Newspaper Page Text
6A
NOVEMBER 23, 2000
Will you be able to afford to
send your children to college?
This is the second installment
of d two-part series. Look in last
week’s edition for Part I.
Types of investments
In selecting investment ve
hicles for college funding, keep
the following in mind: the child’s
age, tax considerations and your
tolerance for investment risk.
Generally, the younger the child,
the more you should consider
growth stocks. Over time they
have outperformed bonds and
cash-equivalentinvestments. As
the child gets closer to college
age, you should shift assets into
bonds, money market funds and
other investments that offer
greater safety and liquidity. Of
course, if you stay up nights wor
ryihg about your money, stick to
low-risk savings and investments
from the start.
Stocks. Because they outper
form most other investmentsover
time, stocks are excellent for a
college investment program, es
pecially if you start early. Also,
gains on stocks are taxed at a
maximum long-term capital gains
rate of 20 percent.
fi‘onds. If you are too conser-
Ambasa Gift Shop leaves downtown
By ijoflly Cox
AUGAISTA FOCUS Staff Writer
. AUGUSTA
Twenty years ago, Ambasa Gift
Shopownersaskedthemselves: Can
an African-oriented boutique and
retailoutlet find successin the heart
of Dixie? In hind sight, the answer
is yes!
Andnow, theshopismovingfrom
its current downtown Augusta lo
cation to a newer site on
Wrightsboroßoad. Proprietors Paul
Ali Allen and his wife Sala Adenike
Allert have faith that the move will
result in more convenience for cus
tomers and future business suc
cess. .
Accordingto Mrs. Allen, the shop
ismovingbecause of proposed plans
.ge ® ° $ 95 |
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vative to invest in stocks, or if
your child is only a few years from
starting college, consider bonds.
In most cases, the longer the ma
turity of the bond, the greater the
yield. You will want tobe aware of
the credit quality ofthebonds and
be sure that funds earmarked for
college are invested in relatively
high-quality bond issues. Stag
gering your bond maturities, a
strategy called laddering, can help
you take advantage of higher yields
onlonger-term issues. Thisstrat
egy is also a good planning device
because portions of your invest
ments will mature as you need
money for each year’s tuition.
Tax-free municipal bonds give
youincome free from federal taxes
(and often, state and local taxes).
Municipal bonds that are subject
to the Alternative Minimum Tax
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by city of Augusta planners to raze
buildings located between the 800
and 900 blocks of Broad Street to
construct what’s called Augusta
Commons; a green space or park
area to adjoin Augusta Riverwalk
with Broad Street. Mrs. Allen, a
e
el
AUGUSTAFOCUS
(AMT) usually have a higheryield.
Check with your tax advisor about
how this tax may affect you.
You can invest in stocks and
bonds individually or through
mutual funds or unit investment
trusts. These products are avail
able at low premium investments
and are convenient for systematic
investing.
Life Insurance. Some life in
surance policies that invest your
net premiums in stocks or bonds
can be excellent for college fund
ing programs. You may be able to
keep the policy in force and bor
row against the cash value —with
out tax liability — for college. Of
course, withdrawals reduce the
amount of your insurance.
Custodial Accounts. Placing
assets in the child’s name in a
custodial account can help you re
duce taxes on your college invest
ment program. For a child under
age 14, the first S7OO in annual
unearned income is tax-free. The
next S7OO is taxed at the child’s
rate (usually 15 percent). Income
beyond $1,400 is taxed at your tax
bracket. At age 14, all income
above S7OO is taxed at the child’s
rate. g
Constance
9. Woods
Orinancial
Consultant
native New Yorker (Queens), said
the city plans impacted their deci
sion to move — especially when
they noticed their leaser failed to
renovate their building.
But, with recent growth in
Augusta’s downtown sector, may
Remember: All gifts to chil
dren are irrevocable. Also,
when the child reaches legal
age (between 18 and 21 in most
states), he or she gains control
ofthecustodial account. Creat
ing a trust will give you more
control over the money but they
can be expensive to set up be
causetheyrequirean attorney’s
assistance. Also, assets in a
child’sname aregiven agreater
weight than assets held by the
parents when determining fi
nancial aid.
Check with a tax advisor be
fore settingup any account spe
cifically for your child’s educa
tion. However, don’t wait until
your child receives a college
acceptance to address theissue
of how you will pay for this
education. The sooner you be
gin to save, the more time your
funds will have to grow and the
easier it will be to achieve this
major goal.
Constance Woods is a finan
cial consultant with Robinson-
Humphrey, a subsidiary of
Salomon Smith Barney. For
more information, contact
Constance at (706) 823-8144 or
a ¢
constance.l.woods@rssmb.com.
one call the Allen’s decision prema
ture? Not so, says Mrs. Allen.
“We thought about it. But our
customers said they’d prefer if we
weren’t downtown. They want the
convenience of us being near the
(Augusta) Mall. So, as of Friday,
Nov. 24, Ambasa Gift Shop will
relocate to 3351 Wrightsboro Road
in the Broyhill Park Shopping Cen
ter.
Dubbed the “CSRA’s African
Cultural Resource Center” by its
owners, the shop specializes in a
products unique to African Ameri
cans, although equally attractive to
other ethnic groups. They sell sil
ver, gold, brass and copper jewelry;
Africanbooks and health foods. For
details, call the new number at
706.731.0010.
MOVIN’ ON
— Paul Ali
Allen shows
the newest
location of
Ambasa Gift
Shop, 3351
Wrightsboro
Road.
Photo by Timothy
Cox
Business
Sun Trust promotes
Anderson to banking officer
Delores Anderson has been pro
moted to banking officer. Ander
son, a Sun Trust employee since
1975, isthe assistant branch man
ager of the bank’s Peach Orchard
Road office.
Sun Trust Banks, Inc. is a pre
mier financial services company
based in Atlanta, and the nation’s
10* largest commercial banking
organization. The company pro
vides a wide range of services to
meet the financial needs of its
growing customer base in Ala
bama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland,
Tennessee, Virginia and the Dis
trict of Columbia. Its primary
businessesinclude traditional de
posit and credit services as well as
trust and investment services.
Through various subsidiaries the
company provides credit cards,
Bank of America announces Brigham
as new assistant vice president
Bank of America named Phil
Brigham as assistant vice presi
dent and client manager at the
Medical Center office. Brigham
will be joining the Premier Bank
ing team on November 27.
“We are thrilled to have the
opportunity to add to our staff
someone who will make banking
work for the people of Augusta in
ways it never has before,” said
Gerald Wade, Bank of America
Premier Banking Market man
ager. “Phil brings to our group
outstandingbusiness development
and relationship management
skills.”
Most recently, Brigham served
asacommercial bankingofficerin
Augusta where he managed and
expanded a commercial portfolio.
Brigham received a bachelor of
business administration from the
University of Georgiain 1992 and
a master of business administra
tion from Augusta State Univer-
Discover Your Destiny,
Check Out the Augusta Focus
Classifieds
[ .
. Sl
Delores Anderson
mortgagebanking,insurance,data
processing and information ser
vices, brokerage and investment
services.
sity in 1999.
Anative of Augusta, Brighamis
amember of both the Chamber of
Commerce Ambassadors Cluband
the Exchange Club of Richmond
County. He also is a graduate of
the National Outdoor Leadership
School Semester in Kenya and a
member of the Leadership Au
gusta Class of 2000.
Bank of America, with $672 bil
lion in assets, is the largest bank
in the United States. It has full
service operations in 21 states
and the District of Columbia and
provides financial products and
services to 30 million households
and two million businesses, as
well as international corporate
financial services for business
transactionsin 190 countries. The
company’s stock (ticker: BAC) is
listed on the New York, Pacific
and London stock exchanges, and .
certain shares are listed on the
Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Visit the ALLTEL representative
at Wal-Mart or one of these
convenient locations:
Augusta
Washington Crossing Shopping Center
2903 Washington Rd.
(706) 738-0245
Hours: M-F 8-6, Sat 10-4
3456 Wrightsboro Rd q
(706) 737-0455
Hours: M-Sat 9-6
Evans
4274 Washington Rd.
Evans Towne Centre
(706) 228-3216
Hours: M-F 10-7, Sat 10-5
Aiken
Hitchcock Plaza
403-F Silverbluff Rd
(803) 643-7643
Hours: M-F 9-6, Sat 10-4
Wal-Mart Locations:
Augusta
3209 Deans Bridge Rd.
(706) 790-9737
Martinez
596 Bobby Jones Exp
(706) 860-0170
Thomson
2205 Harrison Rd
(706) 597-8534