Geopolitical risk is not something that anyone has really had to absorb in the last 40 years. The last time external factors influenced the supply chain in a meaningful way was the mid-1970s. At that point in time, the production of energy was constrained and the secondary effects were felt around the world. We had a small taste of supply chain disruption during COVID, and the supply chain weakness was exposed, but commerce also stopped. Demand destruction and massive government stimulus insulated us from the problem. It was not a true test of independence. 

The conflict in the Middle East has exposed weaknesses in energy infrastructure worldwide. That knowledge is now in the system, and financial strength of countries is being tested. We expect disruption to impact developing nations but Forbes is predicting that California (the 5th largest economy in the world) has about 10 days of gasoline left. Who knows if that is true but if it is, the impact would be meaningful economically. (link). California is getting ready to test the resiliency of their energy supply chain.

Resiliency

In personal financial planning, resilience is tested in times of uncertainty. It is not about predicting the next crisis. It is about continuing life when uncertainty hits. Resilient wealth has minimal friction when the need to convert paper wealth to cash to bridge the gap of uncertainty. It is the true test of strength when you are indifferent to the macro. 

We test your financial resilience in two ways during our annual review – liquidity ratio and organic cash flow. 

Liquidity

Liquidity is defined simply by a yes to the following question: “Can I convert this asset to cash in 24 hours?” Stocks, most bonds, money market, etc., all meet the test. Real estate, IRAs and collectibles can be converted to cash, but it takes time and normally depends on a willing buyer. In a crisis of confidence, the conversion to cash is not without friction and illiquid assets that are forced to sell can experience price destruction. We saw this in the 2007-9 financial crisis when some home values dropped as much as 90%. It can also impact the stock market if a portfolio does not have a strategic reserve. Apple is a widely held stock, very liquid and buyers are plenty. But if the market draws down 20%, even Apple’s stock price will be impacted. If the decline coincides with the need for cash, one is forced to sell at a lower price. Even liquid assets have to go through the conversion process – wealth must be sold to create money. The goal is to have sufficient assets that are not price sensitive in an irrational market to meet the needs of the family. The next test is organic cash flow creation.

Organic Cash Flow

Organic Cash flow is our favorite way to create a resilient portfolio in all markets. The focus on using interest and dividends to re-create the paycheck is not new. It has been tested since the beginning of time. Regular dividends and interest create a built-in cash-flow stream that can fund living expenses without selling core positions when markets are having a moment. The production of monthly, quarterly or annual cash flow should continue with very little variance to meet the needs of the family during the worst of times. It is the ultimate test of resilience. 

It is also important to think about the source of this income. Dividends and interest arise from an operating business and/or government, and the outcome is tied directly to their operations or underlying obligations. The payment is the result of a business outcome, not a stock market outcome.

The more of your Lifestyle Cash Flow that can be met by business‑driven cash flows (interest, coupons, dividends, rents), the less you rely on high‑friction, market‑timed conversions of paper wealth into cash during stress. That essentially turns part of the portfolio into a self-replenishing liquidity source, so “wealth to money” conversion is continuous and mechanical rather than episodic and price-sensitive.

But there is an added feature of a dividend strategy. It is also a value strategy because it systematically tilts you toward companies trading at lower multiples, often in out‑of‑favor sectors where prices have already declined. In practice, dividends tend to be paid by firms after a period of underperformance that leaves them looking cheap on traditional value metrics. As a result, selecting stocks based on dividend characteristics typically tilts your portfolio toward companies and sectors that the market has discounted, which can provide additional upside.

Conclusion

The last few years have reminded us that the world can change quickly and in ways that no one can predict. Geopolitical conflict, fragile supply chains, and stressed energy infrastructure all underscore a simple truth: real strength comes from the ability to keep living your life calmly when uncertainty hits, and headlines are unsettling.

That is why we focus so intentionally on resilience. Liquidity and organic cash flow are the bridge between “wealth” and “money”. When you have ample liquid reserves and a stream of interest and dividends, the conversion from wealth to spendable cash becomes continuous and mechanical, not episodic and dependent on selling assets in bad markets.

Over the last 24 months, you have seen the results in your portfolios. Income has paid the bills, funded withdrawals, and allowed us to be patient minority owners of businesses. Our goal is to build a financial structure where your family’s needs are met by resilient cash flow, not by hoping markets go up at exactly the right time.

In a world that feels less predictable, resilience is a necessity. Our job is to keep strengthening that resilience.

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Investing is a long game, and 2025 was the reward for your years of patience with international investing, value investing, and basically adhering to rational finance. I could not be happier with the results. Performance is always a tough thing to share in a newsletter from a regulatory perspective. I recommend reviewing your quarterly report for last year at the link below, and reviewing the performance of fixed income, international, equity income, and the addition of hard assets. It was a great year.

Looking Ahead to 2026

I wish I had insight into the strategic goals of the Administration. It is a very charged issue. I am only focused on the scientific aspects and how it could impact the investing landscape over the next 12 months. It reminded me of a Voltaire quote:

“Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position, but certainty is an absurd one.” – Voltaire

Uncertainty creates opportunity. If that is true, opportunity is everywhere. As we embark on the new year, Inflation and Energy are the themes. We continue to maintain our international exposure, dividends as the primary metric of value, maintain our current under-exposure to large-cap growth (i.e., Mag 7) and longer duration fixed income with a hedge against rising long-term rates.

The Risk of Holding “Too Much Cash”

The Treasury is dancing the same Berneke/Yellen two-step that got us into this mess in the first place. To be honest, Bessent did not have a choice. Nobody wants to buy $38 trillion of US 30-year bonds, and we continue to run 6-7% deficits. Therefore, the borrowing on the short end of the yield curve continues. It is the equivalent of a payday loan. The interest payments on the national debt exceed $1 trillion, and that number is growing. The Treasury needs to keep the financing cost now, so the era of Japanese-style Yield Curve Control seems to be the only exit from this Puzzle Room. It worked for over 30 years for Japan, but they are paying the price now.

The new Fed chair arrives in May, and after this week’s developments, who knows how this story ends. On the housing front, major stimulus appears to be coming to the housing market in 2026 to battle the affordability problem. Low interest rates will likely be integral to this program.

This makes cash a challenging investment. If the purchasing power of the dollar continues to decline as debasement continues, the real rate of return (yield minus inflation rate) will be negative for cash. Prices of goods will increase faster than the rate of return. It may feel like earning 3.25% on cash is great, but it is not keeping up with the inflationary trends. Cash reserves should be kept at the target reserves, and excess cash should at least be invested in short-term inflation protected Treasury bonds to protect purchasing power.

Economy Risks Running Hot: Inflation

It is clear that the President is focused on the midterms. The stock market seems to be the metric. The last time Bessent spoke about the stock market not being a priority for the Administration was in April of last year, after the selloff following the “Independence Day” tariff announcements. In our consumption-based economy, the wealthiest 10% of Americans are responsible for almost 50% of consumption. Most of their wealth is based on asset price inflation (real estate, stock market) since 2010. If the stock market falls, it will hurt consumer spending, which hurts the economy, and as a result, decreases their chances of winning the midterms.

Lower energy prices are a way to combat inflation, and that is a clear priority of the Administration. Energy accounts for only about 2.8% of the S&P 500 and has suffered from major underinvestment over the last 30 years. To provide some perspective on the changes in priority, in the 1980s, energy represented 26% of the S&P 500. Energy is the raw material of the internet and is gathering momentum.

The Case for Commodities

I will not pretend to be an expert in the world of mining but Substack provides access to some very smart people that write about the challenges.

Over the last 30 years there has been a massive underinvestment by Western countries in the production and processing of raw materials. Copper, silver, etc. are in structural deficits unable to meet the needs of the current system. There is a trifecta of events happening right now and all are competing for the same input. The AI data center construction boom, the required electrical grid upgrades to transmit power to these centers, the electrification of transportation and a worldwide focus on re-militarization all compete for the same resources. And those resources are already in a structural deficit.

Separation Bottleneck

But mining itself is not the main challenge. The real bottleneck lies in Separation – the hazardous, intricate, and power-hungry process required to chemically isolate rare earth elements from each other.

From a geological perspective, rare earth elements rarely exist in isolation; they form combined mineral structures like bastnaesite or monazite. Their separation demands extensive solvent extraction (SX) capabilities. This involves dissolving minerals in corrosive acids and processing them through hundreds or thousands of mixer-settler stages, where specific solvents extract individual elements based on subtle atomic weight variations. This generates substantial acidic waste and mildly radioactive byproducts (from thorium content). From Trader Ferg

Looking at 2025 figures, China’s dominance in processing capacity stands unmatched in industrial history.

Even if the Western world owns the mine, it has to ship the product to China for refining and then buy it back in its useful form. America faces significant hurdles in overcoming existing regulations and local opposition to eliminate this supply chain bottleneck. Nobody wants this in their backyard. The Administration acknowledged this bottleneck at Davos World Economic Forum and even said rare earths are not really that rare. Processing them is rare and the chart below highlights the dominance of China in this space.

These problems will not resolve themselves overnight. According to Craig Tindale, the average global timeline for a new copper mine is approximately 17 years. In the United States, it is 29 years. The projected demand for copper by 2028 would require an additional five to six giant copper mines that don’t exist. The move to clean energy, the AI revolution and global rearmament all happening at the same time is putting a lot of pressure on pricing of raw materials.

We added a 5% position to commodities/gold last year and will likely expand this exposure with a focus on industrial metals and energy as an inflation hedge.

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“The majority of people don’t actually want to be rich; they just want independence to choose what to do with their days and not put up with meaningless [stuff].” Trader Ferg

Adapting to Change: The Future of Your Money

In the 1990’s, there was a corporate credit crisis. In the early 2000’s, the internet bubble burst. In late 2000’s, there was a housing crisis. Today, I think, we could argue there is a sovereign debt crisis. This brings us to what worries us.

Fiscal sobriety as a moral compass seems to be lost in every country in the world. China, France, USA, Germany, UK and Japan have all recorded record increases in their debt levels in USD terms.

Note: (The number above is now $338 Trillion).

A fiscal drug normally reserved for harsh economic times is now being administered into an already inflationary trend.

When we think of fiscal deficits, it is really a fiscal stimulus because the government is spending in excess of projected tax receipts. The money supply expands. Interest, which is a non-negotiable payment, will exceed $1 trillion per year next year. Incurring additional debt to pay interest into perpetuity rarely ends up in the success manual.

To put this idea of expanding deficits into context, imagine owning a stock paying 4% dividend per year. At the same time, the company is issuing new shares and growing those shares outstanding at 6% per year. The stock price would eventually be worth very little. But investors “comfortably” collect 3-4% on the government-backed money markets while a printing press erodes the very foundation underneath their feet.

Governmental Solution

Since nobody wants to make the hard decision either at the political or societal level, printing money seems to be the silent solution and every country in the world is following suit.

Scarcity

The good news is that we have been here before; it has just been awhile. (If we spoke Turkish or Portuguese, the memory would not be so distant.) On Sunday August 16, 1971, President Nixon was in office and a French ship (it was not a battleship as historical accounts like to dramatize things) arrived in Manhattan to take their gold back.

He [Nixon] suspended convertibility of the US dollar into gold, effectively ending the 25-year Bretton Woods era of fixed currency exchange rates against the US dollar. US gold reserves were facing enormous pressure due to balance of payment concerns, the Vietnam War debt and Great Society programs, and the ensuing monetary inflation. A growing number of countries began to redeem their dollar holdings for gold.

In addition, the German withdrawal from the Bretton Woods agreement sparked panic and a currency crisis. By the end of June 1971, $22 billion in assets had left the US. In July 1971, Switzerland redeemed $50 million for gold and one month later in August, pulled its Swiss Franc from the Bretton Woods agreement. At the same time, France redeemed $191 million for gold by sending a French “battleship” to New York to take delivery of the gold from the Federal Reserve and to bring back to France.

In inflationary times, scarcity becomes important. The best assets not only maintain their value but likely increase in value because their quantity is fixed. As the metric of exchange expands so does the price of a scarce asset. We have seen this impact the price of the best real estate and the stock market. These prices have skyrocketed over the last 5 years as the COVID response dropped helicopter money from the sky. The most scarce things became the most valuable things.

Which brings us to hard assets like gold, silver, platinum and other critical commodities. Scarcity is in their DNA.

The Original Monetary Mandarin

The history of gold spans over 5,000 years. No country has outlived it. The supply is limited. Global gold mined since inception is estimated at 206,000 tons with 62,000 tons left to extract. The entire above-ground worldwide supply will fit inside less than 4 Olympic size swimming pools. The supply of gold grows by less than 1% per year. And most importantly, people normally don’t borrow money to buy it which we can’t say for Bitcoin.

The price of gold has made gold mining companies the most profitable companies in the world. The profits below were at $3,500 per ounce and at the time of writing this newsletter, we are over $4,000 per ounce, so the margins are even greater now. (Source: Metals and Mining substack)

Imagine if Apple generated $2,500 profit on every iPhone sold. That is what’s happening in gold mining right now.

Because the vast majority of the costs are fixed costs, an 18% increase in the price of gold increases the margins by 25-50% depending on the miner. But most importantly, gold has a long track record of protecting its owners against monetary foolishness.

Allocation Update

Over the last 5 years, we diversified the against the systemic risk caused by the Mag 7. We bought interest-rate protection against the backdrop of ZIRP (Zero Interest Rate Policy). And, to protect your purchasing power against currency debasement, we added gold miners/gold to the asset allocation back in April. We have been expanding the commodity bucket to a modest 5% allocation by taking some of the profits generated from both fixed income and a decade-long run of US growth.

If scarcity continues to drive price into an inflating world, it should partially protect us against monetary excess by those that lead us and hopefully round out the 4-legged stool of resilient wealth.

I have shared some charts that I found interesting about the state of markets below.

The post Building & Maintaining Resilient Wealth appeared first on Holcombe Financial.

Today is a challenging time for investors to allocate capital because mega-cap U.S. tech stocks are almost as expensive in terms of valuation. They dominate passive indices, garnering as much as 35 cents of every dollar invested in the S&P 500.¹ They permeate every portfolio as a top holding among most U.S. and international investors. Foreign ownership in this asset class is the highest it has been in history.² But will foreign ownership continue to grow, or will international investors repatriate their assets to their home markets? We already see evidence of the tides turning as international equity markets have outperformed domestic markets year-to-date. 

At the same time, countries around the world have little desire for fiscal sobriety. Instead, they have more debt than at any time in history. While the U.S. remains the most investable market, our balance sheet would not be the envy of the Dave Ramsey crowd.  We are still the cleanest dirty shirt on Sunday morning.

There is a macro-economic trend that is also taking place. The Baby Boomers are changing from net savers to net spenders. The median age of Baby Boomers is now 70.  By 2030, everyone in the Boomer generation will be over the age of 65. We have already started to see it in our little world, as net withdrawals of older clients are exceeding net savings of younger clients. The flow of money, which has been a major tailwind for stock prices, is making a shift to a headwind.

While it feels like a balloon floating to the top of a room full of sharp objects, I am not pessimistic at all about investing. I actually think it is one of the best times in my career to take advantage of opportunities. The narrow focus on the S&P 500, specifically the Magnificent 7 (Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta, Tesla), has opened a world of opportunities outside of technology. At the same time, investors are benefiting from higher interest rates, and international markets have presented a great value opportunity. It feels like a far cry from 2021, when we needed a magnifying glass to find the interest deposit in our bank accounts.

The interconnected world we live in causes shifts to happen quickly. Thanks to the ETF revolution, it has never been easier or less expensive to implement shock absorbers on the portfolio. Bringing in an expert on hedging could not have come at a better time.

At our July summertime learning event, Shawn Gibson, co-founder of Liquid Strategies, discussed the Overlay Hedged US Equity Fund (OVLH). You can listen to him present to a roomful of clients in the slide show below. I hope you will find it as interesting as I did. 

In hindsight, I will always be grateful for the lessons from the dot.com bubble because it taught me to stay committed to common sense and diversification even in the most challenging, speculative markets. Fortunately, we have better tools to mitigate the downside rather than just avoiding the market and missing out on some of the fun. 

Footnotes:
1. How much of the S&P 500 do the Magnificent Seven account for? Fool.com

2. Record-High Foreign Ownership of the US Equity Market AppoloAcademy.com

The post Don’t Party Like it’s 1999 – Memories of the Dot.com Bubble appeared first on Holcombe Financial.

After decades of experience working with clients in various stages of the wealth-building process, it became clear that the industry-standard approach for creating a financial plan was fundamentally flawed. It was missing the most important component of life: change. Nothing stays constant, and the assumptions built into most financial planning software don’t perform well in fluid situations. That’s why we at Holcombe Financial decided it was time to create our own financial planning software, BluePages.

At the beginning of my career, I learned by watching my father. He was a specialist in financial triage and helped people manage precarious financial situations. Some of these predicaments were self-inflicted (like unaffordable second homes and overspending), but many were faultless (like the disability or death of a spouse, divorce, or a job loss). Regardless of why, the ability of a family to survive financial trauma was based on a few very easy-to-calculate metrics. Understanding these metrics helps guide good financial decision-making. 

A financial plan needs to not only adapt, but it also needs to evolve as our clients’ lives unfold, and also be straightforward and easy to understand. We thought it best to give you an overview of what to expect before you commit to letting us help you manage your financial future.

Here’s what a BluePages sample financial plan looks like and why it’s different from other planning models on the market. 

The Building Blocks of a Financial Plan

We officially began building BluePages in 2012. At that time, financial decision-making mostly consisted of projections of future wealth through Monte Carlo simulations and assumptions about returns, inflation, and interest rates. All of these are unpredictable within a single year, let alone 30 years. It was crystal-ball economics. None of the day-to-day factors that affect the average family (career choices, housing decisions, life and disability decisions, compensation packages, etc.) were included. The current market software assumed you would be the same person forever, and completely neglected the age-old fact that change is inevitable.

We didn’t dive right into building our own financial software right away, though. We spent time doing our due diligence by creating a hypothetical financial scenario as a guinea pig to test the most popular financial planning software at the time. Our thought process was that the same set of inputs should theoretically lead to similar outcomes, regardless of the software used.

Sadly, the implicit assumptions that each plan used led to vastly different outcomes. Depending on which software an advisor used, the financial forecast would be completely different. 

The current versions of financial planning software are prettier now, synched with investment accounts, and they are getting better overall. But so many advisors still use Microsoft Excel to supplement the current financial planning products because it requires someone with experience to interpret the results. You have to know when the software is out over its skis. 

After seeing the results of the BluePages with hundreds of clients over the past decade, we knew the challenge of building our own software was worth it. The ability to help clients approach a crossroads and understand the financial consequences of each outcome is the purpose of financial planning. A successful life is the accumulation of successful small decisions, and successful small decisions come from a plan that helps you address real-life challenges and evolves as you do.

The BluePages Financial Dashboard

The BluePages Financial Dashboard is a quick tool to assess the financial strengths and weaknesses of your current financial situation. At the end of the day, your ability to survive financial trauma, retire, or take advantage of financial opportunities will be based on the strength of these metrics.  

We analyze five important ratios:

Liquidity Ratio

This is the most important metric on the dashboard and is often overlooked by many young families as they build wealth. Your ability to change your financial circumstances in the short term will be dictated by your liquidity ratio; a common mistake we see young couples make is over-saving in 401(k), HSA, or 529 plans. We are big fans of these savings options, but they don’t help when there is an interruption in cash flow. 

An asset that is liquid is one that can be available in 24 hours if the need arises. Cash and after-tax investment accounts check the “yes” box. Homes, retirement plans, and 529 plans are wonderful vehicles but can’t help in a financial emergency. If you had the best financial opportunity of a lifetime and/or a financial emergency, how much money could you get in 24 hours? It is a powerful test of financial strength. 

Cash Flow Stress Test

The Cash Flow Stress Test measures how long you can survive on after-tax liquid assets without having to change your lifestyle. Imagine if you lost your job…the Cash Flow Stress Test gauges the length of time you have before you need to get anxious. Hopefully measured in years and not months, your financial strength is about options. If you only have a few months of savings, you may have to take the first job offered versus waiting for the best job offered. 

Expense Ratio

We are categorizing the family budget into two categories based on the following question: “If something required you to change your lifestyle, what could you adjust in 24 hours?” Your financial flexibility is conditioned on this metric. If you lose your job, your mortgage is still due, and your property taxes are fixed, but you can spend less on the American Express card, stop the 401(k), and cut back on charitable donations. We break expenses down into “fixed” and “variable” and get concerned if “fixed” exceeds 50% of Lifestyle Cash Flow.  

Recurring Revenue

This is a measure of your progress toward financial independence. The numerator is income you generate without effort in retirement like Social Security, pensions, and rental income. The denominator is Family Overhead, which removes expenses that will cease to exist in retirement, such as tuition, 401(k), and hopefully mortgage debt. When the number exceeds 100%, work becomes optional.

Asset Ratio

The asset ratio is helping you understand your leverage. When you review your balance sheet, how much of it is yours, and how much of it has corresponding debt? This is a secondary ratio, which is why it is lower on the dashboard. Leverage can cause other metrics to be higher, but by itself, it does not impact financial strength directly. If debt is over 50% of assets, it requires additional questions of the stress test. 

Statement of Cash Flow

When we work on a financial plan, the balance sheet is important. I don’t want to discount its usefulness in assessing financial stability. Are assets liquid or illiquid? How much cash is available? How much leverage exists, etc.? But far too much time is spent studying the balance sheet and not enough time is spent on understanding the cash flow statement. The linchpin of every financial plan is the Statement of Cash Flow. This is why people are wealthy; it is the blocking and tackling of success.  

The underlying purpose behind all financial planning exercises is to stress test the cash flow statement to uncover hidden risks. Retirement is a byproduct of successful planning. Some sample scenarios below are all based on the cash flow statement:

• Can my investment accounts generate enough income so I can retire? To answer this question affirmatively, the earnings from the investment account on a before-tax basis plus the income from Social Security, pensions, rental property, etc., should exceed Family Overhead (Lifestyle Cash Flow + Income Tax). If it does not, the next step is to figure out how to cover the shortfall.

• Does my spouse have enough life or disability insurance? Answering this question requires adjusting the cash flow to test for shortfalls in Family Overhead. If there is not enough income to cover Family Overhead, the shortfall must come from somewhere. How much is that shortfall, and how do you plan to fund it?  

• Should I max out my 401(k) or HSA? While maxing out all tax-deferred accounts is helpful from a tax perspective, how much is left over to build up liquidity, pay down student loans, or reduce mortgage debt? 

This is just a short list of scenarios that a good financial planner will walk you through, and all are dependent on a detailed understanding of your Statement of Cash Flow.  

Start With Income

In the BluePages, we create a five-year pro forma statement for our clients based on income expectations in the foreseeable future. Planning requires assumptions, but anything in this section should have more than a reasonable probability of occurring. Projections create risk, and the longer the time period, the more unreliable the output. Going out beyond five years or using Monte Carlo simulations are too hypothetical to be useful. Real data with likely outcomes is the only way to make educated decisions.   

Know Your Overhead

Income is easy. Everyone knows how much they make. Tracking expenses is hard, and the menagerie of apps that claim to do it better just highlights how challenging it can be. We like to think of each family like a small business. Imagine yourself as the CEO and CFO. A big part of being a CFO is understanding the cash flow. Businesses spend a great deal of time trying to grow revenue, and those that excel make sure that they manage for a profit.

As we discussed on the dashboard, expenses come in two forms: fixed and variable. I wish there was an easy way to track expenses. There is a tendency to hyper-categorize them. People feel like the more data they have, the better they know their expenses. The struggle with more is it creates complexity. And the more complex the data set, the harder it will be to see the big picture. As financial planners, we prefer broad categories that encapsulate the behavior. For example, personal expenses include everything you love to do and it normally shows up on the credit card each month. Add up 12 months of credit card statements and you’ll have a good feel for how much your lifestyle costs per year.

It is important to note that a variable expense does not necessarily mean it can go to zero. You still have to eat. It just means you can choose to eat at home versus at a restaurant. You can decide to stop your 401(k) contribution at any time. Vacations can wait, and you can make your charitable contributions next year. A variable expense is a flexible expense. Anytime the fixed expenses exceed 50% of overall Lifestyle Cash Flow, it is a cautionary warning in our financial planning reviews.  

The purpose of the exercise is to find Lifestyle Cash Flow. Every family should know this number. It can be simply defined as the sum total of all the money that is expected to be spent in one year. Whether it be payments to a mortgage company or savings in the 401(k), it has to be funded from income (or the balance sheet if there is not enough income). How much does it take to do the things we love? In the example above, it is $334,550 this year.  

The final piece to the cash flow puzzle is income tax, which, sadly, consumes between 30-40% of the family budget every year. 

The net result of the Statement of Cash Flow is Personal Profitability. Families that build wealth save after-tax wealth. We consider breakeven to be roughly 10% of income, and a high achiever is able to save more than 15% after-tax each year. 

The Goal: Making Work Optional

The moment you can retire with zero risk is when you have secured a passive income stream that pays 100% of your Family Overhead. I don’t like the word retirement. I prefer Making Work Optional. It is the point where you are financially independent and fully in charge of your own destiny. Thankfully, it is not a difficult calculation.

Your Lifestyle Cash Flow less expenses that will stop naturally: your student debt will be paid off, the kids will graduate, your 401(k) and HSA cease when you stop working. Subtracting expenses that will go away naturally brings us to your Point of Independence Cash Flow. Most people don’t realize how much less your Family Overhead becomes once you clear these milestones.

This is a road map, but it requires an understanding of investment strategy and a thorough assessment of risk to execute. Many people’s financial independence was dented last year because they did not understand the risk they were taking. This is why a professional is so important. It is hard to fix a broken balance sheet and replace 20 years of hard-earned wealth with only 3 years before retirement. It’s important to know if you’re on the right track—and that is why we built BluePages. 

Experience the BluePages Difference

At Holcombe Financial, we are dedicated to helping our clients Make Work Optional. And our BluePages software is what we use to make it happen. If you’re ready to experience true comprehensive financial planning and the BluePages difference, we would love to hear from you! Schedule a no-obligation introductory meeting to see how we can help by calling us at (404) 257-3317 or emailing hello@holcombefinancial.com.

About Russell

Russell (Rusty) Holcombe is the CEO and strategist at Holcombe Financial, a financial advisory firm serving entrepreneurs and corporate executives and managers. With over 25 years of experience, Rusty spends his days leading Holcombe Financial (a firm his father founded) and providing financial services that help his clients grow and protect their wealth so they can experience financial independence. Rusty is the author of You Should Only Have to Get Rich Once, which has won multiple awards, and created Holcombe Financial’s proprietary financial planning software, which helps clients make smarter financial decisions.

Rusty earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a focus in finance and real estate from Southern Methodist University and a master’s degree in taxation from Georgia State University. He is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. In his free time, Rusty and his wife, Regina, tend to their personal farm and grow their own food. You can often find him pursuing his hobby of long-distance running. To learn more about Rusty, connect with him on LinkedIn. You can also watch his latest webinar on investing. 

The post See a Sample Financial Plan: Our BluePages Planning Process appeared first on Holcombe Financial.

As we start a new year, many of us are thinking about the progress we want to make in 2023. Yet it’s an especially challenging time to think about and plan for your goals, as recent years have brought about an influx of uncertainty and turmoil. COVID-19 and rampant inflation are just two events that have made it harder for people to plan for their future.

Despite the uncertainty the world around us brings, whether it’s personal goals, professional goals, or a combination, setting and achieving goals are the most important things we can do to make the kind of progress we want. But it’s not always easy to know where to start or how to stay on track when outside events get in our way. Here, I’ll explore why and how goal setting is the key to making progress in 2023, and I’ll provide some practical tips on how to do that.

Lead With Values

One of the most important things to consider when setting goals is to lead with values. Values will be the foundation with which you can build a framework around your career, your finances, your family, and your free time. Even with unlimited resources, time is limited and irreplaceable, so it’s important to know the “why.”  Our values are the “why.”

What’s most important to you and your family? Your career? Your financial life? Having clear values will help answer these tough questions.

Put in the time and effort to think these through, especially with your family. My wife and I spent a night (with a nice bottle of wine) doing an exercise from the book Gamestorming. (The book is meant for businesses, but we used it to form our values as a couple.) We each took a notecard, and with a corresponding topic, we individually wrote down everything important to us about that topic. Then we compared notecards.

The results were quite surprising because there were some topics where we were more aligned than I thought we’d be. Conversely there were other topics where I expected our values to align, but through this exercise we discovered we had different visions. We then discussed what we wrote, and we picked five values that are now key components of every decision we make.

Define Your Future

Instead of living life day-to-day and seeing where it takes you, we’re big proponents of discerning where you want to be in the future, and then working backwards to figure out how to get there.

A great example of how this works in practice is a husband-and-wife couple we worked with recently. They wanted to start a family and relocate from Florida to Denver, CO. They loved everything about Denver, and it met all their criteria for their long-term goals. The problem was their line of work: they couldn’t find comparable salaries in Denver, so from a financial standpoint they couldn’t make the move right away. 

We helped them discover their long-term goal, and then we broke it down into more manageable, shorter-term goals so they had a realistic chance of achieving it. While it might feel good to say that you’re going to do five goals that require heavy lifting in one year, we’ve found that you are more likely to have success if you break your goals down into smaller chunks. When working with clients, we help them set long-term goals that are over 10 years away, medium-term goals that we hope to achieve in three to five years, and short-term goals that we’re focused on for the next year.

For this couple, their 10-year goal was to be living in Denver with children and incomes greater than what they currently had. Their three-year goal was to be in Denver, with new jobs, and a forever home. And their one-year goal was to simply find jobs in Denver so they could get started. Could these goals be reached in a shorter time frame than what we listed? Of course! But the key here is to figure out that next important step in reaching goals and taking action on it. 

Make Your Goals SMART

Your goals need to be defined a certain way, or you run the risk of not having enough clarity on whether or not you’ve reached them.

A common phrase in goal setting is to make them SMART goals. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Each of these criteria needs to be met for your goal to be SMART.

For example, “I want to pay off the mortgage” is not a SMART goal because it is not measurable or time-bound. When will you pay off the mortgage? How much of the mortgage will you pay off? The whole thing, half of it, or some other amount?

A better, SMARTer goal is to say, “We will pay off our $450,000 mortgage in 10 years.” Now you have clarity on the mortgage amount you’ll pay off and when you’ll pay it off.  

You can also test whether a goal is SMART. The goal is achieved if you can define success with a simple “yes” or “no” answer. If you were to say, “We will be more charitable” next year, how do you define this success? More charitable than what? More charitable to whom? That’s hard to determine if you met your goal or not, so it’s not a SMART goal. If you were to say, “We will donate 5% of our gross income to three charities this year,” then you could easily say, “Yes, we achieved that goal” or “No, we did not achieve that goal.”

Be Ready to Adapt

As we’ve seen with the pandemic or the rising cost of everything due to inflation, outside events can and will change the plans we’ve laid for ourselves. There will always be unforeseen events, so it’s essential that we’re ready and able to adapt to changes around us. This is also a core piece of what we do as financial planners.

For the couple described above, the job market in Denver was terrible at the time they were trying to move. They were both in banking, and this was right after the Great Recession, so companies in the banking industry were hardly hiring. As you may remember, it was also a difficult time to sell a house. But they knew what they wanted, and they were persistent enough to make it work.

We worked through their expenses and determined they could live off one of their salaries for a temporary period. We then made a plan for the wife to relocate to Denver to find a local job, while the husband stayed in Florida to sell the house in a rough market. After a year of pivots, they finally sold their house, were reunited in Denver, and the wife had found a job in her field. The plan didn’t follow a perfect formula or straight line, but because they were able to make changes along the way, they were able to get there.

Are You on Track to Reach Your Goals?

If you’re starting 2023 without a clear sense of where you want to go and how you will get there, we would love to help you gain more clarity on reaching your goals. You can schedule a no-obligation introductory meeting to see how we can help by calling us at (404) 257-3317 or emailing hello@holcombefinancial.com. 

About Russell

Russell (Rusty) Holcombe is the CEO and strategist at Holcombe Financial, a financial advisory firm serving entrepreneurs and corporate executives and managers. With over 25 years of experience, Rusty spends his days leading Holcombe Financial (a firm his father founded) and providing financial services that help his clients grow and protect their wealth so they can experience financial independence. Rusty is the author of You Should Only Have to Get Rich Once, which has won multiple awards, and created Holcombe Financial’s proprietary financial planning software, which helps clients make smarter financial decisions.

Rusty earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a focus in finance and real estate from Southern Methodist University and a master’s degree in taxation from Georgia State University. He is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. In his free time, Rusty and his wife, Regina, tend to their personal farm and grow their own food. You can often find him pursuing his hobby of long-distance running. To learn more about Rusty, connect with him on LinkedIn. You can also watch his latest webinar on investing. 

The post Live the Life You Want in 2023 appeared first on Holcombe Financial.

Today I want to talk to you about one of the biggest mistakes I see in the financial planning world: the focus on the balance sheet. Please watch this quick video to find out why we tend to focus on cash flow, and what you should be focusing on instead.

About Russell

Russell (Rusty) Holcombe is the CEO and strategist at Holcombe Financial, a financial advisory firm serving entrepreneurs and corporate executives and managers. With over 25 years of experience, Rusty spends his days leading Holcombe Financial (a firm his father founded) and providing financial services that help his clients grow and protect their wealth so they can experience financial independence. Rusty is the author of You Should Only Have to Get Rich Once, which has won multiple awards, and created Holcombe Financial’s proprietary financial planning software, which helps clients make smarter financial decisions.

Rusty earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a focus in finance and real estate from Southern Methodist University and a master’s degree in taxation from Georgia State University. He is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. In his free time, Rusty and his wife, Regina, tend to their personal farm and grow their own food. You can often find him pursuing his hobby of long-distance running. To learn more about Rusty, connect with him on LinkedIn. You can also watch his latest webinar on investing. 

The post VIDEO: Forget the Balance Sheet: Cash Flow Is King appeared first on Holcombe Financial.

Tax planning can get complicated fast—especially when you factor in things like equity awards and deferred compensation. If you like to avoid thinking about taxes until April, you are not alone. But the sooner you start planning ahead, the better chance you’ll have of avoiding common mistakes, and minimizing your tax liability in the process. If you’re a corporate executive, consider adding these 4 strategies to your tax plan.

Avoid Tax Withholding Mistakes

For many employees, how much tax to withhold can be difficult to determine. Often, we see it impact employees of publicly traded companies because of the stock-based compensation. Each type of stock option or equity has a different set of tax rules. Some, like RSUs (Restricted Stock Units) or RSAs (Restricted Stock Awards), are taxable when they vest, while others are taxable when they’re sold. 

The first thing we look at in this situation is making sure enough taxes are withheld to avoid the underpayment penalty and satisfy the safe harbor, which is 90% of your current-year taxes owed or 100-110% of the prior year’s tax due, depending on whether you are above or below $150,000 of Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). Unlike withholdings on a base salary, RSUs are considered “supplemental wage income,” which your employer withholds at a flat 22% federal rate. (The only exception is when income exceeds $1 million, and then the withholding rate increases to 37%.) This does not include state income tax withholding requirements, which vary by state. 

Standard withholding on RSUs could be far less than required to meet the upcoming tax obligation. Imagine you have $300,000 in RSU income and you’re in the 35% marginal bracket. Your employer will only withhold the 22% for federal income tax, or $66,000. Compare this with a marginal tax rate of 35%, where the tax liability is $105,000, that’s an underpayment of $39,000 at the federal level. Neither of these instances include state income tax as, once again, those requirements vary by state. 

It is important to safe harbor so you don’t owe an underpayment penalty when you file the tax return. Your CPA may want you to make an estimated tax payment to avoid this penalty. Since most equity compensation vests in the first or second quarter, these payments would need to be made by the April or June deadlines for the 1st or 2nd quarter. The IRS interest rate for underpayments is now 7%.  

November and December are the best months to approach your CPA to begin planning next year’s taxes. Calculating an estimated tax payment should be fairly straight forward since the vesting dates are known, it is easy to estimate the value that will vest based on the current stock price, and the safe harbor limits can be calculated based on the prior year’s tax return.

When Is a Roth 401(k) a Bad Idea?

The tax system in the United States is progressive so your income is taxed at increasing rates as you make more money.

Most people mistakenly think their future marginal tax rate will be higher than it is today, which makes Roth 401(k) contributions less tax-efficient than traditional 401(k) contributions. 

When is the Roth 401(k) better? The Roth 401(k) contribution is better if you expect your marginal tax rate in retirement to exceed your current marginal tax rate. If your marginal tax rate at retirement is the same as it is now, the traditional and the Roth 401(k) at retirement are essentially equivalent, but many prefer the Roth. The Roth 401(k) is also better if you plan to move to a high-tax state like California or New York.

When is the Roth 401(k) worse? The Roth 401(k) is worse if you expect your federal tax bracket to be lower at retirement. This is most important for people living in high-tax states. Many work there because it’s where there are a lot of high-paying jobs. But what about when they retire? Many people move to lower-cost states with lower cost of living once they retire. Paying a 13% California income tax with a Roth 401(k) and then moving to Texas or Florida where there is no state income tax is expensive. 

Below are the 2023 income tax brackets in California for a married couple filing jointly. Compare that to the 0% income tax in Florida or Texas.

Nobody can predict the future, and it does feel good to have Roth 401(k) growing tax-free forever. There’s nothing wrong with this decision; it just might result in paying more income tax than you would otherwise. 

HSA Plan Maximization

Unlike 401(k) contributions, HSA contributions are not subject to FICA tax. The family limit in 2023 is $7,750 (+ $1,000 if over the age of 55) and can be tax-free if used for qualifying medical expenses. We have seen families build up several hundred thousand dollars in their HSA. Even though they are on Medicare and their medical expenses have gone down, this money can be used for expenses not covered by Medicare, including dental, vision, hearing aids, home modifications like tubs and ramps, Medicare premiums (A, B, C, D) and long-term care premiums up to certain amounts. 

When we have clients that are maximizing their 401(k) up to the limit of $22,500 in 2023 (or $30,000 if over 50), we ask if they have considered maxing out the HSA. 

Both are tax-deferred, but the HSA is better than a Roth because you get a deduction today, avoid the FICA tax, and can possibly avoid the income tax if you can spend the money on qualified expenses. 

Our general recommendation is to max out the 401(k) traditional or Roth (that decision is based on the article above) to receive the full company match and then maximize the HSA if cash flow permits. Once you max out the HSA, the decision to defer more dollars into the 401(k) should be based on your personal financial story. If you can afford to max both, please do. But if you have a limit, the HSA should be on your radar. 

Can You Make the Disability Benefit Tax-Free?

Most employers provide their employees with a long-term disability benefit that is equal to a percentage of the base salary. It is usually 50% or 60% of eligible compensation with a dollar cap of $10,000 or $15,000 per month. Some employers allow you to opt-in for more coverage, which is important to consider since it usually does not require evidence of insurability during open enrollment. 

If the employer pays the premiums, meaning you don’t see a payroll deduction for disability insurance, the benefits if you become disabled are taxable. However, if the employee pays the premiums, benefits are not taxable. If you and your employer split the premium costs, you will also split the tax liability based on the pro rata distribution. Some employers allow for employees to elect to make the disability benefit tax-free. If your employer provides that option, we highly recommend taking advantage of this feature.

Disability is the biggest risk to a family, and it rarely provides enough coverage for the family without altering lifestyle. If you can avoid the income tax on the disability income, it might be just enough to bridge the gap during a very difficult emotional and financial time.  

Important Changes in 2023

• Social Security wage base increases to $160,200. Maximum wage base for retirement plan contributions increases to $330,000 and the 401(k) deferral limit increases to $22,500 ($30,000 for those age 50 and older).
• IRA limit increases to $6,500 ($7,500 for those age 50 or older).
• HSA limit increases to $3,750 for individuals and $7,750 for family coverage (+ $1,000 for those age 55 and older).
• Gift tax limit increases to $17,000 per person and the annual estate tax exclusion increases to $12.92 million per spouse.
• The business mileage reimbursement rate increases to 62.5 cents per mile.

Are You Being Strategic with Your Tax Plan?

Are you a corporate executive looking to make the most out of your tax planning but you’re unsure where to start? At Holcombe Financial, we can help you explore these strategies and more. Schedule a no-obligation introductory meeting to see how we can help by calling us at (404) 257-3317 or emailing hello@holcombefinancial.com. 

About Russell

Russell (Rusty) Holcombe is the CEO and strategist at Holcombe Financial, a financial advisory firm serving entrepreneurs and corporate executives and managers. With over 25 years of experience, Rusty spends his days leading Holcombe Financial (a firm his father founded) and providing financial services that help his clients grow and protect their wealth so they can experience financial independence. Rusty is the author of You Should Only Have to Get Rich Once, which has won multiple awards, and created Holcombe Financial’s proprietary financial planning software, which helps clients make smarter financial decisions.

Rusty earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a focus in finance and real estate from Southern Methodist University and a master’s degree in taxation from Georgia State University. He is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. In his free time, Rusty and his wife, Regina, tend to their personal farm and grow their own food. You can often find him pursuing his hobby of long-distance running. To learn more about Rusty, connect with him on LinkedIn. You can also watch his latest webinar on investing. 

The post 2023 Tax Planning: Tips and Pitfalls  appeared first on Holcombe Financial.

The deferred compensation plan (DCP) is a non-qualified executive benefit plan which allows  employees to defer wages to a future tax year. This can be an amazing benefit that creates an income bridge in retirement, allowing you to retire earlier and save taxes at the same time. 

Despite its benefits, many executives avoid this plan or don’t utilize it in the most tax-efficient way. This is particularly true with the lump-sum election, which is often chosen by default and out of convenience. Unfortunately, the lump-sum election often doesn’t maximize the retirement or tax benefits the DCP can offer, and it can even be detrimental to your long-term financial plan. 

In this guide, we’ll review the basics of a deferred compensation plan and why the lump-sum election can be dangerous.

The Bridge to Retirement

For executives and other highly paid professionals, deferred compensation plans can be a great way to reduce taxes and maximize retirement savings. This is because DCP deferrals reduce your current-year taxable income. 

Like most people, I hate paying tax. You would think that more people would take advantage of these plans simply for the tax benefits—yet participation rates are low because DCP assets are not secured. The company merely “promises” to pay out the funds when you retire, but they may not be able to if the company files bankruptcy. Thankfully, this is a very rare occurrence, but the financial stability of your company is still a critical factor when deciding to defer or not to defer. 

If your company is stable and you’re comfortable with deferring, the DCP can create an income bridge that would allow you to retire earlier and save tax at the same time.

Here’s How it Works

When you defer compensation into the DCP, you defer current compensation into a future year. The election tells your employer when you want your money back. This election has a very strict deadline and must accompany the deferral election. Depending on your plan, your deferral election can be for a period of years while still employed, a lump sum, or installments beginning at termination of employment.

With most plans, you can elect an installment method up to 10 or 15 years in length. The exact installment method you choose will depend on your age and individual circumstances. In general, the installment income stream can provide a liquid cash flow that would reduce the need to withdraw funds from other assets, giving them more time to grow. Sadly, most people make the wrong election and suffer significant income tax that could be avoided.

The Lump Sum Can Be Expensive

While the DCP offers lump-sum and in-service distribution options, both of these choices defeat the purpose of the deferral. You will only be deferring income from one high tax year to the next. 

Below is a DCP analysis that illustrates the downsides to the lump-sum election. Keep in mind that this example will not relate to everyone, but for most participants, the deferral offers the ability to make the most of the lower tax brackets when you receive your DCP payments. 

The 2022 marginal tax rates for married filing jointly are listed below: (1)

Married Filing Jointly (Tax Rate Schedule)

When you defer income in the DCP, you will most likely be deferring income currently taxed at the highest marginal rate (37%). At retirement or separation of service, your effective tax rate will likely be much lower unless you start another job. Assuming you don’t have other wages, the DCP payments will be taxed at a lower marginal rate until your income equals your income prior to separation of service. Part of your DCP payment will be taxed at 10%, 12%, 22% and so on versus 37% (plus state income tax if applicable) if you are in the highest tax bracket.   

We had a C-suite client with a meaningful seven-figure DCP plan balance. He had elected the lump-sum option for all his deferrals. The plan permitted him to change from the lump sum to an installment option. Shortly after making the election, he was offered a severance package. If he had not made the change from his lump-sum deferral election, he would have a W-2 plus severance plus a seven-figure lump-sum DCP payment in one tax year. Ouch! It would have been devastating from a tax perspective. Instead, he is now receiving a ten-year payout of his DCP plan, which allows him to preserve his other assets for retirement. The income he deferred at the highest marginal tax bracket is now being taxed at a much lower tax bracket over the next ten years.

Your effective tax rate should decline significantly as you recapture the DCP payments at these lower marginal rates. In addition, the IRS tax brackets are indexed to inflation. If you elect the 10-year installment method and the inflation rate is 5%, the top tax bracket expands from $647,850 to $1,055,279. Each year you delay the income, the expansion of the tax brackets also reduces your effective tax rate. This client is enjoying the benefits of his deferral payments, and he saved a bunch of tax.

How Much Should You Defer?

Now that the reasons for the deferral are explained, how much is enough?  

This depends on how long you plan to work for the company and the current cash-flow needs of your family. Since it’s easier to predict your cash-flow needs, figure out the annual budget for your family and set that as your target DCP payout. 

We have created the following chart to estimate the payout of a hypothetical employee with $1,000,000 in the DCP invested earning 5.5% per year. The payments are not level as they are usually reset annually based on the years remaining.

DCP Distribution Schedule

Even if it does not cover 100% of your cash-flow needs, the DCP payment gives you freedom to accept a job that you love at a lower salary, provide cash flow while you start a business, or provide a safety net for the transition to a new career. It can be the bridge between your separation of service, a new job, or delaying taking Social Security to maximize the value. 

The final decision is the investment election. Because you cannot predict your termination date in corporate America, we err on the side of caution and lean heavily on fixed income. Usually the investment choices mimic the 401(k) plan, not known for having good fixed-income options, but an experienced advisor can help you make an appropriate investment election.

Making the Right Choice

If you’re a successful executive looking to save tax and build an income bridge to retirement, a deferred compensation plan may be the right choice for you. At Holcombe Financial, we have helped many corporate executives navigate their deferred compensation plans, and we can help you weigh the pros and cons. Schedule a no-obligation introductory meeting to see how we can help by calling us at (404) 257-3317 or emailing hello@holcombefinancial.com. 

About Russell

Russell (Rusty) Holcombe is the CEO and strategist at Holcombe Financial, a financial advisory firm serving entrepreneurs and corporate executives and managers. With over 25 years of experience, Rusty spends his days leading Holcombe Financial (a firm his father founded) and providing financial services that help his clients grow and protect their wealth so they can experience financial independence. Rusty is the author of You Should Only Have to Get Rich Once, which has won multiple awards, and created Holcombe Financial’s proprietary financial planning software, which helps clients make smarter financial decisions.
Rusty earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a focus in finance and real estate from Southern Methodist University and a master’s degree in taxation from Georgia State University. He is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. In his free time, Rusty and his wife, Regina, tend to their personal farm and grow their own food. You can often find him pursuing his hobby of long-distance running. To learn more about Rusty, connect with him on LinkedIn. You can also watch his latest webinar on investing. 

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(1) https://www.kiplinger.com/taxes/tax-brackets/602222/income-tax-brackets

The post Why the Lump-Sum Election Can Be Dangerous appeared first on Holcombe Financial.

What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about money and only worked when, how, and where you wanted? Sounds like a dream, right? This may seem like a radical idea, but here at Holcombe Financial, we believe it’s possible, and our goal is to help Make Work Optional.

Let’s say, for example, you are a hardworking entrepreneur who is passionate about growing your business. You have invested all your time, energy, and resources into building your company and making it successful. You have even scaled the business and attained a level of income that meets your definition of success, but you don’t feel confident you have enough to be financially independent of the business. You and the business are inseparable, and that keeps you up at night. Would you be able to create the same level of income from something else? Could you Make Work Optional without the business?  

Maybe you are a corporate executive at the peak of your career but not sure what the path forward looks like after a significant decline in your stock price. Since so much of your future success depends on the value of the equity component of your compensation, price matters.  Should you focus your energy on making the most out of your current role, or does the risk of making a move make sense?

Or, you might be a high-income earner looking to achieve FIRE (Financial Independence and Retire Early). You feel like you are ready, but you are not “quit your job” certain. You have created your budget, but how do you plan against uncertainties in investment cash flow and those surprise expenses?

From a planning standpoint, the irreducible component of each of these stories is consistent cash flow and/or reserves unrelated to work. It is a commonality among all these situations. It’s easy to envision independence, but there are many moving pieces that need to be analyzed to know if you are on the right path. Whatever your vision, it’s our mission to simplify the complexities of your finances so you can focus on what matters most. We do this through our proprietary financial planning system, BluePages, and unique investment philosophy.

What We Do

At Holcombe Financial, we understand that wealth is a rare and fragile thing, and the process of keeping it and using it properly can be frustrating and complex. With our team’s combined decades of experience helping people solve their unique financial problems, we are confident we can help you make better wealth-management choices and move closer to your Point of Independence (POI), which is the place where you strive to live 100% off your investment cash flow. It is at that point that work becomes optional.

We work best with individuals, families, and corporate executives who, first and foremost, have the right mindset toward wealth-building. They are humble, hardworking, and have good financial habits. 

Overall, our clients are looking for a different financial planning and investment model than what the traditional financial industry promotes, and they come to us because we offer a fresh perspective. 

How We Can Help

When we work with a client, they can choose one of two paths: flat-fee financial planning based on income and net worth, or financial planning based on investment management fees. Not everyone needs investment management, but they do need the help of a trusted advisor to manage their financial affairs. Offering our clients these two options simplifies and streamlines the process of helping them reach their financial goals. 

With both options, our clients have the opportunity to use BluePages. We collaborated with a local tech company to create this software in 2012, after years of trying to work with prediction-based models of financial planning platforms. The purpose of BluePages is to Make Work Optional and help our clients make smarter financial decisions by clearly seeing the big picture of their financial situation and which direction they need to go. Our process starts with developing your personal finance story, then defining your risks and establishing long-term goals. Finally, we create a routine, including a very thorough annual review process, to help our clients move closer to and maintain their POI. Our clients know we’re always there for them. Their success is our success. 

Experience the Difference

Want to find out what your POI number is and how you can start the journey toward fulfilling your dreams of financial freedom? We would love to meet with you and discuss your goals and our process and see if we would be a good fit to work together. Schedule a no-obligation introductory meeting by calling us at (404) 257-3317 or emailing hello@holcombefinancial.com. 

About Russell

Russell (Rusty) Holcombe is the CEO and strategist at Holcombe Financial, a financial advisory firm serving entrepreneurs and corporate executives, and managers. With over 25 years of experience, Rusty spends his days leading Holcombe Financial (a firm his father founded) and providing financial services that help his clients grow and protect their wealth so they can experience financial independence. Rusty is the author of You Should Only Have to Get Rich Once, which has won multiple awards and created Holcombe Financial’s proprietary financial planning software, which helps clients make smarter financial decisions.
Rusty earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a focus in finance and real estate from Southern Methodist University and a master’s degree in taxation from Georgia State University. He is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. In his free time, Rusty and his wife, Regina, tend to their personal farm and grow their own food. You can often find him pursuing his hobby of long-distance running. To learn more about Rusty, connect with him on LinkedIn. You can also watch his latest webinar on investing. 

The post What We Do and How We Can Help appeared first on Holcombe Financial.