Tim Newsletter Series Archive

The one person you forgot to plan for

Tim Meisenheimer, CFA, CFP® — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 16:07:39 GMT

Throughout this series, we've talked about everyone your money can take care of.

Your kids.

The causes and communities you believe in.

Even the IRS, on your own terms.

Still, there's one person missing from that list.

You.

The best return your money will ever earn

Tim Meisenheimer, CFA, CFP® — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 15:58:43 GMT

Today, I'm thinking about the thing that can make the most difference decades after we're gone.

When I talk with people who've worked hard and saved well, the most fulfilled have one thing in common. They see their wealth as a responsibility to help others.

And somewhere along the way, that responsibility turned into one of the greatest joys of their lives.

They give to their community, to the organizations they care about, to the people working on some of the world's biggest problems.

And they put real money behind it.

So in this fourth email of our Die with Zero series, let's talk about charitable giving, and why, when done right, it may be the best return your money ever earns.

Will giving my kids money ruin them?

Tim Meisenheimer, CFA, CFP® — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 15:47:32 GMT

In the first email of this Die with Zero series, I asked you to picture yourself ten years from now. You and your spouse have more saved than you'll ever need. Retirement is covered, with plenty left over.

Then I asked where you'd want that extra to go.

For a lot of people, the first thing that comes to mind is their kids.

Followed quickly by, "What if giving them more money spoils everything I taught them about earning it?"

Most people overpay the IRS without realizing it

Tim Meisenheimer, CFA, CFP® — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 15:35:13 GMT

There’s one question I hear more than almost any other: "How much of what I’ve built is the IRS going to take?"

It’s a fair question to ask. No one chooses to send their overflow (the money left over once their retirement needs are covered) to the IRS. But without a plan, that's exactly where it heads first.

It usually happens when we go with the flow. Without a plan, your money drifts toward the default, and the default favors the IRS.

In this second email of our Die with Zero series, I want to change how you think about taxes.

The goal is simple. Every dollar you keep from the IRS is a dollar you can give to your kids, the causes you care about, or back into your own lifestyle. And here's what surprises people most when they talk with us:

You don't have to fight the IRS.

You can actually work with it.

What happens to the money you'll never spend?

Tim Meisenheimer, CFA, CFP® — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 15:20:37 GMT

I've been thinking about Ray and Diane all week.

They're clients of ours, a few years out from retirement. For most of their lives, they told themselves they didn't have enough to retire. They'd spent so long saving that even when the numbers looked good, they couldn't take the leap.

When they came in to talk with us, they braced for a conversation about closing their savings gap. Instead, we ran the numbers together and found there wasn’t a gap to close.

They weren't going to run out of money.

They had more than they'd ever need and no plan for where the rest should go.

You’re probably closer to Ray and Diane than you think. One study found that nearly half of retirees still have 80% or more of their savings twenty years after they retire. That's a lifetime of work just sitting there.

Having more than enough sounds like a good problem to have, and with the right plan, it can be.

Think of their situation like a cup that fills up faster than you can drink from it. If nobody decides where the overflow goes, it doesn't just sit still.

It spills over.

In this case, the overflow is money left over once your own retirement needs are covered. And the same spill happens to your legacy when your account is left unchecked.

The good news is that overflow can go toward the things that matter most to you, if you point it there on purpose.

So, I want to show you a different way to think about the nest egg you've built. I'll send a couple of short emails each week, five in all, and we'll walk through the places your overflow can go, one at a time.

The idea comes from a book I love, Die with Zero by Bill Perkins. Honestly, it's one of the most encouraging things I've ever read about creating a meaningful life worth saving for.

At its heart, the idea is about using what you've earned while you're still here to enjoy it, and putting it toward what actually makes your life full.

Perkins puts it best, encouraging you to “realize that at every moment you have a choice. The choices you make reflect your priorities, so be sure you're making those choices deliberately."

If your money outlives your need for it, who decides where it goes?

Picture yourself ten years from now with more saved than you'll ever need. Where would you want that extra to go?

-Helping out the kids?
-Supporting a cause you care about?
-Splurging on season tickets?