5 COMPANY NEWS & COMMUNICATIONS WELCOME TO A NEW COLLEAGUE We are happy to introduce MICAH who has joined CCM as a Paraplanner. Micah Nelson Paraplanner Rochester Office Babson College (Wellesley, MA) Alumnus Full colleague biographies can be read at carlsoncap.com/team CCM NAMED A FinancialTimes 300Top RIA Carlson Capital Management has been named to Financial Times’ Annual FT 300:  Top Registered Investment Advisers listing. In the publication’s fourth edition of the listing they “assess registered investment advisers on desirable traits for investors.” According to editors Fox and Ferraro,“We present the FT 300 as an elite group, not a competitive ranking of one to 300. This is the fairest way to identify the industry’s elite advisers while accounting for the companies’ different approaches and different specialisations.” The colleagues of CCM are very honored to be included in this listing. ft.com Charitable Gifting For testamentary charitable gifting, we encourage naming preferred charities as beneficiaries on qualified retirement accounts.We encourage this practice because a charity named as a beneficiary of a qualified retirement account will receive distributions free of any income taxes. On the other hand, an individual named as a beneficiary of a qualified retirement account will pay ordinary income taxes on all distributions. Annual Review Understandably, clients are concerned about maximizing what they leave behind to their heirs or to charities. To ensure current gifting preferences are accurately reflected, we recommend conducting an annual review of the gift amounts intended for various beneficiaries.At the same time, one should regularly monitor and review (with their advisor) any changes to federal and state laws governing estate tax exemption amounts. In fact, the state of Minnesota recently passed a tax bill that increases the estate tax exemptions. (More information about this change is available in the Update from the Tax Team on page 3.) In addition to the aforementioned considerations, we encourage conversations with family members about estate planning intentions.These conversations are opportunities to communicate what is important to you, to pass on family values, to achieve a better understanding of desires and goals, and to best plan for the future. Our team at CCM is here to facilitate that process, and step through the above review items, with you and your family at any time. 4 5