The 4% rule is a frequently used rule of thumb for retirement spending. The rule suggests that retirees can withdraw 4% of their total portfolio in the first year of retirement, then adjust that amount for inflation each year after.

An example using numbers: let’s say your investment portfolio at retirement is $1 million. You would withdraw $40,000 in your first year of retirement. If the cost of living rises 2% that year, you would increase the withdrawal amount from your portfolio that amount. So, 2% of $40,000 is $800, giving you now a total of $40,800 you can safely withdrawal from your retirement portfolio. Repeat this and so on for the next 30 years.

The 4% Rule was calculated from historical studies that tested retirement portfolios against some of the worst market environments in U.S. history. These include the periods of the Great depression, stagflation in the 1970s, and the great recession in 2008. The rule was designed to succeed even in worst-case scenarios, but not to optimize spending for the typical retiree.

Because the 4% Rule was framed around worst-case outcomes, many retirees who strictly follow this rule will end up spending far less than they could have afforded. Markets do not always perform at their worst, take for example the last 3 years. The S&P 500 returned three consecutive years of double-digit growth. Planning your retirement around the most extreme historic scenarios may result with retirees accumulating growing portfolio balances later on in life not because it was their goal but because they were overly cautious early on during their retirement.

This leads into the idea that retirement spending is not static, the main guide behind the 4% Rule assumes that spending should rise steadily with inflation each year. In reality, retirement spending is often broken into 3 main phases over time.

1. “The Go-Go years” may involve higher spending on travel, hobbies, and experiences.
2. “The Slow-go years” spending often decreases as our lifestyles begin to settle.
3. “The No-go years” may see increased healthcare costs but much lower discretionary spending.

Beyond spending patterns, the 4% rule also overlooks other critical retirement planning variables. Mainly, taxes and guaranteed income sources like Social Security and pensions. These income floors reduce your dependence on portfolio withdrawals, but they also can introduce tax complexity. Different income sources are taxed differently, and withdrawals from taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts are not equal. A more comprehensive retirement strategy accounts for all of this, coordinating tax-efficient withdrawals alongside your guaranteed income to minimize your overall tax burden.

Much of the discussion around the 4% Rule focuses on what happens when the markets drastically underperform. But an equally important scenario is how to respond when markets have performed exceptionally well. Markets historically move in cycles and over time retirees are likely to find themselves sitting on large unrealized gains within their portfolios. Some of which carry meaningful tax implications if sold.

Beyond taxes, strong market performance can introduce unintended additional risk. As markets rise, equity allocations can drift higher and lead to an increased concentration risk within the portfolio. Letting single positions grow too large will cause them to become bigger weights of your overall portfolio. This can leave you overexposed to the success of one or two companies. It would not be wise to bet your retirement on the continued success of just a handful of companies.  

Rebalancing sounds simple, but in practice it does require discipline that many individuals struggle to maintain, especially when it involves selling positions that have performed extremely well. The common behavioral bias often leads to you letting your winners continue to go-up, which can unknowingly increase portfolio risk and leave you vulnerable to a market downturn.

These periods of strong portfolio performance can create opportunities. They can be appropriate times to take some profits off the table, realize gains, and thoughtfully incorporate increased withdrawals. This could be an extra vacation, completing an additional home renovation, or making a meaningful gift to a family member, friend, or charitable organization.

A more realistic approach to retirement planning focuses on your personal spending needs and retirement goals rather than relying on a rigid, fixed percentage rule. Retirement is always evolving, spending fluctuates over time, markets will change, and life will rarely follow a straight line. Retirement planning is not a one-time calculation; it’s a multi-decade journey that changes overtime as circumstances, priorities, and market conditions shift. Working with a qualified financial advisor can help you better understand these variables and ultimately make the most of the years you spent saving for.

Sources:

https://www.investopedia.com/how-the-biggest-wealth-shift-could-change-your-financial-future-11882236

https://fortune.com/2025/07/23/great-wealth-transfer-124-trillion-bigger-than-ever-millennials-gen-x

https://usa.visa.com/partner-with-us/visa-consulting-analytics/economic-insights/retirement-time-in-america.html?

For the surviving spouse, the financial implications can be complex. Understanding what changes- and what decisions come next, can help reduce the uncertainty during an already difficult time.

The Income Shift No One Talks About

In many households, both spouses contribute financially in some way. When one spouse passes away, that income often disappears.

For retirees, this can show up in a few different ways. Social Security benefits may change. While a surviving spouse typically receives the higher of the two benefits, they lose the smaller one. In practical terms, household income often drops even though most living expenses stay the same.

If the couple relied on pensions, investment income, or part-time work, those sources may also change depending on how accounts were structured. Simply put: two people built the financial plan, but now one person is living it.

The Tax Surprise Many Widows and Widowers Face

One of the lesser-known financial changes after losing a spouse involves filing status, tax bracket, and standard deductions. During the year of death, the surviving spouse can still file a joint tax return. But in the following years, they will likely file as a single taxpayer. That shift can be significant.

Income thresholds for tax brackets are lower for single filers, which means the same income may now be taxed at higher rates. Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs), pension income, and investment withdrawals that once fit comfortably within a joint bracket can suddenly push someone into a higher tax bracket. Financially speaking, the household income might drop but the tax rate might rise.

The standard deduction also reduces when shifting from Married Filing Joint to Single, typically by one half. This could also lead to higher tax liability and something to be mindful of.

Decisions That Suddenly Land on One Person

Another challenge is that financial responsibilities may shift when one spouse is no longer present. When one partner passes away, the surviving spouse may suddenly be responsible for financial tasks they’ve never handled before. That’s not a failure of planning, its simply how many marriages function. But it does highlight why financial transparency within a household is so important. Knowing where accounts are held, who to call, and how income flows through the household can save enormous stress during an already overwhelming time.

The Role of Life Insurance

Life insurance can quietly play a powerful role when losing a spouse. Life insurance isn’t meant to replace a spouse emotionally nothing can do that—but it can provide financial stability and liquidity when the household income changes.

It may help cover final expenses, replace lost income, pay off a mortgage, or simply allow the surviving spouse time to make thoughtful decisions rather than rushed ones.

Planning Ahead- Coordinating with Clarity

No one enjoys talking about death, especially when both spouses are healthy and life feels stable. But planning for the unexpected is one of the most caring things couples can do for each other.

That planning might include:

• Updating estate documents
• Reviewing beneficiary designations
• Discussing where important documents are kept
• Ensuring both spouses understand the household finances
• Evaluating life insurance coverage

These conversations aren’t easy, but they are important. When life changes overnight, preparation can provide something incredibly valuable: stability during a time when everything else feels uncertain.

Final Thought

Financial planning is often thought of in terms of growth and wealth accumulation. Equally important is ensuring our loved ones are able to move forward when one partner is no longer with us. Even modest planning can make a meaningful difference in managing this difficult transition.

                Before a plan takes shape there should be multiple conversations between client and advisor. These discussions involve goals, priorities, values, resources, temperament, and timing. An advisor will ask about all these areas and many more with the goal of fully understanding the client’s financial objectives. With this information the advisor can put together a plan tailored to the client. This plan will take into account the ups and downs of the market and changes in the client’s life situation. Adjustments to the plan can be made as life and market situations change.

                But without a plan, the competing emotions of greed and fear take over, greed when the market is going up and fear when the market is going down. An increasing stock market often causes investors to take risks that are not prudent. That punch in the mouth, whether it be financial, a life situation, or a combination of the two, typically brings on fear. Before I became an advisor with JGUA I worked for a Mutual Fund company. During the Covid crisis the market dropped significantly. I talked to several clients who, out of fear, moved all their money from stocks to cash. This was their punch in the mouth. When the market recovered, they had locked in their losses and did not benefit when the market rebounded. A well-formed financial plan helps people avoid these extremes, regardless of what the market does.

There are other life changes that we all go through. We get married, have children, those children eventually grow up and move on to attend college and hopefully get jobs. Sometimes there is divorce or death and that could lead to a second or third spouse and possibly more children. As an ancient Greek philosopher said, the only constant in life is change.

Just like you would never move without submitting the change of address form, you shouldn’t let life’s changes go by without a regular review of your estate planning documents. Otherwise, you could end up with the equivalent of a “return to sender” marking on your possessions if you die.

Quick side note to list the most common estate documents and their purpose: Last Will & Testament (says where your stuff goes when you die); Power of Attorney (says who can do stuff for you, mostly legal and financial); Health Care Proxy (says who can do medical stuff for you if you are not capable).

Now take a moment and think of the answer to this question: when was the last time you dusted off one or more of those estate documents and looked them over? Does your Will still include a section naming a guardian for your children who are now long past 18? Does your Power of Attorney name an agent who is no longer a good fit? Or maybe you don’t have one or more of these documents and you’ve been meaning to see an attorney to get them drafted but haven’t taken the time to do it? Now is as good a time as ever.

It is also important to review your beneficiary designations on any retirement or transfer on death accounts you have. You will want to make sure everything matches up, or at least is set up how you want it. Keep in mind that just because in your Will you say that your spouse gets everything when you die it doesn’t mean they will also get your IRA. Any account with a beneficiary – and that includes all retirement accounts – will be distributed based on the beneficiaries you name directly with each plan or account no matter what your Will says. If you are not careful, that could lead to a surprise for your loved ones after you are gone.

Having current estate documents is important, especially when you might need someone to take over paying your bills or talking with a doctor on your behalf. My advice is to take an evening, or a weekend, and look over what you have, then map out changes you want to make and an estate attorney can take it from there. Do not leave life up to chance, make sure your wishes are honored after you are gone and you are protected while you are still alive. Do not end up with “return to sender” governing your assets.

As always, if you are interested in talking further about this topic or any other relating to your financial present or future, you can reach out to an advisor at John G. Ullman & Associates, Inc., at any point (www.jgua.com). We are here to help.

1. The “Big Three” and the Structural Choice

Original Medicare (Parts A and B) generally excludes routine care for the three areas most likely to decline with age: 1) Dental, 2) Vision, and 3) Hearing. Costs for cleanings, crowns, glasses, and hearing aids (often $3,000–$6,000+) are typically out-of-pocket.

Addressing these shortcomings requires choosing between two distinct structures:

• Medicare Advantage (Part C): These plans often appeal due to lower premiums and bundled dental/vision “extras.” However, they utilize restricted provider networks and often require prior authorizations for specialists.
• Original Medicare + Medigap: (Medigap, or Medicare supplemental insurance, is private health insurance designed to fill the “gaps” in Original Medicare.) This offers the broadest provider access and predictable cost-sharing, though monthly premiums are higher than Medicare Advantage.
• The Long-Term Risk: While switching from Original Medicare to Advantage is simple during open enrollment in later years, moving in the opposite direction is difficult. After an initial 12-month “trial period,” when having signed up for Advantage, switching back to Original Medicare usually requires medical underwriting to secure a Medigap policy. If a chronic condition has developed, insurers can deny coverage or charge prohibitive rates. This can have the effect of “locking” the retiree into the Advantage plan’s network.

2. The Long-Term Care Gap

One of the most significant financial risks in retirement is the misunderstanding of long-term care. Medicare is designed for medical treatment, not residential support. It covers skilled nursing only for a limited window (up to 100 days) following a qualifying hospital stay. It does not cover “custodial care”—the assistance with daily activities like bathing or dressing that often spans years. A lack of dedicated long-term care planning can lead to accelerated asset depletion that an initial retirement model may not have anticipated.

3. Prescription Drug Complexity and IRMAA

Even with Part D (prescription drug) coverage, medication expenses remain a variable cost. Every year, private insurers adjust their “formularies”—the lists categorizing which drugs are covered and at what price point. A medication that is affordable one year could be reclassified into a more expensive tier the next.

IRMAA surcharges: Furthermore, high-earning retirees must account for IRMAA (Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount). These are surcharges added to Part B and Part D premiums based on modified adjusted gross income from two years prior. Effective planning must coordinate tax-efficiency with these surcharges to avoid unnecessary spikes in fixed costs.

4. Global Travel and Border Restrictions

Original Medicare provides virtually no coverage outside the United States. For those planning to spend time abroad, a medical emergency can result in substantial bills and evacuation costs that are not reimbursable by the federal program.

Planning Strategy: Frequent travelers should verify if their supplemental policy includes a “Foreign Travel Emergency” benefit or incorporate standalone travel medical insurance into their annual vacation budget.

Conclusion: Integrating Health into the Financial Plan

Healthcare should be treated as a recurring, predictable retirement expense rather than a series of random events. Moving from a reactive stance to proactive modeling allows for a steadier withdrawal strategy and protects lifestyle goals like travel and legacy planning. Identifying these gaps today is the best way to ensure confidence and a greater chance for stability for tomorrow.

Trading and investing often get lumped together, but they are two fundamentally separate approaches to markets. Trading is about taking advantage of short-term price movements – reacting to momentum, news, technical patterns – with the goal of earning a profit over a short period of time (anywhere from a few seconds to a few months). Investing, on the other hand, is about owning a business and letting it build value over a long-term horizon. While traders are focused on trade timing, execution, and short-term price movements, investors will be more focused on things like fundamentals, valuation, and future growth prospects. Despite the drastically different approaches, the best traders and the best investors are going to share a number of important traits like discipline, emotional control, and sound risk management.

While successful traders and investors typically share these traits, they often differ in how they utilize them. Because traders are often making investment decisions every single day, they must be able to consistently exercise discipline and emotional control. Chasing a trade due to emotional attachment or failing to exercise proper risk management can have severe consequences – profitable trades can suddenly unravel, and marginal trades can quickly turn into huge losses. For investors on the other hand, they are not making investment decisions every day. In reality, investors will likely only need to exercise these traits a few times a year.
Being a successful trader can be incredibly difficult. Studies suggest that only about 5% of day traders (someone who buys and sells securities within the same day) are able to achieve consistent, long-term profitability. Trading can also come with immense psychological pressures and high time commitments. Given all of this, you might be wondering why anyone would want to be a trader in the first place. People can be drawn to trading by its intense and fast-paced nature, the lure of achieving quick profits, and the potential to avoid long-term downturns by only focusing on short-term trends.

If you are like most humans, however, dealing with that level of stress every single day would likely lead to poor decisions and poor outcomes. Long-term investing tends to work for most people because it strips away the noise. Instead of chasing headlines, timing the market, or reacting to every swing, investors focus on owning quality assets and letting time do the heavy lifting. Investors prioritize diversification, minimizing costs, reinvesting gains, and remaining patient for the long haul. Over the years, compounding can turn small, consistent returns into meaningful wealth without requiring constant decision making.

Trading can certainly be exciting, and the potential to earn outsized returns over a short period of time can tempt even the most disciplined investors to give it their best shot. For investors looking to capture some of that excitement, they can use short-term trading opportunities to start new (or add to existing) long-term positions in their portfolio. You can experience the rush of making real-time investment decisions with the security of a long-term horizon – all with only a fraction of the stress relative to trading!

Simply put, RMDs are the minimum amounts you’re required to withdraw each year from certain retirement accounts that were funded with pre-tax dollars. Think traditional IRAs and most employer-sponsored retirement plans. Because those contributions were either tax-deductible or tax-deferred, the government eventually requires withdrawals so the funds can be taxed as income.

For most people today, RMDs begin at age 73. The amount you need to withdraw each year depends on two things: the balance in your retirement account on December 31 of the prior year and a life expectancy table provided by the IRS. The more you have saved, the larger your required withdrawal will be.

It’s also important to know that not every retirement account is treated the same. Traditional IRAs and pre-tax 401(k)s are generally subject to RMD rules. Roth IRAs, however, do not require distributions during the original owner’s lifetime because the contributions have already been subject to tax. That distinction can play an important role in building a tax-efficient retirement income strategy.

Where RMDs often catch people off guard is the tax impact. When you take an RMD, the amount is taxed as ordinary income. This means, it is added to your income for the year and taxed at your regular income tax rate, which could push you into a higher bracket. This is important to consider because a higher tax bracket could result in more taxes on total income, including pension and Social Security. Higher income can also increase your Medicare premiums since they are based on your reported income.  That’s why planning ahead sometimes years before RMD age, can make a meaningful difference. Strategies like Roth conversions, timing withdrawals thoughtfully, or coordinating distributions with other income sources can help smooth out potential tax spikes.

Another option worth knowing about especially for charitably inclined retirees is using your RMD as a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD). A QCD allows you to transfer up to $100,000 per year directly from your IRA to a qualified charity once you are age 70½ or older. Instead of taking your RMD, paying tax on it, and then writing a check to charity, a QCD allows you to give directly from your IRA. The amount donated can satisfy your RMD and is excluded from your income. That can be a powerful benefit. Lower taxable income may help keep you in a lower tax bracket, reduce the taxation of Social Security benefits, and potentially limit increases in Medicare premiums. For many retirees, this becomes a simple way to support causes they care about while improving tax efficiency at the same time.

The most important takeaway? RMDs aren’t a penalty or a sign that something has gone wrong. They’re simply the next phase of retirement planning. With a little foresight and ongoing review, they can be integrated into your income plan in a way that supports your lifestyle while keeping taxes manageable.

Retirement planning doesn’t stop once you retire. In many ways, it just changes shape, and understanding RMDs is part of that evolution.

One of the best starting points in preparation for the upcoming tax year would be reviewing any notes, comments, or relevant advice on this year’s taxes that may have been prepared by your accountant, advisor, or applicable tax professional. There may be various points of information that could apply towards the following year’s taxes. Always feel free in reaching out to your preparer if you feel as if any of the information or comments provided by them should apply to next year’s return. One common, possibly applicable factor in many tax returns would be meeting federal and state safe harbor requirements through withholdings and making quarterly estimated payments throughout the year. Safe harbor is when the government tax collection agencies require you to pay taxes on your expected annual income throughout the year. This can be a tricky concept, so I’ll explain the numbers. Federally, between your withholdings and estimates paid, you must pay at least 90% of the income that you will owe in the current year OR 100% of the total tax you owed in the previous year, whichever is lower. If you make over $150,000, the latter figure jumps to 110%. If you do not meet these requirements through withholdings or estimated payments to the IRS, you may face underpayment penalties. Safe harbor is also something that states utilize, and while the concept is similar, rules and regulations will vary state to state.

Some other factors to keep in mind for the upcoming tax season would be any changes in income, having more or fewer qualified dependents that you may claim, any changes in marital status, residency changes, or expected retirement. If you have a change in income, you will want to ensure your withholdings are properly aligned with your expected tax burden for the year. If you have a change in qualifying dependents, you will want to prepare yourself for receiving more or less in tax credit amounts, as well as the impact dependents can have on your filing status. Marital status changes throughout the year may also affect your filing status. If you move, you may have to file tax returns in the multiple states in which you resided in, and follow applicable rules that each state could have. Retirement can create changes within your tax return as well, such as the introduction of social security income, Required Minimum Distributions from retirement accounts, and the reduction or elimination of wage income.

On a federal tax return, you will always either take a standard deduction or you will take an itemized deduction. You cannot do both. What does this mean and what does it have to do with the upcoming tax year? Well, these deductions occur on every return and their purpose is for the government to not tax your “discretionary” income. If you take a standard deduction, there will be a set amount that will not be taxed on your return. These amounts are based on filing status and are adjusted annually. It is typically likely that every year the standard deduction will adjust and be higher. Itemized deductions act in a similar manner, only you take specific “itemizable” expenses you may have throughout the year to deduct from your taxable income. Some itemizable expenses include mortgage interest paid, state and local taxes paid, charitable donations, unreimbursed medical expenses, real estate taxes paid, personal property taxes paid, etc.  This can be a lot to track, so it is highly advisable that if you or your tax preparer believes you may itemize, receipts for these expenses should be kept throughout the year to account for them properly when the upcoming tax season arrives.

There are also a few legislative changes that will be in effect for the 2026 tax season that you may want to keep in mind. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) was signed into effect in 2025, and many of the changes are already implemented. However, some of the changes are not in effect yet and they may apply to you. If you have any children born from Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2028, you will be able to file Form 4547 and apply for a “Trump Account” that will include $1,000 in seed money as an investment account for your child. Also, there will be an opportunity to deduct up to $1,000 in charitable contributions if you do not otherwise itemize, beginning in the 2026 tax season.

Keep in mind that these are just a few things to consider when preparing yourself for next year’s tax season, and that if you have any questions or concerns about anything regarding your tax situation, always reach out to your tax preparer.

If you are like I was, I am here to give you the stark reality of tax refunds.  While receiving that lump sum may feel like a bonus from all of your hard work of the year prior and diligently paying your taxes, it is really nothing more than the taxing authority saying “thank you for the interest free loan, we didn’t need all of this.”

That’s right!  Interest free loan.  How many of those have you received in your life?  Is the federal government handing those out to you?  NOPE!  So why should you give that to them?

I remember when I was finally enlightened by a mentor that the best tax situation to be in is to owe the government as much as possible with your tax return, without paying a penalty.  I eagerly changed my wife’s and my withholdings and dropped them to what I estimated to be the lowest we could get away with and then diligently stashed the money in a savings account every month.  The following year after completing our taxes, I proudly exclaimed to my wife, “we did it!”  “We finally put one over on them!”

We owed thousands of dollars, but benefited by collecting hundreds of dollars of interest with the net result in our favor.  I made one near fatal mistake, I didn’t explain all this to my wife in advance.  So when I shared my excitement of us having to write a big check, she nearly…well, I will let you the readers use your imagination.

You see, outside of some refundable credits that are allowed to certain taxpayers, a tax refund is simply the taxing authority giving us our money back because we proved to them through our tax return that we overpaid them.  To compound the fact that they have had use of our money all year, they are not paying us interest on those funds.  However, as unfair as it may sound, if you owe them too much at the end of the year, they will charge you extra.  The balance of power in this scenario is still in their favor.

So, since we are in the tax filing season, there is no better time to review your 2025 return and start making appropriate changes now early in 2026 to affect the outcome of filing season next year.  This is not to say that you need to take this to the extreme and write a big check, but maybe just try to get closer to break even.  Keep your money to yourself.  Spend it or save it, it’s yours and they are not going to pay you for loaning it to them all year.

And in case you are curious, my wife allowed me to “see the errors of my ways” and now we manage closer to break even (not a big check written or a big refund coming back), but that is still a story in development.

High yield savings accounts, CDs, any bank savings accounts, and income from bonds would typically produce interest income, which would be shown to you in the form of a 1099-INT or a brokerage’s 1099 Consolidated. This income will be taxed at whichever rate your ordinary income will be, which is federally marginalized at 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%. This means that your income will gradually be taxed at these rates – once it is at a rate, only the portion of income that is above the threshold for each is taxed at each; this does not mean that all of your income is taxed at your highest rate. Statewide, the same concept applies and it will be applicable to your state’s ordinary income tax rate, if your state has one. Treasury bond interest is treated similarly federally, but they are not taxed statewide, and municipal bonds are not taxed federally but will likely be taxed within your state and locality. These are some of the most straightforward and conservative means of acquiring investment income, as they provide simple and relatively predictable inflows.

Dividends are produced from distributions of corporate profits, and there are two main types: Ordinary and Qualified, and they are treated differently in the taxable context. Ordinary dividends are taxed at the same marginal rates as interest income. Qualified dividends however, if the security providing the dividend is held for more than 60 days, are taxed at preferential long term capital gains rates, which will range from 0% to 15% to 20%. Dividends will be accounted for and provided to you within a 1099-DIV or a brokerage 1099 Consolidated form.

Capital Gains are another very common taxable event that will occur when holdings such as stocks, real estate, land, or collectables, are sold at a net gain. Long-term gains are taxed at preferential rates (held for more than 1 year) and short-term gains are taxable at ordinary income rates (held for less than one year and sold). There are certain rules regarding capital gains that allow for an avoidance of paying some or all of the amount, such as selling a primary residence you have lived in for at least two years. If you file single, the first $250,000 of gain on the property is not taxable, and if you are married filing jointly, up to $500,000 is not taxable. Tracking the cost basis when selling homes can provide the means to properly account for these exceptions. Collectables, such as gold, silver, antiques and art are subject to a maximum 28% long term gain rate, which gives them a unique disadvantage. Capital gains will be provided to you via a 1099-B, which also may be within a 1099 Consolidated statement.

Digital assets are considered to be a “new financial frontier” for some, and are growing in popularity, particularly among young filers. Digital assets include cryptocurrencies, NFTs, tokenized assets, and stablecoins. If you own and sell any of these, you should be provided a 1099-DA, which will be used to report gross proceeds from the sales, account for asset swaps, and show any payments you may have made with digital currencies. When filing your Form 1040 return, there will be a box to check that will be asking if you sold digital assets.

As you can see, there are a handful of various investment income sources, and each will be taxed in different ways. Always reach out to a trusted financial advisor or accountant if you have any uncertainties in understanding the nature of investments and the income that they will likely provide for you.