Captain’s Log

History Teaches About Long-Term Investing

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, it is a good moment to step back and remember that progress has never come in a straight line. Our country has lived through wars, recessions, inflation spikes, political division, market crashes, and periods of deep uncertainty, yet over time the broader trajectory of economic growth and innovation has still moved forward. At Anchor, this is one reason we focus so much on long-term planning over short-term reacting.

The long-term numbers help tell that story. From 1928 through 2024, the S&P 500 delivered roughly 9.9% annualized returns, compared with about 4.5% for 10-year Treasury bonds, 3.3% for cash-like Treasury bills, 5.1% for gold, and inflation of about 3.0% per year. In other words, cash has historically helped with stability and liquidity, but stocks have been one of the most powerful tools for outpacing inflation and compounding wealth over long periods of time.

That does not mean investors should ignore risk or assume markets always go up on schedule. It does mean history consistently reminds us that reacting emotionally to every headline is usually less productive than following a sound plan, staying diversified, and giving compounding time to work.

Just as costly, though, is a different short-term trap: trying to predict what will happen in the next few months or years with enough confidence to justify big portfolio moves, or to justify not sitting on too much cash. Behavioral research shows that overconfidence and “I think I know where this is going” forecasting can keep people stuck in familiar but suboptimal habits, or out of the market altogether, even when a well-designed plan calls for a different course.

The families who tend to do best are not the ones who predict every turn, but the ones who make thoughtful decisions and stick with their plan. One recent capital markets analysis noted that $100 invested in U.S. equities a century ago grew to about $1.7 million, despite the Great Depression, world wars, multiple recessions, the financial crisis, and a pandemic.

As we head into the second half of the year, the 250th anniversary is a helpful reminder that resilience and progress often happen together. The lesson for investors is not that the future will be easy, but that long-term success has often belonged to those who stayed grounded, stayed invested, and kept moving forward with a disciplined plan.

Adam
CEO/Wealth Advisor

Unlock Your Complete Financial Picture: Access Your eMoney Client Portal

Managing your wealth effectively requires clarity, organization, and real-time insight into your entire financial life. At Anchor Wealth Management, we provide our clients with access to eMoney—a powerful, secure financial management platform designed to give you a complete, consolidated view of your financial health.

With your personalized eMoney client portal, you can:

• Track Everything in One Place: View connected accounts, real-time balances, investment
  performance, and net worth updates on a single, clean dashboard.
• Monitor Your Goals: Track your progress toward key milestones, whether you are planning for
  retirement, funding education, or building long-term savings.
• Store Important Documents Securely: Access the Vault—a digital, encrypted space to safely
  store vital financial, legal, and tax documents.

Setting up your eMoney portal is simple and takes just a few minutes. If you do not yet have access or need assistance setting up your profile, our team is here to help:

• Contact your Anchor Wealth Management advisor, or
• Reach out to Malik Coleman, paraplanner, at malik@anchorwm.com to request your personalized portal invite.

You will receive an invitation via email with instructions to set up your account credentials securely.

Follow the guided prompts to link your accounts and customize your financial dashboard.

Need Help Getting Set Up? Contact the Anchor Wealth Management team today at (815) 201-5011 or reach out to your advisor.

The Anchored Life: How Our Core Values Shape Your Financial Future

When choosing a financial advisor, most people focus on services, investment strategies, and performance. While those things certainly matter, they don’t tell the whole story.

At Anchor Wealth Management, our approach is guided by something deeper: our values. The word Anchored is more than our name; it’s our philosophy. It’s the foundation for every recommendation we make, every relationship we build, and every financial plan we create. Our core values aren’t just words on a wall. They are principles we put into action every day to help our clients navigate life’s financial decisions with confidence.

Here’s a closer look at what it means to live an Anchored life.

Abundance: Planning Beyond the Numbers
We believe financial planning isn’t simply about accumulating wealth. It’s about creating a life that overflows with opportunity, generosity, and purpose.

Abundance means helping clients build financial security while also empowering them to support their families, contribute to causes they care about, and enjoy the experiences that matter most.

We want our clients to view wealth as a tool that can create a positive impact both now and in the future.

CLICK HERE to finish reading Adam Ludwig’s Blog for July.

The Bin Boys At Your Service

This summer, Adam’s son, Landry, and his friend Tatum took entrepreneurship to the next level by launching their very own garbage bin washing business called The Bin Boys!

After noticing how quickly household trash and recycling cans can accumulate odors and buildup during the warm summer months, Landry and Tatum decided to take matters into their own hands.

Equipped with determination, hard work, and plenty of scrub power, they are helping neighbors keep their outdoor bins clean, sanitized, and odor-free.

Supporting young entrepreneurs is a wonderful way to foster community connection and encourage a strong work ethic.

Adam’s Nightstand

I have started reading “Tax Planning To and Through Early Retirement” by Cody Garrett and Sean Mullaney. It is written for people who are thinking seriously about financial independence and retirement in their 50s or earlier, and it focuses less on “tax tricks” and more on building a clear, evidence‑based strategy for how to save, then how to spend from different account types in a tax‑smart way.

Garrett and Mullaney break retirement into phases and show that the drawdown years often look very different from the accumulation years: many households actually face lower effective tax rates in retirement than they did while working, especially when they use the standard deduction, long‑term capital gains rates, and Roth strategies thoughtfully.

A big theme is “pay tax when you pay less tax” – using lower‑income years to do modest Roth conversions, manage taxable income, and coordinate things like ACA health insurance subsidies and future RMDs instead of just reacting to each year’s tax bill.

What I appreciate about the book is that it lines up with how we try to plan at Anchor: start with the purpose of your money and your financial goals, then design both the savings plan and the withdrawal plan with taxes as one of several levers, not the only goal.

You do not need to read every tax book that comes out; you need to know that we are staying current and already incorporating strategies like these into your plan. The goal is for your savings, withdrawals, and taxes to work together, not against each other.

CLICK HERE for additional information