February 2016 Newsletter

With tax season upon us once again, Bob has written a 13 page report called “27 Income Tax Strategies for 2015/2016” which is available HERE.

By taking a few minutes to review this online report, you may see one, or multiple, ways that you could be saving money on your taxes that you or your CPA may be missing. This could be worth a few hundred to a few thousand dollars in tax savings.

Would you like a printed copy of this report? Call the office at 830-609-6986 and we will mail you a copy. Also, feel free to call the office and ask for Bob Barber if you have questions on how any of these strategies could work for your unique situation.

* Before implementing any of these strategies, please consult with your CPA or Tax Advisor, as each individual situation varies.

We are excited to announce that our entire staff will be attending training with hundreds of Christian financial advisors from around the country at the Kingdom Advisors National Conference in Orlando Florida this year, February 16th-19th.

Kingdom Advisors is a professional association that offers in-depth training and a tight-knit community to Christian financial professionals who want to integrate their Christian faith within their practice.

Some of the speakers at this conference will include Dave Ramsey (known for his daily radio show heard by millions), Ron Blue (founder of Kingdom Advisors, speaker and author of many Bible studies), and Bob Doll (Chief Equity Strategist at Nuveen Asset Management and frequent guest on CNBC).

Educating our team and continually improving our knowledge base is one way we strive to provide you with the outstanding service you have come to expect from Christian Financial Advisors^®. Please note, in order for us to all attend this great gathering, our offices will be closed on Tuesday, February 16th – Friday February 19th, resuming normal business hours of 8am-5pm on Monday, February 22nd. While at the conference, we will be accessible via our emails and will be monitoring our office voicemail messages frequently throughout the day, in case you have an urgent matter. We will also be monitoring, as always, the financial markets throughout the conference via the internet.

It’s everyone’s favorite time of the year: Tax season! For our clients, below are some helpful tips to make your tax season more enjoyable. This year you will have a few extra days to file your taxes as the tax filing deadline will be Monday April 18th.

1099’s:

Please be aware that most 1099’s and consolidated tax forms for brokerage and managed accounts will not be mailed out by the end of January. These types of accounts, because of their complexity, have until February 16th this year as their deadline to be mailed.

The majority of retirement account 1099R’s will be mailed out by January 31st.
Copies of tax documents may be found online for several of our investment partners if you have signed up for online access and/or paperless statements. Companies offering online tax statements include but are not limited to: Schwab, National Financial Services, and Timothy Plan. Please contact us if you would like to register for online access, or need assistance.

Please be reminded that all 1099 forms MUST be reported on your taxes, even if the activity noted was not a taxable event or you did not withdraw funds.

K-1’s:

K-1 forms for Limited Partnership investments such as oil & gas programs and equipment leasing programs are typically not sent out until mid-March. If you received a K-1 form for an investment in a retirement type account, the custodian will typically report this for you, if necessary.

Cost basis:

Going forward the majority of cost basis information will be reported on your 1099 consolidated tax statement. Additional cost basis reports or information for those that need them can be accessed online, or you may contact our office for assistance.