Reviewing finances can enhance fiscal health

Mike Musco has been through it. Family circumstances in his youth forced him to drop out of college. Just as he got his footing in finance, the Great Recession sent everything sliding.

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Mike Musco of Equilus Group provides "360-degree financial reviews" for clients.

Like the market, he bounced back to reach new heights. He bought and sold a business and multiple investment properties, worked eight years at Microsoft in corporate finance and business management, and became a financial advisor.

"I finished my accounting bachelor's while I was working at Microsoft," said Musco. "Living through 2008 and the 2020-2022 interest-rate environment, seeing a lot of things done well and not done well, both personally and externally, gave me a unique ability to help people do better."

A frequent visitor-turned-Central Oregonian of five years, Musco is a fiduciary for Equilus Group, a registered investment advisor (RIA) providing what he calls 360-degree financial reviews.

"We're looking holistically at income, assets, risk and insurance, estate planning, and real estate, and aligning that with clients' goals," Musco said.

Tax can be a big deal to somebody's balance sheet. Musco works to minimize tax liabilities.

With a stock brokerage account, "we can harvest losses on some stocks that aren't producing as well – in a very methodical, automated way, without incurring excessive transaction costs – and pass those tax savings on to our clients."

He can also help clients and businesses mitigate tax with a 1031.

"If you have a million-dollar property that only has a $250,000 cost basis and you sell it as an investment property, you're going to have $750,000 exposed to capital gains, which in Oregon could be almost 30 percent, depending on your bracket," he says. "That's a lot of money."

Moving that money into another active property defers capital gains into a passive investment.

"We're a dual firm that has both an RIA and real estate," Musco says of Equilus Capital Partners. "We have commercial and residential real estate that we hold in trust, that we can offer fractional ownership in, and that pays dividends to our investors. It's a great way to diversify into real estate."

A big election weeks away could affect taxes.

"What I like to look at is history when it comes to elections. I stay as agnostic as I can and try to help advise clients to be prudent with their investments. Helping somebody navigate that, regardless of their political affiliation, is something that I take very seriously. You have to empathize with people, hear their fears or concerns, and help them unpack information to make the best decisions that they can."

There is no way to eliminate surprises.

"Things that have never happened happen all the time," Musco says. But you can mitigate them.

"Are you 100 percent in stock? Well, if the stock market crashes 30 percent, you could have mitigated that surprise with a diversification discussion. Do you have six months of living expenses? No? Well, if you lose your job, you may have a liquidity crisis," he says. "I'm imagining there's going to be a lot of change and new information in the next six to nine months."

Securing a team, plan, and cadence can mitigate surprises like bear markets, a reality in our economic system.

A meeting with Musco kick-starts a fact-finding process.

"I'll look at 360 degrees of their financial picture and assess their investments, their insurance; get statements, understand their goals, their age, and what they're trying to solve for. I'll do two meetings with a few hours of analysis in between – I don't charge for that, presently – then draft a financial plan, which we would work through together."

If a client wishes to implement a plan, he meets regularly.

"Every six months is like my bread and butter," he says.

Equilus is located in Bend's Northwest Crossing. Musco also makes house calls.

"I have clients in Sisters and go there quite a bit. I love it there. I'm not far, and I like to meet people in their element, show them what we're doing, why we're doing it, and the benefit," he says. "Our goal is to have the benefit far outweigh any engagement costs in dealing with us."

Call to learn more or connect with Mike: 1-888-860-0658.