Mainline Business Trust Newsletter – 1st Qtr 2009
Our Members:
| Ron Bridge Travel Agent 610-296-9844 |
Michael Brown CPA Accountant 610-644-6600 |
| Ken Dooley, President & CEO Chester County Life 484-356-7865 |
Joseph Davison Esq. Attorney 610-212-4348 |
| Roy J. Innella Financial Advisor/Coach 610-695-8748 |
Carolyn Luskin Realtor® 610-585-1301 |
Susan Shute |
|
This issues agenda:
• Investment
Strategies
• Home
Mortgages & Refinancing
• Travel
Advice
• Real
Estate Strategies
• Accounting
• Estate/Asset
Protection
This publication is the major communication vehicle for the Main Line Business
Trust (MLBT), an exclusive networking and social association for professionals
serving individuals, small businesses and corporations. MLBT is comprised
of key disciplines (see left hand panel) that are essential to the success
of entrepreneurs and/or businesses. This association is constantly seeking
to add additional disciplines that will bring additional expertise into the
organization.
This focus for this inaugural issue is to create awareness of some of the current issues. The following articles should be of value to anyone in the process of seeking professional advice in these areas of expertise.
Darkest Hours Create Inspiration
Although the markets may be tanking they are flushing out what can't survive
in order to prime the system for future success. Some of the things that will
happen are:
• Bureaucrats will lose their jobs and flood the employment market and
some of them will become entrepreneurs by
starting their own consulting companies.
• Businesses will trim the fat in their businesses to become more efficient.
• New creative products and services will emerge in order to make us
more efficient with our tasks.
• The market will reallocate resources to their highest use
• Markets will create companies that create more value, new and better
companies will evolve.
• This will be the biggest extinction level ever known of inefficient
markets and companies.
• Investors will learn that capitalism is good and realize that the
markets are efficient on their own as long as there isn’t too much government
intervention.
In looking for a silver lining in all of the disruption in the markets one
should see that we are already in a business climate of consolidation ala
the financial industry, the auto industry and many small businesses that will
get gobbled up by their more efficient competitors. And from all of this consolidation
the market will be strong and ready to grow into a greater market than we
have experienced in the recent past.
Roy Innella
Investor Coach
The Wealth Advocate Investment Group LLC
610-695-8748 phone
866-338-2320 fax
www.yourwealthadvocate.com
blog
http://www.thewealthadvocate.blogspot.com
No Products...No Commissions...Hire a Coach...Fire your Broker...
********************************************************************************************
LOWER INTEREST RATES MIGHT NOT HELP ALL THAT MUCH
The Fed has come to the end of its ability to throw its traditional lever
of monetary policy - the Fed funds target rate - to lower interest rates on
Treasury bonds, mortgages and corporate bonds. In order for monetary policy
to be effective in the coming year, the Fed needs to embark on a new tactic:
buying hundreds of billions of dollars of longer-term MBS (Mortgage Backed
Securities) directly in order to push down longer term mortgage rates and
restart the demand for credit. This program may be expanded to include longer-term
Treasury bonds or even corporate bonds in the year ahead. While widely welcomedby
the markets (MORTGAGE RATES HAVE PLUNGED ABOUT A PERCENTAGE POINT ON THE NEWS,
DROPPING FROM 6.0% ON THE 30 YEAR FIXED RATE TO AROUND 5.0%), there is reason
to worry that this too might be a false start. First our credit problems are
not just ones of insufficient credit demand; it is also a problem of credit
supply. If the Fed flattens the yield curve by bringing down long-term lending
rates, while the short-term interest rate is already around zero and can't
fall any further, this will work to reduce the profits that banks derive from
the spread they receive between their cost of funds and the rate at which
they can lend. This might make banks even more reluctant to lend in the future,
even as borrowers become more enthusiastic about borrowing.
Susan Shute
Private Mortgage Banker
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
M7452-011
1214 Lancaster Ave
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
(610) 581-4079 Tel
610-564-1904 Cell
866-608-3454 Fax
Susan.Shute@wellsfargo.com
Should Your New Year’s Resolutions Include More Travel for 2009?
Americans have always valued their vacation time, so it may surprise you that
about one third of all employed Americans do not take all of the vacation
time they earn. One study, by Management Recruiters International, found that
47 percent of U.S. executives would not use all of their vacation time. Another,
by Oxford Health Plans, Inc.,
showed that one in five people report feeling so overworked that they are
unable to use all of their vacation time.
Employees may believe that their workloads prevent taking a longer vacation, or that their status at work will suffer. However, a growing body of research provides evidence that vacation time carries an important benefit that can’t be overlooked: it is definitely good for your health.
One study found that women who took a vacation only once every six years or less were nearly eight times more likely to develop coronary heart disease, or to have a heart attack, than women who took at least two vacations a year. Another study found that men at high risk for coronary heart disease who failed to take an annual vacation had a 21 percent higher risk of death.
The length of a vacation is important, too. A recent study found that it usually
takes people at least two or three days of vacation to achieve an average
of an hour more of quality sleep than they get at home. And, you may indeed
realize the full health benefits of
a vacation, only, if you do not take work along with you, or do not check
your e-mail and voice mail.
Remember that planning a vacation can be stressful in itself, especially when going somewhere you haven’t visited before. To eliminate that stress, make sure that you work with a Travel Professional, who will make vacation planning headache-free by helping with everything, from destination selection, to travel insurance, to shipping your luggage ahead, plus tracking any changes to your reservations. What is really key, is that a Travel Professional will be extremely valuable in the event any problems arise.
Finally, assure your manager or employer that you’ll return from vacation
truly refreshed, reinvigorated and ready to be more productive than ever.
Yes, it is true – you will be more productive!
Ron Bridge, Owner
TRAVEL LEADERS (formerly Carlson)
Paoli Shopping Center
Paoli, PA 19301
(610) 296-9844
www.travelleaders.com/paolipa
REAL ESTATE
Strategies for Today’s Real Estate Market
With the recent turmoil in the home, mortgage and financial markets, everyone
has so many questions. Should I sell? Should I buy? Or should I just be patient
and do nothing? Are we at the bottom yet? These are questions I hear daily
from both residential and commercial clients.
No one can perfectly time the market to accurately predict the bottom or the
top. We can only know this once prices are already headed back up or down.
The only realistic questions are: “Has the market dropped enough to
make a sensible purchase?” and “Does it make sense to buy, sell
or lease for my particular situation?”
There is no question that this is a terrific time for first-time home-buyers.
There are special programs available now through the middle of 2009 –
and with mortgage rates at historic 37 year lows and rumored to go even lower
in the very near future, there may never be a better time in our lifetime.
We are extremely lucky that our area is generally more stable and resistant
to the drastic price fluctuations that most of the country has endured. Homes
here did not escalate anywhere near as much as volatile areas like California,
Nevada and Florida – nor did we subsequently experience the same huge
drops. That said, the largest decreases have been felt in higher-end homes,
making this an ideal time for those who have been thinking of upgrading to
a larger home. The amount you could save on your new home would far exceed
any decline in the value of your current home – plus, you can also take
advantage of the great mortgage rates.
On the flip side, if you are thinking of downsizing, you might want to wait
until the market stabilizes so you don’t take the hit on your current,
more expensive property – unless your savings in interest, taxes and
utilities offsets the difference.
Commercial real estate is also feeling the pinch. There is a good amount of
office and retail inventory for lease and purchase right now, creating more
competition and good values. If your lease is expiring soon, you should check
the going rates and renegotiate. Or, you may want to consider taking advantage
of the current low rates and purchase a commercial property for your business.
As the saying goes, every problem creates opportunities – and there
are many to be had right now. Consult with a professional and assess your
current situation to make the most intelligent decision and seize the opportunity
that is right for you.
Carolyn Luskin
Keller Williams Realty
Realtor
711 West Lancaster Ave.
Bryn Mawr PA 19010
Office 610.520.0100 ext. 6611
Mobile 610.585.1301
Fax 610.917.3146
ACCOUNTING
First-time homebuyer credit before July 1, 2009
For qualifying home purchases in the U.S. after Apr. 8, 2008 and before July
1, 2009, “first-time homebuyers” can claim a refundable tax credit
(on Form 5405) equal to the lesser of 10% of the purchase price of a principal
residence or $7,500 ($3,750 for married individuals filing separately). (Code
Sec. 36) For married individuals filing separately, the maximum credit is
$3,750. If two or more unmarried persons purchase a home together, the $7,500
credit amount is to be shared among them in the manner IRS may prescribe.
(Code Sec. 36(b)(1)) FTC ¶ A-4270; USTR ¶ 364
A taxpayer is a first-time homebuyer if he (or spouse, if married) had no
present ownership interest in a principal residence in the U.S. during the
3-year period before the purchase of the home to which the credit applies.
(Code Sec. 36(c)(1))
Any home purchase (including, presumably, coops and condos) qualifies but
only if (1) the property isn't acquired from a person related to the buyer
(under detailed rules in Code Sec. 36(c)(5)); and (2) the basis of the property
in the hands of the buyer is not determined by reference to the adjusted basis
of the property in the hands of the person from whom it was acquired, or under
Code Sec. 1014(a) (property acquired from a decedent).
(Code Sec. 36(c)(3)) A home under construction by a taxpayer is treated as
purchased by him on the date he first occupies it. (Code Sec. 36(c)(3)(B))
Election for 2009 buyers to accelerate credit into 2008. Eligible first-time
homebuyers who purchase a principal residence after Dec. 31, 2008, and before
July 1, 2009, may elect to treat the purchase as made on Dec. 31, 2008. (Code
Sec. 36(g)) FTC ¶ A-4272; USTR ¶ 364
RIA observation: The election effectively allows
eligible first-time homebuyers who make a timely purchase in 2009 to claim
the credit on their 2008 returns rather than on their 2009 returns.
Michael W. Brown, CPA, MBA
Brown Financial Group, Inc.
30 S. Valley Rd., Ste. 301
Paoli, PA. 19301
(610) 644-6600 Office
(610) 644-1041 Facsimile
(610) 212-8555 Cell
ESTATE AND ASSET PROTECTION PLANNING
Resolve this year to get your personal and business legal affairs in order.
If you do not have a Will or an Estate Transfer Plan, why not? Unless you
have no heirs and no assets, there is not a reasoned answer you can give to
that posed question. If you have an estate plan, but have not had it reviewed
in sometime, maybe that time is now. Don’t procrastinate another day.
Get it done and check it of your “to do” list.
If you own or operate a business and have not updated your corporate records in several years (which is not at all uncommon) you are potentially exposing your Personal Assets to that business’ creditors. If you are not incorporated the same is true. If a legal review and housecleaning is in order, get it done and check it of your “to do” list.
Just call or email to schedule a complimentary consultation (we do house calls, by the way) and to receive a copy of the Firm’s Asset Protection Questionnaire. As the often quoted credit card ad might say “Peace of Mind is Priceless”.
For over three decades, Mr. Davison and his associates have diligently represented Delaware Valley businesses and families, as well as multi-national corporations, with regard to issues that may impact their present and future legal situations.
The professional staff at JOSEPH R DAVISON, P. C. realizes that this breadth of experience is an invaluable asset, since an Ounce of knowledge and common sense always outweighs a Pound of legal ignorance and unreasoned inaction.
JOSEPH R DAVISON, P. C.
Attorneys-at-Law
175 Strafford Avenue, Suite One
Wayne, PA 19087
610-212-4348
jrdavisonlaw@comcast.net
© Mainline Business Trust • 175 Strafford Avenue., Suite one Wayne, PA 19087• 610-695-8748
For best viewing use Internet Explorer 6.0 andLater