New Roth IRA Rules Postpone Income Reporting
On January 1, 2010 the rules for converting a retirement account to a Roth IRA are changing. Currently, people can only convert their accounts to a Roth IRA if they have a modified adjusted gross income of $100,000 or less and must not be filing their taxes as married filing separately. Under the new rules, people will be able to convert their other IRAs to a Roth regardless of their income levels. In addition, their is an option that allows report half the income from your conversion in 2011 and the other half in 2012 rather than reporting all of it in the year of conversion as required under the current rules.
Small Business Solutions: Online Faxing
Small businesses are always looking for ways to save a little money. While a phone line is necessary, a dedicated fax line is not an essential. If you don’t use fax frequently enough to justify a phone line dedicated to the fax machine, check out this options websites instead.
www.unityfax.com
UnityFax has a variety of plans for businesses to choose from, incoming faxes can be downloaded from the website, however, they are also sent directly to your email so you know almost immediately when a fax comes in. This service is especially great for service providers who are always on the go. For me, it is much easier to check a fax on my phone than be tied down to one location in the event that a fax does come through.
Online faxing is just one way that technology is making life easier for small businesses.
Black Friday is Coming, Start Planning Now
If you are like me, Black Friday is one of the best days of the year. Last year I stayed up all night to check out a midnight sale at my local outlet mall and from there it was one store after another as they opened. However, if you don’t know what you are looking for ahead of time, you can miss out on some great deals and also waste a lot of time looking around stores that you think might have something worth the effort but then has nothing you want. If you don’t know exactly what you want, you could also get caught up in the spirit of shopping and end up purchasing a lot of things that you don’t need.
My advice, start checking the sales now. Most of the stores already have their Black Friday ads available online so you can start shopping now.
http://www.theblackfriday.com/
This website has the Black Friday sales for every store you can imagine. By planning things out early, you can make sure that you get everything you want/need so that you are well on your way to getting your Christmas shopping over so that you can just enjoy the holiday without all the stress of last minute shopping, hint hint to the men out there.
Key to Starting a Successful Business
Starting a business requires more than just a great idea. If all you have is an idea, the business won’t get very far. You need management skills and a vision for the business. However, the vision must be more than just a few thoughts and ideas you keep in you head, it needs to be written down in a business plan.
Business plans are essential for successful and long-lived business. While you may last for a couple of years without a plan, you will be more successful if you have the plan. Creating a business plan requires you to focus on where the business is now, where you see the business in a few years, and how you will get there. Banks won’t loan money to a business without a solid business plan and financial statements.
To start working on your business plan today, check out your local Small Business Administration (SBA) office, SCORE, or check with your local community college or an attorney.