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Kenny Parker Jr

8/30/2010

Conventional wisdom says that what goes up, must come down. But even if you view market volatility as a normal occurrence, it can be tough to handle when it's your money at stake. Though there's no foolproof way to handle the ups and downs of the stock market, the following common sense tips can help.

Don't put your eggs all in one basket

Diversifying your investment portfolio is one of the key ways you can handle market volatility. Because asset classes often perform differently under different market conditions, spreading your assets across a variety of investments such as stocks, bonds, and cash alternatives (e.g., money market funds, CDs, and other short-term instruments), has the potential to help reduce your overall risk. Ideally, a decline in one type of asset will be balanced out by a gain in another, but diversification can't eliminate the possibility of market loss.

One way to diversify your portfolio is through asset allocation. Asset allocation involves identifying the asset classes that are appropriate for you and allocating a certain percentage of your investment dollars to each class (e.g., 70 percent to stocks, 20 percent to bonds, 10 percent to cash alternatives). An easy way to decide on an appropriate mix of investments is to use a worksheet or an interactive tool that suggests a model or sample allocation based on your investment objectives, risk tolerance level, and investment time horizon.

Focus on the forest, not on the trees

As the market goes up and down, it's easy to become too focused on day-to-day returns. Instead, keep your eyes on your long-term investing goals and your overall portfolio. Although only you can decide how much investment risk you can handle, if you still have years to invest, don't overestimate the effect of short-term price fluctuations on your portfolio.

Look before you leap

When the market goes down and investment losses pile up, you may be tempted to pull out of the stock market altogether and look for less volatile investments. The small returns that typically accompany low-risk investments may seem attractive when more risky investments are posting negative returns.

But before you leap into a different investment strategy, make sure you're doing it for the right reasons. How you choose to invest your money should be consistent with your goals and time horizon.

For instance, putting a larger percentage of your investment dollars into vehicles that offer safety of principal and liquidity (the opportunity to easily access your funds) may be the right strategy for you if your investment goals are short-term (e.g., you'll need the money soon to buy a house) or if you're growing close to reaching a long-term goal such as retirement. But if you still have years to invest, keep in mind that stocks have historically outperformed stable value investments over time, although past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you move most or all of your investment dollars into conservative investments, you've not only locked in any losses you might have, but you've also sacrificed the potential for higher returns.

Look for the silver lining

A down market, like every cloud, has a silver lining. The silver lining of a down market is the opportunity you have to buy shares of stock at lower prices.

One of the ways you can do this is by using dollar cost averaging. With dollar cost averaging, you don't try to "time the market" by buying shares at the moment when the price is lowest. In fact, you don't worry about price at all. Instead, you invest a specific amount of money at regular intervals over time.

When the price is higher, your investment dollars buy fewer shares of stock, but when the price is lower, the same dollar amount will buy you more shares.

For example, let's say that you decided to invest $300 each month towards your child's college education. As the illustration shows, your regular monthly investment of $300 bought more shares when the price was low and fewer shares when the price was high:

Although dollar cost averaging can't guarantee you a profit or avoid a loss, a regular fixed dollar investment may result in a lower average price per share over time, assuming you continue to invest through all types of markets. You should consider your financial and emotional ability to make ongoing purchases, regardless of price fluctuations, however.

(This hypothetical example is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent the performance of any particular investment. Actual results will vary.)

Don't stick your head in the sand

While focusing too much on short-term gains or losses is unwise, so is ignoring your investments. You should check up on your portfolio at least once a year, more frequently if the market is particularly volatile or when there have been significant changes in your life. You may need to rebalance your portfolio to bring it back in line with your investment goals and risk tolerance. A financial professional can help you decide which investment options are right for you.

Don't count your chickens before they hatch

As the market recovers from a down cycle, elation quickly sets in. If the upswing lasts long enough, it's easy to believe that investing in the stock market is a sure thing. But, of course, it never is. As many investors have learned the hard way, becoming overly optimistic about investing during the good times can be as detrimental as worrying too much during the bad times. The right approach during all kinds of markets is to be realistic. Have a plan, stick with it, and strike a comfortable balance between risk and return.

All Securities Through Money Concepts Capital Corp. Member FINRA/SIPC

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8/23/2010

Summary of the New Financial Reform Law

The financial reform bill recently signed into law is an attempt to address some of the problems that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis. The legislation, officially known as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, is considered the most wide-ranging overhaul of the U.S. financial system since the aftermath of the Great Depression. Because the problems it addresses are complex, the legislation itself is complex; much of the real impact will be felt only after regulations are developed to implement the law's provisions. Also, some provisions, such as those dealing with lending practices, will have a direct impact on individuals and investors; others will primarily affect the ways in which Wall Street functions. This is only a brief summary of some key provisions; consult your financial professional to see how these changes may affect you.

Credit and lending practices are revised

The Act requires originators of residential mortgages to disclose any conflicts of interest and compare costs and benefits of mortgages offered to a potential borrower. Lenders also will be required to verify whether, based on income, credit history, and other data, a borrower has a reasonable ability to repay a loan plus its associated taxes, insurance, and other costs. This could mean that self-employed people and others whose income is undocumented or irregular will need better documentation to qualify for a loan.

Lenders will no longer be able to give loan officers financial incentives that induce them to steer customers to a mortgage with a higher interest rate simply to increase their own commission. Their ability to impose prepayment penalties when a borrower repays a loan early also will be more limited, and a holder of a hybrid adjustable rate mortgage must receive notice of any change in the interest rate six months in advance.

Lenders are prohibited from refinancing an existing mortgage unless the new mortgage offers a net benefit to the borrower, and they may not coerce or induce an appraiser to make a faulty appraisal of a property's value. Loan applicants must receive a copy of the appraisal on the property no later than three days prior to the closing.

High-cost mortgages are subject to special regulations. Any balloon payments on high-cost mortgages cannot be more than twice as large as the average of earlier payments, and a borrower must receive qualified counseling on the advisability of a high-cost mortgage before credit can be extended.

Homeowners who are unable to make mortgage payments as a result of losing their jobs or because of a medical condition may now qualify for up to $50,000 in assistance loaned through HUD's existing Emergency Mortgage Assistance Fund.

Increased protection of bank deposits becomes permanent

During the financial crisis, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) temporarily increased from $100,000 to $250,000 the amount it will insure on deposit accounts in FDIC-insured banks. The $250,000 limit is now permanent.

Greater transparency and accountability for investments and related services

Institutional investors' inability to determine the amount of global financial exposure to derivatives--investments based on the value of other investments--contributed to the panic at the height of the financial crisis. Over-the-counter derivatives must now be traded on a public exchange, and trades must be cleared through a registered clearinghouse. Nonstandard derivatives can still be traded privately, but must be reported to a central authority in order to increase regulators' ability to monitor the overall level of activity.

Hedge funds and private-equity advisors will be required to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and disclose to the commission information such as investment positions and the amount of leverage involved. Also, the $1 million minimum net worth required to be an accredited investor eligible to invest in such funds will no longer include a principal residence, and that $1 million threshold will be reviewed every four years.

Credit rating firms, which were criticized for being too lax in their evaluations of securities based on subprime mortgages, will be subject to oversight by the SEC, which can fine those that issue too many faulty ratings over time. Also, investors will now have the right to sue an agency for issuing ratings it knew or should have known were flawed.

Shareholders of public companies will have the right to a nonbinding vote on compensation for the company's executives. Also, protections for people reporting securities law violations have been enhanced. Whistle-blowers with information that leads to monetary sanctions of more than $1 million will be eligible for 10 percent to 30 percent of the funds collected from the offender; if an employer retaliates, a whistle-blower can sue without waiting until administrative remedies have been exhausted.

An Investor Advocate office will be established within the SEC to help individual investors resolve significant problems and to promote investor interests.

Risky banking practices are addressed

Banks will be required to hold additional capital to cover potential losses, and some securities are no longer acceptable as vehicles for capital reserves held by large banks. Banks also will be required to retain at least 5 percent of a loan on their books if the loan is sold and/or repackaged with other loans and securitized. (However, some relatively low-risk mortgages, such as fully documented loans with a fixed interest rate, are exempted.)

Banks also will be more limited in their ability to engage in proprietary trading in their own accounts, which could represent a conflict of interest with their responsibility to their clients. They also will have to set up separate operations to handle their most risky derivative trades, such as swaps. A bank will not be permitted to invest more than 3 percent of its core capital in hedge funds and private equity, but it may still organize and offer them as long as certain conditions are met.

A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau overseen by the Federal Reserve will be created to regulate consumer financial products and services.

Systemic risk will be monitored, and liquidation of large banks will be overseen

A new Financial Stability Oversight Council is charged with assessing and managing risks that could threaten the entire U.S. financial system. Also, the FDIC will manage the liquidation of a bank whose failure the Treasury Secretary determines would disrupt the stability of the nation's financial system. That will include firing corporate management responsible for the failure and prohibiting any payments to shareholders until all other claims are paid. The FDIC may borrow from an Orderly Liquidation Fund to pay for a liquidation, but those costs must be replenished not from taxpayer funds but from claims on the bank and, if necessary, assessments on large financial institutions. The Act does not permit the Federal Reserve or the FDIC to lend to or provide a guarantee for individual or insolvent companies or banks, but both may lend funds to provide liquidity.

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To Do Lists

I am not usually a fan of to do lists. As this summer winds down I feel as though I did not accomplish all those many things on my to do list. You know, paint the house, plant a garden, mow the lawn, stain the deck, and seal the driveway.

This summer teaches me three important things: not all lists can be accomplished; not all lists have been written; not all lists are work.

So I decided to help you out.

I have included a list of suggestions I feel will help you enjoy the rest of your summer. Don’t worry it’s not your typical to do list.

Enjoy!

End Of Summer To Do list

1) Watermelon Seed spitting contest

2) Camp in the backyard

3) Learn to ride a unicycle (always wear the proper safety gear)

4) (Attempt to) Build a tree house

5) Have a water balloon fight

6) Slip and Slide

7) Do a Lemonade stand (No matter your age, you can make a profit on the weekend)

8) Have a root beer float with homemade root beer

9) Have SMORES (If you like peanut butter, try it with a peanut butter cup instead of plain chocolate)

10) Do a triathlon

11) Play ping pong (Not normally an outdoors activity, but the outdoors can make it interesting)

12) Sit on your deck and watch the Sunset/Sunrise

13) Sing and dance in the rain (Just not if there is lightning)

14) Go to the park and play on the swings, the merry-go-round, and slides

15) Learn to juggle (unless you are experienced, stay away from sharp objects and anything with fire)

16) Take a road trip to nowhere in particular

17) Ride a tandem bike (I recommend doing this with another person, not alone)

18) Try Geocoaching GPS (You might end up just outside my office)

19) Ride in a convertible

20) Go white-water rafting

21) Climb a tree (Please no broken arms or other appendages)

22) Hot air balloon ride

23) Go fishing

24) Go bird watching

25) Go bungee jumping (Please make sure your bungee line is not too long)

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

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7/7/2010

The Dog Days of Summer Are Here!

As a baseball fan and a financial advisor I hear the term “Dog Days” every year about this time. They always refer to the hottest and most torturously long months of July and August (almost a full two months without a holiday).

I always wondered what that phrase meant or where it came from, so I used the information laden and very credible tool (the internet, more specifically Wikipedia) to find the answer.

Sirius the “Dog” star shows itself during these two months. It is the brightest star in the sky during the summer and only really seen in the northern hemisphere.

The Dog Days were believed to be "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies" according to Brady’s Clavis Calendarium. The Scandinavians call the same time of the year the “Rotting Month”

Well we know it is the hottest time of the year, but I never hope to see the seas boil in my lifetime. But it is a great time to escape to the lake, or head to the coast to enjoy the cool breezes and time with the family. I hope your “Dog Days” are going well, and this summer is the best one yet.

Posted at 3:52 PM by System Account | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

6/11/2010

Business Life Cycles and Business Planning

What are business life cycles, and what is their relationship to business planning?
Generally, businesses pass through three stages before reaching the final stage of decline. The time it takes to reach or to pass through each stage varies by business. It is important that you properly identify the life cycle stage of your business so that you can plan appropriately and establish realistic goals for the future. The four life cycle stages for a business are start-up, growth, maturity, and decline.

What are the traits associated with each life cycle stage?
Each stage has unique characteristics.

Start-up
Start-ups are businesses that have yet to come into existence or have yet to turn a complete revenue cycle. At this stage, the owner (or owners) needs to invest a great deal of time, effort, energy, and money into the business to create a stable customer base, to buy inventory, and to engage in other business activities before revenues are generated. The start-up stage is generally characterized by innovation, high risk, and low profit margins.

Growth
When businesses leave the start-up stage, they typically start to grow. Although a company can always use more cash, most growing firms can get by on their own limited resources. The business owner understands his or her business at this point, as well as the key competitors. Major customers have been identified. Often, additional help is needed in production, manufacturing, operations, or sales. Ideally, during this stage, consumer demand is established and increases, the company experiences increasing sales, profit margins increase, and a market is established.

Maturity
When businesses crack the local market and manage their affairs efficiently, they become mature. Mature firms have achieved a certain amount of name recognition. Contacts are well-established, sales require less effort, the business produces a reliable stream of cash, and borrowing becomes easier. At this point, intensive marketing may be needed to increase or maintain market position, and there is little product innovation. Profit margins tend to stabilize.

Decline
During this final stage, the market begins to shrink. There is usually no product innovation, businesses cut costs to maintain profits, and profit margins are thin.

Which goals and planning tips are most appropriate for each stage?
By knowing which life cycle stage your business is in, you can plan effectively.

Start-up
The challenges facing a start-up are very clear. You must learn your business, establish and expand your customer base, and begin to grow. During this initial stage, you should prepare a business plan, determine the structure of your business, and begin to think about investment management and tax management. Planning is essential, but you must also call on customers and do everything that you can to generate cash.

Growth
At this stage, your goal is to become an established firm in the market. Indeed, you may want to become the preferred company. Other goals may include expanding your business through capital reinvestment or outside financing, attracting and retaining key employees, providing insurance and employee benefit plans, and reviewing retirement plans. It is still important to maintain a cash reserve and to watch expenses, however, to guard against unforeseen problems.

Maturity
The main risk at this stage is complacency and failure to adapt to a changing environment. You need to stay competitive and become innovative. Budgets, moreover, become very important. Move your investments into productive areas of your business and withdraw them from areas of low return. Expenses should be scrutinized. Also during this stage, you should focus on enhancing and managing employee benefit programs, setting up nonqualified plans for key employees, developing a business protection strategy, and updating your business's valuation.

Decline
At this stage, you should be concerned with ensuring the proper succession of your business or considering the possible sale or merger of your business. You may also be concerned with stock incentive programs for you and your employees to spur profits. In addition, you may wish to explore ways to minimize estate and gift taxes.

Clearly, the particular stage of growth of your business dictates planning for it. Firms may stall, regress, or fail at any point. Before creating any plan for your firm, therefore, you must determine which stage it is in and become familiar with the issues that come into play at that particular stage.

What is business planning?
Business planning involves making decisions about the future of your business. Plans force owners to consider the long term as well as the short term. Many businesses construct five-year plans, and nearly all create annual budgets. Plans help to improve business control, to allocate resources most effectively, and to communicate the potential of your business to lenders and customers.

What is the business-planning cycle?
If you're starting up a small business, there are a number of plans you can draw up. In particular, however, there are four annual plans that deserve particular note. The first is a personal plan, the second is a strategic plan, the third is an annual operating plan, and the fourth is a forecast. Of course, you'll probably also want to create a formal business plan, which is a fairly standard document used to apply for venture capital or to attract other sources of capital, such as a Small Business Association (SBA) loan. Although similar to strategic plans, formal business plans are more detailed.

Personal plan
This is not really a formal document. It's just a thought process that enables you to determine why you are in business and what you want from your firm. What are your goals and expectations? In addition, of course, you'll want to develop a personal cash-spending plan at this point, which should correspond to the cash you'll withdraw from the business for personal use. To do so, you'll need to analyze your personal spending, income, and savings reserves.

Strategic plan
The strategic plan maps out where the firm should be several years from now. Financial projections are general and usually cover five years. You need to develop specific strategies today to meet your long-term goals. Annual budgets must conform to long-term goals. Strategic plans usually start with a mission statement and then analyze both the external business environment and the inner workings of the company itself. You recognize your company's strengths and weaknesses and map out a course to take the company from its current position to its desired position.

Annual operating plan
This is really the budget. You use detailed financial projections to show why the firm is ahead of or behind planned performance. You'll need to include sales, cost of sales, labor expense, and other expenses.

Forecasts
Forecasts are quick, informal revisions to the plan. Unforeseen circumstances can force changes in the full-year plan. Many businesses forecast year-end results when the business is halfway through the year. Others create a forecast each month.

All of the aforementioned planning tools can help you to achieve your overall business goals.

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6/8/2010

Market Month: May 2010

The long-awaited correction arrived in May as equities markets flailed. The massive and still mysterious plunge in stock prices on May 6 set the tone for an exceptionally volatile month as intraday triple-digit swings in the Dow became commonplace. The Dow not only lost its toehold on 11,000 but briefly slid below 10,000 before recovering, though the correction wiped out all its gains for the year. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were hit even harder in May; both ended the month down roughly 10.5% from their late April highs, leaving the Nasdaq roughly flat for the year and the S&P 2.3% underwater. Though the small-cap Russell 2000 is down almost 11% from late April, its earlier gains left it the only one of the four major domestic indexes still in the black for 2010. Investors were whipsawed between concern about European sovereign debt--the Global Dow is now down almost 15% from its peak--and generally strong corporate earnings reports here. The uncertainty drove investors to seek reassurance from both gold, which set a new record high, and the dollar, now at its highest level against the euro in four years. Oil also fell below $70 a barrel for the first time since last winter.

Market/Index	2009 Close	Prior Month	As of 5/28	Month Change	YTD Change
DJIA	10428.05	11008.61	10136.63	-7.92%	-2.79%
NASDAQ	2269.15	2461.19	2257.04	-8.29%	-0.53%
S&P 500	1115.10	1186.68	1089.41	-8.20%	-2.30%
Russell 2000	625.39	716.60	661.61	-7.67%	5.79%
Global Dow	1984.48	1992.64	1780.31	-10.66%	-10.29%
Fed. Funds	.25%	.25%	.25%	0 bps	0 bps
10-year Treasuries	3.85%	3.69%	3.31%	-38 bps	-54 bps

The Month In Review

Investigators struggled to explain the so-called "flash crash" that sent the Dow down nearly 1,000 points in a matter of minutes and then back up. Explanations ranged from problems with high-frequency trading systems to human error to discrepancies in trading policies among various exchanges, but the exact cause remained elusive.
Approval of a massive bailout package by the European Union (EU) and the European Central Bank's decision to buy bonds (as the Federal Reserve Board did) to backstop banks there allowed Greece to make a crucial debt payment. However, questions still lingered about whether other EU countries would cut their budgets enough to stave off default, whether that would hamper global recovery, and whether anti-support sentiment in stronger countries such as Germany would curtail bailout efforts.
On the employment front, nonfarm payrolls saw their biggest increase in four years. However, hiring wasn't strong enough to absorb everyone entering or re-entering the job market, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As a result, the unemployment rate went from 9.7% to 9.9%.
Productivity, manufacturing orders, construction spending, home sales, retail sales, consumer spending--everywhere you looked, there were signs of an improved U.S. economy. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose at an estimated 3% annual rate during the first quarter, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but consumer inflation remained tame at an annual rate of just over 2%.
Regulators here and abroad struggled with how to try to prevent future financial meltdowns. Germany banned so-called naked short selling of certain assets and called for unified action throughout the eurozone. In the U.S., financial reform legislation cleared one more hurdle as the Senate passed its version, which now must be reconciled with the House bill. Major questions to be resolved include the oversight and authority of a new consumer protection agency and whether banks will be permitted to retain their derivatives trading businesses or trade for their own accounts. Also, in the wake of the flash crash, the SEC proposed circuit breakers on trading of individual stocks that move 10% or more in five-minutes.

Eye on the Month Ahead

European debt will likely continue to have an impact on investors' psyches, and the fate of the financial reform bill now making its way through Congress will influence the banking sector. The housing market will be watched to see if the summer homebuying season can take the place of the first-time homebuyer tax credit in spurring sales.

Key data releases: Manufacturing (6/1); pending home sales (6/2); unemployment/payrolls (6/4); international trade (6/10); retail sales (6/11); housing starts, wholesale inflation, industrial production (6/16); consumer inflation (6/17); options expiration (6/18); home resales (6/22); Federal Reserve Board announcement (6/23); final Q1 GDP (6/25); personal income/spending (6/28); home prices, consumer confidence (6/29).

Data source: All information is based on sources deemed reliable, but no warranty or guarantee is made as to its accuracy or completeness. Neither the information nor any opinion expressed herein constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any securities, and should not be relied on as financial advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is a price-weighted index composed of 30 widely traded blue-chip U.S. common stocks. The S&P 500 is a market-cap weighted index composed of the common stocks of 500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy. The NASDAQ Composite Index is a market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The Russell 2000 is a market-cap weighted index composed of 2000 U.S. small-cap common stocks. The Global Dow is an equally weighted index of 150 widely traded blue-chip common stocks worldwide. Market indexes listed are unmanaged and are not available for direct investment.

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5/28/2010

Summary of New Health Care Reform Law

Recently, two pieces of legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 were signed into law. Together, these pieces of legislation make the most significant reform to health care in the United States since the enactment of Medicare. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2019, approximately 32 million currently uninsured Americans will have health insurance, at a cost of about $940 billion. A major component of the reform legislation is the creation of state-based American Health Benefit Exchanges and Small Business Health Options Program Exchanges to provide health insurance for low-income individuals and small businesses. The following is a brief description of some of the most important provisions of the health care reform legislation.

For individuals

U.S. citizens and legal residents will be required to have health insurance by 2014, with some exceptions. Those without insurance will face a tax penalty of as much as 2.5% of taxable income.
Existing employer-sponsored health insurance plans will be allowed to remain essentially the same except the plans will be required to extend dependent coverage to qualifying children through age 26, lifetime limits (and eventually, annual dollar limits) on coverage must be eliminated, waiting periods for coverage cannot extend beyond 90 days, and insurers will not be able to deny coverage or charge higher premiums to people based on their health status and gender.
Medicaid eligibility will be expanded to include individuals under age 65 whose income is less than 133% of the Federal Poverty Level.
For families with incomes up to 400% of the Federal Poverty Level, tax credits and subsidies will be available to purchase health insurance through state-run exchanges, and to offset out-of-pocket costs.
Contributions to a health flexible spending account will be limited to $2,500 per year. Reimbursements from health FSAs and HRAs for over-the-counter drugs will be restricted, and tax-free reimbursements from HSAs and Archer MSAs for over-the-counter drugs will not be allowed, while the tax on HSAs and Archer MSAs increases for distributions not used for qualified medical expenses.
A rebate of $250 will be available to Medicare Part D (drug coverage) beneficiaries who reach the coverage gap (donut hole) and the coinsurance rate for costs within this gap are gradually reduced to 25%.
Adults with pre-existing conditions will be able to purchase coverage from temporary high-risk pools until 2014, when coverage cannot otherwise be denied for pre-existing conditions.
A national program will be established to provide limited reimbursement for long-term care expenses for individuals who participate by contributing to the program's cost through voluntary payroll deductions.

For employers

Employers with 50 or more employees that do not offer health insurance coverage will generally have to pay a premium tax of up to $2,000 per full-time employee.
Employers with more than 200 employees must automatically enroll employees in health insurance plans from which employees may opt out.
Employers providing health insurance must offer a voucher to qualifying employees to purchase insurance through an exchange.
Qualifying small employers may receive a tax credit for providing health insurance to employees.

Tax changes

The threshold for itemized deductions for qualified medical expenses will be increased from 7.5% of adjusted gross income (AGI) to 10% of AGI, though a temporary exception will be maintained for those 65 and older.
The tax for Medicare Part A (hospitalization coverage) is increased 0.9% for individuals with earnings exceeding $200,000, and for couples with joint earnings greater than $250,000. Also, high-income taxpayers will be subject to a surtax of 3.8% on unearned income, such as capital gains, dividends, annuities, and rental income.
The law imposes a 10% tax on the amount paid for indoor tanning services.

Some of these provisions are effective immediately while others will be implemented over the next several years. Consult with your financial professional to see how these laws may affect you.

Posted at 10:04 AM by System Account | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

5/10/2010

Warrior's Last Prayer

I found this poem on the internet. As I read the poem, my thoughts were taken to the very moment experienced by the writer. I could see vividly these words resounding in my mind.

Here is what the author said about this poem:

On January 25, 1999 ... thirty-three years after J.B.'s death ... I dreamt this poem as clear and vivid as if wide awake. I do not feel I wrote it, so much as it was given to me and for that, I give Thanks. Even now, I am amazed at its clarity. I awoke and wrote it down as it appears above. The warrior’s only dying thoughts and prayers are for others and does not try to alter the outcome for himself; drawing acceptance and peace in God’s assurance that He will care for those left behind.*

Warrior's Last Prayer

... Father
... I hear singing

... what does it mean?

They are praying for you.

... But I am not dead.

No . .. . You are not dead.

... My friends

... some were hurt.

They will be all right.

... But I feel all right too
.... I do not hurt any more

... why can't I move?

... why can't I see clearly?

You will see clearly, My son.

... My family ... I love them, Father.
.... will they understand?

With heavy hearts ... they will understand.

... Mom

... Dad

... will they be all right?

I will give them peace.

. . .. The singing, Father ... it's farther away now.

Listen as they pray more sweetly ...

... Are they praying for my friends?

For them ... and for you.

... Will we be together again?

Forever .... and ever.

Father .... they have stopped singing

... what does it mean?

Rest now

... My good and faithful servant
.... and forever more

... Welcome into My home.

(In Memory of James Bruce Jones, United States Air Force 6252nd Combat Air Police Sqdn KIA January 25, 1966 Da Nang AB, SVN)

As we approach this Memorial Day please let us think on those in the Armed Forces who have fought and are still fighting for our freedom.

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3/25/2010

I Am Looking For More Clients Just Like You!

I truly appreciate the trust you have placed in me. My goal is to earn that trust daily.

I hope you are satisfied with the advice and service we provide.

The best way to build any business is through referrals from satisfied clients. Thank you for sending me your friends and family. I enjoy meeting and working with them.

I still need your help.

I am looking for new clients just like you. I am in the business of helping people reach their investment goals. Whether those goals are retirement, passing on an inheritance, or helping businesses with their investments, I am here to help.

If you know someone who meets these qualifications please fill out the attached page and return it in the enclosed envelope. Or if you would like, call me.

As always, I will treat your friends and family with the utmost respect.

Once again, thank you for all your support. I will work hard and diligently to meet or exceed your expectations.

Posted at 10:14 AM by System Account | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

The Seven Wonders of the World

Each of us must grapple every day with choosing what we value most in our lives.

A group of students was asked to list what they thought were the present-day “Seven Wonders of the World.” Though there were some disagreements, the following received the most votes:

1. Egypt’s Great Pyramids

2. Taj Mahal

3. Grand Canyon

4. Panama Canal

5. Empire State Building

6. St. Peter’s Basilica

7. China’s Great Wall

While gathering the votes, the teacher noticed that one quiet student hadn’t turned in her paper yet, so she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied, “Yes, a little. I couldn’t quite make up my mind because there were so many.”

The teacher said, “Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help.”

The girl hesitated, then read, “I think the Seven Wonders of the World are: 1. to see, 2. to hear,
3. to touch, 4. to taste, 5. to feel, 6. to laugh, and 7. to love.”

The room was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

The things we take for granted or overlook as simple and ordinary are truly wondrous!

Posted at 10:08 AM by System Account | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

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Kenny Parker Jr
Associate
Money Concepts Financial Planning Center
636-925-3000
kparker3@moneyconcepts.com

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