Focus on Finance

Since graduating from UCSB in 1992, Christopher has worked with local individuals and families as a financial planner. He is a Vice President with UBS Financial and holds the CFP, CIMA, and CPWA credentials. He can be reached at christopher.t.gallo@ubs.com or 805-730-3425.

MONTECITO JOURNAL16 “Music is a language that doesn’t speak in particular words.” – Keith Richards PRIMARY ELECTION MARCH 3 Forgot to Register? There’s Still Time! Avoid Long Lines! Register & Vote Before Election Day! VOTE! Need more information? sbcvote.com • 1 (800) SBC-VOTE PRIMARY ELECTION MARCH 3 Forgot to Register? There’s Still Time! Avoid Long Lines! Register & Vote Before Election Day! VOTE! Need more information? sbcvote.com • 1 (800) SBC-VOTE Retirement Plan Changes A new Federal law passed in December has made sweeping changes to the retirement plans used by most Americans. The SECURE (Setting Up Every Community for Retirement Enhancement) Act brings with it many benefits, including pushing back the mandatory retirement distribution age for IRAs, but the cost is the removal of the popular “stretch IRA” provision for distributions.

First, the benefits of the new SECURE Act. Previous IRA rules required owners to begin distribution during the year they turned age 70 ½, essentially turning on the income spigot and taxing this income. The new Act pushed the required age of distribution to 72, giving you a few more years of tax-deferred accumulation. In another positive move, there was previously a maximum age of 70 ½ to contribute into your IRA – this has been removed and there is no longer an age limit for which to put contribute to an IRA so long as you have earned income.

There are variety of other positives for retirement plans, but one other significant change is to 529 plans, the popular tax-deferred education savings accounts. Alongside qualified distributions for college expenses, which were always tax free, and private school costs up to $10,000 each year, which were made tax free a few years ago, the Act adds a few more tax-exempt distributions: $10,000 each year for qualified student loan repayments, costs of a religious school, and costs for a registered apprenticeship.

One positive recent piece of legislation that was not changed was the recently permanent law allowing up to $100,000 per year from an IRA to be distributed to a qualified charity without paying taxes.

On the other side, many IRA owners with large balances who had planned to bequeath these assets to their children are losing a key feature – the so-called “stretch IRA” provision. Simply put any non-spouse beneficiary of an IRA was previously allowed to stretch distributions over their lifetime, allowing younger beneficiaries to have the assets grow tax deferred and keep mandatory distributions and taxes low. This rule has been changed to mandate a maximum 10-year distribution period to beneficiaries (that are not a spouse) and popular IRA trusts. This may mean re-working previous estate plans and perhaps incorporating life insurance trusts, the use of charitable remainder trusts and conversion to Roth IRAs in order to minimize the costs of this new Act.

I encourage you to discuss these changes and how they may affect you with your advisors, estate planning attorney and CPA before making any changes. •MJ project, a gala is planned for March 7 at the Montecito Club. If you have ideas for the property, and how students can best explore and discover in nature, you are invited to email Dr. Ranii at aranii@montecitou.org.

For more about MUS, visit www. montecitou.org. New Fire Code

Reps from the Montecito Fire Protection District were in front of Montecito Planning Commission last week outlining recent amendments to the District’s Fire Code. Fire Marshal & Battalion Chief Aaron Briner outlined the changes, which include changes to access road width and design, fire sprinklers requirements, emergency power systems, and more. Every three years, the California Fire Code is amended and adopted. The 2016 California Fire Code was superseded by the 2019 version and became State law on January 1, 2020. On December 23, 2019, the Montecito Fire Protection District Board of Directors formally adopted Ordinance 2019-02, making amendments to the California Fire Code, California Residential Code, and California Building Code creating the Montecito Fire Protection District Fire Code. Briner explained that it was a collaborative effort between fire prevention officers of Montecito, Santa Barbara County, Santa Barbara City, and Carpinteria-Summerland, who met and attempted to determine where agency amendments could be standardized. “The goal behind the 2019 amendments for Montecito was simplification, consistency, and collaboration with surrounding agencies,” he said.

There were 17 amendments to the Montecito Fire Code, with four being the most significant. Road access requirements were amended to account for more dwelling units on parcels, which increase the number of lives that would need to be saved in an emergency. Fire access roads are required to be 14-feet wide for a single parcel or dwelling unit, and 16-feet wide for two to four parcels or dwelling units, among other requirements. Fire sprinklers are required for new

homes, while alterations and additions to homes are more complicated situations, Briner said. The new code simplifies the calculation in which sprinklers are required; if the home is altered 50% or more of the existing gross square footage, or the addition causes the home to reach 1500 sq. ft., the home will require sprinklers.

Briner also discussed emergency and standby power systems, as many homeowners are opting for battery backups versus generators. “This is an area that we are going to continue to keep an eye on over the year to continue to make changes,” he said.

Lastly, Briner explained the new code has stronger language related to explosives and fireworks: all are prohibited within the District.

As part of the revised code, MFPD created development standards to help planners, architects, and homeowners in understanding and applying the code. Those standards, which outline roofing assembly, vegetation management (defensible space), fire department access, water supply, water storage, fire sprinklers for residential and commercial, and post disaster rebuilds, are available on the District’s website.

“We were able to simplify our code and make it more consistent with surrounding agencies, ensuring that the residents of Montecito have a code that best serves the community.” Briner said.

Also happening at the District: earlier this month MFPD launched an interactive Story Map to highlight the Department’s Wildland Fire Prevention Program. Story Maps combine text, images, multimedia, and interactive maps to create an engaging online experience. This new Story Map provides a unique opportunity to exhibit the importance of the Montecito Fire Department’s numerous wildfire mitigation projects and give a voice to the programs that continue to strengthen our community’s resilience to wildfire.

The Story Map, as well as the new fire code ordinance and development standards, are available on the District’s website at www.montecito fire.com. •MJ

New Price!

296 Las Entradas Drive $28,500,000

2697 Sycamore Canyon Road $12,900,000

1050 Cold Springs Road $11,950,000

Just Listed!

830 Park Lane $7,995,000

10+ Buildable Acres 2303 Bella Vista Drive $5,150,000

549 Hot Springs Road $5,150,000

Offered Furnished (Except Art)

1800 East Mountain Drive $4,495,000

in montecito 805 Toro Canyon Road $2,375,000 ... !

1375 Plaza de Sonadores $2,150,000

A&L History Matters series sponsor Loren Booth (center) with A&L Ambassador Heather Sturgess (left) and Jill Lepore (photo by Grace Kathryn Photography)

805 969-1995 Luxury Vacation Rentals Short or Long Term Coastal Hideaways Inc.

Interior Design Services also available Hire the best in the industry to manage your income property.

Please stop in and visit us 25 years serving the Santa Barbara community

A&L Ambassador and event sponsors Meg and Dan Burnham with Jill Lepore (photo by Grace Kathryn Photography)

tory department in 2003 and was chair of the history and literature program a number of times between 2005 and 2014.

A two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, three years ago she launched the Democracy Project: Arguing with American History, an undergraduate course on the history of the United States. She also teaches at Harvard Law School and is a former commissioner of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.

Among the guests were Sara Miller McCune, Todd and Allyson Aldrich, Gail Arnhold, Heather Sturgess, Lou Buglioli and Natalie Orfalea, Beno and Kandy Luria-Budgor, Chris and Dori Pierson Carter, Sharon Rich, James and JudithMitchell, and Celesta Billeci.

Belmi, Gustavo, Genesis, and Isaiah Tepecque, Belmi’s Dream Coordinator from Dream Foundation Megan Higgins, as well as her care team from Hospice of Santa Barbara, and friends from the Ridley Tree Center

a 12,249 square foot $7 million home on 1.75 acres in Malibu will come as absolutely no surprise to readers of this illustrious organ.

I have been reporting for some time the tony twosome are keen to relocate to California, where they would also be close to Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, Hollywood, and Silicon Valley.

The pad in question is an eight-bedroom mansion in a securely gated community formerly owned by Baywatch star David Charvet with near neighbors including Mel Gibson, Robert Downey Jr., Dick Van Dyke, and Caitlyn Jenner. Stay tuned...

Dream Come True Young Santa Barbara mother of two, Belmi Tepecque, 22, and her family are the latest recipients of the largesse of the Dream Foundation, which has delivered more than 32,000 dreams over the past 22 years.

The popular organization is providing Belmi’s final dream of a trip to Maui with her husband, Gustavo, and two children Genesis, 4, and Isaiah, eight months, after she was given a terminal diagnosis.

“Genesis loves the ocean so much that she comes home every day, puts her bathing suit on and asks when we are going to the beach,” Belmi wrote to the foundation. “A trip to Hawaii would allow us to create memories together, ones that will last forever, in her mind and her heart.”

The family will travel to Maui with help from Alaska Airlines, and Coconut Condos, a vacation rental agency, that has hosted Dream Foundation recipients and families since 2012.

And the Winner is… Longtime Santa Barbara International Film Festival board member Jeff Barbakow and his wife, Margo, are proud parents. Their director son Max’s existential comedy Palm Springs has just narrowly broken the Sundance Film Festival record for the biggest sale ever!

Hulu and indie distributor Neon purchased the film rights for $17,500,000.69, exceeding the previous record set by The Birth of a Nation in 2016, which went to the former Fox Searchlight Pictures for $17.5 million. The film stars Cristin Milioti as a lost and occasionally self-destructive bridesmaid to a younger sister getting hitched in the desert. Andy Samberg, Peter Gallagher, and Camila Mendes also co-star.

MISCELLANY Page 214

1147 Hill Rd | Santa Barbara | 4BD/5BA Grubb Campbell Group 805.895.6226 DRE 01236143/01410304 | Offered at $11,500,000

1684 San Leandro Ln | Montecito | 4BD/6BA Riskin Partners Estate Group 805.565.8600 DRE 01815307 | Offered at $7,995,000

1583 S Jameson Ln | Montecito | 9BD/9BA Riskin Partners Estate Group 805.565.8600 DRE 01815307 | Offered at $17,900,000

4558 Via Esperanza | Santa Barbara | 5BD/6BA Gregg Leach 805.886.9000 DRE 01005773 | Offered at $9,975,000 975 Lilac Dr | Santa Barbara | 5BD/8BA Riskin Partners Estate Group 805.565.8600 DRE 01815307 | Offered at $16,900,000

691 Picacho Ln | Montecito | 7BD/8BA Riskin Partners Estate Group 805.565.8600 DRE 01815307 | Offered at $16,500,000

811 Camino Viejo Rd | Santa Barbara | 5BD/7BA Walsh/Clyne 805.259.8808 DRE 00914713/01335689 | Offered at $7,495,000

854 Park Ln | Montecito | 6BD/8BA Riskin Partners Estate Group 805.565.8600 DRE 01815307 | Offered at $6,995,000

818 Hot Springs Rd | Santa Barbara | 5BD/10BA Patricia Griffin 805.705.5133 DRE 00837659 | Offered at $12,500,000

808 San Ysidro Ln | Montecito | 6BD/7BA Riskin Partners Estate Group 805.565.8600 DRE 01815307 | Offered at $5,950,000

640 El Bosque Rd | Montecito | 4BD/4BA Amy J Baird 805.478.9318 DRE 01497110 | Offered at $5,750,000

103 Olive Mill Rd | Santa Barbara | 2BD/4BA Walsh/Sener 805.259.8808 DRE 00914713/00978392 | Offered at $5,250,000

734 Sea Ranch Dr | Santa Barbara | 3BD/3BA Gregg Leach 805.886.9000 DRE 01005773 | Offered at $4,550,000

652 Park Ln | Montecito | 5BD/6BA John A Sener 805.331.7402 DRE 00978392 | Offered at $3,995,000

1389 Plaza Pacifica | Montecito | 2BD/3BA Michelle Bischoff 805.570.4361 DRE 01790838 | Offered at $3,795,000

947 Arcady Rd | Montecito | 5BD/4BA Jackie Walters 805.570.0558 DRE 00835438 | Offered at $2,995,000 2825 Hidden Valley Ln | Montecito | 1BD/1BA Haden Group 805.880.6530 DRE 01988499|02020380 | Offered at $2,295,000

62 Canon View Rd | Montecito | 4BD/4BA Jay Krautmann 805.451.4527 DRE 01468842 | Offered at $2,100,000

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