2020 has been nothing short of incredulous. Safety and health have been at the forefront of all our minds and hearts; financial health as well. This holiday season will have been a very special time for us all closing out this most difficult year. Our hope is these difficult challenges may have brought about innovative ideas that will prosper you to new levels. We are doing our part to keep abreast of the tax changes for 2020, knowing again that many may come down to the wire at year end. Those changes will be affecting businesses as well as the individual stimulus payment reconciliation for individuals.
As many other businesses who deal with the public made adjustments, we did as well and will continue to improve those practices through this upcoming tax season. We want to make sure you are aware of our changes. As with most public offices we ask that when entering our offices you practice all the social distancing rules including the wearing of masks. We will have a new designated seated waiting area for clients as well as our normal lobby where drop offs and pick-ups take place. This increased space is one of our efforts to keep all of us safe.
For at least this upcoming tax season we will be limiting our face to face appointments and implementing our solution. It is as follows:
- Schedule your non-face to face appointment. Bring in, email, fax or upload your info, wait in your car or at home and we will call when ready to discuss and finalize by phone before the end of your appointment time.
- Schedule your “in office” appointment. We understand there will be some return preparation that face to face interaction will be essential. These appointments will be limited.
- Drop off, fax, email or upload your information as you have in the past and we will complete it as soon as possible.
We will be designating specific days for #’s 1 & 2 for each preparer and alternating the “in office” appointment days. This will limit the number of clients in our office at any given time. Please understand these measures are for the safety and to limit exposure of our staff, the preparers and you the clients as well.
We have been refining our new MLE Secure Site Portal. The link is on our website (www.mletax.com) available to current clients. It will be a means for us to make available your tax return copies, required signature documents and a means for you to upload your tax information securely. We will provide login credentials to each of our clients that want to utilize this new secure feature.
We welcomed 2 new permanent staff members last year, Brittany; our office manager and Jodi; our electronic filing and document administrator. If you hadn’t noticed they were instrumental in making sure last tax season went as smooth as it possibly could in the midst of a Pandemic. We also want to welcome Pam, a new seasonal tax preparer to our office. She is no stranger to us and adds 14 years of tax preparation experience to our office. We are excited to have her and welcome her expertise!
Our team at MLE Tax Advisors
Lance, Marsha, Sherian, Sam, Brittany & Jodi
Normal hours: Mon-Fri 8:30am to 4:30pm
Tax Season hours: Mon-Thurs 8:00am to 7:30pm, Fri & Sat 8:00am to 5:00pm
Tax season hours begin Monday February 1st 2021
The Retirement Reality Check
Little things to keep in mind for life after work.
Decades ago, there was a popular book entitled What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School. Perhaps someday, another book will appear to discuss certain aspects of the retirement experience that go unrecognized – the “fine print”, if you will. Here are some little things that can be frequently overlooked.
How will you save in retirement?
More and more baby boomers are retiring with the hope that they can become centenarians. That may prove true thanks to healthcare advances and generally healthier lifestyles.
We all save for retirement; with our increasing longevity, we will also need to save in retirement for the (presumed) decades ahead. That means more than budgeting; it means investing with growth and tax efficiency in mind year after year.
Could your cash flow be more important than your savings?
While the #1 retirement fear is someday running out of money, your income stream may actually prove more important than your retirement nest egg. How great will the income stream be from your accumulated wealth?
There’s a longstanding belief that retirees should withdraw about 4% of their savings annually. This “4% rule” became popular back in the 1990s, thanks to an influential article written by a financial advisor named Bill Bengen in the Journal of Financial Planning. While the “4% rule” has its followers, the respected economist William Sharpe (one of the minds behind Modern Portfolio Theory) dismissed it as simplistic and an open door to retirement income shortfalls in a widely cited 2009 essay in the Journal of Investment Management.1,2
Volatility is pronounced in today’s financial markets, and the relative calm we knew prior to the last recession may take years to return. Because of this volatility, it is hard to imagine sticking to a hard-and-fast withdrawal rate in retirement – your annual withdrawal percentage may need to vary due to life and market factors.
What will you begin doing in retirement?
In the classic retirement dream, every day feels like a Saturday. Your reward for decades of work is 24/7 freedom. But might all that freedom leave you bored?
Impossible, you say? It happens. Some people retire with only a vague idea of “what’s next”. After a few months or years, they find themselves in the doldrums. Shouldn’t they be doing something with all that time on their hands?
A goal-oriented retirement has its virtues. Purpose leads to objectives, objectives lead to plans, and plans can impart some structure and order to your days and weeks – and that can help cure retirement listlessness.
Will your spouse want to live the way that you live?
Many couples retire with shared goals, but they find that their ambitions and day-to-day routines differ. Over time, this dissonance can be aggravating. A conversation or two may help you iron out potential conflicts. While your spouse’s “picture” of retirement will not simply be a mental photocopy of your own, the variance in retirement visions may surprise you.
When should you (and your spouse) claim Social Security benefits?
“As soon as possible” may not be the wisest answer. An analysis is needed. Talk with the financial professional you trust and run the numbers. If you can wait and apply for Social Security strategically, you might realize as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars more in benefits over your lifetimes.
This material was prepared by MarketingLibrary.Net Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. Marketing Library.Net Inc. is not affiliated with any broker or brokerage firm that may be providing this information to you. All information is believed to be from reliable sources; however we make no representation as to its completeness or accuracy. Please note – investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is not a solicitation or a recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment.
Citations.
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www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/0523/investing-retirement-bill-bengen-savings-spending-solution.html [5/23/11]
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articles.marketwatch.com/2010-05-19/finance/30729568_1_retirement-period-retiree-spending [5/19/10