Capital Advisory Group - May 2021

Capital Advisory Group - May 2021

THE WEALTH ZONE

May 2021

119 Old State Rd., Ellisville, MO 63021

CapitalAdvisoryGrp.com

Forget Tax Season — It’s Grilling Season!

If you love outdoor activities — namely grilling and spending time in your backyard — May is the month for you! We’ve been talking a lot about taxes the past few months, so we thought we’d take a break (at least for our cover article —Tax Day is still May 17) and talk about what we’d all rather be doing: spending time outdoors, and enjoying the weather, the company, and the food. For a lot of people, Memorial Day is the start of summer. It’s a three-day weekend when people break out the grill or smoker (or both), invite friends and family over, and celebrate the season. Of course, being Memorial Day, it’s also a time to honor military service members who gave their lives for their country in the line of duty. You may even be honoring family members this weekend — gone, but not forgotten. Whether you’re having a Memorial Day barbecue, or you’re celebrating National Grilling Month or National Hamburger Month all month long (yes, those are real and both in May), there’s something about the sizzle of meat and vegetables as they hit the hot grates. Grilling and smoking are a feast for the senses. If you want to get the most out of your grill this season, we thought we’d share a few tips we’ve heard from other grillers (we’re not big in the grilling scene, we have to admit). It doesn’t matter if you use charcoal, wood, gas, or even electric, you can turn out some excellent meals on the grill. DON’T WALK AWAY. When you’re grilling, don’t walk away from the grill once the food hits the grates. All it takes is a few minutes of distraction to ruin a perfectly good steak. When the meat goes down and you watch it — and keep an eye on the internal temperature — the results will speak for themselves. Speaking of monitoring internal temperatures, TV chef and personality Alton Brown, best known for “Good Eats” and “Cutthroat Kitchen,” recommends keeping a digital instant-read probe thermometer on hand to check internal temperatures, which is a must for meats like chicken and pork. Chicken, for instance, should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F for dark meat and 160 degrees F for white meat. Pork should hit a minimum of 145 degrees F.

TRY DIFFERENT THINGS. If you really want to step up your grilling game, put away the burgers and steak and try pizza! You can technically grill just about anything — just think of your grill as an outdoor oven. While the primary heat source may be below the grates, when the lid is closed, heat circulates through the entire grill space, effectively cooking or baking whatever you have inside.

Pizza is a great example of what you can cook on a grill, and it’s very easy. Start with your homemade dough or buy some at the grocery store. Roll it out to fit your grill space and add your favorite sauce, cheese, and other toppings. Then, take it to a grill heated to about 500 degrees F. You can put it directly on the grill or on a pan or pizza stone. If you do use a pizza stone, preheat the stone on the grill first. If you put the pizza directly on the grill, you will get some char around the edges of the crust, so if you want a more golden-brown crust, a pizza stone is recommended. DON’T FORGET DESSERT. Pizza isn’t the only type of pie you can grill. You can also grill dessert pie. If you’re wanting a cobbler, you can do that, too. Grilling pie is relatively straightforward. Simply prepare your favorite pie recipe. Fruit pies are highly recommended for grilling, but you can also grill other types of pie that you would normally bake. The challenge comes in determining when it’s done. A grill can be a little more finicky than an oven, but generally speaking, you want to keep temperatures about the same. If you would bake a pie at 375 degrees F for 40 minutes in the oven, try to hit that temperature and time in the grill. Just remember to keep a very close eye on it. Every 10 minutes, take a look and see how it’s coming along — but don’t let too much heat out. When it looks done, pull it out, let it rest, and get ready to serve up a delicious grilled pie. We hope your unofficial start to summer is a good one — and we hope these tips help you get a little more out of your grilling! -Jeff and John Zufall

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Could Vaccine Passports Open Doors for Travel?

Connecting Your Employees to Your Mission

MAKING YOUR PASSIONS THEIR PASSIONS

Your business might be doing well, but if your workforce doesn’t feel any sort of personal connection to your business’s mission, that could prevent lasting success. You want to boost employee morale and make them happy about their work. To reinvigorate your employees’ passion for your business’s mission, try a few of these tips.

Are you hoping to travel this summer? Not like how you “traveled” from

your bedroom to your living room couch all this past year, but really travel — get out and see the world beyond your hometown.

With the COVID-19 vaccines finally available, millions of people are becoming

WALK THE TALK. Patagonia CEO Yvon Chouinard decided to make his products out of organic cotton after he saw how industrially grown cotton was hurting the environment. It cost more to do that, but he stuck to Patagonia’s mission of creating environmentally friendly products. If you’re not willing to sacrifice for your mission, then it’s not your mission — and your employees will know it. MAKE IT CLEAR. Make sure everyone at your company knows exactly what your mission is. Only when employees have a clear understanding of the goal can they actually abide by it. If your mission statement can be interpreted in multiple ways, clarify it throughout all levels of your business. SPEAK PASSIONATELY ABOUT IT. While you want the mission itself to be exciting, even the most intriguing of mission statements will be DOA if your delivery doesn’t convey your excitement. Humans are emotional creatures, so connecting with your employees emotionally in regard to your mission is just as important as the mission itself. MAKE IT PERSONAL. While you might think tying your personal story to the company’s mission seems narcissistic, the truth is that your team wants to hear your story. People like stories, and if you can convey yours with honesty and humility, no one will think you’re an egoist. RE-WORK IT. If your mission doesn’t seem to be inspiring passion in your workforce, then maybe it’s time to tweak it a little bit. Whether you’re just starting in business or have had the same mission statement for 10 years, a new mission lived out, made clear, and made personal by you can spark a newfound appreciation for your business among your employees.

immune to the virus that has ravaged the global economy, especially in the areas of tourism and hospitality. Industry leaders in these sectors are understandably eager for the vaccine to bring back tourism. Some are hoping vaccine passports will play a part in jump-starting tourism around the world. Vaccine passports are a means by which someone can prove they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and are, therefore, free to travel internationally. Some countries are eager for the sort of verification these passports could bring, should they exist. The Seychelles, Cyprus, Romania, and other countries have all said they would welcome tourists who could prove they were vaccinated. Now, you might be sitting on the same couch you’ve sat on for the past year, thinking, “Well, I would like to travel internationally after I get vaccinated!” However, this proposal is not without concerns. Firstly, health care officials still don’t know if vaccinated people can transmit the virus. So, even if they’re vaccinated, they could still spread it to unvaccinated people around the world. Another concern is a vaccine passport’s potential to create classes of “haves” and “have nots” among travelers. Many developing countries won’t receive the vaccine for another few years. Should they be barred from returning to normal? Similarly, could the vaccine passport be abused domestically, enabling private businesses to bar customers from their spaces without proof of vaccination? Finally, what form would these passports take if they were to exist? Would they be on a smartphone app? A laminated card? A verified doctor’s note? So, while the prospect of traveling far and wide this summer after getting vaccinated is exciting, it might be better to temper your expectations for now and hope for clearer guidelines in the near future.

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We’ve Added a New Member to the Team!

Back in October 2020, we welcomed a new face to the Capital Advisory Group team: Susan! She joined us as our QuickBooks and bookkeeping specialist on a temporary basis. Then, in January, Susan joined the team full time! This month, we want to help you get better acquainted with the newest member of our team. Susan is here to help our clients with just about all of their bookkeeping needs, including payroll. She operates in QuickBooks and helps clients reconcile their own books within QuickBooks. So, if you have any questions or concerns related to your books, Susan is your go-to! Susan joined us after working with a firm that had, unfortunately, seen a downturn in businesses. Things got slow — a situation not uncommon for businesses in 2020. When she joined us, she said she was shocked at how busy things were! “It was like jumping from ice into the fire!” she says. It was a great change of pace, but more than that, it was a great change of environment — and much needed as Susan says. “There’s no micromanagement, and Jeff is an awesome boss! He gives you a little direction and lets you do your thing."

“I’ve been in bookkeeping for a long time. I have experience and it’s good to be in a place where you’re trusted to do your job,” Susan says. It’s something we’ve all gone through at least once in our careers. Susan continues, “The atmosphere here is just so positive. Everyone is cheerful, and it’s been a joy to work here!”

Outside of the office, Susan and her husband spend a lot of time on the back of their hog — that is to say, their motorcycle! They’ve been motorcycle people for years — Susan’s wedding ring is even a Harley- Davidson ring! Of course, they’re also big family people. Between the two of them, they have six full-grown kids, each with a spouse or significant other. They even have three grandkids (though, as Susan jokes, they should have more given how many kids they have!). With a big backyard, they take every opportunity to host family gatherings as they sit around the fire pit and just have a good time.

TAKE A BREAK

Thai Minced Pork Salad

Ingredients

Directions • 5 tbsp uncooked Thai sticky rice • 1 lb ground pork • 1/2 tbsp chili flakes • 1/8 tsp sugar • 1/2 tbsp fish sauce 1. First, make toasted rice powder: In a frying pan over low heat, dry-roast the rice, stirring continuously until it turns golden brown and smells fragrant, about 15 minutes. 2. Let toasted rice cool, then grind into a coarse powder using a mortar and pestle, blender, or food processor. Set aside.

• Juice of 1–2 limes, to taste • 4 small shallots, thinly sliced • 4 green onions, thinly sliced • Cilantro leaves, to taste • Mint leaves, to taste

3. In a medium frying pan over

medium-high heat, fry pork, breaking it into small pieces as you go, until fully cooked. 4. Remove from heat and add 1 heaping tbsp of toasted rice powder along with all other ingredients. Stir to combine. 5. Taste and adjust, adding more lime juice and herbs to suit your palate. Serve with rice.

Inspired by EatingThaiFood.com

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119 Old State Rd. Ellisville, MO 63021 CapitalAdvisoryGrp.com

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Kicking Off Summer Right

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Connecting Your Employees to Your Mission

Could Vaccine Passports Open Doors for Travel?

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Meet Our QuickBooks Extraordinaire!

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Thai Minced Pork Salad

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Good News for Taxpayers in 2021

A FEW MORE BENEFITS FOR THE 2021 TAX YEAR!

With Tax Day shifted to Monday, May 17, this year, many taxpayers welcomed the news. But it wasn’t the only piece of good news taxpayers received this year. A number of people received their third economic impact payment (aka stimulus check) valued at $1,400. Another piece of good news was that the first $10,200 of any unemployment benefit received this year became exempt from taxation.

These are just a few examples of good news for taxpayers. Here are a few more to be aware of:

For businesses , there’s the updated Employee Retention Credit (ERC). This is a refundable payroll tax credit. For 2020, businesses may be eligible for up to $14,000 for each full-time employee who was retained between Jan. 1, 2020, and June 30, 2020. PPP Round 2 applies to businesses that lost revenue in 2020. If your revenue was down 20% or more on a per quarter basis over the same time in 2019, you may be eligible. Another thing for businesses — starting this year and going forward, 100% of business meals are now tax deductible! This is great for just about any business, including restaurants. It gives everyone a little

more incentive to conduct meetings at your favorite local restaurant. Give something to them while deducting a little for yourself!

For individuals , you once again could get charitable deductions. This is for both single filers and joint filers, such as married couples, who don’t itemize their deductions. Single filers could receive up to a $300 charitable contribution credit, while joint filers could receive $600. It’s a small way to reduce your tax burden if you owe or get a little extra back if you expect a refund.

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