Melissa Moss, Moss Wealth Management

10/26/2026

Every Monday I send out Brian Wesbury’s Monday Morning Outlook from First Trust, along with a short note from me on what caught my eye. This week it’s their estimate for third-quarter GDP and how much of that growth is coming from AI and data centers while the rest of the economy moves at a slower pace.

If you’d like it in your inbox each week, you can sign up here: [Constant Contact sign-up link]. You’re also welcome to comment or send me a message and I’ll add you myself.

Monday Morning Outlook is prepared by First Trust Advisors L.P. and reflects the views of its authors. Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC.

https://conta.cc/3Wc7m9q

This Week's Monday Morning Outlook Hi there, This Week's Monday Morning Outlook This week, Brian Wesbury and the First Trust team walk through their estimate for third-quarter GDP ahead of Thursday mo

10/14/2026

Skipping the Trump Account app doesn’t mean your kid doesn’t have one.

Love it or hate it, your kid already has a Trump Account.

For my nephew’s birthday, I skipped the Amazon box and put money into an investment account for him, and the first comment on that post told me to open a Trump Account. Since then I’ve heard from people who are all in and plenty who don’t want to download a government app at all, and I understand both.

Whatever you think of the name, Treasury automatically opened an account on October 1 for every eligible child under 18 with a Social Security number. Three things to know:

Nobody (you, the grandparents, an employer) can add money until a parent or guardian claims it in the official app
Kids born 2025 through 2028 only get the $1,000 deposit once it’s claimed
At 18 it becomes a traditional IRA in your child’s name, and the growth is taxed when it comes out

Choosing not to claim it is a fair call too, and a 529 or custodial account still works great for birthday money like my nephew’s.

Send me a message if you want help figuring out what fits your family.

10/14/2026

This family has $400,000 in medical school debt, and I still think they should build the pool.

She’s a physician, he works in public service, and they have three kids and a house they love. When I started on their plan this month, a few things were working against them: a loan payment that wasn’t keeping up with the interest, no retirement account of her own while she sits in the 37% federal bracket, and a stack of insurance policies someone sold them years ago.

None of that means they have to stop living. Their plan puts things in order, with a retirement plan through her business, a clear sequence for the debt starting with the car payment, and a simple system for where every paycheck goes. Next year the plan moves up a notch, and the year after that it moves up again.

Wanting work to be optional someday doesn’t mean you have to live small today (some people choose that, and that’s their call, I just don’t think it has to be the path for everyone).

If you earn good money and feel like it should be going further, I’d love to hear from you. You can book a free 20-minute intro call through the link in my bio.

10/08/2026

Stocks finished the third quarter mixed. The S&P 500 gained 2.03%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.47%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 2.70%. Halloween is next on the calendar, with U.S. consumers expected to spend \$13.5 billion USD this year and 6.26 million Canadian children in their trick-or-treating years.

Melissa Moss is all about the real currency of life: connection, creativity, contribution… & sometimes cash. She is also a: 

09/12/2026

HENRYs (High Earner Not Righ Yet) have an opportunity to save up to 20% on their investment taxes if are mindful about how they are allocated in taxable accounts.

For a married couple filing jointly with a modified adjusted gross income of $550,000, they fall in the 35% income tax bracket, but their long-term capital gains rate is 15%. Dividends and short-term capital gains are taxed as ordinary income (35%) and are also subject to a 3.8% net investment income tax (NIIT), while long-term capital gains would be taxed at 15% But also be subject to that 3.8% NIIT.

In short, for HENRYs, long-term growth investment vehicles are poised to cost 20% less in taxes than short-term and dividend-paying investments.

09/10/2026

If you could give your younger self one piece of financial advice, what would it be and why?

If I could go back and give my younger self one financial lesson, it wouldn’t be about picking investments, understanding taxes, or learning everything there is to know about money.

It would be much simpler than that — and I think it matters far more.

What would you tell your younger self?

09/09/2026

Do you feel both partners should contribute equally to savings and investments?

I actually think that’s the wrong question.

Two people can contribute the exact same amount and still have a financial arrangement that feels deeply unfair.

And two people can contribute very different amounts and be completely aligned.

The difference is something most couples don’t talk about nearly enough.

What is your perspective on this?

09/07/2026

I hope you're not working 9-to-5 this Labor Day. Enjoy your long weekend, y'all!

09/04/2026

Riley was not as into today’s shuffle (rude), but I landed on a good one.

Back in December 2020, my brother Matt was proposing to his now wife, Callie, and our whole family flew to Denver to hide in the bushes at the botanical gardens and surprise her. I mean that literally. We became “the bush people” that day.
I had my iPad ready to record (got the video… see at the end). Somehow it worked.
The second he got a yes, I yelled “She said yes!” so the whole family knew it was go time, and watching everyone come running out of the bushes is still one of my favorite memories.

Your turn: when’s the last time you got lost in a great adventure? And what’s the next one you’re hoping for?

09/04/2026

Markets pushed higher in August as AI-driven optimism helped investors look past softer economic data. The S&P 500 gained 2.62% and the S&P/TSX Composite rose 2.96%, even as softening retail sales kept consumer spending in focus. Back-to-school season adds another data point to that story, with spending expected to reach \$146.8 billion in the U.S. and \$4.5 billion in Canada this year.

Melissa Moss is all about the real currency of life: connection, creativity, contribution… & sometimes cash. She is also a: