03 Dec The Grandchild-ren Are Coming!!!

The grandchild-ren are coming! Amazing what a difference those last three letters make in expectation and, dare I say, anxiety level. Our four-year-old granddaughter and two-year-old grandson fight incessantly – over toys, food, and most of all Papa’s and Grammy’s attention. Each wants 100% of the attention. Not 60%, not 75%, not even 90%. It has to be complete and undivided – I mean unshared – attention. CPAs and investment managers tend to be like that, too. One focuses almost exclusively upon minimizing taxes, while the other on maximizing investment returns. We clients are torn between the two competing factions, each demanding our unshared attention. In our home, we have found peace and harmony by having only one grandchild over to the house at a time. They get all the attention they want and they don’t have to share anything with their competitive sibling. Last time we had our two-year-old grandson, Kaius, over by himself, all we heard all day was, “Kiaus’ fire truck… NOT Alina’s; Kaius’ swimming pool water… NOT Alina’s.” We tend to take a similarly comfortable approach with or advisors. Either we tell our investment advisor to do everything they can to avoid taxes, or our accountant that we’d rather make money and pay taxes than not make any money at all. In the end, what it should really be all about is ending up with as much money as possible – after taxes. But, that requires coordination and cooperation between both tax and investment advisor. Our daughter texted us a photo of the grandchildren in the back seat of their SUV on their way back home from a visit to Papa’s and Grammy’s the other day (yes, both of them on that visit). They were in car seats side-by-side, sound asleep, and holding hands. If your investment manager and tax advisor are not working closely together, you are unlikely to be keeping as much as you should be after taxes. They don’t need to be holding hands, but getting them in the same room or closely connected via phone, email, and internet might be a good idea.