Greetings,

The last quarter of 2025 has started and LPP has exciting news to share.

Please join us in welcoming our newest team member Steve Sanders! Steve was born and raised in the Jacksonville area and lives with his family in Jacksonville Beach. He earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy, with honors, from the University of North Florida. 

Prior to joining Life Planning Partners, Steve was a financial advisor with Edward Jones where he discovered his drive to serve clients beyond investment and goals-based advice. Upon becoming a CFP® professional, he brought his experience to LPP to follow his passion for impacting lives by serving as a fiduciary and comprehensive financial planner.

Steve volunteers for Community Health Outreach, a local non-profit that provides health services and feeds the needy. He is also a member of the Health Council for the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce. As a known movie and sports buff, and when it is not beach weather, you can probably find him and his family at the movies or cheering on the hometown Jaguars. 

We look forward to you meeting him! 

Upcoming LPP Events:



• Shredding Party - Next Friday October 24^th 1pm-4pm - Join us for our annual shredding party next Friday from 1-4pm. We will have a shred truck on site to shred all your important documents and some delicious food and beverages to enjoy! If you cannot make it to the event, please feel free to drop off your items to shred at the office throughout the week.

• Lunch Adventure to Discovery Commons San Pablo – November 14^th at 12pm - Come join us for a tour of Discovery Commons. This will be our first place we tour to learn more about the options for long term care outside of the home. Along with the tour, we will enjoy a complimentary lunch prepared by their chef Mario! If you are interested in attending please contact Angie at adokey@lifeplanningpartners.com

• LPP Webinar: Living Your Best Life Through Cash Flow Planning – November 18^th at 6pm -The most important factor for financial independence isn’t saving or investing – it is understanding how much you spend and making sure your spending is bringing value to your life. Cash flow planning is the cornerstone of holistic financial planning. In this webinar, Tanner will explain our cash flow planning process and how we use projections to make sure you are living your best life. We’ll send out the Zoom link and details closer to the event.

We hope you can join us and as always thank you for allowing us to have jobs we love.

The LPP Team

Medicare D Notice

Many of our clients on Medicare D prescription coverage are either having their policies cancelled or the rates have gone up significantly. Medicare D can be shopped every year and is relatively easy to do. Open enrollment goes from October 15^th until December 7^th.

The first step is to log into your Medicare account. From there, you’ll state that you want to revisit your prescription coverage. You will need a list of your medications with dosages and how often you take them and a list of your pharmacies. After you put in your medications, the site will let you know your plan choices. You can sign up for the new plan but be sure to cancel your old plan too!

We are happy to help you with this.



•  If you want us to help you, please send us a list of your medications along with the dosage and frequency you take the medication.
•  Also provide a list of preferred pharmacies.
• We’ll shop first without your log in (you don’t need to log in to shop) and pick plans for you.
• After we have the choices for you, we can either log into your Medicare account with you or just provide the plan choices to you for you to log in to make the changes. We can do this through zoom or you can come in the office.

Be sure to let us know early if you want our help as we may not be able to deliver if everyone waits until December 7^th! Thank you!

Third Time’s the Charm

The 3^rd quarter was great for financial markets.

The US Stock Market (S&P 500) has gained 8% in the past 3 months marching to new all-time highs. The US Stock Market now boasts a 14.5% return year to date. The International Stock Market (Vanguard Total International Index) has seen even greater success this year gaining 26% return thus far.

The global stock market tends to run in cycles, which is exactly why we try to keep your portfolio equally diversified in the US and International stock market.

Bonds (US Aggregate Bond Index) have continued a successful 2025 gaining 5.9% year to date. As interest rates fall, bond prices rise so bond prices benefited from a Federal Reserve rate cut in September. Interest rates have fallen on the expectation of further rate cuts in 2025 and early 2026.

Much went right for financial markets. Trade deals, falling inflation (despite tariff implementation), and the September interest rate cut were catalysts marching us to all-time highs.

What does your Life Planning Partners team do in this type of market?

During rising markets, Brett sells stock funds in a tax efficient manner as part of quarterly rebalancing to keep you in line with your investment policy statement. Everyone wants to sell high and buy low, right? Quarterly rebalancing is a methodical way to make sure that happens. 

There are two ways we make tax efficient sales of stock funds. The easiest is to take gains in your retirement plan accounts because there is no tax impact in trading in these accounts.

The other way is by good tax planning. We realize capital gains in your taxable accounts while making sure to keep you in favorable capital gains and Medicare tax brackets. These sales help with rebalancing and funding your annual cash flow needs.

What happens if we see a market downturn?

At the onset of our relationship, we make sure you are only taking an appropriate level of risk so that market downturns don’t disrupt your financial spending goals. This is why we stress having good spending data. We keep plenty of your investments in safe assets to meet your cash flow needs no matter which way the market turns.

From your financial plan, we develop your investment policy statement that Brett follows meticulously. When the market takes a downturn, he is rebalancing your portfolio and buying stock funds. This time he is buying low and selling high. Again, this is what everyone aspires to do and being methodical instead of emotional in your trading is the best way to make this happen.  

Which future path the financial markets take remains a mystery. As we have seen this year, financial markets can continue to rally despite negative headlines. Yet, we know recessions can come when we least expect them.

While avoiding recessions remains impossible, having a good understanding of your spending habits and a diversified investment portfolio can help curb the impact on your financial plan. This is the beauty in our approach. You can rest easy in knowing both good and bad times are already part of the plan!