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Clje Cljarlotte ^os!t THURSDAY, APRIL 25. 1996 7A Insuring your auto properly CHARLES ROSS Your Personal Finance One kind of auto insurance that's almost always required by law is liability insurance, which compensates victims of accidents caused by you or your family, and pays legal costs if you're sued. There are two basic types of liability insurance. The first is bodily injury liability, which pays for the other person's medical costs. It can be pur chased with a “single limit” or a “split limit.” Single-limit covelrage pays up to a specified dollar limit, and split-limit, which is slightly less expen sive, restricts how much each accident victim can receive. The second kind of liability insurance, property damage liability, pays to repair or replace another person's prop- ; erty. Many states require a 'minimum amount of this kind of coverage, but if you have a 'lot of assets to protect, the mininum may be insufficient for you. Uninsured, underinsured Uninsured-motorist coverage insures you, your family and your passengers if you are hit by a driver who carries no lia bility insurance or if you're in an accident with a hit-and-run driver. Like liability coverage, an uninsured motorist policy has a bodily injury and prop erty damage portions. In some states, uninsured- motorist coverage is mandato ry, with minimums typically set at around $25,000 per per son, $50,000 per accident and could cost about $10 per year. But it is a good idea to have more coverage, in amounts equal to your bodily injury ha- bility coverage. Raising this coverage to $100,000 per per son, $300,000 per accident only costs about $7 more on average. Underinsured-motorist cov erage pays your expenses after the other driver's cover age has been exhausted. Though not mandatory in all states, it' s a good idea to carry this coverage at the same level as your bodily- injury liability insurance. Medical payments One type of auto insurance that's optional in most states is medical pa3rments coverage. It pays, after an accident, for medical costs and even funer al expenses, regardless of who was at fault. Towing and labor insurance is probably unnecessary if you belong to an auto club that provides towing services. It's probably cheaper simply to pay any towing bills out of your own pocket. Charles Ross is host of the nationally syndicated radio program, “Your Personal Finance,” and author of Your CommonSense Guide to Personal Financial Planning. STRICTLY BUSINESS New Soft Drink Battleground Ethnic market is hot topic for Coke, Pepsi By Herbert L. White THE CHARLOTTE POST America's soft drink war has moved to a new battlefield: ethnic markets. Responding to the nation's changing racial landscape and rival Pepsi-Cola's lead in pop ularity among people of color, Coca-Cola is gearing its mar keting to increase its share. Atlanta-based Coke is pxilling out all the stops with a national campaign to attract African Americans and Hispanics, including five advertisements for Coke Classic and Sprite on the Soul Train Music Awards earlier this month. Coke also spon sored Sprite Night, a party shown live on Black Entertainment Television. Coke's goal is to increase its market share among people of color to 50 percent by 2000. Coke, the world's No. 1 soft drink, has a ways to catch up to No. 2 Pepsi among Aftican Americans. Pepsi leads among 19- to 24-year-olds 28 percent to 18 percent; among 25- to PHOTO ILLUSTRATION/HERBERT L. WHITE 34-year-olds, Pepsi leads 32 percent to 19 percent. People of color make up 20 percent of the $52 billion carbonated drink industry, a segment that's growing faster than the general market. Pepsi pioneered ethnic mar keting two decades ago, becoming one of the first American corporations to specifically gear advertise ment and programs toward blacks and Hispanics. To stay competitive, soft drink compa nies are recognizing the changing demographics and tailoring their messages. Coke is upping the ante among black consumers by sponsor ing popular events such as the CIAA basketball tournament and Bayou Classic football game between Southern and Grumbling universities in New Orleans, as well as the Soul Train Awards. Not to be outdone, Pepsi announced in March it will be a sponsor of the Essence Awards, which honors African American women. “You can no longer pretend you have a homogenous mar ket,” Tom Pirko, president of New York-based marketing firm Bevmark, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “America is changing radically demographically. If you're not cognizant about your chang ing consumer base, you're lost. I think we re going to see a lot more ethnic marketing.” Coke won't disclose how much it's spending on ethnic marketing, but the company is committed to cutting into Pepsi's lead, says Stephen C. Horn, chief of minority mar keting. “We don't want to create messages that just let people know we know what they look like,” he said. ”We want a deeper message.” You can no longer pretend you have a homoge nous mar ket.” Tom Pirko, president of Bevmark, a bever age marketing firm Money management Good credit records important to all of us Time to take advantage of tax-saving opportunities Amanda S. Danchi SPECIAL TO THE POST Now that your 1995 tax return is completed, chances are the last thing you want to think about is taxes. But if you want to lower this year's tax bill, now is the time to put some plans in motion if you haven't already done so. You don’t need a grandiose scheme or a complex strategy to save significant amounts. According to the N.G. Aseociation of CPAs, a sim ple change in how you make your charitable contributiozts or how you use your 4011k) plan, for example, can save hundreds of dollars or more. Try taking advantage of some of the following tax saving opportunities right away. Take 401(k) to the max Contributing the maximum to your 40Ilk) plan is (me of the easiest ways to keep more of what you earn. Miinuy you duposit in these qualified retirement plan.*, reduces your gross compen sation, so you won’t be pay ing tax on that money next year. Meanwhile, the mon^ accumulates on a tax deferred basis until you decide to withdraw it. If ymr company matches contribu tions on your behalf, you benefit even more. Shift Income to the Kids It's still possible to shift income to your children, despite what you've heard about the Kiddie Tax. For children under age 14, tho first $650 of investment income is tax-free and the next $650 is taxed at the child's tax rate rathor than at your highest marginal tax rate. The investment income of children 14 years of age and over is taxed at their own tax rate. Keep in mind, however, that in return for tax savings, you lose some control over assets you shift to your children. Use the home advantage Since interest on personal debt is not deductible, con sider using a home equity loan to replace consumer debt. The interest on up to $100,000 of home equity bor rowing is deductible, and you may use the proceeds for just about anything, from buying a new car to financ ing an education to p&ying off your credit cards. Be mindful of the risk involved—>you (mu lose your home if you can't keep up your payments. Give to Charity When you donate appreci ated stock shares or other securities you have held for over a year, you get a deduc- See TAXES page 8A By Dexter Hill SPECIAL TO THE POST Whether you're a student entering the job market, a sin gle or married person begin ning a career, a wage earner with a growing family or an individual who routinely pays cash for purchases, establish ing good credit records is important. Credit - the ability to bor row then repay a sum of money, usually within a speci fied amount of time and with an added interest charge for the service - is crucial in today’s economy. Most Americans cannot afford to pay cash for such major aqui- sitions as a car or a home. Credit provides the means to such purchases. To buy on credit, however, you must prove that you can pay your bills on time and do so consistently. Once you build a reputation as being financially responsible, your credit record will reflect the fact that you can repay debt in a timely manner. On the other hand, if you do not fulfill your financial committments, this will also become a perma nent part of your credit histo ry. Gradually, as you prove your willingness and ability to han dle debt, numerous advan tages will follow. Once you build a satisfactory credit record, the privilege of pur chasing additional, more expensive products and ser vices becomes a reality. 'That dream of owning a home or driving a favorite car can come true. In addition, having credit can be useful in emergencies when cash is not easily avail able. Safety — not needing to carry or keep large amount of cash on hand - also is an important advantage of hav ing credit. A strong credit record can be beneficial in employment searches. Many employers check job applicants’ credit history during the interview process. A person who demon- See CREDIT on page 8A In Business Shell lawsuit threatens to break glass ceiling By Muthoni Wambu NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Five African American employees of Shell Oil in Houston are bringing charges alleging that the Fortune 500 company maintains racially discriminatory policies that keep African Americans locked in dead-end positions. “This is not a case of blatant racial epithets, it’s a glass ceiling case,” says Gregg Rosenberg, one of the lawyers in the case. “It is a practice of not promoting employees to senior level positions based on the amount of melanin in a person's skin.” The Texas lawsuit follows a $100 million discrimination complaint filed just last year by the San Francisco-based law firm Hancock, Rothert and Bunshoft on behalf of 10 other African American Shell employees. According to Ernest J. Beffel, head attor ney for the California suit, “This identical action against Shell further illustrates the company's intrinsic system of glass ceiling practices. As long • as Shell continues to deny the existence of this problem, we’ll see more of these cases aris ing.” The San Francisco case is still pending. Jimmy Hunter, a 42-year-old senior engineer, has been a career employee with Shell since 1979. A native of Los Angeles, Hunter came to Shell from the Army Corps of Engineers. “Between 1982 and 1985, there were no other engineers that built more service sta tions than I did, which accrued directly to the bottom line,” said Hunter. He has twice received the Laurel award, the highest honor given to the company's exem plary employees. “We were taught to play by the rules. From the day I started until 1988,1 lived and breathed Shell Oil Company. See SHELL page 8A REPAIRING TV, VCR, BIG SCREEN & STEREO BUSINESS TO BUSINESS Keep The Faith Matthew 7:7 NIGHT OWL TV & VCR SERVICES SPECIAUSTIN Home Theater, Surround Sound, Picture-N-Picture Consulting And Set-Up SERVING ALL OF METRO CHARLOTTE • (704)-523-0642 “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 Let us sharpen your image with affordable full color digital printing. We can offer short run, high quality printing at competitive rates. ♦ 1 Sided 8.5 X 11 Flyers as low as .59 each ♦ 2 Sided Brochures with tri-fold as low as .91 each (typesetting and photo scanning not included in price) CONTACT! Dee at 522-7724 or David at 522-6362 DJE (;r A Pines for more details
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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April 25, 1996, edition 1
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