WHAT WILL HAPPEN When Social Security Runs Out? At the end of August 2021, a new report was released that showed Social Security is projected to run out of money in 2033, one year earlier than previous calculations. With that deadline only 12 years away it is likely to impact everyone who is not already enrolled in Social Security as well as many who are. What will happen when the fund runs out? You may have heard that benefits will stop being paid once the fund runs out, but that is not likely to happen. We have laid out some of the changes that are likely to be made to Social Security over the next 12 years or after the fund runs out around 2033. Reduced Benefits If no changes are made before the fund runs out, the most likely result will be a reduction in the benefits that are paid out. If the only funds available to Social Security in 2033 are the current wage taxes being paid in, the administration would still be able to pay around 75% of promised benefits. While a 25% reduction in benefits could significantly hurt the retirement plans of those who are relying on their Social Security benefits, it is far less damaging than the program being shut down entirely. With the potential for benefits to be reduced, some retirees may be tempted to apply for their benefits early to receive as much as they can before the fund runs out. However, if you start taking your benefits as soon as allowed, they will be reduced to 70% of your full-retirement age benefit. Comparing this to the 75% that could be received even after the fund runs out, you would still be hurting your retirement by applying early. Increased Wage Taxes To avoid benefit reductions, congress may vote to increase the Social Security taxes charged on employee wages. If the increase were put in place immediately, the employee portion of the tax would need to increase from 6.2% to 8%. This would represent an additional $900 in taxes paid annually for an employee making $50,000 per year. Another proposal in wage taxes that has become popular in recent years is an additional tax on high earners. Rather than increasing the social security tax of 6.2% on all payers, this would implement a new tax on wage income above $400,000 to help stabilize the social security fund. Increased Full Retirement Age Even if the fund does not run out, the full retirement age needed to receive your full Social Security benefit is likely to go up in the future as life expectancies increase. Since the Social Security program was first started the average life expectancy has increased 7 years and yet the full age retirement for Social Security has only increased 2 years. As the fund begins to run out, it is likely that the full retirement age will be raised even further, along with harsher benefit cuts for those who apply early. Summary While Social Security benefits are unlikely to be completely eliminated 12 years from now, there is a strong possibility that they will be reduced significantly if revenues are not increased in the next few years. To make sure that your retirement plan is secure, you should analyze your retirement income stream under the assumption that your Social Security benefits will be reduced and determine what changes need to be made if that happens. Schedule a Meeting to Learn More 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.

Asset Location and Creating Tax-Free Retirement Income

With only a few weeks left in 2019, now is a great time to review your personal situation and consider any year-end adjustments to minimize your short and long-term tax liability. We have identified six year-end planning strategies you can use to minimize your tax burden. Maximize Your Retirement Account Contributions If you have a 401(k), 403(b) or 457 retirement account you can contribute up to $19,000 ($25,000 if you are over the age of 50) for 2019. Contributions to any of these plans must be made before January 1st to apply to 2019. You can also contribute up to $6000 ($7000 if you are over the age of 50) to a traditional or Roth IRA for 2019 depending on your income. Contributions to traditional or Roth IRAs can be made up until April 15th of next year and still be applied to your 2019 contributions. If you qualify for a Health Savings Account you should max out your contributions to the HSA before making further contributions to your other retirement accounts. This is because HSAs allow for a tax deduction for your contributions, tax-free growth of the assets in your account, and tax-free distributions when used for medical expenses. With significant medical expenses almost guaranteed later in life, an HSA combines the best of both traditional and Roth retirement accounts. For more on HSAs read “Six Myths About Health Savings Accounts ” Take Advantage of Tax-Free Capital Gains If your taxable income is below $39,375 ($78,750 if you file a joint return) then your long-term capital gains tax rate is 0%. If your taxable income is below these thresholds and you own stocks or other investments that have appreciated in value you can take advantage of this 0% tax rate to sell your investment without paying any federal income taxes. If the sale of your investment pushes your taxable income above the thresholds for the 0% bracket you will pay 15% on the amounts above the threshold but will not pay taxes on the amount up to the threshold. While capital gains below these income thresholds are tax-free, the proceeds from the sales will still increase your taxable income for the calculation of certain tax credits such as the premium tax credit for health insurance. If you are currently receiving the premium tax credit, selling your investments could reduce the amount of the credit that you qualify for. Set Up a Donor Advised Fund The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act doubled the standard deduction while also limiting or removing various itemized deductions. As a result of these changes a much greater percentage of taxpayers will be taking the standard deduction between now and 2025 when the tax cuts expire. This also means that meaningful charitable donations may have little impact on your tax return. This is because a much larger portion of your charitable deduction is being used to reach the standard deduction threshold before you can realize any tax savings. One way you can work around this new limitation is to set up a donor advised fund. With a donor advised fund you can make a large contribution to the fund in one year and then make donations out of the fund to your charities of choice over the course of several years. With a donor advised fund you get a tax deduction in the year you contribute to the fund, regardless of when the fund distributes money to a charity. For example, if you typically give $5,000 each year to your church you can instead contribute $15,000 now to a donor advised fund and then pay $5,000 out of the fund each year for the next 3 years and then refill the fund at the end of the 3rd year. By bunching your contributions into every 3rd year you can prevent the bulk of your charitable donations from being absorbed by the standard deduction threshold. Consider a Roth Conversion Contributing to a traditional IRA or 401(k) provides tax savings today by pushing the tax liability into your retirement years. This strategy can make sense when you are likely to be in a lower tax bracket in retirement. But with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, we are currently in one of the lowest tax environments our country has seen in decades. With that in mind there is no guarantee that you will be in a lower tax bracket at retirement. And with our national debt growing at an accelerating pace you could be in a higher tax bracket when you retire even if your income is lower than it is today. With higher tax rates likely in the future, you may want to consider converting some of your 401(k) or traditional IRA funds into a Roth IRA, paying taxes now in today's low tax environment in order to realize tax-free distributions later in retirement. You can convert your traditional IRA into a Roth IRA even if you are above the income limit to make a normal contribution to a Roth IRA. You will also not be subject to the 10% early withdrawal penalty you would otherwise face when taking early distributions from a traditional IRA. Take out Your Required Minimum Distributions Once you turn 70 ½ you are required to take a minimum amount out of your traditional IRA, 401(k) or other retirement account each year based on your age and the balance of the account. Roth IRAs are the sole exception to RMDs. The IRS provides a worksheet to calculate the amount of your Required Minimum Distributions . Failure to take out the RMDs will result in a 50% tax on the amount that was not taken out. In the year that you turn 70 ½ the deadline to take your RMDs is April 1 of the following year. Each year after that the deadline is December 31 of that year. If you are over the age of 70 ½ you should take the time to review your RMDs and make sure you have taken enough out to avoid these substantial penalties. Use Your RMDs to Make Your Charitable Donations Once you turn 70 ½ you can begin making charitable donations directly out of your traditional IRA. When you make a charitable donation directly from your IRA you will not pay any income taxes on the distribution. This will allow you to fully deduct your charitable donations even if you do not itemize your deductions. You can also use qualified charitable donations to satisfy your required minimum distributions. Summary December is a great time to review your financial situation and determine if there are any year-end adjustments you should make, as there should be very few income surprises between now and year-end. Taking the time to review your situation and applying some of the strategies we just shared could help you significantly reduce your short and long-term tax liabilities. YEAR-END TAX PLANNING STRATEGIES Read more articles 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.

OCTOBER 2016 MONOTELO QUARTERLY WHAT IS THE BEST Business Structure for You? assets. Once you choose a corporate structure, it is not easy to switch to another, so it is important that you weigh all your options before deciding. LIMITED PARTNERSHIPS. If your business is structured as a limited partnership, then all the profits and losses of the company to distinguish between income earned as a salary, and income earned as profits of the corporation, allowing them to only pay payroll taxes on a portion of the income. The major downside to the C-corp is what is referred to as double taxation, where the profits of the company are taxed first at the corporate level, and then again at the personal level as they are passed through to the owners. S-CORPORATIONS. The main benefits to operating as an S-corporation, are that income is passed through the corporation without being taxed, and you can differentiate between salary and profits of the corporation. The S-corp provides the same benefits as the C-corp, without being subject to the double taxation of the C-corp. Another benefit to the S-corp over the C-corp is when an S-corp is sold, the proceeds are treated as capital gains, which have Once you choose a corporate structure, it is not easy to switch to another When you operate a business, it is very important how you decide to initially structure that business. While a sole proprietorship is the easiest business to start and operate, not only will you miss out on tax strategies to lower what you pay the government, but you could find yourself personally responsible for the debts of the company if the company takes a turn for the worse. To avoid this risk, you can structure your business as a limited liability company, a limited partnership, or a corporation. These structures protect you from the debts of the company, hence creditors can't go after your personal will flow through to the individual returns of the owners, meaning there is no income tax at the business level. In a limited partnership, only the owners who are actively involved in the management of the business are personally liable for the debts of the company. Owners who are only financially involved in the company are not personally liable. C-CORPORATIONS. This is the most common type of corporation, as there is no limit to the number of shareholders and it is easy to transfer ownership. One benefit of the C-Corporation is the ability of the managing owner LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANIES. Similar to an S-corp, an LLC provides the liability protection of a corporation, along with the pass-through nature of a partnership. An LLC, however, places no restrictions on the number of owners, the tradeoff being that all LLC members pay self-employment taxes on all income. LLC's also provide advantages upon dissolution as assets distributed to owners are not taxable until sold by the recipient. more favorable tax treatment than ordinary income, which is how proceeds from the sale of a C-corp are treated. While there are requirements to qualify as an S-corp, such as no more than 100 owners, they can provide significant tax advantages over the C-corp. July 2016 Save as PDF January 2017

How to Save for Your Child Education Year-end Review of Your Retirement Accounts Will VS Trust: Which is Right for You Beware of Hedge Fund Managers Bearing Gifts The Fallacy of the Formula Five Things That Every IRA Owner Should Know Roth vs Traditional IRA: Which One Is Right For You Six Myths About Health Savings Account RETIREMENT ARTICLES Avoid the Hidden Traps of Retirement Plan Loans 5 Things You Can Do Right Now to Help Improve Your Retirement Years Financial Planning & Long-Term Tax Reduction in Light of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Profiting From the Failure of Active Managers Overcoming Our Cognitive Biases Our Planning Process We are always researching for tax tips and strategies that our clients can implement to lower their tax liability and improve their financial position. See below for a few simple tips that can be applied to your individual situation. Avoiding the 10% Threshold for Medical Expenses

Monotelo Advisors Inc Tax Planning Engagement Letter Heading 1 Thank you for choosing Monotelo to assist you with your tax planning needs. Tax planning is a strategic approach to managing finances that aims to minimize tax liability and maximize savings. By organizing income, expenses, investments, and expenditures efficiently, individuals and businesses can take full advantage of tax benefits, deductions, and credits. Effective tax planning not only reduces the amount of taxes owed but also contributes to better financial health by freeing up resources for savings, investments, and future growth. This engagement letter outlines the scope of our services, your responsibilities, and our commitment to providing you with accurate and timely solutions. By agreeing to this letter, you authorize Monotelo to prepare a tax plan that will help to reduce your short-term and lifetime tax liability. We look forward to working with you to ensure that you retain more of your hard-earned money.

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When planning your vacation be sure to familiarize yourself with the business travel rules to see if you can qualify some of your costs as business expenses. HOW TO DEDUCT YOUR VACATION TRAVEL As A Business Expense Taking a vacation can be expensive, so naturally the idea of deducting your vacation expenses on your tax return is an appealing idea. However, before you get carried away planning a lavish vacation with the hopes of writing off the entire cost, make sure to familiarize yourself with the requirements to qualify your expenses as business travel. To qualify for a tax deduction the trip needs to serve a legitimate business purpose. Handing out business cards on the beach does not count. There are 5 criteria your trip must meet to be a qualified business expense: 1. Profit motive. The trip must serve a legitimate profit motive. This means that you can reasonably expect the trip to create profit either now or at some point in the future. 2. Stay overnight. You can only deduct meal and lodging expenses when you are away from home overnight. 3. “Rational Businessperson” test. Your trip will only qualify as a business expense if the business motive is strong enough that a rational businessperson would make the trip if business was the only motive. 4. Primary purpose test. You can only deduct your travel expenses when your trip is primarily for business. This is determined by calculating the number of business days vs personal days of the trip. This may sound like a deal breaker, but it is easier to meet this requirement than you think. 5. Maintain good records. If you do not properly document the business purpose of your trip, your travel expenses, or your actual business activities on the trip you will risk losing your entire deduction. Your trip expenses can be broken down into two general categories with different requirements to be deductible: Transportation Expenses Transportation costs include airfare, train tickets, or the cost of a rental car to get to your destination. These expenses are all-or-nothing, if the majority of your trip days are business days you can deduct all of your transportation costs. If the majority of your trip days are personal you cannot deduct any of these costs. Life Expenses Life expenses include your daily meals and lodging. Unlike transportation expenses you do not need to meet the majority of business days threshold to take life expenses. Instead you simply take the life expenses for each business day of the trip. What Counts as a Business Day? It may be easier than you think to qualify most of your trip as business days. Each day of the trip only needs to meet one of these criteria to qualify as a business day: Work more than four hours. You have a workday when you spend more than half of normal work hours pursuing business. Since a normal workday is eight hours you only need to work for more than four. Presence-required day. If you are required to be at a destination on a specific day for a legitimate business purpose. For example, if you have a meeting with a client in another city on Tuesday, then Tuesday qualifies as a business day even if that is your only business activity for that day. Travel day. Days you spend traveling to or from your business destination count as business days as long as you are traveling in a reasonably direct route. Weekends and holidays. If a weekend or holiday falls in between two business days you can count those days as business days as long as it would not be practical to return home in between the two business days. If you live in California and have meetings in New York on Friday and Monday, it would not be practical to return to California for the weekend. Therefore, all four days count as business days. Saved-money-on-travel days. If you arrive at a destination a day early or leave a day late in order to save on your travel expenses you can count the extra day as a business expense as it served a legitimate business purpose of reducing your travel costs. Summary The rules governing business travel allow for some freedom to deduct vacation time as business expenses, but do not provide a blank check to write off an entire vacation simply because you spent a few minutes discussing business. You need to find the right balance between work and relaxation, properly document your work activities, and maintain records of all your expenses.

HOW TO GET FORGIVENESS OF YOUR PAYCHECK PROTECTION LOAN Congratulations to those of you who were able to secure a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program. Now that your loan has been secured, proper steps must be taken to get the loan forgiven. Loans made through the PPP program can be forgiven in-part or in-full – meaning you may be obligated to repay 0-100% of the principal balance plus accrued interest on the loan if certain conditions are not satisfied. MAXIMUM FORGIVENESS To be considered for maximum forgiveness, you must meet all of the following conditions: Use the loan in the first eight weeks from the day you received the funds in your bank account. At least 75% of the total loan amount must be used for eligible payroll expenses. No more than 25 percent of the loan amount can be used for other eligible expenses. The other eligible expenses are interest on a commercial mortgage incurred before February 15, 2020, as well as rent and utilities payments under agreements in effect also prior to February 15, 2020. PARTIAL FORGIVENESS The following items could reduce the forgiveness amount or be excluded from forgiveness consideration: Reducing the number of full-time employees during the eight-week period as compared to certain prior periods or decreasing the compensation for any employee making under $100,000 per year (annualized in 2019) by more than 25 percent of the employee’s salary for the most recent full quarter. However, loan forgiveness will not be reduced to the extent the changes to salaries or reductions in full-time employment made between February 15, 2020 and April 26, 2020 are reversed by June 30, 2020. Using funds for non-eligible expenses. Having unused funds after the eight-week period. Paying amounts to an independent contractor or sole proprietor (other than you as the borrower). Providing compensation to employees whose principal place of residence is outside the United States. You will be required to pay back the portion of the loan that is not forgiven. Payments will not be required on the remaining portion of the loan until after six months from the day the loan was first disbursed to you. It is important to note that during those six months interest will continue to accrue at one percent (1%) per year on the outstanding loan amount. You will have two years from disbursement of the loan to repay the remaining principal and interest on the loan in full in accordance with the terms of your Note. You may pay the loan off before two years without penalty. WHAT SHOULD YOU DO NOW? Keep accurate records and documentation of how you spend the loan funds. You will need to submit documentation and certify the expenses you paid with the loan over that eight-week period. You should consult with your lender to find out what documentation they will be requesting to support your expenses. Do your best to pay out at least 75 percent of the loan for eligible payroll expenses over the eight-week period and use the remainder for other eligible expenses. Toward the end of the eight-week period, you will need to reach out to your lender and fill out a forgiveness application. If you have any additional questions on the Paycheck Protection Program please reach out to us.

WHITE PAPERS The purpose of our White Papers is to give our prospective clients the opportunity to hear the solutions we have recommended to address complex problems and to help people understand the issues to consider when making complex financial decisions. While the situations are real, the names have been changed to protect the innocent! WLW Win One, Lose One, Win One... This was a fun case for our team. There was complexity due to the types of income this family was generating and the stakes were high because they were in the 39.6% tax bracket in the prior tax year. They were also paying the alternative minimum tax. Read More JSZ Realtor Sam This case had similarities to cases that had come across our desk in the past. However, what was unusual about this case was the ratio of investment property income to commission-based income being generated from home sales. Due to this we were initially not sure if we would be able to reduce his tax burden, but in the end we were able to save him $7,000 per year. Read More CWS Coulda-Woulda-Shoulda This case highlights a situation where a client's failure to consult with us prior to making a large financial decision ended up costing them $30,000 in taxes. Read More SOO Starting Over, And Over Our SOO case deals with a young Realtor client who had to repeatedly start her business over from the beginning as her life took her across the country. Amidst this repeated reset we were able to reduce her tax bill by $8,000 and increase her cash-flow. Read More

The SECURE Act was signed into law by President Trump in December and went into effect on January 1st of this year. The new law was intended to expand opportunities for individuals to increase their retirement savings, but also brings about some significant changes to retirement and financial planning. Here are the two most important changes along with six notable provisions that you should know about regarding the SECURE Act: 1) Increased Access to Retirement Plans for Small Business Owners and 2) The Elimination of the Stretch IRA. 1. Increased Access To Retirement Plans For Small Business Owners: The SECURE Act expands the ability for small businesses to offer retirement plans because it allows small-businesses to pool resources with other small businesses to offer 401(k) plans at lower costs. This piece of the legislation could help more small businesses take advantage of employer-sponsored plans. This is good policy. If you are a small business owner, we encourage you to reach out to us to see how this may affect your business. 2. Elimination Of The Stretch IRA: One of the biggest changes from the Secure Act comes from the elimination of the “stretch” IRA on inherited retirement accounts. This means that younger beneficiaries can no longer stretch the distributions over their lifetime, but now must distribute the entire account within 10 years of the account owner’s death. This does not apply to spouses who inherit their deceased spouse’s IRA or minor children of a deceased account owner. The elimination of the stretch provision presents significant changes, including the need to review current estate plans to avoid unintended consequences. This change may require you to look at other options for giving retirement accounts to your beneficiaries. Roth Conversions, life insurance and charitable trusts may now look a lot more attractive in light of the new laws. In addition to what we just shared, there are six notable provisions from the new law: 1. Age Limit Removed For IRA Contributions: There is no longer an age cap on contributions to a traditional IRA. Before the SECURE Act, there was an age cap of 70 ½ for contributing to a traditional IRA. Individuals who continue to work can now continue to save for retirement in an IRA, regardless of their age, as long as they have earned income. 2. Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) Age Extended to 72: The SECURE Act delays RMDs from retirement accounts until age 72 (up from 70½). Anyone who is over 70½ must continue taking RMDs. For those under 70 ½. this extension basically means that investors have a longer time horizon to keep their investments tax-deferred in their IRAs… and this has direct implications on how you should be investing your taxable assets to produce income in retirement. 3. Penalty-Free Withdrawals For New Parents: The SECURE Act now allows new parents to pull up to $5,000 from their retirement plans penalty-free, if they do it within a year of the birth of a child or adoption. Income taxes will still apply to any withdrawals from a traditional retirement account, but this provision allows new parents to pull money from their retirement plan to pay for some of those first-year child expenses and not incur any penalties. 4. Student Loan Repayment Through 529 Savings Plans: Individuals can now withdraw up to $10,000 from 529 savings plans to make student loan payments. This is a small step forward in helping Americans manage the growing costs of college education by empowering the 529 plan with one more tool to help students. 5. Retirement Plan Conversion To A Lifetime Annuity: Retirement accounts can now be converted to a lifetime annuity. Essentially, this piece of the legislation gives investors the ability to lay off their longevity risk onto an insurance company who will gladly take on that risk for a healthy annual premium that they collect from investors. This is good in that it gives investors another option, but it also puts them at risk of being taken advantage of by insurance companies. 6. Lifetime Income Disclosure For Defined Contribution Plans: Employers are now required to disclose to employees the amount of sustainable monthly income their balance could support in their 401(k) statements. This is not a big deal, but it could be a helpful resource for investors as they look for guidance on how to prepare for retirement. If you take away anything from this article, take away this: The Secure Act has essentially pushed you to review your retirement and estate plans to make sure they take advantage of the good provisions of the new law while employing strategies to mitigate the bad provisions of the new law. If you have additional questions, or need help putting together a holistic plan that takes the Secure Act into account, please reach out to Monotelo Advisors at 800-961-0298. WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW About The SECURE Act Read more articles 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.

Quarterly: Oct 17 Profiting From the Failure of Active Managers If you were to Google “Active vs Passive Management” you would see a multitude of articles debating the value of high-fee active managers verses low-fee passive ETF sponsors. Instead of sharing our two cents on the fee debate, we would rather spend our time addressing the failure of the models behind most active managers and how to profit from their mistakes. The reason most active managers fail to outperform their benchmarks is not simply due to their higher fee structure. They fail because they fail to recognize that the markets are random. In their refusal to recognize the “randomness” of the markets, they put their trust in their “expert” ability to predict the future, but the future is not predictable because the markets are random. That is why Tamco spends zero effort attempting to predict which companies will grow earnings next year. Why spend resources in an attempt to predict something that is unpredictable? Rather than basing our stock selection on a model that tries to predict the future, we buy stocks based on their characteristics at the time of purchase. As an example, let’s take the earnings trends of BlueCo and RedCo (below). If these two companies existed today, BlueCo is likely to trade at a high valuation while RedCo is likely to trade at a low valuation. And the difference between these valuations will be driven by the “experts” and their assumptions about the future earnings of these two companies. But academic studies have shown that experts are very bad at predicting the future and historical trends tend to revert back to their mean. This principle is called “Reversion to the Mean.” So the primary focus of our analysis is on the data point of today. What do these companies look like today? What are their current earnings? What are they currently doing with their free cash flow? And how does their valuation compare with other opportunities in the marketplace? Because today’s earnings and today’s capital allocation decisions give us the best insight into what these two companies will look like tomorrow; and the probability of their earnings reverting back to the mean is higher than most would think. This type of analysis not only keeps us from overpaying for BlueCo, it also helps us identify the opportunity with RedCo; because there is a reasonable probability that each of these companies will end up with similar earnings and similar valuations over time. And the valuations are likely to be somewhere between where they are each priced today.