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Chris Kinnas
Investment Advice
Take advantage ot
all IRA opportunities
As you know, the tax-fil
ing deadline is fast
approaching. Of course, if
you’ve already filed your
taxes, April 15 is just anoth
er day. But it’s a significant
date for another reason: It’s
the last day you can con
tribute to your IRA for the
2004 tax year. So, if you
haven’t “maxed out” your
IRA yet, take action now.
You can contribute up to
$3,000 - or $3,500 if you’re
50 or older - to either a tra
ditional or Roth IRA for
2004. (For the 2005 tax year,
you can put up to $4,000
into your IRA, or $4,500 if
you’re 50 or older.) Your tra
ditional IRA contributions
may or may not be tax
deductible, but in any case,
your earnings grow on a
tax-deferred basis.
Although Roth IRA contri
butions are not tax
deductible, your earnings
will grow totally tax-free,
provided you meet certain
conditions. (Keep in mind,
however, than if you take
Roth or traditional IRA dis
tributions before you reach
age 59 1/2, you may be sub
* tject to a 10% IRS penalty,
along'with ordinary income
taxes.)
Do whatever it takes to
fully fund your IRA, every
single year. If you find it
hard to come up with the
entire amount in a lump
sum, divide the contribu
tion limit by 12, and make
monthly payments. To
make it even easier on your
self, set up a bank authori
zation so that the money is
taken directly from your
checking or savings account
and placed into your IRA.
Consider a Rollover
You have more than one
way to fund an IRA. For
example, if you are planning
to leave your job, you can
roll over all or part of the
taxable portion of your
401(k) distribution - pretax
contributions, employer
contributions and all earn
ings - into an existing tradi
tional IRA. You also can roll
over after-tax 401(k) salary
deferrals, but transferring
these contributions could
lead to taxable conse
quences.
If you roll your 401(k)
over to a traditional IRA,
you can build the value of
your existing account and
continue to make contribu
tions. And you could even
tually “convert” your tradi
tional IRA into a tax-free
Roth IRA, but you will have
to pay the taxes that this
conversion would trigger.
When you roll over your
401(k), you’ll get some key
advantages. First, you’ll
avoid all immediate taxes
and penalties. Second,
you’ll continue to benefit
from tax deferral. And
third, your IRA may offer
more investment options
than a 401(k) plan.
While a rollover from a
401(k) to an IRA does offer
some important benefits, it
isn’t your only choice when
you depart a job. For exam
ple, you could leave your
401(k) assets with your old
employer, if the plan per
mits. Or, if you are taking a
new job, you might be able
to move your 401(k) assets
into a new plan. Also, you
could just cash out your
See KINNAS, page 7A
TUESDAY,
APRIL 5, 2005
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HHJ/Teresa D. Southern
Happy Wyatt of the Perry Animal Shelter received $547 from the Kroger Company. J.C.
Smith of the Perry Kroger said Kroger supports the community and regularly gives food
to the shelter in Perry. Wyatt said the money will be used by the shelter to purchase
kennel decking and any other improvements that will be made at the shelter. She said
it would also be added to the building fund that will used to build a new shelter.
i * ~ iSar' ttMBK ■« j ™ ...
submitted
Robins Federal Credit Union employee Christol Clymer and “Pillowcases For Kids”
campaign director Chris Sikes display some of the donations collected from employ
ees of Robins Federal
Robins Federal Credit Union employees
send sick children sweet dreams
Special to HHJ
WARNER ROBINS.—
Children who are admitted
to Egleston Children’s
Hospital in Atlanta will be
treated to sweet dreams
thanks to employees of
Robins Federal Credit
Union, who donated 56 pil
lowcases to the “Pillowcases
For Kids” campaign.
Childhood cancer survivor
and local R.N., Chris Sikes
remembers her mother
bringing her own linens to
make treatment more com
fortable while staying at
(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, P.O. Box
1910, Perry, GA 31069. The
deadline for inclusion is 5
p.m. Fridays.)
Tuesday, April 12:
Secrets of Small
Business Marketing
Strategies
WARNER ROBINS - This
seminar, sponsored by the
University of Georgia Small
Business
Kroger donates to shelter
Egleston, devised the cam
paign.
Every child who is admit
ted into the hospital will
receive a decorative pillow
case in their admission kit.
“So far, with all of the dona
tions we have received, we
will be able to stock
Eglestons new admission
kits for four years,” Sikes
said. “Due to generous
community support from
individuals, social clubs,
churches, and businesses
like Robins Federal Credit
Union, the campaign will
BUSINESS CALENDAR
Business Development
Center, will focus on ways to
get customers in the door,
making the sale, and keep
ing customers coming back.
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.
Wednesday, April 13:
Starting your Own
Business
ROBINS AIR FORCE
BASE - This seminar, spon
Subscribe today • Call 987-1823
soon expand to many other
hospitals that treat chil
dren,” she said.
Egleston Children’s
Hospital is one of the largest
pediatric healthcare systems
in the country.
Robins Federal has been a
not-for-profit, cooperative
financial service provider
for the past 50 years. With
18 branches located
throughout Georgia, Robins
Federal currently provides
financial services to over
128,000 members and has
assets exceeding SB4B mil
lion.)
sored by the University of
Georgia Small Business
Development Center, will
teach the requirements for
starting your own business.
Topics include market
research, legal structures
for your business, estimat
ing startup costs and cash
flow projection, financing
alternatives, failure factors,
and business planning.
Open to Robins AFB person
nel only.
The class will be from 9
a.m. until noon. (478) 926-
1256.
Serving your employees
Several weeks ago, I
briefly recommended
“The Secret: What Great
Leaders Know and Do” by
Ken Blanchard and Mark
Miller. I have given copies
of this book to some of my
clients. For a few, it was to
support their growth as
leaders. For others, it was
to change their paradigm
of leadership.
I confess that the book
is a bit simplistic.
However, the principles
contained in the book are
excellent.
The book describes a
series of mentoring ses
sions that newly promot
ed Debbie Brewster has
with Jeff Brown, presi
dent of the company. After
a few months of meetings,
their mutual respect and
trust has grown. Debbie
has applied Jeff’s counsel,
with improved results and
relationships on her team.
Debbie asks Jeff how
she can let the people in
her department know
that she really cares about
them. She wonders if it is
appropriate to ask about
their personal goals and
how they spend their time
away from work.
Jeff responds by
describing a situation
when his team was doing
annual planning. In addi
tion to reviewing their
work plans and goals for
the coming year, he
offered: “If you’ll share
with me things that you
would like to accomplish
in your life outside of
work, I’ll help any way I
can.”
Jeff continued his expla
nation: “I told them that
if they would share with
me the top five things
they wanted to Be, Do,
Have, and Help in their
lifetime, I would do all
that I could to assist them
in achieving those 20
things.”
Debbie asked if Jeff had
been able to support these
individuals under his
authority. Jeff gave an
example of his contribu
tion in each of these four
areas:
• To a man who wanted
to fee a great father, he
gave a compact disc on the
topic.
• For a woman who
wanted to attend the
Masters golf tournament,
he obtained tickets for
her.
• For a woman who
wanted to have a more
balanced life, he provided
Assessing Your
Leadership Skills
-SBS/person
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A
OVERTON JEWELERS
905 Downtown Carroll St. • Perry
478-987-1392
LOOK
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Dennis Hooper
.. . even greater things.. .
dhooper2@juno.com
a helpful book and some
related coaching.
• To a man who wanted
to help the homeless, he
introduced the director of
the downtown shelter.
Debbie was surprised
that Jeff 6 team members
had been willing to share
their personal-life desires
with him. Jeff admitted
that not all of them did, at
least not at first. Further,
he confessed that he could
not have even made the
offer early in his career.
“I was not a serving
leader. Unfortunately, I
was a self-serving
leader.... Life was not
about them, it was all
about me. I’m not proud of
it, but I’m thankful for
the experience....
Someone saw potential in
me and helped me under
stand that the rewards of
becoming a serving leader
were far greater than
being a self-serving one.”
Well, “The Secret” is
out! Great leaders serve
those who look to them
for guidance.
You might wonder why I
chose to share this partic
ular piece of the book.
First, Jeff clearly served
his direct reports by sup
porting their personal
interests.
Additionally, Jeff served
his team members by cre
ating an environment
where it was safe for each
employee to explore his or
her personal vision. Many
individuals in our society
- probably those in your
organization - are unable
to describe what they
want from life.
By asking these individ
uals to consider what they
want to be, do, have, and
help in their personal
lives, this exemplary
leader guided his employ
ees to prepare a healthy
context for their work life.
What a valuable service
for a leader to provide!
F. Dennis Hooper
Certified
Leadership Development Coach
Building leaders and
organizations of excellence
(478) 988-0237 dhooper2@juno.com
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