2026 Q1 Newsletter
Financial Strategies & Opportunities
Current Economic Updates
Important Dates & Reminders
LFG In the Community
Financial Trends, Opportunities, & Strategies
New Year means new financial goals.
As we embrace the New Year, many of us turn our attention to self-improvement goals, such as emphasizing our health, family, or hobbies. Yet, it's equally important to establish financial objectives. Our team has compiled a helpful list of tips to encourage you to consider how to improve your financial health.
Current Economic Updates
2026: Steady Growth, Careful Fed Moves, and New Investment Opportunities.
Looking ahead to 2026, J.P. Morgan’s Economic Update anticipates the U.S. economy to keep growing, helped by government spending and strong consumer demand. Growth may slow a little compared to late 2025, but the outlook remains positive. Take a look at the rest of the breakdown for this coming year!
Important Dates & Reminders
JANUARY
- Make 2025 fourth quarter estimated tax payments by January 15 if you’re self-employed or underpaying based on your income.
- Make HSA, Roth and Traditional contributions for the 2025 tax year by April 15.
- HSA; Self -$4,300, Family - $8,550, Age 55+ catch-up $1,000
- Max IRA contributions $7,000, catch-up $1,000 by 4/15
- SEP 25% or $70k, whichever is lower.
- Make HSA, Roth and Traditional contributions for the 2025 tax year by April 15.
- If you receive an annual bonus from your employer, use it thoughtfully to increase its potential benefit. It's tempting to splurge, but consider using a bonus to pay down debt, contribute to your retirement plan, or build an emergency fund.
FEBRUARY
- Organize your W-2s, interest and dividend statements, and other tax docs as soon as you receive them. Annual tax forms 1099, 1098, and W-2 should be mailed to you no later than January 31 (February 15 for some 1099s).
- Make a date with your 401(k). Log in to check progress and see if you can give it some love by increasing your contributions.
- Check your insurance policies (property and casualty, liability, health, disability, life) to be sure you're not paying too much for the wrong kind of coverage. We are available to discuss and answer questions about your life, disability income, long term care, and health insurance coverage.
MARCH
- Select a date in March to allocate any tax refunds, bonuses, or pay increases you might get.
- For Medicare Advantage enrollees, the last day to change your Medicare Advantage Plan for 2026 is March 31st.
APRIL
Don't forget to file your tax return, or request an extension, by April 15th. This date is also the deadline for making contributions to your 2025 IRA.
LFG in the community
- Our office came together to support our local food pantry with four weeks of donations! Each week we challenged ourselves to think outside of the box and gather items that will be beneficial for families in need.
- Equitable hosted their annual Day of Service in connection with Feeding America. Jason, Rodger, and Brian all participated and packed over 13,000 meals and almost 16,000 pounds of food!
- We had the opportunity to participate and be a sponsor for Port Main Street’s Fall planter initiative downtown Port Washington. We secured first place in the competition, allowing us to proudly add a certificate and blue ribbon to our planter as a symbol of our victory. We can’t wait to participate in this again next year!
- We proudly sponsored a S’mores station at the Christmas on the Corner event in downtown Port Washington last month. This festive occasion included Christmas shopping, visits with Santa, horse-drawn carriage rides, and even live reindeer. Our station was a warm and inviting spot, complete with a fire pit, cozy seating, cheerful holiday music, and delicious S’mores.
- Everyone enjoyed a day filled with fun that continued into the night with the Christmas parade and fireworks.
- We sponsored two families in need this Christmas season, through Family Promise of Ozaukee County and Ozaukee Family Services. Each person in our office contributed gifts for parents and children, as well as gift cards to local grocery stores.
- This holiday season, we decorated our new bench area in front of our building. Along with a live Christmas tree, we added a red mailbox for collecting “Letters to Santa”. Children and adults could stop by and drop off their letters, so we could send them all the way to the North Pole for Santa to read and respond to. We hope to bring back the mailbox every year!
- Lake Financial put on our 8th annual Christmas Lights Competition in December. We had 30 houses included in the tour this year, and hundreds of community members participate in viewing and voting for their favorites. We had three winners again this year, one chosen by the public vote, one chosen by Port Washington Main Street, and the 2025 guest judge was Individual Growth Services. This is one of our favorite parts of the year, and we can’t wait to bring back the competition for it’s 9th year in 2026!
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