IN THE KNOW
Monthly Newsletter
September 2022
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This month's newsletter discusses electric vehicle tax credits and Fiduciary Management duties and how they apply to retirement plans. We also introduce you to our new investment strategist and shout out to the non-profit Makarios. As always, we keep you in the know for any exciting events next month in the Austin area. Keep reading to learn more!
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.
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The newly enacted Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law on August 16th, has multiple clean energy incentives and tax credits centered around purchasing an electric vehicle. But you may be left confused as to how the revived $7,500 Electric Vehicle Tax Credit works. This Tax Credit may sound familiar since it’s been offered before. Some manufacturers like Tesla, Toyota, and Chevy do not currently qualify for the tax credit because of the existing cap on the volume of cars sold. Under the new law, taking effect in 2023, this cap is no longer a restriction. So, if you are considering purchasing a new vehicle it might be worth waiting a few more months. Keep in mind, the Tax Credit comes with a new set of rules to consider.
Here’s an overview of the requirements to qualify for the $7,500 Tax Credit taking effect in 2023:
The vehicle’s final assembly must be in North America
Determining whether a car is manufactured in North America will be on a case-by-case basis, as some manufacturers change their production plans. The criteria go even deeper into the sourcing and manufacturing of the battery versus the components. The tax credit may be reduced if these assembly requirements are not fully met. The US Department of Energy compiled a list of vehicles that may qualify but it’s best for you to confirm with each manufacturer or to check the VIN Decoder website to be sure.
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Fiduciary is a formal-sounding word that is used often in the financial world. But how does it apply to retirement plans and why should it matter to you? Who is the fiduciary of a 401(k) Plan?
As referenced by my colleague, MaryBeth Meyer, in her article What is a Fiduciary Financial Advisor? a fiduciary is a person who acts on behalf of others, putting the interest of the other party ahead of their own. In other words, fiduciaries have a duty to act in the best interest of that other party. Back in 1974, The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974 was born. It set the standards for retirement plans and health plans including the initial rules that established them and how income taxes are affected. But ERISA also established rules to protect the participants in those plans and gave them a right to sue those in charge of the plan. ERISA also gave fiduciary status to many people who work on or with retirement plans.
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Introducing New Investment Strategist Josh Clifford |
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Tell us about your family? My wife and I moved from Ann Arbor, MI to Austin in 2005 after graduating from college. She is the principal at Steiner Ranch Elementary where our children are students. Our kids, Jack and Lucy, love playing sports, being creative, and Star Wars.
Do you have pets? We had two dogs that we loved so much that they were in our wedding. They both passed in last couple of years.
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What's your favorite food or meal? Pizza has been my favorite food since I was a kid, but recently I have been enjoying the more healthy option of carrots with a sweet and spicy veggie dip.
What's your favorite restaurant? Recently, my favorites are OZ Tap House and Pho Hub, which are near Steiner, and Honest Mary’s a little farther away.
What are your favorite hobbies? I really love paddling around Lady Bird Lake on a Kayak. I don’t do this as much as I used to.
What's your favorite sports team? University of Michigan Wolverines!
What is your favorite book? Neuromancer by William Gibson.
What is your favorite way to spend the weekend? On the soccer field with my kids, Jack and Lucy.
What was your dream job as a kid? Stunt Driver!
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Employee Spotlight ~ Let's Talk to the Team |
In this year's Employee Spotlight we will be asking fun questions to the entire team and sharing their answers in this section! |
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Non-Profit Shout-Out: Makarios |
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In the late 1990s, a young American woman was teaching in a private school in the Dominican Republic (DR). During her time there, she saw that children in some areas of the island were not attending school. In the DR, public school is complicated and not everyone is afforded the same opportunities. Sharla Megilligan saw a need and returned to Austin, Texas to the LBJ School of Public Affairs. In 2004, Makarios was born in a backyard in Montellano, Dominican Republic with a folding table and some chairs.
The mission of Makarios International is to equip Churches, Schools, and Families in order to bring about spiritual restoration. Makarios serves vulnerable communities in Pader Uganda, and Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Makarios not only educates children, usually every child in the home, but it also educates and supports the entire family as well. Through their family empowerment program, they offer parenting classes, host mother-daughter events as well as father-son events to build strong families. In addition, they provide intervention programs, go on home visits, and offer both health care and counseling services as well. Makarios recently launched a program to help bridge the gap between high school and university – and helps pay for that tuition. Because of the success of their programs, they are now teaching other schools, churches, and communities how to replicate and adapt their model. To read more about the amazing things Makarios is doing, please visit their website at: https://www.makariosinternational.org/
I had the privilege of visiting and working alongside the staff at Makarios this summer. What an incredible group of women and men that I met there! What started out in the heart of one American woman, is now a school and organization run mostly by Dominicans and Haitians. They are the teachers. They are the ones allowing themselves to be used to change their communities – and maybe even the whole island before long. When I returned to the states right after our trip, I went to an event at my church. I sat down and began talking with the lady across from me whom I had never met before. As we both shared about our past week, I recounted being in the DR and what an amazing organization I had seen. She asked if I had been on the trip to Makarios – which of course I excitedly answered yes! She smiled and then shared with me that she was Sharla Megilligan, the young woman who had founded Makarios. How awesome that it unintentionally came full circle for me in that moment.
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There are several ways you can support this great organization: general monetary gifts, sponsoring a child, supporting the family empowerment program directly, or gifting with stock/in-kind items. Please click HERE to donate.
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The future of investing presents both an opportunity and a challenge to financial professionals who must introduce the value of advice to a new generation of investors. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal proposed that younger affluent investors are eschewing traditional financial advice in favor of a self-directed approach.1 Many are opting for digital platforms that offer convenient access to trading and an expanding range of alternative investments, from cryptocurrency to business startups. Making sense of the vast landscape of options is crucial to pursuing a good investment outcome.
In a future of expanding product choices and rising complexity, we believe that qualified, trusted financial guidance will prove more valuable than ever before. But how will wealth advisors reinforce and enhance their value proposition to investors? Let’s consider the challenge within an industry driven by product innovations.
US-based investors may believe they know America best. Accordingly, they are liable to put the bulk of their investments in stocks and bonds of US-based companies and in US federal and municipal fixed income securities. Given the size and relative safety of this market, that may seem a sound approach. Yet this strategy has some holes. “Home bias”1 can limit your investment opportunities and constrain your ability to benefit from diversification.
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ML&R Wealth Management is Celebrating 25 Years!
1997 ~ 2022
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Subscribe to our 401(k) Plan Services Quarterly Newsletter |
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Are you responsible for administering your company's 401(k) plan?
Would you like more insight and resources regarding the retirement plan services industry?
If so, please subscribe to our 401(k) Plan Services Quarterly Newsletter. You can check out the last few issues below.
See our latest Retirement Plan Services articles:
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What's Happening in Austin Next Month |
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Austin Events
(10/1/2022)
(10/7/2022 - 10/9/2022 &
10/14/2022 - 10/16/2022)
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Family-Friendly Events
(10/7/2022 - 10/8/2022)
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About ML&R Wealth Management: |
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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 25 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-only advisor with fees calculated solely on assets under management.
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