2007 Nov/Dec

Take these steps before Dec. 31; it’ll be too late next April

As 2007 steadily winds down, outlined below are six items (pertaining mostly to IRA planning) that you should consider incorporating into your year-end list of projects.

Is it time to buy? Sell? Upgrade?

Have you noticed? Mainstream America is discovering wine’s potential. The availability of better wines at better prices has turned an old-world tradition into new-world big business. A majority of Americans still drink wine as a social gesture alongside spirits and beer. But at bars, parties, receptions and family gatherings wine is becoming a more integral part of the event.

For the second year, the American Business Women’s Association of Cape Cod has collaborated with Cape Business to honor the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year. This year’s award was bestowed on Lori LaBarge of LaBarge Homes.

With a July 2007 unemployment rate of just 4.1 percent, the Cape has more than held its own in 2007 – more than one full percentage point below the state average.

To view or download a PDF listing a variety of Barnstable County wages and salaries, click here.

It is vital that you take the time to review your estate plan and make sure it is complete and up to date. Here is a list of 10 steps you can take before year’s end to ensure your revocable trust-based estate plan will work at peak performance:

What’s in a day? Actually, it turns out, quite a bit when it comes to the stock market. With the recent increase in market volatility, we decided to take a look at the impact of short-term market activity versus long-term results. Simply put, the chance of investing in the market on a day that closes higher is as good as the chance of a coin toss landing heads up.

College graduation begins a new era – not just for the student but the parents, too!

Baby boomers are demanding more for their parents.

The Federal Reserve’s recent lowering of the federal funds rate is good news if you are a borrower. If you are a saver, it is a different story.

Look at a gift to the Harvard Endowment and establish a charitable remainder trust to create a retirement income stream.

At Snow’s Home and Garden in Orleans, you’re likely to be served by employees who have backgrounds as engineers, scientists and judges. Now, past age 55, they’re combining work with semi-retirement on Cape Cod.

By now most people know that television is going digital, and many have heard about an analog shut-off date in February 2009. There is a widespread belief that this analog deadline will render traditional TV sets useless. Fortunately, this is not the case.

Summer may be long gone, but that doesn’t mean your garden won’t still benefit from some attention. Gardening is a year-round activity, especially on beautiful Cape Cod.

Health is not the mere absence of disease, anymore than wealth is the absence of poverty. To cultivate abundant health across the span of your life you will want to consider proactive creation of a health portfolio.

Selecting a health club is a no brainer, right? At first thought, it would seem that what you want in a health club is all of the things you don’t have at home: free weights, weight machines, all kinds of cardio equipment, one stop shopping for a complete workout. Simple, right?

The phone keeps ringing, your computer is on the fritz and you’re trying to fit 25 hours of activity into a 24-hour day. So your stress levels go up, along with your blood pressure.

By now many boomers have gotten their first reading glasses and have struggled to adapt to needing more light to read.

No retirement for this corporate executive: At 65, Dave Roberts buys a Truro winery with his wife and his children.

Today, demand – especially for fine wines – often exceeds the supply; thus, the growth in wine futures: investors willing to speculate on the quality and price of wines not yet produced.

While Cape Cod is a destination that many people travel to, its residents also travel from the Cape to a variety of locales, domestically and internationally.

Business owners are increasingly asking these questions: What is it that really drives performance and profitability, and how can we identify, quantify and measure all the assets of our company so that we can increase its performance?

Recently, top local chefs congregated in a demonstration kitchen at the new Complete Home Concepts in Plymouth to share their cooking prowess with scores of local businesses. The scene was a far cry from the simpler roots of an Orleans lumberyard founded in 1895 by a seafaring captain, Oscar Nickerson, whose first full year in business recorded $9,200 in sales.

Peter Francese, director of demographic forecasts for the New England Economic Partnership, recently spoke to the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce Economic Summit on “Challenges and Opportunities” for the region. This Q&A is extracted from his remarks.

We are pleased to share our Health & Wealth directory – an array of businesses and establishments ready to serve you year-round.