The Cannon Journal

Clarity, before the pitch.

Plain-English answers to the questions that actually decide your financial life — written by a fiduciary firm that is paid to plan, not to sell. Nothing here is trying to sell you a product.

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Featured · Choosing an Advisor

Ten Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Financial Advisor

Most people spend more time researching a car than the person who will manage their life savings. These ten questions — and the answers to listen for — tell you who your advisor actually works for.

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Read before you're sold.

Q4
Quarterly Letter · October 6, 2026

Q4 2026 Investor Letter

The Fed raised rates, oil climbed back above $100, and stocks still finished the third quarter near record highs. What happened, what we're watching, and a year-end planning checklist.

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02
Tax Strategy

Utah's Pass-Through Entity Tax (PTET): Who It Helps

An annual election that moves your Utah income tax from your personal return to your business. For some owners it is worth real money. For others it changes nothing.

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03
Business Owners

Reasonable Salary for an S-Corp Owner, and Why It Matters

The salary you pay yourself is one number that moves four others: payroll tax, the QBI deduction, retirement contributions and audit risk. Most owners set it once and never look again.

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04
Tax Strategy

The QBI Deduction for Owners: What Qualifies

Up to 20% of your business profit, deducted before tax. It is one of the largest deductions an owner can have, and one of the easiest to shrink by accident.

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05
Liquidity Events

Selling Your Business: The Tax Work to Do Before the Letter of Intent

A letter of intent feels like the start of the sale. For taxes, it is closer to the end. Most of what decides what you keep is set before you sign it.

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06
Business Owners

Cash Balance Plans for Physicians and Practice Owners

For a high-earning practice owner who started saving late, a 401(k) alone can feel small. A cash balance plan is the tool designed for that gap, and it comes with real commitments.

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07
Tax Strategy

The Backdoor Roth, Step by Step

Earn too much for a Roth IRA, and there is still a legal route in. It takes two steps and one form, and one rule catches most people who try it.

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08
Equity Compensation

ISOs vs NSOs: When to Exercise

Two kinds of stock options, two sets of tax rules. The grant letter rarely explains either, and the timing of an exercise can matter as much as the price.

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09
Wealth Management

Tax Planning Built In, Not Bolted On

A portfolio managed in one office and a tax return filed in another can each look fine on their own. The money lost between them rarely shows up on either.

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10
Retirement Income

Which Account to Draw From First in Retirement

Most retirees have three kinds of accounts, each taxed differently. The order you spend them in can matter as much as how they are invested.

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11
Retirement Income

RMDs and Qualified Charitable Distributions

At a certain age the IRS requires you to start withdrawing from pre-tax accounts, whether you need the money or not. If you give to charity anyway, there is a better way to do it.

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12
Retirement Income

When to Claim Social Security

Claim at 62 and the check is smaller for life. Wait until 70 and it is much larger, but you collect it for fewer years. The right age depends on more than the break-even math.

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13
Real Estate

Cost Segregation and 1031 Exchanges for Rental Owners

One tool front-loads your deductions. The other defers the tax bill when you sell. Used together, without a plan for the exit, they can surprise you later.

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14
Wealth Management

What a Family Office Actually Does

The phrase is used loosely. Underneath it is a simple idea: one team that sees and coordinates everything a family owns, owes and intends.

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15
For Employers

Your Company 401(k) and Your Own Retirement

Owners often set up a 401(k) for their team and then find they cannot use it fully themselves. The reason is usually the design, and the design can usually change.

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16
Liquidity Events

Selling Your Business to Insiders on a Note, and Why to Secure It With the Shares

Your best buyers may already work for you. They rarely have the cash to pay all at once. A note secured by the shares is how many of these sales are built.

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17
Investment Philosophy

Should I Manage My Own Investments?

The question every capable person eventually asks, answered straight — including the part where the honest answer is yes, and the four questions that settle it either way.

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18
Products & Planning

What an Annuity Actually Is

An annuity is an insurance contract, not an investment — and that one distinction explains most of what confuses people about how they get sold.

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19
Tax Strategy

Tax Planning Is a Season, Not a Scramble

By the time you file in April, your tax bill is history — it was decided by December 31. Filing records the outcome. Planning is what changes it.

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20
Retirement Income

The Roth Conversion Window Most People Miss

Between your last paycheck and your first required distribution sits a stretch of unusually low-tax years. Most people let that window close without ever using it.

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21
For Employers

What a 3(38) Investment Fiduciary Actually Does for Your 401(k)

If your company sponsors a 401(k), you are a fiduciary — personally. The real question is how much of that duty you keep, and how much you formally hand to a professional.

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22
Liquidity Events

The First Year After You Sell Your Business

The wire clears, and suddenly everyone has an idea for your money. The best first moves are usually the least dramatic ones — and they go in a specific order.

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23
Equity Compensation

Concentrated Stock: When Your Best Asset Becomes Your Biggest Risk

Nobody decides to bet their family's future on one stock. It happens one vest at a time — and unwinding it well is a schedule, not a guess.

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Educational only — not investment, tax, or legal advice. Every situation is different; the right answer depends on the numbers, and that's what the strategy session is for. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.

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