Congress Enacts New Laws Making Iras Better Than Ever!

Have you heard of the "non-deductible" IRA? I'm not referring to the ROTH IRA, but a traditional IRA that many people are stuck with as their only option (for various reasons that make investing in other types of IRAs unavailable).

In those cases, the IRS allows you to contribute to a traditional IRA, but NOT take a tax deduction for it.

You still get tax-deferred growth, but during retirement your earnings (interest and capital gains) will be taxed, but not the contribution amounts.

Did you know that Congress has enacted a new law to encourage everyone to convert their traditional IRAs (whether deducted or not) into ROTH IRAs during the year 2010.

High income earners ($99,000-$114,000) filing as a single in 2007 and ($156,000-$166,000) for joint tax returns cannot fully fund a ROTH IRA. Those with Modified Adjusted Incomes of more cannot fund a ROTH at all!

You may remember that with ROTH IRAs, there is no tax deduction --- but the flip side is that when you take out the money properly... you don't pay income taxes! But I encourage everyone that qualifies for a ROTH IRA to contribute to one -- especially the younger folks!

Also, workers who have a retirement plan available at work such as a 401(K), may be excluded from investing in a deductible IRA as well depending upon their income. For singles with income of Modified Adjusted Income of $52,000-$62,000 and joint filers with $83,000-$93,000 who have access to retirement plans at work face restrictions on the deductiblity of IRA contributions.

So what are these people supposed to do to better prepare for retirement?

They can (under most circumstances) invest in a non-deductible IRA. Congress recently made this planning option more attractive than ever due to new laws allowing you to convert these NON-DEDUCTIBLE IRAs into ROTH IRAs in 2010 - and do so regardless of your income.

Plus, Congress made the deal even sweeter for you. You don't even have to pay any income tax due on converting to a ROTH that year. In fact, the IRS will allow you to pay the income tax over two years (2011 and 2012). So you get a tax-free "loan" in 2010 (no extra tax due that year) and then have two years to pay the tax due for converting to a ROTH. Nice!

Then you have a ROTH IRA for which taxes will NOT be due when taking distributions during retirement. That is a very good thing!

So if your income disqualifies you from funding ROTH IRAs now, simply fund a traditional IRA (take the deduction now) or a fund a non-deductible one, depending upon your individual circumstances. If you are under age 50 you can contribute up to $4,000 in 2007. Those 50 or over can fund up to $5,000.

If you haven't funded a 2006 IRA yet -- even if you already filed your 2006 tax return, you can still do so. But only if it is prior to April 17 OR you have requested an extension. Simply file the IRS Form 1040X to amend your return to include the IRA deduction. (Ask you tax advisor about this).

So put as much money in these accounts as you can and then convert them into a ROTH IRA in 2010. That year will be here before you know it!

And it gets even better!

In 2010, even money in SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs can be converted to ROTH IRAs. This is going to be a bonanza for the taxpayer in that they are paying taxes on IRA balances then in return for NO taxes on these funds (and their growth) during retirement.

For most people, the only money for retirement will be money that you sent ahead (and its growth). The more and earlier you send ahead (save), the better for YOU.

A List Of Great Fundraising Ideas

You may be looking for a list of fundraising ideas for your organization. Many different fundraising ideas exist and you need to think about the fundraisers carefully to find one that best suits your organization. When you see a list of fundraisers, you should also consider whether you could modify the original idea to better suit the needs of your organization and community.

The following is a list of fundraising ideas that other groups have used. You may find one that works for you.

Product Sales: many organizations sell products ranging from candles to cookie dough to candy bars. Online websites can help you see some of the different products your group could sell.

Discount Cards: this fundraiser has become increasingly popular. People love getting discounts off the businesses that they use everyday and they know that they'll soon get their money back in savings. You can either contact the businesses yourself or have the discount card company do the negotiating for you.

Themed Dinners: many groups have spaghetti dinners, soup suppers, or other special food offerings. This not only brings the community and organization together, but you can raise money as well. Some charge per person, per item, or ask for donations.

Walk-A-Thons: you can either have an entrance fee or have others sponsor a particular walker or runner. Many organizations are sponsoring 5k runs or other similar races to raise money and publicity. Ask local business to donate prizes.

Auctions: whether you want to do a silent auction or hire an auctioneer, auctions are a great way to raise money. Get local businesses and organization members to donate items and services. The up front cost on this can be very low and you can make a great deal of money depending on the items up for bid. Advertise your event and you're likely to get a wide range of community members attending as well.

Fundraising Events: events are a fun way to raise money. You might have a car wash, a rock-a-thon, or neighborhood fair. Depending on the event, you could have games for adults and kids and charge one entrance fee or a per game charge.

Many great fundraising ideas exist and with a little searching, you can find one that will raise money for your organization or product. Talk to other organization members to see which ideas they like. A list of fundraising ideas is a great place to start coming up with ideas for your group.

A Look At One Creator Of Sports Logos

The members of every sports team wear an embroidered logo somewhere on their sports gear. That embroidered logo is a symbol of pride. The makers of those logos are equally proud of their creations.

Who makes those embroidered logos? Does each city with a professional team have its own set of embroidery experts? If one were to look at the logo for the Philadelphia Phillies, one would get that impression. Their logo contains a liberty bell. It looks like a logo designed by a present-day Betsy Ross.

Yet “Ross” was not the last name of the family that did the embroidery for that logo. That family had a different last name. Their name was “Moritz.”

Before the depression, the Moritz family had a business focused on the making of embroidered lace. Then during the depression, Carl Moritz, the founder of the company, and two of his sons changed the nature of the company’s efforts. They got the employees to start doing the embroidery for the emblems put on sports uniforms.

At the time of its founding, 1885, the Moritz’ company was located on Vine Street in Philadelphia. In 1970 the company moved to northern Philadelphia. In 1986 the Moritz’ company moved much further north. It moved to the Pocono Mountains in northeastern Pennsylvania.

The Moritz family has been an important part of the embroidery industry for five generations. Carl Moritz, Jr., the grandson of the company’s founder, took time off during World War II to serve in the Marine Corps. After three years of service (1943-1946) he got an honorable discharge, and then he returned to Philadelphia to help with the family business.

His son and grandson have also lent their efforts to advancement of the skills required for making embroidered logos. They have made sure that the company has stayed in tune with the times. The youngest Moritz has created a new line of offerings called QDT Products. Those products are computer hardware and software for use in the embroidery industry.

By using such QDT Products, embroidered logos can be made much more efficiently. Design changes can be readily added to the available software. That makes it easier to train the employees who will make the embroidered logos.

With computers as part of the logo-making process, it is doubtful that sports logos will soon go out of style. They will probably be an important part of professional sports for quite some time.

7 Ways To Advertise Your Business For Free

1. Free directories: directories are perfect for customers that are searching for a particular topic. What’s great about them is that you only have to post once and they are good for long periods of time. It saves a lot of your time when you don’t have to resubmit your information every week or every month. The bad news is most of your traffic won’t come from here. I still feel it is worth it to get your link out there. Just take one day and set it aside for posting to free directories. You won’t need to do it again for at least 6 months.

2. Classified Ads: These are great for work from home businesses. Think about it. Where do people go when they are looking for a job? That’s right-the classifieds. The only downside to classified ads is that you have to resubmit them quite frequently. Once you find which classifieds bring you the most traffic you can concentrate on them and weed the others out. So it is really more time consuming in the beginning, and doesn’t have to be later on when you get the hang of things.

3. Free article submissions/ezines: The best way to inform others about your product or service is to write an article about it. In your authors resource box, you can tell readers about yourself and where they can go to check out your product or service. This is also an excellent way to get free links to your site if you have one. There are a lot of webmasters out there who are looking for good articles they can post on their site. If they post yours, that is another site that is doing the advertising for you. All for free.

4. URL Submissions: Probably the quickest and easiest thing to do to advertise your site. Just type “Free URL submission” in your search engine. When you get a list just enter the URL you are promoting and click submit. That’s it. It only takes a few seconds and your done. Just set a day aside once every 3 months and do this.

5. Forum Posts: Put your product or service website in your signature file when you sign up on some forums. It will be displayed every time you make a post. Try to look for topics that you have some knowledge on, and can give a relevant answer too. Do not spam anyone, you will get kicked off the forum and you will get a bad reputation. Get involved asking and answering questions that pertain to your area of business. Forums are great because once you make a post it stays there forever. It will get moved to the archives eventually, but someone could still find it if they were searching the archives. Yes, there are many people who do.

6. Traffic Exchanges: Probably the most time consuming way to advertise for free, but definately the most effective. Most forums I have visited have said in many posts that they received a lot of their profit from traffic exchanges. If you don’t want to spend the time surfing for credits, you do have the option of buying them. I would look into a program that lets you surf multiple websites at once like crazy browser. There are others and they are free to download. That way you can just spend one hour a day and get all your surfing in at once.

7. News-groups: Become involved in a group that has to do with your kind of business. You can usually mail the group once per day, but I would encourage you to find something fresh to talk about each day. People will tune you out if they see the same message all the time. Remember to never Spam anyone. Only join groups with the same interests as yours. In other words, don’t sign up for a recipe swapping group when you are advertising shaving cream.