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John L. Smallwood, CFP® Senior Wealth Advisor Securities offered through Regulus Financial Group, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Smallwood Wealth Investment Management, LLC an SEC registered investment adviser. Registration with the SEC does not imply any level of skill or training. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management, LLC and Regulus Financial Group, LLC are independent entities. Please note Smallwood Wealth Management does not provide tax or legal advice and this is not intended as such. Individuals should always consult with a qualified tax or legal professional prior to making any decisions. Protection as a Design Element Great design is not only about beauty; it is also about function and durability. A stunning home with a leaky roof is not great design, and a high-performance car with no braking system is a liability, not a luxury. In wealth planning, the equivalent is a life that looks successful on the surface but has almost no protection underneath. Properly designed protection—asset titling, entity structures, insurance, liability coverage, and legal documents— allows you to enjoy the outward trappings of success without constant fear that a single lawsuit, loss, or shock could undo decades of work. Designing for Tax Efficiency and Opportunity e current tax environment, with tools such as different forms of incorporation, elections, and accelerated or bonus depreciation, offers powerful opportunities for building wealth–when used thoughtfully. ese are design tools, the financial equivalent of choosing better materials, engineering, and crasmanship that increase the performance and longevity of what you are building. When you reduce unnecessary drag on your wealth—less lost to avoidable taxes, friction, and inefficiency—you oen create more wealth without taking more investment risk. Designing your plan means knowing which structures and strategies are appropriate for your situation and implementing them deliberately, not by default. Enjoyment as a Design Requirement In a community like ours—rich with luxury experiences, travel, dining, beaches, mountains, and culture—it is easy to fill a life with activity yet still feel uneasy about money. Many successful people spend 40–50 hours a week or more building their businesses and careers, only to defer enjoyment indefinitely out of fear of "running out" someday. A well-designed wealth plan includes enjoyment as a requirement, not an aerthought. It allows you to see your accounts, investments, and business value grow while actually living well now—traveling, hosting, experiencing, and giving in ways that matter to you— without the constant guilt or anxiety that oen accompanies unmanaged success. Planning for the Inevitable Obstacles Even the most beautifully designed object or experience will encounter stress: weather, wear, changing tastes, and new technologies. Your financial life is no different; just as 50 Cent observed, there will always be a next obstacle appearing on the other side of each financial milestone. e question is not whether something will happen, but what you have designed to happen when it does. A strong wealth design includes redundancies and backups—cash reserves, diversification, risk management, and flexible structures—so that when you are "fully recovered" from any event, your wealth is intact and your long-term path remains unchanged. A Blueprint Worth Living In e pressure on wealth today is real: taxes, transaction costs, inflation, rapid technology shis, changing styles, corporate tactics, and outright fraud all chip away at what you build. Without a plan, these forces are like weather on an unprotected structure; with a plan, they become design constraints—factors to be acknowledged, engineered around, and ultimately used to your advantage. e sooner you treat your financial life the way the finest brands in these pages treat their products—as something to be meticulously designed, iterated, and elevated—the more likely you are to create a life that feels as good on the inside as it looks from the outside. Great design is not just what you see in this magazine; it is the unseen structure that allows you to enjoy it with confidence, even as each new level of success reveals its next obstacle. I wish you the greatest amount of financial success in 2026 and beyond. Wealth, Simplified. Scan to Learn More. smallwoodwealth.com | Phone: 732-542-1565 199 Broad St, Red Bank, NJ 07701 Smallwood Wealth Management VUENJ.COM 91

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