This commitment marks the company’s second significant contribution in support of The College’s efforts to expand its near century of financial education expertise to additional audiences, so that all segments of society can prosper. 

“Truist’s generous support is empowering innovative initiatives designed to advance financial education equity, leadership development, and new career pathways for underserved communities," said George Nichols III, president and CEO of The American College of Financial Services. "The College is tremendously grateful to Truist for their continued partnership as we both work to advance a shared mission to diversify the financial services industry.” 

The grant funds will help expand the audiences that The College currently serves by democratizing financial education, ensuring inclusive access to financial services, and promoting diversity and retention in the profession. 

“In recognition of Truist Insurance Holding’s 100th anniversary, the Truist Charitable Fund grant will help The American College of Financial Services support programming to build career pathways and promote educational equity and leadership development,” said John Howard, chairman and CEO of Truist Insurance Holdings and chairman of the board of The College. “These goals tie directly to our purpose to inspire and build better lives and communities, while expanding financial services programs so that all segments of society can prosper.” 

In April 2022, Truist Foundation made a $500,000 grant to support the development and a pilot cohort of the Black Executive Leadership Program – tying back to pillar three of The College Center of Excellence the American Center for Economic Empowerment and Equality®’s Four Steps Forward initiative focusing on an executive leadership program for up-and-coming Black leaders. 

Since launching the Center for Economic Empowerment and Equality® in August 2020, over $13 million in corporate, foundation and individual commitments have been made to support Four Steps Forward—the Center’s signature initiative to promote upward mobility and wealth building in Black communities. This funding has helped build the Center’s capacity and launch important initiatives, including: 

• Black Executive Leadership Program – The carefully crafted, culturally-relevant, and customized program is aimed at preparing the next generation of Black leaders to move from middle management into senior management and executive roles, including corporate Board service 
• Know Yourself, Grow Your Wealth – A first-of-its-kind financial education program from The College delivered to the HBCU community 
• Black Women, Trust, and the Financial Services Industry Study – The Center’s first research project focused on a critical community—Black women. The study paints a holistic picture of Black women’s perception of financial services and money, their wants and needs, and their role in the household and the community 

Learn more about the Center for Economic Empowerment and Equality® and our committed partners at Equality.TheAmericanCollege.edu. 

ABOUT THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF FINANCIAL SERVICES 

Founded in 1927, The American College of Financial Services is the nation’s largest nonprofit educational institution devoted to financial services professionals. Holding the highest level of academic accreditation, The College has educated over 200,000 professionals across the United States through certificate, designation, and graduate degree programs. Its portfolio of applied knowledge also includes just-in-time learning and consumer financial education programs. The College’s faculty represents some of the foremost thought leaders in the financial services industry. Visit TheAmericanCollege.edu and connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Discover all the ways you can expand your opportunities with us.

ABOUT TRUIST CHARITABLE FUND 

The Truist Charitable Fund is a donor-advised fund advised by Truist and administered by The Winston-Salem Foundation. 

ABOUT TRUIST 

Truist Financial Corporation is a purpose-driven financial services company committed to inspiring and building better lives and communities. Truist has leading market share in many high-growth markets in the country. The company offers a wide range of services including retail, small business and commercial banking; asset management; capital markets; commercial real estate; corporate and institutional banking; insurance; mortgage; payments; specialized lending; and wealth management. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Truist is a top 10 U.S. commercial bank. Truist Bank, Member FDIC. Learn more at Truist.com.

Hosted by the American College Center for Women in Financial Services, the two-day event brings hundreds of women from across the industry together for two days of networking, inspiration, and a shared mission to help advance women in the profession. 

Kristin Lemkau, CEO of J.P. Morgan Wealth Management, will be this year’s keynote speaker. In a fireside chat with Wall Street Journal reporter Veronica Dagher, Kristin will discuss her experience taking on a new business and rebuilding the advisor experience at J.P. Morgan Wealth Management. “Whether it’s growing their business or helping a client navigate a major life change, never underestimate the power of a woman in wealth,” said Lemkau. “I’m looking forward to speaking with women who are helping their clients leave a legacy for the next generation.” 

Attendees will honor the recipients of this year’s Women Working in Wealth Awards, created to recognize inspirational women who demonstrate how to advance other women in financial services. The gathering will commence on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, with the networking opportunity, "Clips, Cocktails, and Conversations," a welcome reception followed by a private preview of “$avvy”, a documentary that investigates the historical, cultural, and societal norms around women and money. Attendees will be given access to the full-length documentary after the event to watch with clients, colleagues or anyone who needs to better understand her personal finances. Prior to the conference opening on day two, guests can opt to take part in a walk on Wall Street. 

The Center for Women in Financial Services is committed to promoting the advancement of women in the financial services profession through research, education, and awareness. Part of their work to #EmbraceEquity and #BreaktheBias includes dismantling myths about women and providing tools and resources to women and their allies to create a more inclusive industry. 

This year’s agenda features two tracks: one for practitioners and one for leaders. The practitioner track will provide three hours of CFP® Continuing Education (CE) credits and CE from The College. Attendees will also have access to two additional hours of CE post-event. 

“We are thrilled to be back together on International Women’s Day at the Women Working in Wealth Summit and Awards to support female financial professionals with access to a supportive community and educational opportunities through The American College of Financial Services,” said Hilary Fiorella, Executive Director of The American College Center for Women in Financial Services. “The Center for Women in Financial Services is grateful for this opportunity to gather to share ideas and best practices to help women working in financial services face unique challenges and build their careers.”

ABOUT THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF FINANCIAL SERVICES 

Founded in 1927, The American College of Financial Services is the nation’s largest nonprofit educational institution devoted to financial services professionals. Holding the highest level of academic accreditation, The College has educated over 200,000 professionals across the United States through certificate, designation, and graduate degree programs. Its portfolio of applied knowledge also includes just-in-time learning and consumer financial education programs. The College’s faculty represents some of the foremost thought leaders in the financial services industry. Visit TheAmericanCollege.edu and connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Discover all the ways you can expand your opportunities with us.

Moreover, the profiles of Black and Brown difference-makers are becoming more and more known, with many standing as household names for communities of all backgrounds. 

In keeping with this wave of change, The American College of Financial Services is proud to announce our President and CEO George Nichols III has been named to Forbes’ inaugural issue of “The Culture 50 List” recognizing 50 Black and Brown champions making an impact on society through capital, creativity, and connections. 

As the State of Kentucky’s first Black insurance commissioner and the first Black president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, as well as the first Black president of The College, Nichols continues to use his platform and expertise to call for change in the financial services industry and sustainable, economic solutions that last through The College’s Center for Economic Empowerment and Equality. 

Nichols shares the company of other well-known public figures on the list, including star athletes Dwayne Wade and Colin Kaepernick, Hollywood producer Issa Rae, and more. Read more about George’s accomplishments in the full Culture 50 Champions listing, and get the story behind the recognition here.

College President and CEO George Nichols III spoke with Brad Smith on Yahoo Finance about The College’s efforts, including the progress of the Four Steps Forward initiative from the American College Center for Economic Empowerment and Equality® and Know Yourself, Grow Your Wealth–a new program running through HBCUs across the country.

Watch the full interview now on-demand!

The New York Fed published research on this topic by studying heterogeneity in economic data, to describe how the recent economic impacts differ by race and gender. To study heterogeneity is to study variance. Economic analysis is often based on averages, but an “average” or “typical” person often doesn’t capture the experience of minority populations. So, we need a different approach to studying the numbers, and related, to providing financial services. 

The Fed data tells a complex story. While the racial wealth gap narrowed between 2016 and 2019, economic insecurity among Black households remains, and is likely to worsen. Recessions historically, and today, have a larger impact on Black populations, and those communities recover more slowly. For instance, labor force data reveals divergence in Black and white labor force participation rates. While the situation during the pandemic has been bleak for all workers, there's divergence in the data: the unemployment rate rose significantly more for Black workers between the shutdowns of February to April 2020, and the recovery for white workers has occurred more quickly so far. 

The data story continues. It’s been well documented by multiple sources that COVID-19 case counts are higher among communities of color. But why? The NY Fed analysis of data from the early months of the virus’ spread reveals several factors play a role, to differing degrees. These include higher rates of essential workers, indoor crowding on public transportation as well as in homes, and access to healthcare, including pre-existing co-morbidities. The researchers determine that while some causes that contribute to disparate impacts, such as co-morbidities, are more complex to mitigate, others, like access to health care and home crowding, are amenable to policy intervention. 

Looking forward, how are we to address equality in economic recovery? And what's the role of business in the recovery? Several of my colleagues at The American College of Financial Services will offer ideas on these challenges in a multi-part insights series to be published over the coming weeks in the American College Center for Economic Empowerment and Equality®'s Resource Center.

What You Can Expect 

• Steve Parrish, JD, RICP®, CLU®, ChFC®, RHU®, AEP® writes about the disparate impacts of tax policy and whether the time is ripe to consider tax reform. He reflects on hot topics in tax, such as carried interest and the earned income tax credit, and their interplay with economic inequality. Professors Sophia Duffy, JD, CPA and Dan Hiebert, PhD, CFP® will discuss the role of financial advisors in addressing inequality. 
• On March 24, Duffy highlighted that financial planning is not just for the rich – in fact, low-income earners need strategies to protect their income and manage inter-generational wealth. She'll offer some guidance for such strategies. 
• On April 7, Hiebert focused on the small business sector – which comprises over 90% of businesses – and how minority-owned firms have fared poorly during the pandemic. He'll advocate that small business advisory services can complement individual financial planning strategies, particularly as many entrepreneurs rely on personal resources in business formation and sustainability. 

One conclusion to draw from these analyses is that those areas and people that are least able to withstand economic shocks, because of vulnerabilities prior to the pandemic, have felt the greatest impact and will likely experience the slowest recovery. Moreover, communities of color are also likely to trust the financial services sector, either because of past scandals which have disproportionately impacted them, or a dearth of products and services that are culturally relevant and addressing their needs. 

The financial services sector has a predominant role to play in helping underserved communities by narrowing the wealth gap and promoting economic justice.

This conversation came back to my mind after reviewing a blog series "Understanding the Racial and Income Gap in COVID-19" published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This four-part series focused first on the role of mediating variables—such as insurance rates, co-morbidities, and health resources; then public transportation, and home crowding in the second post; social distancing, pollution, and age composition in the third; and finally the role of employment in essential services in explaining this gap. This series captured the point that if you think there’s a racial and income gap now, it’s likely to get worse because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This leads back to the family conversation on taxation.

Tax law discriminates. Presumably much of this discrimination is meant to fulfill salutary aspirations such as economic growth, encouraging retirement savings, and supporting low-income earners. Despite these goals, and according to the NY Fed, there’s a worsening racial and income gap. Now may be a good time to reexamine the value of these discriminatory tax provisions. Do they help – or do they hurt? Do they lessen the gap or exacerbate it?

Consider the wealthy. There are some tax rules that clearly favor the rich. An example includes carried interest for a general partner of an investment fund (think Warren Buffett declaring that he is in a lower tax bracket than his secretary). Carried interest, though a form of compensation for the general partner, is taxed at preferential capital gains rates. The argument is that general partners are similar to other entrepreneurs who are allowed to treat portions of their return as capital gains. A more recent example of a tax advantage targeted at the wealthy is the qualified opportunity zone tax deferral. In return for investments in “opportunity zones” (Census tracts identified for economic development), investors receive several tax benefits, including the ability to pay as little as zero taxes on potential profits. Before assuming this is one more example of the rich helping the rich, consider that this law was co-authored by Senator Cory Booker, D-N.J., who sees this tax incentive as a way to help disadvantaged communities of color grow through economic development.

Next consider the low-income earner. They, too, are the beneficiary of special tax provisions. For example, the IRS deems the earned income tax credit (EITC) “one of the Largest Antipoverty Programs,” with the average EITC amount being $2,461. This provision, along with the child care credit, lifted about 5.6 million people out of poverty, including three million children.

Another example of a significant tax break for rank-and-file earners is the saver’s credit, a non-refundable credit meant to incentivize low- and moderate-income taxpayers to make retirement contributions to IRAs and 401(k)s. This credit potentially allows a maximum in any given year of $1,000 on a retirement contribution of $2,000 (double those numbers for married filing jointly status). The challenge for low-income earners, however, is the complexity of these various tax breaks and these taxpayers’ limited access to financial advice. For example, determining eligibility for EITC requires a taxpayer to make over 20 separate determinations. This may explain why 20% of those eligible for the EITC fail to claim it. Similarly, lack of awareness of the saver’s credit likely contributes to the fact that only about 12% of eligible taxpayers actually claim it. 

What To Do 

Since it appears that tax policy is once again on the table with the new Congress and Biden Administration, this may be an appropriate time to consider tax reform. The first step in this process is typically undertaken through tax scoring. The score for any tax proposal is the difference between how much tax revenue the federal government is estimated to collect (usually over 10 fiscal years) compared to the revenue the government would otherwise have collected if the law had not been changed. 

Once scored, the debate then turns to whether the proposal will support government objectives such as economic growth, elimination of poverty, or, per the NY Fed’s blog series, narrow the income and racial gap exacerbated by COVID-19. Yet, there's an opportunity to go further. An added consideration should recognize human attitude and behavior. Tax reform should factor in: 1) how complex the law is to understand and 2) the law’s perceived degree of fairness to taxpayers. It’s not enough to say the tax provision will generate revenue and address the government’s targeted objective. It must also address what the provision means to the taxpayer – how it will be understood, and implemented. 

Consider a proposal in discussion that addresses Social Security underfunding. Since Social Security is largely funded through payroll taxes, an increase in payroll taxes has been suggested. The idea is to retain the current 6.2% FICA rate on wages up to the income cap ($142,800 in 2021), and then have the FICA rate reappear when income exceeds $400,000. While this proposal may score well for revenue purposes and help fund additional benefits for low-income retirees, it may fail the two behavioral tests I suggested above. First, it’s a form of a “tax donut” which is likely to confuse workers paying into FICA. You pay a tax; then you don’t; then you do again. Some refer to this as a 12.4% tax on the affluent – which it’s not. The second concern with this proposed tax is the perceived lack of fairness this idea may represent to both low- and high-income taxpayers. For high-income earners, this may be viewed as a blatant wealth transfer. 

Those making in excess of $400,000 will likely have maxed out how much Social Security benefit they receive at retirement. So, in their minds, they’re paying an additional 6.2% of earnings for no additional increase in benefits. Those in low-income brackets will likely cry foul as well. While they pay a 6.2% tax on all of their wages, high-income individuals (i.e. those making in excess of $142,800) pay a lower effective rate for their Social Security benefit because of the income cap. The fact that an additional tax will be imposed on those making astronomical wages may sound merely punitive rather than productive. Even the U.S. President’s salary doesn’t exceed $400,000. 

Perhaps we should not take a bad situation (hard to understand tax provisions that are underutilized) and make it worse. We’ll likely see a healthy debate in Congress over targeted new tax laws, and many Americans hope these proposals will address the ever-increasing income and racial gap. However, let’s keep the taxpayer in mind during this debate. These changes, no matter how laudatory, should be understandable and perceived as fair. Stated differently - let’s make it more likely that any family members going into the bar will argue about sports instead of tax policy.

In her position, Meckley will oversee the Center for Special Needs’ research, programs, and outreach to provide support for families and caregivers of people with special needs to create a secure financial future.

“26% of adults in the United States have a disability, and that number is growing. Throughout her career, Joellen has proven to be a genuine leader and champion in the field of special needs planning who is passionate about helping vulnerable seniors and individuals with special needs,” said Nichols. “We are confident Joellen will continue to support our mission to educate and empower families and caregivers to ensure that individuals with disabilities and special health care needs lead rich, active lives with security and stability.”

Established in 2014 by a transformative gift from MassMutual, the Center for Special Needs seeks to be the nation’s leading voice on financial planning for professionals working with the loved ones, guardians, and caregivers of those with special needs. Formed from expert thought leaders in the field and backed by the best-in-class knowledge and know-how of The College, the vision of the Center is to offer information, programs, and education that focuses on this underserved but growing part of our communities.

“I’m always seeking new ways to provide understanding, encouragement, and opportunities to help individuals with special needs to lead productive and fulfilling lives. The opportunity to lead a Center of Excellence like this, and work for an institution like The College that sets the gold standard of financial services education is a personal and professional honor,” said Meckley. “The College through the Center for Special Needs has proven they are committed to elevating the knowledge of financial planning professionals in the area of special needs planning and promoting strategies and solutions that aid individuals with special needs as well as their caregivers.”

Meckley most recently was a partner at Begley Law Group where she concentrated her practice in special needs planning, elder law, estate planning, and guardianship. She is licensed to practice law in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Meckley earned her Bachelor of Arts degree with high honors in Psychology from The University of Michigan, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and her Master’s in Health Finance and Management from Johns Hopkins University. Following graduation, she became licensed in New Jersey and Maryland as a nursing home administrator and spent several years running nursing home and assisted living facilities in different states. Through that work with the special needs community, older adults and their caregivers, she found herself increasingly drawn to helping clients plan proactively for the challenges of disability and aging. That passion led her to obtain a degree from the Temple University Beasley School of Law and many years in private practice as an Elder Law and Special Needs Attorney.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF FINANCIAL SERVICES 

Founded in 1927, The American College of Financial Services is the nation’s largest nonprofit educational institution devoted to financial services professionals. Holding the highest level of academic accreditation, The College has educated over 200,000 professionals across the United States through certificate, designation, and graduate degree programs. Its portfolio of applied knowledge also includes just-in-time learning and consumer financial education programs. The College’s faculty represents some of the foremost thought leaders in the financial services industry. Visit TheAmericanCollege.edu and connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Discover all the ways you can expand your opportunities with us.

Guest panelists include:

• ANDREW TUDOR, CFP®, RICP®
  Chief Wealth Coach, Alchemist Wealth
• SHERRY FINKEL MURPHY, CFP®, ChFC®, RICP®
  Private Wealth Advisor, The Atrium Financial Group