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Life Moves Wealth Management Life Move Wealth Management is a fee-only Wealth Management and Exit Planning firm—built for business owners, like you. Home of the B.O.S.S.™ Method. Simple.

Financial advice. On purpose. Life Moves Wealth Management, LLC is an Investment Advisor registered with the States of Arizona, Indiana, and in other jurisdictions where exempted. All views, expressions, and opinions included in this communication are subject to change. This communication is not intended as an offer or solicitation to buy, hold or sell any financial instrument or investment advisory services. Any information provided has been obtained from sources considered reliable, but we do not guarantee the accuracy, or the completeness of, any description of securities, markets or developments mentioned. We may, from time to time, have a position in the securities mentioned and may execute transactions that may not be consistent with this communication's conclusions. Please contact us at 602-223-1801 if there is any change in your financial situation, needs, goals or objectives, or if you wish to initiate any restrictions on the management of the account or modify existing restrictions. Additionally, we recommend you compare any account reports from LMWM with the account statements from your Custodian. Please notify us if you do not receive statements from your Custodian on at least a quarterly basis. Our current disclosure brochure, Form ADV Part 2, is available for your review upon request, and on our website, www.lifemoveswealth.com. This disclosure brochure, or a summary of material changes made, is also provided to our clients on an annual basis.

Five months. One penny.If you've been looking at your investment accounts wondering why they haven't made much progress ...
02/11/2026

Five months. One penny.

If you've been looking at your investment accounts wondering why they haven't made much progress since mid-year, here's some perspective.

From May 29 through October 30, the S&P 500 index gained just 0.01 points. Essentially zero price appreciation over five months.

And bonds haven't necessarily provided the relief investors might have expected.

That's five months of market headlines, economic reports, Fed decisions, and daily market swings... only to end up almost exactly where we started.

We call it a "round trip," or a sideways market. I referred to it a few weeks back as similar to square dancing, where you make a lot of moves and go around the room, yet you end up right back where you started.

A well-constructed portfolio isn't designed to outperform the S&P 500 every month or every year. It's designed to make progress toward your financial goals without depending entirely on one or two parts of the market.

The five years before retirement might be the most financially consequential years of your life.Not because of how much ...
19/10/2026

The five years before retirement might be the most financially consequential years of your life.

Not because of how much you save. Because of what happens if your income disappears sooner than expected.

Imagine you're 58, planning to retire at 63.

You've accumulated a decent amount of retirement assets but not enough to retire today.

Then your employer restructures, eliminates your position, and suddenly you're retired five years earlier than planned.

That's five fewer years of contributions.
Five additional years of withdrawals.
And potentially five years of healthcare expenses before Medicare.

Your portfolio might still be worth a decent amount, but the financial plan supporting it has changed dramatically.

This is why I believe retirement planning needs to answer two questions:
When do you WANT to retire?
And what happens if you HAVE to retire sooner?

The second question is often more important. This is why starting financial planning, and business exit planning, long before you're thinking about retirement is a wise investment.

Mortgage rates are back above 7%, making homeowners reluctant to give up older, low-rate mortgages. That 3% mortgage loc...
18/10/2026

Mortgage rates are back above 7%, making homeowners reluctant to give up older, low-rate mortgages. That 3% mortgage locked in a few years ago feels like winning the lottery.

I've heard people say they can't move, downsize, or relocate because they don't want to give up their mortgage rate.

Think about that.

They've allowed a good financial decision they made years ago to dictate where and how they live today... possibly creating a financial trap on the other side of that decision.

Of course, the math matters. A $400,000 mortgage at 3% costs approximately $1,686 per month in principal and interest.

At 7%, it's $2,661. That's a $975 monthly difference.

But what if downsizing frees up a large amount of home equity that can give you more freedom and flexibility in other areas?
What if upsizing gives you more space for a growing family?
Or, moving gets you closer to your family?
Or, you simply don't need a big house anymore?

Focusing too much on preserving one favorable interest rate can limit the flexibility of your entire financial plan, keeping you from making decisions that might better serve your life and long-term goals.

A client who's been diligently funding 529 plans recently asked whether their next dollar should go into a new Trump acc...
15/10/2026

A client who's been diligently funding 529 plans recently asked whether their next dollar should go into a new Trump account instead.

My answer? It depends on what you want that dollar to accomplish.

A 529 helps pay for education. A Trump account helps build wealth beyond education.
Both have advantages. But they're designed for different purposes.

Let's say you invest $5,000 annually for 18 years, earning an average 7% return. You'll accumulate approximately $170,000. That's $90,000 in contributions and $80,000 in growth.

Here's the difference:
529 Plan: Use the money for qualified education expenses, and the entire $170,000 comes out federal income tax-free. Use it for something else, and the earnings are generally subject to income tax and a 10% penalty, although exceptions and alternatives exist.

Trump Account: Eligible children born from 2025 through 2028 receive a $1,000 government contribution. The account grows tax-deferred, with special restrictions until age 18. After that, traditional IRA rules generally apply, including taxes on withdrawals and potential early withdrawal penalties.

So, which should you fund for your children?

I'd suggest three things:
1. Take the free money in the Trump account. Claim the $1,000 government contribution if eligible, and explore employer contributions if available.
2. Know when enough is enough. If your 529 is already on track to cover college, continuing to fund it might not be your best move.
3. Think beyond education. A Trump account, Roth IRA when eligible, or taxable brokerage account could create opportunities well beyond college.

Here's the point: The goal isn't to accumulate the most money in any particular account. It's to put your next dollar where it can do the most good.

Sometimes that's college. Sometimes it's retirement. Sometimes it's simply having more options because not all kids will take the university route.

That's what financial planning should help you figure out.

Let's run the numbers together: https://calendly.com/daleshafer/exploration-meeting

06/10/2026

Fun to be a hole sponsor for the 2nd annual Scottsdale Leadership night golf outing. Great round with great friends!

The goal I hear most often from clients has nothing to do with dying with the biggest portfolio.It's never the highest r...
05/10/2026

The goal I hear most often from clients has nothing to do with dying with the biggest portfolio.

It's never the highest return.

Or the lowest tax bill.

Or beating some arbitrary benchmark.

Those are tools.

The real goal is what the money allows you to do.

Work because you want to.

Help your kids.

Travel.

Sell the business.

Start another one.

Take Tuesday afternoon off and sit by the lake with your dog.

More wealth may be the result of years of hard work, smart choices and good guidance. But ultimately, all of it should create something more valuable: freedom.

That's the point.

There's a point where accumulating more isn't really the problem anymore.The question becomes:What now?What should the n...
04/10/2026

There's a point where accumulating more isn't really the problem anymore.

The question becomes:

What now?

What should the next dollar do?

How much is enough?

When can you stop working because you have to?

How much risk do you actually need?

What should happen with the business?

When you've spent decades accumulating wealth, eventually you need a plan for what to do with it.

And that plan is much bigger than a number in an investment portfolio, a net worth calculation or a Monte Carlo simulation.

Those can tell you what you have and what might happen.

A good financial plan should help you decide what happens next.

If your plan feels incomplete, that's where we can help.

Simple financial answers can get expensive."Pay off the mortgage.""Never sell the stock.""Always max the 401(k).""Conver...
01/10/2026

Simple financial answers can get expensive.

"Pay off the mortgage."

"Never sell the stock."

"Always max the 401(k)."

"Convert everything to Roth."

"Take Social Security at 62."

Any of those could be right. Any of them could also be completely wrong.

Good financial planning is about understanding the tradeoffs well enough to know when the rule doesn't apply for your specific situation.

Success creates a funny problem.You finally have more options.And suddenly you're less certain which one to choose.More ...
01/10/2026

Success creates a funny problem.

You finally have more options.

And suddenly you're less certain which one to choose.

More accounts. More assets. More tax consequences. More business decisions. More people giving you different advice.

The goal is to create enough clarity that complexity doesn't get in the way of making good decisions.

Because when you can see the road ahead more clearly, you can spend a lot more time enjoying the journey.

Making more money doesn't necessarily make your financial life easier.Sometimes it just gives you more expensive decisio...
30/09/2026

Making more money doesn't necessarily make your financial life easier.

Sometimes it just gives you more expensive decisions to make.

Invest more? Pay down debt? Put it back into the business? Buy the building? Do a Roth conversion? Sell? Keep building?

Early on, the financial goal is often pretty simple: make money and accumulate.

Eventually, the challenge changes.

Now you have to decide what that money should actually do.

That's where financial planning can create enormous value.

A $100,000 decision that saves $30,000 in taxes may be worth far more than squeezing another fraction of a percent out of an investment portfolio.

The bigger your financial life gets, the more valuable good decisions become.

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