Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, January 11, 2020

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Mountain Views-News Saturday, January 11, 2020 


Chu Votes to Restore SALT 
Deduction for Middle Class

ASSEMBLYMEMBER HOLDEN 
ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS 
FOR ANNUAL WOMEN OF 
THE YEAR CELEBRATION

 

Pasadena, CA—Assemblymember Holden has opened 
up the nomination process for his annual 41st Assembly 
District’s Woman of the Year and Women of Distinction 
celebration. 

“For 30 years, in recognition of Women's History Month, 
the Legislature has honored the achievements of women 
throughout California during the annual Woman of the 
Year celebration,” said Assemblymember Chris Holden. 
“I invite everyone to visit my website and nominate a 
woman who they believe should be honored for her positive 
impact in our community.”

The district's Woman of the Year will be invited to the 
State Capitol to be introduced on the Assembly Floor 
and be given a special resolution honoring her contributions 
to the community and the state. A Woman of 
Distinction from each city in the 41st Assembly District, 
and the Woman of the Year, will be recognized at Holden’s 
Annual Spring Open House in March.

Categories include but not limited to arts, business, 
community service, education, health services, military, 
science and technology, sports, and under 30.

Nomination forms are available at https://a41.asmdc.
org/2020-women-distinction.

 The House of Representatives 
voted late last month to 
restore important tax cuts 
for the middle class that 
were stripped out of the tax 
code by Republicans in their 
2017 Tax Scam. H.R. 5377, 
the Restoring Tax Fairness 
for States and Localities 
Act of 2019, eliminates 
the $10,000 limit on the 
state and local tax (SALT) 
deduction for 2020 and 
2021 and it eliminates the 
marriage penalty for 2019 
to allow married couples 
filing jointly to claim a 
SALT deduction of $20,000. 
The bill also increases the 
existing above-the-line 
deduction for teachers’ 
out-of-pocket classroom 
expenses from $250 to $1000 
and establishes a new $1000 
above-the-line deduction 
for the unreimbursed out-
of-pocket work expenses of 
professional first responders. 
These provisions are paid for 
by restoring the top marginal 
income tax rate from 37% 
to 39.6%. Rep. Judy Chu on 
Dec. 19 issued the following 
statement:

 “Nobody should be taxed 
twice. This is the principle 
behind the state and local tax 
(SALT) deduction. And it has 
been incredibly successful at 
helping millions of middle 
class families afford homes 
while supporting local 
governments that struggle to 
provide important services 
like education, public safety, 
and infrastructure. But by 
capping SALT, Republicans 
effectively raised taxes on 
millions while forcing states 
and localities to choose 
to either raise taxes or cut 
services.

 “Since the Republicans 
passed their tax cuts for the 
wealthy, we have seen how 
these cuts have made the 
richest richer while the rest 
of us foot the bill. Today is 
the culmination of over a 
year of work to restore these 
vital deductions and restore 
fairness to our tax code.”


LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS 
SPECIAL PRESENTAION:

2020 VOTING PROCESS IN 
CALIFORNIA

The Nifty after Fifty, All Nations SDA Church has 
sponsored a special presentation on the new voting 
process in California in 2020. This presentation 
is offered by the League of Women Voters. THIS 
IS NOT A POLITICAL PRESENTATION. It will 
cover the new machines, registration, absentee 
ballots, and the Census. All Nations Church will 
provide the Scree, projector and internet services. 
The presenters will provide the paper materials.

Special 2020 CA Voting Process Presentation

Presented by the League of Women Voters

All Nations Seventh Day Adventist Church

1948 Peck Road, Monrovia 91016

Saturday, January 18, 2020

3:00 p.m.

177 East Colorado Boulevard, Suite 550, Pasadena, California 91105 
(626) 792-2228 | cliffordswan.com 
Providing Objective and Experienced 
Investment Counsel to Financially 
Successful Families since 1915 
FAMILY MATTERS By Marc Garlett

SECURE Act: How It Will Affect You and the 
Beneficiaries of Your Retirement Accounts

On December 20, 2019, 
President Trump signed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE 
Act). The SECURE Act, is effective as of January 1, 2020. The Act is the most impactful legislation 
affecting retirement accounts in decades. The SECURE Act has several positive changes: It increases 
the required beginning date (RBD) for required minimum distributions (RMDs) from your individual 
retirement accounts from 70 . to 72 years of age, and it eliminates the age restriction for contributions 
to qualified retirement accounts. However, perhaps the most significant change will affect the 
beneficiaries of your retirement accounts: The SECURE Act requires most designated beneficiaries to 
withdraw the entire balance of an inherited retirement account within ten years of the account owner’s 
death.

The SECURE Act does provide a few exceptions to this new mandatory ten-year withdrawal rule: 
spouses, beneficiaries who are not more than ten years younger than the account owner, the account 
owner’s children who have not reached the “age of majority,” disabled individuals, and chronically ill 
individuals. However, proper analysis of your estate planning goals and planning for your intended 
beneficiaries’ circumstances are imperative to ensure your goals are accomplished and your beneficiaries 
are properly planned for.

Under the old law, beneficiaries of inherited retirement accounts could take distributions over 
their individual life expectancy. Under the SECURE Act, the shorter ten-year time frame for taking 
distributions will result in the acceleration of income tax due, possibly causing your beneficiaries to be 
bumped into a higher income tax bracket, thus receiving less of the funds contained in the retirement 
account than you may have originally anticipated. 

Your estate planning goals likely include more than just tax considerations. You might be concerned 
with protecting a beneficiary’s inheritance from their creditors, future lawsuits, or a divorcing spouse. 
In order to protect your hard-earned retirement account and the ones you love, it is critical to act now.

Review/Amend Your Revocable Living Trust (RLT) or Standalone Retirement Trust (SRT)

Depending on the value of your retirement account, you may have addressed the distribution of your 
accounts in your RLT, or you may have created an SRT that would handle your retirement accounts 
at your death. Your trust may have included a “conduit” provision, and, under the old law, the trustee 
would only distribute required minimum distributions (RMDs) to the trust beneficiaries, allowing the 
continued “stretch” based upon their age and life expectancy. A conduit trust protected the account 
balance, and only RMDs--much smaller amounts--were vulnerable to creditors and divorcing spouses. 
With the SECURE Act’s passage, a conduit trust structure will no longer work because the trustee will 
be required to distribute the entire account balance to a beneficiary within ten years of your death. 
You many now need to consider the benefits of an “accumulation trust,” an alternative trust structure 
through which the trustee can take any required distributions and continue to hold them in a protected 
trust for your beneficiaries.

Consider Additional Trusts

For most Americans, a retirement account is the largest asset they 
will own when they pass away. If you have not done so already, it may 
be beneficial to create a trust to handle your retirement accounts. 
While many accounts offer simple beneficiary designation forms that allow you to name an individual 
or charity to receive funds when you pass away, this form alone does not take into consideration 
your estate planning goals and the unique circumstances of your beneficiary. A trust is a great tool to 
address the mandatory ten-year withdrawal rule under the new Act, providing continued protection 
of a beneficiary’s inheritance.

Review Intended Beneficiaries

With the changes to the laws surrounding retirement accounts, now is a great time to review and 
confirm your retirement account information. Whichever estate planning strategy is appropriate for 
you, it is important that your beneficiary designation is filled out correctly. If your intention is for the 
retirement account to go into a trust for a beneficiary, the trust must be properly named as the primary 
beneficiary. If you want the primary beneficiary to be an individual, he or she must be named. Ensure 
you have listed contingent beneficiaries as well.

If you have recently divorced or married, you will need to ensure the appropriate changes are made 
because at your death, in many cases, the plan administrator will distribute the account funds to the 
beneficiary listed, regardless of your relationship with the beneficiary or what your ultimate wishes 
might have been.

What Happens Next

If you are a client, we’ll be reaching out to you over the coming weeks if your plan is affected by the 
SECURE Act. If you are not a client, and don’t have an ongoing relationship with a trusted advisor, we’d 
be happy to review your plan to determine if it is affected by the SECURE Act. And if you have yet to 
get an estate plan in place, there’s no better time to get that process started. Let us know if we can help 
and happy new year!

Dedicated to empowering your family, building your wealth and 
defining your legacy, A local attorney and father, Marc Garlett is on 
a mission to help parents protect what they love most. His office is 
located at 55 Auburn Avenue, Sierra Madre, CA 91024. 
Schedule an appointment to sit down and talk about ensuring a legacy 
of love and financial security for your family by calling 626.355.4000 
or visit www.CaliLaw.com for more information. 


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com