2026 financial reset: what to prioritize now

Transcript

Daniel Sharkey:

Welcome to 2026. Here at Your life Simplified, we’re here to get the new year started off right.

Daniel:

Welcome everyone back to Your Life Simplified, here for the first episode of 2026. I’m lucky enough to be joined by my co-host Whitney Reagan, and we’re here to chat about how you can get your financial life started off right, right in the new year. Whit, how are you doing?

Whitney Reagan:

I’m good. Dan, I am I’m excited to do our first episode of the New year with you. So it’s just fun banter back and forth and not too much pressure with having a guest. Um, we try to keep.

Daniel:

Things simple and in the new year, starting off nice and slow, easing our way back in, and hopefully today will give people some some good tips on what to do on their own, on their own time, when they when they’re listening to us, go through what we can do to set up for success for 2026?

Whitney:

Well, I think the good news is, I think a lot of people are probably still detoxing from the holidays, so we’re at least getting ahead of that and and going in slow, and we’ll tell them some good things to get started and be productive and be financially ready for this year.

Daniel:

And I’m doing Dry January and I’ve made it till January 12th, which is a new record. So we’re going to see this all the way through this year. Usually I’m I’m I by the time NFL playoffs start I’m already off the wagon. But so far so good. So before we get started with what we kind of have planned, how was your 2025?

I know a couple big birthdays for the two of us. I turned 39. I don’t know what you’re.

Whitney:

I turned I turned 40.

Daniel:

Just kidding. I turned 40 too.

Whitney:

I was gonna say you did not. Are you trying to lie to the audience already?

Daniel:

I’m being perfectly candid. Uh, so we’re off to a good start. But no, but, I mean, 2025 was a was a great year collectively. And I think when we talk about what people can do for 2026. A lot of it is going to be dependent on, you know, just how well 2025 went. As far as markets are concerned and all the different types of things that they can begin to do now to set themselves up for a position to have just as productive of a 2026.

Whitney:

Yeah. Good points. I, I think 2025 was it was a interesting year because there was a lot of volatility. And I think that that kind of reminded everyone that there is still volatility in the markets. And you have to be prepared for that, because in 2023, 2024, the market felt like it just seemed going up and up and up.

And with 20 plus annualized returns in 23 and 24 and then now in 25, almost 20%, but that wasn’t without volatility. I mean, we had definitely some different parts of the year that made our stomachs drop. And then we had to go back and like revisit strategic allocations and make sure our clients are comfortable with the with where things are in, in their portfolios.

So I think that it really shows how much value that we can add in 2025. That’s why I liked the year. But I also think that, um, it was a it was a good year, just in general to reset expectations and make sure that we’re like in the right, we’re in the right portfolios, we’re in the right strategies, we’re making the right decisions and getting in front of it, which is what we’re trying to do today.

Daniel:

And I think the word that I’ll keep coming back to is the word that stuck with me the most in 2025 as it relates to markets, is resilient. Um, I think if you look at what happened in April, there was some choppiness at the beginning part of the year, especially in concert in AI stocks, etc. there was a lot of things that felt uncertain.

And as you look at towards the end of the year, now we’re already in 2026. You have those same levels of market performance. So I think one key takeaway that I would give to people is not only how resilient the markets themselves have been, but how resilient people, as individual investors and individual creating their own financial plans can continue to be.

And trying to guess where things will go. And even with all the things that happened in 2025 still having such a tremendous year, I think that puts us on solid footing for 2026. That’s not a necessarily a market prediction necessarily, but there are ways that if you have the right level of patience and if you have a plan in place, you can see those ups and downs like you were alluding to through, and then you’re rewarded for that at the end of the year, as we’ve seen in the past three calendar years.

Whitney:

Yes. You actually just used two words that I’m going to go back to because I made a post on LinkedIn trying to describe my 2025. And and one of them was resilient. And I think that that relates to just 2025 in general, like you mentioned. And then I always give myself a new word for 20. For every year, a new word that I’m going to try to stick to in my word for this year is patience.

And I think that that would be a good level set for every one of our clients, prospects, listeners like, just to think through that, it’s good to reset and be patient, especially when you see either times of volatility or just when there’s headlines, when there’s Congress, when anything like some of our talking heads, there’s a lot of news and noise out there that can make you get a little bit anxious.

And I think like a having a financial advisor is really positive and adds value, but be just having that patience and trying not to sit and look at your portfolio and look at the headlines all day, every day, because that just doesn’t really sit well.

Daniel:

I think that is literally the perfect word to kind of segue into some of the themes that we were going to talk about, but I just want to spend a second on it because it’s so poignant and exactly what people need to hear at the beginning part of the year before we get into the kind of nooks and crannies of what we want to talk about, really fight the urge.

If you’re an individual investor to to start 2026 and just blow up what you’ve been doing or feel compelled to make massive changes. But a lot of things happen when you go through a period in which you have people taking time off work for the holidays, and then there’s this kind of sensation that you get that I need to come in and make wholesale changes to get myself prepared for 2026.

I tend to think that a lot of what you’re going to do, and this goes to the guidance that we’ve provided in the past, are going to be around the margins. But having that patient plan, allowing things to flush out as people come back to the office and really begin to look at 2026, you’re not going to ever find a shortage of headlines.

I mean, just in the last couple of days, whether it’s a probe into Jerome Powell, whether it’s what’s happening in Venezuela, there’s more unrest in the Middle East. There’s always going to be something that’s going to cause you to think if massive scale changes are needed. And I think that is the perfect word, as if you have that level of patience.

Don’t be so reactive to every little news headline that comes through. We believe that you will absolutely be rewarded for that. And some of that is what we’ll talk about today. But that’s literally the perfect word to use as we start off 2026.

Whitney:

Well, Dan, you’re making me feel really good about my word of the year. Even though the reason that I think I actually gave it to myself is because I’m not very patient with my kids at home, and I’m not very patient with certain things in my life, but I like that it’s coming into this theme in a positive manner.

Daniel:

Absolutely. Because all those you with everything else that goes on in everyone’s life, whoever is listening to this right now is going to have whether it’s kids, whether it’s your work, whether it’s a spouse, whether it’s friends, whether it’s some other, you know, you know, personal struggle that you’re that you might be dealing with.

There’s always a way to, to feel like you need action. And then sometimes the action is just getting a better handle on what you already have, but allowing that plan to ultimately play out. I mean, we are not short of guidance these days. So some of my advice is going to be take less advice in 2026, between how many steps I need and how much protein I need to take, and all this other kind of, you can fill in a million different things that you need to be doing in 2026, as per your social media algorithm.

But I think what we’ll talk about today are very actionable. And to use a very silly metaphor. This is like changing the the batteries in your smoke detector at the beginning part of the year, things that are really important that have really outsized outcomes if you’re not, if they don’t get attended to but are relatively easy to do and will put you in the right frame of mind as you go through the next 11.5 months of 2026.

Whitney:

Excellent preamble. So what topic do you want to or theme, what theme do you want to hit on first?

Daniel:

And I think there’s a whole bunch of things that we have discussed and kind of in preparation for this and things that we want to want to touch on, but there’s a couple low hanging fruit that I’ll get to quickly. Before we talk more about your individual portfolio and the broader financial plan. And that’s specifically around what is available from all of your employers.

For anyone who might be listening to this. Every year the IRS makes certain changes to your 41K limits. Your employer may change the rules as part of your benefits at work. I know here at Mariner, shout out Kevin Ahern, who is just a absolute miracle worker on our HR team. But every year come the new calendar, we get even more and more privileges that are come through our benefits and knowing what those are, whether that’s health and wellness, whether that’s additional financial resources, whether it’s other programs that we have access to from the generous benefits package that we have.

Knowing what those are is incredibly important. Making sure that you’re adjusting your 401 K savings to account for those changes. If you have a certain setting in your 41K plan previously, you may not be fully maximizing what you’re available to do in 2026. So I’m really understanding now that the calendar has changed.

You’ve cycled through all of these kind of new ways in which you can get access to these benefits, because it’s a new year, making sure you understand what those are and making sure you go through them one by one to maximize their their full benefit. The other thing that I will say is for someone who has made this mistake in the past, I’m embarrassed to admit it as a financial planner, but it was way back when.

Making sure that you recoup any of your HSA allocations or anything else that you deferred throughout the year. Typically you have about 90 days to do that, but that’s your money that you are entitled to. Just don’t leave it out there and leave it be to be forgotten, to be taken by the IRS. So make sure you go through that checklist.

And we have those resources here. Should anyone have any questions on what those might be?

Whitney:

I have two things on revisiting, kind of like your benefits package from the employer, and you had really great points. One thing would be, um, because because every person is different in what they value at their company and through their benefits because you know everybody. Like as you go further in your career and as you get to the end of the year, you’re hoping for a bonus or a pay raise or a promotion.

But if you don’t get more money per se, but maybe you’re getting maybe they’re changing the benefits and you’re getting benefits in another way. I definitely encourage you to explore what benefits are offered, because sometimes health and wellness type of benefits are very popular and very important to a lot of people these days.

So like looking for those and better familiarizing yourself with them is extremely important. And then if you did get a bonus or a pay raise, revisiting your savings and spending plan, because now that you have more money coming your way, it doesn’t mean go blow it all. I mean, maybe you can reward yourself and maybe splurge a little in a couple areas, but then go back and revisit.

Can I contribute more to my 401? And am I contributing to the point that my employer is matching? Those are really good things to revisit. And then compare that to your saving strategy and how much more maybe you want to save for future because of what your legacy plans are. All those things kind of go along with, I think, you know, revisiting the benefits package and looking at what’s important to you.

Daniel:

Absolutely. And I talk about this with clients all the time. And for anyone who’s ever coached youth sports, I think it’ll it’ll ring true with what I’m about to say. And that is, removing any type of friction from your savings plan is probably the best piece of advice that I can give you as it relates to that specific topic.

So whether it’s increasing your 41K allocation to the maximum amount for those that can’t reach that level quite yet for for a variety of reasons, it’s completely understandable. You identify if your plan hasn’t what’s called an automatic escalator, or every quarter you automatically increase that that percentage, even if it’s 1% per quarter, which is an amount that you are not going to notice by the end of the year.

You’ve increased it by nearly 4%, which is a really, really significant jump from where you started the year. But by removing that friction, you remove the variability from you taking a different action that’s really not in your best interest. And I’m so happy you brought up commissions or bonuses or any type of compensation structure that’s kind of lumped together.

That is the biggest life hack in terms of accelerating your spending. If you can structure your life. And we talk to clients about this all the time, and I know a lot of advisors here take that similar path. If you can structure that bonus so that it’s not part of your kind of annual consumption number and allow that to filter through to to create a liquidity buffer for emergencies, whether that’s adding it to your longer term portfolio.

That is one of the absolute best ways to do that. Now to your point, maybe there’s a nice dinner with you and your spouse or partner, or maybe there’s a, you know, a gift for yourself that you’ve always wanted to get. By all means. And that’s what we’ll touch on kind of your personal goals like a little bit at the end of this.

But if you can segregate that money to the best of your ability, that creates a tremendous amount of freedom, and it allows you to use your kind of base pay for all your ongoing expenses. It’s a really wonderful little hack that you can use to really jumpstart your portfolio. And if we can show you what that will do long term, it’s a very good motivator to stay on track.

Whitney:

And you also mentioned that the IRS limit so that that’s with regard to for one, but also just any qualified plans any like IRAs. Uh, if you’re thinking or Roth like point being, you just want to revisit the contribution levels and how much you’re allowed each year because those tend to shift year over year, and it’s always good to get ahead of it and know how much you can do this year.

Daniel:

Absolutely, and I would this is a one point to reiterate on that. And that is what your employer puts into your plan, should you be, you know, lucky enough to have an employer that’s generous as we are here. Those contributions do not count towards your personal limit. So I believe for 2026 is 24,500. I’ll have to double check.

I should have double checked that before I started, but I’m pretty positive that that’s the number. But also make sure that you don’t have to account for the employer contributions. Um, those are are separate. There’s another limit that you could potentially hit. We will need to talk about that in detail.

But just that is your personal contribution limit. And of course, if you’re over age 50 there’s even a higher catchup amount. So make sure that you don’t get those numbers confused. And if you again, if you have any questions reach out to your to your local advisor.

Whitney:

Amazing. So let’s touch on something else. What about I’m just going to say broad theme like tax planning.

Daniel:

It’s an excellent question. And this is one of the things that is really dependent on the calendar year. A lot of clients who come to us in Q4 looking for what they want to do in the current tax year. So for last year, for example, take 2025, your resources are rather limited because where you fall in the calendar Now, you have a tremendous amount of optionality in front of you depending on what your tax profile is.

Whether that’s creating more tax efficiency in a, in a taxable portfolio, whether that’s setting up a retirement plan through work. If you’re a small business owner, for example, whether that is making IRA contributions, you’ll have until your tax filing deadline to be able to do that. These are all things that the more time you have, the more productive you can be throughout the year.

The other thing that we do a lot, and I’m not going to get on my direct indexing soapbox, we beat that.

Whitney:

Oh gosh. Yeah. No, that would be.

Daniel:

It’s way too early in 2026. We can’t I can’t go there. But as you’re early in the year that just means there’s more trading days in 2026. I know that’s a very obvious thing to say, but it’s something that people don’t necessarily cognitively realize. So the more trading days you have, the more potency those types of trade strategies have.

So if you’re thinking about migrating some of your clients or yourself to those types of approaches, Make sure you ask your advisor about it. If you’re a dyer, whether it’s Vanguard or Fidelity or Schwab. They have resources that can better explain what that is. But the more trading days you have in the year provides more and more opportunity.

So keep that in front of mind. And again, that just goes back to looking at what you have. Looking at your balance sheet, looking at your plan and identifying where should I just take a secondary cursory review? That does not mean you just blow everything up. It just means making sure you’re taking an inventory about what you have, what you’re doing, and then most importantly, why you’re doing it.

I think here at Mariner, one of our key, um, items that we always promote to people is that everything that goes in your portfolio has a reason. There’s a reason behind every single decision of every single asset that we ever purchase and invest on your behalf. And that is along the same lines. Make sure you have an actual reason why you have a portfolio put together, that you have an investment policy, and not just a collection of different things that don’t make much sense together.

Whitney:

Yeah, we try to be intentional and I. I say this all too often with my clients, I don’t. Like, my personal philosophy is I do not like to overcomplicate it. I mean, we have some really cool, unique investment strategies and really access to a lot of things that people don’t have access to. But it’s only going to go into your portfolio if it makes sense.

Right? Like that. That is the intentionality that we have. Um, and I will go back to one other point on the direct indexing. This is just I think an interesting to think about is if you didn’t if you waited until after Tax Day, after April 15th to start drawing in a direct indexing strategy last year, that’s missing all the volatility that happened with Liberation Day.

And that was like a huge like, you know, dip in the market almost almost 20% correction which gave an opportunity to loss harvest so many different positions.

Daniel:

And that is such a key point, is that the time that you have in the market is just as important as almost any other factor, and that’s both for good and bad. Obviously, if you could perfectly time it, we would, we would all be a lot wealthier than we are now. But that is a fool’s errand and we would really encourage you not to, to to think through that.

And if you incorporate these things into your portfolio in partnership with an advisor, you can really have better outcomes than those and take advantage of situations that are a little unsettling. And to your point about what happened with Liberation Day, that’s a perfect thing to kind of revisit.

And that is, you should expect multiple corrections throughout the course of the year. 10%. I mean, I know in the last couple of years we’ve gotten away from any types of kind of massive drawdowns that we saw in 2022, and people will begin to think that’s the new normal, and I don’t I would really encourage you to not think that way.

There are going to be multiple times when five, ten, 15% those are if you look back over history, those are normal, healthy market events. I would equate it to when you have a controlled forest fire burn, you need to have a reset from time to time because that prevents the massive blow ups or the massive fire that occurs when all that underbrush goes untended to.

So do not panic. Do not worry. Those are, those are. That’s the cost of doing business for for having up years. So those are the kind of things that we want everyone to recognize now when things are going well, that this is going to change at some point. And that doesn’t mean that you make any wholesale changes.

It just means you brace yourself and see it through. And if you don’t have to look at the news for a couple of weeks, then then do that as well. But those are all things that are important to remind yourself of as you start off a new tax year.

Whitney:

I’ve missed bantering with you. I always love your analogies. They’re always spot on. Or at least make me laugh.

Daniel:

But let’s talk a little bit about I know we want to talk about the the, the portfolio so we can touch on that quickly, even though it’s been kind of part and parcel to what we’ve been talking about already. Yeah. Um, but a couple of key things that I’ll just throw at you, and then I’d love to get your opinion on as well.

Um, cash making sure that if you had some put, you know, set aside for whether it’s an estimated tax payment or a bonus that did come in, making sure that you don’t have unnecessarily high amounts, people can tend to accumulate it over the year in anticipation of an event. If that event didn’t actually occur, if you decided not to redo the driveway or whatever other thing you were saving for, making sure that your balance sheet is is tied to your investment policy is really, really important.

Whitney:

And with at least like a couple reduction in rates, the your money market yield might not be as high as it used to be. And so just sitting in cash might still not be making as much money either. So that’s just another another like I guess side point to think about. You don’t want it just sitting there just earning 2 or 3% potentially.

And then you also forgot about it when it should be invested.

Daniel:

Absolutely. And that is one of the talking about taxes and how we constantly, constantly talk about how some of these pillars of financial planning are interconnected and the beauty of having a, you know, a pile of cash that you can invest is that you don’t have to sell anything to to get your portfolio back in line.

So buying things that haven’t that that didn’t do as well in 2025, holding off that, that has a way of reweighting your portfolio back in line with where you want it without having to, to take a single hit from a tax perspective. So really, really important for those that have any cash on the side.

Whitney:

Yeah. Rebalancing I don’t know why. It just makes me so happy. I love I love to talk about rebalancing because I think rebalancing the portfolio is so fun.

Daniel:

And it’s so simple and if you just rebalance back to target. And so that at that point it’s it’s I want to revisit this as well. That target should not change based upon what the market has done. If you lost a job, if you got promoted, if you had some other life event, if you had both positive and negative. Those are the types of catalysts that would require your reexamination of what your investment policy would be.

So we have clients right now who are pivoting from taking a paycheck to now being retired. And that’s a very sensitive time in terms of of making sure your portfolio risk tolerance is dialed in. So when we talk about kind of resetting your investment policy, that’s that’s a catalyst for why you would do that, not because the market has a good year. Again, to your point about rebalancing, tying that back to what your long term targets are.

It’s the definition of of selling high and buying low and making sure you can get that back in line. And again, to the point about cash, if you have cash aside, that’s a really positive benefit because it doesn’t require any selling.

Whitney:

Yeah. And rebalancing back to targets. If we if you and I, Dan, are doing our job as good as we hope we are, then we have set those investment Policy statement in strategic targets to an appropriate allocation for our clients so that they are comfortable with some of this volatility or some of the like really up years and then potentially more volatility.

And they’re comfortable with some of that coming up.

Daniel:

Absolutely. And as far as the markets are concerned just a quick plug for our crystal ball webinar which will be available to all of our clients. And and just know that if you’re working with someone here at Mariner or working with an advisor in general, even if it’s not at our firm, they should be tweaking those targets on an annual basis as well.

It doesn’t mean, I mean and we’re talking on the margins here. Right. But it doesn’t mean that no one is looking at those, and it doesn’t mean that those don’t get reexamined every year. So it’s just another a key point to make that allow your your views on what you feel, the world, the way the world is going to be reflected in those asset allocation targets.

And I think you’ll have a lot of success if that’s the baseline approach that you take.

Whitney:

So rebalancing back to targets. And we talked a little about tax planning. Um, should we talk about required minimum distributions?

Daniel:

Yes. If you didn’t take them by 1231, this podcast is too late for you. Um, so make sure that you did those, um.

Whitney:

And don’t make anybody feel bad. Dan.

Daniel:

I’m not gonna make anybody feel bad, but the sooner we can get those corrected, the better. I know that is one of the most hectic parts that you and I have towards the end of the year, along with, you know, with Roth conversions and things like that. Um, but everyone should, should know that you have to take them before 1231.

An easy way to do it is if you want to take it earlier in the year, you certainly can. You’re not required to do it as long as it’s done by 1231. If for some reason you fall into the camp in which you didn’t get it done, that’s okay. If this is the first time kind of issue, um, there are ways that you can remedy that, uh, hopefully with a very apologetic letter to the IRS.

But make sure you do take those distributions as fast as you can, because they needed to be taken by 1231.

Whitney:

And I also like to, you know, do that required minimum distribution or R&D planning early on. And just, you know, sometimes people are just coming of that age and we need to talk about it or we just revisit, like what we did last year and how it felt and what it looked like and what time of year it just doing it earlier in the year on the planning side, gets ahead of racing against a time or racing against the clock at the end for sure.

Daniel:

Yeah, absolutely. And let me just say one other thing about the portfolio. And this ties to, you know, something you said earlier and that is looking at your 2025 spending, having somewhat of a year in review. And that does not mean, look, you know, burying your credit card statement and trying not to look at it because you feel like you spend too much money.

That level of uncertainty is why we such strong advocates for having a financial plan, but reexamining what happened in 2025, what where did your spending come in? That information is really, really important to ensure that you get set up for success in 2026 and beyond the point you made earlier about we’re talking about employee benefits and potentially you got to raise or a bonus or things like that.

Making sure you understand where those income and expense numbers lie. So along those same lines, did your insurance premiums go up? Was there. You know, if you’re in a state that’s either in, you know, Florida or California or, you know, West Texas anywhere in those mountain desert climates, your rates have likely historically gone up.

We have tons of colleagues in Oklahoma who I don’t need to list them all here, who we all love dearly. And their insurance is probably an absolute nightmare from where it just happens to be, where that they live. So those are the kind of things that we want you to just be be cognizant of, because that’s going to have an impact on what your total spending looks like for the year.

We have the resources here to be able to, you know, review those and help those with you, but just getting a baseline of of what they are as critically important. Because without that information, you really can’t make the best decisions for you and for your family. Additionally, utilize some tools that you may have.

I know with our client Portal Mariner GPS you can link all your spending and it’ll spit out in every category how much you spent on Amazon, how much you spent dining out, what your groceries were. Inflation has come way, way down from where it was, but it’s still a lot higher. I mean, you have we both have three kids.

We go to the grocery store. It is like I’m going to work until I’m 100. To feed these animals.

Whitney:

I just go to chick fil A. And for a family of five, it’s over $60. And I about, you know, I don’t even know. I almost threw up because I was like, every time I go to chick fil A, it’s going to cost over $60.

Daniel:

I know, but it’s so good, though. You gotta do it. It’s so good. All of those costs are embedded. So when you say, oh, I spent so much more money this year than I thought that I was going to. Maybe you didn’t actually buy anything more than you would have in 2024 or 2023, but these costs are very, very real. So getting a handle on spending will really set you up well. So as a point I was making about GPS, we have the tools that you can just sync your accounts.

It’ll it’ll categorize it all for you. So you utilize what’s available to you to make sure that you have a really good sense of where you’re at for 2026. It’s not meant to be this guilt inducing scenario, but you do have to have the information to get the best possible outcome.

Whitney:

It’s more of a like reset and reality check, because I have a lot of clients that just say, oh, I had a pretty hard month, or, you know, like this month we actually spent a little bit extra when in reality it feels like they’re spending that about that amount every month. So it’s just like becoming aware of it.

And then we can plan a little bit better when we have the accurate detail, because then we will probably actually put in a little bit extra on the spending just to be safe, as we’re planning out, you know, years ahead.

Daniel:

Absolutely. And people need to know that there’s going to be friction on the month to month basis. No one really puts $1,000 aside to get new tires right. That’s not something that you typically think about in advance. So if you budget for the year, which is not a word that I love, but if you plan your expenses for the year and you don’t have some type of fudge factor, you are unequivocally going to go over that number unless your income’s for some reason comes in a lot higher.

So just again, what we’re really talking about is awareness. I think awareness leads to positive outcomes. I 2025 I got some not so great health results, but everything’s now back on track because I get bloodwork and all the other things that go through that. So knowing what those numbers are, whether it’s spending or anything else, is really, really important.

So please take that step and then utilize the tools that are available to you to be able to do that more easily, a way to tie it all up.

Whitney:

What what other what other themes or topics do we want to chat about before we close this out.

Daniel:

At the beginning of the year? Forget about New Year’s resolutions that we’ve all probably broken already.

Whitney:

Oh, yeah. Let me jump in there. You said that you’re going to do dry, dry January. I feel like everyone and their mother does that. And I have actually kind of boycotted it because I. I have three kids, which means that’s almost equal to 30 months of not drinking. So I think I’ve done my time.

Daniel:

For for all you moms out there, you have like in the bank. It’s like it’s like you have an entire, like, sack of things you can draw on to, to, to tie it all through. Uh, I often I was like, I asked my wife, do you want to pardon me with this? She’s like, absolutely not. No, thanks. So I’m on my own. Um, but but to that, to that point, thinking about what you want in 2026, this is not the type of firm our, you know, ethos is positively impact the lives of many. Some of that is taking away the stigma of wanting certain things and spending your money. We’ve talked about this on this podcast before about giving yourself the permission.

We talked about it with Katrina, right, about giving her her hiring an advisor to feel like she has the autonomy to spend her own money, which I know we can all agree she doesn’t need, but that provides a positive outcome. So really thinking about what do I want and how can I get it? Is a really important question to revisit and to not constantly kick the can down the road.

As we mentioned earlier, you know, a couple big birthdays for us. You know, life feels like it’s getting more and more condensed as you get older. Um, and making sure that you’re keeping an eye on the clock not to be not be overly dramatic about this, but it is really important that a plan aligns with what you actually want.

It can’t just be save and save and save and save forever. And all you should do is save and save and save. Now there are certain people who need restraint. I, I don’t think that that’s a surprise to anyone, however, and I’d be curious if you would agree. More of my clients need encouragement to spend money than the other way around, and that’s something that I did not fully anticipate when I moved from kind of institutional wealth to private wealth.

And it’s it’s a positive thing. And the more we can get them to think about what do I actually want? And that doesn’t mean to be reckless, doesn’t mean any of those things. But don’t just delay something because you think you need to delay it. So that’s one theme that I would have. In addition to taking less advice, I’m going to give you some, and that is to really identify what it is that you want and then figure out a way with whoever you’re working with or using the resources that we have available for everyone to make that a reality.

And I think if you do those things, you’ll have a much more productive year, along with all the other kind of maintenance items that we cover today, people will really have a really strong 2026.

Whitney:

I love that last theme of think about what you really want, because I love it when a client comes in and has a pipe dream. Like, I think this is completely unattainable, but I really want a house in Spain. And I’m like, I’m glad that you said that, because first of all, you said it like putting it out into the universe, give some kind of accountability and also allows you to hopefully manifest it and then allows us to actually have something to track towards and like, you know, make these specific milestones and hit these goals to get to that pipe dream.

So those things are that like say out loud the unattainable and just, you know, like start working towards it.

Daniel:

And it doesn’t need to be anything massive. I mean, for those that are joining us via video, you can see that guitar in the back. That thing’s been collecting dust. I’ve picked it up and put it down a hundred times. So that’s one of the things that for me is important. And making the financial equipment to be able to help, you know, get help, to be able to learn how to do that and take lessons so it doesn’t need to be.

I want a 4000 square foot house in Vail. If that is what it is, then great, let’s make that happen. I would like to get invited, but it doesn’t need to be that profound or that kind of, you know, that’s significant. It could be little small things, but if you go through the exercise of thinking about it, you can really make a material difference.

And then, you know, using your wealth to facilitate the things in your life that are important to you, I think, is a theme that you and I both have tremendous amount of alignment on, and I want any of those listening to have a similar approach when they speak with their advisor or when they talk to their whoever, um, on what they want out of 2026.

Whitney:

I’ll say something like, maybe to close this out to I do this cheesy exercise every year where I go back and I revisit my values, my personal values, and I also try to revisit what I call my personal mission statement. And so if people can start thinking about what their values are, what’s really important to them, and if you have a personal mission statement, then align your goals and what you’re trying to achieve with that because it makes it easier.

It’s like a mission that you want to live day to day and day in and day out.

Daniel:

Absolutely no. All of those things are tremendously important and the more awareness you could bring to it. Um, not in a guilt inducing way. Um, shaming yourself into doing these things is never going to be productive. But if you do this the right way, it should be somewhat inspiring and be attainable.

And those are all things that that we can help you with, or anyone else that you’re working with should be able to help you with as well.

Whitney:

And something that I feel like you and I, Dan, do extremely well is come a is come, come at this conversation with a non-judgmental lens and it would never be an intent to judge. It’s more. Bring awareness. Advocate for you and hopefully get you get you set up for success earlier on in the year like we’re doing now.

Daniel:

No one cares what you spend your money on. Um, and I can speak that for all. And and that goes for everyone. I mean, one of the questions that I know you and I always ask any clients is, you know, are you charitably inclined? We don’t really care if you are or not. What we want to do is make sure that you know that.

If that is you, if that does hit your ear the right way, that there are things that you can do to benefit the people and the causes that you care about. If not, that’s okay too. This is like 24 Hour Fitness. This is a judgment free zone. Or is that whatever the other gym is? But anyway, you’re not going to be judged one way or the other.

The only job that we have both legally, morally, is to make sure that you get the outcome that you want. And we work every day to make sure that that’s the case.

Whitney:

Absolutely. I think that’s enough for today. Dan, what do you think?

Daniel:

Good start to 2026. We will have more interesting people on the rest of the year. So please stay stay tuned. But we appreciate everyone hanging in there with us.

Whitney:

Thanks for listening. And if you did like what you listened to, please like, subscribe, subscribe or follow us wherever you listen to your podcasts and we hope you have a great rest of your week and a great rest of your year.

The views expressed in this podcast are for informational educational purposes only, and do not consider any individual personal, financial, legal or tax situation as such, the information contained herein intended and should not be construed as a specific recommendation. individualized tax, legal or investment advice.

Where specific advice is necessary or appropriate, individuals should contact their own professional tax and investment advisors or other professionals regarding specific circumstances and need prior to taking any action. Based upon this information, the information provided has been obtained from sources deemed reliable.

However, the accuracy, completeness and reliability cannot be guaranteed. Tax laws are subject to change either prospectively or retroactively. Any opinions expressed are subject to change at any time without notice. There is no assurance that any investment plan or strategy will be successful.

Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Any opinion expressed herein should not be viewed as an indicator of future performance.

Mariner is the marketing name for the financial services businesses of Mariner Wealth Advisors, LLC and its subsidiaries. Investment advisory services are provided through the brands Mariner Wealth, Mariner Independent, Mariner Institutional, Mariner Ultra, and Mariner Workplace, each of which is a business name of the registered investment advisory entities of Mariner. For additional information about each of the registered investment advisory entities of Mariner, including fees and services, please contact Mariner or refer to each entity’s Form ADV Part 2A, which is available on the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website. Registration of an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training.

All Categories

Recommended insights