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whyyour paycheck is really a bond f 4 solo 401{k lets self-employed shelter more of their lncome jeffrey l japets doyou have unclaimed propertyyou don t 9 financial news :t1 fniiti knowabout /3 f4 7 y r rtz te il s .x i i a sj i nsg ei tria rt6j 1l !l li ig r ffi ii ,ff tffn t ug ilti ss r jg trtr ts t .iti gt .r i 1 -t i tii.1 ir 33 :i 13 nru hnl1v if{ni &wmwmgffi dbn kffi w%ffikffi ffimm mmwd &ffiffiffi s&ffiwfiffiffi courtesy f lrfftw l lapel oor old benjamin graham must be tuming in his grave didn t he say buy low sell high the stock market has certainly given us a roller coaster ride over the last few years i m as thrilled as the next person when it goes up and i never like see ing my asset values shrink when it goes the other way so it moves in both directions-i get that but what i will never understand is the upsidedorvn logic of the investing public it s not a total shock that the average investor may be less than jeffrey l japel financial services professional 1 1 01 e front ave bismarck nd 58504 701 2ss-273s rational but old ben s timeless strategy seems to be all but forgotten apopular financial magazine compared market performance rvith mutual fund inflows over the past seven years not only do fund investors apparently react to the shotl-tetm gyrations of the s&p they often overreact displaying a volatility exceeding even that of the market itself they tend to pile in when the market is good and flee when stocks are falling buying high and selling low but remember by the time you hear what the market is doing it s already done it and very likely not doing it anymore so stick to your planwhether strategic or tactical-to help you follow ben s advice buy low sell high of course an investor needs to bear in mind no investment plan or strategy can guarantee against a loss in a dolvn market

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f a z 329 tx lr yfule:you can put money into a 529 college savings plan seem reasonable prob withdraw it immediately fortuition if your child is in college and still receive a state tax deduction up to the allowable annual limit a 529 plan is an education savings plan designed to help families set aside funds for future lem is not everybody s paycheck is bondlike suppose you re a salesperson on commission your mot.tth-to-month incorne may be highiy unprcdictable so you i ;5-i l 1 might rvant to lean torvatd bonds in yonr college costs thifi{our porlfolio favoring boncls be especially smart car.t states and washington dc allow a deduction on state income taxes for 529 contributions and do not specify how long contributions must sit in the plan if i i l i ji i rlr uilt lot rltcsl scr e beware of phishing-a scammer s attemptto get personal information from you by sending an e-mail saylng that you must supply data for tax purposes this is an identity i tl tl i ii iaai .a t f t l li li t :i :1 r f r iii l i i r li jl u 7 j .f 1 1ri r .riti t lit you re awall street employee nvhose income rises and falls rvith the stock market terry bumham director of economics at boston s acadian asset mana ement tells the story of a friend in the money-management business he has 1007r of his money in short-term high i i r r:r r .i.ri :i r r a t 1j i tti!i a:a t quality bonds mr bumham lecounts his broker says you could eam higher returns in stocks his response is by jorrtrthnn clemenls,wall street lournnl i am the s&p 500 theft scam the irs would not contact you by e-mail for personal data tax-avoidanc e sch e me s promoted by criminals claim that you do not have to pay taxes if you do certain things examples claimlng personal expenses as business expenses or any fblks think the rvorld revolves atound them and financial expefts agree among leading investment advisers one of this year s most discussed topics is so-calied lifecycle finance the uotion often our most valuable asset is our ability to eam iucome so rve ought to figure our human capital into our investrnent mix indeed lifecycle fiuance provides a great framervork fbr thinking abottt money-ancl it could help you a once you decide how mr.rch risk to take rvith your portfolio think carefully about lvhich particular investments you buy workers rvill often invest heavily in their o vn comi u:1 1 pany s shares real-estate brokers rvill buy rental properties silicon valley employees rvill load up on technology stocks this iuvest in rvhat you knorv strategy may be comfbrting but it isn t as saf e hiding income offshore to make it nontaxable-you still must repoft it and pay taxes build on it the criminals collect fees for their fraudulent advice and you can go to iail if you follow it more informa tion on tax scams wvwv.irs gov/newsroom portfolio you are in your 20s you likely have precious little savin-es but ahead may lie four clecades of paychecks by contrast if you arc in your 60s your income-eaming days are probably drarving to a close with any luck however you have 11 t 1 1 1 1 a more prudent 1 1 if it seems what are the characteristics of your humau capital asks moshc milevsky a finance professor at toronto s york university if you re a real-estate cleveloper maybe you re a real-estate investment trust as if you re amassed a fair arnount of financial capital to rcplace you re an ounce of gold lf yon rvork for weyerhaeuser rnaybe you rc a forcst product the implication your income is alrcady riding on one sector of the ecor.romy don t clank up your risk a miner maybe your human capital hor,v can you best manage your financial capital to complement this grac lual decline in your hurnan capital think of yor.rr paycheck as similar to a bond rvith its steady stream of incorne even further by sinking your savings into the same sectol l tfu;ritg tfuerr g5fg55 ?5 trtar fra nce s secr early in your career you may rvint to tliversify this bond by inr,esting in stocks but as you grorv older you shoulcl prcpare fbr the eventual disappearance of your paycheck by orvning more of the bond market in i t i lif ecycle linauce can also help you figure out rvhat type of ir.rsurance to buy given that your human capital is so valuable you rvill nvant to plotect your fiimily against the loss of this 11 t1 i.1 t income by buying lif e insurance and if your employer doesn t provide it disability insurance as rvell your portfolio.

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if that spclis you the individual401k rvofih a look is clehnitcll ,1i{rri rirrss f ttrtis is very tltr s social security tax break consider a hypothetical -52-year-old rvith s1-50.000 in net business income if he used a traclitior.ral sep the most he could contribute to the tax-sheltering account rvould be s30o00 20 percent ofthe s150000 low nearly half of people surveyed didnt realize they are getting it the break reduces most workers share of social security payroll by kntlry kristof,tribune mcdit seruices f you rc self:employed aud yearning to shelter some of yollr incorne from taxes you probably knorv all about sep-iras the retilnent plan fbr small-blrsiness owuers norv consider a hypothetical businessrvoman it.t the same situation nvho chooses a solo 401k she d be able to contribute $22.000 as the employee plus $30,000 more as the employel shelteling a total of $52o00 amrually that extra $22,000 in contributions to the plan rvould cut her f-ederal income tax bill by nearly $6.200 assuming she s in the 28 percent f ederal tax bracket if she s in a high-tax state such as california or nerv york she lvould save considerably more for those rvho are as concemed about future taxes as they arc about those that they pay rrorv the solo 401k has another unique feature it allorvs you to set up youl ernployee contrjbutions roth-style that means you don t get to deduct those contributions r vhen they arc put into the account but rvhen that money is taken out of the plan in rctirement it s i00 percent tax free the ernployer profi t-sharing poft ion taxes to 4,2 instead of 6.2 making paychecks iarger the 46 who dld not know made up the largest group among those surveyed next largest 22 said they would use the extra money to catch up on past-due bills and 19 said they would make additional payments to creditors 0nly 8 said they would save the extra money and just 3 said they would use it for increased retirement contributions i i s t ltt si rcssrs,fl e i simply because they don t find enough customers easics of effective selling meel with each potential clientto determine how their buying decisions are made and target your approach to all those of the contributior.rs rvould be as usual tax sheltered before retilement and then subjcct to taxes in your golden years for people who want to put aside substantial savings the solo 401k is clearly the best option robeftson said what s the catch if you rvarrt all the bells and rvhistles setting up a 401 k cau be cumbersome ancl costly who influence the buying decision focus on yourfirm s strengths not on the competi tion-which you cannot control listen to each prospect carefully to determine his/her needs and find ways to meet those needs figure outwhy the prospect should buy from but do you knorv about so-called solo 401ks they give you a lot more options saicl stuart robertson head of sharebuilder 40 i k the solo 401 k r ules allorv you to play thc roles of both employer and enrployee allorvin-s you to contribute more to the plan than you could to a sep or simplified employee pension plan to be specific a sep allorvs you to cor.ttribr-rte up to 20 percent of net self ernployment income to the plan maxir.rg ollt at $49.000 in contributions per year but rvith a solo 401k as your own employee you can contribute as much as 1 00 percent of yclur earnings you-vou must able to articu financial planning lnycstmcnts and late this to him anticipate losing the business and analyze why this could happen-then adjust your approach so that it doesn t to the solo 401k up to i 6 500 in contributions annually that goes up to $22.000 annually if you re over thc agc of 50 then in the role of your or,vn employer you can contribute an additional 20 percent l htzvt t ltwdz i retire on friday and i haven t saved a dime here s your chance to become a legend ofthe business net income as a profit-sharing contribution the ability to contribute in this lavish manner rvould be of concern only to the smashingly succcssful but lo lsst tfie tl te rst o ttly life unlrcs ttt tf f huts s vttethiltg jalkie masoil

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jeffrey l japei,s financial news 1 ,t y f t i l i :if i i ll ji lwrywsrew w@w this publication is provided to our readers as an informational source only.the ideas opinions and concepts expressed here should not be construed as specific tax legal financial or investment advice.you should consult your professional advisers regarding your panicular situation smru 448575 doymw ffimw lirxcxaxrmmd ffirmpmr3r ymax ffimxru krxrywr &bmw by elliot raphaelson,tribune media seraices children a few years after she passed away my son mark did a search on florida s abandoned propefty website and found the unclaimed assets in her name we supplied the state with the informa tion they required-a copy of the will and the names and addresses of all the beneflciaries with signatures within 30 days the state sent us our checks mark and i invested in the kentucky derby debra the conservative one is saving for early retirement there is no ccording to the nationalassociation of unclaimed propelty q eamistrators nalipa assets wotth over $32 billion are i heta uy various states just waiting to be claimed by their rightful owners you may be entitled to some of these assets state laws stipulate that under certain circumstances financial institutions and other companies must tum over unclaimed assets to the state the funds are listed in a database under your name periodically states update their databases which are available on the intemet several years ago i was the executor of my aunt s estate i filed her will with the state s probate office she had detailed records and i thought i had complete knowledge of her assets and beneficiaries i distributed all the assets i was aware of apparently however she purchased one certificate of deposit for $3,000 but did not name a beneficiary and i was not aware of its existence her will stated that assets in her name would be shared equally by me and my two statute of limitation for claiming assets nalipas website www.unclaimed org contains a great deal of infor mation regarding unclaimed property the consumer protection laws that benefit you and links to state rvebsites if you are a beneficiary in a will or trust enter the decedent s name on the website to determine if there are any assets under that name that now belong to you.

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