Insights

• The US equity market posted negative returns for the quarter and underperformed both non-US developed and emerging markets.

• Developed markets outside of the US posted negative returns for the quarter and outperformed US markets, but underperformed emerging markets.

• US real estate investment trusts outperformed non-US REITs during the quarter.

• Most higher net worth households realize income from many different sources like capital gains, interest, dividends, and pass-through income.

• While there’s no optimal approach to mitigating taxes from your investments, there are repeatable strategies and techniques to help keep more of what you earn after tax.

• Asset location, product selection, rebalancing approach, and tax-loss harvesting decisions can all work to reduce your applicable income taxes.

When we’re looking at planning strategies that can have a meaningful impact over time, tax management is one of the most valuable areas to focus on. With so much in life that we can’t control, taxes are one of the few variables where thoughtful planning can make a real difference. 

Today, when I talk with people about money and their goals, they often say they just want to “live comfortably.” I find myself saying the same thing. Over time, I’ve learned that while the phrase sounds simple, it’s deeply personal. It almost never means the same thing from one person to the next, and it rarely has as much to do with numbers as people expect. 

Here we are… winding down the very last hours of 2025, marking the end of the first quarter of the 21st century. Soon, we will find ourselves chronologically closer to the unknown experiences of the 2050s than to the Y2K panic, the hanging chads in Florida, and heated debates of Team Britney (Spears) vs. Team Christina (Aguilera)… well maybe the last one carries on.

• Stock and bond returns around the world were excellent in 2025.

• Stock market returns have historically been negative 25% of the time. You should always be prepared for a negative year.

• Our job is to keep the focus on what you can control and to keep your portfolio aligned with your plans as conditions change.