Carlson Capital Management

Integrated Wealth Management

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Retirement Planning

Articles and resources related to Retirement Planning.

Are We There Yet? Navigating Volatility.

Adam Hoffmann – Carlson Capital Management
Adam Hoffmann, CFP®, AIF®

Chief Investment Officer
507.321.4004
Email Adam

  Being able to apply my deep-rooted curiosity in a way that allows our clients to focus on what they truly enjoy doing the most, rather than having to worry about their financial well-being, is a wonderful thing.  

Professional Biography
Adam Hoffmann is a member of the firm's Management Team and serves as Chief Investment Officer at Carlson Capital Management. In this role, he leads the firm’s investment team in the areas of trading, investment research, portfolio design and technology support for investment applications. Adam oversees analysis and execution of investment strategies for new and existing client portfolios. He consistently communicates the firm’s investment philosophy and approach by writing for firm publications, presenting to new clients, and by participating in client meetings. Adam chairs the CCM investment committee, represents the firm with strategic partnerships in the investment community, and serves as the firm’s liaison to the Zero Alpha Group investment committee. Adam holds the Certified Financial Planner™ designation granted through the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards and has served as a subject matter expert for the CFP Board, contributing to the development of examination questions for the CFP Certification Examination. He has also served as a presenter at industry events, providing other financial services professionals with continuing education credits in investment topics. In addition, Adam holds the Accredited Investment Fiduciary professional designation, awarded by the Center for Fiduciary Studies. The AIF designation affirms the highest in fiduciary standards of care for CCM clients.

Adam graduated cum laude with Honors Program distinction from Augsburg College, where he earned a Bachelors of Arts degree in Finance with a minor in Business Administration. While at Augsburg, Adam participated in four years of varsity football and was honored by his teammates by being elected captain for both his junior and senior seasons. He also earned all-MIAC and pre-season All-American honors.

Adam is a former member of the board of directors for the Just Food Community Co-op and past trustee for the First United Church of Christ Northfield. He and his wife Rachel grew up in Hastings, Minnesota and now live in Northfield with their two daughters.

Personal Thoughts
A strong sense of curiosity is a cornerstone to who I am and how I live my life. As a kid I used to be fascinated by how things work or why things happen the way they do. I often would take things apart to see what was happening ‘inside,’ frequently with limited success at being able to put them back together. Little has changed since then with regard to my curiosity, but fortunately my success rate of being able to put the pieces back together has greatly improved. I have always been driven by this desire to solve problems and learn more about the world around me.

There is a natural connection between this curiosity and managing portfolios. The investment world today is one of relentless change and evolution. With advances in technology, there is an endless stream of news available at our fingertips that constantly impacts asset prices, shapes investor behavior, and provides an unlimited supply of data and information to digest.

It is our job at CCM to absorb this information and provide guidance and knowledge back to our clients about what it all means and how it may it impact the world we know. The most important role we play in our clients’ financial lives is not only to understand the big picture – that is the Market and the global economic system – but to be able to translate how events and changes around the globe impact each individual client and their personal financial plan.

Being able to apply my deep-rooted curiosity in a way that allows our clients to focus on what they truly enjoy doing the most, rather than having to worry about their financial well-being, is a wonderful thing.

Adam and other members of the CCM Investment Team regularly post articles of interest including investment insights, recommended reading on timely topics, and articles on portfolio management which you can find here.

Adam Hoffmann
Adam Hoffmann, CFP®, AIF®
Chief Investment Officer

The oft-repeated phrase for almost every family road trip in recorded history—“Are we there yet?”—is also appropriately asked by investors experiencing stock and bond markets in 2022. Although we’re not traveling together in the back of a wood-paneled station wagon to grandma’s house halfway across the country, we are all experiencing an uncomfortable journey of volatility. Questions that I hear and questions I’m asking myself along this investing volatility voyage include: Have stocks ... [Continue Reading]

Published October 17, 2022 Topics: Discipline, Economy, Financial Planning, Inflation, Market Volatility, Retirement Planning

NUA: A Tax Strategy for Retiring With Employer Stock

Benjamin Carlson – Carlson Capital Management
Ben Carlson, CFP®

Associate Integrated Wealth Advisor and Paraplanner Team Lead
952.230.6702
Email Ben

  I enjoy helping clients experience the joy of seeing their money in action.  

Professional Biography
Ben Carlson is an Associate Integrated Wealth Advisor and Paraplanner Team Lead at Carlson Capital Management. As part of the Advisory Team, Ben collaborates with clients and advisors across the firm on all aspects of planning and portfolio management. He is responsible for facilitating client meetings, preparing presentation materials and assisting with portfolio management. In addition, Ben engages with newly hired Paraplanners to mentor them in CCM's approach to integrated wealth management and culture of care, and is responsible for a strong working knowledge of and leveraging of firm technology to best serve clients.

Ben graduated magna cum laude from St. Olaf College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and History with a concentration in Finance. While at St. Olaf, Ben participated in four years of varsity tennis, served as team captain and was selected to the all-MIAC team for three years. In his junior and senior years, he participated as a peer tutor in principles of Accounting. Pursuing an entrepreneurial spirit, and after winning a start-up grant, Ben founded and operated Jolly Fly Fishing, LLC for three years, guiding summer fly fishing expeditions in western Wisconsin. Prior to joining CCM, Ben worked as an account representative for a large Twin Cities reinsurance brokerage company. Ben holds the Certified Financial Planner™ certification granted through the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.

When not at work, Ben continues to enjoy fly fishing, playing tennis, and going to the cabin. He also enjoys being involved in the community and serves as a volunteer coach for an inner-city tennis program for their “Super Saturday” programs and is a member of the Rotary Club of Prior Lake. Ben grew up in Hastings, Minnesota and now lives in Prior Lake.

Personal Thoughts
At CCM, we take a great deal of care in learning about the personal background and financial goals of the clients we work with. As a part of this process, a question we often ask is, “Tell us about your first memory of money.” My first memory of money goes back to the lemonade stand I had when I was five years old. The house where I spent my childhood was situated in an oddity of city planning, the double cul-du-sac. One day, I decided to have a lemonade stand at the end of my parents' driveway. Needless to say, it was not very successful being tucked away in the back of a cul-du-sac. Somewhere along the line, I decided to put the lemonade stand on my red wagon and move it to the nearby street corner and out of the cul-du-sac. With the increased car and foot traffic on an actual road coupled with the generosity of passersby and an overly enthusiastic five-year-old attitude, my revenues increased substantially. I tucked every dollar bill away into an old leather wallet my grandfather passed down to me. The wallet was so old all the dollar bills stored inside the folds came out smelling like an antique store. At the end of the summer, I had had put $144 into that wallet, a number I still remember. One day, I asked my parents to bring me to Hastings Family Service (the local food shelf), where I plopped on the counter the entire sum I had made that summer.

When I think about this first money memory, for me it's reflecting on what I decided to do with it, and also about seeing money in action and experiencing the joy of hard work coming to fruition. With busy lives, we can all fall into thinking of money as strictly a financial, quantitative asset that we have worked hard to accumulate. While quantitative elements are of course, very important, part of the delight of working at CCM for me is experiencing the qualitative aspects of our approach to integrated wealth management. In looking at financial assets not only relative to their quantitative value, but as a tool to accomplish our goals in life, it helps our clients to experience the joy of seeing their money in action. And while I have grown and aged since my lemonade stand days, my enthusiastic attitude and passion in my approach to work has not.

Ben Carlson
Ben Carlson, CFP®
Associate Integrated Wealth Advisor and Paraplanner Team Lead

Individuals nearing retirement have many timely decisions to navigate. For those who hold shares of their employer’s stock in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, such as a profit-sharing plan or an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), it’s an opportune time to determine how to best leverage the appreciated stock by exploring net unrealized appreciation (NUA) tax strategies to support your long-term financial goals. Qualifying Events When certain qualifying events and triggers are met, ... [Continue Reading]

Published September 28, 2022 Topics: Capital Gains Tax, IRAs, Retirement Planning, Tax Planning

Why Do We Invest?

James Yaworski – Carlson Capital Management
James Michael Yaworski, CFA

Senior Investment Strategist
507.206.2804
Email James

Professional Biography
James Michael Yaworski serves as Senior Investment Strategist at Carlson Capital Management. In this role, James is responsible for investment research, portfolio management, and client investment education. James monitors and reviews client portfolios to maintain balance across asset classes, makes recommendations for portfolios when out of alignment with models, reviews daily cash positions, and places trades through the custodial trading platform. He also provides new client portfolio analysis, asset class/portfolio research and analysis, prepares and presents client education materials, and manages other activities in support of overall client portfolio management.

James is a graduate of Northern Illinois University where he earned his degree in Finance. While studying at NIU, he gained insights into his future career as part of a student-managed portfolio team. Prior to joining CCM, James’ experience included working in the roles of investment manager, project manager in investment research, and financial analyst in both large and small financial organizations. James holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA Charter) designation, granted by the CFA Institute, which entails a rigorous exam requirement. He also represents CCM as chair of the investment research committee of Zero Alpha Group, a national network of eight independent wealth management firms.

In addition to the research James conducts related to building strong client portfolios, he is engaged in research on approaches that enhance institutional experiences as well. His most recent work sets out to provide institutional investors with a more robust way of constructing spending policies. In a paper published in the Financial Analysts Journal, James shows how current practices create poor long-term outcomes, resulting in declining support for beneficiaries over time. He also demonstrates how current methods expose trustees to significant fiduciary risk, and how small errors in implementation can have significant long-term ramifications on portfolio growth. His in-depth and thoughtful research stems from his genuine interest in providing university, public and private foundations, and endowment trustees with an approach that not only optimizes the outcomes of their portfolio’s performance, but also addresses their fiduciary responsibility with regard to spending policies. [You can read the accepted manuscript of James' paper here.]

James enjoys being engaged in the community with Habitat for Humanity and Paws & Claws. In his free time he also enjoys golfing and playing softball. James grew up in Crystal Lake, Illinois and now resides in Rochester, Minnesota with his wife, Brittany, their three young children, and two dogs, Frankie and Jordy.

Personal Thoughts
“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.”  -Mother Teresa

I have grown to appreciate the importance of collaboration and teamwork in this industry. A group of individuals, each dedicated toward expertise in their respective fields, can help to piece together the puzzle of a family’s financial lives in an incredible manner. The end result is one which truly connects the math of an individual’s personal finances with the why that makes up who they are and what they want to achieve in life.

As a member of our investment team, I enjoy every aspect of this process; from our discovery meetings where we learn about financial goals, to the analysis and construction of a financial plan, to the educational meetings where we help put all the pieces into place. Ultimately, building a relationship with clients that centers on creating financial security and establishing confidence in their financial plan is extremely gratifying.

James and other members of the CCM Investment Team regularly post articles of interest including investment insights, recommended reading on timely topics, and articles on portfolio management which you can find here.

James Michael Yaworski
James Michael Yaworski, CFA
Senior Investment Strategist

Why do we invest? It may seem like a simple question, but it is one that is too frequently passed over. We invest to accomplish our financial goals. But those goals are unique relative to the goals of other investors. To illustrate the importance of the story behind an investment strategy, especially as it relates to a life stage, let's consider a couple entering retirement. It's no surprise that a couple entering retirement has very different goals and objectives than a nonprofit ... [Continue Reading]

Published August 22, 2022 Topics: Diversification, Financial Planning, Portfolio Management, Retirement Planning

Planning for Inflation

James Yaworski – Carlson Capital Management
James Michael Yaworski, CFA

Senior Investment Strategist
507.206.2804
Email James

Professional Biography
James Michael Yaworski serves as Senior Investment Strategist at Carlson Capital Management. In this role, James is responsible for investment research, portfolio management, and client investment education. James monitors and reviews client portfolios to maintain balance across asset classes, makes recommendations for portfolios when out of alignment with models, reviews daily cash positions, and places trades through the custodial trading platform. He also provides new client portfolio analysis, asset class/portfolio research and analysis, prepares and presents client education materials, and manages other activities in support of overall client portfolio management.

James is a graduate of Northern Illinois University where he earned his degree in Finance. While studying at NIU, he gained insights into his future career as part of a student-managed portfolio team. Prior to joining CCM, James’ experience included working in the roles of investment manager, project manager in investment research, and financial analyst in both large and small financial organizations. James holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA Charter) designation, granted by the CFA Institute, which entails a rigorous exam requirement. He also represents CCM as chair of the investment research committee of Zero Alpha Group, a national network of eight independent wealth management firms.

In addition to the research James conducts related to building strong client portfolios, he is engaged in research on approaches that enhance institutional experiences as well. His most recent work sets out to provide institutional investors with a more robust way of constructing spending policies. In a paper published in the Financial Analysts Journal, James shows how current practices create poor long-term outcomes, resulting in declining support for beneficiaries over time. He also demonstrates how current methods expose trustees to significant fiduciary risk, and how small errors in implementation can have significant long-term ramifications on portfolio growth. His in-depth and thoughtful research stems from his genuine interest in providing university, public and private foundations, and endowment trustees with an approach that not only optimizes the outcomes of their portfolio’s performance, but also addresses their fiduciary responsibility with regard to spending policies. [You can read the accepted manuscript of James' paper here.]

James enjoys being engaged in the community with Habitat for Humanity and Paws & Claws. In his free time he also enjoys golfing and playing softball. James grew up in Crystal Lake, Illinois and now resides in Rochester, Minnesota with his wife, Brittany, their three young children, and two dogs, Frankie and Jordy.

Personal Thoughts
“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.”  -Mother Teresa

I have grown to appreciate the importance of collaboration and teamwork in this industry. A group of individuals, each dedicated toward expertise in their respective fields, can help to piece together the puzzle of a family’s financial lives in an incredible manner. The end result is one which truly connects the math of an individual’s personal finances with the why that makes up who they are and what they want to achieve in life.

As a member of our investment team, I enjoy every aspect of this process; from our discovery meetings where we learn about financial goals, to the analysis and construction of a financial plan, to the educational meetings where we help put all the pieces into place. Ultimately, building a relationship with clients that centers on creating financial security and establishing confidence in their financial plan is extremely gratifying.

James and other members of the CCM Investment Team regularly post articles of interest including investment insights, recommended reading on timely topics, and articles on portfolio management which you can find here.

James Michael Yaworski
James Michael Yaworski, CFA
Senior Investment Strategist

Inflation, an issue which the Federal Reserve initially discussed as a transitory event driven by pandemic-related supply chain bottlenecks and staffing shortages, may persist longer than expected due to the economic sanctions being placed on Russian oil exports. Oil is a critical input to the global economy, and the recent surge in prices will lead to higher producer and consumer prices in months to come. Inflation and Retirement Inflation is one of the largest risks facing retirees, ... [Continue Reading]

Published March 24, 2022 Topics: Inflation, Retirement Planning, Small Value Stocks

Retiring This Year? Read This First.

Nick Krakosky – Carlson Capital Management
Nick Krakosky, CFP®

Integrated Wealth Advisor
507.206.2803
Email Nick

  Our disciplined investment approach and commitment to integrating a team of experts delivers exceptional value for clients.  

Professional Biography
Nick Krakosky is an Integrated Wealth Advisor at Carlson Capital Management. As part of the advisory team, Nick partners with clients and their families, providing the firm's fully integrated wealth management experience including investment management, retirement modeling, estate and educational planning, and all other aspects of general financial planning and client care. In this role, Nick also connects clients with the firm's specialists for overall portfolio management as well as direct access to expertise in areas such as tax planning and insurance analysis.

Nick holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration, with emphases in finance and banking and real estate, from the University of Missouri's Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business. Prior to joining the CCM team, Nick worked for more than six years as a trainer for a large, nationwide investment firm. During his tenure, he was responsible for developing training programs to enhance the client experience and support the implementation of goals-based processes. Nick holds the Certified Financial Planner™ certification granted through the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.

Nick and his wife, Rachel, proudly call Rochester, Minnesota, home. In his free time, Nick enjoys spending time playing golf, eating good food, playing hockey, watching sports, and taking his dog, Lily, on walks.

Personal Thoughts
I was born and raised in a suburb of St. Louis alongside of my three siblings by two hardworking parents who balanced a tight family budget by sacrificing many of their own wants so we could enjoy the thing we loved the most—playing competitive travel hockey. As I grew older, I became more aware of the sacrifices my parents were making, so I began mowing lawns at 13 and got my first job at the hockey rink at 15 so I didn’t have to rely on my parents as much for hockey equipment and spending cash. Throughout the rest of high school, I grew more and more interested in personal finance as I made my own money and helped pay my own bills.

After high school, I went on to become the first in my family to attend college. While my family couldn’t afford to pay for college, my parents always loaded me up with tons of groceries, gas money, and a little extra spending cash so I could focus on school and getting involved in leadership opportunities on campus. My parents’ generosity, willingness, and ability to live on a tight family budget left an everlasting impression on my work ethic, views on money, and my career aspirations to become a wealth advisor and help others make the most of their wealth.

Nick Krakosky
Nick Krakosky, CFP®
Integrated Wealth Advisor

Entering retirement—even thinking about retirement—carries a host of emotions ... excitement, stress, relief, anxiety, and joy among them. The team at CCM has experience helping clients navigate all of these emotions and so much more, and we’re honored to provide support in this significant life transition. Before you make the leap, here are four things that you should consider: Revisit Your Spending As your retirement date nears, create a budget of all your fixed expenses (mortgage ... [Continue Reading]

Published January 24, 2022 Topics: Retirement Planning, Social Security

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