Landon Horne, CFP, RICP - Northwestern Mutual

09/01/2026

Markets have been supported by resilient growth and enthusiasm around artificial intelligence, but the policy backdrop may be changing. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company Chief Investment Officer Brent Schutte explains why sticky inflation, higher debt costs and uncertainty around where AI-related gains ultimately land make diversification especially important. http://spr.ly/6183B1fv7x

08/25/2026

The economy remains resilient, but rising interest rates and pressure on consumers could create challenges for markets. Here’s why diversification remains important in today’s environment. http://spr.ly/6183B1srJ7

08/19/2026

Markets are still near record highs, but the economy remains uneven. Our latest commentary looks at recent inflation, consumer, and small business data—and why diversification continues to matter for long-term investors.

Markets are broadening beyond tech. See why diversification still matters.

08/11/2026

Stocks moved higher as stronger economic data and corporate earnings helped offset concerns about a softer labor market. See what this week’s market moves could mean for your financial plan. http://spr.ly/6189B1KPdJ

08/04/2026

The Fed held rates steady, but markets remain focused on whether tighter financial conditions will be enough to bring inflation back to target. Read Northwestern Mutual’s latest weekly market commentary. http://spr.ly/6183BE7GUd

07/28/2026

Tariffs and inflation remain in focus as the Fed weighs its next move. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management CIO Brent Schutte explains what this could mean for markets. http://spr.ly/6181BEaoGW

07/21/2026

Markets may be starting to broaden beyond the AI stocks that have led much of the recent rally. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company Chief Investment Officer Brent Schutte explains why diversification remains important as leadership shifts and volatility risks linger. http://spr.ly/6180BEcbXC

07/14/2026

The labor market appears to have regained its footing, shifting the focus back to inflation. This week's commentary examines why persistent price pressures—not slowing employment—may be the bigger risk for markets in the second half of 2026. http://spr.ly/6183BEpMcW

07/10/2026

Are you spending your retirement? Or just preserving it for someone else?

Most of the conversation around life insurance in retirement focuses on the death benefit itself. Tax-free. Guaranteed. Comes through the door when you pass. All of that is real and important.

But there's a dimension that almost never gets discussed: what life insurance does for the person whose still alive.

I've watched this play out over ten years. Retirees who carry permanent life insurance (who have a death benefit in place as a legacy vehicle) spend more freely. They travel more. They give more. They actually enjoy the retirement they spent decades building.

Why? Because the inheritance question is already answered.

Without life insurance, many retirees feel an unspoken obligation to preserve their portfolio in order to leave something behind. So they hold back. They don't take the trip. They don't help the kids with the down payment. They live beneath their means because they're carrying the weight of what happens after they're gone.

A permanent life insurance policy can help remove all or most of that weight.

Suddenly, you can spend down your accounts more confidently. You can deploy your assets toward living. All while knowing that the inheritance vehicle is separate, already in place, and guaranteed to be there.

This is the psychology of money that Morgan Housel writes about: the emotional and behavioral dimensions of financial decisions that don't show up in any spreadsheet. The fear of "running out" or "leaving nothing behind" is real. And addressing it structurally, not just emotionally, is one of the most powerful things a comprehensive financial plan can do.

You worked too hard for too long to spend your retirement holding back.

The goal was never to die with the most money. The goal was to live well and leave something meaningful. A great plan makes both possible.

💬 Are you spending your retirement the way you imagined? Or are you holding back more than you need to?

👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

I'm a CFP® professional that helps sales pros, medical professionals, and business owners make use of their inefficient, stagnant cash and win the tax game by not tipping Uncle Sam more than their fair share.

07/08/2026

In ten years of doing this, I've sat with enough high net worth families to say this with confidence: most of them have no idea the estate tax exists.

We're talking about people with $25, $40, $50 million in net worth who have never once had a conversation about what happens to that wealth when they pass. And they are usually sitting near or above the current estate tax exemption threshold.

The answer, without planning, is that the federal government takes 40% of everything above the exemption ($15 million per individual, or $30 million for a married couple using portability).

Not 10%. Not 15%. Forty percent.

On a $50 million estate, that could mean millions of dollars going to taxes that, with proper planning, could have gone to your family, your legacy, or causes you care about.

Here's what that planning actually looks like:
- Irrevocable trusts can move assets permanently outside your taxable estate. Once structured properly, those assets no longer count toward your estate tax exposure.
- Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs) use permanent life insurance funded inside a trust to create tax-free liquidity specifically designed to cover estate tax liability, so your heirs don't have to sell assets or businesses to pay the bill.
- Strategic gifting allows you to transfer wealth during your lifetime, reducing the taxable estate incrementally over time.

None of these strategies are complicated for someone who does this every day. But they require time to implement. And they require knowing the conversation needs to happen in the first place.

What you don't plan for, the government plans for you.

If you're in a position where this could apply to you or someone you know (i.e. your parents), the time to have this conversation is now, not at the estate attorney's office after it's too late to do anything about it.

💬 Do you know your potential estate tax exposure? Most people don't, and that's exactly the problem.

👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

I'm a CFP® professional that helps sales pros, medical professionals, and business owners make use of their inefficient, stagnant cash and win the tax game by not tipping Uncle Sam more than their fair share.