Aspen Wealth Management

11/02/2026

“This business is my retirement.” For many owners, there’s a lot of truth in that statement. And when so much of your wealth is tied to one asset, preparing for its eventual sale deserves plenty of time and attention.

Valuation, clean financials, deal structure, leadership succession, and even what life looks like after closing can all affect how prepared you are when the time comes to sell. Waiting until a transaction is already on the horizon can limit your options.

In this episode of Purposeful Planning, Troy Fore, CFP®, breaks down three sides of exit readiness: preparing the business, structuring the sale, and preparing yourself, ideally beginning years before a potential exit. Listen and read more here: https://www.aspenwealthmgmt.com/resource-center/retirement/business-exit-readiness-planning

10/29/2026

More control over the stocks you own can be useful. Whether it leads to better investment results is a separate question.

Aspen’s Chief Investment Officer Nathan Davis, CFA, CFP®, explains how direct indexing compares with ETFs, where customization may help, and why more harvested tax losses don’t automatically mean better after-tax returns.

Compare direct indexing with ETFs, including portfolio customization, tax-loss harvesting, costs, and potential effects on after-tax returns.

10/28/2026

For forty years, the paycheck just showed up. In retirement, you are the one who has to write it.

And the world will not make it easy. Markets swing, inflation chews at every dollar, and a rigid plan, the kind that picks one withdrawal number and never looks up, can force you to sell at the worst possible moments. The first ten years are when those habits get set, for better or worse.

In this episode of Purposeful Planning, Troy Fore, CFP®, walks through how to build a flexible retirement spending plan: a budget that covers essentials with dependable income, time-based buckets, a smarter tax mix, and guardrails that let your plan bend without breaking. Listen and read more here: https://www.aspenwealthmgmt.com/resource-center/retirement/retirement-spending-plan-first-decade

10/20/2026

We tend to ask about your hobbies before we ask about your account balances, because the life you want to live is what gives those numbers meaning. A retirement built around travel looks different from one centered around grandchildren who live two miles away, and both look different from one where work simply becomes optional. How much you need depends on the life you want to fund.

Once we understand what you’re picturing, we can start building the plan around it. During the accumulation years, that means figuring out how much to save and which types of accounts to use. As retirement gets closer, we work through Social Security strategies, pension elections, required minimum distributions, and cash flow forecasting so you can see how all the income pieces fit together.

You’ve worked hard to get here, and the planning should reflect what you want on the other side. Start the conversation: https://www.aspenwealthmgmt.com/retirement-planning

10/14/2026

April is when you find out what your tax year cost you. Right now, you can still do something about it.

There’s still time to review your withholding, look for tax-loss harvesting opportunities, revisit whether itemizing makes sense, plan charitable gifts, account for vesting equity, or evaluate a Roth conversion. The important thing is looking while there are still choices on the table.

In this episode of Purposeful Planning, Troy Fore, CFP®, walks through the tax planning moves worth considering before year-end and how they can fit into a broader financial plan. Listen and read more here: https://www.aspenwealthmgmt.com/resource-center/tax/mid-year-tax-planning-strategies

10/13/2026

With the new, higher estate tax exemption in place, are your wealth transfer strategies up to date? Senior Wealth Advisor Jim Davis discusses what changed with OBBBA and how your family trusts may be affected.

Revocable, irrevocable, SLAT, GRAT, ILIT … trust options are complex. With the new higher limits, what’s right for your family?

10/12/2026

One of the first things lifeguards learn is how to help a drowning person without going under themselves, because someone struggling in the water will grab onto anything within reach, including the swimmer who came to help. Parents of adult children who are struggling financially face a version of the same problem.

Recent estimates cited by Yahoo Finance suggest that around half of U.S. parents provide regular financial support to a child age 18 or older, averaging roughly $1,474 a month, and for some families that includes children in their 40s. Helping through an illness, a job loss, or with a first home down payment can make a meaningful difference. The challenge comes when temporary support quietly becomes a permanent line item, potentially affecting both a child’s financial independence and the parents’ own retirement plan.

What usually makes the difference is clarity about what the help covers, how much it is, and when it ends. Our newest article works through how to set those boundaries, including what to weigh before co-signing a loan: https://www.aspenwealthmgmt.com/resource-center/retirement/help-adult-children-financially-retirement

10/07/2026

Most of the people we meet aren't disorganized. They're busy. The 401(k) is funded, and the insurance is in place. Still, there's an old account from a prior employer, a will drafted years ago, equity compensation nobody has modeled, and a general plan to think about taxes sometime in December. Every piece exists, and nothing is connected to anything else.

Our financial planning process brings those moving pieces together and aligns them with your values and goals, so we look at employment benefits, education funding, income tax, investing, insurance, and estate planning together rather than one at a time. The outcome is a roadmap you can use to make decisions based on where you want your life to go.

As we put it on our own site, our role isn't to impress you with what we know. It's to be the resource you turn to when you need a guide. See how the process works: https://www.aspenwealthmgmt.com/financial-planning

10/05/2026

There's an old joke in financial services about the party where the investment advisor has a crowd gathered around while the life insurance agent stands off by himself. Most of us would rather not be sold anything, but many families have ended up avoiding the conversation altogether, which is its own kind of problem.

At its core, life insurance is a protection tool. It exists so the death of a spouse, a parent, or a business partner doesn't turn into a financial crisis on top of a personal one. Beyond that, it can address needs that surface as financial lives get more complicated, including business continuity through a buy-sell agreement, estate liquidity, and inheritance planning when other assets are difficult to divide. The key is starting with the need rather than the product.

One item worth reviewing either way is your beneficiary designations, since those proceeds follow the paperwork on file regardless of what your will or trust says. Read the full article: https://www.aspenwealthmgmt.com/resource-center/insurance/life-insurance-wealth-planning-strategy