Pharos Wealth Strategies

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Pharos Wealth Strategies

Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC.

www.finra.org, www.sipc.org

Third party posts found on this profile do not reflect the views of LPL Financial and have not been reviewed by LPL Financial as to accuracy or completeness. The financial professionals associated with LPL Financial may discuss and/or transact business only with residents of the states in which they are properly registered or licensed. No offers may be made or accepted from any resident of any other state.

08/24/2026

The hardest time to discover your estate plan has a hole is when your family needs it most.

Over the past few years, our team has worked with more than 30 people who have stepped in as a Power of Attorney or successor trustee to help manage the finances of a parent, spouse, or loved one.

And we've seen how difficult that responsibility can be.

There may already be the emotional weight of helping a loved one through a difficult season. Add managing bank and investment accounts, paying bills, dealing with property, working with professionals and making important financial decisions and it can quickly become overwhelming.

It becomes even harder when the necessary legal documents aren't in place.

Too often, when people hear "estate planning," they think about a will. A will is important, but it primarily addresses what happens after you die.

It's just as important to plan for what happens while you're alive but unable to manage your own affairs.

That means making sure you have the appropriate documents in place, such as a Power of Attorney and health care directives, and that they:

• Reflect your current wishes
• Name people you trust who are still able and willing to serve
• Are reviewed and updated as circumstances change
• Can actually be found when they're needed

A Power of Attorney naming someone who has passed away or can no longer serve isn't much help.

And a document your family can't find when they need it isn't much better.

Estate planning isn't just about protecting what you've built. It's about making things easier for the people who may one day have to step in and help you.

When was the last time you reviewed your estate documents?

Do you know who you've named? And would your family know where to find the documents if they needed them tomorrow?

08/20/2026

They came in to talk about investing. They may have discovered something worth far more.

A couple recently came into my office to talk about selling some property and investing the proceeds.

As we talked through their financial picture, we uncovered something they hadn't realized.

He is a retired civil servant who had never applied for Social Security. He didn't have enough credits for his own benefit, and because of the Government Pension Offset, he had assumed he wasn't eligible for a spousal benefit either.

But the Social Security Fairness Act changed that.

Now, he may be eligible for a spousal benefit based on his wife's Social Security record, potentially including retroactive benefits, and a monthly income for the rest of their lives.

It's a great example of why financial planning is about so much more than investments.

Sometimes the most valuable thing we can uncover isn't an investment opportunity.

It's a benefit someone didn't know was available to them.

Have you revisited your Social Security strategy since the Social Security Fairness Act was passed?

08/19/2026

I've been thinking about this quote lately.

J.D. Rockefeller was one of the wealthiest people in the world during his lifetime. When he was reportedly asked how much was enough, his answer was:

“Just a little more.”

There's also an old story that after Rockefeller died, someone asked his accountant how much money he had left behind.

The answer?

“All of it.”

Whether those stories are historically accurate or not, they make a pretty powerful point.

Contentment doesn't always come naturally. Sometimes, it has to be learned and practiced.

The Bible says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” It goes on to remind us that we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't have financial goals, pursue success or build wealth.

It means we should be intentional about why we're doing it and know when we have enough.

Sometimes, the key to a solid financial plan starts with answering a surprisingly difficult question:

How much is enough?

From there, we can define and prioritize the goals that matter most and use financial projections to see whether we're on track.

If you'd like to have a conversation about what “enough” looks like for you and whether your financial plan supports your goals and dreams, we'd be happy to help.

Because the goal isn't simply to accumulate more.

It's to make sure your money is helping you live the life you actually want.

08/13/2026

What does a three-day conference in San Diego have to do with serving our clients better?
I was reminded of an old story about two lumberjacks.
One worked all day without stopping, while the other took an hour-long break. At the end of the day, the lumberjack who took the break had cut down more trees.
“Where do you go every day for that hour?” the other asked.
“I go sharpen my saw.”
That’s a little bit of what we did at LPL’s Focus conference in San Diego.
For three days, our team stepped away from the day-to-day to learn from investment managers, explore new technology and think about how we can continue to serve our clients better.
A few themes really stood out:
🤖 Technology should give us more time, not replace the human side of advice.
⚙️ The best technology should reduce friction and make the client experience simpler.
❤️ And perhaps most importantly, the human relationship remains at the center of good advice.
AI and technology will continue to change our industry. Investment strategies will evolve. The tools we use to serve clients will continue to improve.
But our goal remains the same: use those tools to help us listen better, think more clearly, plan more effectively and spend more time doing what matters most; serving our clients.
Sharpening the saw isn't time away from the work. It's part of the work.

08/07/2026

What if you were doing the right thing… but weren’t getting the tax benefit you expected?

A client of ours had been making Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) from her IRA for several years.

Then, during a conversation about her next year's QCD, she mentioned that she wasn't sure the strategy was actually helping her taxes.

That caught our attention.

We reviewed several years of her tax returns and discovered that the QCDs weren't being reflected correctly.

The issue wasn't that anyone was doing something wrong. The challenge was communication. QCDs often are nnot separately identified on the IRA 1099, so if the information isn't communicated to the tax preparer, it can easily be missed.

We worked with the client and her CPA and they correct the returns, resulting in over $6,000 in tax refunds.

Good financial planning doesn't stop when the strategy is implemented. It requires follow-through.

That's why we now provide our clients with a QCD summary each year, including amounts, charities, and supporting documentation that they can simply hand to their tax preparer.

Sometimes the best financial advice isn't finding a new strategy.

It's making sure the strategy you already have actually works.

If you make charitable gifts from your IRA, this is a conversation worth having with both your financial advisor and tax preparer.

08/02/2026

I have a confession.

I went to the store to buy toothpaste.

It should have taken about 30 seconds.

Instead, I stood in the toothpaste aisle for nearly 15 minutes trying to decide which one to buy.

Sound familiar?

We may laugh about spending too much time choosing toothpaste, but many people experience the same thing with retirement planning. Endless information, conflicting opinions, and so many choices that it's hard to know where to begin.

One of the biggest obstacles to making financial progress isn't making the wrong decision; it's becoming so overwhelmed that you don't make one at all.

Don't let the pursuit of the perfect decision keep you from making a good one.

I'd love to hear your answer: What's something you've spent way too much time trying to choose?

07/28/2026

Have you ever wondered why golfers carry 14 clubs?

One of my favorite analogies for investing comes from the golf course.

Golfers are allowed to carry up to 14 clubs. During most rounds, they won't use every one, but imagine facing the perfect shot only to realize you left that club at home because you hadn't needed it lately.

That's diversification.

Every club has a purpose. Every investment does too, even if it isn't leading the way today.

Just a few years ago, many investors questioned why they should own international stocks after years of trailing U.S. markets. More recently, those same investments have helped strengthen diversified portfolios. This year, US value stocks have also outpaced US growth by a meaningful margin.

The lesson isn't that one asset class is better than another.
It's that market leadership changes.
Rather than trying to predict which investment will lead next, we believe in building portfolios that are prepared for whatever the market brings.

Just like on the golf course, you never know what the next shot, or the next market, will require.

At Pharos Wealth Strategies, we don't try to guess the next winning club. We help clients carry the right bag.

07/24/2026

Does your work matter?

Are you making a difference where you spend most of your week?

Yesterday I attended a Kingdom Connection luncheon hosted by Biblical Leadership for Excellence.

One statement from the speaker has stayed with me ever since:

"People are not production units."

What a simple, but powerful, reminder.

It's easy to measure productivity, profits, deadlines, and results. It's much harder, and much more important, to remember that every person we work with has a story, carries burdens we can't see, and has immeasurable value.

The host shared that it's estimated that about one in five people believe their work has real meaning and purpose. Whether that number is exactly right or not, it raises an important question:

What if more of us saw our work as a calling instead of simply a career?

Whether you're leading a company, serving customers, raising a family, managing projects, or encouraging a coworker, your work matters because the people you serve matter.

My prayer is that more people discover purpose in the everyday work God has entrusted to them, that we never lose sight of the people He's entrusted to our care.

07/17/2026

Twenty years ago, one of our biggest financial worries was that we might overfund our daughters' 529 college savings plans.

Fast forward to today...

Our daughters have graduated from college, and we're incredibly proud of both of them.

Even after helping pay for two private university educations, we still have money left in their 529 accounts.

Years ago, we would have viewed that as a potential problem.

Today, we see it as a blessing.

Recent changes to the tax laws have made leftover 529 funds much more flexible than they once were, which has eased one of the biggest concerns many parents and grandparents have about saving for college.

Looking back, we'd much rather have had more options than not enough resources.

If you've been putting off opening or contributing to a 529 plan because you're worried about saving "too much," it may be worth taking another look.

Sometimes the biggest risk isn't overfunding a college savings plan...
..it's waiting too long to get started.

07/14/2026

“Am I spending too much?” That question arises for many retirees, and it came up again in a recent conversation with a longtime client. They felt uneasy about dipping into their savings, worried they might outlive their nest egg. To address this, we tested different withdrawal rates the same way a carmaker would use crash-test dummies running scenario after scenario to gauge resilience.

The results? Their portfolio not only covered their lifestyle but offered extra room for travel and those home improvements they’d been putting off. Witnessing their relief was a powerful reminder of why I love this work. If you find yourself hesitating to enjoy your retirement, we can explore your best path forward. You may have more freedom than you think.

Address

13750 San Pedro Avenue, Suite 145
San Antonio, TX
78232

Telephone

+12106254847

Website

http://www.pharoswealthstrategies.com/

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