Here are three factors that should help ease the news:

1. The current woes of the stock market are in a very specific sector. You may see effects of some of your investments from this area; however, we have worked diligently to make sure you have proper asset allocation and a diversified portfolio. These methods will help ensure that your overall financial goals are not affected.

2. SIPC- The Securities Investor Protection Corporation. SIPC is the United States investor’s first line of defense in the event a brokerage firm fails, owing customers cash and securities that are missing from customer’s accounts.¹ Our securities are offered through a member of SIPC, adding the insurance of your investments.

3. NEXT’s clearing house, Pershing LLC, carries “Excess SIPC” through a private insurance company. Through the Customer Asset Protect Company (CAPCO) they insure your investments in excess of the SIPC limits.²
Throughout history, the market has seen drastic lows and has recovered. Now is no different. I am confident in our decisions for your portfolio. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or to schedule an appointment at 281-491-2821.

Sincerely,
Shawn E. Goheen

If you need additional assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 281-491-2821.  Thank you and please take care!

2. Pay Off All Credit Card Debt
Credit card debt is, in most cases, the No. 1 enemy to your personal finances. It can have a huge negative effect if your credit card bills are not paid off in full every single month. Sit down and work out a plan to pay off any credit card debt that you currently have, using the snowball method that best fits your personality. Make this a top priority.
3. Understand the Difference Between Wants and Needs
To keep your personal finances in perspective, you need to understand the difference between wants and needs. There is nothing inherently wrong with small luxuries, and you should be able to enjoy many of the nonessential things you have. But it is important to realize that wants are not needs. If you master this skill, your finances will be in much better shape.
Take some time to critically look at your true needs vs. your wants. If you are having trouble distinguishing these, set up a plan to eliminate impulse spending.
4. Live on Less Than You Earn
There are no two ways around this one. If you want to keep your personal finances in order, you need to live on less money than you make. That means either purchasing items and services that are less than you currently make, or figuring out a way to increase your salary so that you can spend more, but still less than you make. Either of these is perfectly fine.
Track your spending to see if it is more or less than you are earning each month, and create a budget so that you can continue to track it in the future. If you are spending more than you make, you need to decide whether to curb unnecessary costs or figure out how to increase your income. Most people can balance their budget without changing their current lifestyle.
5. Pay Yourself First
Before you pay any of your other bills, you should pay yourself a minimum of 10% of your take-home pay. This money is not part of your monthly spending budget.
Go to your bank and set it up so that your paycheck is automatically deposited, if possible. Then set it up so that an automatic payment is immediately taken from your paycheck into a specified account that is not used for your monthly expenses.
6. Set Financial Goals
In order to reach your financial goals, you need to know what those goals are. Nobody can determine these goals except for you. You need to take the time to figure out exactly what your financial goals are so that you can take the needed steps to reach them.
If you don’t know specifically what you financial goals are for this year, next year and 10 years from now, take the steps needed to create them.
7. Educate Yourself and Be Responsible for Your Decisions
It may be more convenient to hand over all your money matters to somebody else, who can take an outside look at where you are at and where you want to go in the future.  Seek out advice and get opinions on your finances.
8. Save and Invest
Take the money that you pay yourself first and either save or invest it to make it grow and work for you in the future.
If you are carrying credit card debt, invest in it first. But also make sure to take full advantage of the saving and investing opportunities that are available. If your company matches 401(k) contributions, contribute up to the match and try to maximize your Roth IRA contribution. Make sure you have an emergency fund.
9. Protect Your Finances
You will take the necessary steps, usually through insurance, to make sure that your assets are protected in case of a disaster.
Take the time to make sure that all your assets are properly insured, and re-evaluate this every few years or whenever a major life change occurs, such as marriage or a new addition to the family. Also be sure to compare insurance rates on a regular basis, since this is a competitive business.
10. Donate to Worthy Causes and Those Less Fortunate
No matter how desperate your finances may appear, if you are reading this article there are a lot of people that are far worse off than you are in the world. It’s important to nurture a sense of giving and to be thankful for the small things that you do have. That means donating to worthy causes on a regular basis.
Find a few causes that you believe in, and give to them generously. Don’t assume that money is the only way that you can give. Volunteering time and skills are also appreciated by most charitable organizations. You can research organizations at Web sites such as Charity Watch. If you don’t know where to begin, three that you may want to consider are Kiva, Modest Needs and Doctors Without Borders.

Yahoo.com

Federal Minimum Wage Basics
The federal minimum wage provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA contains mandatory standards for federal minimum wage rates at most U.S. companies, along with requirements for child labor, overtime and exempt vs. non-exempt status.
Non-exempt employees paid on an hourly basis must receive at least the federal minimum wage for every hour worked. When non-exempt employees are paid in other ways, such as salary, commission or a piece-rate basis, their pay must generate an hourly rate of at least the federal minimum wage when divided by the total hours worked in the workweek.
As a general rule, non-exempt employees must be compensated for all hours of work that management knows of, or has reason to know of, even if the employer did not request or authorize the time or type of work performed. This means managers should not modify time records to delete entries for work that was performed without management’s request or authorization, even for work performed against company policy or a specific directive. These types of entries should be addressed as disciplinary matters, not as grounds to deny pay. Otherwise, the employer and its individual managers may face legal liability for violating federal minimum wage laws and/or overtime laws.
The previous rate of $5.15 no longer exists for all employers and employees.
Effective now, the Federal Minimum Wage is $5.85 and will continue to increase for the next two years. Posters reflecting $5.15 as the Federal Minimum Wage must be replaced.
Confused with State Minimum Wage vs. Federal Minimum Wage? It’s simple….The federal minimum wage sets the bare minimum that all states must pay their employees.
How are your posters affected?  If your state operates under a minimum wage higher than $5.85, you still must obtain and post the new rate.
What can employers do to comply with the new rate?  There are several websites available that allow you to purchase a new posters: www.laborLawCenter.com, www.gniel.com, www.postercompliance.com & www.hrdocs.com just to name a few.

Future State Increases:

Arizona - Will increase annually to adjust to inflation
California - $8.00 per hour effective January 2008
Delaware - $7.15 per hour effective January 2008
Florida - Will increase annually to adjust to inflation
Illinois - $7.75 per hour effective July, 2008, $8.00 per hour effective July 2009, and $8.25 per hour effective July 2010
Iowa - $7.25 per hour effective January 2008
Maine - $7.00 per hour effective October 2007
Mass. - $8.00 per hour effective January 2008
Michigan - $7.15 per hour effective July 2007
Montana - Will increase annually to adjust to inflation
Pennsylvania - $7.15 per hour effective July 2007. *Employers with less than 10 employees are subject to a minimum wage rate of $6.65 per hour effective July 2007 and $7.15 per hour effective July 2008.
West Virginia - $6.55 per hour effective July 2007 and $7.25 per hour effective July 2008

The Health Club for Women subscribes to the following Core Values:

Cleanliness
Most women care deeply about cleanliness and this will be a major focus for the staff and ownership of The Health Club for Women.  Members will find the Star Trac exercise equipment, exercise floor surfaces, locker room facilities and other public spaces to be extraordinarily clean upon every visit.
Friendliness and Non-Intimidating Environment
Many women are turned off by the “hard sell” experienced at many other fitness centers and by the “hard body” mentality that often seems to prevail.  The Health Club for Women will be operated by staff who understand these negative signals and will go out of their way to make women of all ages and physical conditions feel welcome and comfortable.
Relationships
The Health Club for Women recognizes that many people don’t enjoy exercise.  Therefore, the staff has been conditioned to learn and remember member names and interests to create an environment where members can be “part of the family”.
Quality and Professionalism
The Health Club for Women will provide an upscale environment for women’s fitness needs, offering the state-of-the-art cardiovascular and strength training exercise equipment as well as certified personal trainers, pilates instructors and group exercise instructors.
Affordability
The Health Club for Women provides country club quality fitness centers at a fraction of the cost.  Monthly dues will be competitive in each market served by these beautiful, boutique style fitness centers.
Total Health
The Health Club for Women believes that total health means more than daily exercise.  Therefore, the club will provide members with ongoing educational lectures and social events to meet the intellectual and social needs of our members.
Results
Unlike so many other health clubs and fitness centers who take your money and then “hope you never come”, The Health Club for Women prides itself on how often its members visit the club and the results they achieve.  In the long run, if members don’t achieve their goals, they are likely to lose their motivation and interest.
Honesty, Integrity & Reputation
The Health Club for Women prides itself on keeping its word and building the trust and loyalty of its members.
 

For more information please contact 281.807.9160 or visit www.thehealthclubforwomen.com

If you own a business in Oil & Gas, Real Estate, Construction, Manufacturing or Distribution, then self insured risk is a major issue to which your company is exposed.  In order to mitigate this risk, industry trends reflect that a majority of successful businesses will implement a Captive insurance program by 2010. Thousands of business owners have begun to accumulate vast amounts of pre-tax wealth through Captive insurance strategies.

Strictly defined, a Captive is an insurance subsidiary formed to insure or reinsure the risks of its parent company.  Premiums paid to the Captive can be deductible by the business.  Often, such premiums flow tax-free income to the Captive, where the money gathers in anticipation of future losses, or shareholder distributions.

For many years, the Internal Revenue Code has provided favorable tax treatment for insurance companies.  A long standing exemption for small insurance companies may enable a Captive to receive up to $1.2 million each year tax free.  The IRS allows insurance companies with premiums in excess of $1.2 million to take a current deduction for estimated future losses.  Either tax treatment makes owning an insurance company extremely favorable.

How Do Captives Work?

According to Bruce Molnar, who is Chief Executive Officer of captive specialist Alta Holdings, LLC, “most businesses unknowingly self-insure an alarming amount of risk.” The problem is that self-insurance without a Captive is not tax-deductible for federal or state income tax purposes.  Nor are loss reserves set aside to finance future lawsuits and other exposures due to implied warranties.  As a result, these risks can cost twice as much because they must be paid from profits on which the business has already paid tax.

On the other hand, business owners that have structured a Captive insurance company can finance that risk using tax dollars.  With a Captive, self-insured risk can be converted into tax-deductible premiums that are paid into a privately-held insurance company.  Risks can now be addressed with this pre-tax nest egg.  In the event that claims do not materialize, the Captive will capture a substantial pre-tax nest egg to be used for the future business risks, or for distributions to owners, family members and/or key executives, all at favorable tax rates.

In this scenario, the business owner has not assumed additional risk.  Keep in mind that the business owner is already exposed to such risks before establishing a Captive.  “Typically, Captives are put in place to help fill in gaps where conventional insurance markets do not provide coverage, or where the cost is deemed economically prohibitive,” according to Shawn Goheen, founder of Goheen Financial Group.

Example:  As of December 31, 2006, Company ABC will have taxable income of $10 million.  It will pay 45% in federal and state income taxes, leaving it with 55% or $5.5 million for construction defect claims, or for distribution to shareholders.  Instead, if Company ABC funds $4 million in premiums to its wholly owned Captive insurance company, it would have an additional $1.8 million available for expenses, claims, or for additional distributions to shareholders.

Roughly 80% of S&P 500 businesses have structured a Captive.  There are over 8,000 Captives operating today.

Who Should Consider a Captive?

Captives will not work for everyone.  However, good candidates generally meet several of the following criteria: (1) profitable operations, with taxable income ranging from $1.5 to $100 million; (2) substantial self-insured/uninsured business risk; (3) a large number of employees; and/or (4) substantial traditional third-party insurance expense.

What does the IRS have to say?

The IRS has created “safe harbors” to help taxpayers navigate the myriad of rules and tax traps.  It may sound fairly easy — it’s not.  Captive formations and management are fraught with tax landmines, and should only be structured using experienced and qualified professionals, such as management companies with expertise in underwriting, U.S. income tax matters, and insurance company management.  A qualified Captive management company can assist each Captive in navigating the extensive IRS rules and regulations, including the requirement for adequate risk shifting and risk distribution.

For More Information regarding captives contact the OGS Program at:

Alta Holdings, LLC                         Goheen Financial Group
3080 Bristol Street, Ste. 630   or     16400 Kensington Dr.
Costa Mesa, CA                            Sugar Land, TX 77479
(714) 433-2944                              (281) 491-2821