Client Question: 

Why didn’t you tell me how simple you were going to make my tax life?

HIG Reply: 

We like good surprises! Because each client’s tax situation is unique, the time and dollars saved are challenging to quantify in advance. No matter your situation, we are confident your tax experience will likely improve, whether your tax bill this year goes up or down.

You may be asking yourself, “how can I save more on taxes?”. Whether you are wondering about this year or next, if you’re a client, you already know you have a team working on it. We provide a spectrum of services to minimize your tax bill, in addition to guidance throughout the year and regular evaluation of potential tax law changes. In other words, you don’t have to worry that you’re leaving money on the table – we’re already working with you and your tax team to avoid that. If you want to learn more about how we see tax management schedule a complimentary call with us – we’d love to chat!

Read more on the topic here.

Have you heard about special purpose acquisition companies (SPAC)? Former NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal, former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, tennis legend Serena Williams, and former MLB player Alex Rodriguez all have one thing in common – they are all involved with SPACs. The hot new craze has caught Wall Street and celebrities buzzing, but should you care?

In 2020 we saw a resurgence in SPACs, as 248 new SPACs raised roughly $82 billion throughout the year, eclipsing the level from the previous decade. The SPAC boom has showed no signs of slowing down in 2021, as sponsors have raised nearly $26 billion in January alone, a monthly record.

SPACs, short for “special purpose acquisition companies”, are also sometimes known as “blank-check companies”. These companies are designed to raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO) in order to finance an acquisition, merger, or similar business combination with a private company. They often have no operating history of their own.

So, how do SPACs differ from traditional IPOs, the method in which many investors may be familiar with how companies go public? We can think of a traditional IPO as a company looking for money while a SPAC is money looking for a company.

SPACs tend to be quicker to market than traditional IPOs, as the process can take a few months, much shorter than the 24-36 month process for a traditional IPO. In addition to the benefit of speed, SPACs provide retail investors with early access, something not generally available in traditional IPOs, as shares are reserved for certain clients of the underwriting banks. For many SPACs, the sponsors/founders receive a 20% allocation, leading to a dilution in the company and potentially misaligned incentives. Because SPACs generally must use the money they’ve raised within two years or return it, they may be incentivized to get any deal done, regardless if it’s a good one.

What’s the bottom line? SPACs are simply another way for companies to raise capital and the public should be aware of the inherent pros and cons. Rather than being worried about missing out on the newest investment fad, most investors should work with their advisors to build a long-term plan that will help them achieve their financial goals. In other words, keep taking the long view.

HIG friend, podcast guest, and NYT columnist, Carl Richards, shared the following story about how incremental change adds up if you take the long view. Keep reading for the story behind the sketch.

The Magic of Incremental Change

Back when I lived in Las Vegas, I used to ride road bikes with a semi-competitive group of riders. I remember when I first joined the group, it felt like a big victory if I could just keep up with them for the first 15 minutes. After a while, that became the first half-hour. Then an hour. One day, almost without even noticing it, I was suddenly able to stick with the pack for the entire ride.

It felt sudden at the time, but of course, it wasn’t. And although I was surprised, nobody else was, because they had all seen it before with other riders or experienced it themselves.

This is the sneaky power of incremental change.

Each day, you make a small improvement. Then, that becomes the new normal, and you get used to it. You make a small improvement again, and then that becomes the new normal. This happens over and over, slowly but surely. We barely notice we are getting closer to our goal, and then (again, seemingly “all of a sudden”) we’re there!

I didn’t feel a lot faster because I wasn’t a lot faster… compared to yesterday or even last week. In fact, I was just a little faster than I was last month. But month after month, ride after ride, it all added up. All those little bits of “faster” started to compound on top of one another.

Of course, this doesn’t just apply to riding bikes. I’ve had times in my career where I wondered if I was accomplishing anything. I specifically recall a time when I was working remotely for a large company. I got very little feedback on my work and was largely left alone. I loved the independence, but I also struggled because I had no idea if what I was doing was valued by the people I worked for.

To deal with this struggle, I started reviewing each week and noting what I had done. It felt weird at first because I didn’t want it to be seen as taking credit for things, but as the weeks added up and the list got longer, it felt good. I was doing stuff, and that stuff was making a difference, for sure.

No one else needed to see the list. It still felt good. It helped me to see, in real-time, how incremental changes add up.

If you build a process of reflecting every quarter, month, and year, you’ll never feel like you’re not accomplishing anything again. And while that may spoil some of the surprise of suddenly and unexpectedly arriving at your goal one day, I promise it will be worth it to feel much better along the way.

-Carl Richards