Cljarlotte
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1996
6A
STRICTLY BUSINESS
Lending
money to a
family member
CHARLES ROSS
Your
Personal
Finance
Your son, daughter or cousin
may come to you to borrow
money. Before you agree, ask
yourself if you can afford to
part with the money, and also
ask yourself if you stand a
reasonable chance of getting
the money back. If you answer
"no ' to either question, don't
lend the money, no matter
how much you would like to
help.
If you answer "yes" to these
questions, it's still best not to
rush into a loan. Consider
making the money a gift. You
can give as many gifts as you
wish up to $10,000 a year
each without triggering feder
al gift taxes. If you'd rather
lend the money, and it's less
than $10,000, you can set the
interest rate.
Make sure you draw up a
family-loan agreement. Forms
are available at office supply
stores. The agreement should
include the amount of the
loan, the interest rate and the
date by which the loan must
be repaid.
Women pay more
Various surveys support the
conclusion that women pay
more than men for similar
products and services. A New
York City survey found that
women paid an average of $20
for the same basic shampoo
and haircut that men get for
$16.
Although women buy nearly
half of all cars sold in the
nation, they are consistently
charged more than men. One
researcher found that white
women paid $150 more than
white men for an identical car,
and that black women paid
about $400 more than black
men for the same car.
To launder and iron a white
cotton shirt, cleaners charge
25 percent more for women's
shirts than for men's.
Department stores may offer
free alterations for men's
clothes, but charge for wom
en's.
Some researchers say sexism
and racism may be at the core
of these variable standards.
Save with HMDs
The nation's medical costs
are now rising 12 percent a
year, and more than half of
American workers are in man
aged care programs, such as
HMDs. While HMDs restrict
your freedom to choose doctors
and medical facilities, they
offer certain advantages. They
cover preventative care such
as routine checkups and inoc
ulations, and can be a popular
alternative for a family with
children.
In general, joining an HMO
will save you money, since
there is no deductible to satis
fy. In a traditional medical
plan, a family can pay as
much as $1,000 a year in
deductibles. With an HMO, if
you need a specialist, be sure
to have approval from your
See MONEY page 7A
Auto dealers concerned with
stagnant economy, high debt
By Mike McKesson
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS'VEGAS-
A stagnant econo
my, high levels of
consumer debt
and a continuing
problem with the
affordability of new cars will
produce a slight decline in
dealers' sales this year, the
National Automobile Dealers
Association's chief economist
said Monday,
“In the first h2ilf of this year,
economic growth will probably
be pitiful," Tom Webb said in
his annual industry forecast
at NADA's convention.
He said the Federal
Reserve's recent action to
bring down interest rates is a
recognition of that problem
that came too late to remedy it
in the short term,
Webb predicted that the
nation's 22,000 franchised
dealers will sell about 14.5
million cars and light trucks
this year, down from about
14.7 million in 1995.
Last year, Webb's forecast
was at odds with the major
manufacturers' incorrect pre
dictions of strong sales
growth. It is in line with their
expectations for 1996. Sales in
1995 declined 1.6 percent from
the year before.
“Most of the industry now
realizes that we weren't cry
ing wolf about the continuing
affordability problem," he
said.
The average sales price of a
new vehicle is more than
$20,000, cutting many con
sumers out of the market,
while consumer debt is rising.
“The typical household is
taking on additional debt to
maintain a lifestyle it can't
afford," Webb said.
Such factors amplify the
importance of the used car
business, which has been the
focus of much attention at this
year's NADA convention. The
association estimates that
franchised dealers sold about
18.5 million used vehicles last
year in a $260 billion market
of 40 million vehicles.
The average dealer's net
profit on a new car sale was
about $10 last year, according
to Webb's analysis. Profit on
used cars, which had an aver
age sales price of $11,000 at
dealerships, was a record $300
a vehicle. Dollar volume of
used car sales by dealers
increased 15 percent in 1995,
he said.
Increasing numbers of peo
ple who would have been new-
car buyers are becoming used
car buyers.
“Research clearly shows that
the people coming into the
dealership can go either way,"
William Bivens, senior vice
president of Nissan Motor
Corp. U.S.A.'s finance opera-
See AUTO page 7A
Employee business expenses getting a return
Amanda S. Danchi
SPECIAL TO THE POST
Earning money inevitably
costs you money. Professional
journals, union dues, business
meals and continuing educa
tion are expenses typically
incurred in the line of duty.
However, you may be able to
offset your out-of-pocket costs
by deducting a portion of
those expenses on your federal
income tax return, points out
the North Carolina
Association of CPAs, Most
unreimbursed employee busi
ness expenses can be itemized
as "miscellaneous deductions."
Included are expenses for
items such as job-related edu
cation, travel, meals and job
bunting. However, they can be
deducted only to the extent
that they total, when com
bined with your other miscel
laneous deductions, more than
2 percent of your adjusted
gross income.
Unreimbursed employee
business expenses are subject
also to overall limit on item
ized deductions for taxpayers
with AGIs in excess of
$114,700 ($57,350 for married
taxpayers filing separately).
Get smart and deduct edu
cational expenses
As an employee, you may be
entitled to a deduction for
unreimbursed moneys spent
on job-related education.
Among the expenses you can
write off are the cost of
tuition, books, supplies, lab
fees, certain costs for travel to
and from your studies, and
even the wages of a tutor or
typist you used in connection
with your educational pur
suits.
However, your curriculum
must meet one of two IRS
imposed requirements: (1)
your education must be
required by your employer or
by law to keep your current
job; or (2) your courses must
help you maintain or improve
your present work skills.
You're not allowed a tax
deduction for courses that
qualify you for a different kind
of work, nor can you deduct
the cost of courses needed to
meet the minimum qualifica
tions of your present job.
Following the road to an
automobile deduction
If you use your own car for
business and aren't reim
bursed by your employer,
there are two ways to claim a
deduction. You may deduct
your actual costs for gas, oil,
insurance, repairs and main
tenance, in addition to depre
ciation, or you can use the
standard Internal Revenue
Service mileage rate, which is
30 cents per mile for 1995.
In both instances, you also
can deduct the cost of unreim
bursed, business-related park
ing fees and tolls. Most people
come out ahead by keeping
track of their expenses, but
this method requires a little
See FINANCES page 7A
Software helps blind nayigate World Wide Web
By Linda A. Johnson
TIJB ASSOCIATEB TRESS ; ■
TI^NfON. N,J « The: late^i
Web-bjTOwsing software has a
surprising target audience:
blind and visually impaired peo
ple. .
The Productivity Works, a
startup Internet software com
pany focusing on technology for
people with disabilities, says its
pwWabSpeak will, help the visu
ally impaired cruise the
Internet and even the graphics-
oriented World Wide Web as
easily as a sighted person.
Billed as the first speaking
Web browser designed from
scratch for blind people, it reads
text in a computer-generated
voice like existing speech-read
ing software.
But it also announces the
highlighted “hyperlinks" within
, text(thaf?ebihdt;|;;M;M
related pages or locations on the ;
: Iht#net,;'®|;;ilisi!i^t|fs®!s:n®
gate quickly through a page by
tabbing ihrough heading.- and
graphic icons and hy listing
hyperlinks - all aloud - rather
than sinapiy: i»ading..&oni.aiart: 4
to ftnish^Fdr
vision, the text can be displayed
in nearly mch-hi^:ietters7' \ ;;:^
; “There%:’only:d;s!ha^^
age of people who are visually
impairedrivhoi-idsdbdjBpdteraS;?
aiid :the
Hakkinen, senior vice-president
of the ■TY^tdn-hasddilnterhet 4 .
software. cdinpdly ilSfe .tnain:
thrust is to make it dicesste to .4
a much lajger group of people.”
In addition, noted executive .
. vice-president Say Ingrain, they
hope to influence Web pege
opcrnt..r8 aroiiml the globe to
make tht-ir hoinu pagi": equally
acees.silile to blind people, -uch
as hy providing text desciip-
tions of uons. phoUis and other
software others are developing
Hakkinen, a longtime software
■works as a computer consul-
4 f aht:,-s Hex^ iVeekjthdphfe^^
their final testing period for
:;4y|siyiy4imi»di:ied::yoittoteerM^
to the public fay April.
Teehnolc^ experts at organi-
''iaBonsidf
have not tried pwWefeSpeak but
,ct>nsider-ft4!tt@ii'-:mpid:;^
■'If this cun put iho Inti-rnet in
the hands of ordinary blind peo
ple who are not computer liu-r-
ate, that would be a real break-
thrott^,” said Sichard Bing.;
Braille and Technology Center
at the National Federation of
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BUSINESS TO BUSINESS
CRAIG MICHAEL SIPUN
Multimedia Specialist
Keep The Faith
Matthew 7:7
NIGHT OWL TV & VCR SERVICES
SPECIAUZING IN REPAIRING
TV, VCR, Big Screen, Stereo & Speakers, Universal Remote Controls,
Computer Monitors, Selling Repaired & Used Equipment
SERVING ALL OF METRO CHARLOTTE ■ (704)-523-O642
“In Home/In Business Service“
* BLACK OWNED ENTERPRISE *
If you have an idea for a
business story, call:
Herbert L. White or John Minter
at 376-0496.
E-mail - charpost@clt.mindspring.com
ecmse you can not physically reach all of the people
you wish to serve, you must be well represented
through visual communication. We can custom
design your material to maximize the
potential of your product or service!
CREATIVE INNOVATIONS
QUALITY TYPESETTING S DESIGN
3400-D St. Vardell Lane • Charlotte, NC 28217
Phone 704.529.1195 • Fax 704.522.8737