Beyond the Advisor Podcast

In this month's episode of Beyond the Advisor, Nina Breen, CFP®, RICP®, CPWA®, Senior Wealth Planner, and Micah Alsobrook, CPFA®, MBA, Retirement Plan Consultant, break down how to prepare your portfolio for market volatility.

Nina walks through Fortress Gatewood, the firm's planning philosophy for giving equities time to recover during downturns. She covers how much cash and fixed income to hold as you approach and enter retirement, how Gatewood's three buckets organize your investable assets, and how emergency fund needs differ for younger professionals. Nina and Micah also talk through the emotional side of market drops and why a thoughtful plan matters most when the headlines get loud.

Key Topics Include:

• Why "this time is different" rarely is
• Fortress Gatewood: a planning approach for market downturns
• How much cash to hold when you're nearing or in retirement
• How Gatewood's investment committee adjusts cash targets
• Using fixed income as a second line of defense
• Why retirees can stay more equity-focused with the right structure
• The three buckets: personal risk, market risk, and aspirational risk
• Navigating the emotional side of volatility
• Emergency fund guidelines for younger professionals

📖 Get The Listening Advisor by John Gatewood: geni.us/thelisteningadvisor

In this month's episode of Beyond the Advisor, Nina Breen, CFP®, RICP®, CPWA®, Senior Wealth Planner, sits down with John Gatewood, CFP®, CLU®, Founder and Director of Advisor Development, to talk about his new book, The Listening Advisor, and why the skill that determines whether a client relationship works has almost nothing to do with financial knowledge.

John spent 45 years in the business and wrote the book to solve a problem he sees across the industry, and one he owns internally as Director of Advisor Development: advisors are trained on what to know, not on how to communicate. He and Nina walk through what listening actually looks like in a client meeting, why emotions rather than information drive financial decisions, and how Gatewood's Firm-to-Family® team structure is built around the way real families make choices about money.

Key Topics Include:

• Why the industry has a training gap, not a knowledge gap
• Emotions drive financial decisions — and why information alone doesn't move people
• The unasked question and how it pulls a client out of the conversation
• What AI can and can't replace in an advisor relationship
• How the firm-to-family client care team is structured across generations
• Advice for advisors early in their careers

In this month's episode of Beyond the Advisor, Nina Breen, CFP®, RICP®, CPWA®, Senior Wealth Planner, and Micah Alsobrook, CPFA®, MBA, Retirement Plan Advisor, walk through a hypothetical case study of two 50/50 business owners who switched their LLC to an S corp — and the retirement plan consequences that decision created. Micah breaks down how the payroll tax savings work, why a lower W-2 salary can quietly reduce what an owner is allowed to contribute to a SEP IRA, and how a 401(k) can change the math entirely. Nina and Micah run the numbers side by side across three scenarios, then cover the admin costs, cash flow requirements, and S corp restrictions that belong in the conversation before anyone makes the move.

Key Topics Include:

• How S corp structure creates payroll tax savings versus an LLC or partnership
• Why a lower reasonable W-2 salary can reduce SEP IRA contribution capacity
• SEP IRA versus solo 401(k) versus traditional 401(k) — limits, deferrals, and flexibility
• Setting a reasonable salary that balances tax savings with retirement savings
• The admin side: payroll vendors, filings, record keepers, TPAs, and advisor costs
• Running a side-by-side analysis before making a structural change
• Hypothetical case study: three scenarios compared
• When an S corp does not make sense — windfall years and unstable cash flow
• S corp restrictions: shareholder limits, one class of stock, and pro-rata distributions
• Why the decision requires a team: financial advisor, CPA, and attorney

In this month's episode of Beyond the Advisor, Nina Breen, CFP®, RICP®, CPWA®, Senior Wealth Planner, and Micah Alsobrook, CPFA®, MBA, Retirement Plan Consultant, walk through one of the most common — and emotionally loaded — questions in financial planning: when you receive a large sum of money, do you invest it all at once, or spread it out over time?

Using a hypothetical client scenario — a married couple in their early 50s who received a $1 million inheritance and are hesitant to invest — Nina and Micah break down the research on lump sum vs. dollar cost averaging, explain the account types available for a windfall (and the ones that won't work the way you'd expect), and walk through what really happens when you invest and the market drops shortly after.

Key Topics Include:

• Lump sum investing vs. dollar cost averaging — what the research actually says
• How your timeline to retirement changes the strategy
• Why you can't just drop an inheritance into your 401(k)
• What to do with money you might need in the next few years
• How to protect yourself from being forced to sell at the wrong time
• The behavioral side of investing — and why working with an advisor you trust matters

In this month's episode of Beyond the Advisor, Nina Breen, CFP®, RICP®, CPWA®, Senior Wealth Planner, and Micah Alsobrook, CPFA®, MBA, Retirement Plan Advisor, walk through a hypothetical client case that comes up all the time: a married couple in their mid-40s with a $4.2 million net worth who've found their next home and need $500,000 for the down payment. The question on the table — should they sell investments to fund it, or borrow instead?Nina and Micah break down the real options on the board: selling from a taxable brokerage account, using a home equity line of credit (HELOC), or opening a securities-backed line of credit (SBLOC). Along the way they unpack the tax impact of selling, the difference between qualified and non-qualified accounts, how much you can actually borrow against a portfolio, and the risks to watch for — then model how each path could play out over a lifetime inside a financial plan.Key Topics Include:- Selling investments vs. borrowing to fund a large purchase- How capital gains taxes hit a taxable brokerage account sale- Qualified vs. non-qualified (taxable) accounts — and why it matters here- How a securities-backed line of credit (SBLOC) actually works- SBLOC vs. HELOC: comparing borrowing power and risk- Advance rates — how much of your portfolio you can borrow against- The long-term cost of selling: compounding and opportunity cost- SBLOC pitfalls: margin calls and market volatility- Setting up a line of credit proactively as a liquidity backstop

In this month's episode of Beyond the Advisor, Nina Breen, CFP®, RICP®, CPWA®, Senior Wealth Planner, and Micah Alsobrook, CPFA®, MBA, Retirement Plan Advisor, continue their fishbowl-style Q&A with a deep dive into the timing, tax strategies, and missed opportunities that quietly shape outcomes for business owners and executives.

From estate planning and step-up in basis to 401(k) plan design, business exit timing, donor-advised funds, and weathering market volatility—this episode unpacks the costly decisions that get delayed and the planning moves that change the trajectory.

Key Topics Include:

• Why estate planning is the most delayed financial decision—and the basics every adult needs
• A real client story on step-up in basis and concentrated employer stock
• When a will isn't enough: the case for a revocable trust
• Signs a 401(k) was designed to check a box vs. built strategically
• New comparability profit-sharing as a way to max out owner contributions
• Donor-advised funds as a tax play in big-income years (like the year you sell your business)
• How far in advance to plan a business exit (hint: 5–10 years)
• Vesting schedules as a key employee retention tool
• What NOT to do when markets get volatile (fear selling, loans, distributions)
• Fortress Gatewood: the cash + fixed income buffer strategy
• A real COVID retiree story on confidence in the plan, not the market
• Target date funds and the "evidence-based" investment lineup

In the first episode of Beyond the Advisor, Nina Breen, CFP®, RICP®, CPWA®, and Micah Alsobrook, CPFA®, MBA, unpack the planning and retirement questions that successful families and business owners often overlook.

They discuss cash reserve strategy, retirement plan timing, how concentrated business wealth can create blind spots, and why coordination between advisors, CPAs, and attorneys is so important. They also walk through Roth conversions, SIMPLE and SEP plans, safe harbor 401(k)s, and real-world examples of tax-sensitive planning decisions that can go wrong when timing is missed.

Key Topics Include:

• Cash reserve targets for households, retirees, and business owners
• Why starting a retirement plan earlier can matter more than people think
• Concentration risk for business owners
• How SIMPLE IRAs and SEP IRAs compare with 401(k)s
• Why financial, legal, and tax professionals need to coordinate
• Roth conversions explained in plain English
• Tax timing mistakes that can affect retirement plan contributions