Arizona Capital Management

October is shaping up to be another busy month for the ACM team!

We'll be out in the community throughout the month for several CHWP Health & Benefit Shows, connecting with employees and answering questions about financial and retirement planning.

You'll find us at:
📍 October 8 | Phoenix Defense
📍 October 12 | BALZ Elementary School District
📍 October 14 | Maricopa Unified School District
📍 October 14 | Laveen Elementary School
📍 October 20 | Town of Queen Creek
📍 October 26 | Lodge at Ventana Canyon
📍 October 27 | United Cerebral Palsy of Central AZ
📍 October 29 | Bryten

If you're attending one of these events, stop by and say hello. We look forward to seeing you!

Building wealth involves more than deciding where to invest.

As your income, career, or business grows, so can the number of financial decisions competing for your attention. How much should you keep in cash? Are you making the most of your workplace benefits? How should you balance retirement savings with other priorities? What changes when your compensation or business income changes?

ACM Wealth Builder brings those decisions into one financial plan, helping professionals and business owners understand what each part of their money needs to do and how those pieces may work together.

Explore ACM Wealth Builder: https://www.arizonacapitalmanagement.com/wealth-builder

New federal data reveal a gap between retirement-plan access and participation. Pensions and workplace accounts matter, but readiness depends on how they fit into a complete financial plan.

A Pension or 401(k) Is a Starting Point, Not a Retirement Plan New federal data highlight differences between public pensions and private retirement plans. Learn why access alone does not determine retirement readiness.

Retirement decisions don't happen in isolation.

When you retire. When you claim Social Security. How you use your pension. Which accounts you draw from and when. How you prepare for healthcare costs.

Each may be a separate decision, but they can all be part of the same retirement picture.

That's why retirement planning is about more than checking off individual decisions. It's about understanding how the pieces work together and revisiting them as your life and priorities change.

A more connected view can lead to better-informed conversations about what's ahead. Schedule a meeting with us to find out how we can help you: https://acm.ceterainvestors.com/scheduling-made-easy

AI can help you learn about retirement. But can it tell you when you’re ready?

AI can be a useful tool for exploring retirement concepts, comparing general approaches, and helping you identify questions you may want to ask.

What it can't fully understand is you: your complete financial picture, priorities, family considerations, pension benefits, tax situation, or how one decision may affect another.

Use technology to get informed. Then bring what you've learned, and your questions, into a conversation with a financial professional who can help you put the pieces together.

Because being informed is valuable. Understanding what that information means for you is the next step.

The Fed’s latest rate increase changes the math for cash, debt, and borrowing, but it calls for a coordinated financial review, not a wholesale rewrite of a sound long-term plan.

The Fed Raised Rates. What Should You Review, and What Should You Leave Alone? The Fed raised rates again. Learn what higher rates may mean for retirement income, cash reserves, debt, bonds, and business borrowing.

Is Roth always better? Not necessarily.

You've probably heard plenty about Roth accounts and their potential role in retirement planning, but one of the most important things to understand is that "Roth vs. pre-tax" isn't a one-size-fits-all decision.

Factors such as income, tax bracket, retirement timing, employer plan rules, and broader financial goals can all play a role.

And that's part of a bigger retirement-planning lesson: individual decisions shouldn't necessarily be considered in isolation. Your pension, Social Security, workplace retirement plans, personal savings, taxes, and other income sources can all affect the bigger picture.

Our recent article looks at several retirement rule changes for 2026 and, more importantly, the questions they may raise as you plan ahead. Read it at: https://acm.ceterainvestors.com/blog/retirement-rules-are-changing-heres-what-state-pension-employees-retire

RMDs may be a year-end requirement. Planning for them doesn't have to be.

Required minimum distributions are often treated as a December task. However, waiting until year-end can leave less time to think through some of the decisions that may accompany a distribution, such as:
• Which accounts have an RMD?
• How much retirement income are you already receiving?
• Does tax withholding need to be reviewed?
• Is charitable giving part of your plan?
• Could your custodian or charity need additional processing time?

Retirement income decisions can affect other parts of your financial picture, which is why looking at them together can be helpful.

Our latest article explains what to consider and why September can be a good time to start the review. Read it at: https://acm.ceterainvestors.com/blog/why-september-is-the-right-time-to-review-rmds-and-charitable-giving

Retirement misconception: "I have a pension, so my retirement is handled."

A pension can provide an important source of lifetime retirement income, but it's still only one part of the picture.

For Arizona public employees participating in pension systems such as ASRS or PSPRS, understanding your pension benefit is an important part of retirement planning, but it doesn't answer every retirement question.

As retirement approaches, there may be other questions to consider:
• How will inflation affect your spending power over time?
• When will you claim Social Security?
• What role will your personal savings play?
• How might healthcare costs affect your income needs?
• How do taxes fit into your withdrawal decisions?
• What do you want to leave for your family?

That's why retirement readiness isn't determined by any one account or income source.

Learn more about how the pieces work together, along with several retirement changes for 2026, here: https://acm.ceterainvestors.com/blog/retirement-rules-are-changing-heres-what-state-pension-employees-retire

FINRA’s proposed fraud rules put a timely spotlight on trusted contacts and temporary account holds. The goal is not to surrender control, but to create a pause-and-verify process before money is lost.

A Trusted Contact Is Not Control: Building a Financial Fraud Firewall FINRA’s proposed fraud protections explain how trusted contacts and temporary holds can help retirees pause suspicious transactions without surrendering control.