Words of Candor

One of the main benefits of working for Publix for both part-time and full-time employees is the ability to participate in the ESPP, or the Employee Share Purchase Program. This program highlighted in our first blog post allows employees of Publix to purchase non-qualified shares of Publix Stock. The plan document for the ESPP highlights the mission of this plan is to allow long-term investing by employees into the company so that they too will be owners of the company. Many employees do take advantage of this and accumulate sizable amounts of stock over their careers at Publix, which does allow for some special financial planning. 
I’ve learned many things as an Enrolled Agent with the IRS, but the one universal truth I know is that the only constant with our tax system is that things always change! So let’s address those changes for the Child Tax Credit…
It certainly never feels good to lose value in your investments, and we understand that no one begins investing with the intention of losing money! However, the inevitable ups and downs of the stock market will occur. The premise of TLH is to sell some of your investments at a loss to offset gains you may have realized from selling other investments that increased in value...
This year for investors has been unusually difficult and painful. After many years of positive market returns even in the face of things like Covid-19, threats of trade wars, and geopolitical events like Brexit and the Greek Debt Crisis, 2022 is producing our first truly substantial downturn since the Great Financial Crisis in 2008. While market volatility isn’t new for investors, the length and duration of the drawdowns in the markets feels new and different for many investors, because it is. For the first time in almost twenty years, many investors are having to grapple with Loss Fatigue.
One of the main benefits at Publix is access to Publix stock and many employees or associates amass large amounts of stock through long careers at Publix. While this has literally and figuratively “paid dividends” over the years, it's often important to diversify assets in retirement. When working you may be able to take on the risk of a concentrated position of stock, but often in retirement, it is better to diversify your assets away from such high levels of concentration. One such way of doing so through a tax-advantaged way is a “Net Unrealized Appreciation '' Transaction.
If you’ve ever spoken to anyone who has run a long-distance race, swam an endurance swim, or competed in an endurance event of any kind, they will tell you about the euphoric moment of finishing or even winning the event, but often the pain of training and enduring is left out. Similarly, when investing we talk about our wins or how we completed our financial goals, but we fail to share the pain or anxiety that comes with that at times. Unfortunately for many of us in our marathon of investing, we are in the midst of training season and now is a difficult time.