... CONTINUED FROM COVER
AVOIDING A TAX DISASTER Another client, George Witt, was at the age when he would have to begin taking Required Minimum Distributions on his IRAs or face IRS penalties. But he did not need the retirement income yet, and he didn’t like the look of how taxes would take a toll on those minimum withdrawals. He was worried this approach would eventually drain his nest egg, perhaps before he passed on. He had already survived one of the worst decades in America’s financial history, where his IRAs suffered big losses, twice. In 2000 he had $600,000 in his traditional accounts. By 2010, his battle-worn
accounts were just barely recovering, returning to the original $600,000 balance.
He wanted safety. And he wanted better tax advantages. George decided to do a strategic rollout, moving money from his IRAs, paying taxes on the withdrawals, and repositioning it into an IUL LASER Fund. Five years later, he had paid all of his taxes and maximum funded his policy. His money was now safe from the volatility of the market. He was enjoying predictable rates of return of 7% to 10%. He could take an annual tax-free income of more than $50,000 from his policy—which was
LIFE’S UNEXPECTED LESSONS When Everything Goes Wrong
GETTING STUCK…AND UNSTUCK But while all that snow promised high adventure, it also posed a problem. Our trucks got stuck, and no matter what we tried, there was just no way our vehicles were going to make the long trek to the cabin on those winding roads. Rather than turn around and go home, we decided to improvise. We left the trucks and ATVs right where they were and took several trips back and forth on the two snowmobiles to pack in the food and supplies. I was there with my daughter Sienna (my wife, Heather, and daughter, Shelby, had stayed home for Shelby’s dance recital), so Sienna and her cousins pitched right in to get things loaded in and set up. BIG ADVENTURE, BIG LESSONS Once everything was settled, we dove into the fun. We towed the kids on tubes behind the snowmobiles, cooked together, and played games until everyone fell
asleep, exhausted from the big day (well, most of us slept—a few of the grandkids couldn’t quite drop off with all the snoring echoing through the open floor plan). It was a really fun weekend, but the greatest part wasn’t cutting through fresh snow or competing for board game winner. It was facing the challenge of getting snowbound and coming together to make it all work. These are the stories we’ll return to during future I Remember When sessions, because all-too-often life serves up times where the metaphorical roads are blocked and everything you have planned goes sideways. I’m sure that just like you, as a parent, I’m grateful for moments like these we can use as reminders for our kids to rely on resilience and teamwork to get past the hurdles and make the most of life. –Aaron Andrew
Have you ever had one of those family trips where it seemed
everything was destined to go wrong?
A couple months ago, a few of us in the Andrew family decided to get in a winter adventure at my parents’ cabin before spring came. There’s nothing better than being away from everything, up in the mountains steeped in snow, sitting by the woodburning stove, making memories with each other. There had been a recent storm, so we also brought along ATVs and snowmobiles to make the most of the powder.
2 3DimensionalWealth.com
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator