1 Selecting Mutual Fund Although there are more than 3700 mutual fuOOs 10 buy,sdc:cting a fund does rot have to coin First, detrnnine what your ob­ jectives are. Are yo u high risk­ taker woo wants better resul quicker? Or are you looking for a more conservativ long-term in- tment? Go· with a fund with a good record over periods of three, fiVe or 10 years. When you compare per­ formances, be sure to compare ap­ ples apples. For exampl if you invested in a balanced.fum, which holdsstocksandbonds,d n'tcorn­ pare this to a fund which invcs only in 't perd, because f can eat � your investment profit, especially in the bort term, Look for fuOOs that don't carry a sales charge, called no-load funds. Avoiding an IRS Audit The Internal Reven Service may � you on the sboulder if you claim exemptions or dedoctions which are commonly abused. �k the number of your depend­ ents you are claiming and make sure you can provid birth dates and . . al security nurri of chil­ dren or deperdent persons. If you can't, this may cause a red flag to go up. Be sure to pay self-employ­ ment tax and to report early pen­ sionwitbdrawals.Ard.Hyoudon't list a child-care provider's tax ID number on Form 2441, you can't claim the dependent -care credi t Moreover a 00 e office can't be. deducted if it i unwarranted, You can't turn a bOO debt. uch as an unpaid loan to a friend, into a busi­ ness deduction on Schedule C You rmst write it off on Schedule D a capital I . Check with your tax preparer or th IRS before clajming any de­ duction. Renting to Own You have your eye n a !1e\V tereo, but a friendl y clerk tells you can have a whole entertainment center for just a few dollars more ona rent to own plan. little do you realize that over the period of the contract, you may paying three tim the Cost of tbe items. Forexample,ifyoufirxia tereo that $350 but decide to n r a rent-to-buy ment at 17 per w k for 52 weeks you will wind up paying nearly , If you hould miss a payment, th prop­ ertymay re . But if you save 17 per month, you could buy that same reo ina little I than ix months. Critics of the 3, illion rent- to-own busi y it targ low- income corsum preying on the rwhodon'thav creditorwho have credit.. from uni ty ." ee ational P Club, featured tary rownand R v. J n. Th audience of over o pe ple included many 0 th nation' mo t recognized Bl leadership figures, Secretary Brown told th group that BI k­ run bu i es, uch publishing operations, were th key to Blacks gaining onomic equi ty in Amer­ ica. " an African Am rican, I can tell you that the investm nts and a tivi ty w need is in the private ctor, not th publi one," aid Brown, who j the on of a former manager of Harlem' famed Ther­ a Hotel. Jesse Jackson complimented the Black Press on its successes over the past 166 years. A By RON SEIGEL Sp.cl.' to the Mlchlg.n Citizen According to Ch ryl Harp f th Lamba Pi Omega Chapter of the fra­ ternity Alpha Kappa Alpha April i Black Dollar Month. The purpo e of thi e ort, she said is to get people to demonstrate the power of Black doll to upport local Black busin e th reby i n­ creasing the power 0 th 81 k com­ munity. la - their expenditur . Th Y re al 0 than half of it in their own communi- , ked to ncourag others to upp rt ti , he aid. the effort. In order to docum nt the pro r ' of th driv Harp aid, people ar asked to try to p nd two dollar bill or the Susan B. Anth ny doll r. . Harps noted that nth ny was a trong supporter of Bla k civil ri hts in h r lifetime, ,0 thi i a ymboli ge ture. , , � , Durin the re of the year the 11 RII F bu. 1- Alpha Kappa Alpha chapter will b nes cs in thi country re mall on ,-hOlding w r op . eopl hieh hire ewer than five mplo - tart . ees, he aid. African merican pend $3 billron. but If uch us in 'arc uppo rt d h aid, they can provide job and employment opp rtuniti and help communitie " urvive and thrive" by providing tax a e for mor TV­ i e . Mark A. Haywood ha been named Minority Bu ines Program Coordinator of Michigan Consolidated Ga Company (MichCon), respon- ible for for coordinating all activitie of MichCon's Minor­ ity procurement Program and the Minority Vendor Loan pro­ gram. Haywood, obtaining hi bachelor's degree in ac­ counting from the University of Michigan and his law de­ gree from Wayne State Uni­ ver ity, joined MichCon in 1984 as a tax accountant. I - PROJECT ANG UP IF YOU SUSPEa A FRAUDULENT ·50U(ITATIO SK QUESTIONS UNTIL YOU ARE SATISFIED o TO HIGH PRESSURE SALESPERSONS -, ET A WRllTEN EXPLANATIO OF THE PROGRAM SCRU ULOUS CALLERS T Y TO RUSH OR FORCE YOU INTO SAYING YES, SAY NO OU(E ORGANIZATIONS WITH LEGITIMATE OG S WILL ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH A CALLER •.• EMS , Il'S YOUR TIME, IT'S YOUR TELEPHO E ... J A MESSAGE FROM THE MICHIGAN STATE POUCE TItOOPERS ASSOCIA T10N AND THE MICHIGAN STATE POU