| Good morning from Traverse City — |
| A few things have converged in the financial world lately that are worth translating out of trade-press language and into plain English. Pre-IPO investments are drawing federal fraud charges. The long-term care question is getting harder to sidestep. And 401(k) balances have quietly — well, visibly — climbed to levels that change the tax math. Here's what actually matters for your retirement paycheck and peace of mind. |
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By the numbers
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$2,365/mo
Traverse City cost of living, single person
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769,000
Record 401(k) millionaire accounts at Fidelity
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200%
Alleged markup on pre-IPO investments in fraud case
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IN THIS ISSUE
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1
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A pre-IPO broker just got arrested for charging 200% markups — here's what to know |
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The Medicaid trade-off most families don't see until it's too late |
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More 401(k) millionaires — and a tax bill that grows with the balance |
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4
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Traverse City's cost of living runs 4% below the national average — and that changes your retirement number |
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The lead · FRAUD ALERT
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A pre-IPO broker just got arrested for charging 200% markups — here's what to know
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| Federal prosecutors charged the former head of Linqto with allegedly marking up pre-IPO investments by more than 200% while lying to customers about prices and inventory. |
| Pre-IPO investing — buying shares in private companies before they go public — has been pitched heavily to retirees and near-retirees over the past few years as a way to get in early on the next big thing. This case is a reminder of why that pitch deserves extra skepticism: private markets have no real-time pricing, which makes it easy to charge whatever the seller decides to charge. If anyone has approached you with a pre-IPO opportunity, the first question to ask is: where exactly does this price come from, and who verified it? |
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Why it matters: If you hold any private or pre-IPO investment — in any account — it's worth getting a second set of eyes on how it's valued before you make another move.
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Read at wealthmanagement.com →
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LONG-TERM CARE
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The Medicaid trade-off most families don't see until it's too late
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| A detailed look at Medicaid planning this week laid out a tension that comes up in nearly every retirement plan: protecting assets from long-term care costs can conflict with actually getting the care you want. |
| Medicaid will pay for a nursing home, but it doesn't pay for the facility you'd choose if money were no object — and qualifying usually means spending down assets first. Some planning strategies can legally shelter money, but they come with real trade-offs: a five-year look-back period, potential loss of control over assets, and sometimes a gap in care coverage while everything settles. The math looks different for every family depending on health, savings, and what care actually costs in northern Michigan. |
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Why it matters: Long-term care is the retirement risk most likely to undo a careful savings plan, and the planning options narrow significantly once care is already needed — so the conversation is better had early.
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Read at kitces.com →
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RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS
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More 401(k) millionaires — and a tax bill that grows with the balance
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| The number of millionaire 401(k) accounts at Fidelity rose 19% to a record 769,000 between the first and second quarter of 2026. |
| That's genuinely good news for savers — but a larger 401(k) balance also means larger required minimum distributions (RMDs) starting at age 73, and those distributions are taxed as ordinary income. For people approaching or already in retirement, a balance that crossed a new threshold this year might push more of your Social Security into taxable territory, or bump you into a higher Medicare Part B premium bracket. It's worth checking where your balance sits now, not just at year-end. |
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Why it matters: A rising 401(k) balance can quietly increase your future tax bill in ways that a Roth conversion strategy — done before RMDs kick in — might soften, which is worth bringing to your next review at Lakeshore.
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Read the full story →
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LOCAL CONTEXT
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Traverse City's cost of living runs 4% below the national average — and that changes your retirement number
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| Salary.com estimates a single person's total cost of living in Traverse City at $2,365 per month in 2026, about 4% below the U.S. national average. |
| That figure matters because most retirement income projections use national averages as a starting point. If you're planning to stay in the area — and most of our clients are — your actual spending target may be modestly lower than what generic online calculators spit out. The local picture isn't uniformly cheap, though: the median home value here sits at $437,525, roughly 5.9 times the median household income of $74,087, which is a stretch by any measure for someone buying in retirement. |
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Why it matters: Using a locally grounded cost estimate instead of a national average can meaningfully change how much you need saved — and whether the number you've been targeting is too high, too low, or just right.
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Read at Salary.com →
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Quick hits
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• Section 530A 'Trump Accounts' — a new type of savings account created this year — could affect how you think about passing money to grandchildren while you're still alive, not just through your estate: worth a look if intergenerational giving is on your mind. →
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• Grand Traverse County's private employment grew by more than 12,700 jobs over the last five years — a 25% increase — which means more local workers are accumulating retirement accounts here, and the planning questions that come with them. →
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Tip of the week
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Check your Medicare bracket before December
Medicare Part B premiums for 2027 will be based on your 2025 income — but if your income has changed significantly since then (a Roth conversion, a large RMD, a home sale), you may be able to request a review using your more recent income. The form is SSA-44 and the deadline pressure is real: once January arrives, you'll pay the higher premium for the full year before an appeal catches up. Pull last year's tax return and see which income tier you landed in — the brackets are publicly available on Medicare.gov.
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How was this issue?
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Until next week,
Tom, your planner
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| P.S. The overcast start this morning should clear by afternoon — a good reminder that the forecast and the reality don't always match, in weather or in retirement planning. |