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BY JOHN L. SMALLWOOD Wealth Planning: Preparing for Life's Punches "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." is famous Mike Tyson quote isn't just about boxing—it perfectly captures the reality of financial planning. Many enter retirement or wealth accumulation with confidence, only to be blindsided by unexpected financial pressures. When it comes to your wealth plan, do you have a plan and how many times is your plan getting punched in the mouth? When we say punched in the mouth, we're talking financial plans, wealth management, and wealth creation constantly being bombarded by, what I call, financial pressure. Financial pressure takes many forms, and it's relentless: taxes, transaction costs, fees, planned obsolescence, technological change, inflation—all conspire to erode even the best-laid wealth strategies. While households focus on saving and growing assets, these forces constantly challenge progress. You have income, expenses, taxes, savings rate; you have debt, wills and trusts, Social Security pensions, potential disability, long-term care, and life insurance. You have all of these things that need to be organized in a proper manner for your plan. Visualize your financial timeline. At age 45, for instance, with family, business, and other responsibilities, your plan must account for decades of variables. Over a potential 55-year horizon, your plan will endure innumerable "punches"—will it withstand them? We oen will talk about wealth in the compound. e miracle of compound interest is one of the greatest things. e longer you put your money to work for a long time, that VUE ON | FINANCE 94 VUENJ.COM

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