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You Can’t Take It With You
planningyourlegacy.com 803-746-7000
December 2025
This isn’t a story I’ve shared with many people. I never even told my parents, and I’m not sure why. It wouldn’t have gotten me in trouble. They probably would have laughed. But I kept it to myself. I guess it felt like a confession, even though I didn’t do anything technically wrong. I just ruined Christmas … for myself. It started in the “wayback” seat of our family’s 1970s wood-paneled station wagon. I was poking around the compartment behind the seat when I came across a plain cardboard box. There was nothing flashy about it, just a Sears shipping label with an item number on it. I didn’t open the box (that would have been wrong), but I did write the number down. Then I spent what seemed like days flipping through the Sears Christmas Wish Book catalog, trying to match it. Eventually, I found it. The item number was for the Super Bowl Electric Football Game. It was a tabletop field that vibrated and sent little plastic players rattling around like popcorn when you turned it on. I had no idea how the game really worked, but I knew it was mine. And for a brief moment, I was proud. A Christmas Surprise Spoiled (and Remembered) CURIOSITY, GUILT, AND A SHAKY GAME
card with one of my favorite Bible verses. It wasn’t expensive or elaborate, but it meant something. I still keep it tucked into the edge of the bathroom mirror and see it every day. It reminds me that a gift’s value comes from how well the giver knows you, not how much they spend. When our kids were young, my wife and I decided to keep things simple. Three gifts each. Now that everyone’s older, we draw names in the extended family and set a dollar limit on our gifts. It takes the pressure off and recenters things on what matters most, like being with people you love and giving with intention. As for me, I never went looking for hidden presents again. I may have spoiled one Christmas morning, but I think I got a
Then the guilt started to creep in.
I didn’t tell anyone. There was no big reveal of what I’d done. I just sat with it. And when Christmas morning came, I had to fake surprise. I’m sure I didn’t pull it off very well. The gift itself was great, but something about that moment didn’t land the way it was supposed to. The surprise was gone, and even at that age, I understood I’d taken a little bit of the magic away from myself. Looking back, I think that experience stuck with me more for what it revealed than what it ruined. I’d spent all my time trying to figure it out, and once I did, the payoff wasn’t what I imagined. That’s probably true of a lot of things. Often, we seek an answer only to find that knowing isn’t always better.
clearer view of what matters. And that’s a gift I’ve carried with me ever since.
These days, I see gift-giving through a different lens. I’m less interested in surprises and more drawn to what’s behind the gift. My daughter once made me a small handwritten
A Question to Ask (or Answer for) a Loved One Asking and answering important questions helps preserve your family’s values and life lessons for generations to come. Can you remember a time when curiosity got the better of you?
Philip J. Corson, Founder
“For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.” LUKE 8:17
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Keep More in the Family
Reduce Taxes With Strategic Gifting
When planning your legacy, gifting during your lifetime is thoughtful and strategic. Not only do your loved ones receive an early boost, but you may also shield more of your estate from federal taxes. Let’s break down six smart, actionable, and strategic ways across all states. Tap the annual gift tax exclusion. Every year, you can gift up to $19,000 per person (or $38,000 if married filing jointly) without trimming into your lifetime exemption or filing a gift-tax return. The best part is you can repeat it and share the love with an unlimited number of people. Over time, that’s a significant aggregation of tax-free transfers. Use your lifetime exemption. In 2025, the lifetime exemption is at $13.99 million per individual (and nearly $28 million for couples). In July 2025, Congress made the exemption amount permanent, so speculation about it dropping to half in 2026 has been laid to rest. In fact, the lifetime gift and estate tax exemption will increase to $15 million ($30 million per couple) on Jan. 1, 2026. Make direct payments that don’t count as gifts. You can pay unlimited amounts directly to medical providers or educational institutions for someone else’s benefit. These payments bypass the annual exclusion and the lifetime exemption limits, making them powerful and clean ways to help without tax consequences. Leverage trusts for smarter transfers. Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs): Transfer your home to a trust while retaining the right to live there for a set
term. The gift’s taxable value is reduced thanks to the IRS’s calculation of your retained interest, meaning you minimize the use of your exclusion and remove future appreciation from your estate. Just be sure to outlive the term to reap the benefits. Intrafamily Loans: Loan money to loved ones at the IRS’s minimum applicable rate (when interest rates are low). If assets purchased with those funds appreciate, that growth shifts out of your estate and no gifting is required (unless you later forgive the loan).
“Gifting isn’t just financially savvy; it’s
Explore upstream gifting. If your parents or grandparents have estates far smaller than yours, you might gift appreciated assets upstream, allowing them to hold and later pass the assets down with a useful step- up in basis that reduces capital gains tax for future generations. Avoid estate inclusion with life insurance planning. Putting a life insurance policy into an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) can remove it from your estate so the death benefit passes tax-free to beneficiaries. But watch out for the IRS’s three-year rule: Gifting the policy within three years of your death will bring the full value back into your estate. A great workaround is to have the ILIT purchase the policy outright. Gifting isn’t just financially savvy; it’s personal, philanthropic, and full of upsides for both giver and receiver. Thoughtful planning now lets your legacy grow, live on, and stay largely intact. personal, philanthropic, and full of upsides for both giver and receiver.”
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TAKE A BREAK
The Hair- Cutting Intruder Who Terrorized a Town
CARDINAL COOKIES FROSTY GINGERBREAD GIFTS MENORAH MITTENS PEPPERMINT PINECONES SAGITTARIUS SNOWBALL YULE
The Disturbing Tale of the Phantom Barber
Few things in life are scarier than knowing someone has broken into your home. In an instant, your sanctuary has been violated, and you worry about a return appearance in which they could steal from you or even harm you. During the early 1940s, the community in Pascagoula, Mississippi, was terrorized by a mysterious home intruder who was not after the wealth or health of the locals. Instead, this person was after something we always keep close to us. In mid-June 1942, 11-year-old Mary Evelyn Briggs and 12-year- old Edna Marie Hydel were sound asleep in their room within the Our Lady of Victories convent. Mary Evelyn woke up to a nightmarish sight. “I saw the figure of a kinda short, fat man bending over me with something shiny in his hand, and he was fooling with my hair. When he saw me open my eyes, he said, ‘Shhh.’ I yelled, and he jumped out the window,” stated Mary Evelyn. Although the two girls were unharmed, Mary Evelyn started the next morning with fewer inches of hair. Shortly after, 6-year-old Carol Peattie woke up to find somebody had chopped her hair while she slept. The only evidence left behind was a cut screen window and a sandy footprint. Before the end of June, an adult fell victim to the phantom barber while she slept beside her husband. During this time, the suspicion that the barber was using chloroform to keep his victims still started to spread. Local businesses and law enforcement offered a reward of $400 (about $8,000 today) for information that would lead to the “barber’s” arrest. Earlier in the month, an intruder with a lead pipe had attacked a couple in their home. Police theorized the barber was behind the attack, giving them a serious crime to work with. They would go on to arrest 57-year-old William A. Dolan, an individual the community detested due to his pro-German views. He stood trial, was found guilty, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He maintained his innocence throughout his life and was released early after passing a lie detector test.
Classic Italian Tiramisu
Ingredients
• 1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, plus more for dusting • 1 cup brewed espresso • 1 tbsp vanilla extract • 5 large egg yolks, cold • 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt • 16 oz mascarpone cheese, chilled • 1 3/4 cups heavy cream, chilled • 28 hard ladyfinger cookies
Directions 1. In a bowl, whisk together cocoa powder, espresso, and vanilla and set aside. 2. In a mixer, beat egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick, about 5 minutes. 3. Add salt and mascarpone cheese, and continue to whip. 4. Add the chilled heavy cream and continue to whip until light and smooth. 5. Dunk each ladyfinger in the espresso mixture to absorb the liquid and line a 7x11-inch oval baking dish with the cookies. 6. Top the first layer of cookies with half the whipped mascarpone mixture and spread it into an even layer. Dust with cocoa powder. 7. Repeat for another layer and then finish by dusting with cocoa powder on top. 8. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours before serving.
The Phantom Barber effectively disappeared after Dolan’s arrest, never to silently cut the hair of unsuspecting people again.
Inspired by WhatsGabyCooking.com
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803-746-7000 planningyourlegacy.com PO Box 100 Bowling Green, SC 29703
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1
The Year I Ruined Christmas
2
Smart Gifting Moves to Protect Your Legacy
3
Classic Italian Tiramisu
The Legend of the Phantom Barber
4
The Hidden Price Tag on Clutter
We’ve all been there: staring at a closet full of clothes and thinking, “I have nothing to wear.” Or paying rent for a bigger apartment just to store things we barely use. Clutter isn’t just a space problem; it’s a money problem. Every unused subscription silently chips away at your finances. The good news is that minimalism offers a way out. Far from being about deprivation, it’s about reclaiming control of your space, spending, and savings. The Hidden Price of ‘Stuff’ Every purchase comes with two price tags: the sticker price and the hidden costs. That $50 gadget isn’t just $50; it might also mean higher credit card interest if you’re carrying debt, or another box in the attic eating up storage space. The more we accumulate, the more we pay to maintain, store, clean, and eventually replace those items. That’s where minimalism comes in. It forces us to ask: “Do I really need this, or is it just clutter in disguise?” Quality Over Quantity Minimalism doesn’t mean buying nothing. Instead, it’s about buying better. One high-quality pair of shoes can last for years, while three cheap pairs wear out quickly and cost more in the long run. Choosing durability and timeless designs over impulse buys protects your wallet and reduces waste. Simplifying Finances Clutter can even creep into your bank account. Old subscriptions, overlapping accounts, and unused memberships all nibble away at your budget. By canceling what you don’t use How Minimalism Can Save You Thousands THE COST OF CLUTTER
and streamlining your finances, you save money and reduce the mental load of tracking your bills. Downsizing Expenses One of the biggest financial wins of minimalism comes from downsizing. A smaller home or apartment doesn’t just mean lower rent or mortgage; it also slashes utilities, maintenance, insurance, and even property taxes. More Space for What Matters A clutter-free environment frees up mental bandwidth. With fewer distractions, you can focus on what truly matters: building a side hustle, nurturing relationships, or enjoying a calmer, more intentional life.
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Christmas is the time of year for giving and receiving gifts!
Annual SPC Christmas Party
You and your family are cordially invited to join with us as we celebrate!
Our SPC Annual Christmas Party is a highlight of the year for us and our SPC Family! It is an event full of fun and joy.
THERE WILL BE LOTS OF GOOD FOOD SERVED HOT, SO COME EARLY AND EAT LOTS.
DETAILS: Saturday | December 6, 2025 | 9:30 - 11:30 AM High Point Country Club (Emerywood Location) 800 Country Club Rd., High Point, NC 27262
Register now at planningyourlegacy.com
The club will be fully decked out in all its Christmas finery. We will take pictures!
• Get an early start on a Saturday - maybe you need to shop or run errands. Have a super breakfast, and get a good start on your day! • We will have some nice gifts for you for the holidays. • Bring a new family member or friend and you both will receive a special gift.
�� Legacy Law Firm’s Christmas Party ��
�� “ It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” �� We’re jingling all the way to celebrate YOU—our amazing clients! Join us for a morning of delicious food, holiday cheer, and a few surprises. Date: Saturday, Dec.13, 2025 Time: 9:30 am –11:30 am
Location: Clover Presbyterian Church 202 Kings Mountain St, Clover, SC 29710
Attire: Holiday Festive (ugly Christmas sweaters highly encouraged!)
�� What’s on the sleigh? �� • Holiday Breakfast Buffet – Because “Baby, it’s cold outside,” but our menu’s nice and warm! • “Naughty or Nice” Sweater Contest – Flaunt your ugliest or jolliest sweater for a chance at glory! • Special Presentation: “Comfort and Joy: The Gift of Financial Independence." - Discover how lasting peace, purpose, and independence create more to celebrate - and fewer worries under the tree.
�� “Make your list and check it twice!” �� This season, unwrap the joy of financial confidence that lasts long after the decorations come down.
✨ RSVP by Dec 4, 2025 ✨ Website: planningyourlegacy.com Phone: 803-746-7000 Guests are welcome — just RSVP for all attending!
�� “Have yourself a merry little Christmas” with us before you finish holiday shopping or kick back with a holiday movie classic. Whether you’re already on the “Nice List” or need some help getting there, we’re here to make your holiday season smooth and joyful! ��
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