One planning insight. Two charts that caught our eye. Helping you stay the course in under three minutes.

Planning Insight | July 2026

The Tax Law Turned One, Now It Shows Up on Your Return.

One year ago this month, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law on the Fourth of July. It dominated headlines for a news cycle, generated a thousand hot takes, and then mostly faded into the background.

Here is the thing about that law, though: 2025 was when it was signed. 2026 is when much of it actually happens. Several of the provisions that matter most for planning did not take effect until January 1 of this year, which means the return you file next spring will be the first one that feels them.

So consider this your one-year checkup. Below are the changes that went live in 2026, and what, if anything, to do about them.

The estate planning exhale

For seven years, estate planners told clients to prepare for the exemption to get cut in half. That cliff is gone. The exemption is $15 million per person, permanent, and growing with inflation.

Permanent, of course, means "until a future Congress says otherwise." But the practical takeaway is that planning driven purely by deadline panic can give way to planning driven by what actually makes sense for your family. For most households, the estate tax is now a non-issue, and the focus shifts to the things that were always more likely to matter anyway: titling, beneficiary designations, and making sure documents reflect your current wishes.

Charitable giving got a haircut (and a new wrinkle)

This is the change most likely to catch people off guard next April.

If you itemize, your first 0.5% of AGI in charitable gifts is no longer deductible. A household with $400,000 of income gives up the deduction on their first $2,000 of giving. And if you are in the top bracket, every itemized deduction is now worth at most 35 cents on the dollar instead of 37.

Neither change should affect why you give. But they should affect how:

Bunching works better than ever. Concentrating two or three years of gifts into one year, often through a donor-advised fund, clears the new floor once instead of paying it annually, then lets you take the standard deduction in the off years.

QCDs just became even more valuable. If you are 70 1/2 or older, qualified charitable distributions from your IRA (up to $111,000 this year) skip the floor, skip the 35% cap, and never touch your AGI in the first place. For retirees who give, this remains the single most efficient charitable dollar available.

Standard deduction takers get something for the first time in years. The new $1,000/$2,000 above-the-line deduction is modest, but it is free. Keep your receipts.

The quieter ones worth knowing

The 529 expansion is bigger than it looks. Beyond the higher K-12 limit, qualified expenses now include tutoring, testing fees, and professional credentialing programs. A 529 is no longer just a college account. It is a lifetime education account, which changes the math on how much to fund and how leftover balances can be used.

And if you welcomed a child or grandchild since the start of 2025, the $1,000 federal Trump Account deposit opened for election this month. Whatever you think of the accounts overall (we covered the fine print in a separate guide this month), the free money is worth claiming.

The approach shot

Every golfer knows the drive gets the attention. It is loud, it is long, and it is what everyone watches from the tee box. But ask any good player where scoring actually happens and they will tell you: the approach shots. The unglamorous 150-yard decisions that determine whether you are putting for birdie or chipping from the rough.

The signing ceremony last July was the drive. This year is the approach. The households that score well under this law will not be the ones who read the most headlines about it. They will be the ones who adjusted their giving strategy, revisited their estate documents, and claimed the small wins sitting in plain sight.

What Caught Our Eye

A couple of charts and graphics we found insightful this month.

Following the money trail.

For fifteen years, Big Tech was a cash machine. Now Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Oracle are spending so heavily on AI infrastructure that their combined free cash flow has gone negative for the first time ever. The cash didn't disappear. It moved one layer down the supply chain, where chipmakers like Nvidia are now generating over $400 billion.

Moving day.

US dominance is unprecedented. It's captured roughly 48% of global market cap and is larger than the next 18 markets combined. Yet just beneath it, Taiwan rocketed from 10th to 3rd in a year and India dropped out of the top 10 altogether. Nobody predicted that order twelve months ago, which is exactly the case for owning all of it.

Whenever you're ready, we’re here to help:

Managing your own finances can be overwhelming. If you’d like to experience the benefits of working with a trusted advisor we invite you to schedule a no-obligation phone call to explore how working with Ark Royal might enhance your wealth and peace of mind.