Money Grows (But Not on Trees)

photo shows a green tree along a country lane, surrounded by green fields

Over the past few years, more of us have found the joy of raising backyard chickens or container gardens or fruit trees. It’s an opportunity to see the fruits of our labor—literally!—grow.

It may take a few years for a new apple tree to produce. But with care and attention, that same tree may over time provide bushels of fruit for you, your family, or your community.

Growing your wealth isn’t that much different.

For example, if you put $10,000 into a savings vehicle that paid 2% annual interest, how long would it take you to double your money? The intuitive answer would be 50 years: 50 x 2% equals 100% return.

But due to the effects of compound interest, you’d actually get there in 36 years—not 50.

You don’t just get interest on the money you originally put in: you’d be getting interest on the interest you’ve already earned, too.

Doubling your money in 36 years is not terribly impressive. But then, 2% is not a terribly impressive rate of return. At 4%, as you might expect, you can double in half the time: a mere 18 years. So in 36 years, you’ll have doubled twice, quadrupling your original money. In 54 years, it would be eight times what it originally was!

That may sound like a long time, but if a person started saving in their 20s, they could reasonably expect to have 50+ years for their earliest savings to compound.

And that’s at a relatively conservative 4% annual return. As your rate of return increases, your compounded returns increase exponentially. At 5%, your money would increase tenfold in 50 years. At 6.5%, your money would increase twentyfold in the same time: a mere 1.5% increase in returns doubles the money over 50 years!

All of this to say, it doesn’t take very many doublings to turn modest savings into a sizeable pile of money.

Of course, sometimes this is easier said than done. Just as some growing seasons are rougher than others, returns are never guaranteed, and pursuing higher returns generally means accepting more volatility and risk.

Potential growth takes preparation, patience, and a little guidance along the way. Even modest investments can multiply. We’re here to keep an eye on the math together. Don’t worry: no quizzes.

If you’d like help planning, planting, or tending your financial orchard, we’re here to work alongside you as it grows.

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The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. Investing involves risk including loss of principal.

This is a hypothetical example and is not representative of any specific situation. Your results will vary. The hypothetical rates of return used do not reflect the deduction of fees and charges inherent to investing.

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Embracing the Loops, Swoops, and Squiggles

Sometimes life’s big milestones arrive in a neat, straight line. And sometimes that’s just not what happens—or what we want to happen. How do we plan for a swoopy life?

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Resolved: I Will Do Away with Resolutions

Spruce branches surrounded by a clothes clip holding a note with New year, New chances, New goals, New Start, New results all crossed out with red marker

by Mark Leibman, President

With serious planning and determination, many of us are gearing up for the next round of New Year’s resolutions. The change in the year will be the time we finally lose weight, or drink less, or exercise more, or wake up at 4 a.m. like those social media productivity thought-leading rockstars do!

As for me, I will not have a New Year’s resolution. I won’t be hustling to be the oldest participant in the hardest 5k in the state in 2026. I will not be striving to achieve or maintain a specific weight. I will not be avoiding or including certain foods in my diet. No resolutions. Not one.

Many of you have heard me say that I’m planning to work to age 92. Will any New Year’s resolution make that happen? There’s nothing magical about December 31 (except perhaps some fireworks at midnight!). I don’t measure my health by a calendar.

Instead, I measure my efforts every single day.

When you really think about it, doesn’t wealth work the same way? Even though we measure markets on an annual basis, that’s really just a long-held standard for consistency. You may have heard that in 2025, the stock market (as measured by the S&P 500) was up 12% for the year, January to December. But we have the tools to calculate the return for whatever 365 consecutive days you’re interested in. We can look at the results birthday to birthday, or any other range we’d like.

The process of becoming financially independent—of gaining the option to live on your wealth instead of your labor—uses essentially the same process as my health goals. Steady decisions, over time.

And we’re here to help anybody navigate the process. We try to offer guidance in your journey through the economic ups and downs, the noise of market pundits both on business channels and at the café. To focus on your financial health overall, instead of some calendar-year resolution.

Just like my health goals don’t change when I buy a new calendar, my wealth goals don’t need to either.

Clients, don’t think we are against all New Year’s resolutions. There’s actually one I highly recommend: in 2026, help someone learn what’s going on here at 228 Main in beautiful downtown Louisville. I know I’ll try to stick to that one too.

Thank you all, for everything.

Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly.

All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.

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Resolved: I Will Do Away with Resolutions

by Mark Leibman, President

Instead, I measure my efforts every single day.

Just like my health goals don’t change when I buy a new calendar, my wealth goals don’t need to either.

Thank you all, for everything.

All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.

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How Many Hats at a Time?

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Every once in a while, the schedule gets really and truly full. We might have places to be throughout the day, for many days in a row. Weeks might go on like this, in an exciting blur.

It’s not a bad problem to have, but sometimes, it can feel like we’re being pulled in more than one direction.

Some of you may experience this sensation too, as you also wear multiple hats in life. You may have commitments as a parent, an employee or an owner, a teacher, a partner, a community member, and more.

Here’s an idea that might provide some relief: we may have many hats, but we only wear one hat at a time. It’s okay to allow ourselves to focus on one at a time, even if we must switch hats often.

The same general principle is true about our financial goals: it may seem prudent to save for retirement, and a house, and a child’s education, and all the other things one may want in a lifetime… but the secret is that you don’t pay for these things on the same day, or week, or month, probably.

Having many hats doesn’t mean we can’t focus—and strategize. Time is finite, of course. But we take things one hat at a time.

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Friendly Faces and Important Roles

Clients, it’s Caitie here. I’m so thrilled to introduce you to our newest teammate, Allison Bauers! In a small business, we tend to wear many hats, so this week, we’re chatting about how our roles and duties will change in the coming months.

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Avoid the Stampede: It’s a Classic for a Reason

It’s one of our core principles for a reason: “avoid the stampede.” We live in uncertain times, and it is understandable to get spooked by the day’s headlines. But we do not believe that safety is found following the herd.

Omaha is famous for its stockyards and slaughterhouses; we know that when the cattle are all getting steered together, it rarely ends well for the cattle.

Consider some lessons from history in this classic message.

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Your Money Never Retires

For many people we know, money represents work. It’s the sweat and the time and everything else that goes into one’s livelihood.

It may have started decades ago, perhaps with a job for a local farmer, walking beans or baling hay. (Does that reference date us?) It’s all the jobs that followed, too. No matter where those paychecks came from, the work behind them can become a source of pride—one that can also fund our retirement years.

We’re fortunate to know many people who end their careers with resources beyond their needs. It’s a nice problem to have: what happens when the excess outlives us? What’s the next “life” for what you’ve earned and accumulated?

We’ve been hearing from some of you about these big financial legacy questions, and there are many possible answers. In no particular order, here are a few ideas that you have been sharing with us.

Spend it on shared memories. For many, the pace of retirement includes more travel and experiences that weren’t possible during the working years. And while you’re at it, you might think about including those closest to you. Some might take their children or grandchildren with them on the big adventures. If you don’t want to leave behind wealth well beyond your beneficiaries’ needs, spend well now, with them: create the memories while you have the opportunity to do so. Bonus? They have another shared memory to enjoy, long after the experience is over.

Consider making gifts where they would make a difference now. There’s no rule saying you have to wait until you’re gone to get the excess to your beneficiaries. An inheritance can be life-changing, but who’s to say that a well-timed gift couldn’t make a big impact? It could be that splashing around a little cash now might make more difference in the long run. Maybe a loved is working toward a down payment on their first house, or some seed funding for their business expansion, or some other worthwhile project that you’d like to support. Why not now?

Direct it to the causes you care about. You can turn some of your charitable intentions into plans now, too. Your legacy planning may already involve leaving behind some assets to charity, and there are other strategies that might fit your goals. For example, a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) can be set up to benefit organizations of your choice after you’re gone, but it can also be left to a successor: a person you trust to direct charitable distributions of your gifts. They could carry on the work you start now.

Making these kinds of choices truly is a great problem to have. Generational wealth is a powerful tool and privilege. It also highlights the tensions we feel around money: what is the utility of money in our lives—and beyond? We don’t have to know all the answers, but there might be a chance to unlock some exciting opportunities for the generations ahead, if only we get a little more intentional or organized now.

Clients, may your wealth bring you only the best of dilemmas. We’ll be here to try to help you along your way.

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THREE LITTLE WORDS YOU MAY NEED TO KNOW: Required. Minimum. Distribution.

If you are of a certain age and have certain retirement accounts, you probably need to know about the annually required withdrawals from those accounts. The IRS calls them “Required Minimum Distributions”—RMDs.

One special note: Clients, many of you are already treating your retirement account like an orchard, taking out the fruit crop each year to live on. The RMD is not an “extra” amount on top of the crop: it is just a minimum. If you are already taking out 5% in monthly payments to fund your retirement, you don’t need to worry about what happens at age 73.

We’ll talk about the details here, then how it works out in practice.

People born in or before 1950 with any form of retirement account (other than Roth IRA) have already begun doing this RMD process each year (or should have). People born in 1951 or later will have to begin by the year they turn 73.

Basically, the RMD needs to be calculated for each retirement account you have (except Roth IRAs). You must take out the total amount required by December 31, and you will receive a 1099-R showing taxable income.

Clients, you know we pay attention to this and strive to keep you informed about what needs to be done. But there’s one thing to be careful of: take this as an opportunity to check whether there is some account somewhere that we don’t know about, like a 401(k) from a former employer, an odd IRA balance somewhere, 457 or 403(b) plans, and so on. It happens, but it would be a pain to get yourself into some trouble over an account that’s been out of sight, out of mind.

Some people may choose to use the onset of RMDs as a time to consolidate all of their retirement funds into a single rollover IRA, to make this process simpler going forward.

One of the advantages of Roth IRAs is that they have no RMD requirement. As a matter of good planning, it may make sense to convert partial IRA balances to Roth, pay tax when you choose, and whittle down that balance that is subject to RMDs in traditional retirement accounts.

There are lots of ways to handle things! If you’d like to talk about it, we’re here for it. Email us or call.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate qualified professional prior to making a decision.

This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific individualized tax advice. We suggest that you discuss your specific tax issues with a qualified tax advisor.

Traditional IRA account owners have considerations to make before performing a Roth IRA conversion. These primarily include income tax consequences on the converted amount in the year of conversion, withdrawal limitations from a Roth IRA, and income limitations for future contributions to a Roth IRA. In addition, if you are required to take a required minimum distribution (RMD) in the year you convert, you must do so before converting to a Roth IRA.

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The Team Grows: Welcome, Allison!

Friends, it’s been a season of change for Leibman Financial!

As many of you know already, Mark will be focusing on client work and research—and less on administrative duties—starting January 1, as Caitie takes on the front-facing CEO role.

Caitie has been serving as Director of Communications full-time since 2020, and our communications program has only grown in those years.

The team has committed to making our messaging more accessible, adding more audio and video in addition to our blog posts. We take pride in making our ideas available in multiple formats, to fit a variety of clients’ lives. We’ve been working to make our contact with you more timely, relevant, and consistent—without clogging up your inboxes!

As Caitie starts to flex her leadership muscles, it’s time to introduce our newest addition: a dedicated Director of Communications who can continue to foster our important connections with each of you. On that note, we’re pleased to introduce Allison Bauers as Leibman Financial’s next Director of Communications.

Allison is a Nebraska native, growing up on a farm near Auburn and moving to Cass County in the mid-1980s. She and her husband Larry raised their children in Louisville, where they were involved in the school system, community theater, and other endeavors over the years. Now they split their time between Nebraska and Arizona spending time with family and making their best attempt at exploring all of our National Parks and the wonders of this country.

Allison’s work includes decades in roles across the fields of education and communication, and her skills suit the demands of this role well. She tells us she is excited to join the team and grow in the specialty role that Caitie helped establish.

We’re already confident that Allison’s attitude and energy will bring fresh possibilities to the firm, as we work to continue to serve our clients in thoughtful new ways.

Communications will remain a team sport here at 228 Main, and we are thrilled to add Allison to that team. We hope you get a chance to meet her soon.

Welcome, Allison!

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Money Grows (But Not on Trees)