Greetings!
During the last few months I've been thinking of a way to keep in touch wtih our clients and friends on a more regular basis--about the same time one of my clients suggested an E-mail newsletter. As some of you might remember, during my very unsuccessful run for Sheriff a few years ago I used a weekly email to all my supporters to help generate ideas and activity for the campaign. The email proved not only beneficial to the campaign, but also very helpful for me in organizing my weekly and monthly activities. So, somewhere in the back of my mind I've always wanted to get one of these going with CIA--and finally here it is; the first edition of Chesapeake Investment Advisors, Inc, E-newsletter. I hope you like it--I will try to keep it informal, easy & pleasant to read. While I will cover some investment topics, the email will be personal too--besides, we are flooded by information from a number of sources concerning financial matters--heck, I get five or six magazines a week on this stuff--so I don't want to be the next Forbes Email blast--just something fun to read. If you would rather not receive these in the future it is quite simple to unsubscribe--or of course, you can merely delete the thing. But if you hang in here for a while--I think you'll like these. And don't worry about someone seeing your email address--they can't. Plus, as for the legalities, rest assured that the Compliance Section at Geneos will be ever diligent to insure all of the appropriate disclaimers and warnings are present.
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April 15 is Deadline for IRA Contributions for Tax-Year 2008
The IRA Custodian must receive your check by the 15th. |
| OK, so not only is April 15 the day your taxes must be in--it is also the day the custodian must receive your 2008 tax-year IRA contribution. So if you are planning on making an IRA contribution for 2008 please drop it off at the office here by April 10 and we will overnight it to the appropriate custodian.
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| Book I am currently reading:
Guns, Germs & Steel (1997) Jared Diamond
W. W. Norton--Publisher
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Requirement to take 2009 Minimum Distributions Suspended
If you're not over 70 1/2 don't worry about this section |
Just before Christmas, Congress passed, and President Bush signed into law a bill suspending the Required Minimum Distributions (RMD's) from Qualified Retirement accounts. If you are over 70 ½ you most likely know what a RMD is-it's the IRS rule that says you must begin to take withdrawals from your IRA or other tax-deferred accounts/retirement plans, like 401K's or 403b's. Required withdrawal amounts are pro-rated depending on your age. The bad thing about distributions from tax-deferred accounts is that they are taxed as income-and depending on the amount you're forced to take out-can amount to significant money going off to Uncle Sam. Therefore, the ability to not take your RMD can save you taxes owed for 2009. Plus, if your account was invested in the stock market during a horrendous 2008 it might make sense to postpone selling your investments at current prices and give them some time to possibly regain some of their lost value. The suspension of RMD's may provide additional planning opportunities; for example, if forgoing your IRA distribution holds your income below the $100,000 threshold, an IRA to Roth IRA conversion might make sense this year. While you would pay income tax on the conversion-the Roth IRA does away with RMD's and income tax in future years.
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