From the Desk of Dale Crossley and Evan Shear | Q3 2025

We hope this latest edition of The Journey finds you thriving. While the markets continue to fluctuate this year, we remain confident in our collective ability to weather the storm and sail smoothly to the other side. In our twenty-five years of guiding clients with sound financial planning, we’ve seen that periods like this always come and go. What makes the difference is your ability to learn from the past, stay grounded in the present, and keep an eye on what’s ahead.

In that spirit, this quarter’s edition of The Journey will start by looking back before setting our sights on what’s next here at CrossleyShear.

Looking Back: 3-Day Royal Caribbean Utopia of the Seas Cruise Recap

We recently set sail on an incredible 3-day Royal Caribbean cruise, joined by a fantastic group of CrossleyShear employees and valued clients. It was the perfect blend of connection, relaxation, and fun.

Day 1 kicked off with a warm welcome aboard and a group dinner at Chops Grille. The evening was filled with great food, laughter, and meaningful conversations that set the tone for the rest of the trip.

Day 2 brought us to the beautiful Bahamas, where everyone enjoyed the freedom to explore at their own pace, whether lounging on the beach, adventuring onshore, or simply soaking in the island vibes. Evenings on board were nothing short of fantastic. From live performances to music and games, there was something for everyone.

Day 3 was a highlight as we spent the day on Royal Caribbean’s private island, enjoying private cabanas that offered a luxurious, relaxing escape. It was the perfect way to wrap up a memorable getaway.

To the wonderful clients who joined us—thank you. Your presence made this experience truly special. We’re grateful for the opportunity to spend time together, and we look forward to many more shared moments ahead through sound financial planning.

Looking Ahead: Upcoming Speaker Series with Marc Milstein

You won’t want to miss the second installment of our ongoing Speaker Series. In July, our first featured guest, author and CNBC contributor Joseph M. Terranova, shared valuable insights that challenged and inspired us—and we expect nothing less this time around.

Join us on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, at 4:00 PM, for an engaging webinar with brain health researcher Dr. Marc Milstein, author of The Age-Proof Brain: New Strategies to Improve Memory, Protect Immunity, & Fight Off Dementia.

Dr. Milstein is known for translating cutting-edge research into actionable strategies. His focus areas include:
• Age-proofing your brain
• Achieving game-changing sleep
• Managing stress and anxiety
• Boosting overall happiness
• Avoiding burnout

We look forward to learning practical, science-backed tips for improving brain health, so we can maximize productivity, energy, and longevity in the days and years ahead.

Moving Forward With CrossleyShear
Whatever the future holds, sound financial planning remains the best foundation for staying steady and making confident decisions. That’s what drives us at CrossleyShear. Whether you need to make adjustments or simply confirm you’re still on track, we’re here for you.

Don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re ready to come alongside you and support you on your journey.

Evan & Dale

Any opinions are those of CrossleyShear Wealth Management and not necessarily those of Raymond James. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. Links are being provided for information purposes only. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse, authorize or sponsor any of the listed websites or their respective sponsors. Raymond James is not responsible for the content of any website or the collection or use of information regarding any website's users and/or members.

There is no guarantee that these statements, opinions or forecasts provided herein will prove to be correct. All opinions are as of this date and are subject to change without notice. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Shrimp Poke Bowl

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 40 mins

Shrimp Poke Bowl is an easy way to get your sushi fix at home, a healthy and delicious meal, that is also very versatile.
Calories: 530 kcal

Ingredients

For the shrimp:

1 lb. shrimp peeled, deveined, and tail removed
1/4 cup mayo
1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
1 tablespoon green scallions diced

Sushi Rice:

1 cup sushi rice dry
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Cucumber salad:

1 cup cucumber diced
1/2 cup edamame
1/2 avocado diced
1 tablespoon soy Sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds

For Serving:

Microgreens
Dried seaweed
1 mango diced

Instructions

First, rinse the rice in a rice colander until water runs clear. Cook according to package directions on the stove or in a rice cooker.
In a small bowl combine the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt until dissolved and set aside.
When the rice is done cooking, gently stir in the vinegar mixture, careful not to mash the rice.

Shrimp:

Bring a large pot with salted water to a boil, add the shrimp and cook 2-3 minutes until pink. Discard the water and place the shrimp in an ice bath, to stop cooking process. Remove the tails, if they have them, and chop the shrimp into chunks.
Next, transfer the chopped shrimp into a bowl and mix in the mayo, sriracha, and scallion. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in the fridge until ready to use.

Salad:

In another bowl mix the salad ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in the fridge until ready to use.

Serve:

Add warm rice to two bowls, top with shrimp, the cucumber salad, microgreens, and diced mango. Serve by wrapping bites in seaweed paper.

source: https://30minutesmeals.com/wprm_print/shrimp-poke-bowl

Links are being provided for information purposes only. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse, authorize or sponsor any of the listed websites or their respective sponsors. Raymond James is not responsible for the content of any website or the collection or use of information regarding any website’s users and/or members. Raymond James does not provide tax or legal services. Please discuss these matters with the appropriate professional.

Four ways to teach your kids about business

Set them up for professional – and personal – success.

Whether your children will grow up to be entrepreneurs or to work for someone else, teaching kids early about business helps them establish valuable skills that can serve them in both their professional and personal lives.

Among other things, learning about business can teach kids problem-solving, time management and the importance of planning. It can also help them understand the value of money and hard work, perseverance and risk-taking.

Here are four ways to help set up your child for success – both in the workplace and in life.

1. Teach them financial literacy.
The sooner you educate your kids about money, the sooner they’ll understand the importance of managing and investing their earnings. Talk to them about income and expenses, budgeting and taxes, and show them how you handle your household finances, pointing out the difference between “wants” and “needs.” Let them experience the consequences of their choices – for example, that buying a new video game today means it will take them longer to save up for a skateboard.

2. Let them learn from their mistakes.
It can be tempting to step in to help your children solve their problems, but eventually they’ll need to be able to manage on their own. Allow them to make mistakes while they’re still in the safety of your home and the stakes are low. Help them explore the factors that contributed to the problem – this builds confidence and resiliency and teaches them not to give up when things become difficult.

3. Take them to work with you.
During summer or spring break, bring your child to work with you to experience a normal day at your business. Talk about the jobs they see being done and how these fit into the broader business picture. Let them shadow you and your employees as you explain what you do each day and why. You could even give them tasks to complete – like filing, shredding or making copies – if you feel they’re ready.

4. Have them run their own business.
Experience is the best teacher, so let your children be CEO of their own business, whether it’s a short-term project or a years-long endeavor. Help them identify their marketable skills and create a business plan, determining how much they’ll need to spend and what they can charge for their products or services. Whether it’s mowing lawns, walking dogs, babysitting, or selling lemonade, running their own business helps kids learn the importance of punctuality and professionalism, as well as marketing and customer service.

Nurturing these skills in your kids today can help them become successful adults tomorrow.

Sources: Gohenry.com, Rampton, John. How to Teach Your Kids Entrepreneurship Early in Life, LinkedIn, Nationwide.com

Links are being provided for information purposes only. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse, authorize or sponsor any of the listed websites or their respective sponsors. Raymond James is not responsible for the content of any website or the collection or use of information regarding any website’s users and/or members. Raymond James does not provide tax or legal services. Please discuss these matters with the appropriate professional.

Advance care planning: a loving act

Ensuring your loved one’s end-of-life wishes are honored.

In no circumstance is end-of-life care an easy conversation, but if you ever find yourself needing to make those tough decisions for a loved one, it’s comforting to know what they want. Advance care planning helps ensure their wishes are clearly understood and respected. By having a series of meaningful conversations and preparing the necessary documents, you can help ease the stress associated with such a responsibility.

Advance care planning documents
The most crucial part of advance care planning is the discussions with your loved one about their choices for medical treatment at the end of their life. It’s also important for them to record their preferences in legal documents that can be shared with medical professionals.

Advance directives are the documents that fall under the advance care planning umbrella, and can include:

• A living will lets you approve or decline specific medical care, even if it means death is imminent. Generally, this document can be used to decline life-prolonging treatments. In some states, it only applies under certain circumstances such as terminal illness or injury, but it’s still valuable to document your wishes.
• A durable power of attorney for healthcare, also known as a healthcare proxy or surrogate, lets you appoint a representative to make medical decisions for you and specify the extent of their authority.
• A do not resuscitate (DNR) order instructs medical personnel not to perform CPR if you go into cardiac arrest or breathing ceases. There are two types of DNRs, one that is effective all the time and another this is only effective while you’re hospitalized.

While a living will might not seem essential if there’s a healthcare proxy, having a written document to help guide specific treatment preferences is ideal. The more information you have about your loved one’s wishes, the better you can ensure those wishes are carried out.

Something to note is that advance directives can always be updated as circumstances change; don’t be afraid to establish them early. A significant medical event or major family change can prompt a reevaluation at any time.

Creating a lasting legacy
Advance care planning offers a chance for your loved one to reflect on their life and share their story with future generations. Encourage them to create videos, catalog pictures or write in journals that can be cherished and passed down. There are tools and services, like Storyworth and Remento, that make it easy to create keepsake memoir books, ensuring your loved ones’ memories lives on.

Advance care planning objectives
At the heart of overseeing your family member’s care is respecting their choices regardless of your personal feelings. Even if you have opinions that conflict with theirs, they chose you to implement their plan because they trust you to follow it as they’ve outlined. This also means understanding their religious and cultural preferences, and how these will influence their end-of-life care.

The goals of advance care planning are to respect individual patient autonomy, improve quality of care and reduce overtreatment. “Conversations around aging preferences and advance care should occur early and often. With the prevalence of dementia and cognitive decline, prioritizing discussions are vital to ensure loved ones receive the care they want and need,” says Emily Treasure, senior manager of longevity planning at Raymond James. By partnering with your loved one in preparation, you can strengthen your bond and make them feel at ease about the care they’ll receive as they age.

Sadly, differing opinions about end-of-life care can make it tough for families to reach a mutual agreement about how to care for their loved one. Emily recommends establishing advanced care preferences and finalizing directives early – long before a crisis arises. Putting these plans in place early ensures that the patient’s wishes are clearly documented, reducing the emotional burden on families during difficult times and preventing rushed decisions, helping families to respect their loved one’s wishes.

Doctors may not always start advance care planning conversations with patients, so advance care planning tasks often are left to family members or close friends. Seeking support from others who’ve undergone the planning process may help. Additionally, numerous government, legal and medical resources are available – from conversation starters from the National Institute on Aging to advance directive forms by state from AARP.

Implementing advance care planning
The purpose of advance care planning is to be prepared to make decisions that align with your family member’s values. Even with a living will, some scenarios may not be clearly outlined. If this is the case, decision-making strategies can guide a healthcare proxy’s choices.

Substituted judgement, the preferred decision-making method, involves putting yourself in the place of the person needing care and trying to choose as they would. This may mean remembering your loved one’s strong opinions about a neighbor’s care choices and what types of medical care they’d refuse.

The “best interests” approach, sometimes used in conjunction with substituted judgment, involves considering whether a specific treatment is in your family member’s best interest; in other words, whether it improves quality of life or simply extends a condition of pain and discomfort.

When making these decisions, think about what your family member believed gave their life meaning and purpose, and whether they can still participate in those activities. This intimate knowledge, along with input from medical professionals, should guide your choices.

While the topic is uncomfortable to broach, remember that making care decisions for your family member if they’re unable to do so is a loving act. With thoughtful discussions and thorough documentation, you’ll be prepared to honor your loved one’s requests if the time comes.

Sources: AARP, National Institute on Aging

Links are being provided for information purposes only. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse, authorize or sponsor any of the listed websites or their respective sponsors. Raymond James is not responsible for the content of any website or the collection or use of information regarding any website’s users and/or members. Raymond James does not provide tax or legal services. Please discuss these matters with the appropriate professional.

Tailor your taxes for retirement

From withdrawals to conversions, taxes in retirement can be a balancing act.

After a fruitful career and plenty of practice paying taxes, you may feel prepared for the tax man in retirement. But a review of your post-retirement taxable income may yield some surprising insights. Examining your position can help you design ways to optimize your current investment strategy. Taking a new look at both fixed and flexible expenses provides the opportunity to ask questions and have discussions with your financial advisor about the tax implications of your total portfolio. When it comes to taxation, the more thorough the examination, the better.

Solopreneur? Take deductions
If you’re still working as a solopreneur, you can actually deduct Medicare Part B and D premiums – even if you don’t itemize. Supplemental Medicare and Medicare Advantage costs are also deductible. But not everyone can deduct – this only applies if you don’t have access to a health plan for your business or through your spouse’s employer or business.

Taxes on Social Security income
Despite any widespread myths to the contrary, Social Security is taxable income. You could pay tax on up to 85% of your Social Security income under certain circumstances, so beware of your filing status and annual income. For example, if you file a return as an individual and your adjusted gross income plus nontaxable interest, in addition to half of your Social Security income, is more than $34,000, you’ll pay tax on up to 85% of that benefit. Adjusted gross income covers everything, from wages (if you are still working) to rental income and, most importantly, any withdrawals from 401(k)s and IRAs. However, Roth IRAs are exempt.

Offsetting required minimum distributions
Depending on your portfolio, required minimum distributions (RMDs) can bump you into a higher tax bracket than you were expecting. It’s important to take RMDs into consideration every year and factor in what you’ll be required to take out of your retirement accounts starting at 72 (or earlier if your plan allows). One way to balance an increased tax burden is with a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). After 70 1/2, you can donate up to $108,000 a year to an eligible charity directly from your traditional IRA – and you won’t have to pay any taxes on it. QCDs can also be a way to meet your RMD, with the caveat that you can’t then itemize the donation as a charitable deduction on your return.

To convert or not to convert
If you’ve got retirement funds in traditional IRAs or 401(k)s, you have the option to convert these to a Roth at any time. This strategy could potentially lower future taxes – but you’ll have to pay taxes in the year you convert. Look at current tax rates and potential future income from your assets and talk to your advisor and tax professional to forecast whether Roth conversions would make sense for you.

The right amount of withdrawals
Conventional wisdom says to follow the “4% rule” – withdrawing no more than that amount of your retirement portfolio every year. But this is only a general guidance – and deserves to be revisited, especially when there are market waves, inflation or other headwinds. Be sure to set up a time to renew and adjust your withdrawals as needed to manage your income bracket most effectively.

Tax implications can be overlooked too often when the focus has been on saving and investing for so many years. Whether you are pre-retirement or post-retirement, there’s always an opportunity to review – and adjust.

Sources: thebalance.com; westernsouthern.com; moneywise.org; wealthenhancement.com; ssa.gov

Raymond James does not provide tax services. Please discuss these matters with the appropriate professional.

If certain conditions are met, ROTH IRA and ROTH 401(k) distributions will be completely income tax free. Unlike Roth IRAs, Roth 401(k) participants are subject to required minimum distributions at age 72 (70 ½ if you reach 70 ½ before January 1, 2020). Investors should consult a tax advisor before deciding to do a conversion.

Withdrawals which exceed income will reduce the value of your portfolio.

Links are being provided for information purposes only. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse, authorize or sponsor any of the listed websites or their respective sponsors. Raymond James is not responsible for the content of any website or the collection or use of information regarding any website’s users and/or members. Raymond James does not provide tax or legal services. Please discuss these matters with the appropriate professional.