There's a version of retirement that looks exactly like success. The mortgage is paid off. The accounts are funded. Social Security is coming in. The portfolio is generating income. By almost any measure, it's what decades of careful planning were supposed to produce. And then the tax bill arrives.

Few six-month stretches contain a war, a record-breaking rocket-maker's stock offering and a semiconductor boom all at once, but 2026 has managed it without breaking stride. The S&P 500 returned 10%, its best half-year since the pandemic snap-back of 2020.

The strong stock market of the last several years has left many families in a position they may not have expected. Years of saving, investing, rising home values, and market growth have created more wealth than some parents and grandparents ever thought they would have.

One of the more important recent market developments was the renewed volatility in interest rates. Long-term Treasury yields moved sharply higher during the month, with the 30-year U.S. Treasury yield briefly reaching its highest level in nearly two decades before settling back below 5%.

One of the most innovate and influential startups of all time is about to go public at a record valuation, but is now the right time to buy? According to Bloomberg, SpaceX is expected to enter the public market at a $1.77T valuation ($135 per share), which would make it the 8^th largest company in the world by market capitalization.

The S&P 500 has long served as a cornerstone of the investment world, broadly representing a large portion of the U.S. stock market. However, increased concentration in a handful of large, tech-driven companies, such as Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft, has raised doubts as to whether the index continues to function as a truly diversified benchmark. And if that was not enough, SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic could soon join the index with possible record-setting IPOs later this year.

Few investors would have predicted it entering April. Markets were navigating an active military conflict in the Middle East, oil prices near multi-year highs, and genuine uncertainty about the economic outlook.

When people start thinking about estate planning, the conversation almost always arrives at the same fork in the road: do I need a will, trust, or both?

Most people know they should have a will. But when you ask what a will actually does, the answers tend to get vague, usually something like "it says who gets your stuff" or "it makes things easier for your family." Both of those things are true. Neither tells the full story.

Recent weeks have been a reminder of how quickly the investment landscape can change. Geopolitical tension, market volatility, and shifting expectations have left many investors asking what comes next. It is exactly in periods like these that a disciplined, long-term strategy becomes most valuable. With that in mind, we want to take a moment to reflect on the markets, the questions investors are asking, and the principles that continue to guide our approach.

If you tried to follow the markets in February, it may have felt like the ground kept shifting beneath your feet. One day the headlines were about tariffs, the next about artificial intelligence, and soon after about tensions in the Middle East.

For many foundations and endowments, the Investment Policy Statement (IPS) starts life as a “set it and forget it” document—approved, filed away, and dusted off only when the committee changes or the markets get bumpy.

Last summer, we wrote about the growing push to bring private equity, private credit, and hedge funds into individual portfolios. At the time, our primary concerns centered on cost, transparency, liquidity, and agency risk.

If you are just now thinking about ways to reduce your 2025 tax bill, you’re not alone. Many taxpayers wait until they experience the sticker shock of their impending tax bill to take action. Fortunately, there are still a few smart, IRS-approved strategies that can help reduce your taxable income. 

President Trump has announced his nomination of Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as Chair of the Federal Reserve when Powell’s term expires later this spring. The decision ends months of speculation, but it opens a far more important discussion—about the future of monetary policy, the independence of the central bank, and what all of this actually means for markets and long-term investors.

It is hard not to be struck by how resilient markets proved to be in the face of constant uncertainty. The year delivered no shortage of headlines—April’s tariff announcements, ongoing developments in artificial intelligence, the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and a steady drumbeat of geopolitical and economic surprises. Yet through it all, investors were rewarded with another exceptionally strong year.

Beginning this year, the SECURE Act 2.0 introduced a shift in how high-earning individuals make “catch-up” contributions to employer retirement plans. Traditionally, workers aged 50 and older could make catch-up contributions on either a pretax (traditional) or after-tax (Roth) basis, depending on their preference and approach to tax planning.

November brought a brief bout of volatility across markets. Investors weighed concerns about AI-related stocks, the outlook for Fed rate cuts, and the impact of the government shutdown on economic data. By month-end, most asset classes stabilized, reinforcing an important message for long-term investors…

All-time highs for stock markets are cause for celebration. We tally up our gains and pat ourselves on the back. But concurrently, a bit of apprehension follows. We know stock markets rise and fall, so it’s natural to wonder whether this is the turning point.

As global markets climb to new highs, gold’s rally—surging more than 60% this year to above $4,300 per ounce—has caught the attention of investors worldwide. For many, it raises a familiar question: is this time different?