Welcome to the New Year!

Happy New Year and welcome to 2013!!

Time surely does fly when you’re having fun, doesn’t it? It seems like I was just recently wishing a Happy 2012, but somehow a full year has come and gone already. It has been an interesting year at that, full of many changes on the business and economic fronts. I will take the liberty to mention a few of the highlights.

I sincerely hope you are enjoying good health, peace of mind and prosperity in your personal life, and that you have weathered any storms and challenges that you were called to endure last year. There is nothing as constant as change in life, and the better we become at adapting to whatever comes the more contentment and joy we find.

On the family front, my youngest son, Ryan, got married to his beautiful bride Kara in April. He recently finished his accounting degree from BYU and returned to San Diego to seek full-time employment here, much to my joy. My second son, Jordan, and his wife, Jessica, had a darling little girl, Esther, in May, making me a grandpa four times over now. I am a lucky and a blessed dad, grandpa and husband indeed!

On the economic front, if you have kept up with my newsletters and the non-stop media, you won't need much commentary. We went from the certainty of the largest income and estate tax increases in many decades ,which was to start on January 1, to status quo for most Americans - with the exception of a couple stealth tax increases that affect everyone. Unfortunately, the “fiscal cliff” issue failed to produce any real reform or significant progress in addressing the problem in the first place, which is too much spending and an unwillingness to pay the price to live within the means and address the huge debt load that has been amassed. We now get to go through the drama again, and maybe even deeper as we approach the debt limit and the fight to increase it instead of reducing spending. This will go right up to the very end again with everyone biting their nails, and with threats of default, loss of credit and international scorn all being used in the game.

 

However, as always ,we will again come through it and hopefully with some real meaningful fiscal reform and discipline too. We are Americans, and we do, when all is said and done, make it through thick and thin to survive just about anything. I hope that the voice of the majority, who have common sense and a desire for freedom, do not stay silent and let the vocal minority and government factions prevail. May we always do our part to keep this great county great and free and remember the source of all our blessings.

I hope you will continue to assist us in our gentle growth initiative within the Heritage Family, as we endeavor to focus our time to provide the high-level service and expertise you have desired and hopefully enjoyed so far. I would much rather spend my time with you and yours than in any other way.

Have a prosperous January and 2013!

This is a personal blog and is for informational purposes only.  This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific individualized tax, legal or financial planning advice as individual situations will vary. For specific advice about your situation, please consult with a lawyer or financial professional.