Professional Staffing

This month's Special Delivery e-newsletter includes the following articles:

• New Law Extends Favorable Capital Gain Rules
• How to Help Pay for College Education
• The Wrap-up for Wrap Fees
• Aurum Capital Markets Summary
• Repeal of Expanded 1099 Requirements
• Audio Book Club
• College Planning
• Advisor Insights Video Archive
• Delivering on the Promise

New Law Extends Favorable Capital Gain RulesThe tax rules for offsetting capital gains and losses can be confusing, even for experienced investors. Saving grace: The new 2010 Tax Relief Act extends favorable tax treatment for long-term capital gains. This latest extension lasts through 2012.

For simplicity, this discussion is limited to capital gains and losses arising from sales of securities. (Additional special rules may apply to other capital assets such as sales of collectibles and property subject to depreciation recapture.)

Click here to read more about the new law extending favorable capital gain rules.

How to help pay for college education

Section 529 plans may provide significant benefits to cash-strapped parents who intend to help pay for their children's college education. Here is a quick Q-and-A session on this intriguing option.

Click here to read about Section 529 and how you can help to pay for your child's college education.

The Wrap-up for Wrap Fees

Typically, "wrap fees" in an IRA cover investment advisory services, broker commissions and similar expenses. Unlike broker commissions, wrap fees are based on the total assets under management, not trading activities.

As a result, a new private letter ruling says that wrap fees do not count as traditional or Roth IRA contribution amounts if they are paid directly by the owner. Therefore, you can contribute up to the annual IRA contribution limit ($5,000 for 2011) without any erosion. (The IRA contribution limit for 2011 is increased to $6,000 if you are age 50 or older.)
Finally, wrap fees are deductible as miscellaneous expenses, subject to the usual floor for these expenses. Your miscellaneous expenses for the year are deductible to the extent the total exceeds 2% of your adjusted gross income (AGI).

Aurum Capital Markets Summary

Please click here for a summary from Aurum Wealth Management Group on the performance of the major market indices through the end of March as well as a recap of the significant events influencing the markets.

Click here for the summary on the performance of major market indices.

Repeal of Expanded 1099 Requirements

Recently, the president signed into law the Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011 (HR 4; 1099 Act), which repeals both the expanded Form 1099 information reporting requirements mandated by last year's health care legislation and also the 1099 reporting requirements imposed on taxpayers who receive rental income enacted as part of last year's Small Business Jobs Act.

Click here to read more about the President's Repeal of Expanded 1099 Requirements.

June Audio Book Club Discussion Series: Switch - How to Change Things When Change is Hard

Join area business professionals at the Skoda Minotti office as we continue our monthly audio book discussion with the help of David B. Rust, President of Audio Group, A business audio book club for time-starved people.

June's featured audio book: Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, by Chip and Dan Heath

Meeting Details: June 7, 2011 from 7:30-9:00 a.m. - A light breakfast will be provided
Location: Skoda Minotti Office, Mayfield Village, Ohio
Cost: $45 per session
Meeting Facilitator: David B. Rust, Audio Group President, Biography

Click here to register.

College Planning One-on-One Advisory

In case you have not had an opportunity to attend one of our recent college planning seminars, we'd like to extend the opportunity to attend a no-cost, one-on-one college planning advisory session to discuss your specific college planning needs.

For more information on these one-on-one advisory sessions, please contact Lou Trivisonno or Michael Van Himbergen at 440-449-6800. Or, you can visit our web site to learn more about our College Planning Services.

Click here to learn more about our Cleveland and Akron college planning services.

Advisor Insights - The Most Frequent Staffing Questions

Need answers to professional staffing questions? If so, be sure to view our latest video in our Insights series. Andrew Devore of Skoda Minotti Professional Staffing covers some of the most frequent staffing questions that he receives, including:

• Why should companies consider delegating their hiring to an outside staffing firm?
• What can a staffing agency add to the hiring process?
• What should a company look for in a staffing firm?

Click here to view the complete video on the staffing industry's most frequent questions.

Click here to visit the Skoda Minotti YouTube page, which includes a video archive of other Skoda Minotti Insights Videos.

Delivering on the Promise - To the Community

On April 26th, Skoda Minotti held a blood drive at our offices. We are pleased to announce that we collected 16 pints of blood that could potentially touch the lives of 48 people.