Cljarlotte
THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1996
STRICTLY BUSINESS
Buying the
right health
insurance
CHARLES ROSS
Your
Personal
Finance
There are two low cost
health insurance options:
Health Maintenance
Organizations and Preferred
Provider Organizations .
Unlike traditional health
insurance, with an HMO you
won't fill out claim forms after
each doctor visit. There are no
deductibles, and you will prob
ably pay $5 to $10 dollars per
visit.
You will be assigned a pri
mary care physician, or gate
keeper, who will then autho
rize visits to other doctors
within the HMO's network.
Physicians outside the net
work are generally not cov
ered at all.
PPOs are slightly more
expensive than HMOs. They
also provide care through a
network but you don't have to
go through a gatekeeper.
Either choice can save you
money over traditional type
coverage.
Point of service pians
Some people prefer the flexi
bility of traditional or indeml-
lity health insurance. But
indemnity plans are much
more expensive than network
plans, £md many insurers no
longer carry them at all.
An option which combines
the flexibility of indemnity
coverage with the cost savings
of HMOs and PPOs is a Point-
of-Service plan. It allows you
to consult a network doctor or
choose an out-of-network doc
tor. With in network doctors
you'll pay from $5 to $1; out-
of-network, you'll be covered
for 70-80 percent of the doc
tor's charge, and you'll pay the
remaining 20-30 percent.
Unfortunately, POS cover
age is only sold to businesses.
But if you EU'e self employed,
you can apply for POS cover
age as a business.
HMOs and PPOs
With plans and options
changing rapidly, you should
consult a licensed insurance
agent who can help you com
pare your choices. One key
consideration may be cost, but
that shouldn't be the only fac
tor. More important is the
quality of service, so check
with the Better Business
Bureau, your state depart
ment of insurance and, if pos
sible, present and former poli
cyholders. Make sure the plan
you consider has doctors who
are conveniently located.
Do you need a pediatrician
or a heart specialist? Shop for
the network with doctors and
specialists who will fit your
family's needs. If you don't
find a plan that is perfect for
you, or if you are concerned
about cost, sign up now for the
best available, then shop
again in a few months.
Do you need added
protection?
In some cases, people who
receive health coverage from
See HEALTH page 8A
Who’s on
First?
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
R ichard Walker
sells history.
His Who’s On
First company
retails, whole
sales and distributes Negro
Baseball League sportswear
and paraphernalia.
And, he dispenses a wealth
of details about the league.
“I’ve read six history books,”
Walker said. “I try to tell peo
ple, especially the young kids,
about what they are buying.” .
Who’s On First operates
from a cart on the second level
of Eastland Mall. Walker has
three employees and is open
seven days a week.
The Salisbury native attend
ed N.C. A&T State University
after graduating from J.C.
Price High in Salisbury. He
was attending graduate school
at Howard University when
he was drafted into the Army
and spent the next two years
doing medical research at a
Denver base.
In 1968, he joined Hoechst
Celanese, working there 28
years, before taking early
retirement to devote fulltime
to his business.
Negro League t-shirts, jack
ets, hats and other items
honor those ball players who
never received due recognition
when they were setting
records and whipping white
Major League teams in exhibi
tion games.
Walker says through an
arrangement with Major
League Baseball and the
Negro League Hall of Fame in
Kansas City, Mo., 15 percent
of sales of the sportswear goes
to support the roughly 200
still living players from the
old league, which was formed
in 1920.
Money management
Reducing
your odds of
a tax audit
Amanda S. Danchi
SPECtALTOTHE POST
Late last year, 150,000 tax
payers avoided a tax audit
without evea knowing it
when the Internal Revenue
Service postponed plans to
conduct line-by-line audits as
part of its Taxpayer
Compliance Measurement
Program. But don't count on
dumb luck this year. Before
you let your ga^ down, you
should know that, according
to the North Carolina
As.sociation of CPAs, the deci
sion to poatpone the 'fCMP in
no way affects the IRS's stan
dard auditii^ program.
While some tax returns are
selected at random, most
returns aini^e out for audit
contain either deductions
that appear to be too high in
relationship to the person's
income, or itmna that are
erroneous, require proof or an
explanation or are on the
IRS' s list of hot issues.
Although IKS targets change
with the times, here are some
areas that have commanded
the IRS's attention in recent
years.
High wages
Generally, as your income
increases, so does your
chance effacing audited.
Based on audits of 1993
returns Ithe most recent data
available) the odds of an
audit for someone in the
$25,000 to $100,000 income
bracket are less than 1 in
100. For those making more
than $100,000. the odds
increase to 4 in 100.
High DIF
When yonr return is filed.
IRS computers compare it
against the national
Discriminate Information
Function (DIF) system aver
age. The ERS calculates the
DIF score by using a closely
guarded formula. Return.'- ,
with the highest DIF scores
are scrutinized fay experi
enced examining officers who
determine which. return.s pro
vide the be.st chance for col
lecting additional taxes,
interest or penalties.
Wrong income entry
The IRS electronically
matchc.s the figures you
report for dividends, intere.>«t,
securities transactions and
other income with informa
tion supplied by banks, bro
kerage firms and other pay
ers. To areid problems, it’s
beat to report yottr dividend
and interest income exactly
as it appears on your 1099
forms and make adjustments
on the return if the numbers
are incorrect. If your broker
age account files a 1099 for
all your dividends, don’t list
separate amounts on your
return. By the same token, if
you receive separate 1099s,
don’t report your earnings in
one lump sum.
Self-employment
Because the IRS believes
most under-reporting of
income and abuse of deduc
tions Occurs among those who
are self-employed, these indi
viduals are audited far more
frequently than employees
collecting a salary. The same
holds true for taxicab drivers,
waiters and waitresses and
others who traditionally
receive payment in rash.
Also, the IRS will sometimes
conduct tests of certain indi
viduals to determine if a tax
payer's reported income ran
support his or her lifestyle.
The IRS publishes manuals
to familiarize its tax auditors
See INCOME page 8A
PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON
Richard Walker in front of his cart at Eastland Mall where he sells Negro Baseball League items.
“They had a reunion couple
of months ago,” Walker says.
“They didn’t have health care
or get much money when they
played. Many are down and
out. Fifteen percent of the
money goes to support the for
mer players. It will support
them until they die.”
It was the Negro League
which produced Jackie
Robinson, Roy Campanella
and Hank Aaron, and many
other early African American
Major League stars.
Negro League sporstwear
carry the names of such teams
as the Homestead Grays,
which later played in
Washington, the New York
Black Yankees, Baltimore
Elite Giants, Brown’s
Tennessee Rats and the
Cuban X Giants, from New
York.
After Jackie Robinson and
other African Americans
began playing in the Major
See SPORTS page 8A
First minority subdivision
unchanged after 19 years
By Christa Clark
VICKSBURG POST
VICKSBURG, Miss.- It was
a strange idea in 1967, even to
the 30 people whose names
were on the deed.
But in a time when the
South was still divided along
racial lines the 35-acre tract of
land, then just outside the city
of Vicksburg, represented a
place where 25 families could
have a home, raise a family
and picnic in their backyard if
they chose, all without some
one telling them they couldn't
because of the color of their
skin.
Shirley Porter, one of the
original residents of the first
black subdivision in
Vicksburg, said the subdivi
sion and Malinda C. Robinson,
the woman responsible for it,
need to be remembered as
part of Vicksburg's history.
“She was a strong lady that
knew of the desires of the
hearts of many people, and
she helped many people, "
Porter said. “Now my grand
children are reaping the bene
fits from this lady.''
Robinson, who was black,
came to Vicksburg in 1941 as
the Negro Home
Demonstration Agent, a segre
gation-era position in the
county Cooperative Extension
Department. Her job was to
improve living conditions for
black residents, whether it
was directing mattress pro
jects in Redwood or serving as
a 4-H leader or home agent.
She encouraged people to
buy land of their own when
they could, and Robinson, a
Natchez native, coordinated
the purchase, financing and
development of the subdivi
sion which now bears her
See NEIGHBORS page 8A
It is never too soon to plan for your old age
By Charles E. Belle
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
"I have no choice but to work
into my 70s," says a 59-year
old woman. ’Well, unfortunate
ly, she is going to have plenty
of company as the "Contract
With America" hits home.
As of January, one person in
America turns 50 every seven
and a half minutes! And too
few of these "baby boomers"
will have put away enough
bucks for their retirement.
Two things have changed as
they came of age. First, chang
ing jobs frequently during
their early careers caused
them to lose any pension plan
extra benefits due to longevity
inside one plan.
Second, the "Contract with
America" is cutting the
amount of benefits from enti
tlement programs, as well as
lengthening the eligibility for
payments from Social
Security. Social Security, pen
sion plans and savings cannot
be depended upon to help
maintain your standard of liv
ing during retirement or
unemployment years.
The crisis is now for those
who want to retire with a rea
sonable standard of living.
The average American needs
a cash flow of at least two-
thirds of their last year of
work for a comfortable retire
ment income. Clearly, because
of the "Contract with
America," Social Security will
not come close to that figure.
Savings in the banks and
S&Ls by Americans cannot
produce an income stream to
make up the deficit.
To make matters worse,
interest rates — and therefore,
certificates of deposit interest
income — are headed down
ward for the foreseeable
future. From job hopping, few
of the baby boomers have built
up any sizable equity in a pen
sion plan, if indeed they have
a pension plan. There are few
companies that continue to
give a gold watch after 40
years to employees because
few employees have been with
the same company for that
long ! Mergers and acquisi
tions have been aimed.at most
older companies.
Complicating this poor
retirement scenario is the
spending craze in the 80s.
Consumer debt soared to
record heights, where it
remains today, despite an
attempt by most people to cut
up their credit cards in the
90s.
Aside from slaving until you
are dead, what can the aver
age worker do to prepare for
some kind of comfort during
retirement? Start saving and
See SAVINGS page 8A
BUSINESS TO BUSINESS
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Matthew 7:7
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Charlotte, NC 28217
' Phone704.S29.1195* Fax 704.522.8737