Retirement strategy for small-business owners: Grab the tax break
Posted: April 24, 2012 at 1:14 pm
Retirement might seem like the last priority for small-business owners. But funding your retirement plan can save 30 to 40 cents on the dollar because of tax breaks.
If you started a business during the last few years, and then watched too much of your earnings evaporate at tax time, you might be able to change that.
If you aren't putting any money into aretirementsavings plan for your business, you are probably giving more than is necessary to Uncle Sam and short-changing your future too. And that is easy to fix.
It might seem like a mistake to stash anything away forretirementnow when your business is demanding so much cash and time. But becauseretirementsavings plans give you a tax break upfront when you contribute money to them, you can often stretch your money further simply by using one of these plans.
"Aretirementplan is critical," said Robert Keebler, a Green Bay, Wis., certified public accountant. "For every dollar you put away, you can save about 30 to 40 cents in taxes."
And once your money is in aretirementplan, Uncle Sam won't touch it until youretireand start pulling money out for living expenses after age 59 {. The money remains off-limits to taxes untilretirement, a much better alternative than keeping it in a bank savings account, where interest is taxed annually.
If you are a sole proprietor with no employees, setting up aretirementplan is almost as easy as opening a savings account. So you don't have to worry about another headache added to the demands of the day. "You go to a broker like TD Ameritrade or a mutualfundcompany like Fidelity, tell them you want to set up an individual 401(k), and that's it," said Denise Appleby, chief executive of ApplebyRetirementConsulting of Grayson, Ga. "It's simple."
The best plan for sheltering as much money as possible from taxes, she said, would be a solo 401(k). The amount you can save is based on a formula applied to your compensation.
For example, say you earn $100,000. Just like any 401(k), you will be able to contribute up to $17,000 as an employee in 2012. And anything you contribute will lower your taxable income. And, as a sole proprietor, you get an extra benefit. As the employer, you can also contribute about $18,000 through the company to your own 401(k), Appleby said. Your business then gets the benefit of reducing taxes by taking an $18,000 deduction.
So as you combine the $17,000 and $18,000, you come up with about a $35,000 contribution to yourretirement, and you get tax benefits on the entire amount. Try the calculator at http://www.tinyurl.com/smallbiz401k.
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Retirement strategy for small-business owners: Grab the tax break
Retirement savings: How much is enough?
Posted: at 1:14 pm
Everyone wants to know how much money they need to save for retirement. When planning, don't forget to account for inflation and fluctuations in investment returns, Hamm says.
Over the last few months, Ive read several articles that center around the idea that people should be saving every possible dime that they can for retirement. For example, Daily Finance recently had an article entitled Forget the 4% Rule: Retirements Common Wisdom Is Obsolete:
The Simple Dollar is a blog for those of us who need both cents and sense: people fighting debt and bad spending habits while building a financially secure future and still affording a latte or two. Our busy lives are crazy enough without having to compare five hundred mutual funds we just want simple ways to manage our finances and save a little money.
The theory was simple: If you spent a maximum of 4% per year of your retirement funds, the decline in principle will be slow enough that your money would last as long as you did. Though the percentage seems modest and the reasoning sound, this 4% rule ignores two factors that have become increasingly, glaringly relevant: first, market volatility, which has battered retirement savings over the last decade, and second, inflation, the silent force that erodes purchasing power year after year.
What does that mean?
The other issue with basing your retirement plan on simple rules is that it can lead to complacency. But the idea that you can set it and forget it and everything will be fine is a trap.
There are so many experts telling people different things, that theyre not going to have to worry, DArruda said. A rule means something in writing, something enforceable. But in retirement planning, theres a fluctuating source. You cant take a guarantee.
Lets look at an example case from a reader that Ill call Marvin.
Marvin has $800,000 put away for retirement, mostly in really conservative stuff like bonds and cash. Overall, hes earning about 2% a year on his money. He was bitten by the stock market collapse in 2008 and doesnt want his money in stocks. Marvin wants to retire in ten years, so he wanted to know how much money he should be putting away.
I asked him a few questions. How much does he anticipate spending (in current dollars) per year in retirement? He told me about $50,000. What will his Social Security benefits look like? He estimated around $1,500 a month (adding up to about $18,000 a year).
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Retirement savings: How much is enough?
הוֹרֵנִי – Alex Clare – Video
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הוֹרֵנִי - Alex Clare - Video
A Deluxe Personal Transporter The Urban Cruiser sleek durable freedom – Video
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A Deluxe Personal Transporter The Urban Cruiser sleek durable freedom - Video
It´s time to get personal. Display, you’re next
Posted: at 1:13 pm
Posted 24 April 2012 13:58pm by Martin Stockfleth Larsen with 0 comments
So, display advertising. Its a channel that many people deemed to be dead some years ago due to huge declines in CTR and conversion rates, but today online display advertising is hotter than ever.
The changing technology landscape has completely re-energised the whole display advertising space.
Not only are display-ad revenues growing faster than ever before, but how we use this channel in the overall marketing mix is being redefined, thanks to a lot of brave venture firms and Google.
1. A shift from offline to online
Marketing spend is shifting from offline to online marketing. The reason behind this is digitalization; people are increasingly spending time online, whether using a computer, tablet, smartphone or any other connected device.
Display is benefitting greatly from this shift.
2. Innovation
Innovation drives growth; thats a fact. Features like retargeting, RTB, DSP, DMP, SSP and DCO are finally becoming real.
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It´s time to get personal. Display, you’re next
Chesapeake 25% Decline Seen Spurred by Personal Conflict
Posted: at 1:13 pm
By Joe Carroll - Mon Apr 23 20:30:15 GMT 2012
F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg
Aubrey McClendon, chairman and chief executive officer of Chesapeake Energy Corp.
Aubrey McClendon, chairman and chief executive officer of Chesapeake Energy Corp. Photographer: F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg
Workers labor on a Chesapeake Energy Corp. natural gas drill site in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, U.S. Chesapeake has lost a quarter of its market value since the end of March as questions about McClendons finances compounded plunging natural-gas prices.
Workers labor on a Chesapeake Energy Corp. natural gas drill site in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, U.S. Chesapeake has lost a quarter of its market value since the end of March as questions about McClendons finances compounded plunging natural-gas prices. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) Chief Executive Officer Aubrey McClendon has been adding oil fields to his personal holdings faster than he can find cash to drill them. Hes steering the company down the same road.
Chesapeake, producer of more U.S. natural gas than any company except Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), outspent its cash flow in 19 of the past 21 years while amassing millions of acres of drilling leases from the Rocky Mountains to Appalachia.
As the company moved to close this years projected funding gap with $12 billion in planned asset sales, investor criticisms of McClendon over a potential conflict of interest are stoking concern about the stability of the company. Chesapeake shares are down 22 percent this month, heading for the worst monthly loss since 2008, the last time McClendons personal finances intruded on company business.
Chesapeake is walking a tightrope right now, Mark Hanson, an analyst at Morningstar Inc. (MORN) in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. McClendon has shown a predilection to outspend, sometimes recklessly.
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Chesapeake 25% Decline Seen Spurred by Personal Conflict
Incapsula Makes Cloud Security Personal
Posted: at 1:13 pm
REDWOOD SHORES, CA--(Marketwire -04/23/12)- Incapsula, a cloud-based website security and performance service, today announced that it has expanded its service offering to provide enterprise-grade security and performance to small business and personal websites. The new service plan is expected to boost website speed and performance while offering protection against botnet attacks, comment spammers and other undesired automated traffic.
"Developers, bloggers and business owners need an affordable way to keep their sites up and protect them from the latest security threats without having to juggle a plethora of operations tools or become a security expert overnight. We believe cloud-based security services offer an easy and effective way to make websites faster and protect websites against hackers and bots," said Lawrence Pingree, Research Director at Gartner.
"We see increasing automation by hackers, which we believe has expanded the need for security," said Marc Gaffan, Incapsula co-founder. "And, while our research reflects that more than half a website's traffic comes from automated sources, some of which is aimed at trying to steal proprietary information and customer data, many website owners don't have the right tools or expertise to protect themselves. Incapsula's technology can be used by anyone with a website and a domain."
Incapsula's newest service plan -- Incapsula Personal -- expands the company's suite of offerings to small businesses and personal websites that are looking to add advanced protection against automated attacks while significantly improving their website's performance and reducing their server load. The new plan's features include:
In addition, Incapsula business customers can take advantage of Incapsula's enterprise-grade Web Application Firewall (WAF) for protection against sophisticated, human-generated attacks. Incapsula Enterprise customers, including hosting and service providers, can leverage dedicated throughput capacity, an enterprise SLA, product and security operations support and DDoS protection. Incapsula's basic technology is available to anyone for free. Pricing for paid plans begins at $9 per month.
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About Incapsula:Incapsula is a cloud-based website security and performance service, and a PCI certified cloud web application firewall and content delivery network for small and medium-sized businesses. With a simple DNS switch, Incapsula provides protection and improves the performance of websites without changing the site or installing any hardware/software. Incapsula goal is to provide peace of mind for website owners that their websites have protection against attacks, that their customers' information is safeguarded while their web pages are delivered at a high speed. Incapsula is a majority-owned subsidiary of Imperva (NYSE: IMPV - News), a leading provider of data security solutions. Website: http://www.incapsula.com
2012 Incapsula, Inc. All rights reserved. Incapsula is a trademark of Incapsula, Inc.
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Incapsula Makes Cloud Security Personal
"Laws of the Ring" by Urijah Faber
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"Laws of the Ring" by Urijah Faber
Funambol Named Recipient of 2012 Mobile Merit Award
Posted: at 1:13 pm
FOSTER CITY, CA--(Marketwire -04/23/12)- Funambol, the leading provider of white-label personal cloud solutions for mobile providers, today announced that it was recently named the winner of the 2012 Mobile Merit Award in the Mobile Apps category for overall enabler. The Mobile Merit Awards recognize companies and technologies that shape the way the world communicates today. They connote the excellence achieved in the global mobile industry. Mobile Merit Award winners were determined based on industry impact, innovation, technologies, social importance, implementation and overall success.
"Funambol is thrilled to be recognized by the Mobile Merit Awards for best overall mobile apps enabler," said Amit Chawla, Funambol CEO. "The personal cloud market is exploding worldwide and our white-label solution for mobile providers is truly having a profound impact on the industry and users. The award is external validation of this and all of the hard work by the people of Funambol who are making it happen."
Funambol's white-label personal cloud solution, OneMediaHub, is similar to Apple iCloud except it works with all major smartphones, tablets and computers, including iPhone/iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, Windows and Mac. OneMediaHub differs as it enables mobile providers to go to market with their own brand, and to act as the digital locker for all of their users' digital assets, to reinforce customer loyalty. Funambol's solution is based on open source, allowing its customers to completely customize it for their needs and to provide differentiated cloud services for multiple market segments. For more information, visit http://www.funambol.com. OneMediaHub is available for demo use at https://onemediahub.com. For more on the 2012 Mobile Merit Awards, visit http://www.mobilemeritawards.com/.
About Funambol
Funambol is the leading provider of white-label personal cloud solutions for mobile providers. Funambol solutions have been deployed by many of the top companies in mobile, including operators, device makers, Internet portals and software companies. For more information, visit http://www.funambol.com.
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Funambol Named Recipient of 2012 Mobile Merit Award
Croda's Steve Foots: a man with the right chemistry for success
Posted: at 1:13 pm
Croda's new chief executive, Steve Foots, is focued on evolution not revolution.
You know the advert. The one with the pretty girl and the perfect lipstick. She (SNP: ^SHEY - news) flashes a naughty smile into the camera before flicking her sleek, glossy hair in a perfect swoosh.
Then the advertiser stakes its claim its shampoo, the one the pretty girl uses every day, makes a womans hair bouncier and glossier than ever. Its just about then that we all roll our eyes and quietly mutter under our breath.
Well, its time to stop being quite so cynical. Unless Ive been horribly hoodwinked, that claim hasnt just been made up by a bunch of sharp suited mad men.
You see, in a laboratory 20 miles from Doncaster, theres a man in a white coat. In front of him a false head of hair hangs on a metal wire attached to a rudimentary engine and a video camera. Hes filming that swoosh. Flicking the hair from side to side, treating it with the shampoos 'active ingredient and flicking it again. And there really is a difference.
This, to use the Croda vernacular, is claim substantiation. Thats what were about. Our job is to find the next big claim: to meet unknown needs, says Steve Foots, a relaxed 43-year old who is Crodas new chief executive. We dont really think about chemicals, we think about effect.
Its hardly what comes to mind when you think of a chemicals company with 3,200 staff and 17 factories that has just joined the FTSE 100 (Euronext: VFTSE.NX - news) . But at Croda HQ theres no sign of industrial sized tanks or hoses. The companys 1bn of annual revenues, Foots is keen to make clear, are built on value not volume. Some of its products are shipped to clients in test-tubes, others make up just 0.1pc of your average shampoo bottle. This is the world of speciality chemicals.
The companys customers across consumer care, healthcare and cropcare range from Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG - news) and Unilever (Other OTC: UNLNF.PK - news) to fertiliser makers and engine manufacturers. The focus is on providing chemicals to make products work better. Anything from face cream to engine oil lubricant.
Croda makes the building blocks for health and personal care items such as lipstick
Crodas strategy has seen it hone in on such niche areas, allowing it to raise profit margins with each new product iteration. A product tweak, a new hair straightening claim and the customer pays up. That approach has allowed Croda to increase margins in consumer care to an eye-watering 32pc, provoking consternation among analysts. They have all of these boffins working away, continually improving products and were all left rubbing our eyes in wonder, says Charles Pick, an analyst at Numis. The big question around Croda is where the margin ceiling is.
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Croda's Steve Foots: a man with the right chemistry for success