Hello and Happy 2022 to you all. Welcome to our first ever quarterly blog post for M2 Financial Group! My intention with these quarterly notes is to not have a 35 page year end letter and give you more timely information regarding what is happening in our little slice of the world. We hope you get some benefit from this short read, and wish amazing blessings, health and abundance to you all!
Holiday Event 2021
We held our first annual holiday event this year and asked guests to bring toys to support the efforts of the Osseo/Maple Grove American Legion’s annual Christmas event where they invite community members in need on for breakfast, a visit with Santa and a toy from under the tree. It was a snowy morning but there was a great turn out. We (you!) provided about 90 toys for the tree! Scott attempted to steal a couple of the monster trucks, but we held him back! Thank you so much for your generosity!
2021 Income Tax Statements and Capital Gains
If you have non-IRA investments in traditional stock mutual funds, as many of you do, you will see some hefty capital gain distributions for tax year 2021. We scoured our clients accounts at year end to determine if it would have been beneficial to either sell the fund before the distribution (paying a capital gain upon the sale) or accept the distribution. If you noticed some trades at the end of the year, that is what we were doing. In the vast majority of the cases, selling the shares would have resulted in a larger gain so we held. Paying tax on gains is never fun but taking losses is even less fun!
Tax statements will be mailed, as always (and hopefully the IRS will not allow delays) at the end of February. April 18, 2022 is the mailing deadline. As always, my team is here to help and work with your tax team if needed!
Real Estate Investment Trust Mergers / Acquisitions
If you own a REIT, you have likely been inundated with mail (even with your best efforts at going paperless) regarding pending mergers and/or acquisitions. We have been monitoring these and feel confident that each transaction is positive for the shareholders. As these are announced, the sharks are swimming in the water again attempting to offer shareholders valuations that are below current market estimates. Unless you hear direct from us, steer clear! Again, reach out to us if you have any questions.
Office Remodel
It is hard to believe we have been in our office space for almost 18 years! The initial design was so amazing that we have done very little with the space over that time (at least in the mind of the guy that was in charge of the decisions….). Next time you are in you will notice new flooring, countertops, and paint to freshen up the look a bit. Thanks to Shari for coordinating the work, the office and most of the process!
Staff and Additions
As I hope you all hear from me on a regular basis, the team that I am blessed to work with every day is amazing in so many ways! Several team members are going through transitions to new roles and we are actively looking for new team members that have client service experience in the financial services, banking, or insurance industries. I have been working on a couple of my retired clients, but no one is willing to give up the freedom that retirement affords (or they don’t want to work for me which, I guess I get…). If you have anyone that you feel might be interested in the opportunity for a change, point them in our direction. We will hi-light a team member or two in each of these blogs as well. This quarter, Marie and Scott will share some more information about themselves that you might find interesting!
1st Quarter Employee Highlights
Scott Robichaud
- Have you ever met any favorite celebrity?
I’ve had the fortune of some literal ‘brushes’ with local and nationally known athletes and media through my ‘sideline’ work (Michael Irvin, Steve Young, KAT, Mark Rosen, Paul Charchian, PJ Fleck, etc), but my favorite celebrity story is while vacationing in Disneyland California years ago we were walking alongside Jason Bateman and his family, at the time my mom was in a wheelchair and in our efforts to snap a picture we released mom down a hill coasting away driverless. Fortunately, we got the picture, chased mom down and no one was hurt!
- Do you have any pets?
None currently, we have severe allergy issues in the house, so we have to get our fill of dog love through our neighbor ‘foster’ dog, if we need some canine time we will take the neighbor’s dog, Mandi, out for a walk in the park.
- Which is your favorite TV show?
So much good content out there these days, I don’t watch a lot of traditional TV. My current faves are Yellowstone or Ozark, my all-time favorite TV show is probably Friends or The Office. I’d much rather watch a documentary, educational show, or movie given the choice. (Favorite movies? Shawshank Redemption, Good Will Hunting, Saving Private Ryan)
- What type of music you would prefer?
I like all genres except ‘new’ country, my preference is Alternative Rock (there’s a funny family story about that I’ll share at a later time). I love listening to ALL music and my preference changes with my mood, am I feeling chill Indie, or get stuff done New Metal or trying to keep up with the kids Hip Hop (old school rap of course)
4b. Favorite concert performances – Pearl Jam, Beastie Boys, or Chris Stapleton (see what I mean – all over the board)
- What is the most interesting thing you can do?
I’ve been told I’m good at doing ‘voices’. I can do a mean Miss Piggy and Kermit, or Jim from Taxi, Scooby Doo and Shaggy are always a hit. My daughter loves my Midwest ‘Fargo’ voice or my impression of the Boston relatives.
- What is your biggest fear in life?
I’m deathly afraid of heights, but I also consider myself fairly adventurous, so my adventures are always on solid ground. One of these days I vow I want to break the fear with a skydive, but I’ll save that for an end-of-life goal…just in case.
- Which is your favorite season and why?
Late Summer early Fall. That last trip to the lake, the crisp in the morning air, Fall bike rides amongst the changing leaves, and the start of football season and fantasy football drafts!
- Do you have any hidden talent nobody or only a few knows?
I spent the majority of my last 10 years (pre covid) coaching my kids soccer, basketball and softball teams. Some of my favorite memories are moments in those seasons. My son Kyle says I give the best halftime ‘motivational’ speeches and to this day he and his friends still rally around some of the words of wisdom I’ve provided over the years…I wish I could remember what I said that was so impactful!?!
8b. My kids also say I’m the best ‘dad rapper’ they know…I can drop rhymes like no other dad!
- Favorite place to travel.
I try to get to Arizona once or twice a year to see my immediate family and visit Eden at college, Arizona is ‘home’ to me though so it’s not really a vacation. I love going to Boston and experiencing the history of the city, a game at Fenway, a drive to Cape Cod, and catching up with the extended family over fresh seafood and beers. Someday in the future is a beach vacation where I lay on the beach and drink umbrella drinks for a week!
Bucket list items
Learn to play guitar - I’ve always wanted to play the guitar but chose to play hockey as a kid and skipped out on my guitar lessons
Travel Europe by train/bike
Try a ‘Naked and Afraid’ type camping adventure (with clothes though)
Marie Henrichs
- Have you ever met any favorite celebrity?
I’ve definitely ended up in some unique encounters with them:
1-on a trip to London, my friend KC and I were exploring the city. We ended up on a red carpet with a bunch of photographers as Vin Diesel stopped for pictures.
2-on my honeymoon at Turtle Bay Resort in Oahu, unbeknownst to my husband and I, the Hawaiian Tropic contest was at the resort. We were mistaken as part of the event and at the pool with Jeremy London and Tommy Lee.
3-I was an extra in Mighty Ducks 2 at the Met Center. My friends and I were pretty excited to glimpse Joshua Jackson and Mike Vitar.
- Do you have any pets?
Fluffy, the dog. She is a rescue from the Animal Humane Society of Golden Valley, and we believe she is part-Poodle, part-Shih Tzu. Our girls all agreed (rare) on the very fitting name.
- Which is your favorite TV show?
Yellowstone, Outlander, Jack Ryan and Bluey are some of the top contenders.
- What type of music you would prefer?
Country, always!
- What is the most interesting thing you can do?
The fact that I can fall asleep instantly or crush an entire (giant) bag of jellybeans in one sitting always impresses my husband.
- What is your biggest fear in life?
Being buried alive. Days of Our Lives fans will understand.
- Which is your favorite season and why?
Fall. We were married in the fall; the weather is beautiful, and the colors are so rich. Plus, who doesn’t love to visit the apple orchard?!
- Do you have any hidden talent nobody or only a few knows?
It’s so well hidden that I haven’t found it yet.
- Favorite place to travel
With family? The Disney theme parks in Florida. The teens love the thrill-seeking rides and the littles love the characters and shows. Sharing something that the entire family can enjoy is amazing.
But if it’s just my husband and myself, somewhere warm! Hawaii is magical.
Scotland is awesome too - Love the history!
My Stuff
Year end is always busy as we look for opportunities and get to reconnect with some clients that are in town for the Holidays. We had one client in town that we haven’t seen for 5 years since her move to Virginia and another from Arizona that we have worked with for 2 years and have never met face to face. In addition, my family and I were busy with many things including figuring out the new Oculus, decorating cookies, a quick pre-Christmas trip to Florida, a visit to the Prince museum (thank you Shawna for the great gift!), team Christmas party complete with white elephant gifts, hosting a 6th grade class Christmas Karaoke event and even some sleep…. My gratitude and appreciation for all that is good in life is hard to articulate except to say thank you every day!
Thank you for taking the time to read this update! If there are other topics that you would like to know more about in these blog posts – please let us know! On behalf of all of us at M2 Financial Group – have an amazing 2022!!
Michael Matheson