Missouri State Treasurer Vivek Malek discussed various programs available to Missourians at the Feb. 4 Cuba Chamber of Commerce.

Malek has served as Missouri’s 48th state treasurer since 2023, and is an attorney by trade.

“When I was appointed by Governor (Mike) Parson, I started touring the state, and in two years, I put on more than 90,000 miles on my vehicle,” Malek said.

He came to the United States 24 years ago on a 14-hour flight as an international student at Southeast Missouri State University.

“I vividly remember my first night. That was Aug. 11, Saturday. I was supposed to stay with a grad student for a few days before I would find my own place,” Malek said. “It was like 10:30 at night, and the boy had forgotten about me; (he) probably went for partying. I knew nobody, I had no relatives, no friends, no phone numbers to call. So a little frustrated, the cab driver just took me and dropped me at the Cape Girardeau police station.”

He lived off of $300 and two suitcases that he had traveled with for about a month until his graduate assistantship kicked in.

“I always believed in that American dream, and I am a living proof of that American dream,” Malek said.

Before getting into the main topic of his speech about various programs available to Missourians, he asked if anyone had looked up their unclaimed property. Even though he came to the U.S. with only $300, when he checked, he had $471.36 in unclaimed property.

“When I took office, the highest amount of money that was returned was $42 million; we have broken that record every year,” Malek said. “We have some great programs in the office which were kind of underutilized when I got into office, but we have tried to market those programs so that everybody can take advantage of those.”

MOBUCKS

MOBUCKS/Linked Deposit Program is a lending program managed by Malek. It works with Missouri banking institutions to provide low-interest loans to qualified borrowers to assist in business enhancement, growth and development.

“The MOBUCKS cap was $800 million when I got into office, we had dispersed $300 plus million,” Malek said.

They started marketing the program, which led to a large enough increase in applicants that $400 million was added to the cap.

Categories within the program include small businesses, agriculture, multi-family housing, job enhancement, local governments and alternative-energy focused programs.

“But talk to your bankers if you are in need for some loan. This is a great way to kind of reduce your interest on any business loan, and the loan duration is for five years,” Malek said.

MOST 529

It’s a federal college savings program.

“Initially, it was only used to save money for your kids or grandkids to go to college, but now you can utilize any savings in that account for apprenticeship, internship, K-12, education, college savings, skill trades (or) buying any educational-related merchandise,” Malek said

Married couples can get up to $16,000 in state tax deductions, no tax is paid on whatever growth or amount of money put in and it’s possible to switch beneficiaries.

“If you have had the account open for 15 years, you can transfer up to $35,000 out of that account to your IRA (Individual Retirement Account) without any penalties,” Malek said. “So it’s a good retirement tool as well.”

MO ABLE

MO ABLE is a program for those with disabilities to be able to get tax-free savings for disability-related expenses, and allows for saving and investing without losing needs-based benefits.

It is similar to a MOST 529 plan in that it is possible to claim up to a $16,000 tax deduction.

At the beginning of the year, the age limit increased to requiring that the disability occur before the age of 46. 

MO Scholars

“They do a great service, especially for rural communities, but for schools and districts that are suffering or not performing at the standard where they…should be to impart the right education for our kids,” Malek said. “And (the kids) can choose to go to a school of their choice, whether parochial or private, and they can utilize this program to pay for the tuition up to $7,500. So it’s a great program to help those kids.”

Possible Upcoming Programs

Malek and his team are trying to start some programs of their own such as Show Me My Retirement.

“That is for the employers who have less than 50 employees that they can set up a retirement program for their employees,” Malek said.

Malek said they are hoping to receive some money from the legislature to get the program up and running.