By ANDREW HE ON
"IT'S A VERy low rate on
laber," he said. "We believe that
this tax i more favorable to
business in comparison to pre­
vious taxes we've had."
These differing views repre­
sent a much larger debate about
the SBT, which replaced seven
busin taxes in 1975 and ac­
counted for about 11 percent of
general fund revenue in 1992,
the latest year Treasury Depart­
ment figures are available.
The tate determines the
10 of
don't," . d Bill Sed­
erburg vi p ident for Public
Sector Consultan, non rti­
arch and polling group
in ing. "It hi every
differently. "
Jam Stuck, p ident ofFi­
bre Converte Inc. in Constan­
tin , calls t SBT "a 10 ded
gun" that disoourages employ­
ment.
The SBT in itself is a bad
ta ," he aid. "It' actually
cheaper and ierunderth tax
to replace emplo with a capi­
tal acquisition. I would like to
see something that encourages
the ris of bringing in employ-
ees."
Fibre Converters has 60 em­
ployees and manufactures pa­
perboard used in automobile
ts and furniture.
ANOTHER CONSTAN­
TINE busi executive, Lyda
Nickell, said the SBT accounts
for only a small percent of her
It's never too early to plan
your retirement. Financial plan­
ners say that for retirement,'
t pIe wi n n income
that uals tIt 80 percent of
wh'at they earned (a�'r taxes)
while they were working. How­
ever, Social Security and em­
ployer pensions (if the retiree
hasa pension at all) will prob­
ably add up to no more than 60
percent, The difference must be
made up from savings or by
working during retirement.
The best way to accumulate
savings is to put aside money
regularly, ideally at least 10 per­
cent of your after tax income.
The first place to put money is in
an employer-sponsored, tax-de-
. ferred account, such as a 401 (k)
plan. Not only can you delay
paying taxes on that money and
it earnings, but your employer
may match some or all of your
contribution.
Bond Mutual Funds
� _...
One of the most common iq­
ve tment: 'tmotces ftj 4() 1 (�
. plans is bond mutual funds.
These funds own a collection of
either government or corporate
bonds. A short-term fund has
bonds with average maturities
of three years or less. An inter­
mediate-term bond fund has an
average maturity of three to 10
years, while a long-term fund
has a maturity of 10 to20 years.
In general, the longer the ma­
turity of the fund, the higher the
interest rate it will pay.
For example, short-term gov­
ernment bonds have recently
been earning about 5 percent,
intermediate-term about 6 per­
cent and long-term about ? per­
cent. But the longer the
com .
If vote
ballot pro
rem in t i current I I of
2.35 nt. Under th backup
plan, which will automatically
go into effect ifPropoeal A fails,
it ould in t02.75 percent.
Both pla would effect
y 1. .
GOV. JO GLER, ina
recent interview with Capital
Ne Service corr ponden ,
aid the 0.4 percent SBT in­
crease under the statutory plan
could De very costly to busi
"If the ballot proposal were to
fail, [compani ] would get prop­
erly tax relief that would offset
- and then some, perhaps - by
a hike in the Single B�
T "
Yet Hou e Taxation Chair­
man Lynn Jondabl, D-Okem08
and gubernatorial candidate,
said Engler "does not reoognize
that many businesses won't
gains under the ballot proposal,
oral
Ch
d
OUTIIFIELD - Charl
E. Knazz ha been pro­
moted to real tate man-.
a r fpr the Detroit Region of
McDonald' Corporation.
The 41-year-old Knazze
joined McDonald's as a real
e tate representative in
June of1991.
In his new posi . on as real
estate manager, ze will
be responsible for ave ing
all real estate activity for
McDonald's in southeastern
Michigan.
He is a graduate of'Loyola
U niversity of Chicago, Illi- CHARLES KNAZZE
nois.
During his IS-year career, . .
Knazze has handled real estate transactions in a niunber of
different industries including hotel, supermarket, offic.e/ware-
ho and quick-service food.
The Chicago native lives in Southfield with his wife Robin
and two children.
rudential ecurities'
to sponsor retirement
planning seminar
. D orr - A irement
planning minar, "Building for
Tomorrow Begi Today, - will
be nsored by Kathl n Colin,
Financial Advisor in Prud -
tial Securi' , Detroit branch,
on Thursday, March 17, at 6 p.m.
Th minarwill be held atPru­
dential Securiti ' offi at 400
Renaissance Center, Suite 1600,
in Detroit.
The featured era at the
seminar will be Jam F. Arm-
trong, Retirement Planning
Coordinator with Prudential Se­
curitie Incorporated, and
Agustin V. Arbulu C., a partner
and practicing attorney with the
law firm. of Raymond Pro op
P.C. in Southfield, Mi. Mr. Ar­
bulu pecializ in business,
oommercial and tax planning.
AdmiaJion to the seminar is
free. For information and reser­
tiom call 81S-259-551S.
Guaranteed
investment
contracts
A popular investment choice
for 401 (k) plans includes guar­
anteed investment contracts or
GICs. These are sold by insur­
ance companies and pay a set
rate of interest, like a CD at a
bank. Guaranteed investment
contracts are considered secure
investments, but they generally
pay a low rate of interest com­
pared with the long-term return
on stocks.
About halfofa1l401(k) money
is invested in GICs. Most people
don't really understand why
they are investing in these fixed
"·16 'rate-·tn.. tmen . But be
tl � n 1 2 -Pe n
who invested $100 every three
months in the stock market
would have accumulated nearly
$9,000 VB $7,000 in a GIC.
IRAs - Still
a good choice
Setting up an Individual Re­
tirement Account with a mu­
tual-fund company, a bank, or a
brokerage firm will help you
save money for retirement. The
law allows' IRA contributions of
$2,000 a year per person, or
$2,250 per couple when only one
person works. Whether your
IRA contribution is tax-deduct­
ible depends upon your income
The confer nee also signaled the start of a new year for the A.
Philip Randolph Mes enger Awards, a journ II tic competition
for NNPA m mber newspaper which wa e t bli h d by Miller
Br wing Comp ny. Pictut d here admiring a photO of the w rd
. re (I to r): NNPA fir t vice pre Ident Melvyn Willi m ; Sheri
Cola , Miller Brewing Company; NNPA Pre ident Robert Bogle;
Jame French, publl h r of th Ch rle ton Chronicl, nd
Mill r' Noel Hankin. Th 1 94 A. Philip R ndolph Award will be
pre ented t the NNPA' nnu I conf r nc in J.une.
.)
and on whether you're eligible to
participate in a tax-deferred
pension plan at work.
If yo '" employel" d ntt Qffi
a r tit nt p'l 1). nd
sPouses doesn (either, you can
deduct your entire IRA contribu­
tion, regardless of your income.
If your employer does offer a
plan, you may still deduct your
entire contribution if your ad­
justed gro income is under
$25,000 for individuals or
$40,000 for couples who file
jointly.
Take a chance
Investing for retirement can
be challenging and confusing.
But there is one fact that cannot
be ignored ....- Investing in the
stock market through mutual
funds has -proven to offer the
best return for long-term invest-
ing. If you have more than 5
yea1'8 until you retire then in­
�Itl'ttar in mutual funda •
IUt"Mtttah"'Va 'COftSider!
'have a
aged at least 10% a year. Some
funds have done even better
than that, sometimes doubling
and tripling investor's money
over a five year period. _
If you are investing in stock
mutual funds through a 401 (k)
plan, then you need to. find out
what type of stock fund it is.
Find out the performance of the
fund over the past ten years and
how that performance stacks up
against similar funds.
Charla Roa ;.. �t of tM nationally
yndicated radio .how, "Your Pereona!
Finance, " and autJa.Qr of Your Common­
't:1t.8e Guide to Perlonal Fin.ancial Plan,
ning.
Employability and
career exploration
Hud on's and Detroit Public
Schools have joined efforts to
provide high chool students
with program that will help
them develop-skills of complet­
ing a job application and inter­
viewing and provide information
on the variety of'career opportu­
ni ti wi thin the retail profes­
sion.
. With this program, which be­
gan in 1992, Hudson's wishes to
assist Detroit Public Schools in
the implementation of Public
Act 104 that requires students to
graduate with employability
training an to have explored and
developed different career op­
portunities.
"Our partnership with the
Detroit Public School system
further enhances our Commu­
nity Giving Program through
which we emphasize preparing
young people for a lifetime of
productive employment," said
Dennis Toffolo, president of
Hudson's.
During March, senior and
junior management from Hud­
son' will visit fourteen Detroit
area high schools. Sophomore
and junior tudents will partic:i­
pte.
C 00 G
by the managers will include:
preparing for an effective inter­
view; job application completion;
and insights on what employers
1 k or in an pplicant.
Stud n will b expected to
use this information to practice
interviewing and oomplete a job
application as the program con­
tinues in the Hudson's stores.
During the end of MarchJbe.
ginning of April, the partici­
pants will be transported to one
of four Hudson's store locations
- Eastland, Northland, Oak­
land or Fairlane. In-store pres­
entations will explore eight
different retail careers: Sales;
Food Service; Store Manage­
ment; Loss Prevention; Visual
Presentation; Store Operations I
(Clerical, .,Control Office); Store
Operations IT (Receiving/Main­
tenance): and Human Re-
. sources. Each student will also
participate in a personal inter­
view.
Upon completion of the pro­
gram, students will reoei va a cer­
tificate of participation t-o
include in their graduation port­
folio as fulfillment oft he require­
ments of Public' Act 104.
HUD 0 S WILL also ex­
pand this program to the school
districts surrounding its C
roads (Kalamazoo), Lakeside
(Utica), Lakeview Square (Bat­
tle Cree ), Genesee Valley
(Flint), Fashion Square (Sagi­
naw), Franklin Park (Toledo
OH), and La ing ores. '
Participating Detroit schools
include: Cooley, Ford, Northern,
Central, 0 born, Kettering
Denby, Finney, Chadsey, South�
western, Cody Mackenzie
Pershing and N orthw tern. I