Tea Olive Capital

10/08/2026

Stocks finished the third quarter mixed. The S&P 500 gained 2.03%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.47%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 2.70%. Halloween is next on the calendar, with U.S. consumers expected to spend \$13.5 billion USD this year and 6.26 million Canadian children in their trick-or-treating years.

Stocks were mixed in the third quarter as economic, geopolitical, and corporate earnings news pushed the broad market higher while weighing on the Dow Industrials.

10/02/2026

Most people scrolled past this week’s Treasury and IRS warning. It sounded like a "wealthy-only" story. It is not that.

Section 351 of the tax code has long let an investor contribute a portfolio of securities to a new corporation, including a new ETF, and receive shares back without immediately recognizing a capital gain. There are real limits: no single holding over 25 percent, and the top five holdings no more than 50 percent. Used properly, that rule is how a lot of new ETFs get their first assets. An investor, a family office, or a seed partner puts real money in on day one so the fund can open, get a track record, and eventually be available to everyone else.

What the IRS is now calling out is different. In the transactions they flagged, appreciated stock goes in, the portfolio is reshuffled shortly after, and the investor walks out diversified without ever paying tax on the built-in gain. Bloomberg has estimated about $22 billion of ETFs were built for that purpose, deferring as much as $6.5 billion in gains. If the product is only a conduit for a tax dodge, shutting that down is fair.

The problem is the way the warning is written. “Shortly after” is undefined. What counts as a “materially different” portfolio is a facts-and-circumstances call. Comments are due October 28, and practitioners are already saying the gray area will last for months. Launching an ETF already costs a few hundred thousand dollars before the first share is sold. Add legal uncertainty about the seed, and smaller and newer sponsors will simply not file. The big, already-huge funds do not need this door. The next useful fund often does.

That is why a rule aimed at people with $25 million or $100 million of appreciated stock still reaches the rest of us. The ETF market most Americans actually use — low costs, intraday liquidity, and the in-kind create-and-redeem process that keeps taxable distributions down — got there because new products could be seeded and then compete. Fewer new ETFs means less competition, higher fees for longer, and fewer specialized options in areas like bonds, dividends, and tax-aware equity. The core plumbing of the multi-trillion-dollar ETF industry is not going away. The on-ramp for the next generation of funds just got narrower.

At Tea Olive Capital we spend time on items like this so our clients do not have to. High-net-worth planning is not about chasing the latest tax headline. It is about knowing which strategies are durable, which ones just got riskier, and how a change in Washington shows up in the funds regular portfolios actually own. If a pitch sounds too clever, it usually is. The durable edge is still diversification, cost, and taxes you can explain.

Educational only. Not tax, legal, or investment advice. Securities offered through LPL Financial, member FINRA/SIPC.

The IRS and Treasury issued a warning this week on an ETF strategy wealthy investors have been using to shield capital gains income from taxes.

09/27/2026

Over the past two weeks we have shared why financial planning, life insurance, and tax strategy work better as one conversation.

If something in these posts raised a question about your own household, that is a good reason to talk—not a reason to decide alone.

Tea Olive Capital is an independent, boutique firm. We listen first, explain in plain language, and coordinate with the other professionals already on your team.

Ready when you are. www.teaolivecapital.com Aiken: 803-226-0826 Augusta: 706-438-8722

09/26/2026

Most planning gaps do not show up as a crisis on day one. They show up later: coverage that no longer matches income, beneficiaries who were never updated, tax lots that were never reviewed, a will that no longer reflects the family.

The work is usually simpler when it is done early and reviewed often.

If you have been meaning to “get around to” a financial, insurance, or tax-planning review, consider this your nudge.

We keep the process straightforward and educational. Call the Aiken or Augusta office, or visit www.teaolivecapital.com.

09/25/2026

September is early enough to act and late enough to see the year clearly.

Useful questions now: Have you used available retirement contribution room? Are there gains or losses worth discussing with your tax professional? Do insurance beneficiaries still match your wishes? Has your cash-flow or risk picture changed?

Year-end planning is not a scramble in December. It is a short list of decisions made while there is still time.

We are happy to help you build that list.

Tea Olive Capital — Aiken & Augusta www.teaolivecapital.com

09/24/2026

Required minimum distributions from traditional retirement accounts are a fact of later retirement for many families. When and how those withdrawals are taken can influence your tax bracket, Medicare premiums, and how long tax-deferred money lasts.

Some households benefit from planning withdrawals before RMDs begin. Others focus on which accounts to draw from first.

There is no universal sequence. There is a sequence that fits your income, other assets, and goals.

If RMDs are on the horizon—or already underway—this is a conversation worth having before year-end.

www.teaolivecapital.com

09/23/2026

Charitable giving can be both generous and tax-aware.

Depending on your situation, options may include donating appreciated securities, using a donor-advised fund, bunching gifts in years you itemize, or—for those eligible—qualified charitable distributions from an IRA.

The “best” method depends on your income, the accounts you hold, and whether you itemize.
If giving is part of how you want to use your wealth, we can help you think through the structure with your tax advisor.

www.teaolivecapital.com

09/22/2026

Life insurance proceeds can give heirs liquidity when they need it most—so a home, a business, or a concentrated position does not have to be sold quickly to cover taxes or expenses.

How a policy is owned and who is named as beneficiary can affect how those proceeds are treated. That is why insurance decisions belong in the same conversation as wills, trusts, and tax planning—not after the fact.

Ownership and beneficiary designations are among the most overlooked details we see.
A short review of how your policies sit inside the larger plan can prevent avoidable surprises.

www.teaolivecapital.com

09/21/2026

2026 is the first full year under several updated tax rules, including a higher federal estate and gift exemption and a temporarily higher cap on the state-and-local-tax deduction for those who itemize.

Those changes do not automatically require action. They do mean older assumptions—especially around estate planning and itemizing versus the standard deduction—deserve a fresh look.

Tax law is personal. What helps one household can be irrelevant to another.

If you would like to review how the current rules may touch your plan, we coordinate with your tax professional rather than replace them.

www.teaolivecapital.com

09/20/2026

If you own a business in the CSRA, your personal plan and your company plan are tightly linked.
Life insurance can fund a buy-sell agreement or protect key-person risk. Entity type, compensation, and retirement plan design affect both income taxes and what you can save. Exit timing affects everything else.

Business owners often outgrow the plan they put in place when the company was smaller.

If that sounds familiar, we would welcome a conversation about coordinating personal wealth planning with the business you have built.

www.teaolivecapital.com