Archive: Business & Technology

If you are a baby boomer - born between 1946 and 1963 - and your parents are still alive, you may want to talk to them about an important subject: their plans for leaving a legacy. Their thoughts on the subject might vary from yours, so, to avoid misunderstandings that could lead to hurt feelings - and financial problems - you will want to make sure now that you are all "reading from the same script."

Of course, you may not be eagerly anticipating such a conversation. If so, you are not alone. Your fellow baby boomers and their parents are not doing a good job discussing inheritances and other issues related to "legacies." In fact, fewer than one in three families have actually had a meaningful discussion on these matters, according to a study by Allianz Life Insurance Co.

Don't Bank on House Profits to Fund Retirement

To enjoy a comfortable retirement lifestyle, you will need to build your net worth before you retire. So you may be interested in knowing that, between 2001 and 2004, the typical household's net worth, adjusted for inflation, grew 1.5 percent, according to a recent Federal Reserve study. The good news is that the 1.5 percent figure, while not appearing large, actually represents a sizable gain in family wealth. The not-so-good news, from a retirement savings standpoint, is that much of this increase in wealth came from rising home prices.

Why shouldn't you count on appreciated home prices to form a key pillar of your retirement savings? Won't the value of your home just keep rising?

When you retire, some of your regular expenses are going to go down. But others are going to go up - and topping the "going up" list is health care. Well before you retire, make sure you've got the resources necessary to deal with those doctor's visits and prescription drugs.

How expensive will health care be for you during your retirement years? Here's a number to consider: A 65-year-old couple retiring today will need, on average, $200,000 set aside to pay for medical costs in retirement, according to a recent study by Fidelity Investments. And this number doesn't even include the cost of over-the-counter medicines, most dental procedures and, most importantly, long-term care (such as in-home health care or an extended stay in a nursing home).

When you first started out in your career, you may have focused on paying off student loans, buying a home and, hopefully, starting to save for retirement. Generally speaking, these are pretty straightforward goals. But by the time you enter your 50s and 60s, your financial objectives may be somewhat more complex, so you will need to take great care in creating and implementing the right strategies.

What You'll Need - and What You'll Have
During your 20s, 30s and 40s, you may have put away as much as you could afford in your 401(k) and IRA, but your more immediate concerns were paying someone else: your student loan provider, your mortgage company, your children's college, etc. But once you reach your 50s, you may have finished with these types of obligations. And that gives you an opportunity to look ahead.

Unsettling Times Still Offer Opportunities for Investors

If you remember 1973, you know it was a difficult period for the United States. A series of events - including the Watergate scandal, the OPEC oil embargo, the Vietnam War and the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew - had shaken the public's morale. By November, President Richard Nixon's approval rating stood at 37 percent - and presidential approval ratings tend to track the mood of the nation. Given all this, you might think that 1973 was not a good year in which to invest in the stock market.

But you'd be wrong. From Nov. 30, 1973, to Nov. 30, 1983, the S&P 500 recorded an average annual return of 10.9 percent. So, if you had invested $10,000 in the market at the beginning of that period, it would have grown to $28,139 by the end. And over the next 20 years, from Nov. 30, 1983, to Nov. 30, 2003, the S&P 500 returned, on average, 12.8 percent a year; consequently, $10,000 invested in 1983 would have grown to $111,219 in 20 years. (Keep in mind, however, that the S & P 500 is an unmanaged index, and you cannot invest directly into it. Also, past performance is not an indication of future results.)

It's unfortunate, but true: Unscrupulous people and companies do try to take advantage of unsuspecting investors. And the Internet has made it a lot easier for these predators to reach a mass audience. To avoid potential ripoffs, you need to be vigilant, and you need to ask questions - lots of them.

While there are many types of fraudulent activities floating around the Internet, one of the most common scams resembles a "pyramid scheme," by which shady operators initially appear legitimate by using money coming in from new recruits to pay off early stage investors. If you participate in such a plan, you might make a little money right away, only to be encouraged - or required - to buy a "membership" so you can boost your earnings. However, when the pyramid gets too big, it will eventually implode, because, at its heart, it is a dishonest arrangement that can never truly be funded enough to reward all investors.

Build Retirement Savings - But Don't Forget Income

Are you between the ages of 55 and 64? If so, you belong to a peer group that is apparently quite concerned about saving for retirement - but not at all sure how to convert those savings into a steady income stream. If this describes your situation, you will need to take action to ensure that you have the financial resources available to enjoy the retirement lifestyle you've envisioned.

SYRACUSE -- The U.S. Small Business Administration and the New York Business Development Corporation, along with participating lenders and economic developers, recently recognized Taughannock Aviation Corporation of Ithaca, New York with an Excellence Award at the 8th Annual Small Business Excellence Awards luncheon and ceremony at the Syracuse Wyndham.


From bakeries to manufacturers, restaurants to retailers, 26 successful small businesses representing a full range of products, services and innovations from Upstate New York received awards.

If you are serious about achieving your long-term financial goals, you should work with an investment professional - someone with the training, resources and objectivity to help you choose the right mix of investments for your individual needs and preferences. And you'll want to meet periodically with your investment professional to gauge your progress. You'll get more out of these meetings if you know what to look for - and what to expect.

To prepare for a portfolio review, you may need to bring last year's tax return, recent statements from your 401(k) or other employer-sponsored retirement plan, life insurance policies and other documents suggested by your investment professional. When the review begins, here are a few things to look for:

Help Your Children (and Grandchildren) Become Smart Investors

To become a good saver and investor, you probably had to learn some hard lessons along the way. Wouldn't you like to save your children or grandchildren those troubles? You can - by teaching them, early on, about the basics and benefits of investing.

Here are a few ideas for getting young investors off to a good start:

"Buy High and Sell Low": A Formula for Failure

It's unfortunate, but true: Many people are not particularly successful investors. Why? Part of the reason can be explained in these few words: Fear and greed.

How do these two emotions keep investors from making progress toward their goals? Let's start with greed. Too many people are mesmerized by "hot" stocks - those stocks whose prices have risen substantially, often in a relatively short period of time. Instead of being satisfied with their gains, however, investors hang on to their shares, hoping they can wring more and more profits from ever-rising prices. But sometimes, rising stock prices are not indicative of high-quality stocks. For proof, just look back a few years, to the late 1990s, when investors poured huge amounts of money into high-tech and "dot.com" companies, many of which had little to offer, apart from futuristic names and fanciful business plans. For a while, the stock prices of these companies just kept rising. But in early 2000, the technology "bubble" burst, helping usher in a lengthy bear market.

Michael E. Callahan aka Dr. File Finder

Since I've been in computers I've gradually seen things get smaller and lighter. If you think a monitor of today is heavy, you should have picked one up in 1982. Or a printer. Or a modem. Or even a hard disk for that matter. Yes, things have gotten smaller, lighter, and even smarter. So I guess it was inevitable that the PDA or "personal digital assistant would give rise to the "smartphone." So, what is a "smartphone?" Lets take a look.

You can't live in the civilized world and not notice that so many people are carrying cellular phones. They're everywhere. People talking as they walk down the aisle in the supermarket, in their cars, as they walk through the parking lot, even in the dentists office. And it isn't just technical people carrying cell phones, it's everyone. Senior citizens who won't touch a computer have a cell phone. So, the number of cellular phones in use has increased dramatically. At the same time, you had a lot of "techie" types who were also carrying around PDA's, like a Palm or Pocket PC device. Utlimately someone came up with the idea to combine the two. Viola! The "smartphone" was born.