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CI)arIottB ^0£(t THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 1996 7A STRICTLY BUSINESS Sell or. add fund holdings CHARLES ROSS Your Personal Finance It's a good idea to do periodic check-ups on your investment portfolio and trim dead wood. But how do you know whether to sell or hold on? If a stock fund is underperforming, you should give it a year or two. Bond funds, however, should be given less time to recover. How do you determine if a fund is underperforming? Compare your fund with other funds within the same catego ry. One reason why a fund may not be doing well is expenses. If your fund is charging significaultly higher fees than the average, consid er jumping to a similar well- managed fund that is not charging such high fees. If you’re not sure about selling, unload only a portion of it. But be careful, because a poor performer now can suddenly come roaring back. Trim fast growers If you're looking for ways to strengthen your investment portfolio, consider getting rid of some of your fastest grow ing funds. It sounds crazy, but here's why it’s financially healthy: Suppose your current stock fund investnent allocation is one-third growth funds, one- third international f unds, and one-third technology fields. What happens if the technolo gy sector fund you own grows like wildfire? It may be time to trim it back, even if it has been a top performer in its category. This disciplines you to sell after a run-up in prices and buy other funds that may be poised to grow. Another reason to trim back a fast .grower is to use capital losses you've taken, or plan to take, in a disappointing fund to off set those gains in another. Adjust to meet current needs You may have bought your funds for many different rea sons. Perhaps you bought a fund for its long-term growth potential to meet anticipated retirement, or educational needs. Maybe you bought it because of high expectations for the areas in which the fund invests, or because it was a new fund and might benefit from the company's hottest investment ideas. If your reason for buying the f und has changed, or no longer exists, it may be time to sell. For example, if you bought a fairly aggressive fund to provide for a child's college education, it may be time to sell if your child will need the funds in less than a year. Also, as you approach retirement age, you should lower the risk level in your investment portfolio. Add more of a successful fund If you want to strengthen vour investment portfolio, you may be tempted to diversify by investing in some hot new See FUND page 8A Heritage for sale By John Minter THE CHARLOTTE POST Attorney opts to open afrocentric shop M ary Wilson just completed her first year run ning her own business, the popular Heritage House afrocentric shop on Kings Drive. Though she always wanted her own business, Wilson gave up a high-powered career as a corporate attorney to open Heritage House a year ago. “I found that the glass ceil ing was always there, no mat ter how high you go,” Wilson said. “I’m a Type A person. I’m used to working 12-14 hours per day. I thought, if I was going to work this hard, I needed to use this energy and productivity for the benefit of my family.” Wilson worked for such firms as Hoechst Celanese, Fieldcrest Cannon, Duracell and a division of Marine Midland Bank. She moved back to Charlotte in 1994, where she’d lived about two years while working for Hoechst Celanese, after the Marine Midland division was relocated from Connecticutt to Buffalo. “My family and I had always intended to come back to Charlotte and saw that as a window of opportunity to move back,” she said. Wilson’s family includes hus band Cornell Wilson and three children - Cory, 15, Candace, 14, and Caryn, 7. Money management Divorced parents: A tax guide to help Amanda S. Danchi SPECIAL TO THE POST Divorivil p.irent^ expori- t’lue .vomc uuuiui- challi'n"e.-. and rewards in both their p.:r.~on:il and tax Im-x Tlu- North Carolina AsMiciaimn of CI'Ai, points ..ut the follimmg .'■'.•doroi in. onie t.ix pro\ i-uon.^ that may be of interest to such pari nts Dependency exomptinn F.ir surli-rs. special rules dflfirnine which divorced parent can i hum the deiien- dem.y exempiion for a depen dent child, tlencrally, the law gives the exemption to the parent viho has custody of th(: child lor the- greati'r part ..f Ihi; year This i>. the case whet her or not that parent actualiv provided moru than half of the child.» total annu al support. Fur divoiced couples with a pre iMMn divorce agreement. Iho non-custodial parent may he elitpble for the dependency Elegardhiit vv ho h i - r tis- todv, I 11 h pan nlc.in deduct mediial expenses that he or sin incurs for the child Qii.rliiied costs int lude un- ii imhui -cd plivsieian and denti.it Ices. co~ls for pre- scripiion ilriigs ;,nd insurance picmium.-. 01 course, keep in mmil lh.it medical cosis are deductible onlv to the extent that their total cxci eds 7.5 pereoni of adjusted .gross miorne Child care ct If a custodial I someone to cam for t (under age 13, shewor&fflrl so provides and that parent pays at least $600 for (he . child's support during the i year. Parents do have some tlcxihility in working out the most .suitable .u rangement By signing Form 6.432, Kelea.-e of Cl lint Ui Exemption for Child of Divorced or Separated , Parents^ the custodial parent nia tddial' .ekefhpriom.T^hehtStiijdiii' for each year the exemption is released. Wfedii^ expenses-f? Child support and j alimony Child support IS goni.r.tIK ing spouse, nor deductible be the paying spouse. Alimony, on the other hand, is ,. deductible by the person who Se« DIVORCE page 8A PHOTO/PAUL WILLIAMS III Mary Wilson with some of the art objects and accessories which fill her Kings Drive shop. Cornell Wilson, a native of Hartsville, S.C., is a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps reserves and a telecommuni cations systems salesman for Siemens Rolm. The couple met in northern Virginia shortly after Mary Wilson graduated from the University of Virginia and he was still on active duty with the Marines. Mary Wilson said she’s hav ing the time of her life run ning Heritage House, which is developing a reputation for high-quality but well-priced art objects, prints and a grow ing inventory of books. “Many stores serving the afrocentric market don’t do a good job of presenting their products,” Wilson said. “I wanted to do it in an upscale way. I wanted to let my cus tomers know I valued them and they were worth my time.” The store is 2,600 square See HERITAGE page 8A Store specializes in black memorabilia, artifacts By Patti Lanigan Horvat THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BIDDEFORD, Maine — Aunt Jemima and Uncle Moses salt and pepper shakers peer out from a display case at Antiques USA in Arundel. On a nearby shelf sits a metal bank in the shape of a black man's head and shoulders. When his outstretched hand moves a coin toward his wide, red-lipped mouth, his bulging, dark eyes roll up into his head. The items represent a cate gory of increasingly popular collectibles, black memorabilia - lawn jockeys, old Cream of Wheat ads, Topsy Turvy dolls and mammy cookie jars. But among collectors, the dealers who sell them and scholars of black American culture, the way they depict African Americans raises questions about residual racism in American culture. Patty O'Leary, a collector of black memorabilia shopping in Antiques USA, holds a cloth doll in a red dress and kerchief with gold hoop ear rings. “I'm from Connecticut originally, and my grandfa ther owned a farm. He had a tenant farmer who had been bom into slavery down south. We loved him. He used to tell us stories and make us corn husk dolls," she says. When O'Leary grew up, she became interested first in ser mons and then in dolls before she became a serious collector of black memorabilia. “A lot of it is racist with the big lips and Uncle Tomism," she says, but the rag doll in her hand and the Aunt Jemima cookie jars don't offend her. She points out a framed magazine ad from the early 1920s on the wall that does offend her. In it a white boy sitting in a wooden cart with Cream of Wheat on the side holds a whip and reins attached to an elderly, black man with a stogie. The boy is cracking the whip. The caption reads: “Giddap Uncle." O'Leary, who also has a home in Ogunquit, teaches history and American litera ture to high school and college students in Connecticut and is the moderator for a group called Students United for Racial Equality. “I use the collectibles as a teaching tool to show how offensive they can be," she says. Definitions of offensive vary from individual to indi vidual, however. O'Leary's husband, Jerry O'Leary, teaches eighth grade history in Connecticut. He dis agrees with her theory that See BLACK page 8A Americans are comfortable with their trillion dollar debt By Vivian Marino THE ASSOCIATED PRESS While most consumers are accustomed to buying homes, cars or clothing on credit, the idea of taking out what amounts to a loan for a burger and fries would have given some people heartburn only a decade ago. Today it's common to make routine purchases with plastic — including groceries, dental visits, cab rides and Big Macs. Some people even pay their taxes, parking tickets or buy stamps with credit cards. MasterCard says govern ment transactions and fast- food purchases are two of its fastest-growing markets. (About 16 percent of all con sumer purchases are made with credit cards.) “People are using credit cards in places that they never could before; this is a structural change, " said Sandra Shaber, a consumer economist for the Wefa Group in Eddystone, Pa. “There is no other industrialized country that has as widespread credit use as the United States." Total U.S. consumer debt now exceeds $1 trillion. By contrast, the U.S. savings rate is the lowest of any industrial ized country at 4.5 percent. While credit use is growing in some parts of the world, particularly Asia, many for eign consumers prefer to use debit cards or smart cards — computer chips embedded in plastic that act as repositories of digital cash. Strict privacy laws also make it harder to market credit cards abroad than in the United States. Geoffrey Meredith, president of Lifeatage Matrix Marketing of Lafayette, Calif., says the See CULTURE page 8A REPAIRING TV, VCR, BIG SCREEN & STEREO BUSINESS TO BUSINESS Keep The Faith Matthew 7:7 NIGHT OWL TV & VCR SERVICES SPECIALIST IN Home Theater, Surround Sound, Picture-N-Picture Consulting And Set-Up SERVING ALL OF METRO CHARLOTTE ■ (704)-523 0642 “In Home/In Business Service” * BIACK - 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 ecause you can not physically reach all of the people you wish to serve, you must be well represented through visual communicatbn. We can custom design your material to maximize the potential of your product or service! CREATIVE INNOVATIONS QUALITY TYPESETTING & DESIGN 3400-D St. Vardell Lane •Charlotte, NC 28217 Phone 7(M.S29.H9S • Fax 704.522.8737
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March 14, 1996, edition 1
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