What Is Your Legacy?

Rethink Your Legacy

Many people begin thinking about their legacy and estate plan around the same time they start seriously considering retirement—perhaps even later. Why wait? At Adviser, legacy planning begins further upstream—ideally as soon as we create our clients’ first financial plan. If we haven’t connected about this recently, let’s make sure we cover it in our next conversation. In the meantime, here are some key questions to help get you started.

1. What does legacy mean to you? Legacy is about more than just money. Sure, it often entails directing funds to your children or a charity—but there’s more. At its core, your legacy centers on how you want to be remembered. As a business builder? A philanthropist? A parent and spouse? For some people, it’s all of those things. Legacy is, in part, about the values you want to pass along to the next generation. Think about how you want to be remembered, and then let’s discuss how to make sure your financial plan supports that vision.
2. Can your legacy begin in your lifetime? Legacy planning is a bit of a misnomer because it isn’t necessarily about what you leave behind. In many cases, you can enjoy your legacy in your lifetime. Some of our clients want to keep their family close, so we discuss funding family vacations. Others hope to see the happiness in the eyes of the person they are helping, so we work with them to structure a charitable fund or a trust that starts giving immediately. Sometimes a person’s legacy is more about leaving the next generation financially secure down the line—they may be uncomfortable giving during their lifetime. Either way, our best guidance is to be intentional in your decision-making to ensure your strategy allows your legacy to unfold on your timeline.
3. What tools should you use? The idea is to help you create a legacy that delivers on your personal goals in the most tax-efficient manner possible. That may mean setting up a spousal lifetime access trust (SLAT) or a donor-advised fund (DAF)—or more likely a structured combination of strategies. The options (and acronyms) are extensive, but we’ll create an estate plan that meets your needs. We’ll also make sure your beneficiary information is updated and all of your estate documents are in place. Here’s much more on estate strategy.

Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts about legacy planning with us. It may be the most important conversation we have, and we’re ready to have it today.

Market & Economy Snapshot

A lackluster earnings report Tuesday from shipping giant United Parcel Service and a sizable $100 billion deposits deficit at the troubled First Republic Bank snapped a stretch of market calm, sending the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 1% each Tuesday—a relatively modest decline notable only in that it was the biggest drop for either index in more than a month.

Results were rosier for some of the tech titans that have propelled markets this year: Google parent Alphabet reported on its search business’ resilience (if companies anticipate cost cuts, one of the first items to go is often advertising, Google’s bread and butter). Microsoft’s sales and profits also exceeded expectations with still-robust spending by businesses. All told, the tech sector has put up its best start to a year relative to the S&P 500 since 2009.

More than one-third of S&P 500 companies have reported first-quarter earnings as of Thursday morning, with 81% beating analyst expectations. That’s above a long-term average of 73%.

Next week, it’s all eyes on the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting (starting May 2), after which we’ll parse the central bank’s interest-rate-policy announcement and analysis of current economic conditions.

Strategy Activity Update

Please see below for a summary of the trades we executed over the week through Thursday and our current tactical strategy allocations.

Dividend Income

Buy Cash

Buy iShares US Medical Devices ETF (IHI)

Sell Fidelity MSCI Communication Services Index ETF (FCOM)

Sell iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV)

AIQ Tactical Defensive Growth

AIQ Tactical Multi-Asset Income

No trades

AIQ Tactical High Income

No trades

In Case You Missed It—Adviser’s Quarterly Webinar and Outlook

• Our second-quarter webinar—The 2023 Dilemma: Financial Planning in the Face of Inflation and Interest-Rate Uncertainty—features Chief Investment Officer Tim Clift and Head of Wealth Management Steve Reder covering a wide range of financial planning and investment topics, as well as Adviser’s outlook for the months ahead. Click here to watch the replay!
• This quarter, we’ve spotlighted the five themes we think will have the greatest impact on the markets in the months ahead, and we’ve laid out the planning-first philosophy we’re taking to help you achieve your goals and manage financial risks. Click here to read our second-quarter 2023 Adviser Outlook.

About Adviser

Adviser is a full-service wealth management firm, offering investment management, financial and tax planning, managed individual bond portfolios, and 401(k) advisory services. We’ve been helping individuals, trusts, institutions and foundations since 1994. Adviser Investments and its subsidiaries have over 5,000 clients across the country and over $8 billion in assets under management. Our portfolios encompass actively managed funds, ETFs, socially responsible investments and tactical asset allocation strategies, and we’re experts on Fidelity and Vanguard mutual funds. We take pride in being The Adviser You Can Talk To. To see a full list of our awards and recognitions, click here, and for more information, please visit www.adviserinvestments.com or call 800-492-6868.