Fiduciary Is Fun!
(a.k.a. I heart taxes)
(a.k.a. I heart taxes)
I learned the above over 30 years ago. I can almost remember the exact time and location. The revelation hit me like a load of bricks as I had never thought about it before, and then when I did, was shocked to realize how correct it is in business. So simple, and yet so complicated.
We can only move business forward with one (or a combination) of 3 things – people, processes, and technology. Want to make more widgets to sell? Then hire more people to make them, improve your manufacturing processes, or develop new technology to make more of them. That’s it. There’s nothing else to consider. As we approach the end of the year and you look into 2020 with the hope of “doing more”, what one of the 3 levers are you going to pull? Technology is a game changer but often times take time to build and implement. Processes are often overlooked and can really move the needle, but process improvement initiatives are not always intuitive. For many companies, the go-to lever is “people.” So what are our people options? Well, can we work our existing employees harder? Maybe. Afterall, 40-hour work weeks are for sissies, right? But let’s assume that working existing employees harder isn’t option. Then what? We need to add employees and/or replace less productive ones. Again, pretty simple on paper. However, hiring new employees in 2020 may not be as easy as you would like. According to the new CNBC Global CFO Council Survey, 30% of global CFOs expect to be hiring more people in 2020. And Daniel Zhao, Senior Economist and Data Scientist at GlassDoor, while looking at the trends and available talent pool has said “hiring is going to be more difficult in 2020 than it is now.” Just what you need to hear as a business owner, right? So as we close out 2019 and you finalize your 2020 plans, what are you going to do? If part of the answer is to hire more employees you already know that this is going to be difficult as wages begin to rise and the competition for talent intensifies. I would suggest that one thing you can and should be doing is looking at your benefit programs and promoting them to the max. Are your benefit programs aligned to attract the talent you seek? Do you need to make changes to your 401k program to ensure competitiveness and desirability? Has your current advisor had this discussion with you yet? If you would like to explore ways to improve your company’s profile to new talent in 2020, give me a call. I would love to roll up my sleeves with you and explore what we can do together. Pete Welsh a/k/a 401kGuy
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At first, it doesn’t seem as if this title makes too much sense. Afterall, 401k plans are tax advantaged vehicles and only file informational tax returns. There is no tax owed by a qualified retirement plan. And this is certainly technically correct.
However, most plans now have Roth features which allow employees to have their deferrals taxed prior to them being deposited into the plan. The advantage to Roth is that even though the deferrals are taxed initially, all future earnings on those deferrals can be withdrawn (with a few minor restrictions) tax free by the employee. Pretty niffy. Even so, the vast majority of 401k deferrals (and 403b deferrals) are pretax, meaning that employees will pay ordinary income tax on the deferrals AND all earnings when they withdraw those funds. So tax planning for your retirement plan is really more of an employee issue versus an employer issue, and what a planning opportunity it is! I am working with one of my clients now in anticipation of conducting employee meetings in early January to focus specifically on this issue. Some details: After the passage of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act in late 2017, the marginal tax rates for most Americans dropped. The marginal rate is only 12% for a married couple earning no more than $78,950, and it only increases to 22% if that couple earns no more than $168,400. That covers a lot of young couples in this country! In fact, my client has the majority of their employees under 30 and earning around $40,000. Most are basically in the 12% marginal bracket. Is it worth getting the traditional 401k tax break for deferrals for such a group? I would argue NO. People tend to think Roth or no-Roth and leave it at that. I believe there are some pretty compelling arguments to be made that when employees are early in their career and earnings are more modest that Roth makes absolutely good sense. Later in their career when they might be in the 35% or 37% tax bracket, if they are so fortunate, then traditional 401k deferrals might make sense. You can always change! So what makes the most sense for your employees? What are you advising them as you enter into a new year? Just as importantly, what is your advisor saying? And does your advisor have the skill set to even make such recommendations? If you would like an additional perspective and some thoughts on how to position your employees for long term financial success, give me a call. I would love to visit about optimizing tax benefits. Just the thought makes me warm all over! Pete Welsh a/k/a 401kGuy |
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