JUNE 2022 Newsletter: Care for a COLA with Your Social Security?

As you might have heard, people are talking about a big bump in Social Security benefits next year.

The Senior Citizens League says payments could rise by as much as 8.6 percent in 2023, compared to an increase of 5.9 percent in 2022. That would mean an average benefit of $1,658 for the 70 million Social Security recipients on January 1.

To arrive at the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), the Social Security Administration looks at third-quarter prices and compares them to a year prior. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, living costs are up about 8 percent.

What does this mean for you? Stay tuned as these numbers become more clear in the coming months.

• Rick and Liz recently announced the appointment of Carl Marchitto as a new Partner at Concord River Financial. We are thrilled that Carl has joined us, and as a result of our expansion, there has been a change in partnership titles:
  
  
  • Richard West, CMFC^®, Founder | Senior Partner
  • Elizabeth Sampson, CFP^®, Founder | Partner
  • Carl Marchitto, Partner
    
    
• Advisor Assistant Austin Pinard now holds the Series 7 and Series 66 licenses through LPL Financial, as well as Life, Accident & Health Insurance licenses. Congratulations Austin!
  
  
• LPL is in the process of transitioning eSignature vendors from DocuSign to Adobe Sign, so as a result an email with documents for eSignature will be received from either DocuSign or Adobe Sign. After opening this email, you will be prompted to verify your identity using either the last 4 digits of your SSN or a quick and easy phone authentication. You will then be prompted through the signing process. Further detailed instructions can be found in the DocuSign Client Experience Guide and Adobe Sign Client Experience Guide.
  
  
• For those with an Ivy 529 InvestEd Plan, the Plan is transitioning to a new provider. Goldman Sachs and Ascensus College Savings Recordkeeping Services, LLC (“Ascensus”) will manage the Plan going forward. This transition is scheduled to take place on June 13, 2022, and no action on your part is needed to facilitate this transition and we will continue to service these accounts for you. You can learn more about this transition here, including your new investment portfolio, details on new plan management, and resources you can use leading up to and after the transition.
  
  
• The transition from Waddell & Reed's WealthLink (eMoney) to LPL's Wealthvision will take place over the weekend of July 9th, 2022. Beginning Monday, July 11th, access will be through a new webpage: https://wealth.emaplan.com/lpl/SignIn?lpl, but your username and password will remain the same.
  
  
• Our Client FAQ page has been updated with comprehensive Account Access, Account Deposit/Withdrawal, and Account Maintenance information. Please bookmark this page for future reference, as we will be updating this page with relevant information on a regular basis.
  
  
• Check out our new Market Insights webpage which offers a recap of the previous week's market performance. We will post on Facebook when this page is updated, so please make sure to stay informed and follow us on Facebook!

What To Do if You Didn’t Receive Your W-2

If you don’t receive your W-2 or 1099 by January 31 of the year, you are filing taxes, or if the information on these forms is incorrect, contact your employer/payer. If you still haven’t received the forms you need by the end of February, you can contact the IRS at 800-829-1040, and they may be able to help.

When you contact the IRS, they will also reach out to the employer/payer for the information you need, and they will also send you Form 4852, which is a substitute for a W-2 or 1099. To do this, they will ask for your employer/payer’s name, address, and phone number (as well as your information).

* This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific, individualized tax advice. We suggest that you discuss your specific tax issues with a qualified tax professional.

Tip adapted from IRS.gov, January 13, 2021

There are 2 nouns in the English language that become men’s names when you capitalize them – and when you capitalize them, you alter their pronunciation. Name either or both of these 2 nouns, both of which end in ‘b’. 

Stay tuned for the answer in next month's newsletter, along with a new riddle each month!