Capital Investment Advisors

06/17/2026

Pre-order The Retire Sooner Method and unlock exclusive bonus content!

When you reserve your copy, you'll receive access to a bonus vault packed with resources designed to help you put the book's principles into action, including:

✔️ Signed bookplate (first 1,000 qualifying orders)
✔️ Companion workbook
✔️ GPS video walkthrough
✔️ Live virtual masterclass with Wes Moss

Simply pre-order from any major retailer, submit your confirmation at https://hubs.ly/Q04lK9BB0, and claim your bonuses once your order is verified.

06/16/2026

Our 4th Annual CIA Field Day is in the books!

It was a fun day to step away from our desks, spend time together, and enjoy some friendly competition. We appreciate the people who make Capital Investment Advisors such a great place to work.

Thanks to everyone who made it such a great day.

06/15/2026

Cash is king, but is it?

For retirees, the question isn’t whether to hold cash, it’s how much. Too little cash may force you to sell investments during a market downturn to meet spending needs. Too much cash, however, can leave money sitting on the sidelines, potentially reducing long-term growth and allowing inflation to erode purchasing power.

The goal is to find an appropriate balance between stability and growth. That’s where dry powder comes in. Rather than viewing cash as an all-or-nothing decision, many retirees use dry powder as a strategic reserve designed to help weather market volatility while keeping the rest of their portfolio working toward long-term objectives.

On the battlefields of yore, dry powder referred to the practice of protecting gunpowder from moisture so the weapons of that era would reliably fire. In today’s financial world, it signifies the cash reserves a company or individual maintains to meet obligations during economic stress.

While it’s near impossible to predict the timing and duration of market corrections, it’s reasonable to expect they will occur. Instead of trying to engineer a complicated strategy, the purpose of holding dry powder is the attempt to allow for continued growth while still having enough cash on hand to withstand corrections.

What Is Dry Powder? A Simple Definition For Retirees: three years of spending needs not covered by reliable income sources like Social Security or pensions.

06/11/2026

When Can I Retire? The Retire Sooner Method Vs. FIRE Movement

The Retire Sooner Method is a research-based roadmap that aims to help people reach financial freedom earlier so they can choose whether to work, then use that freedom to build a happier, more purposeful life in retirement. The FIRE movement (“Financial Independence, Retire Early”), on the other hand, is focused on saving and investing aggressively—often 50% or more of income to achieve financial independence well before traditional retirement age.

In other words, the Retire Sooner Method is a more realistic, research-grounded version of FIRE.

Compare the Retire Sooner Method vs. FIRE and explore why retiring 5–10 years early may be more realistic for many Americans.

06/02/2026

We're excited to share that our Chief Investment Strategist, Wes Moss, has a new book coming out, and pre-orders are officially open! Pre-order your copy today at any of these major retailers: Amazon · Barnes & Noble · Books-A-Million · Walmart · IndieBound

It's official, my new book, The Retire Sooner Method, is on the way! 🎉

For years, I've been helping people answer one of the biggest questions in personal finance: "Am I on track to retire?" This book shares what I've learned helping thousands of families build financial confidence and create a retirement that's not just earlier but happier.

Pre-orders are open now, and if you reserve your copy early, you'll unlock a free bonus vault:

✅ A live virtual masterclass with me on September 1st
✅ A companion workbook
✅ A guided GPS video walkthrough
✅ A personally signed bookplate (first 1,000 only!)

Head to https://retiresoonermethod.com/ for more information on the book and to claim your bonuses.

I truly appreciate everyone who has supported my work over the years, and I can't wait to get this book into your hands! 📖

Educational content only. Not investment, legal, or tax advice. No investment strategy can guarantee success, and individual results will vary.

06/01/2026

A common question in retirement planning is how to help adult children with a home down payment when most savings are in 401(k)s or other retirement accounts.

The key issue is simple: withdrawals from traditional retirement accounts are generally taxed as ordinary income. That means money is generally subject to ordinary income taxes before it can be gifted.

Why 401(k)s and Retirement Accounts Create Taxable Withdrawals Used for Gifting:
When investments are held primarily in pre-tax retirement plans, any withdrawal used for gifting is usually treated as taxable income to the account owner. In contrast, families with investments in taxable brokerage accounts or other after-tax assets may have additional options, such as gifting cash or appreciated assets directly. Retirement accounts usually offer fewer opportunities for tax-efficient gifting strategies.

We explore this topic in more depth at the link below.

A common question in retirement planning is how to help adult children with a home down payment when most savings are in 401(k)s or other retirement accounts.

05/21/2026

Roth conversions have become one of the most discussed retirement planning strategies in recent years.

And it’s easy to understand why.

The potential for tax-free growth and qualified tax-free withdrawals in retirement can make Roth IRAs appealing for some investors. However, a Roth conversion is not a one-size-fits-all strategy.

Converting assets from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA generally creates taxable income in the year of conversion, which may affect your tax bracket, Medicare premiums, and overall cash flow needs.

In this article, Senior Investment Advisor James Lewis outlines several key considerations investors may want to evaluate before deciding whether a Roth conversion strategy aligns with their long-term goals.

Read the full article here: https://hubs.ly/Q04hyykr0

This material is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as tax or investment advice. Please consult your financial and tax professionals regarding your individual situation.

A Roth conversion can be a valuable tax strategy, or a very expensive lesson in unintended consequences. There is a lot of Roth conversion FOMO (fear of missing out) out there. Like, if you are not converting retirement assets into a Roth IRA, you are somehow missing the boat.

05/19/2026

In the produce aisle of a grocery store, orange bell peppers and orange habañeros often share adjacent shelf space. With a similar color and shape, a shopper could easily grab the wrong one by mistake.

However, it wouldn’t take long for the unsuspecting consumer to realize what a different experience each nightshade provides. While the bell pepper offers sweetness and crunch, the habañero pops with spice and heat. Both have their place in the kitchen, but few cooks would consider them interchangeable.

The current financial landscape may conjure up similar dynamics.

On the “shelf” sit two professionals with the same broad title: financial advisor. One may be affiliated with a registered investment advisory firm and operate as a fiduciary advisor, legally obligated to act in clients’ ongoing best interests and typically compensated through a transparent asset-based or flat advisory fee. Think of the fiduciary advisor as the bell pepper: straightforward, with compensation generally structured around a transparent advisory fee.

Compare fiduciary advisors and commission-based advisors, including compensation, legal obligations, conflicts of interest, and financial planning roles.

05/14/2026

Some retirement dreams take shape over decades.

For one of our clients, David Scott, his lifelong love of backpacking led to a 100-mile trek through the Alps and an unforgettable journey around Western Europe’s highest mountain: Mont Blanc.

A native Atlantan, David graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1980. In true adventurous spirit, he skipped his graduation ceremony and headed straight to Crested Butte, a historic and renowned outdoor destination in Colorado’s Elk Mountains, to spend the season as a ski-bum.

He returned home to discover a challenging job market, luckily finding a role within the Coca-Cola system. Over the next 26 years, he worked across sales, operations, and supply chain. Like many long careers, his time there eventually intersected with corporate restructuring. But after a stint running his own business, he eventually found a way to reconnect with Coca-Cola through one of its equipment suppliers. He officially retired in 2018.

His love of backpacking began all the way back in Boy Scouts and never faded. Over four decades, he had managed to climb all 58 of Colorado’s “14ers,” peaks rising above 14,000 feet. With no intention of letting retirement slow him down, he decided to pursue a lifelong goal: hiking the entire Appalachian Trail.

With that milestone behind him, it was time for a new adventure. Having never visited Europe, he set his sights on the legendary Tour du Mont Blanc. He mentioned the idea to his girlfriend, Angela, and she was all-in.

Some retirement dreams take shape over decades. For one of our clients, David Scott, his lifelong love of backpacking led to a 100-mile trek through the Alps and an unforgettable journey around Western Europe’s highest mountain: Mont Blanc.

05/13/2026

You’ve probably noticed a surge in Covered Call Income ETFs lately. Here’s why it matters.

The strategy has gone from niche to mainstream, with assets in options-based income strategies growing from roughly $7 billion in 2020 to around $150 billion by 2025, alongside record investor inflows and increasing institutional adoption.

They’re often marketed as a way to generate additional income beyond dividends without selling shares, and who wouldn’t like that? But how do they work, and are they a practical strategy for retirement planning?

What is a Covered Call Income ETF?

A covered call income ETF is a fund that owns a portfolio of stocks and seeks to generate additional income by selling something called a “call option.” A call option is a financial contract that gives another investor the right, but not the obligation, to buy those stocks from the fund at a predetermined price (known as the “strike price”) within a specific time period.

You’ve probably noticed a surge in Covered Call Income ETFs lately. Here’s why it matters. The strategy has gone from niche to mainstream, with assets in options-based income strategies growing from roughly $7 billion in 2020 to around $150 billion by 2025, alongside record investor inflows and ...