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Chris Kinnas
Investment Advice
Plan your
investment
moves for the
new year
Each New Year, most of us
vow to improve one aspect
or another of our lives.
However, we don’t always
rush to carry out our resolu
tions. But if you’ve prom
ised yourself that “this is
the year” that you’re really
going to stay on top of your
financial and investment
situations, you’ll want to
get started now.
Start by reviewing your
family and career circum
stances. Will there be any
significant changes in your
life in 2005? If so, they
almost certainly will have
an impact on how you save
and invest. Consider these
factors:
• New child - If you’ve
recently added a child to
your family, or you plan to
add one in 2005, you have a
lot to be happy about. And
you also have a lot to pro
tect. Make sure you have
enough life insurance to
help raise and educate your
chilcts •should something
h<4?peli to you.'. Also, it’s
never too soon to set up a
college fund for a child, so
you might want to open a
Section 529 plan or a
Coverdell Education
Savings Account.
• Child heading to college
- If your child is heading off
to college in the fall, it’s
time to put your college
funding strategies in high
gear. Now that it’s past Jan.
1, you can complete the
Free Application for Federal
Student Aid (FAFSA) at
www.fafsa.ed.gov. Also, you
may want to shift some
assets from your child’s
name to yours; colleges typ
ically expect students to
contribute 35 percent of
their money toward college
expenses - but you are
required to kick in only
around 5.6 percent. And
you’ll want to contribute as
much as you can to whatev
er investments you’ve desig
nated for college.
• Salary increase - Are
you getting a raise this
year? If so, try to invest at
least part of it. For example,
you may want to increase
your contributions to your
IRA or 401(k). Both these
retirement-savings vehicles
offer tax advantages and a
range of investment
options. Furthermore, both
have higher contribution
limits in 2005, so even if you
“maxed out” last year, you
can put in more this year.
• Retirement - If you’re
planning to retire in 2005,
you have many issues to
consider. You may need to
take distributions from
your employer-sponsored
retirement plan or IRA. You
also might have to decide
whether you should begin
accepting Social Security.
And you’ll want to ensure
that your investment port
folio is properly balanced
for your retirement years.
Keep in mind that you may
enjoy a healthy, active
retirement for two or three
decades, so your invest
ments must provide you
with growth opportunities
as well as current income.
Your investment and tax
advisers can help you deter
mine the best moves to
See KINNAS, page 84
TUESDAY,
JANUARY 4, 2005
Pierce Travel named small business of month
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submitted
The Warner Robins Area Chamber of Commerce presented the December 2004 Small
Business of the Month Award to Andrew Pierce Travel, 1221 South Houston Lake Road.
Morgan named employee of month
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submitted
The Warner Robins Area Chamber of Commerce presented the December 2004
Employee of the Month Award to Erika Morgan of Fickling & Company, 151 South
Houston Lake Road.
(To send in your event for
the Business Calendar, fax
the details to 988-1181, e
mail to hhj@evansnewspa
pers.com or mail to Houston
Home Journal, PO. Box
1910, Perry, GA 31069. The
deadline for inclusion is 5
p.m. Fridays.)
Jan. 11: Starting your
Own Business
WARNER ROBINS - This
seminar, sponsored by the
University of Georgia Small
Business Development
Center, will teach the
requirements for starting
your own business. Topics
include financing, business
plan formation, legal issues,
and more. The class will be
from 6 until 8 p.m. at the
ATDC Building, 151 Osigian
Blvd. Prepaid registration is
required; cost is S4O. (478)
751-6592.
Jan. 27: Selling
Through Customer
Service
WARNER ROBINS - This
seminar, sponsored by the
University of Georgia Small
Business Development
Center, will show how a
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business can compete with
anyone. The class will be
from 6 until 8 p.m. at the
ATDC Building, 151 Osigian
Blvd. Prepaid registration is
required; cost is S4O. (478)
751-6592.
Feb. 8: Writing a
Successful Business Plan
WARNER ROBINS - This
seminar, sponsored by the
University of Georgia Small
Business Development
Center, will show how a
business plan helps you
start, build and manage
your business. Participants
will receive a detailed plan
ning outline and other infor
mation to help develop a
plan immediately. The class
will be from 6 until 8 p.m. at
the Advanced Technology
Development Center, 151
Osigian Blvd. Prepaid regis
tration is required; cost is
S4O. (478) 751-6592.
Feb. 9: Starting your
Own Business
(Open to Robins Air Force
Base personnel only)
WARNER ROBINS - This
seminar, sponsored by the
University of Georgia Small
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requirements for starting
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include financing, business
plan formation, legal issues,
and more. The class will be
from 9 a.m. until noon.
Prepaid registration is
required; cost is S4O. (478)
926-1256.
March 8: Starting your
Own Business
WARNER ROBINS - This
seminar, sponsored by the
University of Georgia Small
Business Development
Center, will teach the
requirements for starting
your own business. Topics
include financing, business
plan formation, legal issues,
and more. The class will be
from 6 until 8 p.m. at the
ATDC Building, 151 Osigian
Blvd. Prepaid registration is
required; cost is S4O. (478)
751-6592.
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Involving employees
In option generation
When I work with
clients, I teach a simple
“Choice Model” that
allows the leaders of the
organization to have a
common language for
making improvements.
When we humans make
decisions, we go through a
two-step process. First,
we generate possibilities.
Then we select from
among those options the
particular one we believe
will best satisfy the need
facing us at the moment.
Most of the time, we
don’t consciously separate
our decision-making into
the two steps of “option
generation” and “option
selection.” We usually
make our choices so
quickly that an outside
observer would not be
aware that we considered
anything more than a sin
gle option.
I speculate (from my
own experience) that
many times we DON’T
consider more than a sin
gle option. For example,
actions that we take based
on an emotional response
to a situation often just
seem to burst out of us -
with what appears to be
NO consideration of any
other alternative.
As I age and as I work
with leaders, however, I’m
finding that consciously
considering alternatives
prior to making decisions
pays off!
My objective with this
column is to encourage
you to build into your
thinking, planning, and
decision-making processes
a stronger, more explicit
“option-generation" step.
Organizationally, I
encourage that you do so
in a way that engages the
individuals who actually
do the work.
Having been deeply
involved in the “participa
tive management” move
ment of the past thirty
years, I’m convinced that
“option-generation” is the
key to successful involve
ment of employees. There
are two major advantages
of encouraging employee
participation in option
generation.
First, there is a huge
increase in the natural
sense of ownership and
commitment among indi
viduals who are involved
in the decision-making
process. I emphasize the
word “PROCESS.” They
don’t have to be the deci
sion-MAKERS, as long as
they have some role in
generating the options
and considering the
advantages and disadvan
tages of each.
Second, with more
minds involved in option
generation, there will be
Assessing Your
Leadership Skills
-SBS/person-
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"Have Cameras, Will Travel"
Dennis Hooper
. . . even greater things . . .
dhooper2@juno.com
more ideas expressed.
Further, these ideas will
be practical and applica
tion-oriented, since their
source is the people who
know and are involved in
the daily procedures.
How do you involve
employees in option-gen
eration? If you read my
weekly column routinely,
you’ve seen many exam
ples. Not long ago, I wrote
of client efforts to develop
mission and vision state
ments. I’ve also described
daylong events for articu
lating the values of an
organization. These are
not the normal daily
activities of workers in an
organization, but it is
amazing to see the energy
generated when they have
clear direction and the
freedom to use their
thoughts and experiences!
I advise that many
employees be involved in
the early stages of gener
ating strategic plans.
Historically, this lias been
the purview of a Wect few
at the upper levels of the
hierarchy. I agree that
those charged with the
responsibility of leading
the company should make
the final decisions for the
organization’s direction.
However, inviting the peo
ple who actually do the
work to think about what
they’ll be doing and how
they’ll be doing it creates
extensive buy-in.
I’ve involved up to a
third of an organization in
doing strategic planning.
The demands of “leader
ship” always become
clearer to those individu
als. Once they understand
the lack of certainty that
exists in the environment
in which their organiza
tion functions, they have
a greater appreciation for
what is involved in mak
ing choices about the
organization’s direction.
I encourage you to con
sider ways in which you
can involve the individu
als in your organization in
generating options and
offering suggestions for
improvement in the con
duct of your business!
F. Dennis Hooper
Certified
Leadership Development Coach
Building leaders and
organizations of excellence
(478) 988-0237 dhooper2@juno.com
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