Bailout Includes IRA Charitable Giving
by Steve RemingtonNovember 30, 2008
The Wall Street Journal
By ANNE TERGESEN
If you’re age 70½ or older and are charitably inclined, the bailout package that President Bush signed into law in October contains some good news: Uncle Sam is temporarily resurrecting a tax break available to those who make donations from their individual retirement accounts to charity.
We mentioned this break in brief several weeks ago and — based on readers’ questions — decided to discuss it this week in greater detail. What follows is a look at the requirements involved, as well as a warning: Be careful how you transfer the money.
To be eligible, you have to be at least 70½ when you make the donation. You and your spouse can each give up to $100,000 from your respective accounts this year and next. The money can also come from two other types of retirement accounts — a SEP or a SIMPLE IRA — with the condition that you are no longer contributing to those particular accounts, says Ed Slott, an IRA consultant in Rockville Centre, N.Y. Employer-sponsored plans, such as 401(k)s, aren’t eligible.
You must give the donation to a public charity; a private foundation, supporting organization or donor-advised fund won’t work, says Blanche Lark Christerson, a managing director at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management in New York.
The charity has to acknowledge the gift, and you can’t receive anything in return — not so much as a chicken dinner, says Ms. Christerson. Moreover — and this is critical — the check must be payable to the charity. If you withdraw money first, you’ll get stuck paying income tax on the entire amount.
Under the law, any money you donate to charity from your IRA will count toward the annual withdrawals you’re required to take from these accounts after reaching age 70½. (Be aware, though, that if you already took your withdrawal this year, you’re out of luck. You can’t retroactively claim the tax break, even if you gave some or all of this money to charity.)
If you are able to take advantage of this tax break, you won’t get the tax deduction for your gift that you would normally be entitled to. But you are almost sure to come out ahead. To see why, consider what would happen if you were to donate $1,000 to your alma mater.
If when filling out your tax returns you don’t itemize deductions, you’d normally get no tax deduction for the gift. But under the new law, you would receive a nice tax break. That’s because under the new law, the charitable donations you make from an IRA don’t count toward your taxable income. As a result, a $1,000 gift would reduce your income by $1,000. That would save someone in the 25% tax bracket $250.
If you itemize your deductions, you’ll also come out ahead. That’s because taxpayers whose adjusted gross incomes exceed certain thresholds lose some of their deductions and personal exemption amounts. By not adding $1,000 to your income, this gift might help you keep your income below these levels.
“Without this provision, your required minimum distribution may trigger all these other stealth taxes,” Mr. Slott says.
A few states, including New Jersey, don’t allow residents to take deductions for charitable gifts on their state income-tax returns. Residents of these states would still have to pay state income tax on donations from an IRA, says Michael Steiner, a wealth manager at RegentAtlantic in Morristown, N.J. Residents of these states should realize they “won’t get the full tax break,” Mr. Steiner says.
Write to Anne Tergesen at anne.tergesen@wsj.com
Prepare for a Gruesome Retirement
by Steve RemingtonNovember 30, 2008
The Motley Fool
November 30, 2008
But judging from startling statistics, you’re in danger of a retirement that’s quite the opposite. Picture gnawing on Salisbury steak microwave dinners, taking a bus down to the Git ‘n’ Go for a bag of chips, and bringing your grandchildren to the Salvation Army so you can shop for “new” clothes — all while living in a relative’s moldy basement.
Time for some tough love, Fools.
The facts
According to the 2008 Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS), many Americans will have gruesome retirements. In a separate survey, 31% of us said we’d rather scrub a bathroom than plan for retirement.
Rest assured: If you’ve been putting off planning for your retirement, you’re not alone. (I can’t speak for the scrubbing thing.)
To read more go to the Motley Fools web site below.
Are the Colts in trouble?
by Steve RemingtonNovember 30, 2008
Here was a bizarre final score from Sunday: Indianapolis 10, Cleveland 6. What was even more bizarre: The Colts offense’ didn’t score the team’s only TD.
Yes, Indy won its fifth straight, you can’t help but wonder if the team is sliding back into its early-season struggles. The defense played well and scored the Colts’ only touchdown, but any team with Peyton Manning at quarterback and his supporting cast shouldn’t need the defense to bail it out.
The Colts will make the playoffs, but if they play like they did Sunday, they will lose on the road that first week, particularly if they end up playing Pittsburgh, Denver or even Baltimore, who sport better offenses than the Browns.
Another Change to the Skinny Moose Main Site
by Steve RemingtonNovember 30, 2008
Well it was an adventure and a little bit of an experiment to see what we could do with the home page at Skinny Moose. We took a month off to test it out and we transformed the site into a Fox News type site, linking to news stories both inside and outside of our Network. After a month we did assess that it took way too much of our time and a lot of commitment to keep up with the news. I bow to those who can continue to post the news day in and day out and link to articles all over the web. People that come to mind are those like Drudge Report. It’s an entire business in and of itself. We didn’t want to get off target and lose focus of the fact that we are a blog network. Read more
Shotgunning Predators
by Steve RemingtonNovember 30, 2008
When I am not filming my tool of choice is the shotgun. It is hard to beat the excitement and adrenalin rush you get from an up close hard charger. It also lets me call in places I normally wouldn’t while running the camera. Good shotgun areas often get looked over by other callers, making for some good calling. Another reason I enjoy shotgunning is the ease of it, I can just grab a call and my shotgun and head into the thick of it. I will often even carry a shotgun in areas most would think is rifle country, in fact I would say 90% of all the predators we call could be taken with a shotgun.
As with all technology, we are seeing new and better products that are extending range, reliability, and felt recoil. Some of the biggest improvements I have seen are in ammunition. There are a few companies out there that are really doing some great things. Companies like Hevi shot and Winchester have brought out shells that are dedicated to predator hunting. It’s nice to see this sport has caught the eyes of companies like that. Before these new loads, shotgun hunters had a limited choice on ammo and number 4 buck was king. I was happy with #4 buck shot like a lot of others, until I tried these new loads and to honest with you I didn’t know what I was missing. They gave me more range, knockdown power and better patterns. And with that more animals. They are about twice the cost of standard loads, but you get what you pay for. I recommend to at least give them a test run, the confidence alone that you get from them is worth the price of admission.
The Winchester Xtended range HD Coyote loads are the hottest thing out there, the HD stands for Hi-density. They are non toxic and 55 % denser then steel, so they are harder hitting and penetrate deeper. The B size (.17) shot is also more uniform then most other shot, helping them to pattern more consistent. A good tight pattern and a hard hitting load will help you get those predators that normally would be out of range, making a shotgun more of a asset.
I recommend to everyone to pattern there shotgun at different ranges with different loads and different chokes. I personally pattern my guns with a few different loads and chokes at 25, 50 and 65 yards. If you haven’t done this before you will be amassed with the differences in your patterns with each choke and load at different yardages. And when you find that nice uniform pattern, it should add some confidence to your hunting. During patterning is also a good time to check your shotguns point of aim, a lot of guns don’t always pattern where you are pointing them. If it doesn’t there are a few options, If it has adjustable sights you are in luck, if it doesn’t you can learn to compensate for it, or add a after market sight. There are a lot of options out there for shotguns, I recommend checking out as many as you can prior to purchasing. A scope or red dot sight might be something you will want to add even if it does patter right. Some add a little magnification, others help not so perfect eyes get on target.
Tips,
Into the thick of it,
A lot of callers ignore thick looking areas, making for some great calling. Plus a lot of critters call it there home, and I believe they have a higher comfort level. Calling the thick stuff can make for some exciting in your face stands. I personally will hunt more open stands first and last light, making my way into more thicker habitat as the day progresses. Hunting the thicker stuff mid day opens up a full day of calling, with more success. And you just never know what you will call in, adding to the excitement. Now some times when you get into some of the thicker stuff and you sit down you will notice that you cant see as well. This is a great time just to back up into a tree or bush and stand there, keeping your shotgun as ready as possible. A shotguns fast target acquisition makes it ideal for this type of calling.
In the open and up close,
Calling in more open country with a shotgun is also a lot of fun. I love to call them in close, and it doesn’t get much better doing it with a shotgun. When calling this type of stand and using the Fox Pro, I keep the caller set up between 10- 25 yards from me. I will just let the caller keep running when I see them coming, It keeps there attention focused on the caller and off me. keeping perfectly still up until I am ready to make the shot. Once they get close they will pick up the slightest movements even quicker. So hold still for the shot and make it in a fluid motion. It can be a great sense of accomplishment for a novice caller to get a few coyote in the wide open and up close. Give it a try if you haven’t already.
Decoys,
A lot of new decoys have come out in the last few years. I personally use the Mojo critter, FoxPro’s jack in the box and the whirling woodpecker with great success. A decoys job is to add realism to a stand and keep the attention off you and these decoys perform there job well. There are some people that say they have a negative reaction when using decoys, but I personally see them as a asset. Especially when hunting in tight quarters. They can provide you with that extra second that you need to get that shot off or help entice that hung up critter into range. Give them a try, they are worth the extra weight and are pretty affordable.
Calls,
Whether I am filming or hunting, I enjoy using electronic callers. There are a lot of advantages to these callers, they get the sound away from you which in turn can get attention off you. Most call companies have large sound libraries, so you will have no shortage of options in that department. Some people will say its cheating, but I cant see it. These tools are not magic weapons and they are not going to make you a instant success! Calling is only a small part of this sport, it takes a lot more to be successful then just going out and making some sounds. They might not be for everyone, but if you are serous about calling and have the funds I recommend checking them out.
There are a lot of great call manufactures out there and they all work. Some have different options and all have different sounds, so choosing one will come down to personal preferences. My choice is FoxPro. They are constantly improving there units and sounds, so I can have access to new quality sounds and upgrades for my equipment. Each season these calls get better and better and the competition for new options and better sounds is great for us.
Camo,
When calling them in close, a set of full camo is a great asset, but not a necessity. I mean from head to toe, face mask and gloves really help out a lot. But the most important thing is being still, the slightest movement can catch a weary coyotes attention, cats are even quicker to pick up on movement. So before you start calling get in a comfortable position and keep still. If you need to make any moments make them slow and fluid, refrain from jerky moment. Some times you can get a way with a lot, and others will catch the slightest twitch. With experience you will learn what you can get away with from reading there body language.
Shotgun hunting is a lot of fun so give it a try. These days you can get a lot more range out of that old scattergun.
Taking Advantage of Black Friday
by sremingtonNovember 29, 2008
Yes, Black Friday has come and gone, but it will be back again next year. The neat thing about Black Friday is that most shoppers rush out to the stores, trample people, while racing for those deals. It isn’t until the days following where shoppers look for the deals online. So how can you benefit from this and take advantage of shoppers during the Holiday Season?
Put yourself in the shopper’s shoes. Pretend you are a shopper online and envision yourself having to seek out gifts. Some questions you need to ask yourself are:
a) What are the new and hot products?
b) Can these products actually be purchased online?
c) What do you know about these products?
d) Can you offer advice on any of these hot new products?
e) Is the Internet already saturated with content about these hot new products?
f) Is the product related to your blog’s niche?
Once you ask yourself these questions you probably can narrow it down a bit better if it is worth writing about an item or not. ipods are a cool topic, or the new iphone, but more than likely the Internet is saturated with information on this. Finding products to talk about can take a lot of research. So what can you do?
Look around at other blog’s in your niche. What types of products are they discussing? If you have run a parenting blog for the last 2 years and have been all over the Internet reading other parenting blogs then you probably have a good idea what types of products have been talked about and what the new hot items are for this year.
Write a review about it. Maybe go out and actually buy the product and test it out. Write about it. Tell people how it functions. Did it live up to your expectations? If not… why?
Link to other reviews. Maybe you don’t have all kinds of money to blow on the product or you have your doubts about. Do a roundup and link to what others are saying about it. Put 80% of the links to blogs in your niche. Then try breaking out a bit and see if other blogs outside of your niche have blogged about it. Link to them. Pingbacks may drive traffic back to your article.
Make sure in your articles you are using nice keyword rich text. Link often and liberally to sources. You never know… you may get on the first page of Google for those searching online for information about the hot new item…
Comment on other blogs talking about the same product and make sure to link your name to either your blog or that specific blog post. Remember, people search the Internet heavily by topic. If you can stick with the same crowd and get some links coming and going you will see a rise in traffic naturally, as long as the topic remains of interest.
Now what if you wrote about a product and more traffic comes your way? How do you jump on this opportunity? Maybe one example would be to post a link at the end of that article inviting readers to subscribe to your feed via email. Feedburner offers a great service that will deliver your posts via email to those who choose to sign up for this feature. As a matter of fact, if you want to subscribe to my feed via email you can do so right here at this link.
What other things can you do? You can provide links at the end of your article leading them deeper into your blog with other related articles. Maybe you blogged about that product on many occasions. At the end of the article tell your readers if they enjoyed this post why not try reading a few of these… and leave a list of about 3 or 4 other articles that may interest them.
Another option would be to provide a link to any referral type programs. The downside of this is you are providing a link which will lead people away from your blog. On a good note, some of these referral programs can earn you a bit of cash. It’s really your choice. If you can find the right program which is closely related to the topic being discussed in the article then it should only benefit you since you are sending targeted traffic to a program potentially making you money. Any random program is a bit risky and you could probably benefit by keeping the reader at your blog longer.
Any other ideas? How can you benefit from added traffic on a blog article that is attracting people? Don’t forget to open those comments up and get conversation going. Readers will be back to see if anyone replied. This can boost traffic momentarily. The key is to get these new readers to come back and stick around.
Retirement Calculators
by Steve RemingtonNovember 29, 2008
When I was in the treestand yesterday waiting on a big buck to come along my way, I was wondering how many bucks (the green kind) I was going to need when I retire. Then I got to thinking about the plan and how to get to the goal of an easy outdoor life during retirement. In order to live the easy life one needs money to pay the bills while one lays around or in my plan, hunts and fishes every day possible.
Try it out and see how easy it is. There are several different calculators and tools and they will be a great benifit to you when you are laying out your plan. You cant have a plan if you dont know what you goals are! Outlining a plan can be pretty easy if you have a few tools like the CNNMoney.com calculators. Start with how you want to retire and how much you will need a month to live on. Its a great and easy site to have in your arsenal and you prepare for retirement. No matter how far away it is.
PK Hunder Wins 2008 King of Style
by Steve RemingtonNovember 29, 2008
After being flawless throughout the night, PK Hunder walks away King of Style 2008 of the big air contest in Stockholm. The competition was tight, but a near perfect mark off his double cork 12 put PK clearly on top. Rounding out the Top 10 is:
King of Style 2008) PK Hunder
2) Jon Olsson
3) Phil Casabon
4) Jacob Wester
5) Simon Dumont
6) Aleksander Aurdal
7) Henrik Harlaut
8 ) Gus kenworthy
9) JF Houle
10) Ian Cosco
Jon Olsson had been recovering from a knee injury but was able to cleanly stomp a double 9 and 10. The highlights from the event are a dizzying display of athleticism and precision with a few shots of bone crushing crashes.
Also for an introspective account of the event from one of the esteemed competitors, Ian Cosco, and some clear still shots of the athletes at work click here.
Auto Industry Failures Leads to Winter Event Series Cancellation
by Steve RemingtonNovember 29, 2008
The economic downturn and financial woes of the American automotive industry has General Motors, Ford and Chrysler reeling and begging Congress for an exorbitant bailout. And as the financial troubles continue without any sign of help from a hesitant Congress, the “Big Three” are forced to look at avenues to cut costs and reduce overhead.
Even the world’s most marketable athlete, Tiger Woods, couldn’t escape the impact of the deteriorating American economy. He recently came to a mutual agreement to end his nine-year relationship with General Motors on Monday.
“The real story here isn’t Tiger,” says Marc Ganis, the president of Sportscorp Ltd., a Chicago-based sports consulting firm. “It’s the auto industry. … There are a lot of parties who are going to have some difficulties finding sponsors to substitute for what the auto industry used to provide.”
And he’s right.
Jeep recently decided it would no longer sponsor Jeep 48STRAIGHT, a multi-media consumer experience—connecting participants to the outdoor lifestyle through sports, music and ‘green’ awareness.As a result, the company decided to cancel the 2008-2009 winter event series that was scheduled for Telluride, Squaw Valley and Sun Valley which was declared “the loudest show on snow”.
“What sad news for the event,” event spokesperson Al Sommers acknowledged last week. “It’s pretty much that with Jeep not being able to sponsor the event, hosting the winter season isn’t economically feasible.”
The future state of the event series has not been determined.
The winter will be missing an influential sports competition that combines sport, entertainment and community with educational tutorials on sustainability in one action packed weekend. And with the American auto industry unlikely to recover, bailout or no bailout, in the foreseeable future, will there be a formidable substitute ready to fill the holes the car makers left behind?
Immediately, no. But after the impact is realized and understood, the organizers of Jeep 48STRAIGHT and like events will organize and find a way to obtain the necessary funding through corporate sponsorships small and large. The influence and participation of diverse local small businesses will be imperative in the future success of events like 48STRAIGHT.
Winter projects for outdoorspeople
by Steve RemingtonNovember 28, 2008
1. Tie spinner rigs. This is a great project for sitting down at the kitchen table with the kids. They love picking out bead and blade combinations, and it gives them something to try when they go fishing. With the addition of a wire-bending tool, one can also make in-line spinners similar to Mepps spinners. Cabelas and Jann’s Netcraft are a couple of good places to get supplies, as is JB Lures, the source of my favorite spinner blades.
2. Make knives. Well, maybe not from scratch, but it’s fun to finish blades. If you have some basic woodworking and tool-handling skills, check out Ragnar’s Ragweed Forge for Scandinavian blades, or eBay for some of the Camillus blanks that are available right now from people who bought stuff from the historic factory after it closed down (search eBay for Camillus blades). I just won several auctions to make everything this winter from a set of six steak knives, to finishing a military-style blade. Click on the pic for my recent eBayapalooza of Camillus knife-buying!
3. Learn stuff/geek it up. Like how to make the most of a mildot reticle (lots of info on the web: do a Google search) or build a ballistics spreadsheet. I’ve been playing with a self-modified spreadsheet based on the work of the folks over at Jackson Rifles, which is in turn based on the work of Prof. Arthur Pejsa. I added a chart to visually show the trajectory and I plan to expand my library to include all of my rifle loads.
4. Plan my fishing season strategy. Being a next-door neighbor to the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes, I try to get to a few new lakes every year, in addition to getting to know my old haunts better. Fishing in Minnesota has the advantage of lots of DNR Info.
5. Sharpen drill bits. Yeah, not too glamorous, but it kills time! I have a whole pile of drill bits gathered over the years just waiting for a Drill Doctor that I picked up sometime in the last year on clearance at Sears.
6. Blog. And cruise the blogosphere for other good ideas to keep myself busy.
Enjoy your winter, and get your geek on!
