Wealth Insights

Long-term wealth planning: Strategies for 2025 and beyond

Get insight into wealth planning topics and ensure your financial goals align with your resources.

The year 2025 will be a pivotal time for wealth planning as the financial landscape evolves. It’s an ideal time to evaluate whether you’re on track to realize your near-term and future financial goals and aspirations. “It’s a great time to look inward,” says Bryan Koepp, Wealth Planning Executive for Regions Private Wealth Management.

“Now is the time to review your balance sheet and understand it. What are your assets and why do you hold them? What’s their purpose? From there, ask: How can I make it better based upon my current goals and aspirations?”

Dealing with economic uncertainty

This year has had its share of market and economic uncertainty. Inflation, though relatively stable for now, may reverse course depending on shifts in the political landscape. In a related state of uncertainty, interest rates have the potential to take a turn if the economic climate shifts.

So how do you balance the impact—and opportunities—of short-term events while remaining true to your long-term financial plan? “A major purpose of financial planning is to prepare for various scenarios and take advantage of new opportunities that can strengthen your financial future,” says Koepp.

“But at the same time, short-term market and economic conditions shouldn’t cause you to change your overall investment philosophy and financial plan, which reflects your risk tolerance and the time horizon to achieve specific long-term goals. It’s important not to alter your long-term plan for the sake of making changes but rather to be tactical to address a specific shifting need.”

Clarity on taxes

Long-awaited clarity on the tax code arrived in July, when Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which presents new planning opportunities. President Trump’s domestic policy bill extends and expands provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that were originally set to expire, meaning the existing tax brackets and rates will on the whole remain the same.

The higher Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) exemptions and thresholds previously implemented by the TCJA have been made permanent. The bill also permanently extends and adds to the child tax credit, totaling $2,200 per child by 2026 and adjusted for inflation in subsequent years. The OBBBA also increases the lifetime gift and estate tax exemption to $15 million and includes annual inflation adjustments. Read this guide for a comprehensive rundown of the OBBBA tax changes and how they may impact you.

What we know about interest rates

In September 2024, the Federal Reserve began rolling out anticipated rate cuts based on stabilized inflation. But with changing tides in Washington, it’s hard to know what comes next.

“We still anticipate some pullback in rates this year, but as we have already witnessed with so many events in 2025, a lot can change,” says Hollins Rush, Wealth Advisor at Regions Bank. “As the political and economic environment around us changes constantly, it is important to stay close to your advisors to know how a rate change in the market can affect your financial picture.”

Rush explains that you must consider the impact of both a rising or falling rate environment to have a better understanding of your financial plan, and how small changes can affect your picture for the long term.

Koepp agrees. “Focusing on your personal balance sheet—something you can control—is critical,” says Koepp. “Inflation has returned to more normalized levels, but the after effect on the prices of goods and services is still felt throughout almost every corner of the world. It is important to keep focused on your long-term goals regarding savings.”

You might also leverage the uncertainty that higher prices can generate to help you prioritize the things that are most important to you. “This can give you a laser focus on your wants versus your needs,” Koepp says, and might help you identify goals and values that can be integrated into your wealth plan. Times like this tend to highlight the value your wealth advisor can bring. “Together you can look at scenarios that take into account the effects of inflation, your expenses and what you want to achieve,” Koepp says.

2025 stock market could be poised for gains and potential volatility

Optimism around the U.S. economic expansion and domestic stock market has moderated, but it appears U.S. exceptionalism has been delayed rather than derailed. Regions market commentators expect domestic large and midcap stocks to outpace international developed equities over the back half of the year, provided tariff volatility continues to decline.

“U.S. companies are some of the fastest growing and most profitable in the world, largely driven by our innovative technology sector,” Regions Portfolio Strategist Conner Griffith said. “That combination of growth and profitability should be a tailwind for equities in the U.S. over the balance of 2025, even amid cheaper relative valuations in international stocks.”

The S&P 500 retreated modestly to start the new year and approached oversold territory, increasing the likelihood of a bounce in the near-term, but volatility should be expected as uncertainty tied to immigration and trade is likely to persist and weigh on sentiment to some degree. Make sure you are having ongoing conversations with your advisor to stay on top of a more dynamic economic and market environment and milestones in your life.

“There is always a lot of noise in the markets; there will be even more in 2025,” says Regions Chief Investment Officer Alan McKnight. “You have a new administration, with a new majority in Congress and a new mandate. It’s a situation where you’re transitioning, from an economic perspective. When new policies and new players appear, it creates a lot of noise in the system. That will have an impact both here and abroad.

“The best thing an investor can do is to avoid being reactive, minimize the noise and focus on what you can influence.”

Making a wealth plan for more than just this year

Often people will focus solely on the monthly or annual performance of a 401(k) or an investment portfolio to gauge how well they are doing financially. “But investments and retirement savings are only one component of an overall wealth plan, which provides the roadmap, the guardrails and the confidence to allow you to accomplish your goals over years or even decades,” says Koepp.

A wealth plan starts with a full inventory of an individual’s assets, which often reveals a more favorable balance sheet than many people anticipate. “The accumulation of 401(k) plans, pension plans and various savings accounts can add up,” says Koepp. Only by getting a big-picture view of all your assets can you begin to make informed financial decisions. Are your investments underperforming? Is your asset allocation correct? A wealth plan can also identify gaps that you can work to close with strategies that you may not have previously considered.

A wealth plan evolves with you. “Your ongoing life events and changing priorities are vitally important to capture to make sure that the plan achieves what it's intended to do,” says Koepp. Equally important is to stress-test your plan against various market and economic scenarios.

People may hesitate to create a wealth plan for the first time because they may worry about what it might reveal, says Koepp. “But the report just provides data. The real benefit of wealth planning is the interaction between an individual and his or her wealth advisor,” he says. “By examining various scenarios that will lead to different outcomes, together they can prioritize and target the best options for optimal success in achieving the individual’s goals.” Your wealth advisor can also bring in a team of specialists to address specific concerns and needs.

Another benefit of having a wealth advisor is being able to talk through questions and concerns that arise from our 24/7 news cycle. “Not all financial information seen through traditional news and alternative media may apply to your personal situation. The sheer amount of information can be overwhelming,” says Koepp. “A wealth advisor has the experience to slow down the pace of that information, ascertain its validity and agnostically address clients’ questions to provide solace.”

Talk to your Regions Wealth Advisor about:

1. Adjusting your plan to reflect planning opportunities from new legislation.
2. Discussing your estate planning goals and an estate plan review.

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