Archive: Business & Technology

RE/MAX IN MOTION is pleased to announce that Shari Landsman has joined their real estate team.

“We welcome Shari and her enthusiasm, and experience and knowledge of the area market.” Said Melissa Miller, broker/owner of RE/MAX IN MOTION. “She will be an invaluable asset to our real estate team.”

(Ithaca, NY) - The Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce will outline the successes it built upon in 2006 and it’s upcoming plans to encourage young people to begin their careers here, when it holds it’s 121st annual meeting and dinner on Thursday January 25th, 2007. The meeting and dinner will be held at Ithaca Colleges’ Emerson Suites beginning at 5:30. It will be an opportunity for outgoing Chamber Board of Directors Chairperson Kyle Tuttle to review the past successes that the Chamber built upon in 2006. Chairperson-Elect David Iles will then outline his agenda for the Chamber in 2007.

Tuttle chose a theme of “Building on our Success” for 2006. He says, “I am pleased to report that in 2006 we built on our success and we were able to successfully achieve each one of our goals for the year. As businesses succeed, they grow, they create new jobs and they need bigger space or new space. The investment of capital in construction this past year along with current capital investments in Tompkins County is truly amazing.”

You can lose your gloves. You can lose your keys. But you'd never lose track of your investments, would you?

Actually, you might be surprised at just how many people do forget about investments, or leave them behind when they move. Every state maintains unclaimed-property offices to deal with millions of dollars worth of stocks, bonds, bank accounts, un-cashed checks, pensions, 401(k)s and IRAs.

Are you thinking of striking out on your own and joining the growing ranks of the self-employed? It's an exciting prospect - and possibly a little scary. But you can remove some of the fear by doing whatever you can to prepare yourself financially for life as an entrepreneur.

What steps can you take? Here are a few to consider:

During your working years, if you save money diligently and make wise investment choices, you have a good chance of enjoying a comfortable retirement. But will you be taking proper care of your family after you're gone? The only way to answer that question is to do proper estate planning - and trusts can be a key element of your estate plan.

How do trusts work? As the grantor of a trust, you set up the rules and appoint a trustee, who manages the trust and its assets. You and other donors then fund the trust with securities and other assets. The trustee collects these gifts and invests the money according to the rules of the trust, which will also determine the trust's beneficiary - the recipient of the trust's proceeds.

WASHINGTON, DC, January 10, 2007 –Each January businesses bear responsibility for preparing W-2s and other tax-related employer tasks, an especially challenging duty for small businesses with fewer resources than larger businesses. Self-employed business owners also face their final estimated tax payment in January. Business.gov, the official business link to the U.S. government, provides federal form searches so visitors may quickly find and download U.S. federal tax forms and guides.

“January may be a stressful time for a business owner, and one of Business.gov’s goals is to ease the burden of federal compliance on businesses and make it easier to comply with regulations,” said SBA Administrator Steven C. Preston.

Once again, it's time to make New Year's resolutions. If you can succeed in your efforts to exercise more, travel, learn a new language or any of the other worthy goals you might have, you can expand your horizons and enjoy a better quality of life. But if you want to make an even bigger impact on your future, you may want to make - and keep - financial resolutions for the coming year.

As with all resolutions, the financial ones are easier to keep if they don't force you to drastically change your lifestyle. So, with that in mind, here are a few attainable financial resolutions to consider for 2007:

Many people have been investing for a long time and their goals, such as retirement, are years away. Therefore, they consider themselves to be long-term investors. But are they?

Real long-term investors aren't necessarily those people who have been investing for many years or who have their eyes on distant goals - although those two elements are important. True long-term investors share several common traits. Let's consider some of them:

It's time for all the financial experts to make their predictions for 2007. Some will say the stock market will keep rising over the next year, while others will claim the market will fall. How about interest rates, inflation, oil prices and any number of other factors? With very little effort, you can find conflicting opinions on all these subjects. How can you base your investment strategies on such an uncertain forecast?

You can't - and you shouldn't.

In fact, you'll be better off if you stop asking questions that have no answers. No one can really tell you where the Dow Jones Industrial Average will be in 12 months, nor the price of a barrel of oil, nor the interest rate on a 10-year Treasury note. Even more importantly, the specifics of the financial markets over the next year are just about meaningless to you if you will be investing for another two or three decades.

The holidays are upon us, which means that it's time, once again, to search for those "perfect" gifts. This year, why not add financial gifts to your shopping list? They can make a big difference in the lives of the people you care about.

What types of financial gifts should you consider giving? Let's look at a few possibilities:

• Contributions to Section 529 plans - If you have a child (or grandchild) that will be headed off to college in a few years, you may want to contribute to a Section 529 college savings plan. Your contributions may be tax deductible if you are participating in your own state's plan. Plus, your earnings and withdrawals will be exempt from federal taxes as long as the money goes toward paying college costs. (However, withdrawals used for expenses other than qualified education expenses may be subject to federal, state and penalty taxes.)

If you're like most people, you're probably amazed at how fast the year went by. But while you've still got a few weeks left in 2006, take the time to consider some year-end financial moves. Here are a few to think about:

• Review your investment strategies. Your life can change significantly over the course of a year. You may have gotten married or remarried; you might have had a child or grandchild; you might have decided to change jobs or open your own business - the list could go on and on. And for every single one of these changes in your life, you very well might need to change your investment strategies.

The feeling was jubilant as officials, engineers, and contractors gathered at the Village of Lansing Office last Friday for a ribbon cutting to officially mark the completion of the Triphammer Road reconstruction project.  Village Trustees, planning board members, County Legislator Dooley Keefer, and Town Supervisor Steve Farkas were among 30 guests who joined Mayor Don Hartill to celebrate the completion of a project that was more than 15 years in the making.  "It has really transformed the Village," said Hartill.