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If you are running a small business could you recover if your building was destroyed in a flood, fire or hurricane? What if you were recovering from an illness and couldn’t work? What if your computer crashed? Or your two-year-old flushes your backup memory stick down the toilet? These things do happen!

So if you have a small business, treat it like a big business and have a disaster plan.

Here are some things to consider:

Insurance:  You need insurance. If you work from your home let your homeowner’s insurance carrier know you have a home office. Increase the liability and property damage coverage.

Consider purchasing disability insurance. Consider an umbrella policy which is simply insurance that covers a liability that your homeowner’s policy or auto policy will not cover.

If you drive your car or truck for business such as a realtor, a consultant or carpenter be sure you have the proper coverage. Yes it will cost you more but it truly is cheaper than a future problem.

Consider Business Interruption Insurance. This insurance will cover the rent, the utilities and even employee’s salaries in the event of a casualty that prevents the business from operating normally. That could be you getting sick or a fire destroying the building.

Record Keeping:  Paper or computer? Do you have a backup system? Is it off site or on site? Do you back up your computer daily? Weekly? Do you take the memory stick with you at night or do you leave it at the office? Key information like contact files, are they on your computer, cell phone, a memory stick or a disk?

If you are using a paper format for your record keeping is the file cabinet fireproof and locked?

What records are so important to your business that if they were lost your business would go down the toilet? Inventory? Invoices, bank records, tax returns, payroll information, contracts, leases, customer databases, employee information, insurance policies?

Protect them. Be sure the information is backed up and kept safe. There are good reasons the Boston Stock Exchange has a secondary site.

This is not something you should ignore. If you are running a business you need to be professional about this. Run your business like the big guys!

One more thing:   Resources for the self-employed -

Association Of Small Business Development Centers: http://www.asbdc-us.org/
Small Business Notes: http://www.smallbusinessnotes.com/choosing.html
Self-Employment Taxes: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98846,00.html
National Association For The Self-Employed: http://www.nase.org/
AARP Help For The Self-Employed: http://www.aarp.org/work/self-employment/
IRS, If You Are Self-Employed: http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10022.html
Small Business Administration: http://www.sba.gov/tools/resourcelibrary/Podcasts/index.html

BOSTON (CBS) – The Boston Red Sox could be called the Teflon baseball team, at least in terms of corporate sponsorships.

This season has endured a barrage of negative media attention about everything from the team’s dismal on-field performance (at press time the Red Sox were tied for last place with New York, at 5 1/2 games out in the American League East) to pitcher Josh Beckett’s ill-timed golf game while resting a stiff muscle behind his right shoulder.

But corporate sponsors, who usually sign multi-year contracts, are showing no signs of wavering. The team’s brand has years of goodwill built up, an asset experts say fried chicken and players’ attitudes have done little to damage so far.

Indeed, the team’s and individual player’s corporate sponsors seem to be sticking close to the team.

Troup Parkinson, senior vice president of corporate sponsorships at the Boston Red Sox, says he’s not getting push back from Red Sox sponsors. Since 2002, when Parkinson joined the franchise, the team’s sponsorships have doubled to around 100. Sponsors that have inked deals during the past few months — since last September’s epic collapse — include Boston’s Park Plaza hotel and Waterville Valley ski area.

“What I have noticed about corporate partners is that they’re fans of the team,” said Parkinson. “You talk about, ‘are people worried about Josh Beckett?’ They’re committing to the brand, and to the ballpark. We don’t see a lot of partners leave.”

Parkinson said a corporate sponsor’s business goal — marketing to thousands of Boston’s sports fans during the summer — is extremely different from the goals of a typical sports fan. Fans are getting angry because they want to see their team win.

A typical sponsorship deal is between three and five years, said Parkinson.

Lisa van der Pool of the Boston Business Journal can be seen weekdays at 6 a.m. on WBZ-TV.

You can follow Lisa on Twitter at @lvanderpool.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (CBS/AP) — 38 Studios, Curt Schilling’s video gaming company laid off its entire staff on Thursday, RI Governor Lincoln Chafee confirmed on Thursday.

“It’s not a good situation. I’m not here to share good news,” the Governor said in a news conference while vowing to continue to work with 38 Studios.

Top Rhode Island officials said they spoke with company executives earlier in the day and executives made no mention about the layoffs during those discussions.

A tech and video gaming blog first reported the news of the layoffs.

Earlier in the day, an email was sent out to all staff members informing them of the layoffs.

The text of that email, obtained and provided by CBS Affiliate WPRI-TV said:

“The Company is experiencing an economic downturn. To avoid further losses and possibility of retrenchment, the Company has decided that a companywide lay off is absolutely necessary. These layoffs are non-voluntary and non-disciplinary. This is your official notice of lay off, effective today, Thursday, May 24th, 2012.”

As of March 15, 38 Studios employed 379 full-time workers, with 288 of them working in Providence, according to a disclosure notice sent to bondholders. The company also reported 34 full-time contractors and eight interns. The company listed 18 job openings on its website as of Tuesday.

38 Studios moved from Massachusetts in 2010 after Rhode Island offered a $75 million loan guarantee that officials said would bring jobs and tax revenue. The company was late this month on a $1.1 million payment to the EDC.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

BOSTON (CBS) – When you’re a freelance worker, it’s easy to feel like you have no safety net. But there are a number of new services that are helping these workers join forces.

For freelancer Joshua Warren, finding a steady stream of income wasn’t always easy. He says, “It was very hit or miss; it was a lot of word of mouth.” This is a common problem for the 42 million independent workers in this country. Sara Horowitz with the Freelancers Union says, “We expect that number to grow year after year because, essentially, people are working by putting together projects and gigs and jobs.”

According to Horowitz there are an increasing number of organizations and websites that are offering perks and resources to freelancers. She says, “We want to make sure that people get the same kinds of protections that traditional employees get.”

That’s why the Freelancers Union offers cost-effective retirement plans, as well as dental, disability, and life insurance. Looking for affordable healthcare? Sites like Elance and oDesk offer access to discounted rates.

If you’re job searching a number of sites advertise freelance jobs and work to help you build a profile. Many, like oDesk, also have feedback systems in place. oDesk CEO Gary Swart says, “After each job they’ll get rated based on skills, quality, deadlines, communication, and cooperation, enabling them to build an online reputation.”

These sites also act as virtual workspaces, complete with things like time sheets, status reports and digital to-do lists. Some even make sure you see a payday. In fact Swart says, “We guarantee payment whether we collect it from the employer or not.”

Membership to the freelancers union is free. The organization is pushing for things like unemployment insurance, payment protection, and fair taxation. Web sites like oDesk and Elance are also free, but take a portion of the money that you earn.

HANOVER (CBS) – A popular South Shore coffee chain is under federal scrutiny over its hiring practices.

Marylou’s Coffee chain, known for its young, attractive, female staff, is now being investigated by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The EEOC is investigating whether Marylou’s Coffee is discriminating in its hiring practices.

According to owner Marylou Sandry, the feds started asking questions nearly a year ago.

In a letter to her state senators, Sandry says they started by asking for dozens of employment applications.

She says she has already spent thousands of dollars defending her business and there isn’t even a case yet.

Marylou claims the EEOC is on a witch hunt.

“This is such a waste of valuable time and money!!” she told WBZ-TV’s Karen Anderson. “I know that my branding is pink. Yes we have many young women working here. But we do not discriminate. Never did.”

The EEOC confirmed that charges have been filed in connection with the investigation, but would not comment on the investigation. People can file charges of discrimination with the EEOC, and then the EEOC will notify the employer of the investigation.

State Senator Bob Hedlund, a loyal customer, says he will write to officials in Washington on behalf of Marylou.

“I think it’s a silly action on the part of the federal government to go after what I think is a legitimate business,” he said. “Quite frankly, I don’t know how many old white fat men have applied at Marylou’s to wear pink shirts to serve coffee.”

A spokesperson for Marylou’s has issued a statement about the complaint.

“Marylou’s is a woman-owned business that has not had a single complaint in the 25 years we’ve been open,” it read in part. “The implication in this report is absolutely false. We hire only the most qualified applicants, in total compliance with state and federal laws, to work in our stores, and those qualifications begin and end with a winning personality and a passion for customer service.”

IRAs:  You can contribute up to $5,000 this year and if you are over 50 you can use the catch-up provision and put away an additional $1000.

But you must have earned income to contribute to an IRA. Let’s say your net income for this year is $30,000. You can shelter up to $5,000 of it by contributing to an IRA. If your net income is only $3,000 then you are limited to a $3,000 contribution for the year. Contributions can be made with your tax return next year.

SEP-IRAs:  Simplified Employee Pension Plan uses an IRA format. You can contribute up to 25% of compensation up to $49,000 for this year. Now if you choose a SEP-IRA and have employees you will need to contribute to their SEP-IRAs also and you must contribute the same percentage as you do for yourself.

Let’s use $30,000 again and utilizing a SEP-IRA you would be able to contribute $7,500. Easy to set up with a mutual fund company or a brokerage company. Contributions can be made with your tax return next year.

SIMPLE-IRAs:  Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees was designed for small businesses with under 100 employees. But it is useful for the self-employed as well. Here you are both the employee and the employer. You can contribute up to 100% of compensation up to $11,500 for this year and if you are over the magic age of 50 an extra $2,500.

If you have employees they also can contribute to the plan and their limit is also $11,500. As the employer you will have to match the employee’s contributions usually up to 3%. So if you are self-employed and have a net income of $30,000 this year you could possibly put away as much $11,845.

SIMPLEs must be set up by October 1^st if you want to use the plan this year. Easy to set up with a mutual fund company. Contributions can be made with your tax return next year.

401(k)s For The Self-Employed:  You can contribute up to $17,000. And if you are over the magic age of 50 you can contribute another $5,500. So with that same $30,000 income and using a 401(k) format you could contribute up to $17,000 this year. $22,500 if you are over 50.

One more thing:  Plan on doing something. You can always do something different next year.  But do put some money away for retirement.

Using $30,000 of net income as our basis depending on which you plan you set up you could legally shelter over half of your income ($17,000) for the year.

IRA                  $5,000
SEP-IRA           7,500
SIMPLE          11,845
401(k)              17,000

BOSTON (CBS) – The state’s multibillion-dollar tourism industry is poised for a strong summer, if recent data and interviews with industry executives are any indication.

“We’re really pretty bullish on what the summer is going to look like,” said Patrick B. Moscaritolo, CEO of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“First and foremost, business travelers are back,” Moscaritolo said.

Hotel operators like business travelers because they often book three or four nights at a time rather than the shorter stays more common with leisure travelers. Business travelers are responsible for about 40 percent of hotel room nights in the Boston-Cambridge area, according to industry research.

The most recent data show business bookings at their strongest since 2007, Moscaritolo said.

Two highlights scheduled for the business travel calendar this summer are the June launch of Japan Air Lines’ direct service between Tokyo and Boston on the Boeing 787 and the late-July meeting of the Global Business Travel Association, which is set to hold its annual convention and bring as many as 6,000 visitors to the region.

Leisure travel is harder to measure. But, relatively low gasoline prices in the U.S. bode well for the summer tourism season.

Some economists peg $4 per gallon as the price at which consumers begin to cut back on driving. The U.S. Energy Information Administration hasn’t listed a nationwide average price per gallon of $4 or more for two consecutive weeks since the summer of 2008.

At the Faneuil Hall information desk, David Sanchez said the sale of trolley tickets has been brisk — between 30 and 50 trolley tickets per day — and he has been told that number likely will hit about 100 come summer.

A visitor from Minnesota who gave her name only as Melissa said the sluggish economy has not affected travel decisions she’s made. She was in Boston for three days and planned a walk on the Freedom Trail and a cruise on Boston Harbor among items on her itinerary.

European economies have been shaky over the past year, but the most serious troubles with the euro are confined to countries whose economic impact on the Massachusetts travel industry is minimal.

Spaniards, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, accounted for about 30,000 visitors to Massachusetts in 2010, the most recent data available. That’s about 2.3 percent of international travelers to the state. Greece was not even among the government’s list of the top dozen countries of origin for travelers to the state.

Lisa van der Pool of the Boston Business Journal can be seen weekdays at 6 a.m. on WBZ-TV.

You can follow Lisa on Twitter at @lvanderpool.

BOSTON (CBS) – Massachusetts is pushing forward with its subpoena of Morgan Stanley over exactly who knew what before the Facebook IPO.

Secretary of State Bill Galvin says his office is concerned about fairness in the marketplace. He says retail investors and average citizens will have to be assured of fairness in the markets, before they feel safe enough to get back in.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Anthony Silva reports

Galvin says his office has already been in touch with Morgan Stanley. He says because of the significance of the Facebook case, it’s in everybody’s best interests to get to the bottom of what happened, as quickly as possible.

Galvin says Morgan Stanley has to tell his office what process was followed, what information was given out, and in what sequence they did it. He says that’s the key toward determining whether or not Morgan Stanley committed any improper conduct.

Galvin says these sort of charges are not unheard of, and investor confidence is hanging in the balance. He says just last year, his office fined Goldman Sachs $10 million dollars for giving preferential treatment to special clients.

Chafee briefed reporters Wednesday on efforts to help 38 Studios survive and prevent the state from having to pay its debts.

Chafee says he’s frustrated by the company’s failure to provide information on its finances. He says he knows the company has laid off employees.

It also appears that two of the company’s executives have now left. CEO Jen MacLean and Senior Vice President of Development John Blakely have updated their LinkedIn profiles to indicate they are no longer working at 38 Studios. The moves were first reported by WPRI-TV.

Still, Chafee says he’s determined to try to help Schilling’s company despite what he says are “terrible” indications about its health.

38 Studios was lured to Rhode Island from Massachusetts in 2010 after receiving a $75 million loan guarantee from the state.

The company was late on a $1.1 million payment to the Economic Development Corp.

Calls to Schilling were not immediately returned.

(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

The cuts announced Wednesday represent HP’s largest payroll purge in its 73-year history. The reductions will affect about 8 percent of HP’s nearly 350,000 employees by the time the overhaul is completed in October 2014.

HP hopes to avoid as many layoffs as possible by offering early retirement packages.

The company, which is based in Palo Alto, Calif., has about 800 workers at a facility in Andover, Mass.

An HP spokesperson told WBZ-TV that the company has not yet announced specific plans or locations for the impending layoffs.

“We do expect the workforce reduction to impact just about every business and region,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

HP expects to save as much as $3.5 billion annually from the job cuts and other austerity measures. HP CEO Meg Whitman plans to funnel most of the savings into developing more products and services that could help the company adapt to technological shifts that are driving demand for more mobile computing and software that is provided over high-speed Internet connections.

“While some of these actions are difficult because they involve the loss of jobs, they are necessary to improve execution and to fund the long term health of the company,” Whitman said in a statement.

As part of shake-up, Whitman is also bringing in a new leader for HP’s Autonomy division, which makes software for searching for information within companies and government agencies. Bill Veghte, HP’s chief strategy officer, is replacing Autonomy founder Mike Lynch in an effort to boost the division’s financial performance. HP bought Autonomy for more than $10 billion last year before the company named Whitman as its CEO.

News of the cutbacks overshadowed the release of HP’s latest quarterly results. The company’s earnings and revenue were both better than analysts projected.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

You depreciate the equipment over its useful life, expensing a portion each year on your tax return, which could be anywhere from three to seven years. Buy equipment for $50,000 and you would write off $10,000 a year for 5 years.

Congress, in hoping to encourage economic growth, made some changes in the depreciation laws for small businesses thru this year.

You can expense business equipment up to $139,000 using the IRS Section 179 Deduction. And once you have used up your section 179 deduction there is another bonus for this year. You can depreciate 50% of the new equipment acquired.

You cannot use the 179 deduction for structural changes in a building like new windows but you can still depreciate those items over their useful life.

A window AC would be eligible for the deduction. Property attached to your building but not a structural component such as ovens or a printing press would be eligible for the deduction. Things you could take with you if you moved.

If you set up your consulting business and you buy a computer, monitor, software, a scanner, a copier, telephone, and the furniture to put the new equipment on and a back-friendly office chair to sit in for $7,000. Well all of that $7,000 could be written off in one year.

To be eligible for the section 179 deduction the asset must be used at least 50% for business in the first year it is placed into service. So if your kids are playing games or doing homework on the computer in the evenings you should not take a 100% deduction. Now I doubt if the IRS deduction police are going to pay you a visit but it’s the right thing to do! The IRS does rely on us to do the right thing when we file our taxes.

The equipment must also have been bought for the business. So if you are starting that consulting business and you have a two-year-old computer you cannot use the 179 deduction for the computer.

This deduction is not automatic. The IRS requires you to file form 4562 to get the deduction.

You may also want to get a copy of the IRS publication 946, How to Depreciate Property.

Also the IRS has a help number for businesses, 800-829-4933.

“For the first time since the original Faneuil Hall Market Place closed its doors in the mid-1900s, Boston residents, workers, and visitors will be able to purchase fresh, healthy day-boat fish in a vibrant urban market setting,” Mayor Menino said in a release. “This is truly an exciting program that expands access to healthy foods and represents a culinary option that is unique to Boston.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Carl Stevens reports

According to the city of Boston, retail access to day-boat fish is largely non-existent in Massachusetts, despite the state’s large commercial fishing industry.

Here is the list of Farmers’ Markets participating in the pilot program:

Mondays
South Boston Farmers’ Market
446 W. Broadway (Btwn Mt. Washington & Bank of America)

Tuesdays
Copley Square Farmers Market
Dewey Square Farmers Market

Wednesdays
City Hall Plaza

Thursdays
East Boston Farmers Market
Central Square (Bennington & Meridian Streets)

Bowdoin Geneva Farmers’ Market
230 Bowdoin Street (Bowdoin Street Health Center)

Fridays
Allston Farmers Market (June)
N. Harvard & Western Avenues

Ashmont Farmers Market (July 6)

Saturdays
Mattapan Farmers Market (July 7)

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts’ top securities regulator has subpoenaed Morgan Stanley related to allegations that it gave some clients negative information about Facebook before last week’s initial public offering.

In a statement Tuesday, Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin said his office is investigating whether Morgan Stanley selectively divulged to some clients that its analyst had cut his revenue estimate for Facebook. Morgan Stanley was the lead underwriter for Facebook’s IPO.

The analyst’s revision followed an amended filing by Facebook in which the company said a shift by many Facebook users toward mobile devices might limit its revenue growth.

Facebook’s stock slid further Tuesday on its third trading day, dropping 9 percent to $31. The social networking company has fizzled since its long-awaited public offering last week at $38.

Rick Ketchum, head of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, said that if the allegations against Morgan Stanley are true, it would be “a matter of regulatory concern” to FINRA and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

FINRA is the securities industry’s self-policing organization.

If Morgan Stanley gave revised information on Facebook to favored clients, it would mean retail customers and others weren’t able to benefit from the same information before Facebook went public.

SEC spokesman John Nester declined to comment.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

He says Dragon Drive allows drivers to text-message, without taking their hands off the wheel, or their eyes off the road. Dragon Drive is being offered to car makers who will design the features right into the vehicle.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Anthony Silva reports

Thompson says this is the first in a series of voice-enabled services coming from Nuance that will bring the technology to the next level. He says these conversational, easy-to-use systems are being integrated all over the world. Thompson says it’s a sign of the changing ways people use devices to communicate.

Tim Warren at The Warren Group says the recovery is well underway. He says Massachusetts has seen positive year-over-year comparisons in single-family home sales in 9 out of the last 10 months. Warren says this shows sustained interest in purchasing a home.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Anthony Silva reports

Analysts seem to agree that the mixture of low mortgage rates, an improving job market and the prospect of rising prices in the months ahead are motivating more buyers.

The median sales price in Massachusetts was up just 1% in April, to $275,000.

Let’s start with your car. You can either deduct the actual expenses of driving your car or you can use a mileage allowance set by the IRS. Currently for this year its 55.5 cents a mile for business travel.

If you choose the actual expenses, you would deduct gas, oil changes, new tires, insurance, excise tax, etc. With the mileage allowance, you only need to keep track of the miles you travel for business. You get to deduct tolls and parking fees no matter which method you choose.

Health Insurance Premiums:  You can deduct 100% of the cost of your premiums. This is a nice perk! It puts the self-employed on the same footing as the big corporations that have always been able to deduct health care insurance for their employees.

Social Security:  As a self-employed individual you are responsible for paying both the employee’s and the employer’s share of Social Security and Medicare taxes on your earnings. However, you will get a deduction for the employer share’s you pay.

This year the employee’s share was reduced 2%, but the employer’s share is still 7.65% so that is what your deduction would be.

Home Office Deduction:  You may be eligible if you use the office exclusively and regularly in your business. There must be no other place that you conduct business.

Expenses that you can deduct for business use of the home may include a portion of real estate taxes, mortgage interest, rent, utilities, insurance, depreciation, and repairs. You may not deduct expenses for lawn care or the paint job for the dining room, but if you paint the exterior of your home a portion of that may be deductible. For more information, see IRS Publication 587, Business Use of Your Home.

Office Furnishings:  Your computer, desk, chair, phone, software, lamps, rugs, books. All a cost of setting up your business.

Travel:  You can deduct your travel expenses if they are legitimate. If you are on vacation and make a sales call you cannot write off the whole trip. A part of the trip though. If you add a weekend away to your business trip you should deduct only the business portion of the trip.

Entertainment:  There are limits as to what you can deduct under meals and entertainment. This is an area that the IRS feels is abused by small businesses so keep good records and always be able to justify an expense. Who you took out to dinner and why you took them out to dinner.

Two IRS publications that are useful for small businesses are, Publication 535, Business Expenses and Publication 463, Travel, Entertainment, Gift and Car Expenses.

One more thing:     From the IRS

Five Facts about the Home Office Deduction

With technology making it easier than ever for people to operate a business out of their house, many taxpayers may be able to take a home office deduction when filing their federal tax return next year.

Here are five important things the IRS wants you to know about claiming the home office deduction.

1. Generally, in order to claim a business deduction for your home, you must use part of your home exclusively and regularly:

• As your principal place of business, or
• As a place to meet or deal with patients, clients or customers in the normal course of your business, or
• In the case of a separate structure which is not attached to your home, it must be used in connection with your trade or business

For certain storage use, rental use or daycare-facility use, you are required to use the property regularly but not exclusively.

2. Generally, the amount you can deduct depends on the percentage of your home that you used for business. Your deduction for certain expenses will be limited if your gross income from your business is less than your total business expenses.

3. There are special rules for qualified daycare providers and for persons storing business inventory or product samples.

4. If you are self-employed, use Form 8829, Expenses for Business Use of Your Home, to figure your home office deduction. Report the deduction on line 30 of Schedule C, Form 1040.

5. Different rules apply to claiming the home office deduction if you are an employee. For example, the regular and exclusive business use must be for the convenience of your employer.

For more information see IRS Publication 587, Business Use of Your Home, available on IRS.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

Link:  Publication 587, Business Use of Your Home

BOSTON (CBS) - If Boston City Councilor Michael Ross gets his way, there won’t be any more banks on Charles Street deposited at the foot of the Beacon Hill neighborhood.

“The proliferation of large banks that would replace the small mom-and-pop stores threatens to erode the character of Charles Street,” Ross said.

“For banks to occupy a 50-foot storefront, shut down at 5 p.m. and be closed on weekends creates dead space. We’re talking about a commercial business district that is thriving and it needs to be protected.”

Under Ross’ plan, banks would be required to seek city Zoning Board of Appeals approval to open new branches on the street.

Today, no such regulation exists unless a potential bank would represent a change of use.

His proposal comes on the heels of a controversy in January when Capital One sought to lease the space to be vacated by the Charles Street Market, a beloved convenience store.

Neighbors organized to keep Capital One out, arguing that more banks would hurt the street that works best with independent shops and upscale boutiques that are not available on Newbury Street and Downtown Crossing.

In response, Linear Retail Properties, the Burlington landlord, withdrew the Capital One request.

But Ross’ plan faces a fight from Mayor Thomas M. Menino.  He said Ross’ idea would wreak havoc on Charles Street by requiring a special permit for one kind of retailer.

“That’s reactionary zoning and we don’t do that,” Menino told the BBJ.

“I’d rather work with the businesses on Charles Street to have an effective way to deal with the issue. I’d rather make an effort to entice, not prohibit certain kind of uses. I’m not even sure we could have a zoning amendment that just excludes banks.”

Menino and the Boston Redevelopment Authority do not appear to be on the same page when it comes to zoning Charles Street.

The BRA has proposed an amendment that would make banks, post offices, and office buildings a “conditional use” in the district — a status that would require a Zoning Board of Appeals hearing for approval.

The item was on the BRA’s board agenda on Tuesday night, but was pulled at the last minute. A Menino spokeswoman did not respond to questions about the differing positions.

Ross’ idea has the support of the Beacon Hill Business Association and at least one city councilor.

Susan Symonds, the past president of the group, said adding banks to an “intimate neighborhood shopping district” like Charles Street detracts from its destination feeling.

“People will not come to Charles Street anymore if it’s not a shopping destination,” she said.

“Banks don’t add much to the neighborhood. You don’t visit Newbury Street or Charles Street to go to a bank. Most people bank online anyway.”

Lisa van der Pool of the Boston Business Journal can be seen weekdays at 6 a.m. on WBZ-TV.

You can follow Lisa on Twitter at @lvanderpool.

• Employ about half of all private sector employees.
• Pay 43% of total U.S. private payroll.
• Have generated 65% of net new jobs over the past 17 years.
• Hire 43% of high tech workers (scientists, engi­neers, computer programmers, and others).
• Are 52% home-based and 2 percent franchises.
• Make up 98% of all identified exporters
• Produce (16.5 times) more patents per employee than large patenting firms.

A small business by definition has less than 500 employees. However, there were over 21 million firms without any employees. Those are the individuals we will deal with this week.

I figure that number is low for there may be many folks out there not reporting their income from self-employment.

We have a huge underground economy in this country. It’s a cash only economy. Individuals think that they will have more money in their pocket if they don’t share it with Uncle Sam.

That may be true, but if you don’t pay taxes whether they are income taxes, social security or Medicare taxes you will not be eligible for future benefits.

I am not recommending anyone pay more taxes than they should, but you do need to report all of your income and then look for the deductions you are eligible for as a self-employed individual.

The IRS has a section for small businesses on their website and they do offer some good advice.

They even have links to a tutorial on writing a business plan. Request publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping records and publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business to get you off on a good start. Both can be downloaded from the IRS’ website.

Another helpful government resource for the small business owner is the Small Business Administration; they have key information on running your business and where to get financing.

Also, check out the many books available for starting your own business whether it is a day care or a landscaping firm. Both the Complete Idiot Guides and the Dummy series have some good offerings.

A mistake the self-employed often make, especially those that are new to being self-employed, is that they are overly optimistic in estimating their annual income. If you have a good first quarter, it’s easy to fall into the trap thinking that the next three quarters will also be good! Don’t count on it! Plan for the worse and if it never happens aren’t you lucky?

Another problem for the self-employed individual is the lack of a steady income. Consultants, real estate agents, writers, musicians, landscapers, Dairy Queen owners and carpenters all suffer from fluctuating income.

It’s often feast or famine. And it’s not unusual to find yourself stuck in the famine mode where you need to hone your money survival skills. A long winter dampens the spirits of many self-employed individuals as well as depleting their savings.

One more thing:    Starting a new business from the IRS’ website:

First, you must decide what type of business entity you are going to establish. The type your business takes will determine which tax form you have to file. The most common types of business are the sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation and S corporation.

The type of business you operate determines what taxes you must pay and how you pay them. The four general types of business taxes are income tax, self-employment tax, employment tax and excise tax.

An Employer Identification Number is used to identify a business entity. Generally, businesses need an EIN. Visit IRS.gov for more information about whether you will need an EIN. You can also apply for an EIN online at IRS.gov.

Good records will help you ensure successful operation of your new business. You may choose any record keeping system suited to your business that clearly shows your income and expenses. Except in a few cases, the law does not require any special kind of records. However, the business you are in affects the type of records you need to keep for federal tax purposes.

Every business taxpayer must figure taxable income on an annual accounting period called a tax year. The calendar year and the fiscal year are the most common tax years used.

Each taxpayer must also use a consistent accounting method, which is a set of rules for determining when to report income and expenses. The most commonly used accounting methods are the cash method and an accrual method.

Under the cash method, you generally report income in the tax year you receive it and deduct expenses in the tax year you pay them. Under an accrual method, you generally report income in the tax year you earn it and deduct expenses in the tax year you incur them.

Visit the Business section of IRS.gov for resources to assist entrepreneurs with starting and operating a new business.

Resources:

Starting A Business
Operating A Business
Closing A Business
Publication 4591, Small Business Federal Tax Responsibilities (PDF 470.1K)
Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business (PDF 286.2K)

As a self-employed individual, you should try to figure out how much money you need to maintain their life style. Do a cash flow. Where does your money go each month? What would be the bare bones approach if you had to? Are you using your credit card to supplement those no-income periods? Okay to do that but pay it off entirely when your income increases.

And then work on putting together your emergency fund. During the good times, start saving aggressively so that you have at least 6 months’ worth of living expenses set aside for the lean times. For those lean times are going to come.

You want to keep this money separate from your checking account and definitely make it hard to get to it so you are not tempted to use it for a vacation or Christmas. Use a money market account, a 3-month CD or even EE bonds.

BOSTON (CBS) - To remedy the crippling problem of underemployed young lawyers, law schools should become more like medical schools, complete with legal residency programs that teach practical skills, according to a new report from the Massachusetts Bar Association.

The MBA’s 32-page report, “Law, the Economy and Underemployment,” was created by the organization’s Task Force on Law Schools, a group of 14 lawyers who took six months to study the growing issue of underemployment among lawyers, and how law schools contribute to that problem.

“In Massachusetts, we are a relatively small state that has nine law schools. When you start to realize the sheer number of lawyers who are flooding into the job market … you say something’s got to change,” said Eric Parker of Boston-based Parker Scheer LLP, who is co-chair of the task force.

To identify the causes of legal underemployment, the report examines the medical and dental school models, which focus on practical training, something that law schools have increasingly been accused of lacking during the past several years.

In a tough economy, clients have increasingly refused to pay for inexperienced lawyers.

“It’s no wonder that when physicians and dentists graduate, they’re ready to earn,” said Parker.

“They have marketable skills that people want to pay for. By contrast we found that law graduates come out with a generic exposure to legal theory and lack the experience and practical training that converts into a marketable skill.”

The report concludes that the third year of law school should look different than it does now, with more emphasis on practical training: “The task force recommends that the MBA encourage Bay State law schools to reinvent the third year so as to provide greater opportunities for law students to gain practical legal experience and expand opportunities to hone their legal writing skills, beyond that offered through traditional first year legal writing programs,” the report reads.

Lisa van der Pool of the Boston Business Journal can be seen weekdays at 6 a.m. on WBZ-TV.

You can follow Lisa on Twitter at @lvanderpool.

The group of fishermen, environmentalists and regulators was formed by national and regional fishery managers to deal with the massive cut, which went into effect May 1.

Low catch limits on the yellowtail prevent fishermen from going after the more lucrative or plentiful fish swimming among yellowtail.

Fishermen have said the recent cut will devastate the regional fleet of fishermen who chase bottom-dwelling groundfish, such as cod, haddock and flounder.

Fishermen have already asked regulators to transfer hundreds of thousands of pounds of the yellowtail quota from the scallop fleet to fishermen. That’s because recent projections indicate scallopers will catch far less yellowtail this year than previously thought.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

Hewlett-Packard is preparing to announce up to 30,000 layoffs to offset dwindling demand for its products.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Anthony Silva reports

Senior Managing Director Brian Marshall at International Strategy and Investment Group says HP is top heavy. He says the company has 350,000 employees working in almost 200 countries. Marshall says the cuts will be across the board.

He says HP could take a page from Cisco Systems, which used a combination of a reduction in workforce and a divestiture of one of their manufacturing plants to reduce head count by 15%.

With a Roth IRA, you use after-tax dollars to make your contribution but when you withdraw the funds in retirement you will not owe income tax on the withdrawals. You must have earned income to contribute to a Roth IRA, and if you’re working you can continue to contribute past age 70½. But as with all the IRAs, you are limited to a $5,000 annual contribution and can add an additional $1000 if you are over 50 or turn 50 this calendar year.

There are some other rules you must live with. Withdrawals from the account will be free of income taxes if the owner has held the Roth IRA for at least five years and has attained the age of 59½. With a Roth IRA you are always permitted to get at your contributions without a penalty because you have already paid taxes on them.

The minimum distribution rules do not apply to the Roth IRA and funds can stay in the account past the owner reaching age 70½.

As with all good things, there are limitations. Contributions are phased out for single taxpayers if your adjusted gross income (AGI) is between $110,000 and $125,000 and for married couples filing jointly with an AGI between $173,000 and $183,000.

A Roth IRA can be good choice for retirement savings. The younger you are, the sweeter the deal. A 25-year-old may not be able to use the deduction for a retirement plan contribution but tax free income 40 years from now in retirement will be a bonus.

You can also convert a regular IRA to a Roth IRA. The proceeds of your IRA will be taxable in the year you make the conversion and there will not be a 10% penalty due if you are under age 59½.

A conversion works best if you do not need to take money out of the IRA to pay the taxes that will be due.

You can choose to convert only part of your IRA as well. This feature will allow you to convert only the amount you can afford the taxes on each year. Check out the various calculators online to see if it is worth making the conversion.

Beware that the extra income that a Roth conversion generates may bump you into a higher tax bracket and the consequences could be taxable Social Security benefits, higher Medicare premiums and higher estimated taxes for 2013.

One more thing:   Because there is no mandatory withdrawal age with a Roth IRA they make a great wealth transfer tool. You can name a grandkid your beneficiary and upon your death they can begin withdrawals based on their life expectancy. It is really the gift that keeps on giving for the account may earn more than is required to be withdrawn thus extending it for many years.

But taking a company public isn’t as simple as clicking on “like.” Even for Facebook.

When the social media company’s stock starts trading Friday under the symbol FB, buyer demand is expected to explode. At its initial offering price of $38 a share, the 8-year-old upstart is now worth more than established heavyweights Disney and Kraft.

Read: Will The Average Investor Get A Shot?

The nearly $16 billion raised in the IPO will flow to the company and its early investors.

As with any initial offering, Facebook’s IPO follows lots of negotiation — over price, paperwork, selling and buying.

Here are some questions and answers about its public debut:

Q: So why is Facebook going public?

A: The same reason many other fast-growing companies do: to raise money. Selling stock to the public gives companies money to run their businesses, expand and buy other companies. Sometimes companies go public even if they have no plans for the money. Facebook says it wants to establish a public market for its shares in case it needs to raise money from investors in the future.

Q: What happens in an IPO?

A: The company sells ownership stakes to the public for the first time. Facebook plans to sell up to 421 million shares. That represents a 15 percent stake in the company. The sale is expected to raise $16 billion.

Q: Who owns shares of Facebook now?

A: Well-connected investors, employees and top insiders like company directors. They are selling 241 million shares, or more than half the total being sold. The company has said it’s selling shares at $38 each. At that price, those early owners will pocket $9 billion, or an average of $230 million each. The company will get $7 billion.

Q: Who will buy the shares?

A: In an IPO, there are two buyers. The first are the investment banks that helped the company file IPO documents with regulators and contacted pension funds, mutual funds and other big institutions to gauge a price for the shares. These investment banks are called underwriters. In Facebook’s case, 33 banks are helping out; Morgan Stanley has the lead role. The underwriters guarantee to the company that they’ll buy all of the shares at the IPO price.

Q: When do the underwriters buy the shares?

A: Before shares start trading publicly. Facebook’s underwriters were expected to buy all the sellers’ shares Thursday night. But first, the underwriters had to negotiate a price with a second group of buyers — the institutions that will buy the shares from them. They did that Thursday night, settling on a price of $38. In a document filed with regulators this week, Facebook had estimated that the price would be between $34 and $38.

Q: Is this negotiated price the IPO price?

A: Yes. But that’s not what the underwriters pay the company and insiders. After settling on an IPO price, the underwriters subtract a commission for their work. With big IPOs like Facebook’s, that’s typically 3 percent. At $38, that would mean Morgan Stanley and the other Facebook underwriters would get $1.14 off for each share. They’d pay $36.86 a share. Underwriters have five days to transfer the money to the company and other sellers.

Q: What do the underwriters do with their shares?

A: They sell them to big institutions, along with some favored individual investors, before public trading starts. They do this usually the night before. In Facebook’s case, all of the underwriters’ shares are expected to be sold by Friday morning before the stock exchanges open at 9:30 a.m. in New York.

Q: Is that when trading of Facebook begins?

A: No. The new owners who want to sell their Facebook shares must call their traders first. The traders will call “market makers” at the Nasdaq stock market, where Facebook’s shares will be listed. Market makers are firms that agree to hold shares in a company so buyers and sellers can easily trade them. The market makers negotiate among themselves to find a price between what most buyers and sellers are demanding. That can take up to two hours, after which the first Facebook shares will exchange hands. The price will appear under the symbol FB.

Q: I read that Facebook will be worth more than $100 billion after the IPO. What does that mean?

This is the so-called market value of the company. It’s what investors trading a portion of its shares think the whole company would be worth if all its shares were trading. At $38 per share, Facebook would be worth $104 billion.

Q: Who are the early investors who are selling?

A: One of the biggest is DST Global Ltd., a London firm founded by Russian investor Yuri Milner that first invested in Facebook in 2009. DST and its affiliates plan to sell 45.7 million shares. At $38, Milner’s firm would get $1.74 billion. One of the earliest investors, Reid Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn Corp. who put money into Facebook in 2004, is expected to sell stock worth up to $36 million. Other sellers include Goldman Sachs, which invested last year. It expects to get as much as $1.1 billion for its shares.

Q: What about Mark Zuckerberg?

The Facebook CEO plans to sell 30.2 million shares. He would pocket up to $1.15 billion. Part of Zuckerberg’s holdings include special shares that give him voting rights on shareholder proposals. After the IPO, he will control 56 percent of votes.

Q: Where will the Facebook IPO rank among IPOs?

A: In terms of money raised, it will be the third-biggest U.S. IPO in history, edging out AT&T Wireless. That company’s IPO in 2000 raised $10.6 billion according to Renaissance Capital, an IPO advisory firm. The biggest IPO was Visa Inc. in 2008. It raised $17.8 billion.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

BOSTON (CBS) – Candace Lee, vice president at Boston-based BzzAgent Inc., works from home every Tuesday and Friday. Her husband travels extensively for work and the couple has two young children, so in order to “make it all hang together,” Lee telecommutes.

“The notion of (all employees) being in one space feels a little old-fashioned,” Lee said.

Indeed, telecommuting has become an increasingly common practice at companies — and a common employee request — in large part because of the vast array of technological options available for keeping in touch with colleagues, from instant messages to video conference.

But while the practice is on the upswing — telecommuting rose 61 percent between 2005 and 2009, according to the Telework Research Network — there are pitfalls.

A CareerBuilder survey from last September found that one in five people who work from home spend an hour or less actually working each day.

And many managers worry about the appearance of favoritism: If three employees have such an arrangement, where does it end?

And does that mean the office will eventually look like a ghost town when clients arrive for meetings?

For that reason, telecommuting is not a given at every company. Most firms that offer it require employees to write up proposals and are expected to be extremely responsive throughout the day.

“Philosophically, I don’t care where people work. But we pride ourselves on our culture … people bonding and going out to lunch and playing pingpong,” said one executive of a Boston-area professional services firm, who did not want to be named because the issue is a “hot topic” in his office.

“When people work from home, you lose that and what we find is, you lose that cultural aspect,” said the executive.

Technology has also made it easier for companies to track their staffers, with some employers saying they check to see if an employee is logged into the system as a way of keeping tabs. Instant messaging also makes it difficult for a staffer to skirt bosses and take off early for the beach.

Private investigator Kevin Leary said that beyond being logged in at the right times, the main way employees prove the arrangement works is by producing their work on deadline.

“If they need to be there for certain hours, then the only thing you can do is check to see if their car is parked in the driveway,” said Leary.

Lisa van der Pool of the Boston Business Journal can be seen weekdays at 6 a.m. on WBZ-TV.

You can follow Lisa on Twitter at @lvanderpool.

Secretary of State Bill Galvin says this case shows how older folks can lose millions at the hands of one broker.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Anthony Silva reports

Registered representative Paul Dumouchel of Wellesley worked for H. Beck of Maryland. Galvin says Dumouchel improperly sold annuities to an 82-year-old woman who was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Galvin says he drove her from bank to bank, having her break up certificates of deposit, so that he could re-invest over a million dollars in annuities, generating more than $60,000 in commissions for himself.

Galvin’s daughter discovered the problem.

Beck is ordered to repay the family for everything she lost, including early withdrawal and other costs.

NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook has priced its initial public offering of stock at $38 per share, at the high end of its expected range. It means investor demand is strong for the world’s largest online social network.

Facebook Inc. and its early investors now stand to reap as much as $18.4 billion from the IPO, if the extra shares reserved to cover additional demand are sold as part of the transaction. Without the extra shares, the offering raises $16 billion. The IPO values the company at around $104 billion, above Amazon.com, Disney and Kraft.

The offering is shaping up to be one of the largest in history — a big payoff for a company that started out eight years ago with no way to make money.

The $38 price tag is what the investment banks orchestrating the offering will sell the stock to their clients. Facebook’s stock is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market sometime Friday morning under the ticker symbol “FB.” That’s when so-called retail investors can try to buy the stock.

Facebook is the third-highest valued company to ever go public, according to data from Dealogic, a financial data provider. Only the two Chinese banks have been worth more.

For the Harvard dorm-born social network that reimagined how people communicate online, the stock sale means more money to operate the data centers that hold the trove of status updates, photos and videos shared by Facebook’s 900 million users. It means more money to hire the best engineers to work at its sprawling Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters, or in New York City, where it opened an engineering office last year.

And it means early investors, who took a chance seeding the young social network with start-up funds six, seven and eight years ago, can reap big rewards. Peter Thiel, the venture capitalist who sits on Facebook’s board of directors, invested $500,000 in the company back in 2004. He’s selling nearly 17 million of his shares in the IPO, which means he’ll get some $640 million.

The offering values Facebook, whose 2011 revenue was $3.7 billion, at as much as $104 billion. The sky-high valuation has its skeptics. Google Inc., whose revenue stood at $38 billion last year, has a market capitalization of $207 billion.

“There seems to be somewhat of a hype around the stock offering,” says Gartner analyst Brian Blau in somewhat of an understatement.

There are a few reasons for the exuberance. One is the IPO’s sheer size. Investor appetite for the stock will likely propel Facebook’s valuation above other well-known companies such as Kraft, Disney and even Amazon.com.

Secondly, it’s personal.

“It’s probably one of the first times there has been an IPO where everyone sort of has a stake in the outcome,” Blau says. While most Facebook users won’t see a penny from the offering, they are all intimately familiar with the company, so it resonates as something they understand.

And then there’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who just turned 28 on Monday. He has emerged as the latest in a lineage of Silicon Valley prodigies who are alternately hailed for pushing the world in new directions and reviled for overstepping their bounds. He’s counted the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs among his mentors and he became one of the world’s youngest billionaires — at least on paper — well before Facebook went public. A dramatized version of Facebook’s founding was the subject of a Hollywood movie that won three Academy Awards last year, propelling Zuckerberg even further into the public spotlight.

Though Zuckerberg is selling about 30 million shares, he will remain Facebook’s largest shareholder. He set up two classes of Facebook stock, building on the model Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin created as part of the online search leader’s 2004 IPO. The dual class structure helps to ensure that he and other executives keep control as the sometimes conflicting demands of Wall Street exert new pressures on the company.

As a result, with the help of early investors who’ve promised to vote their stock his way, Zuckerberg will have the final say on how nearly 56 percent of Facebook’s stock votes.

True to form, Zuckerberg and Facebook’s engineers are ringing in the IPO on their own terms. The company is holding an overnight “hackathon” Thursday, where engineers stay up writing programming code to come up with new features for the site. On Friday morning, Zuckerberg will ring the Nasdaq opening bell from Facebook’s headquarters.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

But if you don’t need the money at 59½ you can leave it in the IRA hopefully still growing until you are 70½.

Minimum required distributions known as MRDs normally must begin at age 70½ for all of your IRAs except the Roth IRA.

If you are the owner of a traditional IRA, you must generally start receiving distributions from your IRA by April 1 of the year following the year in which you reach age 70½.

The distributions are based on your life expectancy using an IRS table, the Uniform Lifetime Table found in the IRS publication 590. You may be sure you’re going to live to be 110, but the IRS’s actuaries have different ideas.

Don’t mess with the minimum required distribution. If you are late in taking that first distribution, there is a 50% penalty on the amount of the required minimum distribution.

The IRS wants to begin to collect taxes from you that you were able to defer all those years while building your nest egg. If you are married and your spouse is more than ten years younger than you and he is the beneficiary on your IRA you would use the Joint Life Expectancy Table to calculate your distribution because the amount required to be withdrawn will be smaller.

Minimum Required Distribution has such an official scary title. But in reality it’s not a lot of money we are talking about having to withdraw. If you have $100,000 in your account and I use that number because it’s easy to do my calculations and you turned 70½ you would be required to withdraw less than $4,000. And each year they use a smaller multiplier to get to the MRD number.

The IRS requires that IRA owners be notified if they are subject to required minimum distributions and the custodians of your IRA will offer to calculate the amount you need to withdraw. That’s why they ask for your birth date on those applications.

If you have multiple IRAs, you must use the combined value to determine the minimum distribution. You need use only one account to withdraw funds from though.

But to make life easier, especially the bookkeeping part, consider consolidating your IRAs and your retirement plans into one account. Getting one monthly statement instead of 4 or 5 will definitely make life simpler.

Inherited IRAs take on whole other set of rules and are very complicated. Rules have changed and you may be able to take the distributions out based on your age rather than the original owner’s age.

If you need help in making your decision a trusted advisor is the only way to go. You may need to seek out a certified financial planner (CFP) or a CPA to help.

One more thing: From the IRS -

Top Ten Facts about Taking Early Distributions from Retirement Plans

If you took an early distribution from your retirement plan, here are some things you need to know:

1. Payments you receive from your Individual Retirement Arrangement before you reach age 59½ are generally considered early or premature distributions.

2. Early distributions are usually subject to an additional 10% tax.

3. Early distributions must also be reported to the IRS.

4. Distributions you rollover to another IRA or qualified retirement plan are not subject to the additional 10% tax. You must complete the rollover within 60 days after the day you received the distribution.

5. The amount you roll over is generally taxed when the new plan makes a distribution to you or your beneficiary.

6. If you made nondeductible contributions to an IRA and later take early distributions from that same IRA, the portion of the distribution attributable to those contributions is not taxed.

7. If you received an early distribution from a Roth IRA the distribution attributable to contributions is not taxed.

8. If you received a distribution from any other qualified retirement plan, generally the entire distribution is taxable unless you made after-tax employee contributions to the plan.

9. There are several exceptions to the additional 10% early distribution, such as when the distributions are used for purchase of a first home, certain medical and educational expenses or if you become disabled. Other exceptions can be found in IRS Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs).

10. More information about early distributions from retirement plans and the additional 10% tax can be found in IRS Publication 575, Pension and Annuity Income and Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs). Both publications are available on IRS.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

BOSTON (CBS) – Does a more convenient way to get gas and save money at the same time sound too good to be true? It might not be any more.

At about 50 Cumberland Farm stores in the Boston area, drivers can now pay with a smartphone and save 5 cents a gallon at the same time.

The program is called Smart Pay and it will be available at all Massachusetts’ Cumberland Farms in the next month or so.

“You launch the app. You sign into PayPal, and within a second or two, it is going to come back and ask which pump you are at. Basically the pump is going to authorize as if you swiped a card and the price is going to roll back 5 cents,” Dave Banks, a spokesman for Cumberland Farms, explained.

The savings can add up. The federal government estimates the average household uses 1,100 gallons of gas a year. That 5 cents a gallon savings translates into $55 dollars back in your pocket.

Customers at the Framingham Cumberland Farms said they would be willing to try anything if it meant saving money on gas.

Paying with a mobile device is less scary for many people than it once was. All of these transactions are handled by the Pay Pal system.

PayPal’s Walt Doyle believes this system is safer than using a traditional credit card.

“There is less capability… for fraudulent activity than with a physical credit card,” said Doyle.

All transactions are password protected.

This system can be convenient in ways you wouldn’t automatically think of.

“We’ve even had some people, their wife was down at Cumberland, and she didn’t have a card or anything, and you can turn the pump on sitting in your living room for someone you know,” said Banks.

The office of Labor and Workforce Development released new figures on Thursday showing that the state’s jobless rate stood at 6.3 percent in April, down from 6.5 percent in March.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Laurie Kirby reports

The national unemployment rate was 8.1 percent last month.

Officials say preliminary estimates from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics show Massachusetts gaining about 2,500 jobs during the month.

According to the latest figures, the state has added more than 31,000 jobs in the first four months of 2012.

Five of the ten leading private employment sectors showed gains in April.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

Rollover IRAs are set up to receive distributions from qualified retirement plans such as your 401(k), 403(b), 457, or another IRA. You “roll” the money from one account into another. If you are in between jobs, it can become a holding tank for your retirement money until you decide if you want to transfer the money into your new employer’s plan.

There is no time limit on money held in a rollover IRA. If your new employer does not allow transfers, no sweat! If you change jobs again and the newest employer allows transfers, you can roll it then. But you do not want to contaminate the dollars in the Rollover IRA by making a regular IRA contribution to the account. Doing so prevents your ability to rollover the account into a new employer’s retirement plan.

As a general rule of thumb, when you leave a job you are usually better off rolling most employer plans into an IRA and leaving them there. You will have greater flexibility and certainly more choices. The one thing you will not have is the ability to borrow from the IRA as you do from some employer plans and if you rollover a 457 plan you lose the ability to start early distributions.

You can at any time move your IRA account to a different plan provider if you are not happy with your current choices. I would strongly suggest setting up a brokerage IRA so you have some flexibility as to the types of investments available to you. I would suggest companies like Fidelity or Schwab that allow you a broad range of choices, stocks, their own mutual funds, as well as mutual funds from different companies.

Another type of rollover is only between IRAs. Individuals are permitted to take a distribution from their IRA and roll those assets from that IRA to another IRA within 60 days of the receipt of the money. You can even roll those funds back into the old IRA. In essence you can borrow from your IRA but, and it’s a big but, you must get the money back into an IRA format quickly or it’s considered a distribution and you will owe taxes on it and possibly a 10% penalty. The IRS is notified if you do this type of a rollover but with a direct rollover, the IRS is not involved.  This type of rollover is only allowed once every 12 months.

The tax laws changed giving the taxpayer greater flexibility with regard to their retirement plans and IRAs making them portable and interchangeable if the individual plan allows the change.

Even though the law states that plans can accept money from other retirement plans, your employer’s plan does not have to allow it. It is an expensive benefit to add because of the extra work involved and legal changes in the original retirement plan documents.

One more thing:  For example you get laid off from Ace Widget Company and you have $24,000 in your 401(k) plan. You can rollover (transfer) the 401(k) account into a Rollover IRA. Now it takes you six months to find a job and you land one with a nonprofit company that has a 403(b) plan but does not allow rollovers into their retirement plan. So you leave the Rollover IRA intact.

Several years later it’s another job change and you roll the money from your 403(b) into your rollover IRA. Now Ace Widget Company has been bought out and your old boss wants you to come work for the new company. They have a good 401(k) plan and you decide to use this opportunity to consolidate all of your retirement accounts so you transfer the amount in your rollover IRA to the new 401(k) plan.

BOSTON (CBS) – Independent alternative rock station 101.7 WFNX is being sold to Clear Channel, it was announced Wednesday and longtime DJ’s at the Boston station were told they were out of a job.

Julie Kramer, whose daily show ‘Leftover Lunch’ plays older alternative hits every weekday at 10 a.m., and Henry Santoro, who read the news each morning, were both let go, Peter Kadzis, executive editor of the Phoenix Media/ Communications Group, told the Boston Business Journal.

WFNX had about 21 full and part-time staffers. Now, only a skeleton crew of four people are left, Kadzis said.

“A sale like this … it’s a break up in the family,” he told the BBJ’s Lisa van Der Pool.

Paul Driscoll, the station’s program director, will remain on board.

A source who asked not to be named told the BBJ there is speculation that Clear Channel will switch ‘FNX to a country and western, or Spanish-language talk format.

WFNX is currently owned by the Boston-based Phoenix Media-Communications Group, which also owns the Boston Phoenix, the Providence Phoenix and Stuff Magazine.

If the format changes, WFNX would be the second alternative rock station to leave the Boston FM airwaves. In 2009, WBCN dropped off the FM dial, making way for the launch of 98.5 The Sports Hub.

“Despite its celebrated history, its cutting edge programming, its tradition of breaking new music, its ardent fans among listeners and advertisers, for some time it has been difficult to sustain the station – especially since the start of the Great Recession. And that is why the station is being sold,” Stephen Mindich, publisher of the Boston Phoenix, said in a memo Wednesday.

“WFNX will the file the paperwork necessary to trigger the license transfer with the Federal Communication Commission later today. WFNX will remain on the air during the time it takes to complete the FCC process.”

Clear Channel currently owns four stations in the Boston area, including KISS 108, WJMN-FM, WXKS-AM and WKOX-AM.

“This was a great opportunity to expand our footprint and our listenership in Boston, a key market with millions of fans who love radio as much as we do,” Clear Channel CEO John Hogan said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon,.

“We look forward to adding 101.7 to our Boston broadcasting family,” he added.

“WFNX will remain on the air during time it takes to complete the FCC approval process, and events and concerts — such as the Best Music Poll (June 13th) and the Seaport Six (June 14th) — will take place as scheduled.”

Lisa van der Pool of the Boston Business Journal can be seen weekdays at 6 a.m. on WBZ-TV.

You can follow Lisa on Twitter at @lvanderpool.

DeLeo has published an open letter on the Menlo Park Patch website touting the virtues of setting up shop in the Bay State.

Facebook was founded in Zuckerberg’s Harvard dorm room.

DeLeo said a lot has changed since Zuckerberg left Massachusetts for California in 2004.

The Winthrop Democrat points to a jobs bill he’s pushing he says will strengthen the state’s innovation economy.

The speaker also takes a jab at California, pointing out the state faces a multibillion dollar deficit while Massachusetts has continued to pass balanced budgets.

DeLeo’s letter comes as Facebook prepares sell stock as part of an initial public offering that could be worth more than $100 billion.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

BOSTON (CBS) – Facebook Inc. indicated Tuesday its IPO may swell, giving the company a valuation over $100 billion if the highly anticipated IPO prices at the top of its new range.

In an amended IPO filing, the Menlo Park, Calif., social network operator is now projecting an IPO price range from $34 to $38 per share. Facebook had previously set the range at $28 to $35 per share. The Facebook IPO is reportedly set to price this week.

At the new midpoint share price of $36, an IPO would net $6.4 billion for Facebook. The high end of its price range would value the company over $100 billion – icing on the cake of what was already set to be the largest Internet IPO ever.

The amended IPO filing contained few other changes. However, Facebook backed off an expected second-quarter closing date for its $1 billion deal to acquire photo sharing service Instagram. That acquisition is now set to close some time this year, according to the filing.

Facebook’s underwriters will likely exercise an over-allotment option, sometimes called a “greenshoe,” to sell 50.6 million additional shares, TechCrunch reported Monday.

Facebook was founded in 2004 by CEO Mark Zuckerberg while he was a student at Harvard University.

Lisa van der Pool of the Boston Business Journal can be seen weekdays at 6 a.m. on WBZ-TV.

You can follow Lisa on Twitter at @lvanderpool.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Anthoy Silva reports

The city is acquiring the private North Bennet Street School, in trade for the city’s old printing warehouses on North Street and Richmond Street where it will move.

The Eliot K-8 School will then be able to expand and almost double its student enrollment.

North Bennet Street School President Miguel Gómez-Ibañez says his school gains a presence in the North End, giving it a suitable home for what it does. He notes they’ve been in the same building since 1881. The school started as a social service center, then became a school for adults, and now he describes it as a technical school of craft.

The city will receive a cash payment of $4 million, and four office buildings.

This is an IRA funded for a spouse with little or no income by a working spouse with income. Their combined income must be at least equal to the amount contributed and they must file a joint tax return for the year the IRA is set up.

In essence to set up a spousal IRA the nonworking spouse “borrows” income from the working spouse. The IRA belongs to the nonworking spouse and she or he can name a beneficiary and choose what the IRA should be invested in.

For example, one spouse is at home with the twins and only works part-time and earns $2,000 this year. The other spouse earns $85,000. The “at home spouse” can set up an IRA for the maximum of $5,000 using their joint income.

As always there are a few more rules before you are home free. If you make too much money the government will not allow you to set up that Spousal IRA. Eligibility is phased out once joint AGI (adjusted gross income) is between $173,000 and $183,000. If you are lucky enough to earn over $183,000 the government figures you can do your own retirement planning.

You can set up a traditional IRA or you can use a Roth IRA. If the “at home spouse” is under 40, I would recommend using the Roth IRA. There are lots of good calculators online to help you figure out whether a current deduction or tax-free future income is the better deal. The younger you are the sweeter the deal for tax-free income.

Many couples are making some tough decisions about having one parent staying at home when their kids are little. But if the stay-

parent is out of the job market for 15 years, between the ages of 30 to 45, those 15 years could put a big hole in their retirement planning.

If you use a spousal IRA over those years and contributed on average $3,000 a year you would have contributed $45,000 to the spousal IRA. Now if we assume an 8% return once you reach age 65 you could have over $400,000 in your nest egg. Not bad! If I assume a 9% percent return the nest egg could grow to over $500,000. ($538,000)

The governor told WPRO-AM that he and state economic development officials are working to make sure that Providence-based 38 Studios stays “viable.” He declined to provide more details about the company’s reported financial problems or the discussions.

38 Studios was lured to Rhode Island from Massachusetts in 2010 after Rhode Island offered a $75 million loan guarantee the state said would help bring hundreds of jobs and millions in tax revenue.

Chafee and others criticized the loan guarantee at the time, saying it was putting taxpayer money at risk to help a company with no track record of success. During his run for governor, Chafee called it “one of the biggest risks I’ve ever seen.”

Judy Chong, a spokeswoman for the Economic Development Corp., whose board approved the loan guarantee, said Tuesday she had no information or comment.

A spokesperson for 38 Studios could not immediately be reached. Schilling could not be reached.

Under the terms of the loan guarantee agreement, 38 Studios promised to bring to Rhode Island a total of 450 jobs over three years. An outside monitor was to follow the company’s progress.

The company released its much-anticipated first game, “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning,” to strong reviews in February.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Doug Cope reports.

The company Mark Zuckerberg created as a Harvard student eight years ago is preparing for what looks to be the biggest Internet IPO ever. Expected later this week, Facebook’s Wall Street debut could value the company at $100 billion, making it worth more than Disney, Ford and Kraft Foods.

That’s testament to the impressive numbers Facebook has posted in its relatively brief history. More than 40 percent of American adults log in to the site —to share news, personal observations, photos and more— at least once a week. In all, some 900 million people around the world are users. Facebook’s revenue grew from $777 million in 2009 to $3.7 billion last year. And in the first quarter of 2012 it was more than $1 billion.

Just a third of those surveyed think the company’s expected value is appropriate, while 50 percent say it is too high. Those who invest in the stock market are more likely to see shares as overvalued, 58 percent said so. About 3 in 10 investors say the expected value of shares is fair. Facebook on Tuesday lifted the expected price for its shares to $34 to $38 apiece from $28 to $35 each.

Read: Will The Average Investor Get A Shot At Facebook’s IPO?

But price worries won’t necessarily stop would-be investors. Half the people surveyed say they think Facebook is a good bet, while 31 percent do not. The rest aren’t sure. Americans who invest in stocks roughly agree, although investors who are more “active” — those who have changed their holdings in the past month —are more negative. Nearly 40 percent say Facebook would not be a good investment.

Young adults, a majority of whom log on to Facebook daily, are more willing to dance to their hoodie-wearing piper, 28-year-old CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Among Zuckerberg’s peers, adults under age 35, 59 percent say Facebook is a good bet. Compare that to the views of senior citizens: Only 39 percent age 65 and over say Facebook shares are a good investment. Nearly half of Gen X’ers (ages 35-44) say the company is a good bet, as do 55 percent of middle-aged people.

Those under 35 are the generation most interested in Facebook’s IPO because they’ve grown up immersed in the social network. They were the first users, logging in from their college dorm rooms. Later, Facebook expanded to allow high school-age and even younger students to sign up. It’s become an integral part of their lives, giving them a launching pad to spread the news of life’s major developments through posts and pictures.

Conversely, it’s the rare senior citizen on Facebook: Just 21 percent have an account. Half of baby boomers — the generation born in the years after World War II — have one. But most of the 56 percent of the country that’s on Facebook is young — two-thirds of Gen X’ers and a staggering 81 percent of people 18-35 use the social networking site.

Young people aren’t just connected. They are constantly tethered to smartphones, tablets and notebook computers. Even with the rise of alternative social networks like Twitter and Google Plus, 55 percent of Zuckerberg’s peers go on Facebook every day. A third log on several times a day. Despite the intensity of their use, a narrow majority of young adults predict Facebook’s appeal will fade down the road (51 percent), fewer think it will stick around as a service (44 percent).

The public overall is similarly divided on the company’s future. Just under half of adults (46 percent) predict a short timeline for Facebook, while 43 percent say it has staying power.

Young people are more aware of Zuckerberg and have more positive views of the CEO, who celebrated his 28th birthday on Monday. Overall, one in five Americans say they’ve never heard of him, 30 percent don’t have an opinion and 14 percent plain don’t like him. Only about a third have a good impression of the CEO, who has alienated some with Facebook’s ever-changing approach to user privacy.

But 46 percent of people under 35 like him. And a scant 4 percent of those younger adults say they’ve never heard of him.

The privacy issue is a stinger. Three of every five Facebook users say they have little or no faith that the company will protect their personal information. Only 13 percent trust Facebook to guard their data, and only 12 percent would feel safe making purchases through the site. Even Facebook’s most dedicated users are wary — half of those who use the site daily say they wouldn’t feel safe buying things on the network.

As for how Facebook makes most of its money —selling ads— 57 percent of users say they never click on them or on Facebook’s sponsored content. About another quarter say they rarely do.

Despite user discontent about privacy, Facebook and Zuckerberg have connected with many Americans. The survey suggests that his reputation and youth seem more like assets than liabilities. For those who have heard of the CEO, two-thirds are at least somewhat confident in his ability to run a large public company. Twenty-two percent doubt he can handle the leadership role. As for the social network he created, 51 percent of Americans clicked “Like.”

The Associated Press-CNBC Poll was conducted May 3-7, 2012 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cell phone interviews with 1,004 adults nationwide and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

___

Associated Press Deputy Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta and News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed this report.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

BOSTON (CBS) – Boston city officials are working on a licensing program to accommodate what could be the next wave after the food truck craze: A growing fleet of fashion trucks.

At least seven mobile fashion boutiques (list and links, below) have come forward looking for ways to legally do business on city streets, following an explosion in Boston food trucks.

For now, they’ve been paying meter fees instead of rent, dodging inspectors enforcing century-old regulations on street peddlers.

A licensing program would make Boston one of the first cities in the U.S. to carve out special space for fashion trucks, leapfrogging ahead of New York, where the food truck thing started four years ago.

In New York, “General merchandise vendors haven’t seen the renaissance that food vendors have seen since 2007,” said David Weber, president of the NYC Food Truck Association.

“It’s still relatively the same variety of products from general merchandise vendors that there have been for a couple of decades.”

Meanwhile, Boston’s fashion truck vendors are like mobile retail labs.

Case in point: Green Street Vault.

Like larger innovators, they’re training customers to buy now, expecting that a product they see this week will be gone by the next. They’re currently collaborating with Boston designer Annie Mulz on an eight-week pop-up store at 252 Newbury St.

It’s not big business.

“From my understanding some of these trucks could be making $1,000 a day,” said Randi Lathrop, deputy director of community planning at the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

But new varieties of seed can grow fast. Just ask Clover Food Lab founders Ayr Muir and Rolando Robledo, who in three years and eight months have grown to nine food trucks and two restaurants.

You can’t walk by a pretty outdoor space in this town without seeing a white Clover truck and a line of people waiting.

Lathrop, who’s charged with helping hammer out a licensing plan that won’t irritate rent-paying fashion retailers, told the BBJ Boston wants to explore putting fashion trucks off the beaten path – in neighborhood business districts like Dudley Square and Egleston Square in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.

You don’t have to be Stephen Karp to know that’s a tough sell.

Fashion trucks need crowds of bag-toting shoppers. I like Egleston a lot. I live nearby, and I’m a volunteer board member at Egleston Main Street. We need a hardware store and a good neighborhood bar before we get a fashion truck.

But Newbury Street needs fashion trucks. High-rent districts breed homogeneity. If you don’t believe me, come down to the Financial District some time for lunch. The three trucks on Dewey Square by South Station are a rare freshet in a desert of leaden subs and banal salads. Workers some of the city’s largest employers deserve more choices at lunchtime.

Similarly, Back Bay shoppers – who could draw businesses like Uniqlo and Topshop to Boston – deserve to see something new.

I hope Mayor Thomas M. Menino won’t miss this chance to make space at center stage for a good thing Boston has going.

Here are the seven Boston fashion trucks whose owners are working with the city on licensing, to date:

• BGreen mobile showroom (Barry Greenstein)

• Sneakerbox (Angela Schipano and Tiffany Crews)

• The Fashion Truck (Emily Benson)

• Vintagemobile (Amy Chase)

• Green Street Vault (Howard Travis and Derrick Cheung)

• Lola’s Urban Vintage (Jude Lyons)

• Boston Sports Apparel Company (Marlon Williams)

Lisa van der Pool of the Boston Business Journal can be seen weekdays at 6 a.m. on WBZ-TV.

You can follow Lisa on Twitter at @lvanderpool.