Tax Review Checklist & How to Handle Market Shifts in 2025
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Your April Newsletter: Stock Market Volatility and 2025 Tax Planning
It’s hard to believe we’re already a quarter of the way through 2025. Spring is officially here, bringing longer days, warmer weather, completed tax returns, and... stock market volatility. So it's no surprise the two most common topics we’ve been covering with clients this spring are what the recent volatility means for your investment plan, and what updates need to be done to tax planning strategies after a review of your 2024 tax returns. While we can’t control what the stock market does day to day, we can stay focused on the parts of financial planning that are within our control. On the investing front, deciding whether or not to make drastic changes to your investments is certainly under our control. As good as you think it might feel to ride out periods like this in cash, history tells us that these are the times it makes the most sense to remain invested. Dimensional Fund Advisors has collected data on stock market returns following a drawdown like the one we’ve just seen, which supports this idea. Over the last 98 years, the stock market has averaged nearly 75% returns the 5 years following a 20% decline like we have just seen: As we’re now in late April, many of you have likely already completed your tax returns. Regardless of the stock market’s performance, creating tax-efficient retirement plans offers significant benefits for your financial plan. You might be wondering: How do we review a tax return to uncover these potential benefits? To help, we’ve put together a Tax Review Checklist that highlights a few ways we use your return to uncover planning opportunities. If you're not retired and still working, this version of the checklist is more tailored for those still on a salary. Amid market uncertainty, thoughtful planning can make all the difference. We're here to help you stay focused, stay invested, and make the most of what’s within your control. In this month’s newsletter, you’ll also find details on our upcoming webinar about investor behavior, a recent video on charitable giving strategies, and some of the places we’ve been quoted in the media. As a reminder, if there are other topics you’d like to see covered in a future newsletter or if we can help you implement any of these ideas in your financial plan, simply reply to this email, and we’ll be in touch. Regards, The Arnold & Mote Team April Webinar: Fighting Our Worst Investing Instincts with Real Numbers This month’s webinar features advisor Nick Ford, who will share insights from his recent research project on how investor instincts—particularly the urge to buy and sell based on recent stock market performance—can affect long-term returns and portfolio volatility. We’re told to embrace diversification and consistently rebalance our portfolios. But when we read the headlines and check our accounts, our instinct is to invest heavily in what has done well recently—and to get rid of what hasn’t. Deep down, we know what we should do, but we often can’t help ourselves when confronted with sensational headlines or the prospect of a big gain. So, what do the actual numbers tell us we should do? And what is the impact of regularly trading or trying to time the market? In this webinar, we’ll review twenty-five years of data across major investment categories to see how different types of investors would have fared under various approaches. Here are some of the key questions we’ll explore:
Join us for the live broadcast at noon Central Time on Friday, April 25th, streamed on our YouTube channel here:
Want a reminder before we go live? Click the button above and subscribe to our channel to be notified as the webinar begins: If you can't attend live, a replay of the webinar will be accessible immediately after and available alongside recordings of all previous webinars on our YouTube channel. If there are questions you'd like to have answered, simply reply to this email and let us know! Last Month's Webinar RecordingIf you missed last month's webinar, here is the recording of "Guide to Estimated Taxes - Quarterly Payments and Avoiding Underpayment Penalties" Video: Qualified Charitable Distributions vs Donor Advised Funds (QCDs vs DAFs) In this short video, we’ll cover the basics of these two common charitable giving options and offer guidance on how to choose the best one to support the charities you care about.
Arnold & Mote Featured in the Press The Wall Street Journal: Should You Consider Early Retirement in a Recession? A few years ago, we were interviewed for an article in The Wall Street Journal about panning for retirement in a recession. Today, with fears of an incoming recession building, this topic is once again timely. Whether you’re offered a voluntary severance package or your planned retirement coincides with a recession, it’s important to know how to adjust your financial plan accordingly.
See our other recent press mentions on our Press Page.
Looking for Something From a Prior Newsletter?As a reminder, you can now find the last 12 months of our newsletters here:
Whether you’re new and want to browse newsletters you missed or are trying to follow up on a topic from a few months ago, we’re now publishing all newsletters at the link above. We'll also keep this link at the bottom of all future newsletters.
Quinn and the Arnold & Mote Wealth Management Team (319) 393-4020 Contact Us | Blog | arnoldmotewealthmanagement.com Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube You are receiving this newsletter because we've talked with you in the past about financial planning and wealth management. Privacy Policy |