2025 Winter Newsletter: Kansas City

For those of you who are keeping score at home, 2025 is underway.

Wow. I’m not sure about you, but when someone tells a story about something that happened 30 years ago, I still imagine they’re talking about the 1970s or ’80s. My time calculator hasn’t been updated in a long while and I’m not sure that’ll change anytime soon.

We hope you’re off to a great start to the New Year. Hopefully, you also took some time to reflect back on the last year, much of which seemed to be consumed by the presidential election. With stock market values up, home prices up, interest rates up, and so much geopolitical strife happening as well, this year promises to be interesting for many reasons. As we say often, with so much uncertainty in the world, it’s a great time to have a plan.

As we look ahead to another year, we wanted to arm you with information that we believe will add value to your thinking and planning. One is a parable that highlights the purpose of our efforts while the other is a simple process that can help to cut through clutter and assist you in getting where you’re going more efficiently and with less stress.

I wanted to share a personal win I recently experienced. We welcomed a new puppy into our home. Maximus (“Max”) is a Rhodesian Ridgeback who enjoys eating, playing, and ensuring we’re never able to ignore him. He’s not distracted by what year it is or what’s on our to-do lists; he just wants to be part of the action.

We’ve said it many times before and I’m sure we’ll say it often in the future: we’re so grateful for the opportunity to be of service to you. The work we do together is so important; it helps to support the hopes, dreams, and legacies of families and future generations. Without you, we have no purpose and without purpose we lack meaning in our work. Thanks for trusting us with your planning. It means the world to us!