The Coordination Letter

The things that don’t announce themselves.

A monthly letter from Gary Corderman. Twelve issues, one for each part of a financial life, and every one of them ends with a single thing you can check in your own accounts in about fifteen minutes.

Nothing is on fire. That’s exactly why these sit unaddressed for years.

Issues in the series
12Issues in the series
Domains covered
8Domains covered
Minutes per check
~15Minutes per check
Tuesday of the month
2ndTuesday of the month
01The one rule

Every issue ends with something you can go and check.

Not “consider reviewing your beneficiary designations.” Instead: log into the old 401(k) and read the beneficiary line.

That specificity is the whole difference between this and every other advisor newsletter. The letter takes one domain a month, names the failure that usually hides inside it, shows what it quietly costs, and then hands you the fifteen minutes of work that tells you whether it applies to you.

No market commentary. No forecasts. No reaction to this week’s headlines. The scarcity here is Gary’s attention, not a deadline.

The eight domains, one per issue

  • 01Tax strategy
  • 02Equity & concentration
  • 03Liquidity & transitions
  • 04Risk & insurance
  • 05Estate & legacy
  • 06Charitable giving
  • 07Income & cash flow
  • 08Freedom & life design
02The schedule

The whole year, published in advance.

Most newsletters don’t tell you what’s coming because they don’t know. This one is a designed sequence with an end, so here it is.

  1. 01
    Sep26

    The form that outranks your will

    A document you signed years ago and haven’t thought about since.

    Estate & legacyThe quiet risk

    Read
  2. 02
    Oct26

    When one company becomes your whole plan

    Nobody decides to put a quarter of their wealth in one stock.

    Equity & concentrationThe quiet risk

    In draft
  3. 03
    Nov26

    The order of operations for year end giving

    The sequence matters more than the amount.

    Charitable givingThe sequence

    In draft
  4. 04
    Dec26

    The trust written for a family that changed

    Documents that were immaculate, and pointed at the wrong outcome.

    Estate & legacyIn practice

    In draft
  5. 05
    Jan27

    What is the money actually for?

    The question that comes before every allocation decision.

    Freedom & life designPlanning vs. design

    In draft
  6. 06
    Feb27

    The tax drag you never see on a statement

    Asset location, harvesting, and withdrawal sequencing.

    Tax strategyThe quiet risk

    In draft
  7. 07
    Mar27

    Policies bought at milestones, never revisited

    What’s redundant, what’s exposed, what’s stale.

    Risk & insuranceThe quiet risk

    In draft
  8. 08
    Apr27

    Three excellent advisors, working against each other

    One reducing risk while another concentrates it.

    Tax strategyIn practice

    In draft
  9. 09
    May27

    The window right after an exit

    One time elections that are easy to get expensively wrong.

    Liquidity & transitionsThe quiet risk

    In draft
  10. 10
    Jun27

    Turning a portfolio into a paycheck

    Why accumulation skills don’t transfer to decumulation.

    Income & cash flowPlanning vs. design

    In draft
  11. 11
    Jul27

    Passing on values, not just assets

    The harder design underneath the documents.

    Estate & legacyThe quiet risk

    In draft
  12. 12
    Aug27

    The annual coordination check

    A short self audit across all eight domains.

    All eight domainsThe sequence

    In draft

Twelve issues, one a month, on the second Tuesday. Every one of the eight domains gets covered once. The schedule is published in advance because the sequence is the point — this is a designed year, not a stream of posts.

The fifteen-minute audit

Done in order, the twelve add up to one thing.

A coordination audit of your own picture, completed fifteen minutes at a time over a year. Tick them off as you go. Most people find something in the first one.

/ 12

Checks complete

1 available now. 11 arrive with the issues still to come.

Domains examined 0/8

  • Tax strategy
  • Equity & concentration
  • Liquidity & transitions
  • Risk & insurance
  • Estate & legacy
  • Charitable giving
  • Income & cash flow
  • Freedom & life design

Saved in this browser only. Nothing you tick is sent anywhere, and there is nothing to sign into.

  1. 01

    Read every beneficiary line you have on file

    SepEstate & legacyRead plate 01
  2. 02

    When one company becomes your whole plan

    OctEquity & concentrationArrives October
  3. 03

    The order of operations for year end giving

    NovCharitable givingArrives November
  4. 04

    The trust written for a family that changed

    DecEstate & legacyArrives December
  5. 05

    What is the money actually for?

    JanFreedom & life designArrives January
  6. 06

    The tax drag you never see on a statement

    FebTax strategyArrives February
  7. 07

    Policies bought at milestones, never revisited

    MarRisk & insuranceArrives March
  8. 08

    Three excellent advisors, working against each other

    AprTax strategyArrives April
  9. 09

    The window right after an exit

    MayLiquidity & transitionsArrives May
  10. 10

    Turning a portfolio into a paycheck

    JunIncome & cash flowArrives June
  11. 11

    Passing on values, not just assets

    JulEstate & legacyArrives July
  12. 12

    The annual coordination check

    AugAll eight domainsArrives August

One check is live today. The rest arrive with their issues, on the second Tuesday of each month. If you’d rather not wait twelve months to have the whole picture looked at, that’s what the Blueprint is.

03Subscribe

Second Tuesday, from Gary directly.

It arrives from his own address, in plain text, at four to six hundred words. Short enough to finish standing up.

Replies reach him and get answered personally.

Telling us what’s most relevant to you is optional. It only changes which issues get flagged for you first — everyone gets all twelve.

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