Look ahead Keys to retirement planning

By Paul C. MacDonald

Itr/ITH the aging of the baby V Y boomer population, retirement planning has come to the forefront of most people's attention.

The realization that social security will provide only a small fraction of what the average worker will need to retire comfortably and that the age to receive full benefits has increased, only adds to the attention being given to this area. Couple this with the fact that many Americans have lost a significant portion of their savings in the stock market over the past several years, and suddenly there is a great urgency to retirement planning. Fortunately, Congress passed laws recently giving workers added incentives to save for retirement, and many employers have adopted retirement plans.

Even if you can only start with a small contribution, start saving.

There are many different options when it comes to retirement savings. For employers, the most common plan is the 401(k) plan, which allows an employee to set aside up to $12,000 per year for retirement, with a catch-up provision for those over age 50 allowing for an additional $2,000 annual contribution. Many companies match a portion of the employee's contribution to give work- ers an incentive to contribute to the plan. The employee's contribution is always 1007o vested, but the employer's contribution typically has a vesting schedule, which is the period of time an employee must be employed before the money becomes theirs.

If your company has a 401(k) plan, I strongly recommend taking advantage of it. If the company has a matching program. at a minimum, contribute the amount necessary to take full advantage of the match, since this is equivalent to receiving free money.

Companies may also offer a profit sharing plan along with the 401(k), which can increase the amount set aside for retirement up to as much as 25Vo of compensation, or $40,000, although most plans are not that rich. There are several different profit sharing designs, allowing ownership to choose a plan that may favor a certain class of employee-usually those earning higher salaries or who are closer to retirement age. These also have a vestins schedule.

With the realization that 401(k) savings may not be enough, many of my clients have decided to implement plans for owners and senior management that allow them to legally discriminate against the rank and file employee, and contribute an amount substantially higher than the amount allowed by the 401(k) plan. These plans are called non-qualified executive compensation plans, and the design can be custom tailored to fit each company's needs, as well as the needs of each executive. The contributions may or may not be taxdeductible, growth is usually taxdeferred, and withdrawals may be designed to be taxable or income taxfree.

The message is clear that retirement isn't far away, even if you are only in your 30s, and that the time to begin saving is now. Even if you can only start with a small contribution, start saving. The habit of saving will continue to grow and before you know it, your account will have a substantial amount of money in it. You do not want to wait until your 50s or 60s, and then be faced with the prospect of either working longer than you want to or retiring with a lifestyle less than what you desire.

- Paul C. MacDonald is a chartered Iife underwriter and chartered financial consultant who specializes in working with businesses in the areas of insurance, benefits, estate and retirement planning. He is a qualifling member of the Million Dollar Round Table, putting him in the top 6Vo of insurance professionals worldwide. He may be reached at (949) 2522652.

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Forks Building Supply, Forks, Wa., is closing after 5l years due to poor market conditions; Guy Becker, owner for the last 30 years, has been retired since 1997

Hansen Lumber Co., Fairview, Ut., has closed its retail lumberyard; previously it had also operated a mill ...

Meek's-The Builder's Choice is planning to open its second DC late this year in Anderson, Ca., and got the go-ahead to add a 5,000-sq. ft. truss manufacturing facility and a 14,000-sq. ft. warehouse at its N. Redding, Ca., yard

McArthur's Hardware, Lompoc, Ca.. has closed...

The Cedar Farm Lumber Yard, Suquamish, Wa., was destroyed by fire Aug. 15, but will rebuild; a warehouse was spared

True Value Hardware. northwest Las Vegas, Nv., sustained more than $100,000 in damage from an Aug. 19 flood ...

Ace Hardware wlll build a 20,000-sq. ft. store at the proposed 38-acre Legacy Village shopping center in S. Phoenix. Az.. for an October 2004 grand opening

84 Lumber Co. opened its l2th California location Aug. 5 in a former Payless Cashways on 23 acres in Sacramento (Randy Thayer, store mgr.; Dave Crozier, sales mgr.) '..

Jicarilla Hardware Store, Dulce, N.M., has been opened by the Jicarilla Apache Nation ...

Home Depot opens a new home center this month in S. Fresno, Ca. the chain was issued permits to build a $12 million store in Walla Walla, Wa.; is about to begin construction in Placerville. Ca.. and received a draft environmental impact report on its proposal to build a 130,000-sq. ft. store on 10 acres in Auburn, Ca.

Home Depot is negotiating to buy a site in Rio Rancho, N.M., to open a 102,000-sq. ft. store in 20O4; demolished a former Big Kmart in Kenai, Ak., to convert it into a home center, and received preliminary zoning approval to take over a vacant Kmart building in Ukiah, Ca.

Home Depot was rejected by the city council in its bid to build a home center on 13 acres in San Juan Capistrano, Ca., and next spring will start remodeling a 103,000-sq. ft. former HomeBase in Beaverton, Or., to reopen as the Northwest's first Expo Design Center about a year later

Home Depot will replace Lowe 's as the sponsor of TLC's cable tv home decorating show Trading Spaces, providing the materials and design projects ...

Lowe's Cos. opened a 118,000sq. ft. store Aug. 1 in McMinnville, Or. (Scott Biesecker, store mgr.); submitted a site plan for a 135,000-sq. ft. store to replace a former Wal-Mart in Idaho Falls, Id., and is considering sites in Yucaipa, Ca.

Lowe 's has launched a new installed sales program at 128 locations across the country

Lanoga Corp., Redmond, Wa., is donating $35,000 to help assess state trust lands for environmental certification ...

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McKenzieForest Products, Springfield, Or., is negotiating to sell its Myrtle Point, Or., veneer mill to Westwood Lumber, Saginaw Or. ...

Takeuchi Lumber Co., Ltd.. Nagoya, Japan, in the coming months will close all its Americanbased companies, including Olympic Wood Products, Port Angeles, Wa., a sawmill in Shelton, Wa., and a dry kiln facility in Spanaway, Wa.

Weyerhauser Co., Federal Way, Wa., will permanently close its TrusJoist laminated veneer lumber plant in Junction City, Or. Weyerhaeuser has purchased Progre ssive Solution's Lumber Track business software for 88 facilities in its Wood Products Sector ...

Yakama Forest Products, White Swan, Wa., is switching its production to about 25Vo Douglas fir and 25Vo ponderosa pine

3-C Trucking, Long Beach, Ca., is closing after 25 years ...

Loui sanna- Pacific C orp. will defend against a $4.5 million lawsuitstating the company owes Enron more than $4.4 million as a termination payment for rescinded power contracts and $59,200 in liquidated damages ... L-P sold roughly 55,000 acres of timberland near Honey Island, Tx..for $37 million to Honey Island Properties, LLC

Plum Creek Timber Co.. Seattle. Wa., agreed to buy 38,000 acres of timberland in Arkansas. 33.000 acres in New Hampshire and 68,000 acres in South Carolina for

$162 million in cash from Great Eastern Timber Co. L.L.C., a division of Hancock Natural Resource Group, Boston, Ma.

Boise indefinitely cut back from two shifts to one at its Yakima, Wa., sawmill, effective Aug. 18

Georgia-Pacffic so far this year has received 29,500 asbestos-related claims-a sharp increase over firsthalf2002...

Columbia Forest Products, Portland, Or., has become the first hardwood plywood manufacturer to agree to utilize DowBioProducts' wheat straw-based WoodStalk Fiberboard MR as core material ...

Potlatch Corp., Spokane, Wa., earned an EPA Energy Star label for its LuminOX radiant barrier sheathing

Inte rnational Aluminum Corp., Monterey Park, Ca., has closed its Colorado residential door and window subsidiary, International Window-Colorado, Inc.

Robert Bosch Tool Corp. agreed to buy the Roto Zipbrand name

Milgard Windows, Tacoma, Wa., was honored by its parent company Masco Corp. with an original Richard Royal glass sculpture to commemorate its 40th anniversary and for surpassing the half-billion dollar sales mark in 2002 ... Milgard has signed HMH as its advertising and p.r. agency ...

Epoch Composite Products (EverGrain Decking) has signed on with ad agency NKH&W ...

KubotaTractorCorp., Torrance, Ca., had its victory against a patent infringement case brought by John Deere upheld in appellate court ...

EcoBuild, Boulder, Co., is now distributing MetalWorks' metal roofing shingles in Colorado and Southern Wyoming

Richelieu Hardware Ltd., Montreal, Quebec, has agreed to purchase the assets of specialty hardware distributor Pacific Coasl

Supply, with DCs in Puyallup, Wa., and Clackamas. Or.: the distributor is not related to the Pacific Coast Building Products division of the same name ...

Benjamin Moore 's Eco Spec line of paint products has been certified by the Greenguard Environmental Institute

Ace Hardware Corp. is partnering with The Sherwin-Williams Co. to enable Ace retailers Io sell Pratt & Lambert brand paints ...

Anniversaries'. Linc oln C re ek Lumber, Centralia, Wa., l00th Helliesen Lumber & Supply Co., Yakima, Wa., l00th ... Channel City Lumber, Santa Barbara, Ca., 40th

Housing starts in July (latest figures) rose l.5%o to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.872 mlllion single family starts increased 1.97o to 1.521 million; multi-family (5+ units) were at a pace of 319,000 ... building permits decreased 2.4vo to an annual rate of 1.80 million.

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