A year read the way it's actually lived: not by what the market did, but by what changed, what it set in motion, and what decisions are ahead.
A year of preparation. The two decisions that will define the next few years, a business sale and a move across a state line, are now set up to happen in the right order. The system is in good order.
Not the market. Life. These are the events that actually reshaped the operating system, and each one triggered a review of what it touched.
The heart of the review, and notably not about Driftwood. Each opportunity has a lead professional, because the work is the team's.
| Opportunity | Lead professional | Status |
|---|---|---|
| ILIT for the life policy | Estate attorney | Complete |
| Asset location (bonds → IRA) | Driftwood | Complete |
| Roth conversion, low-bracket year | CPA | Complete |
| Business succession & buy-sell | Business counsel | Attorney reviewing |
| RSU concentration sell-down | Driftwood | In progress |
| §162 bonus to fund the premium | CPA | In progress |
| Gift discounted business interests | Estate attorney | Deferred to sale |
| Document domicile for the move | Household | Needs action |
Each line here traces to an entry in the Decision Register. This review is not a yearly reset — it re-reads every open decision against the reason it was made and asks a single question of each: did its assumption hold, and did its trigger fire?
The equivalent of a systems check, in place of a performance table. The questions that determine whether the plan still holds together.
Operating risks, not market volatility. What could go wrong in the system, and how exposed we are today.
Tom and Dana,
What changed. This was a year of setting the table. The policy is now outside your estate, your accounts are located for tax efficiency, and the first Roth conversion is done. Nothing here was dramatic. All of it compounds.
What matters. Two decisions will shape the next few years: selling the business, and the move to Texas. Their value is almost entirely in the order they happen. Establish residency first; sell and convert after. We have time to get this right, and time is part of the system.
What we're watching. The bracket headroom for conversions, your Illinois estate exposure until the move is final, and the concentration in employer stock as it unwinds.
What's ahead. A business-sale structure to model, the residency clock to start, the next rung of the Roth ladder, and a gifting question that waits on the sale. All of it is on the calendar, and all of it has an owner.
The system is in good order. We'll see you at the spring session. — Driftwood
Decision Register DR-001 – DR-005
Operating Manual rev. 06
Capital Allocation Policy Rev. 2
Constitution amend. 3
Opportunity Register rev. 6 · 8 open
After-Tax Review v1.0