Elevate Your Client Experience: Collaborative Insights from Top Industry Experts

As we step into a fresh week, let's take a moment to appreciate the wealth of knowledge and insights we've gathered recently. Our network is more than just a collection of professionals; it's a community dedicated to mutual growth and the sharing of expertise. This newsletter reflects our collective pursuit of excellence in the financial world.

There is a lot of noise on social media regarding financial literacy. Most of the information is not being presented by professionals. Our commitment to you is to help provide insights from professionals across the board. We hope you begin to see how the network can help you become a bigger client resource.

Last Week's Recap: We had a great week filled with valuable insights and thought-provoking discussions. Here's a quick look back:

• Navigating the Maze of Tax Policy Changes in 2024 - The combination of legislation, such as the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0, along with the impending presidential election, is set to reshape the landscape of tax policies in the United States. Part of that is the Corporate Transparency Act.
• Navigating the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA): A Guide for Small and Medium Businesses - Enacted to combat money laundering, tax fraud, and other illicit activities, the CTA mandates enhanced transparency in entity structures and ownership. This is something you and your business clients need to know about. We will do our best to dive into this more before the end of the year.
• Innovative Billing and Financial Planning Strategies for CPAs in the Modern Era - As client needs become more diverse and the economic landscape more complex, adapting and innovating will be critical to the sustained success of CPA firms.

Professional Insights: Last week's interview was with Eric O'Connor . Michael J. Clarke and Eric spoke about Pooled Trusts & How They Can Secure Your Benefits. They talked about "what is a professional fiduciary", "how does a professional fiduciary protect your estate plan?", "what do you need to be aware of regarding special needs trusts?", and much more. To watch the full interview, CLICK HERE.

If you would like to learn how you can be a part of the Professional Insights series, please let us know.

Things to watch in markets this week:

Investopedia.com

Coming up this week: the Federal Reserve interest rate decision, consumer and wholesale inflation figures, and an AI-focused product launch from Intel.

1. Economic Calendar: Investors will also get more signals over the path of inflation when the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is released on Tuesday, which comes as other recent inflation reports have shown that prices have been increasing at a slower pace. On Wednesday, the Producer Price Index (PPI) will show wholesale prices for business, another inflation indicator.
2. Investors Watching Fed Meeting for Market Signals: Market watchers will have their focus trained on Wednesday this week, when the FOMC ends its two-day meeting with a decision on the federal funds interest rate that currently stands at 5.25% to 5.5%. Investors strongly believe that the Fed will keep rates there, with the CME FedWatch tool indicating a 98.4% chance that markets have priced in another pause at the current rate, with another 1.6% chance of a 25-basis-point hike.
3. Consumer, Wholesale Price Data to Show Path of Inflation: Has inflation been conquered? The latest reading of the Consumer Price Index on Tuesday will be another step toward answering that question, as economists will be looking to see whether inflation continues its downward trend.The most recent readings have been promising, as the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE)—the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge—showed inflation falling to 3% year-over-year in November. Last month's CPI also looked better, with inflation dropping to 3.2% from 3.7%.Another decline in inflation would meet consumer expectations, with the most recent Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index showing that the public believes price increases will continue to slow over the near and long term.
4. Competition Heats Up in the AI Chip Space: For the second straight week, a chipmaker will host an event to debut new technology and tout the AI power of its products. On Thursday, it's Intel's "AI Everywhere" launch, where the company will launch its fifth-generation Xeon processors for data centers and Core Ultra processors for laptops.3 The event comes after Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) held a similar launch event last week, helping move its share price up by more than 7%.

As always, we are here to support you in building a comprehensive and cohesive financial strategy for your clients. By leveraging the collective expertise of others in the network, we can transform how we approach client relationships and drive success in our respective practices.

Thank you for your continued commitment to excellence and for being an integral part of our community. We look forward to another week of growth and collaboration.