Dear Friends & Family,

How are your New Year’s resolutions coming along? Oscar Wilde once said, “Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.”

Housekeeping Items:

• 2009 Tax Reporting Statements Delay. Fidelity Investments will be mailing most 2009 tax reporting statements no later than February 16th, 2010. Fidelity is able to mail these tax statements in late February due to a mailing deadline extension from the Internal Revenue Service. Also, as reported earlier, your Year-End statements will not be mailed; however, they are available on Fidelity.com, or we would be happy to mail you a hard copy. Please contact us for assistance.
• Put your tax house in order regarding Roth IRA conversions. It is important for you to understand where your Traditional IRA contributions came from and whether they were before- or after-tax contributions. This is important because all future income and growth in your Roth IRA account is free of income tax. That stands in stark contrast to regular retirement accounts where you have to pay income tax on the money you withdraw after you retire.
• Unlike traditional IRAs, Roths do not force you to start making minimum withdrawals at age 70½ if you don’t need the money. That flexibility allows you to maximize the amount of tax-free growth you earn on your investments.
• Although you have to pay income tax on the amount you convert to a Roth, you are in complete control of the timing of your conversion. This means you can time conversions over the years to make maximum use of low tax brackets or other tax benefits.
• Falling taxes: The key comparison in deciding to do a Roth conversion is this: Does it make more sense to pay taxes on your retirement money now or later? We are here to help and assist you in answering that question. Please discuss your options with us—we’re here to help.

Did you know? If you are a future homeowner, you stand to pocket $8,000 cash by purchasing a new home before April 30th. If you are a current homeowner and you are looking to move up into a larger or more expensive home, you will receive a check for $6,500.

If you have friends or family coming from overseas for a visit this year, did you know that citizens from 35 countries could be barred from boarding U.S.-bound flights starting in March if they don’t register online before flying, according to the Homeland Security Department? The countries include the United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany, whose citizens can enter the U.S. without a visa.

Sincerely,

Katz Family Financial