What is an ICE DAM? Get the Facts to Prevent a Claim  

What is an ice dam?

An ice dam is a ridge of ice that forms at the edge of a roof and prevents melting snow (water) from draining off the roof.  The water that backs up behind the dam can leak into a home and cause damage to walls, ceilings, insulation, and other areas. 

What causes ice dams?

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Alpha Property & Casualty 

 Mark Becker,  216-520-3300 ext. 169 or

 Stephanie Stadler, 216-520-3300 ext. 166

Toll free 800-886-3315

From the Desk of Renee Kral, Alpha Wellness Department

March is National Nutrition Month

Fruits and vegetables come in all colors of the rainbow.  There are red apples, orange peppers, yellow squash, green kale, blueberries and purple eggplant!  Eating each color of the rainbow in fruits and vegetables assures you are getting a variety of vitamins and nutrients.  Each color of fruit and vegetables contains different nutrients. 

Green - promotes healthy vision and reduced cancer risks

Orange and deep yellow - promotes healthy vision and immunity and reduced cancer risk 

Purple and blue - promotes anti-aging, supplies antioxidants, and may help with memory and reduced cancer risks

Keep reading and download complete Wellness Issue #9

A Mortgage On Your IRA, and Other Tax Problems
 

A Dow Jones Column, December 2010

 

When it comes to creating a retirement-income plan, you want to allocate assets so they grow in the most tax-efficient manner possible--and the same is true when it is time to withdraw money from your retirement

portfolio.

 

But what is the best way to do that? And what mistakes should you avoid with your IRAs? At a recent roundtable discussion sponsored by MarketWatch, two top retirement experts discussed some tactics for creating tax-efficient retirement plans--and mistakes to avoid.

 

A Mortgage On Your IRA

 

IRA owners should think about the value of their accounts more on an after-tax basis and less on a pre-tax basis. A million dollar IRA is, at least for those in the 35% tax bracket, really a $650,000 IRA on an after-tax basis, said Natalie Choate, an attorney with Nutter McClennen & Fish, author of "Life and Death Planning for Retirement Benefits," and a nationally known speaker and writer on IRAs.

 

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Alpha Financial Services

Geoff Novack