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VUE | Spring 2026

The Digest | New Jersey Magazine

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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. Wealth, Simplified. Scan to Learn More. smallwoodwealth.com | Phone: 732-542-1565 199 Broad St, Red Bank, NJ 07701 Smallwood Wealth Management family changes. It means asking whether your corporate structure, asset titling, and entity design still make sense given how the business has evolved. And for many clients, it means having an honest conversation about long-term care—not as a morbid subject, but as a design requirement. Because the cost of an unplanned long-term care event does not just erode wealth; it can fundamentally redirect the entire legacy you spent decades creating. e window to get this right is not in retirement. It is in the years just before it. Cash Flow Is the Final Frontier Here is what surprises most successful people when they first look at the second half with honest eyes: they are oen cash poor relative to their net worth. ey have significant assets, a strong balance sheet, a good business and yet, their monthly cash flow does not reflect any of that. e money is tied up. Deferred. Illiquid. Concentrated. Designing a second-half cash flow strategy is one of the most nuanced and personally meaningful exercises in wealth planning. It requires mapping actual income sources—business distributions, investment income, Social Security timing, potential Roth conversions, rental income, potential liquidity events—against actual lifestyle needs and goals. Not theoretical needs. Real ones. e travel you actually want to do. e beach house conversation you keep having. e charitable causes that matter to you. e legacy you want to leave—and when you want to start leaving it. e goal of a well-designed second-half plan is not to accumulate indefinitely. It is to create a coordinated, tax-efficient income architecture that lets you live fully now and protect generously for those who follow. Maximum savings rate plus maximum protection equals full financial potential—but in the second half, you add one more variable: maximum intentional enjoyment. at is not a so concept. It is a planning requirement. Is Your Garden Ready to Grow? Spring is a clean slate. e tax return is done. e numbers are on the table. For those of you in the second half of a remarkable financial journey, this is your season to stop and ask honestly: Is my plan designed for where I am going—or just a continuation of what got me here? e second half deserves its own design. Its own structure. Its own intentionality. Not because the first half was wrong—it was exactly right for its season. But because the harvest is coming, and you want to be ready to receive it, protect it, and share it in ways that truly matter. e garden is ready. e soil has been prepared by decades of work. e question now is what you choose to plant—and whether you have the right design to make it grow. 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. S m a l l w o o d We a lt h Inv e s t m e nt Management, LLC and Regulus Financial Group, LLC are independent entities. 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. VUE ON | FINANCE 94 VUENJ.COM

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