Beck BodeFirst Pitch
May has a way of arriving with momentum. The lawn needs cutting again. The schedule fills up. Tax season is finally behind us, and for the first time in a while, we have a chance to look up.
This month we did some looking up of our own. Last week we opened the doors of our Portsmouth office to celebrate with clients, friends, and neighbors. Ben Beck, CFP® shares his perspective on what baseball can teach us about building wealth. And Garrett Murphy, our Director of Tax Services, joined Ben for a conversation about what to do with your tax return now that it has been filed.
Each one is a first pitch in its own way. That is what this issue is about.
In This Issue
Celebrating One New Hampshire — Inside the recent grand opening of our new Portsmouth office
Know the Count — Ben Beck, CFP® shares his perspective on what baseball can teach us about building wealth
Planning Corner: The Surprise Is the Worst Part — Ben Beck, CFP® and Garrett Murphy on what to do with your tax return now that it has been filed
Celebrating One New Hampshire
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On the evening of May 13, our Portsmouth office at 1 New Hampshire Avenue filled with clients, friends, neighbors, and the Beck Bode team. The space combines what had been two separate offices in Salem and Portsmouth into one home, and it was a fantastic evening of conversation, connection, and a ribbon cutting that made the moment extra official.
Thirteen years ago, Beck Bode was an idea on paper. Ben Beck, CFP® and Jim Bode started the firm in February of 2013 with a clear sense of what they wanted the firm to be after leaving Merrill Lynch. Thirteen years later, that idea has grown into three offices across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Michigan, and a team that has expanded along with it. Watch their welcome to the crowd that evening.
The new Portsmouth office is the latest chapter. It brings together staff who had been working in two separate locations, and it gives our New Hampshire clients a space designed for the conversations we want to be having with you all.
Three Lessons From the diamond
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Ben's new essay collection draws three lessons from baseball about how to build wealth that lasts. Part one, Know the Count, is now on the blog.
The premise: every at-bat begins with a count, and the disciplined hitter knows what kind of pitch to look for before the windup. Investing works the same way. Most investors react to the noise of the moment. The disciplined ones wait for the right pitch, hold their stance, and let the count work in their favor.
Part one makes the case that long-term wealth is built more on behavior than on strategy.
Coming up: Part Two, Playing Not to Lose. Part Three, Take a Full Swing.
Planning Corner: The Surprise is the worst part
Ben Beck and Garrett Murphy, our Director of Tax Services, sat down in late April for a conversation on the NoBondsCast about what to do with your tax return now that it has been filed. One of the threads they kept coming back to: it is not the bill that upsets people. It is the surprise that can come after you file.
Almost nobody likes writing a check to the government. But most of us accept that taxes are part of the deal. What is actually painful is opening the return in April and discovering you owe far more than you had planned for, with no time to do anything about it.
This happens more often than people expect. A particularly good year can turn into a tax bill larger than someone had set aside for, whether it came from a strong investment outcome, a real estate sale, or a bonus that landed differently than planned.
It happens to the best of us. The fix isn't a heroic April scramble. It's a conversation in May.
– Ben Beck, CFP®
Now that your return is filed, this is a good time to look at it with fresh eyes. Take your total tax paid. Divide by your adjusted gross income. That is your effective tax rate. Then ask the question that actually matters: is anything changing this year that should change how you are withholding, what you are contributing, or what you are setting aside?
If you would like to walk through it with Garrett and your advisor, that is what we are here for.
Schedule time to talk with your advisor.
A Final Thought
The first pitch is rarely the most important one in a game. But it is the one that sets your stance, your timing, your read on what comes next. The at-bat builds from there.
Whatever May has in front of you, the same idea applies. A return worth a second look. A plan worth revisiting. A conversation worth having. Step up. See it clearly. Then swing.
- The Beck Bode Team
P.S.
Last month's cover was the Harvard Bridge! Cheryl L. was the first to get it right!
This month's cover should be easy!
Share your best guess we'll share the answer in the next edition.