VESTED Winter 2019

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Strength in Numbers

Jamal Joseph Empowering a New Generation PLUS The Housing Market: Love It, List It, or Still a Fixer-Upper?

Aligning Values with Investments Eats on the Streets Vacations for the Generations

WINTER 2019

At CAPTRUST, we believe we have a profound responsibility to share our success with those less fortunate than us. One way we do that is through the activities of the CAPTRUST Community Foundation, our in-house, employee-run charitable foundation. Its mission is to enrich the lives of children in communities we serve. The foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) charity, was formally organized in 2007 to provide our employees with opportunities to participate as a group in community outreach efforts and to offer their time, passion, and financial support as a way to give back.

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“To every child ... I dream of a world where you

can laugh, dance, sing, learn, live in peace, and be happy.

�

Malala Yousafzai

We invite you to like the CAPTRUST Community Foundation on Facebook.

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Volume 5, Issue 1 | Winter 2019 PUBLISHER

I can’t believe it’s already 2019. They say that time passes more quickly the older you get. That sure seems true. Last year flew by, despite my attempts to slow down and take an occasional break. Regardless of how fast your personal clock is ticking, I hope you’ll take a time-out to spend time with our latest issue of VESTED. You won’t regret it.

This issue’s Second Act hero is Jamal Joseph, a Black Panther turned writer, poet, producer, college professor, Academy Award nominee, and youth advocate. Joseph’s journey, chronicled in his book, Panther Baby, is a fascinating story of personal transformation through the arts. Today, among his many projects, Joseph works to create opportunities for young people in Harlem through the IMPACT Repertory Theatre, an organization that “connects arts with personal development and positive change.”

Also in this issue, we feature a wide range of topics, including: • The possibilities of multigenerational living; • Couples aligning their investments with their values; • Food trucks as a way to explore new cuisine;

J. Fielding Miller Chief Executive Officer EDITORS John Curry Editor in Chief

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

physical benefits of group exercise. She also looks at recent exercise trends and offers a few helpful tips for those interested in getting started with group exercise.

Lastly, in “The Housing Market: Love It, List It, or Still a Fixer-Upper?”

CAPTRUST Chief Investment Officer Kevin Barry and Investment Strategist Sam Kirby take a look at current real estate valuations, market trends, and investment prospects for everyone’s most important asset. The article features primary research prepared by Senior Research Associate Olivia Xing.

As always, we appreciate your article ideas, thoughts, and suggestions. Please keep them coming!

All the best,

• Creating lasting memories via multigenerational vacations; and

Jeremy Altfeder Financial Advisor

Mike Gray Senior Vice President, Financial Advisor

Rush Benton Senior Director, Strategic Wealth

Land Hite Senior Vice President, Financial Advisor

Hugh (Trae) Cole Financial Advisor

Greg Middleton Director, Advisor Group

Ellen Crowley Vice President, Financial Advisor

Aaron J. Morris Vice President, Financial Advisor

Nick DeCenso Senior Manager, Wealth Strategy

Mark Paccione Senior Director, Investment Research

Philip D’Unger Specialist, Wealth Solutions

Teri Parker Vice President, Financial Advisor

Karen Denise Director, Wealth Operations

Alysia Tacinelli Client Management Consultant

Justin Gartman Client Management Consultant

Kyle Tucker Senior Vice President, Financial Advisor

Tiffany Walker Senior Wealth Planner ART DIRECTION AND MARKETING Lonzetta Allen Associate Art Director

John Curry Art Director

Harrison Brackett Jennifer Mastrapasqua Graphic Designer Distribution Manager

• Grieving as an unavoidable part of life.

This issue’s must-read article, “Strength in Numbers,” by frequent contributor Kim Painter, explores the proven mental and

Alysa Cronin Editor

WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF

J. FIELDING MILLER CAPTRUST Chief Executive Officer

Azul Photography Raleigh, NC

Worth Higgins & Associates, Inc. Richmond, VA

Gabrielle Burke Pittsburgh, PA

Getty Images Seattle, WA

Justin Gartman Raleigh, NC

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CONTENT AND CONTRIBUTORS

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KEVIN BARRY Kevin Barry is CAPTRUST’s chief investment officer and leads the Consulting Research Group, the team responsible for investment manager due diligence, asset allocation, and discretionary investment management for the firm’s wealth management and institutional advisory clients.

Barry studied finance at La Salle University in Philadelphia and the University of London, where he received a Master of Science degree in financial management.

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JENNIFER BROOKLAND Jennifer Brookland spent four years as an Air Force officer before earning her master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. As a freelance journalist living in Durham, she has focused on producing multimedia content for international development organizations and on writing feature stories for local magazines, including Our State.

She also fills in as a producer on North Carolina Public RadioWUNC.

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Gabrielle Burke

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KATHLEEN BURNS KINGSBURY

SAM KIRBY

Wealth psychology expert Kathleen Burns Kingsbury has more than two decades of experience educating professionals and empowering women, couples, and families. Voted one of the top nine speakers in 2017

by InvestmentNews, she is the host of the Breaking Money Silence® podcast and the author of several books, including Breaking Money Silence®: How to Shatter Money Taboos, Talk More Openly About Finances, and Live a Richer Life.

As leader of CAPTRUST’s Investment Strategist team, Kirby works with the firm’s financial advisors to assist clients with investment strategy, selection, and monitoring. He has 15 years of financial services experience.

Kirby earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina and a Master of Science degree in management from North Carolina State University and is a CFA charterholder.

Features

Columns

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STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

16

PASSION PURSUITS

35

MONEY TALKS

9

EMPOWERING A NEW GENERATION

25

GLEANINGS

37

LASTING LEGACY

26

EXPERT ANGLE

40

CLIENT CONVERSATIONS

34

MARKET REWIND

42

CAPTRUST HAPPENINGS

by Kim Painter

by Sylvana Smith

20

HOME WITH ROOM TO SPARE

by Kim Painter

29

Eats on the Streets

by Alysia Tacinelli

Renovation Rundown

How We Grieve

by Jennifer Brookland

Aligning Values with Investments

by Kathleen Burns Kingsbury

Vacations for the Generations

by Jeanne Lee

THE HOUSING MARKET: Love it, List it, or Still a Fixer-Upper?

by Kevin Barry and Sam Kirby

JEANNE LEE

KIM PAINTER

SYLVANA SMITH

ALYSIA TACINELLI

Jeanne Lee is a freelance writer living in the lovely college town of Oberlin, Ohio. She has written about consumer and business topics for 20 years, including stints at Fortune and Money. Her work has appeared in publications like USA TODAY, Fortune Small Business, and Health. She loves thinking about ways for people to hack their finances and daydreams of paying off her mortgage before she has to pay for college for her two boys.

Kim Painter is a freelance writer specializing in health and lifestyle issues. She was a USA TODAY staffer for many years and has continued to contribute to the newspaper as a reporter, columnist, and blogger. She lives in McLean, Virginia, where she practices what she preaches: wearing sunscreen, eating broccoli, and getting at least 10,000 steps a day.

Sylvana Smith is a freelance writer living on an antebellum farm in central North Carolina. Educated at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of North Carolina, she writes marketing communications for Fortune 100 companies. She has been a professional journalist and marketing writer for more than 20 years.

Alysia Tacinelli is a freelance writer from New York, currently living in Raleigh, North Carolina.

She spent a couple of years living in London, where she earned her master’s degree in publishing studies and started her career in the editorial department at Bloomsbury Academic. Now, when Tacinelli is not working as a client management consultant at CAPTRUST, she’s tucked away trying to finish her first novel.

All publication rights reserved. None of the material in this publication may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of CAPTRUST: 919.870.6822. ©2019 CAPTRUST Financial Advisors. The opinions expressed in this report are subject to change without notice. This material has been prepared or is distributed solely for informational purposes and is not a solicitation or an offer to buy any security or instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. CAPTRUST does not render legal, accounting, or tax advice. If you require such advice, you should contact the appropriate legal, accounting, or tax advisor. The information and statistics in this report are from sources believed to be reliable but are not warranted by CAPTRUST Financial Advisors to be accurate or complete.

Performance data depicts historical performance and is not meant to predict future results.

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STRENGTH in

NUMBERS

by Kim Painter

Gloria Gladd, 63, has been active her whole life but has never loved solo exercise. She shudders remembering a free visit to one gym that looked like “a graveyard of equipment� for lonely treadmillers and weight lifters.

Instead, she goes five or six times a week to a Fitology club in State College, Pennsylvania, where she might join a group spin class one day, an intense whole body group workout the next, and a group weight-lifting session the day after that.

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She’s always trying new things, Gladd says, and working out with others makes that easier.

She remembers the day she got new spin shoes and struggled to attach them to her bike: “Three people jumped off their bikes to help me,” she says.

Gladd likes the idea that if she doesn’t show up for classes, people will ask where she’s been.

“There are a lot of regulars, so there’s a lot of accountability,” says the just-retired medical office assistant.

Gladd has discovered something well supported by research. When we exercise alone, we can get a good workout—but when we exercise in a group, many of us get an added boost.

“We are greatly influenced by the company we keep,” and when our exercise mates push us to do one more squat or sweat for five more minutes, that can be a very good thing, says Cedric Bryant, president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise (ACE).

Benefits of a Group A group can drive us to work out harder—perhaps because we want to measure up or do our part for the team. It’s an example of the well-known Köhler effect, seen in everything from business to mountain climbing. When working on a task with others, many of us will put in extra effort.

A group can drive us to work out harder—perhaps because we want to measure up or do our part for the team. It’s an example of the well-known Köhler effect.

The effect is named after German industrial psychologist Otto Köhler, who first demonstrated it in experiments with rowing teams in the 1920s. But working harder is not the only benefit of working out in a group. Studies have suggested that: • Exercisers who join a group or a partner are more likely to make exercise a habit; • Group exercise may do more than solo exercise to reduce stress and increase quality of life; • Group exercisers who synchronize their movements may develop higher pain tolerance and greater endurance than those who work out alone; and • People who exercise in groups or pairs might even live longer.

That’s right. A recent study of nearly 8,600 people in Denmark found that all varieties of exercise, as expected, were associated with longer lifespans. But the biggest boosts—ranging from five to 10 years of extra life—were seen in people who choose activities that are typically social, rather than solo, with tennis, badminton, and soccer players outliving runners, swimmers, and cyclers (and exercisers of any sort outliving couch potatoes).

The study did not prove that exercising in pairs or groups made the difference in longevity, but it did account for income, education, age, and other factors that might skew results. The findings held up even when the researchers looked only at college graduates, reducing the odds that the results merely reflect the advantages of those who play certain sports, says study co-author James O’Keefe.

“I really think the social aspect of it may be the most important part,” says O’Keefe, who is director of preventive cardiology at the Mid America Heart Institute at Saint Luke’s Health System in Kansas City. To get the most out of exercise, including the most fun, he says, “we need to embrace our identities as very social creatures.” In other words, O’Keefe says, we need to “play with our friends.”

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Not All Groups Are Equal If you have ever been to an exercise class where everyone walks in, takes a spot, and then wordlessly follows along with an instructor—then you’ve been to a class with a low level of what researchers call groupness.

On the other hand, if you’ve been to a class where participants set goals together, work as teams, cheer one another on, and bond in other ways, you’ve been to a class with a high level of groupness—and probably better results, researchers say.

“What the recent research has shown is that the higher the level of groupness, the higher the level of exertion, enjoyment, and satisfaction. And the higher the intention to do it again,” says Jinger Gottschall, an associate professor of kinesiology at Pennsylvania State University. Gottschall also founded the Fitology club in State College and is a scientific advisor to ACE, the exercise council.

Gladd, who has taken fitness classes from Gottschall, describes the ideal “group vibe” this way: “It’s like being at a sporting event, but you’re participating in it.”

Gladd, who has taken fitness classes from Gottschall, describes the ideal “group vibe” this way: “It’s like being at a sporting event, but you’re participating in it.”

The bonding in a group class can begin even before anyone starts sweating, says John Ford, a New York City personal trainer who works with individuals, couples, and small groups.

In a cohesive group, people might be “touching, high-fiving, giving pats on the shoulder” as they greet one another, triggering the release of “feel-good hormones” that can give people more energy and make exercise more enjoyable, he says.

And the bonds can last beyond class, Ford says. That’s why he offers corporate team-building sessions where co-workers might crawl, lunge, and shuffle through a relay competition and perform push-ups in waves—seeing how long they can keep the fun going.

And, Ford emphasizes, the group activity should be fun and conducted in a way that no one gets hurt, physically or otherwise. If not, it can be counterproductive, souring people on exercise. In a country where just one in five adults meets recently updated physical activity guidelines, no one wants that.

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Different Workouts for Different Folks

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Finding a trainer or a group with a positive, supportive vibe can make all the difference.

JC Cassis, a 35-year-old musician and podcast producer who lives in Brooklyn, spends much of each day John Ford working alone in her house. At some point, she very much needs to get out and see people, and a trip to a nearby gym for some Pilates, yoga, or high-intensity interval training is a way to combine exercise and social contact, she says.

“I’m definitely an extrovert, so the actual human contact is nonnegotiable for me. This is the way I’m wired,” she says. “I love seeing the same people over and over again.”

But not everyone likes to exercise in a crowd—and that’s just fine, Gottschall says. “Some people like to go for meditative walks in the woods by themselves,” she says. “And I know some moms who are like, ‘I just want to go for a jog by myself—it’s my me time.’”

”

“People who have had bad experiences with group exercise in the past—who felt humiliated in high school gym classes or sports settings, for example, can lack the confidence to try again,” Ford says. “But finding a trainer or a group with a positive, supportive vibe can make all the difference,” he says.

Among other ideas for people who are shy, short on time, or living in areas with limited options: virtual exercise partners and online classes.

There are now apps that connect real runners, bikers, and others with online buddies who can share stats and compete. Researchers also are working to improve digital “exergames” to make them more like working out with supportive friends (ideally, friends who motivate you by being just a little fitter or faster than you are). And some exercise studios now offer live streaming classes along with recorded classes on demand. “There really is something for everyone,” Gottschall says.

NEW TO GROUP EXERCISE? Here are some tips for getting started from fitness experts: • If you do not want to stand out as a newbie, you might want to start with a class where synchronized movements and group cohesion are not especially important—maybe a cycling class instead of a dance class.

• You often can try a new exercise style at home—with a streaming class or on-demand video—to gain some comfort before showing up in person.

• Pick a class that will challenge but not frustrate you. Most clubs and studios rate classes by degree of difficulty, but feel free to ask for specifics—like how much weight you should be able to lift or how intense the cardio demands will be.

• Group exercise does not have to be intense exercise, if that’s not your thing.

Walking groups are among the most popular forms of group exercise and have been linked to improvements in blood pressure, body fat, lung function, and mood.

• Whatever exercise you choose, try to cover the bases recommended in the federal government’s physical activity guidelines, just updated in 2018. They call for adults to get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or at least 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week. You should also do some strength training, such as lifting weights or using resistance bands, two times a week.

• If you can’t keep up in a new class, give yourself a break. Don’t get injured. It’s OK to leave the room for a drink of water and come back. It’s also OK to try something, decide it’s not for you, and switch to something else.

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GROUP EXERCISE TRENDS Group exercise isn’t just good for you—it’s a growing trend. In fact, group training was rated as the second-most-popular fitness trend for 2019 in an annual survey of fitness professionals conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine.

Group training was rated number two in 2018 as well, up from number six the prior year— the first year it broke into the top 20 in the history of the survey, launched in 2006, according to a report published in the college’s Health & Fitness Journal.

Here’s the top 10 list for 2019, including several additional trends that incorporate group workouts:

• Wearable technology. If you track your heart rate, calorie burn, steps, or other fitness stats with a dedicated fitness tracker, smartwatch, or other device, you are part of this trend—whether you exercise alone or in a group.

• Group training. The survey defined training groups as those with more than five participants and an instructor.

• Yoga. Popular as both a solo act and a group activity, yoga now comes in many forms—from power and hot yoga to Yogalates (a combo of yoga and Pilates).

• High-intensity interval training (HIIT).

These popular workouts combine short bursts of intense effort with brief recovery periods. You can do a HITT workout alone or in a group class.

• Personal training. While many personal trainers focus on giving clients one-on-one attention, many also offer their services to couples and small groups.

• Fitness programs for older adults.

Classes for the over-50 crowd are increasingly offered, not just at senior centers, but at gyms looking to attract fitness-minded folks of all ages.

• Functional fitness training. This is exercise with a practical purpose— to build strength, balance, coordination, and endurance so that you function better in everyday life and can live more independently.

Such exercise can become increasingly important as we age.

• Bodyweight training. These are exercises that use minimal equipment and depend on your body to provide resistance. Think push-ups, planks, squats, and lunges. It’s the classic solo workout, but many gyms offer group classes.

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• Certified fitness professionals. More fitness facilities are looking for trainers and instructors with the right education and credentials.

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• Exercise as medicine. This is the global trend for physicians and other health care providers to assess their patient’s physical activity levels—and prescribe more exercise as needed. The prescription may very well include generous doses of group exercise.

Empowering A NEW GENERATION

by Sylvana Smith

From Black Panther and convict to writer, poet, producer, college professor, Academy Award nominee, and youth advocate, Jamal Joseph’s life has taken a circuitous path to the present. His is a story of perennial social activism, advancing lessons from his Black Panther days to empower a new generation.

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Excuse Me, Young Brother, I Just Did In the late 1960s, Eddie Joseph was a high school honor student, slated to graduate early and begin college. That path took a detour. A long one. Impassioned to resolve the social, economic, and political wrongs he saw in his Bronx community and the nation, 15-year-old Eddie was drawn to the ideology of the Black Panther Party, which was just gaining a national presence.

He remembers riding the subway to the Panther office in Harlem with two friends to offer his services, enraged by the recent assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was ready to fight, even kill if necessary, to serve the cause.

At the Panther office, a leader called the earnest teen up front. As Joseph stood by his side, the leader pulled open a desk drawer and reached far into it. Joseph’s heart pounded. He was prepared to be handed a gun—the power for social change.

Instead, he was handed a stack of books, such as The Autobiography of Malcolm X and The Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon’s 1961 work on the cultural foundations of social movements. Taken aback, Joseph said, “Excuse me, brother, I thought you were going to arm me.” The Panther’s reply: “Excuse me, young brother, I just did.”

By 16, Eddie—now called Jamal—learned that the militant group the FBI declared to be “the greatest threat to America” was a multifaceted entity. The Party’s 10-point program called for fair housing, education, justice, and peace. They put those ideals into action with free breakfasts for school children. Free medical clinics for those who could otherwise not afford health care.

Neighborhood patrols to protect citizens threatened by street violence and police brutality. The guns were just there to establish authority and prevent law enforcement obstruction to the primary mission: liberation.

“Freedom and liberation are really abstract concepts,” says Joseph a half century later, speaking with a temperate grace that belies the radical fervor of his younger self. What it means depends on where you are on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. “To a person who is hungry, freedom is a meal. To someone who is homeless and cold, liberation is a safe, warm, dry place to sleep. To a person who is sick, political power is a doctor, nurse, and medicine. So, in a day in the Panther Party, you probably saw or touched a gun 5 percent of the time, but spent 95 percent of the time working in the community.”

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(Top) Joseph, youngest of the Panther 21, poses for a photo.

(Bottom) With an open book in hand, a young Joseph speaks to peers outside a Panther office.

He was prepared to be handed a gun—the power for social change. Instead, he was handed a stack of books, such as The Autobiography of Malcolm X and The Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon’s 1961 work on the cultural foundations of social movements.

The Panthers Joseph saw organizing free services in their communities stood in striking contrast to the menacing, gun-toting criminals he saw on television. He saw that true empowerment is not the product of violence but of empathy.

“

Joseph has carried with him a lifelong lesson from the late Afeni Shakur, a fellow Panther and big sister figure. “She said, ‘You know Jamal, the real goal of the Panther Party is not to have every person in Harlem or the black community become a member of the Black Panther Party. The goal of the Panther Party is to lead by example and show the people the possibilities of struggle for emancipation and liberation—to lead by possibility and to make ourselves obsolete.’”

“Imagine that pearl of wisdom on a 15-year-old kid,” Joseph says. “If you think you’re going to be a Panther, know that real leadership and service is to make yourself obsolete because the people are empowered because they get it, and they get it for them.”

We all have challenges we have to face, and it’s up to us whether those are setbacks or lessons, whether it permanently stops us or becomes a rung on a ladder we can climb to become better and help make the world better. It was in prison that I learned that the more I could let go of bitterness and disappointment, the more room there was for love and transformation.

Jamal Joseph

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Serve the Time, or Let the Time Serve You If violence did not top the Black Panther Party’s tenets, it was undeniably part of the implementation. By 16, Joseph’s devotion to the cause landed him in prison on infamous Rikers Island, charged with a bombing conspiracy as part of the Panther 21 in one of the most emblematic criminal cases of the 60s. When exonerated, he became the youngest spokesperson and leader in the Panthers’ New York chapter. In one of his more renowned oratories, he urged Vietnam war protestors to burn down the Columbia University campus.

He later landed back in prison, sentenced to 12 years in Leavenworth for harboring a fugitive in an armed robbery. Despite the dangers and despair of life in a federal penitentiary, Joseph credits this time for resetting his life’s compass.

“An older prisoner, Mr. Cody, gave me life-changing advice,” Joseph recalls. “He said, ‘Young blood, let me tell you something. You can serve this here time, or you can let this here time serve you.” As Malcolm X said, ‘The penitentiary has been the university for many a black man.’”

While in prison, Joseph earned college degrees with honors in psychology and sociology, wrote poetry and his first play, and founded a groundbreaking theater company that brought together prisoners formerly divided by race, culture, and violence.

Joseph didn’t start out with the idea to develop a theater company.

Some inmates—most notably Mr. Cody—challenged him to do a play for Black History Month. “I couldn’t find anything in the library, so I wrote a play and had black brothers rehearsing,” Joseph recalls. Parole by Death was based on the true story of a young prisoner stabbed to death two weeks before his parole date.

(Top) Joseph at the Panther office in Harlem.

(Bottom) Joseph outside the Harlem Panther office.

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“Then some Latinos showed up to a rehearsal,” Joseph says. “We thought something must be really upsetting them. One came up and said, ‘I’ve got to talk to you.’ I thought, oh damn, it’s me. He said, ‘I’ve been watching this for about 10 minutes, and that guy, he’s not feeling his character.’ So I rewrote the play to include Latino characters. Then some white brothers showed up and wanted to be in the play, so we ended up having this multicultural experience.”

“These were groups that stood in different areas of the yard in the voluntary segregation that happens in prison. You stay in your own section of the yard. I thought, this is amazing.” This cultural bridge epitomized the Black Panther Party’s slogan of “power to all the people” across racial lines. There were just 12 to 15 men in the play, but more than 2,000 in the audience giving them a standing ovation, a profoundly unifying moment.

“I saw men change, not only in how they communicated with each other, but in starting to realize that they could act, they could write, they could sing. They wrote letters home, poetry.

I saw the transformative and healing power of the arts, and I started thinking this was the work that I wanted to do.”

“I was still a prisoner, but I’d found a new kind of freedom.”

From Prison to a War Zone Released from prison on Christmas Eve 1987, Joseph returned to a Harlem that looked like the aftermath of a World War II bombing raid—block after block of devastation and decay, punctuated by nightly gunfire at the height of the crack epidemic. He had a family to consider: his wife, Joyce Walker, an actress and model who was the first African-American woman on the cover of Seventeen magazine, and his young son, Jamal Jr. It would have been so easy to leave. Go somewhere safe.

Joseph returned to a Harlem that looked like the aftermath of a World War II bombing raid—block after block of devastation and decay, punctuated by nightly gunfire at the height of the crack epidemic.

Instead he stayed and tapped the social activism that had drawn him to the Panthers decades earlier. He immersed himself in projects and making ends meet. On his résumé he listed his Black Panther affiliation and time in prison under “Other Experience.” His candor and street cred earned him a role at the Harlem campus of Touro College, where he worked seven years as a counselor, professor, and director of student activities.

From there, he accepted an invitation to teach a semester of screenwriting at Columbia University, which led to another, then a steady climb up the academic ranks to full professor and a five-year term as chair of the film school. As the first African-American head of any department in the school of the arts, Joseph worked to increase diversity of thought and perspective, both in the faculty and student body.

In the midst of his ascent at Columbia, Joseph’s life took another turn. A 16-year-old neighbor was killed at a party. The boy had confronted a young gunslinger who had disrespected his sister. The youth shot him.

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“When Andre’s mother received the news, her apartment was too small to contain her grief,” Joseph recalls. “She ran out into the street and wailed.” Joseph was still mourning the death of his godson, Afeni Shakur’s son, Tupac, who had been killed in Las Vegas a year earlier.

The what-ifs haunted him. Was there more he could have said or done for Tupac? For Andre? “I was helping run a youth program in Manhattan. Why not in Harlem, where I live, I thought? If Andre, or the boy who shot him, were in a creative arts workshop instead of out partying or doing drugs on the street, then maybe Andre would still be alive. These pointless deaths had to stop. I knew I had to do something. And I knew what my weapons would be.”

Making an Impact Joseph approached Voza Rivers, executive producer of Harlem’s New Heritage Theatre, with a vision to bring arts to Harlem youth, to create a refuge from the streets and help kids make sense of their world.

The IMPACT Repertory Theatre began in a community center basement with nine students—including Joseph’s three children. Within a year, 75 kids had joined. Since then, more than 2,000 young people have been part of IMPACT in New York. Of those who stayed with IMPACT through high school, 75 percent have gone on to college. Thousands more have participated in IMPACT-led workshops in New York, Philadelphia, and Atlanta.

The repertory company performs in front of more than 25,000 people a year at venues ranging from the United Nations headquarters to New York City Hall, hospitals, public schools, and, yes, penitentiaries.

More than a performing arts troupe, IMPACT is based on a mission statement of SOS—safe space, outstanding effort, and service to family, friends, and community. Prospective members go through an intensive 12-week boot camp where they learn the fundamentals of leadership, service, and public speaking—and forge indelible connections.

The IMPACT Repertory Theatre began in a community center basement with nine students— including Joseph’s three children. Within a year, 75 kids had joined.

IMPACT members visit nursing homes, clean up city blocks, and organize food and clothing drives. They serve meals, participate in sharing circles with elders, register voters, and fundraise for charity. “We teach young people that they can be socially active and make a difference,” Joseph says. “There’s no start date for activism, and there’s no expiration date for your dreams.”

Young people audition for the program, but it’s not a pass-or-fail proposition. It’s a chance to find each one’s best niche. Will this person dance, sing, write, or work as a stage manager behind the scenes? “We know we can’t get every kid on stage, but we sure 13

“

There’s no start date for activism, and there’s no expiration date for

”

your dreams.

Jamal Joseph

want to get every kid to college,” says Joseph. “If we can teach not only creativity but community and commitment, then we will help them become better people. If they become better singers, dancers, or writers, that’s great, we’re cool, but if you’re a mediocre singer, dancer, or writer but you become a better person, then we’ve done our job, and you will see us jumping for joy.”

The kids write or co-write their own material and choreography, and Joseph is very vested in them. He gets choked up and a little tearyeyed watching them perform, whether in the borrowed rehearsal space or on stage at the 2008 Academy Awards, telecast to a billion viewers. “The kids say, ‘Are you okay Uncle Jamal?’ I say, ‘I have some allergies.’ I’m good at allergies.”

An Enduring Legacy Alumni from the program come back to share their stories. Now in their 20s and 30s, they are educators and social workers, professionals in medicine, law, and arts management. Many have graduate degrees. Two are PhD candidates.

Count Joseph’s own children in that number. Eldest son Jamal, 36, has a Master of Fine Arts in film from Columbia. Middle son Jad, 30, a Brown University graduate and activist, is passionate about 14

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restorative justice and campaigns for progressive candidates.

Daughter Jindai, 27, a Columbia University grad, is director of operations and creative producer at a Harlem-based advertising and marketing firm as well as a talented musician. All three were IMPACT kids.

From Revolutionary Artistic Activism In addition to creating IMPACT and inspiring a generation of Columbia students to tell their stories in film, Joseph is a wellspring of creativity. He published Tupac Shakur Legacy, a biography of his godson, and the autobiographical Panther Baby. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song in 2008 for a song he co-wrote for the film August Rush.

He is co-founder and faculty advisor of FOCUS—Filmmakers of Color United in Spirit—which promotes diversity and inclusion in community work, mentoring, and storytelling through film.

He is working on Peace Warriors, a musical about anti-bullying and anti-violence that has original monologues, poetry, music, and dance by IMPACT members. A documentary on a Harlem-based civil rights lawyer is in the works. So is a television series based on Panther Baby.

Joseph’s critically acclaimed 2017 film, Chapter & Verse, tells the story of a reformed gang leader who struggles to adapt to a changed Harlem after serving an eight-year prison sentence. “I’m very proud of the film as a filmmaker because I was able to artistically make a film that people appreciate.”

Chapter & Verse represented the perfect confluence of Joseph’s worlds. It showcases the talents of present and former Columbia students and IMPACT kids in front of and behind the camera.

Joseph is shooting film, not bullets, in Harlem to tell a story that personally resonates—how to find hope and relearn the joys of life and living, “despite an outwardly bedeviled society.”

Now Joseph is raising funds for his next dream—a space in Harlem so IMPACT can have a permanent home and expand offerings with its own dance space, theater space, recording studio, and multimedia center to create digitally enhanced stage experiences. It’s a natural extension of the community-based social activism he learned decades ago as a Panther. “We knew back then that we had bright minds questioning the world,” he says. “Now I want to create a space for the best and the brightest minds of this generation.”

“I’m reminded of the irony of this turn of events whenever I walk by the large statue of Alma Mater that stands in front of the Low Library in the middle of the Columbia campus,” Joseph says. “She looks down at me with a look that says, So it’s Professor Joseph now, huh? I remember when you were a young Panther, and all you wanted to do was burn this damn place down or die trying. Well, we both survived, and here we are. Maybe there’s a future after all.”

IMPACT REPERTORY THEATRE A Harlem-based youth theatre company connects arts with personal development and positive change using creative arts to build confidence, community and critical thinking. IMPACT provides leadership training, writing workshops, homework help and creative labs to create original songs and choreographies.

231A West 135th Street New York, NY 10030 impactreptheatre.org 212.926.4516

Even with his career and community successes, Joseph can hardly believe he has been at Columbia University for 20 years. He came in thinking he was going to teach one course for one semester. He was stunned to be asked back for a second semester.

Rehearsal at IMPACT Repertory Theatre.

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n o ­ - T S the E A EETS STR- - - -­elli sia Tacin an ly A y b written y Justin Gartm raphy b photog

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Kim Hunter once owned a popular Korean restaurant in a trendy area of downtown Raleigh before making the decision to close and take her food to the streets. She enjoyed owning a successful restaurant, but she wanted more flexibility. Her stationary restaurant found itself susceptible to a constantly evolving downtown, and with this comes traffic changes, construction, and parking challenges. Hunter now avoids these rapid disruptions with her mobile eatery, Umma Foods.

Many chefs like Hunter are deciding to forego traditional brick-and-mortar establishments in favor of a traveling restaurant—with far less overhead and restraints. With this shift in dining options, hungry customers are taking advantage of the convenience, variety, and novelty of food trucks to experiment with foods from around the world.

“Having a food truck allows more flexibility, both in my personal life and in where we can connect with customers. We aren’t constrained to a particular location,” Hunter says.

Hunter often finds herself parked in one of the many Triangle breweries, such as Trophy Brewing and Bond Brothers Beer Company. She’s also been booked to park her truck and cater weddings, birthdays, and corporate parties. With her mobile kitchen, she’s able to introduce her international cuisine to a larger area of the city.

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One of the perks to operating in such a small space with few staff is the connection between chef and customer.

“On the truck, I am directly involved in every interaction— from greeting the guest, talking with them about the menu, taking their order, and cooking it. I enjoy that level of interaction,” Hunter says.

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While food trucks might not create the same ambiance people get with a sit-down restaurant, Hunter says there are ways to create a unique and special atmosphere.

The Traveling Restaurant Trend The food truck evolution has changed the way people eat out. So much so that it no longer appears to be a trend. Those seeking a quick and convenient international experience, instead of spending hours at a traditional restaurant, are finding themselves drawn to experimenting with different cuisines at food trucks.

“Enjoying food is about the experience. And people are interested in finding unique experiences and trying new cuisine. Food trucks come from the idea of international street food and, when done well, food trucks give people that sense of being on a street or festival in a town in a faraway place,” Hunter explains.

While food trucks might not create the same ambiance people get with a sit-down restaurant, Hunter says there are ways to create a unique and special atmosphere. Her Umma Foods truck brings a Korean vibe into the experience through the signage and menu, customer service, plating, the locations or setting where the truck is parked, and, of course the food itself.

Take Your Taste Buds on an Adventure Jeff Clement has been a food truck enthusiast for years. He enjoys waiting among fellow foodie comrades in long lines to try a new and popular food truck. He’s particularly interested in foods with an international flair. Clement enjoyed chasing after food trucks so much that when it came time for him to retire from the advertising agency world, he decided to join his friend—and food truck owner—this past summer to travel throughout St. Paul feeding hungry Minnesotans.

“What I like best about international trucks and doing international foods as specials is it creates a perfect environment and intersection where consumers can try new foods with limited risk or commitment,” Clement explains.

When Clement helped his friend on the food truck, Signature on Wheels, his goal was to enjoy and immerse himself in his passion for cooking and introduce people to the delicious foods he’s tasted while traveling the world with his family. Some of his favorite dishes to prepare were peri peri chicken from South Africa, Goan shrimp and tandoori cauliflower from India, Korean barbeque beef tacos, and Croatian lamb kabobs.

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While Clement might be retired from advertising, the practice is still ingrained in the way he thinks. Not only did he help create interesting foreign specials for Signature on Wheels, he branded them World Food Adventures. He even created a Facebook page and the website worldfoodadventures.com, with the goal of eventually expanding to partnerships with other food trucks.

If you can’t find a food truck offering a variety of cultural cuisines, like Signature on Wheels, attending a food truck festival or event where multiple trucks are parked allows for even more freedom to experiment, with minimal risk and cost to the customer. If you’re with a large group, it can sometimes be a challenge choosing a restaurant to please everyone; a festival could cut down on conflict. Also, if you don’t like what you’ve just eaten, you can move along to a different truck without the regret of putting all your hopes into one dish and having to leave hungry.

FIND AND FOLLOW A FAVORITE FOOD TRUCK Are you new to the food truck scene? If so, visit a food truck rodeo to get acquainted with trucks in your area. Rodeo organizers typically invite a selection of trucks—representing a range of cuisines—so that there’s something for everybody. Get together with friends or family, and fan out to explore the possibilities of a food truck rodeo.

Make sure to jot down the names of your favorites.

A Chef’s Advantage

Another way to find a favorite mobile

The risks chefs face when trying to decide on menu options might become less risky when operating out of a food truck because they have a direct and immediate connection with the customer. They can see how they’re interacting with their food, and depending on the reaction, they’re able to adjust their menus accordingly.

eatery is through websites, blogs, or

Cooking from a food truck can also offer a level of satisfaction they might have missed out on, if stuck in a busy kitchen without a visual of their customers. Chefs wouldn’t have to rely on an intermediary, such as a waitress or waiter’s observation.

Dining at a food truck lends itself to comingling with strangers while waiting in line, versus if you were at a traditional restaurant.

And since there’s no hostess to provide separate seating, you could find yourself sitting family style at a picnic table or side by side on a street curb, among new friends, enjoying a shared international cuisine experience.

mobile apps. Google “food truck rodeo” or “food truck blog” plus your city name, and you’ll be rewarded with a list of websites and blogs with local food truck information. Or search Yelp for food trucks near any city, state, or zip code for a comprehensive listing that can be filtered by distance, price, features, and category. Food truck mobile apps are catching on too. For example, food truck connoisseurs in Ohio, North Carolina, and a few other locations will like the StreetFoodFinder website or mobile app (for iPhone and Android).

Track a Truck

Lastly, many local broadcasting

The thrill of the hunt is part of the attraction to food trucks.

Discovering where your favorite trucks are going to be parked next adds an additional element of excitement to the dining experience. It can also take you to new locations you might never have journeyed to.

articles, videos, photo galleries, and blog posts about popular eateries and food trucks specific to the areas they serve.

Once you’ve found a few favorites, track them via social media. Food truck chefs post their whereabouts, menus, and pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

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Social media has played a large part in the popularity of the food truck revolution. After all, following a food truck via Facebook or Instagram and the actual act of eating at a food truck are inherently more of a community experience.

companies and publications highlight

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Home

WITH ROOM TO SPARE

by Kim Painter

Just about everything in the sprawling 91-year-old Dutch colonial in Bexley, Ohio, is, in fact, there by design—and part of an experiment in four-generation living Lisa Cini and her family launched in 2014.

Cini, who specializes in designing senior living facilities, used her talents to create an unglamorous but functional 4,300-square-foot home for herself, her husband, and their then-teenaged children to share with her parents and her maternal grandmother, then 92.

Cini’s grandmother, Gerline Lilly, passed away recently from Alzheimer’s disease at age 96. “She lived a phenomenal life and at the end, got to live with my kids, and my mom and dad, and us,” Cini says.

“We’ve all benefited.”

Cini describes the experiment in her book Hive: The Simple Guide to Multigenerational Living. It’s an experiment that, in one form or another, more of us are trying.

A New Multigenerational Normal

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A record 64 million Americans—20 percent of the population—lived in multigenerational homes in 2016, according to the Pew Research Center. The count includes young adults living with their parents, elders living with their grown children, and grandparents living with grandchildren.

Such households are, of course, common around the world. They are part of our history, too. In 1940, more than two-thirds of people over age 85 lived with extended families, as did one-third of adults ages 25 to 29, according to Pew. 21

But those numbers plunged after World War II, as a housing and economic boom normalized the nuclear family home. Young adults were expected to set up their own households as quickly as possible, and elders were expected to live independently or among their peers, in senior communities, assisted living facilities, and the like. By 1980, just 12 percent of Americans lived in multigenerational homes.

But during the Great Recession a decade ago, multigenerational living surged back. And it shows no sign of receding now, despite the improved economy, experts say.

In many cases, “people may have come together by need, but they’ve stayed together by choice,” says Donna Butts, executive director of Generations United, an advocacy group that works to strengthen intergenerational connections.

Along the way, she says, attitudes toward such families have changed. Stories about beleaguered baby boomers unable to rid themselves of boomerang kids and needy elders have increasingly given way to more positive narratives, she says, about families choosing to live with and care for one another.

ily

n Fam

Moder

For people who choose the multigenerational lifestyle, “it’s not a sign of weakness,” Butts says. “It’s really a sign of strength for people to admit they enjoy being together. For many families, it’s really a wonderful thing.”

Cini says there may still be some stigma—or fear of stigma—attached to setting up a multigenerational home.

“After I did this, people would come up and say, ‘I want to do this too,’ but it was almost like a dirty little secret,” she says. In the case of people taking in aging parents, she says, “part of it was that they didn’t want people to think they couldn’t afford to put their parents somewhere else.”

And, for many families, financial considerations do still play a role in decisions to double or triple up—even if they are doing it in gleaming new homes or smartly repurposed or remodeled digs, some experts say.

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ar Fam

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In the San Francisco area, young adults are coming back to live with their parents not because they cannot find jobs, but because their perfectly respectable jobs do not pay enough to cover the high costs of housing there, says Fran Halperin, a Bay Area architect specializing In the in accessibility and aging in place.

That kind of thinking, she says, leads clients to think about how to get the most from their homes—which means thinking about their extended families’ needs in the future.

“

Fran Halperin

“I’m building a house right now for a single woman with a daughter,” she says. “Her daughter is in college. Her parents live in Ohio. But she wants a suite for her parents to come and live in in the next few years and another room for her daughter when she comes home.”

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”

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For some, “there’s a lack of confidence that the economy will stay good. I hear a lot of people referring to the next recession,” says Joanne Theunissen, chair of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Theunissen builds and remodels homes in and around Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

San Francisco area, young adults are coming back to live with their parents not because they cannot find jobs, but because their perfectly respectable jobs do not pay enough to cover the high costs of housing there.

New Kinds of Homes The multigenerational living trend has created a market for new homes built expressly for shared lives. Lennar, the nation’s largest homebuilder, has for the past several years offered a line of what it calls Next Gen® homes—homes designed with attached one-bedroom units that have their own entrances, kitchenettes, and parking but can open into the main house.

Promotional videos at the builder’s website show the sorts of families the homes might attract. There’s a family with a grandmother and another with a developmentally disabled adult daughter, each living semi-independently in their attached suites.

Of course, not everyone plans ahead for multigenerational living.

“Often, there’s some kind of family crisis. Grandma falls and breaks a hip or junior loses his job and has to move back in with the family,” says Northern California remodeler Michael Litchfield, author of In-Laws, Outlaws, and Granny Flats: Your Guide to Turning One House into Two Homes.

Another essential: local zoning laws and planning officials that will permit your plans to become reality. That’s far from a given. Many neighborhoods built for single-family living are hostile to changes that might bring in too many people and cars, Litchfield says.

That is changing, though, in many communities trying to address housing shortages. New laws in California, for example, give cities more flexibility to promote the building of so-called “accessory dwelling units.”

Adding such a unit can be a smart financial move, especially in communities that allow them to be used as rentals, says Halperin, the Bay Area architect.

“I personally think they are great for resale. There are so many potential uses. If you don’t have elderly adults or adult children, you might want to rent it out or Airbnb it,” she says—though she notes neighbors often complain about such uses, even when laws allow them.

Another idea: Some people envision moving into their own in-law suites or cottages after their elders or grown children are gone—and renting out their larger home, Halperin and Litchfield say. That, they say, can allow people to travel but keep a base of operations in their old stomping grounds.

Such renovations are the solutions that many families seek if they have the resources. Those resources include not only money, but a house and lot that can accommodate added rooms, ideally with their own entrances, cooking and bathing facilities, and outdoor spaces, Litchfield says.

Siena Siena at Bella at Casa Bella Casa

THETHE ASPEN BASEMENT ASPEN BASEMENT

The multigenerational living trend has created a market for new homes built expressly for shared lives.

DEN/ BEDROOM

LIVING ROOM

MASTER SUITE

IN-LAW SUITE

OFFICE

DINING ROOM

GARAGE/ GAME ROOM

BEDROOM

BEDROOM

DEN/ BEDROOM

SECOND FLOOR

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Thinking About the Future—with Flexibility Cini says she does not know what comes next for her family. For now, her grandmother’s first-floor suite stands empty. Her parents, Libby and John Miller, still taking the stairs at 78 and 80, are comfy in their second-floor suite. In fact, Cini thinks the stairs have helped keep her parents young. So has the stimulation of living in a bustling household, where that dorm-style family room, with its multiple sofas, is often full of friends and family, she says.

“They are in better shape than they were five years ago,” Cini says. She notes that her father still works at a furniture dealership, and her mother, with the help of the entire household, was able to be her own mother’s primary caregiver in the older woman’s final years.

“There have also been enormous payoffs for my kids,” Cini says, including lessons in empathy and caregiving.

The two young people, Jacob and Adellina, now in their early 20s, have just graduated from college. Both are exploring options. If they end up living at home, Cini says she will be thrilled. If they end up far away, that will be fine, too, she says—but might mean it will soon be time to move on from what she calls “our minivan house.”

Maybe, she says, she and her husband, Greg, 52, will buy a smaller duplex with her parents—and they will all retire and travel together.

“No matter what, my parents are going to be close to me,” she says.

“Flexibility has to be key. You can’t get caught up in doing it one way, because you just don’t know what life holds.”

RENOVATION CONSIDERATIONS Planning to renovate to accommodate your multigenerational family? Your local government may have a thing or two to say. Here are some of the common code issues you may run into, according to Michael Litchfield, author of In-Laws, Outlaws, and Granny Flats: Your Guide to Turning One House into Two Homes.

• Owner occupancy. If you think you might be able to rent out both your main house and your in-law cottage (or garage room or basement lair) later, think again. Your local planning code may require owners to occupy at least one unit.

• Maximum lot coverage. Typically, you can’t cover more than 30 to 40 percent of your lot.

• Maximum unit size. It may be specified as a percentage of the original home’s size or square footage.

• Interior features. You might not be allowed to add a second kitchen or a separate unit with more than one bedroom.

• Parking. You may need to add parking spaces or may be prohibited from eliminating or converting existing parking (e.g., your garage).

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• Detached vs. attached units. Many communities will not allow detached units, limiting your options.

• Entries and exits. You might not be allowed to have two visible entry doors on the front of the house.

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RENOVATION RUNDOWN If you’re thinking about making a shift to multigenerational living, know that most families need to make some improvements to their current living space or move to a new home that will better accommodate a diverse set of ages to make it work.

ATTIC CONVERSIONS

According to houselogic.com, an attic bedroom conversion that includes a small bath has a national median cost of $75,000.

GARAGE CONVERSIONS

BUMP-OUTS

The cost of a garage conversion is between $10,000 and $15,000, with an 80 percent return on investment (ROI).1

To add a small addition or bump-out, costs range from $21,035 to $64,635, according to Discover.com.

IN-LAW COTTAGES

$10,000 to $30,000 is the price tag for an in-law cottage, according to the Chicago Tribune.

CARVE-OUTS (TRANSFORMATION OF EXISTING ROOMS)

BASEMENT REMODEL

Basement remodeling projects tend to cost homeowners between $10,000 and $30,000.2

85%

The cost to transform an existing room is around $40,000, with costs fluctuating from $250 to $300 per square foot.3

HOW HOMEOWNERS PAY FOR RENOVATIONS 33% 15%

Cash/Savings Credit Cards

Secured Home Loan

9% Other Personal Finances

Source: Houzz, “Role of Credit Cards in U.S. Home Improvement,” 2018

2%

1

Unsecured Lloan

Angieslist.com, “Garage Conversions Add Valuable Living Space”, 2018

2

Homeadvisor.com, “Basement Cost Guides Estimates & Costs Per Square Foot”, 2018

3

Nickerson, Heidi, “The Average Cost Per Square Foot to Add an Addition to Your House” thenest.com, 2018

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HOW WE GRIEVE

by Jennifer Brookland

It begins so early. As tiny children, when we’re forced apart from our mothers. Then there are the rejections on the playground, the losses of jobs, the collapse of marriages. By the time we are adults, most of us are experts on experiencing grief.

“Grief is just mixed into the stuff of life,” says Jack Hileman, a licensed marriage and family therapist and a retired pastor in North Carolina. Even smaller events like a child who says, “I never want to talk to you again” or reaching the end of an exceptional book can be painful and cause us distress. “It’s really about separation and having to let go of a certain time in your life or a connection and having to move on.”

But our lived experience of grief often seems inadequate when we lose a person we love. The suffering we feel at such an irreversible separation can send us into a dark cocoon of our own spinning. Or send us spiraling outward into social media to see our feelings reflected back to us as comments and likes.

When we experience grief, it often feels like an affliction-and an unfair one at that. But Hileman says grief is also the beginning of potential growth toward something positive: meaningful connections that can enrich our lives.

Avoidance and Isolation Grief can affect our minds and bodies in very real ways—from body aches, fatigue, and upset stomachs to lethargy, crying, loss of 26

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libido, and a lack of interest in participating in our usual activities.

Its mental toll is undeniable. Hileman describes grief as “an internal psychological process we go through in a time of loss; a keen mental suffering.”

It is a common myth that we can avoid loss or avoid feeling the emotional, mental, and physical effects of it, according to Hileman.

But almost as pervasive is the myth that we can isolate ourselves within that loss from other people.

“Avoidance and isolation. Those two myths are functionally predominant,” Hileman says. “Often the biggest psychological driver in all human activity is the avoidance of loss. And so that takes over.

How do I not feel this? Or how do I make myself feel this when I don’t want to? They are flip sides to the same coin.”

Hileman remembers one client whose father had passed away after expressing a wish that his ashes be spread in a favorite vacation spot out west. The man wanted to take his dad’s ashes to his final resting place all alone, without other family members. A few relatives had divided up the man’s ashes so each could carry out his or her own ritual. They were literally isolating themselves to engage in private grieving experiences.

Instead of grieving alone, Hileman says we need to start mourning. “Mourning is the sharing of grief in a communal setting—or with those whom we trust or with whom we want to attach or connect,” says Hileman.

“Mourning is actually the healing of the separateness that we feel at the time of loss.”

Hileman believes connecting with people who care about us is the most crucial element to overcoming grief.

Coping Means Connecting We simply cannot avoid loss and the grief that sometimes follows.

But Hileman says the key to healing from it is connecting.

He’s seen the deep-seated urge to do so within his own family. At a reunion a few years ago, Hileman looked around to notice a bunch of people had suddenly disappeared. Hileman’s grandmother and her four living children had retreated to a corner and drawn close together to share the story surrounding the sudden death of a fifth sibling who had passed away in 1961. They still felt that need to connect and share his memory even after so many years had passed.

Hileman encourages his patients to engage in something similar. In all of his grief therapy, he helps the individual or family take an action that feels like a connection to the person they’ve lost.

For the man who was planning his solo trip west to scatter his father’s ashes, for example, Hileman suggested he include more people in planning and taking the journey. By responding as a

connected, loving group of people, Hileman believed they each would find more solace and be able to move forward.

Take an Action

Hileman believes connecting with people who care about us is the most crucial element to overcoming grief. And although it can be an extremely challenging first step, we cannot just feel something; we need to do something.

“That’s where some people get sidelined into complex grief—it’s that they’re so focused on the feeling that’s pulling them down,” Hileman says. “They stop doing on purpose to assuage the feeling. And the opposite is really the appropriate response. The less you feel like doing, the more you need to do something.”

Hileman remembers one woman struggling with grief after the passing of her mother, a gentle and nurturing person. He encouraged the woman to write down her memories of her mother, and then move on by doing something with another person who would benefit from feeling the kind of love she was missing. The woman began journaling about her mom and started volunteering in a soup kitchen with people who had not felt the same gentleness and provision she’d felt from her mother. “It became kind of an integration of all that she felt into what she did in a positive way, and connected her with other people,” Hileman says.

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Grief Can Be Collective For better or for worse, we are not often alone with any emotion these days, including grief. In today’s world of digital connections, we find unending opportunities to engage, involve, commiserate, and remember in very public ways.

Sharing grief on social media “creates instant access to a support network and a virtual memory that is never more than a click away,” wrote Harriet Allner in a 2014 article following the highly public death of Robin Williams. “Sharing allows us to enter into a community of loss, to search and find solace, to show solidarity, or provide it for those closer to the epicenter of grief,” she wrote.

The evolution of our experience from personal into public has been a dramatic shift, Hileman says. “Even Pinterest is a place for people to post, memorialize, and grieve,” he points out. “That kind of thing would have been unheard of even 10 years ago.”

But that kind of sharing can sometimes come at a cost, Hileman cautions. We risk having negative online interactions with those whose experience of grieving has been quite different, those who cannot understand what we’re going through, or those whose proffered comforts come up woefully short.

So Hileman advises people dealing with grief turn to a surprising source for advice on coping: themselves. “I would encourage people to reflect on the kinds of things they’ve heard and felt in funerals or in situations of loss that have really touched them and helped them think differently about what just happened.” What calmed your stomach down? What helped you relax? Focus on things or thoughts that previously helped you stop obsessing about a loss.

Then, find someone else who’s felt the same way, and reach out. “Respect your own feelings about what you need, and then look around with new eyes about who acts that way, who talks that way, who have I seen doing that?” Hileman suggests. “Tell people who’ve dealt with grief that they’ve inspired you, and you’d like to learn and connect.” It’s likely they want to share and connect, too.

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RESOURCES FOR WORKING THROUGH GRIEF Dr. Alan Wolfelt at the Center for Loss & Life Transition writes that “if mourners see themselves as active participants in their healing, they will experience a renewed sense of meaning and purpose in life.”

So Hileman points to these resources, which he uses in his practice to help those working through grief take charge.

• Grief Is a Journey: Finding Your Path Through Loss by Dr. Kenneth J. Doka provides simple, useful tools for understanding personal grieving needs and offers insight into the hidden signs of grieving.

• The Grief Recovery Handbook by John W. James and Russell Friedman guides users toward actions they can take to regain a sense of well-being.

• Judith Viorst’s Necessary Losses helps readers shed the dependencies and expectations that intensify the pain of loss.

• To Suffer Well by Dr. Craig D. Childs Sr. is a very readable, practical, and personal book for those who seek to reconcile faith and suffering from a Christian perspective.

THE HOUSING MARKET:

LOVE IT, LIST IT, OR STILL A FIXER-UPPER?

by Kevin Barry and Sam Kirby

Housing is both an enormous driver of the U.S. economy and a strong cultural desire.

The latter was reinforced during a recent institutional client visit to Waco, Texas, a city transformed by the power of the notion of “home.” The tremendous success of the TV show “Fixer Upper” prompted stars and entrepreneurs Chip and Joanna Gaines to convert an idle industrial property into a complex of home-themed stores under their Magnolia brand. The site now draws 30,000 visitors per week from across the Gabrielle Burke

country to Waco. The spillover benefits to the community are apparent in the form of redevelopment, revitalization, and new businesses.

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Figure One: Economic Impact of Housing

National Estimate

Jobs Created

Wages and Profits

Government Revenue

Median Home Price

Build a single-family home

3

$280,433

$110,957

$288,500

Build a rental apartment

1

$107,715

$42,383

-

$100,000 spent on remodeling

1

$83,402

$29,779

$208,200

(as of 2014)

Sources: San Francisco Federal Reserve, U.S. Census Bureau, National Association of Home Builders

While the impact of housing isn’t quite so dramatic in every community, from any angle, the housing market is central to the U.S. economy. Housing-related economic activity represents approximately 15 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).1 As Figure One shows, the impact of housing goes well beyond the $288,500 cost of construction for a median home to include three jobs created, more than $280,000 of wages and profits, and more than $100,000 of government revenues.

An even more staggering statistic is that the total market value of U.S. homes is estimated at more than $33 trillion, roughly equivalent to the GDP of the United States, Canada, and China combined.2 And at an individual level, the combination of home price appreciation and a strong stock market since the end of the Great Recession has driven household wealth to new record highs. Household wealth now represents approximately 700 percent of after-tax income— the highest level since at least 1952—and real estate represents approximately one-third of that wealth. In an economy where consumer spending accounts for more than 70 percent of economic activity, there is a direct link between how wealthy we feel and how likely we are to spend. Home equity also represents an important source of capital for entrepreneurs starting new businesses.

As meaningful as these numbers are, there are also important nonfinancial benefits of home ownership that are often cited, such as pride of ownership, greater sense of community, and educational outcomes for children. But these benefits come at a cost. The costs of owning a home leave less disposable income for other budget categories such as recreation, travel, dining, and other experiences favored by younger generations. Given our increasingly nomadic workforce, the illiquid nature of housing and high transaction costs may reduce mobility for homeowners. And owning a home presents financial risks—either in the form of unexpected maintenance and repair costs or the risk of price depreciation.

Given the central role that the housing market plays in our lives and our economy and as we pass the 10th anniversary of the global financial crisis—the federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac occurred in September 2008—we seek to assess the current state of the housing market and examine the future outlook.

State of the Housing Market

An even more staggering statistic is that the total market value of U.S. homes is estimated at more than $33 trillion, roughly equivalent to the GDP of the United States, Canada, and China combined.2

In 2016, home prices, as measured by the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, surpassed their prior peak attained in late 2006. Fueled by a strong economy, low mortgage rates, and rising wages, they have kept rising. By the summer of 2018, the index was more than 10 percent higher than its 2006 peak.

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Figure Two: Home Prices Compared to Per Capita Disposable Personal Income 250

200

150

100

50

0 1975 1975 1977

1979 1980 1981

1983 1985 1986

1988

1990 1990

1992

1994 1995

Disposable Personal Income Per Capita

1996

1999 2000 2001

2003 2005 2005 2007 2010 2009

2012 2015 2014

2016 2018 2018

Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index

Sources: Bloomberg, FRED, Robert Shiller

As in 2006, home prices are higher than ever. But the difference is that this time home prices are better supported by comparable growth in consumer disposable income. As shown in Figure Two, home prices and disposable income tend to move in tandem.

Viewed this way—and with the benefit of hindsight—the home price bubble of the mid-2000s is quite noticeable.

Over the past few years, we have seen home prices once again grow faster than incomes, and in 2013 this valuation heuristic once again tripped into overvalued territory. Over the long term, home price growth should match income growth, suggesting that future home prices could grow more slowly—or even decline—to close the gap. Of course, predicting future home price trends is not quite that simple. For one, the data shown above reflects data from across the country, but there isn’t really a “national” housing market. A buyer seeking a new home in Springfield is unlikely to compare homes in Massachusetts, Illinois, Missouri, Oregon, and the other 21 states with a town by that name. Real estate markets are local, and price trends vary considerably from one region or metropolitan area to another.

Housing data analytics firm CoreLogic categorizes home prices in individual markets as undervalued, at value, or overvalued by comparing home prices to their long-run, sustainable levels according to local market fundamentals such as disposable income.

Of the 100 largest metropolitan areas, the firm estimates that 38 were overvalued, 19 were undervalued, and 43 were priced at fair value.

Supply and Demand Forces As with any good or service, the price of housing is a function of supply and demand. Since 2011, the supply of homes for sale has been abnormally low and shrinking, even as the U.S. population has steadily grown. As Figure Three demonstrates, inventories of new and existing homes for sale around the U.S. have declined for the

last five years and are well below the six-month threshold that is considered a balanced market supply.

The supply of homes for sale is low for two primary reasons.

Existing homeowners have less incentive to sell their homes, and new home construction has not kept up with demand. Many existing homeowners are effectively handcuffed to their homes via exceptionally low mortgage rates obtained via a purchase or refinance over the past decade. As mortgage rates increase, it becomes more expensive (on a monthly payment basis) to replace a home of the same value. Unless compelled to move for other

10-year Home Price Appreciation in the Top 10 Cities of VESTED Readers

Metropolitan Areas

10-Year Return

Dallas, TX

70%

Los Angeles, CA

60%

Houston, TX

56%

Durham, NC

40%

Raleigh, NC

35%

Washington, DC

32%

Minneapolis, MN

31%

Greensboro, NC

18%

New York, NY

11%

Chicago, IL

6%

Source: Freddie Mac

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Inventories of Homes for Sale Months of Supply

Figure Three: Inventories of Homes for Sale in Select Markets 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 New York

Boston

Cleveland

St. Louis

2013

Northeast

Dallas 2015

Midwest

Midwest Sources: JointNortheast Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University

reasons, buyers would need to find a home with better attributes or location to make a move. But with inventories of existing homes for sale decreasing, there are fewer homes to choose from.

Homeowner tenure helps to illustrate this trend. Prior to the housing downturn in 2007, homeowners remained in their homes for an average of four years. In the eight years that followed, median homeowner tenure increased to approximately seven years as many people had little choice but to remain in a home whose value was below their mortgage balance. Homeowner tenure has since grown to 10 years.3 The solution to the supply problem seems straightforward. With inventories low and prices high, builders should have an incentive to construct more new homes to meet demand. However, homebuilders have faced several challenges, including:

Atlanta

Denver

San Franciso United States

2017

South South

West West

On the demand side of the equation, the key factors at play are home affordability, competition to homeownership (e.g., renting), and consumer preferences. Homes today remain affordable by historical standards, but with rising prices and mortgage rates, they are becoming less so.

Following the financial crisis, the demand for rental apartments outstripped supply, a tightening of the market that supported increases in rents. Since 2011, however, builders have rushed to meet this demand, and the rate of rent growth has slowed as shown in Figure Four. Combined with the decreasing affordability and rising mortgage rates described previously, this trend may provide current renters with less motivation to buy a home—potentially in an inferior location or with fewer amenities.5

Changing consumer preferences may also play a role. The tidy home in the suburbs with a white picket fence may not hold the same • Limited access to lots, especially in desirable areas near city centers; appeal to younger generations who would prefer to live in city centers. This appears particularly true of millennials who came of • Rising building material costs; age during the Great Recession, perhaps witnessing the strains and • Tight labor markets and rising wages; and stresses of the housing market collapse on their parents. Other reasons often cited for delayed household formation in younger • Rising regulatory costs. generations are that they tend to live at The result of these factors has been a home longer, delay marriage, and carry The solution to the supply continued low level of single-family home higher levels of education debt. construction. Between 2008 and 2017, just problem seems straightforward. over 600,000 single-family homes were Underwriting Standards With inventories low and prices added to the nation’s housing inventory annually—far below the historical average Alongside the soaring price appreciation high, builders should have an of 1.1 million units. In 2017, building that fueled widespread speculation in incentive to construct more volumes increased to just under 850,000 real estate, another significant single-family units.4 contributor to the financial crisis was new homes to meet demand.

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Figure Four: The Changing Cost of Buying vs. Renting

Median Home Price for Existing Homes

Average 30-Year Fixed Income Mortgage Rate

Monthly Home Payment

Median Rent for Two-Bedroom Apartment

Median Rent for Single Family Home

October 2016

$234,000

3.51%

$1,053

$1,600

$1,595

October 2018

$255,400

5.25%

$1,332

$1,600

$1,495

Change in %

9%

50%

27%

0%-6%

Sources: National Association for Home Builders, bankrate.com, and Zillow.com via Bloomberg

easy mortgage lending standards. In the boom years prior to 2006, lenders often lent to buyers with no down payment, poor credit, or unstable employment. The use of riskier mortgage products, such as subprime, adjustable-rate, and interest-only loans also increased. The bundling and securitization of these loans into mortgage-backed securities kept money flowing back into the system.

In the past decade, the mortgage lending environment has changed considerably. As anyone who has gone through the process will note, it is much harder to get a mortgage today than it was in the early 2000s.

In the past decade, the mortgage lending environment has changed considerably. As anyone who has gone through the process will note, it is much harder to get a mortgage today than it was in the early 2000s. We have seen borrower credit scores at origination increase by approximately 50 points relative to prerecession levels—to an average score of 755, according to housing data analytics firm CoreLogic. Mortgage bundling and securitization is still occurring, but the qualified mortgage provision of the 2010 Dodd-Frank reform bill has served to increase the quality of securitized loans.

Future Outlook In 2018, cracks in the housing market began to emerge. In September, new home price appreciation was flat year over year for the first time since 2012. This tempering of the pace of price appreciation is understandable as levels of consumer income catch up to home prices. Nonetheless, there are several tailwinds at the back of the housing market, including low unemployment, rising wages, and unsatisfied demand for housing. Unlike 2007, builders have not saturated the market with supply. Homeownership rates for all age groups remain lower than the levels seen prior to the Great Recession, particularly for younger age groups.

shift away from a seller’s market toward a buyer’s market. In December, Redfin reported that the year-over-year growth in homes for sale had hit a three-year high, perhaps tilting the supply/demand scales back toward the buyer.

Although the cap on the deductibility of state and local property taxes introduced by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 could be a contributor to price stagnation or even regional home price recessions in highertax regions, buyers of lower-priced homes will continue to enjoy full deduction of taxes and mortgage interest.

Considering the overall balance of headwinds and tailwinds, we expect the housing market to be a neutral to slightly negative influence on the U.S. economy over the next few years. Although the bloom may be off the rose as an investment—particularly for those affected by the tax law change—home prices remain affordable in historical terms. There is still energy in the housing market, and the nonfinancial benefits of homeownership— evidenced by the long lines at Waco, Texas, cupcake shops in 100+ degree Texas heat—are as important as ever.

1

Speakman, Matthew, “$33.3 Trillion Housing Market Up 49% Since 2012 – A Third of the Gain from California,” Zillow.com, 2019

2

National Association of Home Builders, “Housing’s Contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” 2018

3

Fleming, Mark, “Why Homeowners Staying in their Homes Dampens the Housing Market,” First American, 2018.

4

Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, “The State of the Nation’s Housing 2018,” 2018.

5

Salviati, Chris, “Apartment List National Rent Report,” Apartmentlist.com, 2019.

Potential homebuyers who have been sidelined by rising home prices, rising mortgage rates, and low inventory would welcome a

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MARKETS TAKE A HIT IN Q4 Most asset classes fell in the fourth quarter, adding a negative tinge to 2018’s already lackluster results. Concerns over slowing economic growth in the U.S. and abroad, rising U.S. interest rates, and uncertainty driven by trade tensions, political turmoil, and recession fears sent investors running for the hills.

• U.S. stocks fell sharply in the fourth quarter, erasing their year-to-date gains. Concerns over Fed rate hikes, slower economic growth, and trade tensions between the U.S. and China weighed on stock prices. They posted a modest loss for the year.

• International stocks posted double-digit losses in the fourth quarter thanks to weaker economic growth in Europe and uncertainty over Brexit negotiations.

• Emerging market stocks added to their woes in Q4 and finished the year as 2018’s laggard due to a stronger U.S. dollar and slower economic growth in China.

• Bonds provided an anchor to windward amid the fourth quarter’s volatile equity markets. Although they finished flat for the year, they were the standout performer as interest rates declined and outpaced traditionally riskier asset classes.

• Public real estate fell in the fourth quarter and posted a modest decline for the year that was roughly in line with the broader stock market.

• Strategic opportunities declined slightly for the year and outpaced most other asset classes.

MARKET INDEX PERFORMANCE (as of 12.31.2018)

Q4 2018

2018 1.6%

-14.3%

-6.0%

-11.4%

-1.5%

0.0%

-0.5% -4.0%

-5.2%

-13.8% U.S. Stocks

International Stocks

U.S. Bonds

Real Estate

Strategic Opportunities

LOOKING FORWARD The U.S. economy, while slowing, remains in expansion mode with no imminent signs of a recession. Perhaps most reassuringly, the Federal Reserve—which many had feared might move too aggressively—has shown signs of being amenable to a more gradual pace of rate increases. Consumer spending remains strong, aided by low unemployment and wage gains. However, economic growth and corporate profits may moderate in 2019 as rising labor and material costs pinch profit margins.

We are monitoring several sources of recent market volatility. The U.S. and China announced a temporary trade truce, but details must be worked out for an agreement to be reached. Other sources include potential fallout from the late-March Brexit deadline, the end of the European Central Bank’s bond-buying program, and escalating political tensions in Washington. Meanwhile, oil prices have fallen to their lowest level in over a year, which is a tailwind for U.S. consumers but could hurt capital expenditures.

Asset class returns are represented by the following indexes: Russell 3000 Index (U.S. stocks), MSCI All-Country World ex USA Index (international stocks), Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (U.S. bonds), Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index (real estate), and HFRX Absolute Return Index (strategic opportunities).

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ALIGNING VALUES

WITH INVESTMENTS

by Kathleen Burns Kingsbury

On the ride home from a meeting with their financial advisor, Sophie tells her husband Rob that she’s been thinking a lot more about how their money is invested. “Getting a good return is nice, but I also want us to make sure we consider the bigger picture.”

Sophie starts by explaining to Rob that she doesn’t want to invest in companies with a reputation for being careless—whether it’s with employees, the environment, or with her personal data. “I want to make sure we’re not enabling the wrong organizations.”

“What do you mean?” said Rob. “I think how we invest matters—or at least it should,” she said. “I’d like to go to sleep at night, knowing we're not invested in companies that do objectionable things, like pollute the environment, exploit workers, or kill animals. Don’t you agree?”

Rob thinks Sophie’s suggestions sound like nice ideas but wonders if it makes financial sense. “It would be nice to know that the companies we own a piece of are doing the right thing—or at least aren’t doing the wrong thing. But we also need to make sure we are getting a good return.”

An Important Discussion Talking about personal finances, including how to best invest your wealth as a couple, can be challenging. In fact, almost half of Americans would rather discuss religion, politics, or dying than personal finance with a loved one. Like Sophie and Rob, you may find it difficult to discuss and resolve financial differences and the many questions that need to be answered when jointly investing.

How do you make investment decisions together? Do you solely look at financial return on investments, or do you also factor in nonfinancial returns such as your core values, the environment, and responsible corporations? And when there is a difference in mind-sets, how do you design a portfolio that respects and appreciates both of your goals and objectives?

Finding the answers to these questions may not be easy, but they are a key part of the financial planning process. So make a commitment to engage in this important dialogue with your partner. In doing so, you will increase the financial harmony in your home, improve your relationship, and help your advisor develop a strategy and plan that meets both your needs.

The following are a few tips for talking with your partner about values, investments, and making decisions together.

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Focus on Shared Values Begin by focusing on what you two have in common, not your differences. By first highlighting areas of agreement, you set the stage for acting as a team in deciding when, where, and how to invest.

Begin the dialogue by asking your partner to name two or three core values and how these principles are honored when making monetary decisions. Listen carefully to the response before sharing your thoughts or reactions. The goal of this part of the conversation is mutual understanding and finding shared values that you might use in the context of investing. For example, Rob and Sophie both value friendly environmental practices and gender parity. They got stuck on where they differ—how much to factor these values into their portfolio—and lost sight of how much they agree on core issues.

$?

Understand Key Gender Differences

Define Investment Success

When it comes to how people invest and think of wealth, gender often comes into play. Gender differences are based on research, and there are always exceptions to these findings, but appreciating your partner’s gender lens can be helpful in understanding his or her investment selection criteria. Ask your partner for their definition of wealth and how they evaluate risk. Notice any variations in your viewpoints that may be influenced by your genders.

It is common for partners to define investment success using different criteria. Different risk profiles, money personalities, and experience with investing all factor into the equation. Ask your partner to tell you about his or her biggest financial success and what they learned from the experience. Then inquire about his or her greatest financial mistake and what lessons he or she learned from this experience. Remember to suspend any judgment and simply listen to his or her responses.

Sophie, like a large percentage of women investors, views wealth more holistically. She wants to invest her money in a socially and environmentally responsible way. Financial performance is important, but not the only factor in her decision-making process. Rob’s perspective is indicative of the more traditional male investor. He values financial performance over other investment objectives. Neither of these gender lenses is wrong or faulty; they are just different.

Once you have each had a chance to explain your history and definitions of success, create a joint statement that spells out the types of success you want to include when evaluating your portfolio. Sophie and Rob did this exercise and discovered that together, their definition of success was more robust and factored in both values and performance.

Celebrate Diversity It is rare that two partners or spouses agree on all aspects of investments. Stop trying to convince your partner that your way is the best way to proceed. Instead, take a deep breath and ask for more data. Your diversity is not a sign of weakness; it is actually your superpower. For instance, Sophie takes longer to make an investment decision, takes calculated risks with her money, and is very philanthropic. Rob is aggressive in his approach and, therefore, tends to tolerate more risk. If they capitalize on these differences, they will create a diverse portfolio that is likely to perform better in the long run.

It is not always easy to communicate about finances, but it is a valuable skill that brings with it positive rewards. For Sophie and Rob, what started off as a financial conflict ended in a meaningful money talk about core values, risk and rewards, and the purpose of wealth in their lives—all worthwhile topics no matter how they decide to invest in the future.

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Getty Images

VACATIONS FOR THE GENERATIONS

by Jeanne Lee

Whether it’s a once-a-year or once-in-a-lifetime family trip, vacations with multiple generations of family members become interwoven into family folklore, creating a treasured legacy that endures, even after family members pass on and new ones are born.

Many families are embracing a new style of American family vacation, one that includes three or more generations traveling together. These days, grandparents, siblings, uncles, aunts, and cousins are often geographically scattered and leading busy lives, so family trips can be a great way to create special memories and allow different generations to create a lasting bond over a shared experience.

In fact, multigenerational family vacations have been the top travel trend for more than five years, according to Virtuoso, an upscale travel agency network. Their popularity makes sense since they provide a way to fulfill many­­­­­—or all—of what the agency identified as consumers’ top five motivations for travel— exploring new destinations, checking off bucket list dreams, seeking authentic experiences, relaxing, and reconnecting with loved ones.

Video chats and texts can’t fully replace actual face time with family members—leading many families to plan multigenerational vacations. According to a 2016 survey from the NYU School of Professional Studies and the Family Travel Association, 60 percent of families have taken a vacation that includes a child, parent, and grandparent. Of those who haven’t done so, 26 percent are considering such a trip in the future.

Baby boomers’ active lifestyles are another contributor to the multigenerational travel trend. This generation has reinvented retirement—and grandparenting—to suit their own tastes. Many retirees are physically fit and have cultivated a taste for adventure, so if they want to share bucket list experiences with family members, that might mean renting a European villa, hiking mountain peaks, or exploring the Great Barrier Reef.

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Not surprisingly, the travel industry has responded with a slew of specialized offerings for multigenerational and grandparent travel. Organizations like Smithsonian Journeys, Tauck Bridges Family Adventures, and Road Scholar take the work out of extended family vacations with their creative packages and itineraries. Road Scholar, for example, offers unique educational trips designed for grandparent-kid teams, like exploring the hot springs of Costa Rica, seeing the French art and architecture of Lyon and Provence, and snorkeling and riding a submarine in Hawaii.

Boomers who have traveled extensively during their lifetimes can now take advantage of curated trips to guide younger generations to see the world, while deepening relationships with their grandkids. Of course, the larger the group, the more complicated travel logistics become, which is why multigenerational vacations often evolve as families grow and change.

Accommodating Travel for All Ages Ideally, vacation plans need to have flexibility built in, so that everyone gets to engage or disengage as much as they want.

Working adults may need to allot quiet time with Wi-Fi and a laptop or join the family trip for fewer days, depending on job requirements. Older family members sometimes need special dietary accommodations or have varying levels of interest in physically challenging activities, like water sports. New babies’ sleep schedules might require the group to adjust dinner reservations to an earlier hour or book a beach house with a deluxe kitchen rather than a European tour.

Spending time with extended family is paramount for Raleigh-based CAPTRUST Financial Advisor Kevin Monroe. He and his wife, Rasheeda, typically take their two sons—Marcus, 11, and Derek, 8—on vacations with large groups of relatives each spring and summer.

Older and younger generations of the Monroe family enjoy time together outdoors.

A favorite spot for the Monroes is the Nantahala River in North Carolina, where they hike and go white-water rafting.

“Then, as my in-laws got older, they couldn’t go anymore,” he says. “They couldn’t ride the currents but still relished seeing their family and being outdoors.” So, the Monroe family had to find a new approach that would work for young and old.

The family adapted. They sought out campsites that were easily accessible by car, with comfortable facilities where Rasheeda’s parents could relax nearby—while the younger generations paddled the river.

“Depending on the age of the grandparents, you might be limited in what you can do,” says Monroe. But with some creativity, everyone can be together and make precious memories that last a lifetime.

“

Everything is on-site and planned for you.

You wake up and go to the pool. Walk up to the bar for a drink. Go kayaking and jet-skiing without having to go rent all the equipment.

Plus, you are not allowed to tip, and there’s a lot less pressure.

Kevin Monroe

Kevin and Rasheeda celebrated their 10th anniversary by renewing their wedding vows, taking the opportunity to plan a huge family vacation in Jamaica. They chose their allinclusive beach resort for sentimental reasons, since the couple had honeymooned there.

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”

Bob Buford

But from Monroe’s financial advisor perspective, it was also a practical choice for taking care of the group’s needs.

to you, then you pay for everyone. That way, you can pitch in to cover any shortfalls,” says Monroe.

“Everything is on-site and planned for you. You wake up and go to the pool. Walk up to the bar for a drink. Go kayaking and jet-skiing without having to go rent all the equipment. Plus, you are not allowed to tip, and there’s a lot less pressure,” he says.

The Monroe family’s next trip will be in March, with a group of 14 relatives headed to Disney World. It’s especially meaningful since they will be joined by Kevin’s parents, James and Rita Monroe.

It’s also nice to have just one bill. It limits hassle when dividing up the cost, especially if just a few family members are footing the bill.

With multigenerational family vacations, 61 percent of the time the cost is split between parents and grandparents, according to the NYU/FTA survey. “Maybe the grandparents and siblings give money

While multigenerational family vacations can be expensive and challenging to plan, their sentimental value is beyond measure.

Through time together, family members get the rare opportunity to share discoveries with loved ones, capture photos that will long be treasured, and imprint younger generations with family memories that will remain in hearts and minds for a lifetime.

TIPS FOR PLANNING MULTIGENERATIONAL FAMILY TRIPS Multigenerational family trips can be tricky to plan, but the memories are well worth the effort. As a financial advisor and veteran of many successful group vacations, Kevin Monroe offers some valuable tips to make them work for all attendees.

• Take Charge. It makes things simpler to have one decision maker, but ensure everyone else is clued in. Come up with two or three options— taking into consideration everyone’s ages, interests, and limitations—and put them up for a vote.

• Have One Person Play Quarterback. If there’s a family member who excels at logistics and planning, put those talents to use. For the Monroes, it’s Rasheeda, whose family spreadsheet contains crucial information like individual budgets, credit cards, and special requests.

• Plan Early. It can be hard to herd all your relatives together for a trip. Most families choose to go away over the winter holidays and in early summer, after school ends and before summer programs begin. For a trip with many people or moving parts, start planning six months in advance. That way, family members have enough time to finagle vacation days and save up some money. Besides, anticipation is part of the fun.

• Consider Staggering Arrival and Departure Dates. Each branch of the family can match the length of their trip to the activities they prefer.

Kevin and Rasheeda will bring the boys to Disney World a few days before James and Rita arrive, so they can squeeze in a couple more days of rides.

• Allocate 15 to 20 Percent More to Your Budget Than You Think You’ll Need. That gives you a buffer to cover extra souvenirs, beverages, and other charges that add up.

• Be Wary of Charging Things to the Room.

If your hotel allows room charges, costs can add up quickly and result in confusion. Communicate with family members ahead of time about who can authorize charges.

• Pick the Right Destination. Consider the type of destination, keeping in mind what everyone likes (or is able) to do. Grandparents don’t necessarily want to watch the kids while the rest of the group go skiing, and small children can only tolerate art galleries and museums for so long.

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READER Q & A

?

In this issue, we offer a few insights about protecting yourself and your data from cybercriminals and how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act may impact your tax filing for 2018.

Someone I know got scammed by a thief posing as an IRS agent. What can I do to protect myself against that kind of scam?

A

You’re right to be concerned about scammers with fraudulent intentions. In fact, in 2018, the IRS noted a 60 percent increase in email schemes that seek to steal money or tax data from unsuspecting victims. More than 2,000 tax-related scam incidents were reported to the Internal Revenue Service from January through October, compared to approximately 1,200 incidents in all of 2017, according to a recent Forbes article.

Typically, these scams are conducted via phone, email, texts, and through websites that appear legitimate but contain phony login pages. It could be a call on your home phone claiming to be from the IRS or IRS tax partners in the community, an email asking you to pay back taxes, or someone posing as your company’s payroll provider asking you for W-2 information.

In a recent malware scam, thieves sent emails with subject lines like “IRS Important Notice” and “IRS Taxpayer Notice.” Scammers demanded payment or threatened to seize recipients’ tax refund.

The more you know about how to protect yourself, the better chance you have to not be a victim. Here are a few ways you can guard yourself from tax-related scams.

Recognize what the IRS does not do. The IRS does not initiate contact requesting personal or financial information by email or other electronic communication, such as text messages or social media, according to the IRS’s Taxpayer Guide to Identity Theft.

Also, the IRS won’t demand credit- or debit-card numbers over the

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Winter | 2019

phone or threaten to have you arrested by local police.

Learn to spot phishing emails and other scams.

Phishing is an attempt to fool you into revealing personal or confidential information the scammer can use illicitly. Phishing often comes in the form of an unsolicited email or a fake website that poses as a legitimate site to get you to disclose your personal or financial information.

Do not click on links or download attachments from unknown or suspicious emails. Keep a radar up for thieves posing as legitimate organizations such as your bank, credit card companies, and even the IRS. Be careful with public Wi-Fi. Public Wi-Fi access might be convenient, but you should understand that public Wi-Fi connections are unsecured, and when you use one, your data is vulnerable to others using the same public network. It’s best to avoid websites that could expose your passwords or financial information to cyberthieves on public Wi-Fi connections. If you have another option, like using cellular data, consider that instead.

Use your common sense. Always use security software with firewall and antivirus protections. Use strong passwords. Don’t routinely carry Social Security cards, and make sure your tax records are secure. Lastly, verify that you’re on legitimate websites before sharing your data; if you must access a particular site, avoid any links that you’re not sure about, and navigate directly to the site instead.

How will changes from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act affect me when I file my 2018 income taxes?

A

The net result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in December 2017 is a simplification of the tax code for many Americans. And when you file your 2018 income taxes this April, you’ll primarily feel the difference through changes to the deductions that are available. Many tax deductions were kept intact, but others were modified, and some were eliminated. The result should be positive for most taxpayers but may be a little confusing.

The biggest overall change for most individual taxpayers will be the increase in the standard deduction, which will nearly double from $6,350 to $12,000 for single filers and $12,700 to $24,000 for married individuals. As a result, more than 90 percent of tax filers are expected to utilize the standard deduction rather than itemizing their deductions—up from 72 percent in past years.

The additional standard deduction for the elderly remains available as well. In 2017, the tax rules allowed individual tax filers over age 65 to claim an additional standard deduction of $1,550, and married couples over the age of 65 could increase their standard deduction by $2,500. The new rules increase this higher standard deduction for people over age 65 to $1,600 per individual and $2,600 per couple.

Offsetting the increase in the standard deduction are several changes for taxpayers who have itemized deductions in the past.

• State and local taxes. The cap on the deductibility of state and local income or sales taxes—known as SALT—may be the most notable change after the standard deduction increase. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act limits the deductibility of SALT to $10,000. That means that taxpayers in high-tax states like New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California may not be able to deduct all of their state and local taxes.

• Mortgage interest. Mortgage interest remains deductible but only on indebtedness up to $750,000—down from $1 million—and interest paid on home equity debt may only be deducted if the money is spent on acquiring, updating, or building a primary or secondary residence.

• Miscellaneous expenses. The tax code eliminated the deductibility of expenses such as tax preparation, investment management fees, and unreimbursed work expenses that had been deductible in excess of 2 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI).

Meanwhile, several deductions became friendlier, including cash contributions to public charities, which are now deductible up to 60 percent of AGI, and medical expenses, which are now deductible if they exceed 7.5 percent of your AGI. Despite the elimination or reduction of most deductions, most taxpayers will come out ahead due to the higher standard deduction, tax rate cuts, and other changes. That said, the changes to the U.S. tax system resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are too sweeping to fully capture in a short article like this. If you have questions or if you need help, you should seek the advice of a skilled tax advisor.

If you have a question for the VESTED team, we’d love to hear from you and see if we can help. Please send your questions to us at VESTEDmagazine@captrust.com.

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COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

GIVING BACK Year-end Wrap-up During 2018, the CAPTRUST Community Foundation provided more than $310,000 of financial support to more than 80 deserving charities serving the needs of children around the country.

Included in this amount was a donation of $125,000 to Kidznotes, 2018’s Charity of Choice.

Kidznotes is a music-for-social-change program for young people that includes instrument instruction, choir, orchestra, and band, in North Carolina’s Triangle region. Kidznotes’ vision is to be a catalyst for change that uses music to build a thriving network of children, families, and partners in which passion for music unleashes the human potential to transform lives and communities.

In 2018, the CAPTRUST Community Foundation contributed to the following organizations: • Activate Good

• Christian Library International

• Hope Reins

• Amazement Square

• Cold Spring School Foundation

• Interface Children & Family Services

• The Ames Foundation

• Connect-Us

• Jubilee Family Development Center

• AMIKids

• Crayons to Classrooms

• Julie Billiart Schools—Akron

• Assistance League of the Triangle

• Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

• Junior League of Raleigh

• Autism Society of North Carolina

• The Daniel Center for Math and Science

• BASE Camp Children’s Cancer Foundation

• Easterseals

• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation— Triangle/Eastern North Carolina Chapter

• Elim Christian Fellowship

• Kids in the Spotlight

• Beau’s Beautiful Blessings

• ESA Athletic Booster Club

• Kidznotes

• Boys & Girls Clubs • Boys & Girls Clubs of Easton

• EveryStep (formerly known as HCI Care Services)

• Las Patronas Auxiliary of the Assistance League of Ventura County

• Boys & Girls Clubs of the Coastal Plain

• Families Together

• Maine Youth Rock Orchestra

• Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands

• Feeding the Gulf Coast

• Make-A-Wish of Eastern North Carolina

• Cameron County Outdoor Youth Activities Inc.

• Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina

• Making Headway Foundation

• Campus Kitchen at Washington and Lee (CKWL)

• Forward Momentum Chicago

• Michigan Ovarian Cancer Alliance • Mitey Riders

• Capital Area Council for Special Services

• Great Trail Council, Boy Scouts of America

• Carolina Swims Foundation

• Greensboro Youth Rugby Association

• Moxi The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation

• Center for Child Protection

• HEALing Embrace

• Nebula Dance Lab

• Central Iowa Fellowship of Christian Athletes

• Hillsborough Education Foundation

• North Raleigh Ministries

• Holt Brothers Foundation

• Passage Home

• The Children’s Home Foundation

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Winter | 2019

• The MCC Foundation

Beyond School Walls For a second year, the CAPTRUST Community Foundation has partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Triangle and Carroll Middle School as part of the Beyond School Walls program.

Beyond School Walls is a one-to-one youth mentoring program through which children from local schools meet with an employee volunteer mentor every other week during the school year.

The program introduces children to jobs at an early age, allowing them to experience what it means to work for a corporation and the educational requirements needed to achieve professional success. This year’s Beyond School Walls program was kicked off at an event held on November 30 at the CAPTRUST Tower in Raleigh.

(Left) Colleagues from our Tampa, Florida, office at Junior Achievement Finance Park at the Bill Poe Family JA Center.

(Above) CAPTRUST employees Rick Bernhardt, Drew McCorkle, and Kim Griggs-Murray at an Atlanta TeamSmile event.

• PORCH-WesternWake

Bond Brothers 5K On October 14, the CAPTRUST Community Foundation partnered with Bond Brothers Beer Company to host the second annual Bond Brothers 5K race in Cary, North Carolina. The event that included a five-kilometer race around downtown Cary followed by a block party on the brewery’s grounds tapped into the popularity of quality craft brews and running in the Triangle area. The race attracted 726 runners and raised more than $25,000 for the CAPTRUST Community Foundation.

• Prelude Music Foundation • Rainbow Express Ministries • Rebuilding Together of the Triangle • Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville • Saint Augustine’s University • The Salvation Army of Wake County • SBP (formerly known as St. Bernard Project) • Scholarship America • Seedlings Braille Books for Children • The Sheridan Story • Starfish Family Services • Swim Across America • TeamSmile • Texas Rowing for All

Foundation Board Members The CAPTRUST Community Foundation is pleased to welcome five new board members who will serve two-year terms. The board welcomes new members Alex Badger, Jessica Johnson, Todd Jones, Tiffany Larew, and Scott Wertheim (pictured below). The full list of board members includes: • Alex Badger • Trae Cole • Nick DeCenso • Devyn Duex • Justin Gartman • Josh Haire • Jessica Johnson

• Nyia Johnson • Todd Jones • Wat Keys • Tiffany Larew • Marcus Magyar • Linda McBrayer • Mikki Monroe

• AJ Morris • Jim Pierce • Beth Savage • Mike Sciascia • Scott Wertheim • Ray White

• United Way of Wyoming Valley • University of Missouri Children’s Hospital • The Up Side of Downs of Northeast Ohio • Vocational Guidance Services • WakeEd Partnership • Webb Simpson Challenge • Wildwood Hills Ranch of Iowa • YMCA of the Triangle

Alex Badger

Jessica Johnson

Todd Jones

Tiffany Larew

Scott Wertheim

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CAPTRUST GROWTH

San Ramon, CA

We are pleased to announce two new regional offices and several new financial advisors.

San Ramon, California

Harrisonburg, Virginia

In December, we announced that Bay Area investment advisory firm Watermark Asset Management joined the growing CAPTRUST family. Founded by Mark Miller and his wife, Barbara, the firm advises on more than $400 million in assets for high-net-worth individuals and families. Watermark’s eight-member team provides comprehensive wealth management and financial planning services.

Miller is joined by Financial Advisors Ted Lew, CFP®; Rosanne Costello; Lyle Brandt; and Dave Fernandez.

Rogers Financial, a Harrisonburg, Virginia-based independent retirement plan advisory firm advising on more than $2.5 billion in assets for 35 retirement plan clients, joined CAPTRUST in December. Established in 1994 by the firm’s managing principal Ken Rogers, Rogers Financial has been providing investment advisory services to fiduciaries of corporate retirement plans for more than 20 years. Rogers is joined by Financial Advisor Jenifer Nesselrodt in our new Washington, DC-area office.

CAPTRUST RECOGNITION

NAPA Young Guns The National Association of Plan Advisors recently announced its 2019 Young Guns list of the industry’s top retirement plan advisors under the age of 40. NAPA launched this list in 2014 to highlight a group of rising stars who “are widely seen as the future leaders of the retirement plan advisor industry.” CAPTRUST’s David Cacciabeve, Shaun Eskamani, Patrick Flint, Evan Holmes, Andrew (AJ) Shimp, and Paul Stibich were among the 100 advisors named to this year’s list.

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Fall | 2017 Winter | 2019

Top DC Advisor Teams List

Top DC Advisor MultiOffice Firms

The National Association of Plan Advisors also publishes an industry list recognizing top defined contribution-oriented retirement plan advisor teams.

This year’s list includes 25 CAPTRUST teams, with CAPTRUST teams making up half of the list’s top 10 advisor teams.

NAPA Net - The Magazine, the official magazine of the National Association of Plan Advisors, published its listing of Top Defined Contribution Advisor Multi-Office Firms.

The list, which highlights the nation’s leading retirement plan advisor firms, places CAPTRUST at number three.

Top Women Advisors In November, the National Association of Plan Advisors announced its 2018 Top Women Advisors list. The list acknowledges the contributions of a growing number of women who are making significant contributions to the retirement industry and bringing excellence to their profession. The list recognizes seven All-Star advisors from CAPTRUST, including Beryl Ball, Deanna Bamford, Patricia Bills, Karen Casillas, Susan Clausen, Heather Darcy, and Jean Duffy.

Additionally, CAPTRUST’s Devyn Duex was named a Captain; Erica Blomgren and Abigail Russell were recognized as Rising Stars.

Top 50 Privately Held Companies and Fast 50 CAPTRUST was named in the Triangle Business Journal’s list of the Top 50 Privately Held Entities in the Triangle region of North Carolina. The list ranks companies by total number of employees and includes data on the number of Triangle-area employees, revenues, and business type.

CAPTRUST was ranked number 44.

The Triangle Business Journal also named CAPTRUST to its list of the 50 fastest-growing private companies in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area. Fast 50 winners are selected based on a formula that considers revenue growth and profitability in the preceding three calendar years. Recipients are recognized not only based upon financial metrics, but also on their contributions to the Triangle’s growing economy. CAPTRUST has been included on the TBJ list for the past five years, ranking as high as number seven in 2015. We ranked 14th on the 2018 list.

ArchCare Community Service Award CAPTRUST’s Stephen Schott was honored for his work with and service to Catholic archdioceses and dioceses across the nation, in general, and ArchCare, an organization that provides continuing care to elders and others who need extra help to stay healthy and live life to its fullest.

Schott received the award from His Eminence Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, at a gala that raised $1.5 million for ArchCare.

Notable Women in Finance Crain’s Cleveland Business announced that CAPTRUST’s Susan Clausen made its list of Northeast Ohio’s Notable Women in Finance. Profiles included in Northeast Ohio’s Notable Women in Finance represent a diverse group of women who play leadership roles both within their organizations and across the region.

Crooks Receives Excellence Award

Megan Crooks received the Excellence Award during the firm’s October SYNERGY meeting in our Raleigh, North Carolina, headquarters.

During her nearly five years at CAPTRUST, Crooks has been instrumental in improving operational excellence. Her perseverance in finding the best solutions to business problems and her dedication to seeing projects through to resolution have vastly improved the firm’s operational efficiency.

Top 401 Retirement Plan Advisors The Financial Times included 21 CAPTRUST advisors in the publication’s 2018 list of the 401 Top Retirement Advisors. The list recognizes financial advisors who specialize in serving defined contribution retirement plans, such as 401(k) and 403(b) plans. The final Financial Times 401 represent an impressive cohort of elite advisors: the average advisor in this year’s Financial Times 401 has 20 years of experience advising retirement plans and advises on $1.26 billion in plan assets.

2018 Brick Award Winners CAPTRUST presented its annual Bricks of Success Awards at the company’s Advisor Kickoff held in January in Raleigh, North Carolina. Award nominations and final voting are employee-driven, and the awards recognize employees and contributions that exemplify the very best of our company’s values, mission, and vision. Winners were presented with an engraved marble brick, symbolizing that our best colleagues are the building blocks of CAPTRUST’s culture and that any great company is built one brick at a time.

Congratulations to this year’s Brick Award winners in the following categories: CLIENT SERVICE Pat Burger

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER Jon Meyer

COMMUNITY SERVICE Hugh W. (Trae) Cole III

RAINMAKER Stephen Schott

INNOVATION Market Value Import Tool

ADVISOR OF THE YEAR Barry Schmitt

STEP-UP Pete Ruffel

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We know that investors are looking for experienced and trusted advisors who can provide wealth management services that are focused on their unique circumstances and tailored to their goals.

In more than 30 years of acting as a fiduciary to some of the country’s biggest retirement plans, we have gained valuable insights that we can apply to your wealth planning and investment challenges.

Tiffany Walker, CFP®, ChFC Financial Advisor Minneapolis, MN Cathy Seeber, CFP®, CeFT® Vice President, Financial Advisor Doylestown, PA Ellen Crowley, Vice President, Financial Advisor Raleigh, NC Karen Casillas, CFP®, AIF® Financial Advisor Westlake Village, CA

captrust.com • 919.870.6822 | toll free: 800.216.0645 • 4208 Six Forks Road, Suite 1700 | Raleigh, NC 27609