From The Desk Of
From the Desk of Brock Rouch: Little Whipsaw
April 2026
Blink and you missed it - what a market! Here's a quick summary of what has taken place over the last couple of months. We'll use February 28th as the starting point for the US/Iran conflict with the S&P 500 standing at 6,878 to start that day.
From the Desk of Brock Rouch: Aim Like You Mean It
February 2026
The other day, I found myself talking to some clients about "aim and intentionality", about how hitting a target is quite difficult when we don't know where we are aiming. Maybe it's all the recent conversations my wife and I get to have with our oldest daughter who has college on the brain.
From The Desk Of Chad Keeler - Good News From the IRS (Yes, Really): 2025 Tax Updates
January 2026
Tax season is officially underway, and this year’s filings come with several updates thanks to the recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Tax law changes don’t usually top anyone’s list of fun topics, but a few of these might actually brighten your day — or at least make your 2025 return a little smoother.
Your 2025 Tax Return: Now With 20% More “Beautiful” Here’s a breezy rundown of the biggest changes under the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBBA) that may affect your 2025 filing — delivered with just enough humor to make tax talk tolerable.
From the Desk of Brock Rouch: The Year "Everyone" Expected
December 2025
Another year of investing is wrapping up, and the Christmas Season is almost upon us. To the new readers out there... "Welcome". For the readers who've been receiving these pieces for the last 5+ years or so, you may know that one of...
From the Desk of Brock Rouch: Siegels Economic View
September 2025
Last month I was fortunate enough to hear one of our county's leading modern-day economists and Financial Authors, Jeremy Siegel, speak at a conference. Mr. Siegel is also the leading Finance professor at one of our country's best business schools, The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Chief Economist and a minority owner at WisdomTree Investments.
From The Desk Of Chad Keeler - Social Media and Investor behavior
August 2025
My wife and I were out to dinner recently, and I couldn’t help but notice a couple nearby. Both of them spent the entire meal on their phones. They hardly spoke to one another. Just sat there, scrolling. It seems that everywhere you go, people are glued to their phones. Social media has completely changed the way that many people interact socially, get their news, and are entertained. Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube have created an entirely new form of entertainment referred to as short-form content. These are videos under 3 minutes that provide entertainment, education, or advertise a specific product of a social media content provider.
From The Desk Of Brock Rouch:
U-S-A! U-S-A!
July 2025
We hope everyone’s summer is off to a lovely start and also that all had a great Fourth of July celebrating our amazing country. As I’m sure all readers are more than aware, it’s been a fairly fantastic market these last few months. The S&P 500 hit an all-time high on July 3rd, which seems like a bigger deal than usual, given where we were in April. For all of us, I sincerely hope it’s another great reminder of how patience and an even keel can make all the difference in investing outcomes.
From The Desk Of Chad Keeler - What’s New for RMD Requirements
June 2025
There are some important updates regarding Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) that could impact your retirement planning. RMDs are a crucial part of your retirement strategy, and it's important to stay informed about the latest changes to ensure compliance and optimize your financial plan.
Continue reading for the latest overviews on RMD requirements and how to circumvent IRS penalties.
From The Desk Of Brock Rouch - Tariffs Par Deux
March 2025
It’s an eventful time for investors, with the stock market reacting to a range of economic factors. While many elements are at play, and I could write an op-ed about each of them (maybe I will over the next couple months). For this piece though, I’ll zero in on tariffs as they’ve been the main driver of the volatility over the last couple of weeks.
I think what’s clear is that this administration has a strong belief that tariffs are a tool to force change. “What changes are they after,” you ask?
From The Desk of Chad Keeler: Tax Season Housekeeping
January 2025
As we enter the new year, we want to remind you that tax season is upon us. At Platte River Private Wealth, we are committed to helping you navigate this important time with ease and confidence.
From The Desk Of Brock Rouch - "Are we living in a Bubble?"
December 2024
A client said something to me the other day that got me thinking. Something to the effect of “this market is too good and it makes me nervous”. I mean the market as represented by the S&P is positive over 26% so far this year. It got me thinking about how I’m sure there are millions of investors with this same feeling right now and it got me wondering how this market might compare to a market in history where the client’s apprehension would’ve been correct – a time where the “market was too good”. I chose to look back at our current market against the dot com bubble market (2,000) and I did this for a couple main reasons. The first being recency and the second reason being how both markets are similarly tech-driven stock market rallies.
From The Desk of Chad Keeler: Year-End Housekeeping Checklist
October 2024
ith November around the corner, it's the time of the year when we are looking at our year-end tasks as it relates to the portfolio and client accounts. On our end we are looking through the portfolios and watching for capital gains distributions from mutual funds and client-specific tax situations that might require some portfolio tweaks. Because of that, I thought I would pass on a list of housekeeping items that you might consider before year-end.
From the Desk of Brock Rouch: Recession in Session?
September 2024
The market’s recent behavior can best be described as turbulent of late, with plenty of twists and turns keeping investors on edge. At the heart of this turbulence is a potent mix of recession anxiety and the ever-watchful eye on Federal Reserve policy. If you’ve tuned into financial news lately, these topics are dominating the headlines. Some analysts claim a recession is not just looming, but knocking on our doors—and the evidence may be hard to ignore.
From The Desk of Chad Keeler: Cost Basis and The Cost Basis Step-Up
August 2024
We all know that paying taxes is a part of life and it’s definitely a part of being an investor. To close out my estate planning series I wanted to cover a small item in the investment tax world; Cost Basis and the Step-Up in Cost Basis.
From the Desk of Brock Rouch: Earnings Season
June 2024
Earnings Season is akin to bringing home the report card for the parents to see; I get to be on the fun side of this activity now as a parent and am happy to report all my kids earned a trip to their favorite local Hibachi restaurant.
From the Desk Of Chad Keeler: Estate Planning Series: A Brief Discussion About Trusts
May 2024
Today we continue our estate planning series with arguably the #1 question that we get during our financial planning meetings with clients. DO I NEED A TRUST? First off, as the compliance department makes me disclose, I am not an attorney and cannot give legal advice...
From the Desk of Brock Rouch:
"Expert" Opinions
March 2024
A big part of my role is to stay up to date on current events that can affect the market and our portfolios. During my daily readings, I often stumble upon articles that make big predictions about future market movements/returns.
From the Desk Of Chad Keeler: Estate Planning Series: Power of Attorney and The Gray Area
February 2024
In my last official “financial planning email” I wrote about the Importance of Beneficiary Designations. In my world, that is probably the single easiest item to correct that results in issues for your loved ones down...
From the Desk of Brock Rouch: Munger and the Art of Waiting - From the Desk of Brock Rouch
December 2023
For those who didn’t know, Charlie Munger passed away at the age of 99 about a week ago. Known for his wisdom and many quips (think the Yogi Berra of investing), Charlie was more than just Warren...
From the Desk Of Chad Keeler: Investor Behavior
October 2023
Today’s market piece will be a bit of a mashup of the two topics. I’ve spent the better part of a week considering what topic I would like to write about today. Topics considered were interest rates, inflation, earnings,...
From the Desk Of Chad Keeler: Estate Planning Basics: Beneficiary Designations
July 2023
This is the start of a multi-part series covering what I would consider “The Basics of Estate Planning.” As Financial Advisors, we wear many hats as we help our clients navigate their Wealth Management Journey. ...
From the Desk of Brock Rouch: State of the Market
July 2023
The first half of 2023 is officially “in the books” as they say and we believe there’s value in reflecting on the months gone by and taking stock of what transpired. I think it’s fair to say that for the...
From the Desk Of Chad Keeler: Social Security
April 2023
April is National Social Security Month. For many Americans, social security is the primary or maybe even the only source of income they receive in retirement. As we work with our clients to plan for retirement an important part of the...
From the Desk of Brock Rouch: The Farmer and his Neighbor
March 2023
There’s a parable of a farmer and his neighbor named “Mr. Market”. Warren Buffett is credited with the origins of this story in a letter he wrote in 1987 to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders but he only...
From the Desk of Brock Rouch: Life Altering Technology
January 2023
That’s a heck of a dramatic subject line, “Life Altering Technology”, but it’s something I feel people should be informed. I’d love feedback on this piece so if you’ve already heard of this...
From the Desk of Brock Rouch: The Philosophical Musings
September 2022
Mid-August my wife and I took our four kids on our first full-fledged family road trip. From Casper to Arches National Park from there to Zion National Park from there to Coronado Island to Sequoia National Park to Yosemite National.
