About Us Who We Are Meet The Team Jim Richter, CFP®, CAIA®, EA President 800-961-0298 jim@monotelo.com Jim Richter is the President of Monotelo Advisors. Jim sets the strategic direction for the firm, including oversight of all tax and financial planning services at Monotelo Advisors. He brings 20+ years of experience in the financial services industry, including 10 years of hedge-fund specific work across diverse investment products. Prior to founding Monotelo Advisors, Jim spent 7 years as a Managing Director and Partner at a Chicago-based asset management firm. Prior to his time in the asset management industry, Jim spent 9 years as a fixed-income specialist in the banking industry. Jim is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst with a degree in Finance from the University of Illinois - Chicago. Jim is an Enrolled Agent, a federally authorized tax practitioner empowered by the US Department of the Treasury to represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service. Gina Gucciardo, CPA Certified Public Accountant 217-839-4226 gina@monotelo.com Gina is a Certified Public Accountant with over 35 years in public accounting. Gina and her team provide tax and accounting services to small businesses throughout Macoupin County and the surrounding area. She spends a good portion of her time volunteering and serving on non-profit boards. She enjoys exercise and runs nearly five miles a day five days a week. She likes to travel and spend time with her family, friends, and pets. Gina has the distinct honor of being the very first graduate of of Blackburn College's Accounting program. Gina and her husband have two adult children, one grandchild and two dogs! Steve Watts, CPA Certified Public Accountant 630-377-1040 steve@monotelo.com Steve is a Certified Public Accountant with an MBA and the CIRA certification. He has extensive banking and accounting experience with direct knowledge of the challenges faced by small business owners. He has developed and implemented various automated programs for management and financial reporting. During his 13 years on the banking side, Steve has prepared financial statements as well as examined and analyzed the financial statements and cash flow for thousands of companies. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Illinois CPA® Society, National Association of Tax Professionals, Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors and Turnaround Management Association. Steve and his wife have two adult children. Gavin Tabb, CPA Certified Public Accountant 847-923-9015 gavin@monotelo.com Gavin is a Certified Public Accountant and small business specialist for Monotelo Advisors. He is responsible for overseeing the staff that delivers a premium level of service to more than one thousand clients throughout the year. Gavin has a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from Northern Illinois University. He is an Intuit QuickBooks Certified User and he supports our small business clients throughout the United States with seamless payroll, bookkeeping and monthly accounting services. Gavin and his wife, Elise have a five-year old daughter and one-year old son. Michael Baumeister, CFP®, EA Addy Genetti Financial Planner 847-923-9015 michael@monotelo.com Accountant 217-839-4226 addy@monotelo.com Michael is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ for Monotelo Advisors. Michael provides solutions to client’s complex financial planning in a thorough, cost-effective manner. He is the point of contact for all financial planning clients to ensure a constant channel of communication and oversight. His personal experience brings an expertise in the fields of asset allocation, estate planning, insurance review, tax planning and comprehensive financial planning. Michael has a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from Judson University. Michael is an Enrolled Agent, a federally authorized tax practitioner empowered by the US Department of the Treasury to represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service. Michael lives with his wife, Sarah, and their two-year-old son. Addy is an accountant for Monotelo Advisors. Addy graduated from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting. She has 18 years of public accounting experience including preparation of individual, partnership, corporate and estate/trust tax returns. Addy serves Monotelo's small business clients with preparation of payroll, sales tax, bookkeeping and monthly accounting services. When she is not busy exceeding our clients' expectations, she is running around with her three boys to all of their sporting events. She loves to travel, especially anywhere there is a beach! Addy and her husband live on their family farm with their three boys. Lisa Rondi Accountant 217-839-4226 lisa@monotelo.com Lisa is a small business specialist for Monotelo Advisors. Lisa has 24+ years of experience in tax return, payroll, sales tax and bookkeeping preparation and review in the Gillespie and Carlinville offices. She strives to help clients with their financial needs in the ever-changing tax system. She enjoys spending time with her family, her church family and doing anything outdoors. She also enjoys spending time on her craft projects and she plays several musical instruments. Lisa lives in Mt. Clare, IL with her pets. Marianne Richter Engagement Manager 847-923-9015 marianne@monotelo.com Marianne Richter is responsible for ensuring that Monotelo is delivering a high level of customer service and meeting the expectations of Monotelo’s small business relationships. Marianne brings 13+ years of diversified training and marketing experience in the consumer goods industry to Monotelo. Working in senior management roles at Kraft Foods for more than a decade, she had national profit and loss responsibility for consumer brands. In addition to her brand management responsibilities, she also played the role of national trainer, traveling around the country training Kraft's emerging managers. Marianne and her husband, Jim live with their two sons who are both in college. Roger Medallo Relationship Specialist 800-961-0298 Roger@monotelo.com Roger plays a key role in developing relationships with small business owners for Monotelo Advisors. He sets appointments for our CEO and helps promote our Second-Act Planning® program to colleges and universities across the country. Roger has a degree in computer science and plays multiple musical instruments. Roger and his wife, Diane have been married for 6 years.

Quarterly: Oct 17 Our Planning Process Our Objective A financial plan with the optimal tax efficient strategies that help you meet your short and long-term goals. Our Process Discovery: The first and most important step in the process is to understand our client's long-term goals and their short-term cashflow needs. It is also designed to identify how the short-term cashflow needs can impact the long-term goals. Assessment: The main objective of the assessment phase is to identify what needs to be done to achieve each goal and provide context around our client's time horizon and risk tolerance. Expectations may need to be reset based on long-term goals, the resources and assets available to reach those goals and your capacity to take risk over time. Evaluation: This is the phase where we present our findings, show you the steps needed to move you toward your long-term goals, and get agreement on which option best suits your needs. Implementation: Once the financial plan has been established and agreed upon, the implementation phase turns the plan into reality, with each component of the plan designed to align with your short and long-term goals. Monitoring: The monitoring phase is designed to check on the progress toward your long-term goals and make any minor adjustments needed to move you toward your desired outcome. If circumstances change or life-changing events take place, we will move back into Discovery phase, reassess the new circumstances and adjust the plan as needed. Our "Why" Monotelo is a combination of two Greek words: Mono (meaning one) and Telos (meaning purpose). Monotelo's "One Purpose" is to make a difference with meaningful and actionable financial solutions that positively impact our client's lives.

SMALL BUSINESS TIPS Quarterly: Oct 17 Avoid Taxes On Your Reimbursed Employee Expenses If your business has employees then you likely have to reimburse them for out-of-pocket expenses they incur periodically. Reminder: If your business is a S or a C Corporation then you are considered an employee of the corporation, and are subject to the same reimbursement policies as any other employee. When accounted for properly, employee expense reimbursements are deductible to you as the employer, and tax-free to the employee. However, when these reimbursements are not accounted for correctly the IRS can reclassify them as wages, making the full amount subject to both employer and employee payroll taxes as well as income taxes for the employee. To avoid paying taxes on the expense reimbursements you pay to your employees follow these guidelines. There are four requirements that must be met in order to reimburse your employee’s expenses without creating taxable wages for them: Legitimate business expense. You can only reimburse your employees for expenses that serve a legitimate business purpose. Reimbursing your employees for meals from an out of town business trip is a legitimate business expense but reimbursing your employee for a night out with their spouse over the weekend would be considered taxable wages to them. To maintain the tax advantaged status of your employee expense reimbursements you should document the business purpose of each expense. Proof of expense. Before you can reimburse your employee’s expenses you must receive proof from them that the expenses were paid. The substantiation requirements for reimbursed expenses are the same as your ordinary business expenses. Receipts for purchases and mileage logs are the best way to substantiate your business expenses. Refund excess reimbursements . If you reimburse your employee for an amount greater than the expenses they incurred the excess amount will become taxable wages to the employee if not returned within 120 days. Reimburse expenses in a timely fashion . Expenses must be reimbursed in a timely fashion to avoid being reclassified as wages. The IRS states that timeliness is determined by the facts and circumstances of each situation. However, to provide additional guidance the IRS lays out circumstances in which reimbursements will always be considered timely: Reimbursements paid in advance within 30 days before the expense in incurred Substantiation of expenses provided to employer within 60 days of payment Returns of excess payments within 120 days of receipt Expense Reports While a formalized expense report is not required by the IRS to reimburse employee expenses, it is the best way to ensure that you are meeting the four criteria outlined above. If you have employees or if you are the owner of an S or C corporation we would encourage you to have your employees or yourself fill out expenses reports on a regular basis to reimburse out-of-pocket expenses. You can download our expense form template to use in your business either as an Excel worksheet or a PDF. Download Excel File Download as PDF Previous Article

By failing to plan ahead, you will find that most of your medical expenses are worthless on your tax return. With a little planning, you can prevent this. If you fail to plan ahead, you will struggle to claim your medical expenses as an itemized deduction when April 15th arrives. You will lose the ability to deduct the bulk of these expenses because they need to surpass 10% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) to be usable as an itemized deduction . This means that taxpayers who make $100,000 during the year will not be able to deduct the first $10,000 in medical expenses. That handicap essentially means you will not be able to deduct any medical expenses, unless you incur heavy medical bills in a single year. And if you are paying AMT (the Alternative Minimum Tax) - don't even think about it. When it comes time to pay your income tax bill, most Americans want to pay the lowest amount possible. One of the ways taxpayers seek to do this is by increasing the number of deductions they take on their tax return each year. So it's not surprising that one of the common questions we receive from our clients is whether or not they can deduct their medical expenses. While the simple answer is "yes," the reality for most taxpayers is "no." However, with a little planning, that answer can be "yes." If you fail to plan ahead, you will struggle to claim your medical expenses as an itemized deduction when April 15th arrives. You will lose the ability to deduct the bulk of these expenses because they need to surpass 10% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) to be usable as an itemized deduction . This means that taxpayers who make $100,000 during the year will not be able to deduct the first $10,000 in medical expenses. That handicap essentially means you will not be able to deduct any medical expenses, unless you incur heavy medical bills in a single year. And if you are paying AMT (the Alternative Minimum Tax) - don't even think about it. The best way to counteract this nasty little piece of the tax code is to set up an HSA (Health Savings Account) and contribute to it each year. When you contribute to an HSA you get the privilege of deducting the amount of your contributions from your income and you bypass the 10% threshold. You can do this even if you don't choose to itemize your deductions! And as an added bonus (do we sound like an infomercial?) - the money you put into your HSA, as well as the earnings of the account, can be taken out tax free as long as they are used for qualified medical expenses. While you cannot pay your health insurance premiums with funds from an HSA, you can pay most other medical expenses. Additionally, once you turn 65 you can use the HSA to pay your Medicare or other healthcare premiums. Requirements for an HSA In order to qualify for an HSA you must have a high-deductible health plan - defined as a healthcare plan with: 1 An annual deductible of at least $1,350 for individual coverage or at least $2,700 for family coverage. 2 Maximum annual out-of-pocket expenses of $6,750 for individual coverage and $13,500 for family coverage. Once you have your HSA set up you can contribute up to $3,500 per year for individual coverage and $7,000 for family coverage. If you are over the age of 55 you can contribute an additional $1,000 annually. Save as PDF Read More Articles Share Failing to order your affairs to minimize your tax burden could cost you significant money - so don't wait to take action. If you have additional questions or need some planning help, please reach out to us. Avoiding the 10% Threshold for Medical Expenses How do you setup an HSA? If your employer offers a high-deductible health plan, they should also give you the ability to contribute to an HSA. You can also open an account on your own through a qualified HSA provider, such as a bank or insurance company (go to www.hsasearch.com for a list of qualified HSA providers). What happens if you don't plan ahead? So what is the solution? Key Takeaways If you don't plan ahead and contribute to a Health Savings Account then you will find that most, if not all, of your medical expenses will be ineligible for a deduction due to the 10% threshold that must be met before deducting medical expenses. By setting up and contributing to a Health Savings Account you can deduct your full contribution to the account and have the flexibility to pay your medical bills with tax-free withdrawals from the account.

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Mahlon Mitchell shares his experience working with Monotelo Advisors

Social unrest, unemployment, COVID 19, the election… there are a multitude of items we could address in our October update. While there are a multitude of things we could address, I want to focus today’s discussion on the bond market. The reason why I want to focus on bonds is because bonds play a critical role in running a balanced portfolio. The inverse relationship that stocks and bonds have experienced in the past has allowed investors to structure portfolios with higher levels of stability. That’s because bonds have historically acted as a shock absorber. When stocks were down, bonds were usually up and when stocks were up, bonds were oftentimes down. However, the “shock absorber” role that bonds have played to offset stock market risk can no longer be relied upon, so this requires a major shift in our thinking. Executive Summary With stock market valuations near all-time highs, the risk of a stock market correction is heightened. The fixed income side of a balanced portfolio (the bonds) will no longer provide protection against a correction in the equity markets. Declining rates have removed most of the income from bond portfolios and have added significant risks if rates were to rise. Bonds (and “balanced portfolios” that hold bonds) may face significant headwinds in the future. Finding solutions to this real problem is key to achieving your long-term goals. What’s Changed? As global interest rates have declined over the past 12 months, the search for income has become incredibly challenging. We believe that one of the biggest sources of protection to the traditional 60/40 portfolio (60% stocks, 40% bonds), has now become a risk. A 40% allocation to a mixture of Treasury bonds and high-quality corporate bonds has historically served investors well. That’s because bonds were effective at creating income, providing a diversified source of return and providing capital preservation in times of uncertainty. But we believe core fixed income is not equipped to meet these goals going forward. After four decades of declining interest rates and the massive fiscal and monetary response to the health crisis, rates are hovering near zero throughout the world. Not only do low rates rob investors of needed income, the historic assumption that bonds will provide a form of protection is no longer valid. Income If you search for income in today’s bond market, prepare for a long, unfruitful journey. Domestic and global bond indices yield between .6% and 1.2% across the globe. Where exactly is the income in core fixed income? Rates have steadily declined for the past few decades, but have significantly declined over the past 12 months — and there is little room left for rates to fall much further Rates have been falling for nearly four decades, but the collapse in interest rates over the last 12 months have left little room for rates to fall much further. The end result is that bond prices have a limited capacity to rise. Not only is there little room for bond prices to rise, there is tremendous room for bond prices to fall, especially if interest rates rise in the future. In the interest of full disclosure, rising interest rates in the near term is not a major concern of ours. We are simply stating that there is significant downside risk with little upside reward. This can be observed by the chart below. If rates rise, all the return that was recently captured by the bond market from price appreciation (the black area), is likely to be given back by price depreciation. Interest rates can do three things in the future. They can go up. They can go down. Or they can stay the same. If rates stay the same, we collect a paltry 1% yield on our bond portfolio and our bond prices remain stable. If interest rates go down, we collect the 1% yield with a small amount of price appreciation (because rates cannot fall very far from 1% unless they go negative). And if they go up, we collect our 1% yield, but we are subject to significant risk of price declines. Not a whole lot of upside, but quite a bit of downside risk! Unlike stocks, which theoretically have unlimited upside potential, bond returns are capped by the amount of interest income they produce over the life of the investment. For example: If you bought a 10-year treasury with a 5% yield back in 2000, your bond would produce 50% income over the 10-year life of the bond (10 years of coupon payments * 5% yield = 50%). If rates were to go to zero, your bond would go from a price of par (100) to 150. It could not go above the 150 unless rates went below zero. If you bought a 10-year treasury bond in today’s world at a 1% yield, and interest rates dropped to zero tomorrow, your 10-year treasury would now be worth 110 (1% yield for 10 years in a 0% interest rate environment = 10 points of price appreciation). Your bond could not go above 110 unless interest rates dropped below zero. If instead of rates falling, rates began rising, that price change we just described would turn into price depreciation. And bond prices have way more room to move down rather than up when you are beginning at a 1% yield. That is why bonds have higher levels of risk today than ever before. But it’s not just bonds that have increased sensitivity to interest rates. The performance of the tech and consumer discretionary sectors have also benefitted from our low-rate environment. These sectors now make up a much larger portion of the overall market, and that means that equity portfolios may also be sensitive to rising interest rates. Diversification Bonds have been a pretty effective hedging tool against past stock market corrections. When equity markets experienced signs of turmoil, central banks generally stepped in to lower rates, and bond prices responded positively to the new, lower interest rates. We believe that this relationship can no longer be relied upon, because there’s very little room to lower rates further. That means one of the most-valuable diversification benefits of holding bonds is severely diminished. Inflation It’s very difficult to accurately predict future inflation, but we can say this: if inflation were to resurface, bonds will not do well. The paltry income will not offset the purchasing power risk, and bond prices will decline when interest rates rise. In Summary With interest rates near zero, the upside of holding bonds is low, and the downside of holding bonds is high. The one reason to hold high-quality bonds in today’s environment is that they will be one of the few assets to hold their value if we see another significant equity market correction. In times of uncertainty, high-quality bonds will always be the preferred asset. While that is a very good reason to hold bonds, the other risks of holding a traditional bond portfolio have become too great to ignore. Not only has income diminished significantly from a traditional bond portfolio, bonds may no longer provide the needed buffer during times of economic turmoil and they face greater downside risk in scenarios when interest rates rise. If core fixed income is no longer able to serve the role it has played in the past, investors will need to use different approaches to accomplish their goals. If you would like to explore options that can help reduce the risks we mentioned here, register for our November webinar or schedule a no-obligation 20-minute strategy call and we can provide more insight into potential solutions. Read more articles THE HIGH RISK OF OWNING BONDS TODAY Failing to order your affairs to minimize your tax burden could cost you significant money - so don't wait to take action. If you have additional questions or need some planning help, please reach out to us.

Monotelo Advisors Inc FinCEN Beneficial Ownership Engagement Letter Heading 1 Thank you for choosing Monotelo to assist you with the preparation and filing of your FINCEN Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report. This engagement letter outlines the scope of our services, your responsibilities, and our commitment to providing you with accurate and timely compliance solutions. By agreeing to this letter, you authorize Monotelo to gather, prepare, and submit the required information on your behalf to ensure compliance with FINCEN regulations. As part of this process, please ensure that you upload a valid driver's license for each shareholder and manager. This step is essential for verifying their identities and completing the report. Additionally, all fields marked with a red asterisk (*) are required and must be completed to proceed. Once all necessary documents are uploaded and required fields are filled out, a blue "FINISH" button will appear, indicating that you are ready to submit the report. We look forward to working with you and ensuring that your reporting obligations are met with precision and professionalism.

Whether you are just starting out, or are a seasoned veteran, you need someone who will work with you to ensure that you are set up for success. Focus on growing your business, we'll handle the rest. Any competent firm can help you file an accurate tax return, prepare your payroll or manage your monthly bookkeeping needs. And yes, we do that for our clients. But there is so much more to having the right financial partner. At Monotelo, we bring together our deep understanding of the Internal Revenue Code and how that intersects with you as business owner to arrange your affairs to mitigate short-term and lifetime tax liabilities to help you reach your long-term goals. Get started Learn More What we offer Entity Structuring C-Corp? S-Corp? LLC? Or Sole Proprietorship? Monotelo will meet with you to get an understanding of your unique financial situation, your short and long-term business goals, and the implications of your business income on your personal tax return. Then we will guide you to the right solution and walk with you step-by-step to secure the optimal corporate structure for your business. Learn more Get started All In One Business Owner Package You are more than just a business owner. Y our business is just one component of your personal financial picture. And that's why a comprehensive understanding of your personal balance sheet and your other income sources is so essential to helping your achieve your long-term goals, so there's no disconnect between you, your business, and where you want to go in life. Learn more Get started Small Business Service Bundles Monotelo will meet with you to understand your unique needs as a business owner, and suggest a level of service that best fits your growing business and your long-term goals. From there we will guide you through the process to get started, and take away the distractions that keep you from growing your business and building your best life possible. Learn more Get started How Monotelo can help your business. Heading 1 Minimize your tax liability Easy year-end tax filing Monotelo makes year-end tax filing easy. By asking the right questions and ensuring your taxes are filed on time, Monotelo will give you the confidence that things are getting done right. Grow your net bottom line Monotelo will help you structure your business so that you minimize your taxable income, and reduce your lifetime tax liability by eliminating the tax inefficiencies. Minimize your tax liability Monotelo will bring our expertise to the table to help you maximize your tax credits and tax deductions to minimize your taxable income and maximize what you keep in your pocket. Year-round support If you wait to see your accountant until tax time, there is no way they can strategically help you. Our team is a vailable year-round to come along-side you, to help you plan strategically and to answer any questions that you have . Get started Section 3 Schedule a free consultation. Monotelo Advisors will meet with you to get to know your business needs and understand your unique situation. Select your service. Monotelo will prepare a proposal and help you determine the service package that is best for your business. Sign the engagement letter. Yes. It's that simple. Get back to business. We will handle the finances, so you can focus on growing your business. How the process works Get started Helpful small business articles. Turning Your Residence into a Legitimate Tax Strategy For self-employed professionals and business owners, making the most of available tax strategies can significantly impact your bottom... Are Hidden Human Resource Risks Costing Your Business? Here’s How Assessing Your People Practices Can Protect Your Bottom Line Debbie Rabishaw is a consultant who works with small and medium-sized businesses ranging from 2 to 200 employees. She has seen firsthand... Critical Deadlines and Tax Changes for Small Business Owners As the 2024 tax season approaches, small business owners must stay ahead of critical deadlines and be aware of key tax changes to ensure... View More Retirement Planning. Our Values-Based planning will build the road map so you can have confidence that all the pieces of the puzzle are working together for you to live your best life possible. Learn more Year-End T ax Filing Services. We will help you minimize your taxable income by capturing all the deductions and credits available to maximize your refund. Learn more More services from Monotelo Checkout our book written for small business owners!

We are living in interesting times. While it is important to review the retirement and tax planning aspects of your situation on a regular basis, it is equally imperative to review the risk side of your balance sheet as well. In times like today, unaddressed risks can result in a negative impact on an otherwise healthy financial plan. That is why we created our Crisis Checklis t, designed to help families navigate a rapidly changing world. We realize some of the topics are somewhat personal, but our role as advisors is to make sure you have the proper plans in place, both in good times and in times of crisis. More than just identifying potential risks, this checklist will help you create a roadmap of areas exposed to risks that may need to be addressed. We do not want you, your family, or your financial future to be exposed to unexpected risk due to the uncertainty caused by the COVID pandemic. If you would like us to help you assess and mitigate your financial risks please complete the checklist and then schedule a complimentary 20-minute strategy call with us. We look forward to speaking with you soon, Read more articles FINANCIAL PLANNING CHECKLIST Failing to order your affairs to minimize your tax burden could cost you significant money - so don't wait to take action. If you have additional questions or need some planning help, please reach out to us.

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