Clark Asset Management + Associates, Inc.

Our Current Comments Newsletter for December 2019 has been released! We wish you and your families a wonderful holiday season.

Whom We Serve Well At Clark Asset Management, we focus on portfolio management and structure; building balanced portfolios in our endeavor to foster the growth of individual and family wealth. The greater likelihood of stability of returns may be appreciated more by people nearing or being in retirement, as well as others. Some institutions may also value this, as we additionally utilize techniques oriented to growth and appreciation. Many of those who have chosen Clark Asset Management as their portfolio manager were retired and over fifty years of age; however, we also have many second and third generation clients. We serve clients in the Pasadena, Long Beach, and La Crescenta areas, as well as other parts of California. We additionally serve clients in Oklahoma, Texas, and other states as well.

401(k)s and Student Loan Debt Student loans may be a hindrance in building up retirement plan balances. A 401(k) can serve as a powerful tool for creating future wealth. Many millennials may feel burdened by student loans early in their careers. A recent IRS private letter ruling allowed employers to use the 401(k) framework to make matching student loan payments on behalf of the employee. The particular case enabled the student to discharge seven dollars of studen...t loan debt if they contributed two dollars of pre-tax compensation. This could potentially be very effective in paying down student loan debt for graduates that are employed by an employer who adopts this type of plan. This can result in the future after-tax burden of studentloan indebtness being much less than currently anticipated. This tentative pathway may be attractive to certain employers. It will be attractive to borrowers who can avail themselves of it. It not only enables a faster pay-down of student loan indebtedness, but also contributes to the graduate’s wealth accumulation. Accumulated student loan debt balances are about $1.5 trillion total. This debt may be hampering some from qualifying for home mortgage loans, and otherwise dampening millennial consumer spending, ceteris paribus. If you or someone you know of has significant student loan debt, this may be worth looking in to. If you have an orphaned 401(k) or other retirement plan and would like to discuss more timely alternatives, please give us a call or drop us a line. Graphical Data Taken from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

In our view, the way IRA account balances and retirement should work is to accumulate during working years, and at retirement, live off the income. Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) kick in at age 70. If one does this appropriately or optimally, then, an investor’s IRA value continues to appreciate on average throughout retirement, while the investor continues receiving the income from the RMDs. However, if an investor withdraws and spends more than the IRA grows during ...retirement, the IRA balance will decrease. Company retirement plans and employer 401(k) plans also enable a considerable accumulation of wealth. An investor can generally contribute $18,500 or more to an employer-sponsored 401(k) plan while they are working. Higher contribution limits can apply to profit sharing and Defined Benefit plans. A citizen that contributed to their IRA diligently over their working life may have an IRA valued in the low millions at retirement. And, if they participated in an employer-sponsored savings plan, they would be able to roll over the balance in the company retirement plan or 401(k) into their individual IRA. A citizen may be well-served to think early in their career about their goals for their retirement plan balances and the contemplated path to get there.

We utilize many account types to achieve client objectives, including: -Taxable Accounts -IRAs (Traditional, Roth) -SEP-IRAs... -Trust Accounts -Educational IRAs -Qualified retirement plans -Estates -Conservatorships

Ask for a copy of Part II of our Form ADV, which sets out fees more specifically, or request a free informational video. Clark Asset Management + Associates, Inc., is registered as an Investment Advisor in the states of California and Oklahoma, and operates in other states in accordance with the Federal Investment Advisors Act of 1940, as amended.