The Lowry Letter®

It is hard to believe that we are halfway through 2021. In many ways, this year has been better than we might have imagined

The Covid vaccines are a tremendous success story, with the daily death rate numbers telling a very compelling story. Countries like Singapore are considering policies to “live with Covid,” treating it like other diseases, such as flu and chickenpox. This is viable now because of the efficacy of vaccines in reducing both the rate and severity of Covid cases, allowing medical resources to remain within acceptable levels.

First, a reminder that we will be having an off-site team meeting on June 28-29. Our office will be closed for meetings but we will be checking messages and emails at regular intervals. There may be a slight delay in processing requests and we wanted to provide plenty of notice. You can text our office number as well if you need to get in touch.

We hold periodic team meetings to make sure we meet one of our strategic directives- continuous improvement. We welcome feedback of all kinds and enjoy the opportunities for growth.

School is out in most of the country, and we join many parents and grandparents (and kids) who are glad to put this strange year behind them. We hope conditions continue to improve and look forward to returning to normal school patterns.

We want to make you aware that we will be having an off-site team meeting on June 28-29. Our office will be closed for meetings, but we will be checking messages and emails at regular intervals. There may be a slight delay in processing requests, and we wanted to provide plenty of notice

We had a great webinar with Justin Duft regarding potential tax law changes. Among the key takeaways are these:

• The most effective estate plans are a team effort
• Complex solutions are not always the best solutions
• Our loved ones should know whether we have a plan in place

If you have specific estate planning questions, don’t hesitate to reach out

Changes to various tax laws have been proposed and are of concern to many. We’ve scheduled a webinar with Commonwealth’s Justin Duft to discuss these and other important matters related to estate planning. Justin is the director of Commonwealth’s Advanced Planning Department and has a JD with a focus on estate, trust, and tax law, as well as many relevant industry certifications.

The webinar will take place on Tuesday, June 8th at 12pm EDT.

Please register in advance for this webinar:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OwbiZrcbTYeGuDbiBNPmJg

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. We hope you can make it!

Our office will be closed on Monday, May 31st in observance of Memorial Day. We hope that you enjoy the holiday weekend. We express our profound appreciation for the men and women who have given their lives in service of our country.

Please make plans to join us on June 8th at noon EDT for a discussion on estate planning and some of the changes that have been proposed by the Biden administration. More info to follow!

We remain encouraged by continued vaccinations and hope the trend continues. We enjoyed Brad McMillan’s story of his return to in-person work at Commonwealth and imagine it mirrors many other people’s experiences.

We realized that we had not announced this, but please consider our office fully open for in-person appointments. We have been vaccinated and are comfortable meeting without masks per current guidelines. If you prefer to meet wearing masks, we are happy to accommodate you.

We enjoyed an excellent webinar on Tuesday, with Brad McMillan from Commonwealth and the Independent Market Observer. We will share some of Brad’s key insights below and have attached his slides from the presentation. If you have any questions about them, please let us know!

Also, did you know that you can access Investor360 through a smartphone app and not just through our website? A link to the iOS app is here and the Google Play store here.

Welcome to May! Please remember that our special webinar with Brad McMillian is scheduled for this Tuesday, May 11th at 4pm. Please register in advance by using this link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_IFOs5hSGSNSRF07GSj2D_w

If you have any questions for Brad about the markets, COVID, or the economy, please send them to us.

Some big news this past week was the potential increase in the capital gains tax rate for individuals with more than $1 million of taxable income. It is important to remember that this is just a proposal. If it does become law, and you are affected by it, there are some techniques that can be used to reduce the impact.

In the meantime, The Tax Foundation has a great analysis of potential tax changes, the revenue they might raise, and the potential impact on U.S. GDP.

Please remember our May 11 webinar with Brad McMillan.

Please send us your questions and use this link to register:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_IFOs5hSGSNSRF07GSj2D_w