Brian Michaud
The Michaud Letter
What IF… what you thought you knew about money, turned out NOT to be true? When would you want to know?
The purpose of this conversation is to go through conventional (traditional) financial strategies and QUESTION the actual implications those strategies will have on your financial future.
Because each client’s specific situation is unique, I will provide a 100,000 foot overview, when covering a couple topics.
I encourage you to grab a pen or highlighter and highlight parts of this booklet that pique your interest. When you are finished contact me to schedule a time to meet and review what you’ve highlighted. You may have MANY “AHA Moments” when you read this book (and that’s a good thing). I encourage you to write them down so you can reference them when we meet.
Brian Michaud
CEO and Founder of Encompass
Retirement Savings
When we are young, we are told to go get a job that offers a 401(k) or some sort of retirement plan, where the employer contributes money into it, so you’ll have money when you retire.
Or… If you are a business owner… Once you are past the young years of being in business… You’ll get a phone call from your accountant one day, and they will tell you that “You had a good year. You made money. And now you owe taxes”. My first response (maybe yours too) was.. “I did? Where is it? I don’t have it in my pocket, bank account or under my mattress.. so where is all this (so called) money I made?”.. The next statement from your accountant is usually something like this – You can put some money into an IRA (again, for your retirement) and you can avoid paying the taxes. Sound familiar?
Paying Off Your House
But…. What IF ‘What we were told’ isn’t all 100% accurate? What IF those strategies aren’t the best ways to grow your wealth?
What IF there was some information that would put you in a MUCH better position financially (now and in the future)?
This is where the fun begins….
As you read this information, please keep track of all of the areas/topics that relate to you. As you read through this, there are strategies I will share, that you didn’t know, and you didn’t know you didn’t know. That’s the point of this book. The goal of this book, is to help you understand the implications of the choices you are currently making and show you some other options, that may be available to you. That’s it.
We will reference back to the answer of Question #3, a couple times, as you progress through this book.
Information you never knew
Unfortunately, there are many things in the financial services world that we are either never told or we never discover. And if we do discover them, most times, it is too late. This fact includes searchable (internet) information, “free” advice from family members, “entertainers” on the radio & TV and information from financial advisors.
Many of the things you’ll discover reading this, were (chances are) never discussed with you in the past. Yet these facts are so impactful in your quest for financial independence.
We must learn the rules of the game so we can play with an efficient strategy. If we don’t, the opposite can happen. We could end up being financially dependent on others.
Taxes and the I.R.S.
I believe the IRS Tax Code is really written for two types of people; those who understand it (and use it) and those who don’t understand it (and end up paying more, had they only learned the rules).
When I meet 1 on 1 with a new client, I ask them 3 questions;
- Do you want to make money year after year?
- Do you want your first “paycheck” in retirement equal (or greater than) your last paycheck while you were working?
- Do you believe income taxes will go down? Go up? Or stay the same?
MY answers to those questions are: Yes. Yes. And Hell Yes!
If your answers are the same, I am going to have you consider something. Based upon those answers, you may be in the lowest tax bracket for the rest of your life. Let that sink in. You believe taxes will go HIGHER than where they are today.