Ulin & Co. Wealth Management

8 Retirement Tax Strategies Your CPA Won't Tell You

Tax preparation looks back to calculate what you owe for the previous year, but tax planning looks forward to help lower your lifetime tax bill.

Retirees with pensions especially need tax planning to strategically manage pensions, account withdrawals and investments.

Tax Prep Looks Back, but Retirement Tax Planning Looks Forward: 8 Ways Retirees Can Lower Their Lifetime Tax Bill Tax preparation calculates what you owe for the previous year, but tax planning helps lower your lifetime tax bill — and is vital for retirees with pensions.

Business Exit planning: 12 Million Small Businesses Could Change Hands Over the Next Decade — 70% of Owners Are Still in Early Succession Planning

There is a succession-planning gap among small-business owners as a wave of Baby Boomer retirements approaches.

The succession gap extends beyond owners simply preparing to exit. A 2025 Gallup survey found that 27% of employer firms with owners 55 or older are either unsure of their long-term plan or intend to close the business rather than sell or transfer it.

Top Bank Warns 12 Million Small Businesses Could Change Hands Over the Next Decade — 70% of Owners Are Still in Early Succession Planning JP Morgan Chase & Co. is highlighting a succession-planning gap among small-business owners as a wave of Baby Boomer retirements approaches. A new report, "Powering 10 Million Small Businesses," set for release Monday, found that 70% of 1,000 surveyed business...

The Fed now has a fairly uncomfortable combination going into 2PM: 3.4% CPI, elevated PCE, expensive energy, strong employment and a consumer who refuses to roll over. Today’s retail report strengthens the case for the expected 25bp hike.

My takeaway: recession risk still looks relatively low. The bigger challenge may be an economy resilient enough to keep inflation and interest rates higher for longer.

The economy and stocks arew holding up. Here’s the interesting disconnect: University of Michigan consumer sentiment recently fell to 47.8, yet consumers keep spending.

What are your thoughts.?

US retail sales rebound more than expected in August; import prices surge By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales rebounded sharply in August as households boosted purchases of a range of goods while also spending more at restaurants and bars,

NewEdge Capital Group just climbed to No. 2 on Barron’s 2026 Top 100 RIA Firms list, up from No. 29 in 2022.

Impressive growth now with over 500 advisors and $100B+ . But for me, the more important story is what sits behind the ranking.

When Ulin & Co. Wealth Management affiliated with NewEdge Advisors more than two years ago, we wanted the best of both worlds: to maintain our independence, boutique culture and personal approach, while gaining access to top tier enterprise-level technology, investment resources and infrastructure from a leading national RIA organization.

Nearly 30 months later, I’m increasingly confident we made the right decision. Congratulations to everyone across the NewEdge community, from the back-office teams supporting advisors to the advisors working with clients every day grinding it out. This recognition reflects that collective effort.

article: https://www.newedgecapitalgroup.com/newedge-climbs-to-no-2-on-barrons/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_content=ap_xb8qba2qce

Couples with a big age gap need more money - they have to plan for two retirements. These are the biggest issues to consider. Interview with Beth Pinsker, CFP®

You may call it an age-gap retirement- but when financial planner Jon Ulin helps couples who have a 10-year-plus age gap between spouses, he calls it a “two-clock problem.”

“You’re not planning one retirement, you’re planning two timelines with one balance sheet,” he said of a situation he sees often at his practice in Boca Raton, Fla.

This goes way beyond just a lifestyle issue where the younger spouse is ready for pickleball just as the other needs a walker to get to the bathroom. It takes careful financial planning and more saving, to make sure both spouses have the funds to maintain their lifestyles and pay for whatever care they may need as they age

click to read more:

Couples with a big age gap need more money — they have to plan for two retirements These are the biggest issues to consider when there’s more than a 10-year age difference.

What If Higher Interest Rates Are the New Normal? After 40 years of falling rates, the investment playbook may be changing

Creed may have inadvertently written the soundtrack for today’s stock and bond market. After four decades in the relative comfort of falling interest rates, investors may be asking a familiar question: can markets take us higher even as rates move in the same direction?

History rarely repeats itself exactly, but it often rhymes. And with Treasury yields again approaching levels that once seemed ordinary, it’s worth looking back at how investors navigated previous periods of higher interest rates, inflation and borrowing costs.

For nearly four decades since the early ‘80s, investors enjoyed one of the greatest financial tailwinds in modern history. Inflation generally declined, interest rates trended lower, and falling bond yields helped support both stock and bond valuations.

For years, investors became accustomed to falling rates as a kind of financial gravity. When the economy stumbled, the Fed cut. When markets cracked, bonds often rallied. Mortgages got cheaper, refinancing became almost routine and growth stocks benefited from an ever-lower cost of money. After a while, what was historically unusual began to feel perfectly normal.

Then came COVID, massive fiscal stimulus, supply-chain disruptions, trade wars, geopolitical conflicts, oil above $100, enormous federal deficits, and now an artificial intelligence infrastructure boom measured in the trillions, all helping to turn the old investment playbook upside down for diversified investors.

For this week's newsletter, here are three things I’d be thinking about with your portfolio right now:

1. Rethink your bond selection, style, duration and diversifcation
2. Broaden your stock portfolio- more than US big- tech concentration
3. Don't bet the farm on the Fed, they have very little control over what is currently going on that is both supply and demand driven.

Bottom Line: You don’t need to predict where interest rates go next. You need a portfolio that can work if rates stay higher, fall, or surprise us again.

click to read more of Ulin's weekly insights, outlook and charts in out Gain a Wealth of Insight post.

What If Higher Interest Rates Are the New Normal? After 40 years of falling rates, the investment playbook may be changing Creed may have inadvertently written the soundtrack for today's stock and bond

This is ‘the silent killer for retirement portfolios’ — and it’s wreaking havoc on many retirees right now

Inflation has hit a 3-year high. Financial advisers explain how fixed-income seniors can shield their portfolios

Where should you start? Jon Ulin, a CFP at Ulin & Co. Wealth Management, says retirement investors should consider adjusting their long-term plans to reflect a more inflationary and volatile environment.

“That distinction matters more than many realize,” Ulin says. When inflation hits 2% — the Federal Reserve’s target rate — “purchasing power gets cut roughly in half over 36 years.

At 4%, it happens in closer to 18 years. That creates a radically different retirement planning equation for someone retiring in their early 60s who may still need their portfolio to last into their 90s.”

This is ‘the silent killer for retirement portfolios’ — and it’s wreaking havoc on many retirees right now Inflation has now hit a 3-year high. Financial advisers explain how fixed-income seniors can shield their portfolios

Seeking a fiduciary advisor and wealth managment firm? Consider that your wealth should come with a plan, strategy, and personalized guidance. Not a pile of statements and an 800 number.

For more than two decades, our team at Ulin & Co. Wealth Management has helped successful families, entrepreneurs, athletes, business owners and retirees make smarter decisions about their money and their future.

As an independent wealth management firm based in Boca Raton, our fiduciary financial advisors bring investment management, retirement planning, tax planning, estate strategy and business-owner and exit planning together under one roof. We also coordinate with your CPA, attorney and other professionals to help keep your financial life working together.

Our clients work directly with experienced CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals. Assets are held with Charles Schwab and Fidelity, and our firm is powered by NewEdge Advisors, a nationally recognized RIA.

Most importantly, we remain intentionally boutique. You know your advisory team, and your advisory team knows you. We operate with the same philosophy as concierge medicine: personal, proactive, accessible and built around a long-term relationship.

Many of our clients have been with us for 15 and even 20+ years, from South Florida to nationwide. We think that says more about our firm than any sales pitch ever could.

Our client relationships are our most valuable asset. We take the time to understand your family, goals, concerns and priorities, then help bring the pieces of your financial life together. Our goal is simple: help you make better financial decisions while building and maintaining long-term financial security and independence.

If you have $500K+ saved for retirement and wonder whether your investments, taxes, retirement and estate plan are actually working together, perhaps it’s time for a second opinion.

No hard sell. No obligation. Just a conversation.

Click below to learn more about our team, services, three-step Wealth Strategy Blueprint Process and how to get started or simply call us today (561) 210-7887.

https://ulinwealth.com/get-started/

Ulin & Co. Wealth Management Ulin & Co Wealth Management is an independent wealth management & planning firm serving clients in South Florida and nationwide

Diversification just had its best run in 16 years. Here’s how financial advisers say investors should react. (Ulin/ ) - Morningstar data shows broadly diversified portfolios outpaced the traditional 60/40 stock-and-bond strategy by 5 percentage points last year, prompting financial advisers to rethink plain-vanilla blueprints

Practice Diversifcation - not 'worstification'

Ulin agrees with a pivot away from long-term fixed income. “Our current portfolio positioning emphasizes investment-grade short-term fixed income, tax-efficient positioning, and inflation-sensitive assets on the defensive side including TIPS,” Ulin says. “We also remain modestly underweight traditional long-duration fixed income given the current inflation and rate backdrop.”

Watch for ‘over-diversification’

Although many of these strategies can help propel an already diversified portfolio in complex markets, doing too much, experts warn, can overcomplicate things. Complexity has to earn its seat at the table including private equity and alternatives.

Ulin adds that oversaturating a diversified portfolio can ultimately dilute returns and create unnecessary complexity. “A lot of investors hear the word ‘diversification’ and end up building a "Frankenstein" portfolio with too many moving parts until they own 17 different positions that all disappoint at the same time. The dirty secret is that many diversifiers are simply expensive beta wrapped in illiquidity.”

Diversification just had its best run in 16 years. Here’s how financial advisers say investors should react Morningstar data shows broadly diversified portfolios outpaced the traditional 60/40 stock-and-bond strategy by 5 percentage points last year, prompting financial advisers to rethink plain-vanilla blueprints