

Henry David Thoreau has a lot to teach us about getting back to nature. Here are several ways to appreciate his enduring message.
Cindy and I recently visited our daughter Erica, who lives in Beverly, MA, near Boston. Since Erica is a late riser, Cindy and I often started our mornings with a hike. One of the most memorable was the Emerson-Thoreau Amble. This path begins in Concorde, MA—a wonderful town steeped in history—and meanders through diverse and interesting terrain to reach Walden Pond. Of course, we also walked around the lake (center photo). The entire walk was 6.3 miles. It was a true pleasure. Thoreau did that walk quite frequently.
If you prefer a shorter excursion, simply walking around Walden Pond is another excellent alternative. Thoreau famously built a small cabin on its shore. The cabin, a modest 10 by 15 feet —just large enough for his cot, a small desk, and a few chairs—cost him $28 to construct. He lived there for a little over two years, and it was during this time that he wrote Walden, his most celebrated work. Although the original cabin no longer stands, visitors can explore its former site (left photo), see a replica cabin (right photo), and admire a nearby statue of Thoreau.
We also stopped by the visitor centers in Concord and at Walden Pond. Both were well worth the time, but we particularly enjoyed the 20-minute documentary by Ken Burns shown at the Walden Pond Visitor Center. This short film, which plays every hour on the half-hour, offers a thoughtful introduction to Thoreau’s life and philosophy. Burns is also working on a much longer documentary about Thoreau which is set to premiere on PBS this year or next.
Here’s a snippet from Ken Burns’ website that captures the essence of the Thoreau legacy:
“He has been called the patron saint of the environmental movement and the father of nonviolent resistance. His best-known work, Walden, is considered a masterpiece and figures on every list of essential American books…His essay ‘Civil Disobedience’ has inspired activists and reformers from Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a scientist, a storyteller, a seeker of truth, and a fighter for our nation’s first principles.”
Admittedly, I found Walden a challenging read. It’s not for everyone but I’m sure that for those willing to dive in, the rewards can be profound. But for someone like me, Burns’ upcoming documentary may provide a more accessible way to explore Thoreau’s ideas.
One of my most striking takeaways from our visit to Walden Pond, as highlighted in the visitor center documentary, is its understated beauty. Burns stresses that the pond isn’t a place of dramatic grandeur like the Grand Canyon or Yosemite. Instead, it serves as a reminder that nature’s majesty can be found in the everyday and the local. For those of us in Pittsburgh’s East End, treasures like Frick Park and Schenley Park offer similar opportunities to experience the restorative power of nature.
Spending time in nature—whether at a famous landmark or a nearby park—enriches both our physical well-being and our mental and spiritual health.
The heart of Thoreau’s message is that we can find meaning and restoration in the natural spaces around us. If you’re ever near Boston, visiting Walden Pond and walking in Thoreau’s footsteps is a worthwhile experience. And for those interested in his philosophy, keep an eye out for Ken Burns’ documentary. But most importantly, don’t overlook the beauty and serenity that might await you in that park just around the corner.
Post-Election Financial Planning:
Strategies Million-Dollar IRA Owners Can Implement Now
to Help Protect & Build Their Retirement Nest Eggs
Workshops are for high-net-worth individuals seeking to optimize their retirement and estate planning strategies in an ever-changing economic and political landscape.
Thursday, February 27, 2025
Register to attend 1, 2, or all 3 Free Webinars at:
If you are married, both spouses are encouraged to attend.
Register today and you will qualify to receive a free hardcover copy of Jim’s book, Retire Secure for Professors and TIAA Participants. Please note: 90% of the content of the book is for all IRA and retirement plan owners. The book enjoys 74 glowing testimonials on Amazon.
It's entirely understandable to be concerned about how the election results could affect your long-term financial planning. The pressing question will be: Should you alter or adjust your current retirement and estate planning strategies in response? Our upcoming workshops will offer our premiere strategic advice.
Empower Yourself in These Uncertain Times
We've identified the best financial strategies for two critical areas:
- Income tax planning, including Roth IRA conversions.
- Optimal post-election estate planning.
Here we present our best assessment of where you can take decisive action now. These strategies are designed to help protect your wealth and enhance your family's financial well-being—both immediately and in the long term.
It’s also important to realize this isn’t just about responding to the election results. Potential changes on the horizon will be determined by Congressional action—or inaction—in addition to executive decisions.
By attending these workshops, you'll gain actionable insights and practical strategies to help protect and grow your wealth―regardless of U.S. politics, stock market volatility, recession, inflation, and geopolitical instabilities.
Result: You can empower yourself to make more informed financial decisions that benefit you and your family for many years to come.
Session One: 10 am – Noon (Eastern)
Strategic Post-Election Roth IRA Conversion and
Advanced Tax-Minimization Planning
Income Tax Policy: Navigating Potential Tax Increases
The impending sunset of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 1997 is effective January 1, 2026. This means that, unless Congress acts, income tax rates will revert to higher 2017 levels. Before the election we were advocating aggressive Roth conversions before the tax increase. Now, there is serious question as to whether we will have a tax increase before 2028 or beyond. This shift could significantly impact your financial well-being going forward.
In this session, we’ll introduce you to battle-tested, proven retirement planning strategies that work, with a special emphasis on Roth IRA conversions.
In this session, you'll discover:
• Proactive Multi-Year Tax Planning: How to develop the ideal long-term Roth IRA conversion plan, especially after a major tax hike seems less likely.
• Prepare for potential tax rate volatility.
• Asset Diversification for Tax Optimization: How to move a portion of your taxable investments (IRAs and other retirement plans) into tax-free environments of not only your Roth accounts, but 529 plans and your children's Roth IRAs and Roth 401(s). Note: This shift could potentially be more valuable to your children than making Roth IRA conversions directly in your own accounts.
Foundational & Advanced Roth Conversion Techniques including:
• Optimal Timing for Roth Conversions: The peer-reviewed math behind the best timing strategies.
• The Back-Door Roth IRA: How to contribute to a Roth IRA even if you exceed income limits.
• Benefiting from SECURE Act 2.0: How individuals born between 1951 and 1959 can profit from recent legislative changes.
• Tax-Free Transitions: How to convert after-tax dollars in retirement plans to a Roth IRA at no cost, potentially saving hundreds of thousands in taxes down the road.
• Inherited Retirement Plan Strategies: How to convert an inherited retirement plan to a Roth at your beneficiary’s tax rate after you die—a little-known strategy with big tax savings for those who qualify.
Session Two: 12:30 – 2:30 pm (Eastern)
Post-Election Optimal Estate Planning for Married IRA Owners
Estate Planning Strategies: Preserving Your Legacy
Estate planning involves not only potentially saving estate and inheritance taxes, but also the far more likely problem: income taxes.
Many middle- and higher-income taxpayers will get clobbered with more income taxes at death, too.
In this session, you'll learn:
• Lifetime Gifting Strategies: How increasing lifetime gifts to your heirs now can reduce future tax burdens and provide financial assistance when it's most impactful for your loved ones. This approach isn't just about tax savings; it's also about enriching your family's lives today.
• Who Gets What? Strategy: A rarely discussed method that evaluates the tax consequences of leaving differing types of assets to children in different tax brackets. We will cover a similar strategy for charitable giving. By optimizing your strategies, you could save hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes.
• State-Level Tax Considerations: Techniques to protect your wealth from potential increases in state-level income taxes, as well as inheritance and estate taxes. State taxes can significantly impact the assets your heirs receive, so proactive planning is essential.
Social Security: Maximizing Your Lifetime Benefits including:
• Risk and Reward Delaying Benefits: Are the risks of benefits cuts and dying young sufficient to take Social Security before 70 for the primary wage earner? And if you take Social Security before 70, can you stop it?
Or should you delay taking your Social Security benefits to significantly increase your lifetime payouts, potentially by hundreds of thousands of dollars?
• Integrating Social Security into Your Retirement Plan: Strategies to incorporate Social Security strategy impact other areas of your planning. Learn how synergistically timing your Social Security benefits and Roth conversions can enhance your financial security.
Session Three: 3 – 5 pm (Eastern)
7 Costly Retirement Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Jim spent 40 years guiding thousands of clients through the intricacies of securing their financial futures. Over the years, he has identified recurring patterns of costly planning mistakes. We aim to help you avoid these common mistakes and provide you with sound professional advice. Here's a sneak peek at two of the critical mistakes we will explore:
- Allowing Lifelong Habits and a Depression Era Mentality to Blindside Effective Planning.
Accumulating money for retirement is a great objective. But, continuing to accumulate more and more money until you die is not necessarily advisable, and has at least three unfortunate consequences:
- Retirement with fewer rewarding and enjoyable experiences, including missed family vacations.
- Missed opportunity to provide heirs with financial assistance when they really need it.
- Potentially huge tax burden for your children that could have been largely avoided with good planning.
Making this retirement planning mistake can undo many years of diligent saving and hard work. We will discuss how to balance saving with spending and explore ways to use your wealth effectively during your lifetime and passing it on after you are gone.
- The Missing Link: The Discrepancy Between the Terms of Your Will & Your IRA Beneficiary Designations
Did you know that with IRA and other retirement accounts, the beneficiary designation—which you quickly filled out, without much thought, when you opened the account--supersedes the instructions in your will or trust?
We will show you the actions to take to correct this mistake—so that the assets in your IRA and retirement accounts go to the beneficiaries you intend. Join us for this informative and engaging workshop to discover the most common estate planning mistakes and how to protect yourself against each.
Reserve your virtual seat today for these timely and informative webinars on:
Thursday, February 27, 2025
Register to attend 1, 2, or all 3 Free Webinars at:
Register today and you will qualify to receive a free hardcover copy of Jim’s book, Retire Secure for Professors and TIAA Participants. Please note: 90% of the content of the book is for all IRA and retirement plan owners. The book enjoys 74 glowing testimonials on Amazon.
Fried Cauliflower “Rice” with Shrimp
• 1 medium head cauliflower
• 2 teaspoons grapeseed oil
• 2 red bell peppers, seeded and sliced
• 8 ounces snow peas
• 1 (5-ounce) can water chestnuts, drained
• ½ cup raw cashews
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups mung bean sprouts
• 1-pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 3 scallions, chopped, green and white parts
separated
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon gluten-free, low-sodium tamari
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
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Recipe © 2015 Dr. Mark Hyman’s book:
The 10-Day Detox Diet Cookbook
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Cut the cauliflower in half. Place a box grater over a large bowl and grate each cauliflower half over the big holes of the grater—hold the stem of the cauliflower as you grate. Aim for 4 cups of cauliflower “rice.”
In a wok or a large sauté pan, heat 1 teaspoon of the grapeseed oil over high heat until shimmering. Cook the red bell pepper for 1 minute; then, add the snow peas, water chestnuts, and cashews and cook until the vegetables are mostly tender, about 4 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. When the vegetables are tender, push them to the side of the pan. Add the eggs, stirring until scrambled, about 1 minute. Stir in the bean sprouts. Transfer the vegetable mixture to a large serving bowl.
Add the remaining 1 teaspoon grapeseed oil to the pan. Add the shrimp and sauté until they are pink and fully cooked, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to the bowl with the vegetables.
Add the sesame oil to the pan and cook the scallion whites, garlic, and ginger for just 30 seconds. Stir in the grated cauliflower, along with the tamari and black pepper. Cook until the cauliflower is tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer the cauliflower to the bowl with the vegetables and shrimp. Garnish with the scallion greens and serve.
Preparation Time: 30 minutes • Cook Time: 15 minutes • Serves: 4
Disclaimer: Lange Accounting Group, LLC offers guidance on retirement plan distribution strategies, tax reduction, Roth IRA conversions, saving and spending strategies, optimized Social Security strategies, and gifting plans. Although we bring our knowledge and expertise in estate planning to our recommendations, all recommendations are offered in our capacity as CPAs. We will, however, potentially make recommendations that clients could have a licensed estate attorney implement.
Asset location, asset allocation, and low-cost enhanced index funds are provided by the investment firms with whom Lange Financial Group, LLC is affiliated. This would be offered in our role as an investment advisor representative and not as an attorney.
Lange Financial Group, LLC, is a registered investment advisory firm registered with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Banking, Harrisburg, PA. In addition, the firm is registered as a registered investment advisory firm in the states of AZ, FL, NY, OH, and VA. Lange Financial Group, LLC may not provide investment advisory services to any residents of states in which the firm does not maintain an investment advisory registration. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. All investing involves risk, including the potential for loss of principal. There is no guarantee that any strategy will be successful. Indexes are not available for direct investment. If you qualify for a free consultation with Jim and attend a meeting, there are two services he and his firms have the potential to offer you. Lange Accounting Group, LLC could offer a one-time fee-for-service Financial Masterplan. Under the auspices of Lange Financial Group, LLC, you could potentially enter into an assets-under-management arrangement with one of Lange’s joint venture partners.
Please note that if you engage Lange Accounting Group, LLC and/or Lange Financial Group, LLC for either our Financial Masterplan service or our assets-under-management arrangement, there is no attorney/client relationship in this advisory context.
Although Jim will bring his knowledge and expertise in estate planning to this workshop and to the meetings, it will be conducted in his capacity as a financial planning professional and not as an attorney. This is not a solicitation for legal services.