Quantis Wealth Management

We hope everyone who celebrated had an enjoyable Father's Day weekend with family and loved ones.

Happy Father's Day from all of us at Quantis Wealth Management.

For many financial accounts, beneficiary designations determine who receives the assets when you pass away.

This often includes retirement accounts, life insurance policies, annuities, and transfer-on-death accounts.

Because these instructions can override provisions in a Will or Trust, outdated beneficiary designations may create unintended results.

Major life events such as marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, the death of a loved one, retirement, or significant financial changes can all be reasons to review them.

Beneficiary designations should also be reviewed whenever estate planning documents are updated to help ensure everything remains coordinated.

While reviewing beneficiaries is often a relatively simple task, it can play an important role in helping your estate plan function as intended.

Coordinating these reviews alongside your estate planning attorney and financial advisor can help ensure your beneficiary designations, estate documents, and financial accounts continue working together toward the same objectives.

Creating a trust is often only the first step for the estate planning process to be complete. For a trust to function as intended, assets may need to be reviewed, retitled, or coordinated with the overall estate plan. Depending on the circumstances, this can include real estate, investment accounts, bank accounts, and beneficiary designations.

When these details are overlooked, assets may not pass according to the trust's provisions, and some of the intended benefits of the planning may not be fully realized.

This is one reason estate planning should be viewed as an ongoing process rather than a one-time legal exercise. Major life events, changes in assets, and evolving family circumstances can all create reasons to revisit a plan.

For those who do have documents, periodic reviews can be just as important as creating them in the first place.

Estate plans are often most effective when they evolve alongside changes in your finances, family, and long-term objectives.

Last November, Patrick earned his CFP® designation, and he recently transitioned into the role of Director of Planning at Quantis Wealth Management.

Patrick joined Quantis in 2024 with more than 10 years of accounting, including tax planning for individuals. He works at the intersection of wealth management and tax services, assisting advisors with the implementation of tax efficient financial planning strategies for mass affluent and high-net-worth individuals. Patrick also serves as Senior Manager of Quantis Tax Services, where he oversees tax compliance and planning solutions.

Patrick has continued to expand his role within the firm through his work with clients and commitment to thoughtful financial planning. We’re proud to have him as part of the team and look forward to his continued growth.

For retirees who are already giving to charity, Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) can sometimes create a more tax-efficient way to do so.

Rather than taking a required minimum distribution (RMD) into income and donating separately, a QCD allows eligible IRA assets to be transferred directly to a qualified charitable organization.

In some cases, this may help reduce taxable income while also satisfying all or part of the RMD obligation, which begin at age 73. QCDs may also reduce the future value of an IRA over time, which can potentially lower future RMDs as well.

However, for those younger than 70½ years old or those interested in making charitable gifts in excess of $100,000 annually, a QCD may not be the most appropriate method of facilitating your charitable goals. Additionally, if you are hoping to spread out your tax burden over a handful of years as opposed to making a lump sum contribution, you may prefer another strategy.

The best option is less about any single tax year and more about how income, distributions, and charitable goals are coordinated in a broader long-term plan.

Many of our clients aren’t quite ready to say goodbye to their professional lives at 62 or 65. If you’re planning to stay in the workforce while collecting benefits, keep these three factors in mind:

The Social Security "Earnings Test": If you are under full retirement age (now age 67 for those born in 1960 or later), your benefits may be temporarily reduced if you earn over the limit. For 2026, that threshold is $24,480. For every $2 earned above that, $1 is withheld. Those withheld funds aren’t gone, they are credited back to your monthly checks once you reach full retirement age.

The 20-Employee Rule: Your Medicare enrollment strategy depends heavily on the size of your company. If you work for a firm with fewer than 20 employees, Medicare usually becomes your primary payer. In these cases, it is often essential to sign up for Part B when you turn 65 to avoid significant coverage gaps and late-enrollment penalties.

The Power of 70: Delaying your Social Security claim until age 70 remains one of the most effective ways to maximize your guaranteed income. By waiting, you can increase your monthly benefit by roughly 8% for every year past your full retirement age, and secure a higher "survivor benefit" for your spouse.

To read more about how you may be able to optimize these benefits: https://quantiswm.com/2023/08/25/how-can-working-in-retirement-impact-medicare-social-security-benefits/

Retirees mostly get income from:
– Investment accounts, including retirement accounts
– Social Security
– Pension

One thing that’s often overlooked is how much can be withdrawn sustainably.

A common starting point is in the range of 3–4% per year, but the actual amount depends on how withdrawals are structured and taxed over time.

Your withdrawal structure can have a meaningful impact on taxes and how long the portfolio lasts.

This is typically where a retirement plan shifts from projections to the decisions that actually determine outcomes.

We’ve outlined this in more detail here, for those interested: https://quantiswm.com/2023/04/25/retirement-income-planning-develop-a-plan-in-four-easy-steps/

Markets moved lower in March as interest rates rose, energy prices increased, and geopolitical tensions escalated.

Both stocks and bonds faced pressure, despite stronger-than-expected corporate earnings.

For many investors, these types of environments raise a different set of considerations, particularly for those approaching or in retirement. When your income is coming from withdrawals instead of paycheck earnings, market movement begins to affect distribution strategy, inflation can increase pressure on spending, and interest rates influence both bond values and overall portfolio structure.

We put together a short update outlining what drove markets in March, and how these shifts may affect planning decisions over time.

March 2026 Market Update: Interest Rates, Inflation, and Market Volatility Markets declined in March as interest rates rose and geopolitical tensions increased. What this may mean for investors and retirement planning.

In the years leading up to retirement, certain decisions tend to matter more.

The “retirement red zone” is the 5–10 year window before and after retirement, where financial decisions become more interconnected and less flexible.

This can include:

-Income moves to withdrawals and distributions instead of earned income
-When to take Social Security affects how income is structured over time
-Withdrawal strategy begins to affect tax exposure
-Investments need to support income in retirement, not just growth

For those approaching retirement, the focus often shifts from building assets to structuring them in a way that can support spending, taxes, and longevity together.

Understanding how these pieces fit together before retirement begins can make a meaningful difference.

Read more about the decisions to manage in the Retirement Red Zone. https://quantiswm.com/2024/03/25/10-things-to-consider-in-the-retirement-red-zone/