Archive for November, 2011
Positive Aspects of Planning an Inherited Roth IRA
An inherited Roth IRA is a good estate planning strategy for people that want to lessen tax burdens for heirs. The account holder pays income tax when contributions are made; making funds tax-exempt when passed along to beneficiaries.
Proceeds earned from an inherited Roth IRA are subject to inheritance tax when they surpass allowable exemptions. It’s advisable for beneficiaries to obtain counsel from a tax accountant to determine if they should transfer money into a newly established account or accept lump sum cash.
Several changes have taken place regarding estate and death tax, with more changes taking place in 2012. Account holders may also want to consider talking with their estate planner to ensure funds are protected against forthcoming legislation.
It only makes sense that the longer contributions are placed into a Roth IRA account the more money will be available for beneficiaries. One simple way to illustrate how funds can accumulate was presented by a financial advisor I once knew. He referred to the method as creating ten dollars out of one dollar.
Contributions to IRA accounts can substantially expand over the course of time. When funds are secured for 20 or 30 years, the tax savings could easily amount to as much as ten times more than the original taxable amount.
For demonstration purposes let’s say the tax rate was 5 percent at the time the account was opened. For every $100 contribution, $5 is paid in taxes. Twenty years later, the tax rate has increased to 25 percent and for $100 contributions a tax amount of $25 is assessed.
Since the taxes were paid at the time of contribution, beneficiaries are only responsible for inheritance taxes against earned income, not the contribution amount. Using the example above, this saved them 20 percent in income taxes alone.
One benefit of Roth IRAs that is attractive to most people is that contributions don’t have to be withdrawn at a certain age. Traditional IRAs require account holders to take out their money at age 70-1/2.
Furthermore, account holders can keep on contributing to the Roth IRA for as long as they want. This provides the option to increase available funds and pass along more money to heirs. With traditional IRAs, account holders have to cease making contributions which decreases the amount of inheritance cash that can be gifted. Read the rest of this entry »
Positive Hiring Trends: 3 Sectors That Are Hiring
Social Media Marketing Firms
In addition to large social media companies such as Facebook or LinkedIn, one sector that has been growing very fast is the Social Media Marketing firms. These companies have enjoyed exponential growth as when Google was first launched, where it has created numerous opportunities for Internet search marketing firms.
Social Media has brought in even bigger marketing opportunities than Google search engine. Companies in this field have been hiring technical and sales & marketing professionals, and this is a global business, I have seen companies that has grown from 5 people to 100 people within 2 years due to the work volume and new social media platforms launched everyday.
There are too many firms to cover in one article, so go to search engine and search for social media marketing firms, you maybe surprised to see how many of them are hiring new talent.
Sports Marketing Firms
Well, it is towards the end of Major League Baseball season, and NFL and NHL had both started, it is a pity that NBA is still locked in the dispute. One sector that has been growing is the sports marketing.
Sport marketing is divided into three sectors. The first is the advertising of sport and sports associations such as the Olympics, Spanish Football league and the NFL; as well as international sports events.
The second concerns the use of sporting events, sporting teams and individual athletes to promote various products. The third is the promotion of sport to the public in order to increase participation.
Sports marketing firms have been growing for several reasons; more sports, more activities, more international coverage and also growth of online marketing channels.
There are hundreds of major sporting marketing firms spreading around the world, with major markets including the United States, Japan, United Kingdom and India, as well as companies in Europe and Canada. This is an industry that has good potential for professionals with marketing and international marketing experience. Read the rest of this entry »
Transitioning New Employees Into the Workplace
Hiring new employees is a very different experience for different companies. In some cases, there are challenges because of diversity issues and cases in which there are concerns about whether or not the fit will be right – especially when the company is hiring someone younger to lead a department rather than looking to those employees who have been with the business. In other cases, however, it is remarkably easy to transition new employees into the workplace, and often this is the direct result of having employee mentoring programs put into place.
Employee mentoring programs simplify the process of transitioning new employees into the workplace on a number of levels.
First, employee mentoring programs help to ensure that when new employees are brought into the workplace they aren’t just going to be given a desk and a stack of tasks to complete – left on their own to figure out the best possible approach to doing the work and not being sure of whom to go to when they have questions. Instead, with employee mentoring programs in place, new hires are connected with an employee who is already on the team, has experience doing the work and who will be there to provide guidance about the tasks at hand, company policies and the best ways to get things done.
Similarly, employee mentoring programs are effective for transitioning new employees into the workplace because the programs foster both relationships and confidence. Employee mentoring programs help a new hire to get to know his or her new coworkers and to establish connections. Those connections along with the support that shows that they are picking up on the requirements of the job and the knowledge that – as additional employees are brought on they will rise to the position of mentor – their contributions will be recognized and rewarded.
Because these new employees will know that their efforts will be rewarded as they learn the job, they will develop a sense of job security as well. The more that their efforts are recognized and the more comfortable that they are with getting the job done, the more that these staff members will be able to contribute. As they are able to work their way up within the company, they will further develop loyalty to the business – and they will be able to continue to take advantage of employee mentoring programs so that they will learn each job responsibility just as easily as they initially did. Read the rest of this entry »