Beneficiaries were never updated. Others had never been coordinated with the trust.

Instead of spending those first few weeks grieving, Ernie's family found themselves trying to untangle paperwork that could have been taken care of years earlier.

I've thought about that phone call several times since yesterday.

In fact, it prompted me to double-check several of my own clients' accounts.

Unfortunately, what happened to Ernie's family isn't as uncommon as people think.

One of the most common things I hear is:

"I have a trust, so my estate is taken care of."

But so many people fail to realize that creating a trust and actually funding a trust are two different things.

The documents are only one part of the process.

Beneficiary elections are another.

Not long ago, I was reviewing accounts with a client when I noticed their daughter was still listed under her former married name. She had been divorced for YEARS.

Would she still inherit the account? Almost certainly.

But instead of a smooth process, she'd likely spend part of an already emotional time gathering court records and legal documents to prove she was the person listed on the beneficiary form.

One five-minute review prevented all of that.

Life keeps moving. Families grow. People divorce. Grandchildren are born. People move. Laws change.

I've never had a client tell me they wished they'd reviewed their estate plan less often.

I have seen families wish it had been reviewed one more time.

💬 When was the last time your beneficiary designations and your estate plan were reviewed together?

January 20, 2026 | Kristine A. Tidgren The beginning of a new year is a great time to think about estate and succession planning for your farm or business. Here we consider 12 common mistakes we encounter in this area and why they matter. ProcrastinatingThe most common estate and succession plannin...

08/04/2026

✨ Assuming You've Got It Right...

"We Know What We're Going to Spend. We have thought about our retirement budget, and we need $X each month."

I hear this often, and I try not to doubt the effort that's gone into it.

But thinking about retirement spending and actually planning for it are two very different things.

Even the most detail-oriented clients I've worked with have gaps in your spending plan.

Have you budgeted for birthday dinners with the kids? Holiday gifts? A trip to celebrate your 30th wedding anniversary? Helping a grandchild with college? Replacing the roof?

Those aren't unexpected expenses. They're life.

Here's something else I see regularly.

A client gives me their retirement spending number, and it's lower than what they're spending today.

The truth is, some expenses will disappear, but rarely is the goal to spend less. The goal is to spend intentionally.

Unfortunately, this is where I've seen plans begin to unravel.

Someone retires feeling great, and they should. They are excited and they tell their advisor they need income to start flowing.

But no one ever showed them what that spending level would look like 10 or 15 years later.

No one stress-tested the plan.

No one asked what would happen if they spent just a little more than expected.

By the time those questions become obvious, the number of good options is often much smaller than it was before retirement.

If you're within five years of retirement, here are three questions worth asking today:

✔ Do you know which accounts you'll draw from first, and why that order matters?

✔ Do you have a plan for healthcare costs before Medicare begins?

✔ Have you thought about how you'd like to leave assets to your family or the causes that matter most to you?

If any of those questions give you pause, that's not a bad thing.

Because assumptions you are using probably aren't the problem. Not testing the assumptions correctly are.

💬 What's one expense you think people consistently forget to include when planning for retirement?

07/28/2026

The biggest retirement mistakes I've seen didn't happen because someone made a bad investment.

They happened because someone made a good assumption.

They assumed good returns meant nothing needed to change.
They assumed their spouse knew what to do.
They assumed taxes would go down in retirement.
They assumed their beneficiaries were still correct.
They assumed they had enough.

Making assumptions isn't the mistake. Never testing them is.

I've had this conversation more times than I can count, with people at very different points in their journey. Some are still working, counting down the years. Others are already retired and just want to know they haven't missed anything.

Almost none of them walk in saying: "I think something is wrong."

They say things like:

"I think we're doing okay."
"We've worked hard. We should be fine."
"Our investments have done well."

And a lot of times, they are right.

But here's what a growing account balance can't tell you:

It can't tell you what happens if a spouse passes away early.
It can't tell you if your pension election was really the best option.
It can't tell you if your beneficiaries still reflect what you actually want.
It can't tell you how taxes might look 20 years from now.

Those are the questions most people never think to ask. Until one day life asks them first.

That's why I'm starting a new series called:

✨ Assuming You've Got It Right

Each week I'll take one of the most common assumptions I see in retirement planning and share one question I use to help people find the blind spots before they become real problems.

Because confidence isn't hoping everything works out.

It's knowing your plan has been tested from every angle.

💬 What's one assumption about your retirement that you've never actually stopped to test? Drop it in the comments.

07/23/2026

💰 How much difference does contributing an extra $100 per month to your 401(k) really make?

Most people think...

"It's only $100. Will it really move the needle?"

Let's do the math.

Imagine you contribute an extra $100 every month to your 401(k).

If that money earns an average annual return of 8% over 30 years, it is expected to be just shy of $150,000.

Think about that for a second.

A decision that costs around $3.30 per day today could potentially add six figures to your retirement.

That's the power of consistency and compounding.

The biggest obstacle I see isn't usually picking the perfect investment.

It's simply getting started.. or increasing your savings by an amount that feels manageable.

You don't have to double your contribution overnight.

Sometimes the smallest adjustments today can make the biggest difference tomorrow.

If your employer offered you a 1% raise tomorrow, would you notice if you directed that extra amount straight into your 401(k) instead of your checking account?

07/07/2026

A question I've been asked a lot this week:

"Should I open one of these new Trump Accounts for my child or grandchild?"

It's a fair question, and the honest answer is: it depends on what you're actually trying to accomplish.

Here's a quick breakdown of how the three main options compare:

🔹 529 Plan: Best for education

If paying for college or private school is the primary goal, a 529 is still hard to beat. Qualified withdrawals for education expenses are federal income tax-free, and many states offer additional deductions on contributions. Higher contribution limits also make it easier to front-load gifting strategies.

🔹 Taxable Brokerage Account: Best for flexibility

No contribution limits, no restrictions on how or when the money is used. The trade-off is tax exposure on dividends, interest, and capital gains along the way. But for families who want maximum control over the funds, a brokerage account remains a solid option.

🔹 Trump Account: Best for long-term wealth building

These are brand new, officially available as of July 4, 2026. They function like a custodial traditional IRA for children under 18. Contributions are after-tax and capped at $5,000 per year. Investments are limited to low-cost U.S. equity index funds (Ticker SPYM appears to be the only investment). Children born between 2025-2028 may be eligible for a one-time $1,000 government seed contribution. Funds generally can't be accessed until the child turns 18, at which point the account converts to a traditional IRA.

The key limitation worth noting: these accounts aren't designed for education funding. Higher education costs appear to be a qualified expense, but withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income, similar to a traditional IRA.

For many parents and grandparents I work with, the account type is actually the second question. The first is:

• Are you trying to fund an education?

• Give them a financial head start in early adulthood?

• Build long-term generational wealth?

• Leave a lasting legacy?

Each goal points toward a different tool, and in some cases, a combination of accounts may make the most sense.

💬 I'm curious: what's driving your interest in saving for the next generation? Is it education, flexibility, or something longer-term?

Trump Accounts provide eligible American children with tax-advantaged investment accounts courtesy of President Donald J. Trump.

06/25/2026

QUICK EXERCISE 👇

Grab a sheet of paper.

Write down every bank, investment, and retirement account you (and your spouse) own.

Now answer these five questions:
✔ Where is it?
✔ Who are the beneficiaries?
✔ Is my contact information up to date?
✔ What is it earning interest?
✔ Why do I still have it?

If you can't answer all five questions for every account in less than 10 minutes, you probably have more complexity than you realize.

One of the biggest values I provide isn't finding the "next great investment."

It's helping people organize years, sometimes decades, of financial decisions into one coordinated plan.

How many accounts made your list?

05/12/2026

Just got back from an incredible few days at the Sowell NEXT25 Summit and I'm excited to share with my clients!🔥

Over 3 days, I sat in sessions with top minds from Morgan Stanley, Fidelity, and Altruist, heard from Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari on leadership and winning, and got a front-row seat to where the financial world is heading.

The big themes that are going to impact YOUR money:
✅ AI is reshaping how financial advisors serve clients — and I'm already putting those insights to work
✅ The traditional 60/40 investment approach needs a modern upgrade
✅ Business owners: there's a $5 trillion opportunity tied to ownership transitions for those who have an exit strategy. How are you preparing to get the highest multiple for your business?
✅ Navigating risk in today's uncertain world requires a proactive, not reactive, strategy

I go to events like this because staying ahead of the curve isn't optional — it's what I owe every client and family I serve.

Curious what any of this means for you? Drop a comment or send me a message — I'd love to connect! 💬