20% of adults in the US have invested, held, traded, or used cryptocurrency*
*March 31, 2022 CNBC
cryptocurrency they already hold while not providing advice but still appearing relevant to their clients about the asset class. Others wanted to understand how financial services could use blockchain without losing market share to Decentralized Finance (DeFi). Finally, trust professionals wished to understand how digital assets could and should be handled by trustees and how blockchain trusts and so-called “smart trusts” would work in the future. Given that one out of every five Americans owns cryptocurrency , financial professionals no longer have a choice in understanding it. The 10 year Rule Even though the SECURE Act was effective in January 2020, the IRS released proposed regulations for required minimum distributions (RMDs) for the Act this February of 2022. Various speakers talked about the different aspects of the SECURE Act and the implications of clarification coming some 2-years following implementation. What changed? The SECURE ACT effectively eliminated the "Stretch IRA” strategy with a rule stating that non-spouse beneficiaries of IRAs must withdraw the funds by the end of the 10th year after death. While change is constant in financial regulations, attendees were focused on how to deal with their clients impacted by the lack of clarity over
the last two years. Meaning that those inheriting an IRA in the last two years might have missed an RMD for the previous year 2021 and now might have tax considerations as a result. Further clarification is needed understand the changing landscape regarding retirement planning and distribution planning for beneficiaries. Nothing Beats Being In Person For many conference-goers, this was their first large conference or professional gathering since the end of the pandemic. We’ve all grown accustomed to attending virtual conferences and training sessions on by the IRS, but conference participants were eager to Zoom and Webex. While those platforms are great for conveying information from a speaker to an audience member, there is simply no substitution for the energy of people being together. The spontaneous conversations, overheard conversations with follow-up questions from passersby, and the ideas generated through striking up a conversation with someone you don’t know are not possible or probable using virtual platforms. It was a great sign of resilience. Speakers were better with live audiences, and the live audiences were better when interacting with representatives of the trade show sponsors. The atmosphere was alive with good conversation, and attendees were happy to be live and in-person again.
Chris Nekvinda, Ph.D. Learning & Development Director
Recently I had the privilege of speaking to 200+ financial professionals that attended the Missouri Kansas (MOKAN) Trust & Financial Services Conference in Kansas City. Three themes emerged while I was speaking, talking with attendees between sessions, watching other keynotes and breakout sessions, and talking with vendors. Of the three, two were financial, and one was social or societal. Cryptocurrency Is No Longer A Fringe Topic Despite significant volatility in the crypto markets (and financial markets in general), there was strong interest in the topic at MOKAN. Like any emerging financial topic, there seemed to be more questions than answers. Still, the adoption of cryptocurrency as an asset class by retail investors has drawn the attention of traditional financial institutions and regulators alike. Retirement professionals sought to understand how Fidelity would “custody” and service cryptocurrency in qualified retirement accounts like 401(k)s. Many advisors wanted to know how they could talk to their clients about the different types of
Made with FlippingBook HTML5