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What the Tax Relief Act Means to Your Financial Plan:

In this issue: 

What the Tax Relief Act Means to Your Financial Plan
Getting the Word Out
Market Update

Everyone suspects immediately that the Tax Relief Act (officially named Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001) is a good thing. Who doesn’t want relief from taxes.

Highly publicized is the relief this new legislation will bring in the way of lowering estate taxes, reducing income taxes and helping individuals save for retirement and college.     

But what does it mean immediately and how can you best take advantage of the Tax Relief Act that will bring almost $1.35 trillion in tax savings to the American public?

As always, we strongly suggest that you consult with an Argent financial professional to create a plan that best works for you and taking advantage of all legislated tax “breaks”.

With your Argent financial professional, look for these important points:

RETIREMENT PLANS

If you are a small business owner sponsoring your own retirement plan…. GOOD NEWS! The limits on the SIMPLE IRA plan defined contribution will rise to $7,000 next year and then increase each year by $1,000 until the year 2005.

Individuals that have found themselves playing “catch up” will be allowed to make additional contributions if they are 50 and older. This contribution will increase $500 annually until 2006.

The Tax Relief Act grants a special tax credit that makes it easier than ever for a newly created or existing business to start a retirement. Special tax credits are designed to provide relief for the expense of setting up a plan (up to three years after establishing the plan) for businesses that have less than 100 employees.

Of course, the Tax Relief Law has more provisions than the general ones described here. The most important step for you to take is to research the changes and take advantage of each new provision that applies to you. The law also has a provision that states that if the government cannot continue to offer these tax breaks without running into huge deficits, any or all of the provisions can be repealed by Congress after 2010.

INDIVIDUAL RETIREMENT PLANS

For Individual Retirement, relief is given with the ability for individuals to contribute more to the tune of $5,000 a year by 2008 for both Traditional and Roth IR As. The increase is basically in $1,000 increments per year.

Again, for those 50 or over playing “catch up” … an extra $500 will be allowed per year beginning in 2002 and an extra $1,000 more in 2006.

Many believe that this is the best provision of the Tax Relief Act. This allows a 50 year old who has not saved enough money for retirement to take care of himself before having to rely on Social Security which will not be able to cover all their needs.

Employees contributing to a 401(k) plan will also be able to put more away tax-deferred. The law will now allow an increase to $11,000 in contributions in 2002 and then increase by $1,000 each year to $15,000 in 2006.

If you are 50 or older, the same “catch up” provision is available at an additional $1,000 in 2002 increasing each year by $1,000 until 2006 at $5,000.

COLLEGE SAVINGS

The Tax Relief Act also benefits families or individuals that are looking to attend or send someone to college. Currently, you can contribute $500 to an Education IRA. By the year 2002, you will be allowed to contribute $2,000 with the money available for higher education OR toward the costs of elementary and secondary schools. There are many other minor provisions to the Tax Relief Act that will be beneficial to the individual saving for college. 

This, of course, is a brief and elementary outlook on the Tax Relief

Provision. This act is rich with provisions to help Small Business Owners start a 401(k) plan, workers over 50 “catch up” with retirement savings and parents saving to send their kids to school … to name a few.

Please give our professionals an opportunity to go through this new Tax Relief Provision to find the best way for you to utilize these tax breaks.

Call one of our professionals today for more help in understanding the new tax laws. Or, call (318) 251-5800 or (800) 375-4646 and ask for a booklet that completely outlines the Tax Relief Law titled “2001 Tax Law Summary.”

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Getting the Word Out:

By Kyle McDonald, Argent President & CEO 



Argent Financial Group is now six months into our new name, and the change seems to be well accepted. Many of you have had conversations with your Agent professional to make sure we haven’t been “bought out” and to inquire about what this name change means. We have had the opportunity to tell many of our clients, happily, that we have not been purchased – our company remains, as it was before, completely owned by our staff.

More often than not, our clients want to know a little more about the reasoning behind the change. We have taken these opportunities to explain that we are positioning our company to more easily communicate that we provide an entire spectrum of investment and trust services.

Although we are still very competitive as a trust provider throughout Louisiana, it pleases us that we are able to provide so much more than trust services to clients both in Louisiana and outside of the state.

As we continue to grow, you will see many advertisements and statement stuffers reminding our existing clients that we offer services that help protect assets, fund life projects (retirement, college), manage investments, establish retirement plans, and insure your family’s security. We are trying to get the word out that we are much more than a trust provider; we provide financial services of all kinds from Charitable Remainder Trusts to Long-Term Care Insurance.

Now that we have positioned ourselves for this broader and more accurate perception, we begin the process of communicating the full range of our services, “knocking on doors,” so to speak, and letting people know just what we have to offer. Our Argent advisors will be busy making sure that all of our clients – established and new – are well served in every area of financial services.

New Office

Argent Financial Group, Inc. has opened a new office in Bossier Cit y to offer trust and financial services. The office, located in the Citizens National Bank Texas Street branch, will be managed by Bill McCollum.  

McCollum will be helping clients determine needs for trust and investment work, engineer financial plans for retirement and other life-goals, allocate assets, design and implement 401(k) plans for small businesses, create Individual Retirement Accounts (IR A) and IRA rollovers with other financial services.

McCollum comes to Argent from the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. where he worked as a business development officer over five states: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. He began his career at Chase Bank of Texas, formerly Texas Commerce Bank, where he specialized in international trade finance.  McCollum spent four years in the U.S. Army and five years in the Army Reserves. He and his wife, Lacey, have two daughters. 

We are excited about our growth and our continuing opportunities to tell our story through your kind and enthusiastic referrals. Please call if we can assist you with your financial needs.

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Market Update:

After a big stock market decline and aborted rebound, investors are wondering what’s next. Since its spring rally ended in late May, the S&P 500 Index has declined steadily, dropping 6.7% through June 30. The near future depends on the health of the economy in coming months as well as the perceived economic outlook through 2002. It’s been a while since there has been such uncertainty in the market.  However, periods of uncertainty can provide opportunities for the long-term patient investor.

Despite the negatives, there are many positive factors. First, the Fed’s six interest rate cuts in 2001 should eventually begin to boost the economy. Second, the $40 billion tax rebate should make its way into consumer hands over the last part of the year.  Lastly, the Federal Reserve stands ready to cut rates further if necessary.

Stock market gloom has boosted the bond market, as bonds have once again outperformed stocks. With bond yields this low, however, we expect stocks to outperform bonds over the next 3-5 years.

 MAP
(Managed Asset Portfolio) provides participation in the stock and bond market through a disciplined, diversified approach.  MAP uses top-performing, no-load mutual funds to meet its objectives.

Managed Equity
The Core Equity Portfolio is our individual stock management program. Its primary objective is to provide long-term growth through investment in large company equity securities.