Forex Kigali

Image taken on 2009-09-25 14:04:51 by noodlepie.

Parata Systems Names Tom Rhoads CEO

Parata Systems Names Tom Rhoads CEO
DURHAM, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Parata Systems, America’s leading retail pharmacy automation provider, today announced the promotions of Tom Rhoads to chief executive officer and D.J. Dougherty to chief financial officer.

Read more on Business Wire

reality has become a commodity

Image taken on 2007-01-30 00:00:09 by yacht_boy.

Forex: USD/CAD pares gains and returns to 1.0485 low

Forex: USD/CAD pares gains and returns to 1.0485 low
FXstreet.com (Barcelona) – Dollar recovery from yesterday’s low at 1.0485 has been capped on Asian session at 1.0545, and the pair has been pulling down on European trade, giving away yesterday’s recovery, to reach session lows at 1.0485 area.

Read more on The Forex Market

Ladenburg Thalmann Completes Acquisition of Premier Trust

Ladenburg Thalmann Completes Acquisition of Premier Trust
MIAMI—-Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. announced today that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of Premier Trust Inc. , a provider of wealth management services, including trust administration, estate and financial planning, custody and investment services.

Read more on Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance

Estate Planning: Supporting a Noble Cause

Last December, the White House Conference on Aging held its first meeting in 10 years. The conference addressed the growing number of baby boomers reaching retirement and highlighted how a large number of them are contemplating volunteering.

More and more retirees are volunteering for charities and non-profits in an effort to contribute to their community and stay active and healthy. Even the Peace Corps has seen a large increase in the number of older volunteers. But there’s a way you can contribute to society without going overseas, and it’s called a charitable trust. It has become an increasingly popular way to contribute to charity as well as save money on taxes.

Trusts, simply put, are a way for you to transfer assets and property into one solitary group. With a charitable trust, the assets and property contained within it provide an income for you during your lifetime. After you pass away, the remaining assets are given to the charity within the trust. There are two major forms of charitable trusts: charitable remainder trusts, and charitable lead trusts. Charitable trusts have a host of other benefits, as well as a few drawbacks, but here are the basics.

Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT)

A charitable remainder trust has two beneficiaries. In most cases, one of them is you (and possibly your spouse), and the other is the qualified charity or tax-exempt organization you plan on supporting. During your lifetime you receive a set percentage of income from the charitable trust. Once you pass away, the charity then receives whatever is left over. (If your spouse was receiving income as well, he or she will continue receiving it until passing away.)

One of the benefits of a charitable remainder trust is that you may be able to become the trustee and make decisions about the assets within the trust, including investment choices and other important matters. Unfortunately, charitable remainder trusts are irrevocable, but you may be able to change the beneficiaries when you wish. This allows you some degree of personal freedom, especially if you find a charity or non-profit that you feel is more deserving of your gift.

With a charitable remainder trust you get to choose the amount of income you’ll be paid from the trust on an annual basis. According to the IRS, every year you must distribute at least 5% of the value of the trust’s assets. Depending upon the type of trust, you can value the assets for distribution purposes at the time the trust is funded or on an annual basis. Some beneficiaries choose to take more, but it’s generally recommended to take no more than 10%.

All realized profit from investment sales within the trust is not subject to capital gains tax. This is because you are benefiting a charity. Charitable trusts are especially helpful when it comes to highly appreciated assets with limited income-producing potential. By avoiding the capital gains tax, more money goes to your charity instead of Uncle Sam. You also get an income tax deduction because your CRT supports a charity. Please note, however, that income from trust assets is subject to federal income taxes.

Charitable Lead Trust (CLT)

A charitable lead trust is basically the same concept as a charitable remainder trust, but in reverse. With a CLT, a charity receives a certain percentage of income every year. Once you pass away, whoever you’ve named as the beneficiary (a spouse or children) receives the assets that remain. A CLT offers the same advantages of a remainder trust, but the roles are reversed.

Both charitable remainder trusts and charitable lead trusts offer a variety of advantages over traditional estate planning tools. Above all, they allow you to give back to society while still taking advantage of tax deductions and exclusion from capital gains taxes.

There are numerous details and complex steps to take when looking at a charitable trust as an estate planning option. You should always find a trusted financial professional to help guide you through the process. They can usually refer you to a known estate planning attorney who will also help. Like all estate planning options, trusts have their pros and cons, but they’re certainly a good option worth considering if you wish to save on taxes, support a good cause, and feel great about it in the process.

The Truth About Bonds

If you are new to investing perhaps you are not familiar with bonds. Before you get started, you need to understand some of the risks associated with bond investing. Most people assume that all interest-bearing securities are completely risk free, but this is not the case. Even if you know a lot about investing, you may not be aware of some of the risk characteristics associated with bonds.

The most important thing to take into account is the interest rate. The Federal Reserve (also known as the Fed) meets every 6-8 weeks to evaluate the health of the economy. At each meeting, the Fed renders a decision regarding interest rates.

If inflation is rising, the Fed will need to raise interest rates to tighten the money supply. If inflation is moderate or contained, the Fed will likely leave rates unchanged. However, if the economy is slowing down and there is very little inflation or maybe even deflation, then the Fed might decide to reduce interest rates to create a stimulus for economic growth.

The reason why you need to consider present and future interest rate levels is because as interest rates increase, bond prices go down, and vice versa. If you are able to hold your bond until maturity, then interest rate movements do not really matter, because you will redeem the principal upon redemption. But often, investors have to cash out their bonds well before the maturity date. If interest rates have moved up since you purchased the bond, and you sell it prior to maturity, then the bond will be worth less than your initial investment.

You should also be aware of the claim status of the bond you are buying. Claim status refers to your ability to liquidate your investment in the event the bond issuer goes bankrupt. If you are buying a government bond, such as a Treasury Bill, claim status is irrelevant, because the odds of the Federal Government going bankrupt are slim and none.

If you are buying a corporate bond, however, there is always a chance that the issuer could go out of business. In the event of liquidation, bondholders are given priority over stockholders. However, there are often different classes of bondholders. Senior note holders can often claim against certain kinds of physical collateral in the event of bankruptcy, such as equipment (computers, machines, etc.). Regular bondholders can not always claim against physically collateral, and are next in line after the senior note holders.

Next, you should always check the three main features of the bond you are buying; the coupon rate, the maturity date, and the call provisions. The coupon rate is the interest rate. Most bonds pay an interest rate semiannually or annually. The maturity date is the date that the bond will be redeemed by the issuer; simply put, the maturity date is when the company must pay back to you the principal you loaned to them. The call provisions are the rights of the issuer to buy back your bond prior to maturity. Some bonds are non-callable, while others are callable, meaning that the company can buy your bond back before maturity, usually at a higher price than what you paid.

Finally, you should also understand that if economic conditions become more favorable after you a buy a bond, and interest rates start to go down again, the issuer will likely issue a lot more bonds to take advantage of the low interest rates, and will use the proceeds to try to buy back any callable bonds it issued previously. So, when interest rates go down, there is an increasing likelihood that your bond will be redeemed prior to maturity, if in fact the bond is callable.

You should invest in bonds. However, you should also take into account the risk factors we have covered. Your portfolio should contain a mix of corporate, federal, municipal, and even junk bonds (there is always a default risk associated with junk bonds, but they pay a huge interest rate). Talk to your broker about diversifying the kinds of bonds in your portfolio and you will reduce your overall risk and maximize your return.