IN THE KNOW
Monthly Newsletter
March 2019
At ML&R Wealth Management , we want to ensure our clients are In The Know. In this month's newsletter we have timely articles on exploring various tax strategies as well as understanding investment performance. We are a firm that understands that managing your assets is about more than money. It is about empowering your future. At ML&R Wealth Management, we focus on you.
It’s Tax Season: Let’s explore various planning strategies
Scott Adair , Wealth Management Partner

We are in the heart of tax season with the filing deadline quickly approaching (April 15 th ). With this in mind, now is a great time to bring to the forefront a variety of year round tax planning strategies that can help you (and your wallet) prepare for tax season year in and year out.

By incorporating some of these strategies, our clients have been able to retain more of their hard earned money by paying only the necessary amount of taxes each year.

Below we have outlined six strategies that could potentially help lower your tax bill, depending on your unique situation. As always, consult a CPA to determine your specific needs based on your circumstances.

Maximize retirement account contributions – If your employer offers a retirement plan (like a 401(k)), maximizing your annual contributions is not only a great way to grow your retirement assets tax-deferred, but you also get an immediate tax benefit. Contributions to your 401(k) are pre-tax and are deducted from your taxable income. 401(k) contribution limits are $19,000 (plus a $6,000 catch-up amount if you are age 50 or older).

You might also be able to reduce your taxable income by contributing to a Traditional IRA. If your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is $64,000 or less per year and you are single, you can deduct the full contribution. If you are married, it gets a little more complicated. You can deduct the full contribution if you and your spouse are not covered by a retirement plan at work. If you are covered by a plan at work and your MAGI is $103,000 or less, you can deduct the full contribution. If one of you is covered and one of you is not, your MAGI needs to be $193,000 or less for the full contribution to be deductible. IRA contribution limits are $6,000 (plus a $1,000 catch-up amount if you are age 50 or older). 

U nderstanding Investment Performance
Dimensional Perspectives Blog

Dimensional’s Co-CEO and Chief Investment Officer answers questions about investment returns, benchmarks, and evaluating managers.

Investors often start the year by evaluating how their portfolios have performed.   Gerard O’Reilly recently sat down with Scott Mardy, a Vice President and Investment Strategist with the firm, to talk about what investors should consider when evaluating investment performance.

Key Takeaways

  • Your performance evaluation framework should answer a simple question: Has your money manager delivered what they committed to deliver?

  • The point of analyzing performance data is to help investors make informed investment decisions. The noisier the data, the weaker the inferences you can make.

  • If you’re going to invest time understanding how a manager operates and potentially commit assets to them, you want a manager who is as committed to the long term as you are.

  • Over short time periods, outperforming or underperforming a benchmark is not necessarily evidence that a manager failed to deliver what they said they would deliver.

  • There’s no magic time frame for considering returns—different time frames provide different information.

Financial Wellness Q&A
In this section we will address common personal finance questions. Email socialwm@mlrpc.com if you have a question you would like answered.

Question: What were some of the major changes in the new tax law?

Answer: Congress passed a sweeping tax overhaul in late 2017, the most substantial reform since 1986. Several of the tax bracket rates were lowered. The standard deduction doubled from $6,000 to $12,000 for single filers, and from $12,000 to $24,000 for married filers. Also, the child tax credit was doubled from $1,000 to $2,000. Along with these changes, several deductions were either reduced or eliminated. Personal and dependent exemptions (formerly $4,050) were eliminated. The amount of state and local property, income and sales taxes that can be deducted were capped at $10,000 in aggregate. Starting in 2019, the penalty for not having health insurance was repealed. Finally, 529 college savings plan account owners can use up to $10,000 a year to from their 529 accounts to fund private school K-12.
ML&R Wealth Management News

We are proud to announce we have been named as one of the Top 10 Best Financial Advisors in Austin in 2019 by AdvisoryHQ.

Click here to view the selection criteria and methodology.


Third party rankings and recognition from ratings services are no guarantee of future investment success. Working with a highly rated adviser does not ensure that a client or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance or results. Ratings should not be considered an endorsement of the advisor by any client nor are they representative of any one client's evaluation. Please also read a more thorough disclosure and additional information about the criteria used in making these rankings here .
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Scott Adair
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About ML&R Wealth Management:
At ML&R Wealth Management, we take investing personally. Your ML&R Wealth Management advisor will work to develop a lasting relationship with you, keeping in touch to understand your changing goals and to provide an asset management strategy to help achieve them. Whenever you need sound financial advice, you have a direct line to a trusted advisor.

For over 20 years, we have served individuals, families, businesses, and nonprofits with wealth management services, custom retirement and 401(k) plans, and portfolio management.

We believe in accountability and transparency and operate as a fee-o nly advisor with fees calculated solely on assets under management.
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