ABOUT ME
I help people with financial planning in general, and retirement planning specifically. I use sound investment strategies and tax reducing methods that the rich guys use. The goal is to help my clients find peace of mind concerning their path to retirement and financial independence, and confidence during retirement.
So why is a chiropractor doing retirement planning, tax planning, and investment advising?
I had back surgery. As a teenager I moved irrigation pipe all day on the farm, I bulged three discs in my low back, but continued moving pipe until I went to college and a mission. Then at age 34 I ruptured those discs while wakeboarding. For 20 years I had bone on bone in my lower back. Due to my knowledge as a chiropractor, I knew I would eventually need surgery. For 20 years I worried that once they fused my back, I would be unable to provide for my family or provide a retirement for me and my wife. During this period, I was trying to make smart investment decisions. On a few occasions I was given bad investment advice from people I thought knew what they were doing. I learned a few lessons of what not to do. In 2021 the bone spurs that were forming in my back, causing a condition known as spinal stenosis, which squeezed off the nerves bad enough I had to finally take surgical action.
I studied and prepared to be an investment advisor and do financial and retirement planning. A dear friend of mine encouraged me with the idea that I could be a great investment advisor. So, during the 6 months while I was recovering from a 3-level lumbar disc replacement surgery, I studied for and passed the required exams. I was blessed to have a successful surgery that made it possible for me to continue the profession I have loved as a chiropractor, but now I have found the financial knowledge and tools that would have been such a relief to me all those 20 years. I understand the strategies and methods used to build wealth and protect against running out of money in retirement, and I understand why the bad advice I had been given in the past failed. Now I am so excited to share the knowledge and skills I have gained.
I am working to help my friends retire with peace of mind.
I continue practicing as a chiropractor Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I meet with clients, together we discover their aspirations and create a plan to achieve them. After implementing the plan, we monitor it and adjust over time. I use a monthly 13-point audit to track each person’s plan and investments. I am continually looking for strategies to protect investments, increase growth, and I get very excited about tax reducing strategies, after all it’s not just what you make, it’s what you keep. I work with a group of investment advisors and certified financial planners. I am a voracious reader of anything from the world's top experts that will give me methods to help myself and my friends be more financially successful. But even with all I’ve learned it’s nice to have the team here at Red Cedar Wealth with decades of experience that I can consult with.
What we do for you simplified
Plan
We will create a plan customized to your values and assets. It will provide clear, attainable, and measurable objectives based on where you are now and what you want for your future. I will do my best to find the strategies that will help you retire with peace of mind and hopefully in the year you desire. You will understand what needs to happen to reach this goal.
Any plan I produce will also focus on strategies to reduce your taxes now and in retirement.
Grow
During your earnings years, we will optimize the earning power of your income through sound investing with an eye on the balance between growth and safety. Strategic rebalancing will be used to enhance growth and force selling high and buying low.
We will use techniques to reduce taxes and get those saved dollars to work for you.
Adapt
As you are approaching retirement, we will adjust your plan to give you the assurance that you will not run out of money before you run out of life. That plan may prioritize feeling safe to spend money during the early years of retirement called the "go-go" years, or maximize growth throughout retirement to ensure you stay ahead of inflation while also maximizing money to your heirs.
Protect
During your retirement, there will be monthly monitoring to make necessary adjustments to give peace of mind. I will also utilize methods to reduce taxes and strategies that can increase money available to you to spend rather than simply leaving it in an account.
We will work with an estate attorney to create trusts and wills as needed. If needed we will also ensure adequate insurance to lower risks that might jeopardize your plans.
Learn more about what we do
DESIGN THE FINANCIAL PLAN
Together we will create a comprehensive financial plan customized to you and your family's life. We will prepare an understandable and attainable path to provide the nest egg needed for financial independence or retirement. We will calculate when you will arrive and what it will take to get there. We will use inflation, cost of living increases, projected future income increases, and conservative portfolio growth assumptions in calculations. Specialized financial planning software helps make this process easier and provides a method to alter inputs such as when you want to retire, how much you contribute to different accounts over time and then to see the result of those different decisions. As we discuss your values, we can change the inputs to create a plan that will work best for you. This process answers the following questions: Am I on track right now with my finances? How much do I have to save and invest now to become financially independent? Can I retire early? What changes do I have to make in my plan to afford to do fun things now, or fun things during retirement?
OPTIMIZE EARNING POWER
We will design a diversified investment portfolio tailored to the proper risk tolerance and timeline of each individual or family. During the growth phase of your life, I work hard to create a diversified portfolio of ETFs (exchange traded funds) and other investments that are low fee but have strong beta, which if used right can increase growth. Having some of the ETFs with strong beta (more volatility) can result in greater growth when using dollar cost averaging and strategic rebalancing with other ETFs that track differently or are less violate. The end result is the potential for larger nest egg at the time of retirement than if these strategies were not used. Efforts will be made to create a portfolio that has high returns for the risk level that fits each client's risk tolerance. Risk tolerance is based both on how much time you have before you need money from the investments (time horizon) and the comfort level of each individual. I will monitor the investments over time and rebalance portfolios at optimal times to keep them safely diversified and capitalize on opportunities to buy low and sell high. We will open different styles of tax advantaged accounts that make the most sense for your situation as an individual or for your business, including opening Roth or traditional IRAs or if you are a solo business owner; an individual 401K/ SEP IRA/ or simple plan. If you have employees, we can help navigate the decision to provide group plans as a benefit for you and your employees. We properly utilize non-qualifying brokerage investment accounts – ensuring that they are invested in products that have the fewest tax consequences. (“location allocation”). and then using this account strategically to reduce capital gains taxes. If your health insurance qualifies, we will discuss investing assets in an HSA (health savings accounts) and using HSA strategies for tax free health care costs...or saving the receipts over time and using them for funding during retirement and letting the account grow tax deferred, almost like a Roth IRA. We will develop a custom ratio of the 4 main account types that fits your situation to set you up for tax arbitrages and tax reduction planning. I will discuss examples of tax arbitrages in the paragraphs below. We will create the right amount of funds in a non-taxable Roth IRA to be used to “pick” your tax bracket during retirement. We will maximize 401K growth during young earning years to lower taxes when you are in a higher tax bracket, and then use properly timed Roth conversions in the lower income years of early retirement before required minimum distributions begin. This takes advantage of lower tax bracket years to optimize tax free growth. We will convert the optimal amount, leaving the right ratio in the 401k to be used for tax free charitable donations (QCD) if you are so inclined. We will utilize non qualifying taxable accounts to build capital gains, and potentially pull those gains in years that will not be taxed or will be less than income tax. Appreciated assets in a non-qualifying taxable account can also be utilized as a hedge against loss of one social security check at the death of one of the spouses due to the bump up in basis. This is possible since there is no tax on the growth when the assets are gifted to a surviving spouse. This non qualifying taxable account can also be used to pay charitable donations with extra tax savings if done properly.
TAX-REDUCTION
Tax reducing strategies that dovetail with your investments are ignored by many but are a way to significantly save you money. I will work with you and or your accountant to implement tax reducing strategies. Some of these strategies include: Reducing taxable required minimum distributions (RMD) from your 401K (this helps you pay less taxes). This is done by taking Roth conversions at advantageous times and using qualified charitable donations if applicable. Using multiple methods to lower your tax bracket if possible, and using strategies that will prevent you from jumping into a higher tax bracket in the future, especially during retirement. This means watching income tax brackets, IRMAA Medicare brackets, and capital gains tax brackets. All of which don’t correlate. Strategical use of charitable donations if you already plan to donate to a church or other charity, can further reduce taxes even beyond using them as a write off. Some of these strategies are the following: using appreciated capital gains, qualified charitable donations (QCDs), donor advised funds, and alternating itemized deduction years with standard deduction years (called lumping) to reduce taxes over a two-year period. 'Paring a donar advised fun with Roth conversions can be a very powerful strategy. For some people this strategy could save thousands in taxes. Tax loss harvesting to reduce capital gains taxes on other investments. Or "Tax gain harvesting" where we take the gains in low tax bracket years to then save taxes in future years. We will utilize “gap year” strategies such as the lower income year you retire or in other life events...such as the year I had surgery and was out for 6 months. They say, “never waste a low-income year”. These events can provide opportunities to reduce this year and future years taxes. If you have properties you want to liquidate but want to keep the income from being taxed that year, we can set up a 1031 exchange for real estate. There are many who, if proper planning is done earlier in life, can retire in a situation where they can take both social security and investment money and owe no taxes. These are just a few of the many strategies good advisors use to reduce a client’s taxes.
ADJUSTMENTS ENTERING RETIREMENT
We will adjust your plan over time to accomplish your priorities during retirement whether it be maximum growth of estate, or having fun in your early years all the while making sure your basic needs are met throughout your life. In time we will gradually glide the portfolio aggressiveness as you near retirement to prevent having to sell stocks at a low price if you retire in a bear market. We will calculate the ideal social security claiming strategy for your situation by looking at how to get the highest check per month and comparing that to taking social security earlier. (Most people don’t know, but starting right at your birthday when you turn 65 or 67 is seldom the best strategy, it may be advantageous to file years or months earlier or later.) This decision becomes more complicated when we consider a married couple, and how each spouses’ benefits affect the other. Together we will choose the ideal retirement strategy that suits your most important goals. You have worked hard to build this next egg, now we must use it wisely over a 30-year or more retirement to cover your needs, have fun, and leave money for your heirs. What are your priorities? Goal #1 for nearly everyone is ensuring that you have enough money to last into your 90s and beyond. But what about other goals for your money? 1. Feeling safe to spend fun money in your early “go-go” years of retirement (50s-70s) knowing the older you (80s-90s) will still be taken care of when medical expenses and inflation will cause expenses to increase. 2. Leaving the most possible to your children or grandchildren or a loved charity. There are multiple styles, one or a combination of which will be best for you. Some level of aggressive investing is desirable since people need growth to keep up with inflation during a 30 plus year retirement. Also important is keeping a balance of funds that will be safe and available when the market corrects. Many people use a traditional “4% safe withdrawal rate”. This strategy is great for dying with the most money (most people who use this die with double or triple the money they started out with in retirement). This is nice for your heirs, but when you reach 90 years old you may regret not doing some things you could have done when you were younger and more able. You may have postponed a longed-for trip because you were trying to be safe and now you are too old to do those things. Besides, you may not care to be the richest person in the cemetery. I recommend adding what is called “Guyton-Klingler guardrails” to ensure that an investment portfolio pays you the most possible during your early retirement years rather than finding out when you are 90 that you could have spent more money when you were younger and healthier, during the "go-go" years of retirement. If done correctly, more money can be given to the younger you, while still having plenty of safety for your older years when medical expenses and inflation can be a challenge. This method gives you the most upside potential and has the likelihood of still providing growth in the portfolio so you can leave an inheritance to heirs. This strategy is safe if based on analysis of all past scenarios, however, there is no guarantee there won’t be future sequences worse than anything in the past. As they say “past performance is no guarantee of future results” as it is attached to the stock and bond market and fluctuations over time are unpredictable. Because of this potential volatility, these "guardrails" are put in place to alert us when we need to dial back spending a small percentage, but more frequently it will alert us when you are free to spend more. Using specialized planning software, we can also use "risk based guardrails" which allows us to further enhance the amount a person can safley take from their portfolio each year. Isn't that what it's about? Having the most money available to you at the earliest date and knowing you will still be safe in your late 90s? For many people this strategy could be the difference between safely taking $56,000 from their investments rather than just $40,000 each year on a $1,000,000 account. "Bucketing" is a strategy that uses assets invested for specific purposes that produce income in tner the money is needed, the less risky and more liquid the investment. If the money is not needed for many years, it can be invested more aggressively. One of the benefits of working with me is that I will show you the tradeoffs of each of the retirement strategies and help you weigh your options.
MONITORING
We utilize a 13-point monthly audit that I perform on each client portfolio. This audit includes such things as making sure dividends are reinvested, checking to see if there are strong signals for a buy or sell in any held investment and seeking optimal times to rebalance, monitoring of Guyton-Klingler guardrails, and making sure required minimum distributions are properly taken. We have annual and semiannual checkups, tune-ups and performance reporting with as much direct involvement as you would like. Some people want to know the details, others just want to be reassured everything is on track.
PROTECTIONS
We have relationships with excellent and reasonably priced estate planning attorneys who we team up with to help you navigate estate planning. This may include the use of a trust or will as needed. I maintain an insurance license in case a life insurance product or annuity is the most effective route for your situation. In case this is the best route I will get multiple quotes and see which will have the least fees. Some products have fewer fees if they are sold with a commission and others would be lower if we charge an assets under management fee (AUM fee). The very best advisors show you both options and are upfront with the total fees. (I prefer the fee only style of investment advising because it has the fewest conflicts of interest between the advisor and the client...but it too has its own unique conflicts of interest. Let me explain. I don’t like the high commissions people pay for many insurance products, and I don’t like the ongoing expenses many of these have, it is often more productive to keep your money invested in low-cost ETFs etc. But sometimes the very best option for an individual’s unique situation is to buy a SPIA (single premium immediate annuity) for instance or one of the many other insurance retirement products. If this becomes the case, a fee only advisor may not want to recommend the SPIA because it will pull money out of the accounts they are managing and therefore reduce the pay they get for managing the account. My promise to you as a client is that I will always do what is in your best interest and show you when a moment arises that I may have a conflict of interest so you can see all your options and the underlying fees. Because of this scenario and others, I operate primarily as a fee only advisor, but do maintain my insurance license so that I can provide the entire array of options for my clients and do it with the client fully aware, so no costs are hidden.)
H O W T O G E T S T A R T E D
There are two ways to get started.
1.) You may call my personal number (208) 681-0841 at Red Cedar Wealth Advisors to schedule a 15–20-minute phone call to ask questions, discuss a main concern or need, or simply to feel things out. If I am busy at the time you call you may leave a text or voice message and I will return your call. Your finances are of the utmost importance so going slow is great. If you feel this call goes well, you can investigate further by scheduling time to talk face to face with Val.
2.) You may call to schedule a face-to-face appointment (this can be a zoom call if needed). Your most pertinent concerns will be addressed first. We will discuss different methods to solve those concerns or needs. After your most immediate needs have been addressed to your satisfaction, we talk about services we offer and how our services and strategies would help you be successful. If after we meet, we determine it is a good fit, we can team up and begin. There is no charge for this meeting, we are simply giving you information so you can decide if it makes sense to use my services to help you accomplish your goals.
THE PROCESS
The process could be as simple as addressing your immediate concerns or investing your assets wisely. However, if you are interested in the comprehensive financial planning process, it begins with discovering your values and developing a picture of your future. Then we create a path to take you from where you are now to where you want to be. Having a clear realistic path brings confidence and peace of mind.
HOW DOES A FINANCIAL PLANNER GET PAID?
Often clients are unaware of how their advisors are paid. I feel this should be very transparent. For this reason I have this section explaining the different methods advisors are paid. Each one has pros and cons.
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A flat hourly fee: Much like going to an attorney or an accountant, advisors charge a few hundred dollars an hour. This structure may appeal to people who are DIY investors who just want a bit of expertise to make sure they are doing everything right. This model may not be best for those who don't want to make investing a hobby.
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A flat yearly fee: Usually for those who desire ongoing full service financial planning. This fee can often be quite high and may work for people with the largest assets but be too expensive for many people.
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"Assets under management" (AUM) fee: Most commonly 1% yearly of the portfolio being managed. Some advisors reduce this percentage as accounts grow larger over time. Money is taken out of the account by the custodian of the investments (Charles Schwab for instance) and transferred to the advisor. Clients need to be made aware that this fee is being charged. One benefit of this method is that the advisor is paid more when the clients portfolio grows, this may give some advisors motivation to be more diligent.
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Commission based fee: A fee is charged on the sale of a product such as an annuity etc. This fee can come off the top right at first or be paid overtime. It is usually a percentage of the cost of the product. This style of reimbursement has earned a bad reputation due to the advisor being motivated to sell a product that is less advantageous to the client but more advantageous to the advisor recommending the product. Just think, the insurance company will pay their representative, the “advisor” or “producer” a higher rate for products that make the company more money and are less advantageous to the client. That’s quite a conflict of interest. The client had better really trust that person.
THE METHOD I HAVE CHOSEN TO BE PAID FOR MY SERVICES:
I have chosen to use the AUM model as it allows people with smaller portfolios to pay a lower price, while still getting full ongoing financial planning services.
I charge 1% of assets under management until the portfolio reaches over $500,000. At that time any assets over $500,000 are charged only .5%. (1/2 of 1%) This helps reduce what I believe could be excessive fees on very large investment accounts. Because of the depth and complexity of planning that I do and the ongoing management I have a minimum fee of $1000/ year.
To explain in more detail, If you had over $100,000 in your investment accounts this would reach and exceed the $1000 minimum. If you had $90,000 in your account, you may be billed another $100 a year until the portfolio grew to over $100,000 in assets. If you had $300,000 in your account $3000 would be taken from the account each year to pay the fees. I believe advisors that charge this method should do all in their power to justify that fee through good advice, and strategies that make and save the client money.
If we determine you have a need for an insurance-based product like an annuity I may be paid a commission or an AUM fee. I will investigate both products and see which one is the most cost effective for the client. I’m not interested in the sale of insurance-based products being a major part of my practice. I only use them if it is the best choice for a client's needs, so I will look for a quality product at a competitive price, hopefully the lowest price I can find.
HOW TO LEARN MORE
If this site has perked your interest, please call my personal office cell phone (208) 681-0841 or our Pocatello office (208) 915-8400, where Sarah or Tina will be happy to help you find a convenient appointment to meet with me. There are two options, a 15-minute first step phone call or a face-to-face meeting for an hour. Either option is designed to explore your needs and see if we are a good fit for each other. If after adequate investigation you decide to move forward, trusting me and our team with one of the most important things you have after your loved ones and your health, I promise that no one outside your family will care more about your money than I will.
WHERE WILL WE MEET?
I am flexible about where we meet. We can meet at Red Cedar Wealth’s main offices in Pocatello, my chiropractic office in Blackfoot, I can travel to your home, or you are invited to mine. My home is in Riverside, 7 miles west of Blackfoot. If the weather is nice, we can hang in my backyard, and have a snack.