Focus on what’s important.
We help you develop and maintain perspectives and sightlines to your plan.
Perspectives help cultivate ways of thinking about and understanding things and sightlines help develop clarity about what lies ahead.
These helpful primers, books and blogs can help you think about situations and problems in more wise and reasonable ways. They can help you develop longer-term perspectives and sightlines to withstand the shifting winds of short-term thinking. They can help you bypass camouflaging distractions and help you stay focused on the key issues that matter most to the long-term success of your plan.
We help you develop and maintain perspectives and sightlines to your plan.
Perspectives help cultivate ways of thinking about and understanding things and sightlines help develop clarity about what lies ahead.
These helpful primers, books and blogs can help you think about situations and problems in more wise and reasonable ways. They can help you develop longer-term perspectives and sightlines to withstand the shifting winds of short-term thinking. They can help you bypass camouflaging distractions and help you stay focused on the key issues that matter most to the long-term success of your plan.
We believe dividend reinvestment is a compounding accelerator and that dividend growth stocks should play a key part in a retirement income …
At Intelligent Capitalworks, we believe that the key to long-term investment success is being a discriminating buyer and a patient owner of …
The SECURE Act, passed at the end of 2019, changed a number of rules regarding inherited IRAs, making it more difficult for …
Before we head into the holiday season, be sure to look ahead at your 2022 year end tax planning checklist and take …
Investors who examine the mathematical benefits of a dividend-growth strategy may not look at investing in the same light again.
CONSIDER EVERYTHING
5 Insights on the Fed, Election, and Volatility in Q4, September 30, 2024
How Geopolitical Conflicts Impact Markets and the Economy, September 27, 2024
How Tax Proposals and the Election Impact Investors, September 17, 2024
How Middle East Conflicts Have Historically Impacted Markets, September 9, 2024
3 Investor Lessons from the Summer’s Market Volatility, September 3, 2024
How Presidential Elections and Economic Policies Affect Investors, August 19, 2024
How Corporate Earnings Support the Market Rebound, August 26, 2024
How Carry Trades and Market Fragility Impact Investors, August 12, 2024
Perspective on the Magnificent 7 and Valuations, June 27, 2024
How to Invest for Retirement Amid Market Uncertainty, June 22, 2024
For most of us, our working years are built around earning paychecks to pay for the necessities and luxuries of our life. Those checks create confidence that we’ll be able to pay the mortgage, buy groceries, go on vacations, and generally live a comfortable life. And when it comes to retirement investing, dependable income becomes
Imagine paying a visit to your tailor and ordering a suit. Your only instructions: It has to be bigger than your co-worker’s suit. That’s a ludicrous scenario, of course. Everyone understands that the right-sized suit for you is the right-sized suit for you. But this short-sighted approach ‒ fixating on one-upping someone else ‒ is
Financial fraud has been with us since ancient times, but it has exploded in the Internet age. According to the 2014 Identity Fraud Study, there is a new identity fraud victim every two seconds. The more resources you have for fighting fraud, the better. In a blog in November, we gave you tips for Keeping
If you use a budget, then you know it’s one of the great tools for helping you better manage your cash flow, especially when living off of investment income. If you piggy-back your budget with a second tool ‒ a saving and spending policy ‒ then you can better meet your savings goals and protect
To most people, Social Security seems like a very simple concept: You pay in to the system during your working years, then you retire and start getting those monthly checks. But if you want to maximize your benefits (and who doesn’t), you need to study how and when to start taking your benefits. You need
Once people start to learn about Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI), they often have questions. Here, we answer those we hear most often. What is the underwriting process for LTCI? Whether you’re considering a traditional or asset-based LTCI plan, step 1 of the process is to answer a preliminary health questionnaire. This helps to determine which
Americans have a retirement savings problem ‒ for some Baby Boomers, “crisis” is not too strong a word ‒ and it’s causing a fair amount of anxiety. Recent surveys cite statistics like these: more than a third of all working-age adults haven’t saved any money toward retirement; 41% of folks in their 50s are not
While many people think they know what Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) is, there are many misconceptions out there. Here, we review three important facts to help you gain a clearer understanding of LTCI. Fact #1: Medicare Isn’t the Same as Long-Term Care Insurance According to AARP, a surprising number of people still believe that Medicare will cover
You’ve heard about Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI), but do you really know what it is, not to mention if you need it? LTCI reimburses policyholders a fixed daily or monthly amount when they require assistance with two of six specific activities of daily living or because of cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease. The six
Looking forward to retirement? If you’ve built a nice nest egg, you’ve taken care of one of the critical tasks in preparing for retirement. But simply having significant savings doesn’t mean you’re ready to retire well. For those planning to hang ‘em up in two to three years, it’s essential to work your way through
We believe dividend reinvestment is a compounding accelerator and that dividend growth stocks should play a key part in a retirement income strategy. Why is dividend reinvestment a compounding accelerator? By reinvesting your dividends, you can accelerate the power of long-term compounding in your investment and retirement accounts. By methodically plowing dividend income back into high-quality stocks, investors may meaningfully increase their annual returns and total assets. A hypothetical illustration reveals the powerfully positive impact that reinvesting your dividends can make. Let’s go back in time to May 31, 1995 and open two investment accounts ‒ Account A and Account B. In each account, we will deposit $7,700 and purchase 800 shares of Colgate Palmolive at $9.63 per share (on a split-adjusted basis), which offered a 2.13% dividend yield at the time. In Account A, we’ll take the dividends we earn and put them in our pocket to spend. In Account B, we’ll systematically reinvest our dividend income to buy more shares ‒ using a commission-free dividend reinvestment plan. Let’s fast-forward to December 31, 2021. What we’ll find is that Account B’s balance dwarfs that of Account A. Account A, in which we pocketed our dividend earnings, grew by an
At Intelligent Capitalworks, we believe that the key to long-term investment success is being a discriminating buyer and a patient owner of great businesses ‒ in other words, investing in high-quality companies at a fair price and owning them a long time. We didn’t invent this bit of wisdom ‒ it’s been applied by many successful investors, including Warren Buffet. The good news is, the approach that works for Warren (and countless non-famous investors) can be put to use by any serious investor. What Does Investing in High-Quality Companies Mean? So let’s first look at what investing in high-quality companies means. A great investment is a business that has demonstrated revenue growth over long periods of time (more than one business cycle) and that competes on a value proposition other than price. Why screen out businesses that can only sustain long-term revenue growth by competing on price? Because cutting prices eats into profit margins, and ultimately makes such businesses more cyclical and less attractive. The key to uncovering businesses with real long-term growth is to look for cash flow growth generated from continuing operations over multiple business cycles. Businesses that are able to grow throughout the business cycle and maintain
The SECURE Act, passed at the end of 2019, changed a number of rules regarding inherited IRAs, making it more difficult for most beneficiaries to save on taxes by “stretching” distributions over many years. However, an exception to the new rules potentially changes advice that special needs planners often give clients. For many reasons, it’s usually not advisable to make an individual with special needs the beneficiary of an IRA or 401(k) plan. The individual may not be able to manage the funds, and owning the account may render the person ineligible for vital public benefits. This is why planners always recommend that parents with children with special needs leave their share of their estates in a special needs trust for the child’s benefit. But parents are often encouraged to leave their retirement plans to other children, if any, because holding a retirement plan in a special needs trust gets complicated. Why a SECURE Special Needs Trust (SNT) Can Save in Taxes But in light of the SECURE Act’s new rules, this advice may no longer apply, especially in the case of people with larger retirement plan accounts. Under the terms of the SECURE Act, most people who inherit retirement
Located in the heart of North Scottsdale
Scottsdale Rd & Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd
16427 N Scottsdale Rd, Suite 350
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
Wealth Management
Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa
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Financial Advisor now
(480) 542-2900
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Phoenix, Peoria, Tempe
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(602) 245-2900
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Scottsdale, Paradise Valley
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Financial Advisor now
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Wealth Management
Tucson, Oro Valley
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Financial Advisor now
(520) 636-2900
Wealth Management Prescott, Sedona, Flagstaff
Speak with a Northern Arizona Financial Advisor now (928) 272-2900
Wealth Management
Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa
Speak with a Chandler
Financial Advisor
(480) 542-2900
Wealth Management
Phoenix, Peoria, Tempe
Speak with a Phoenix
Financial Advisor
(602) 245-2900
Wealth Management
Scottsdale, Paradise Valley
Speak with a Scottsdale
Financial Advisor
(480) 951-2900
Wealth Management
Tucson, Oro Valley
Speak with a Tucson
Financial Advisor
(520) 636-2900
Wealth Management
Prescott, Sedona, Flagstaff
Speak with a
Northern Arizona
Financial Advisor
(928) 272-2900
Copyright © 2005-2025 ICW Investment Advisors LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2005-2025 ICW Investment Advisors LLC.
A Delaware limited liability company.
All rights reserved.
Nationwide
Virtual
Chandler
Gilbert
Mesa
Phoenix
Peoria
Glendale
Scottsdale HQ
Paradise Valley
Carefree
(866) 617-2900
(480) 542-2900
(602) 245-2900
(480) 951-2900
Located in the heart of North Scottsdale
Scottsdale Rd & Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd
16427 N Scottsdale Rd, Suite 350
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
Nationwide
Virtual
(866) 617-2900
Chandler
Gilbert
Mesa
(480) 542-2900
Phoenix
Peoria
Glendale
(602) 245-2900
Scottsdale HQ
Paradise Valley
Carefree
(480) 951-2900
Tucson
Oro Valley
Green Valley
(520) 636-2900
Prescott
Cottonwood
(928) 222-2900
Flagstaff
Sedona
(928) 272-2900
Located in the heart of North Scottsdale
Promenade Corporate Center
Scottsdale Road at Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd.
Easy access from the Loop 101 or SR-51.
Nationwide
Virtual
(866) 617-2900
Chandler
Gilbert
Mesa
(480) 542-2900
Phoenix
Peoria
Glendale
(602) 245-2900
Scottsdale HQ
Paradise Valley
Carefree
(480) 951-2900
Located in the heart of North Scottsdale
Promenade Corporate Center
Scottsdale Road at Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd.
Easy access from the Loop 101 or SR-51.
Tucson
Oro Valley
Green Valley
(520) 636-2900
Prescott
Cottonwood
(928) 222-2900
Flagstaff
Sedona
(928) 272-2900
We combine intellectual capital with critical thinking and detailed analyses across the 10 allied disciplines of wealth management to create whole-system thinking and integrated strategies that address your needs.
This is complex work with a multitude of variables that can produce opposite results. It’s a workspace in multiple dimensions. We are educated, trained and experienced for this work.
We manage the support systems and processes across
100 tailored personal wealth management workflows.
In each role, we contribute differently as you look to us with different needs at different times. Most often, we contribute simultaneously across all capacities in differing degrees.
As leaders, we provide motivation and direction. As counselors, we help remove barriers. As advisors, we provide technical advice. And as managers, we carry out process.
Taken together, we are always working to position you in your place of greatest potential.
What makes plans work is saving and capital growth. The playing field is arrayed with no shortage of obstacles that conspire to impair both saving and capital growth.
Whatever or whoever the conspirators are, capital growth is paramount. Forces outside and within your control must be well-managed.
We tailor and manage your investment operations to help reduce unforced errors and mistakes and compound your long-term, after-tax returns.
Tax-planning and strategy may offer opportunities to minimize and optimize your tax expenses. The time for tax planning and strategy development occurs at the beginning, not at the completion of an investment or tax year.
We provide guidance focused to your unique situation and help you exercise care to engage in tax planning that is flexible enough to help you respond to changing market conditions, tax law changes and unexpected outcomes.
We prepare informative studies that help you see if your assets and investment strategies are on track to successfully support your dreams and desires and sustain you without an earned income for as many as 30 to 40 years in retirement.
As you approach retirement, we help you see beyond this hard-earned moment in time, spot hidden risks, map a path and contribute our experience and resources to help you reach your goals.
We help you understand your current level of risk exposures and help identify personalized solutions that seek to help protect the risk-exposed areas of your financial life.
We review how your assets are titled to maximize your protection in the event of a lawsuit or other claims.
We help coordinate your business and personal insurance with your employer-provided benefits to help avoid any gaps or overlaps in coverage and help integrate your insurance policies with your estate plan.
We help you budget and manage expenses to reduce debt, increase savings, improve your long-term investment compounding rate, and fund your important life goals.
We offer a responsive and operational framework to help you meet less predictable, hard-to-monitor short-term expenses while meeting ongoing financial commitments and tracking to your short-term, intermediate and long-term objectives.
Cash management is a key component of liquidity management. It includes the efficient management of your cash flow, investments and cash reserves in order to achieve your overall financial objectives.
As inflation remains high with high interest rates, we help you deploy your cash flow and cash positions to earn higher interest rates.
Liquidity and cash management also involve managing the risk of short-term financing and making sure cash is available when needed.
We help you recognize that planning for the retention and transfer of your wealth is far more than numbers on a balance sheet and minimizing estate transfer taxes.
Your wealth also comprises your family and its health, education, life’s experiences, knowledge, relationships, mental and physical fitness, values and spirituality.
We help you express the conscience and wishes for what you have and leave behind and the constitution of privileges and responsibilities to guide all concerned.
We help you explore the motivations and develop and articulate the benefits, framework, discipline and communication of contributions you wish to make to communities that extend beyond your family.
We help you discover, establish and affirm the values, beliefs, attitudes, preferences and priorities for your contributions to your chosen communities. Then we help you with the ongoing management and administration of your philanthropic assets and endeavors.
