Currently, the Club (in addition to its regular programming) is hosting a series entitled The Ascent of Women which will explore the lives of women today.  There are 30 programs planned beginning on July 30 and extending through the end of August 2010. Many of these programs will be of interest to Of Independent Means readers so be sure and explore the list.

I will be moderating two of the programs which I will highlight here:

On Friday, July 30,  Outliers and Outperformers: Women in Fund Management – this event will be a  panel discussion and will focus on the role of women in the fund industry today and how more women can reach the level of fund manager.

The panelists are:

Mellody Hobson, President, Ariel Investments
Ivka Kalus-Bysticky, Portfolio Manager,The Pax World International Fund
Luz Padilla, Head of Emerging Markets Fixed Income, Doubleline
Mary Ellen Stanek, Managing Director, Chief Investment Officer, Robert W. Baird & Co.
Cathy Curtis, Investment Advisor, Curtis Financial Planning – Moderator

If you would like to attend, you can click here to reserve

On, Tuesday, August 3:  Girls Gotta Do Business-The Rising Force of Women Entrepreneurs. This panel discussion will focus on the exponential growth of women-owned businesses, some of the struggles women face as they grow their businesses and how more women can succeed as business owners.

The panelists are:

Alison Covarrubias, Co-founder, The Hatch Network, SF
Baat Enosh, Entrepreneur Alliance Program Director, NCWIT; VP of Operations, Women 2.0
Ayesha Mathews-Wadhwa, Director, Savor the Success, SF Bay Area
Julie Abrams, CEO, Women’s Initiative for Self Employment
Cathy Curtis, Financial Advisor, Curtis Financial Planning – Moderator

To reserve for this program click here.

Check back as I will be blogging about both discussions!

Hope to see you there.

Temra Costa,Deborah Madison,Jessica Prentice,Leda Meredith

San Francisco is on the leading edge of the locavore movement.  It’s also one of the most expensive cities in the U.S.  No wonder the Commonwealth Club program at the Port Commission room at the Ferry Building housed a sell-out crowd this past Wednesday night. The topic: how to eat locally on a budget. The speakers, all passionate locavores and sustainable food advocates, have huge locavore credibility:

Temra Costa’s  just released book, Farmer Jane: Women Changing the way We Eat tells the stories of 26 women leaders that are working to create a more holistic and nurturing food and agriculture system. Prior to writing her book, Temra worked for CAFF – The Community Alliance for Family Farmers on the Farm to School and Buy Fresh Buy Local programs. Temra resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Deborah Madison opened Greens, a vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco that is still popular after over 20 years, and went on to write several cookbooks about vegetarian cooking: The Greens Cookbook and Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone amongst them.  Her latest book celebrates fruit in all it lusciousness: Seasonal Fruit Desserts From Orchard, Farm and Market.

Leda Meredith is a passionate locavore and urban gardener. Her most recent book:  The Locavore’s Handbook: A Busy Person’s Guild to Eating Local on A Budget is full of practical, down-to-earth advice about incorporating locally grown foods into daily meals. She wrote The Locavore’s Guilde to New York City and teaches classes on urban gardening.  Leda resides in Brooklyn, NY.

Jessica Prentice is a professionally trained chef and expert in sustainable agriculture issues. She worked as the Director of Education Programs for the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market and founded Wise Foods Way in 2004 and Locavores in 2005. She is a worker-owner in a CSK- Community Supported Kitchen in Berkeley called Three Stone Hearth. In her book, Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger For Connection Jessica champions locally grown, humanely raised, nutrient-rich foods and traditional cooking methods. Jessica lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The discussion ended up being about much more than budgeting tips. All the women expanded upon the psychic, health and political  benefits of creating community around food. As Deborah Madison put it “When you get involved in local food you’re getting a lot more than food, you are getting community.” Leda Meredith got us thinking about community in a whole new way when she said “I never eat alone….I have a whole family on my plate.”  All of the women are advocates of developing personal relationships with the people that produce the food we eat.

Jessica Prentice spoke eloquently and deliciously about creating nutrient-rich meals out of simple ingredients such as beans and rice. “Bone broths with beans and rice and a bay leaf – simple, delicious.”  Jessica has a great sense of humor.  When espousing the cost savings in choosing mutton over lamb in dishes like lamb stew she said…”you really can’t tell the difference in taste – mutton just has a p.r. problem!”

The conversation always circled back to the expense of eating locally. All of the women on the panel are budget-conscious and offered some excellent ideas for saving money while eating locally. Here are some of the best:

1. Volunteer for your local CSA or farmer’s market – many will offer trade in food for work.
2. Eat seasonally, prices come down when food is in plentiful supply, i.e., strawberries in the spring, tomatoes in the summer.
3. Use all parts of the vegetable: fresh organically grown beet, carrot and radish greens are delicious.
4. Choose grains and beans over meat and create simple inexpensive meals using bone broths and vegetables.
5. Preserve seasonal fruits and vegetables by freezing or canning.
6. Choose cheaper cuts of meat and make stews that can last all week.

As I was writing this post I got an email from Britt Bravo, a social change consultant/coach based in Oakland who attended Wednesday’s panel.  She wrote a truly comprehensive list of tips for eating locally on a budget gleaned from the discussion. Here is the post on her blog:  Have Fun * Do Good - 25 Tips For Eating Locally on A Budget.

Thanks Britt!

Happy Eating!

P.S. Zuzy from Cooking 4 the Clueless also weighed in on the panel discussion: http://cooking4theclueless.wordpress.com/

April Showers Bring May Flowers

“April is the cruelest month . . .” begins the first line of The Waste Land, the signature modernist poem by T.S. Eliot.

The poem had nothing to do with taxes. However, with the goal to raise awareness about National Poetry Month, the Academy of American Poets and the American Poetry & Literacy Project cleverly came up with the idea to distribute thousands of free copies of The Waste Land to selected post offices on tax day.  At least anxious taxpayers had something pleasant to read after they dropped their returns in the mail!

The first half of April can be very stressful and yes, cruel, if you aren’t organized or run out of funds to pay your tax. With the exception of an IRA contribution, there is nothing you can do to alter the outcome in April.  (Yes, you can file an extension, but you still have to pay the taxes due).

But taxes are money’s enemy on more than just tax day.  Taxes can erode the value of your investment portfolio and eat away at your income all during the year.  We all have to pay our fair share, but there are tips and strategies that can be implemented to help keep more of your money in your pocket and return thoughts of April to lovely Spring weather, longer days, strawberries and sweet English peas!

Tax Planning Strategies To Keep You Sane

Get Organized.
If you don’t do anything else, setting up a filing system for tax documents is a must. Not only will everything be in one place when you need it, but you are less likely to miss out on deductions when you are consciously filing receipts and documents all year. A series of folders with labels such as charitable contributions, property tax, business expenses is recommended. If you just dump everything into one file, you will have another major organizing task come April.

Tracking Expenses
Buy a notebook and keep it in your car. If you are doing charitable work, you can deduct miles to and fro. Keep good records of  the date, starting mileage, ending mileage, and the name and address of the charity. Keep track of business miles in the same manner. No more stressful guess work at tax time.  Also note the starting mileage on your odometer on January 1st and the ending mileage on December 31st. If you pay cash for parking meters while doing charitable works or business note those in your book too.

Know Your Cost Basis (purchase price of investments you buy)
Most brokerage companies track cost basis for you these days. But if you change brokerage company or advisor, it’s very wise to make sure you walk away with a document that lists cost basis for each investment. You need this data when you sell an investment. Maintain records of any improvements you do to your home as well. When you sell these costs will increase your basis (a good thing because it means you owe less tax).

Donating Items To Charity
Carefully itemize clothing, household goods, books, etc. that you give to your local Good Will, Salvation Army or other charity. Estimating a total dollar deduction is not enough. Do this before you drop the goods off, or you will forget what you gave away!

Calendar Important Dates
It’s so easy to forget to pay estimated taxes, especially if you are newly self-employed. When your taxes are not being deducted directly from your earnings you need to pay estimated taxes. The dates are April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15. Set a calendar alert to yourself a week before so you have time to do the calculations. The best time to do tax planning is well before the calendar year is over: plan to do-it-yourself or meet with your tax advisor in October.

Tax Saving Tips

• If you can hold on to a winning investment for more than one year, you will pay capital gains tax on the sale (currently at 15%) rather than your ordinary tax rate which can be significantly higher.
• Buy income producing investments (i.e. bond funds or balanced funds) in retirement accounts rather than taxable accounts as the income from these investments is taxed at ordinary income tax rates not the lower capital gains rates.
• Choose growth stock funds, individual stocks or tax-efficient mutual funds for your taxable accounts as they generate less or no current income.
• If you have losses in your taxable account, you can sell them to offset gains in that account. Plus you can deduct $3000 in losses against your taxable income. You can buy back the investment if you want to as long as you follow the wash-sale rules.
• Invest in a ROTH IRA if your income permits. You won’t get a tax deduction, but you won’t owe tax on withdrawal, ever.  (Special rules apply for earnings in Roth Accounts).
• Save as much as you can in company retirement accounts. This money is tax-deferred and provides welcome tax relief in your highest earnings years. If you are self-employed take advantage of SEP IRA’s, Simple IRA’s or Defined Benefit plans. The type of plan you choose depends on your income and number of employees amongst other factors.
• Consider converting some or all of your Individual IRA accounts to Roth IRA’s this year. For 2010, the income limitations are waived and you can spread the tax over two years if you choose.
• State and Federal government’s occasionally provide tax credits. Unfortunately they all have different starting and expiration dates. Do a search on the IRS website www.irs.gov and your State’s tax board website to keep abreast of current credits. There are or have been credits for energy savings improvements to your home, childcare credits, first home buyer credits, education credits, etc.
• Review your tax withholdings whenever your tax status changes. For example, when you get a pay raise (or pay cut), you buy a home, have a child, get married or get a divorce. The IRS has a tax withholding calculator or read IRS Publication 919 or ask your tax advisor for help.
• If you buy mutual funds at the end of the year in your taxable account, research the date of any planned capital gain or dividend distribution first. You don’t want to buy a fund and get immediate taxable income before you have a chance to benefit from any investment gain. Buy after the distribution date.
• Tax-payers in high tax brackets can benefit from buying muni-bond funds or bonds in their taxable accounts.  These investments earn federally tax-free and sometimes state tax-free income.  (Not beneficial for lower tax bracket individuals).

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’s a good start for most people. I hope these tips and strategies will help to make tax time less stressful and keep more money in your wallet!

Kim Kochaver, Trade Marketing Manager for LinkedIn

Manage the Brand That is You.

Last night, I hosted a LinkedIn workshop at my home for members of the Hatch Network a modern business school for entrepreneurial women. Our guest speaker was Kim Kochaver, a Trade Marketing Manager for LinkedIn.

Kim gave a fast-paced, gem-filled presentation on how to nurture your LinkedIn profile, build your network and then leverage it. Because many of the women in the room were LinkedIn neophytes, we spent most of the time on primping profiles, which is what I will share with you in this post.

Why should LinkedIn be important to you?
Because 60 million other professionals are using it. It is THE social media site for business networking. And most importantly, (as Kim stated so effectively last night) it is a growing phenomenon that our career or business success depends on managing our own personal brand. LinkedIn gives you an excellent platform to do just this.

Start managing your personal brand with an optimized profile.
Above all, Linked in is a site meant for doing business and making professional connections. The profile layout is straightforward and simple with fields to let people know who you are, what you do, your professional  memberships and interests. The following are a  few tips to help you set up an effective, professional profile (click on “settings” in the upper right corner of the your LinkedIn homepage to start editing). Definitely post a picture of yourself.

Choose a head-shot style picture. This is not the place for a picture of you on a beach in Mexico. If you can afford it, hire a professional to take a head shot. You can use it many other places.

Write a summary that is brief and interesting. Write it in paragraph form, not bulleted like a resume. Cutting and pasting your resume is probably not a good idea – do you find resumes interesting reading material? Highlight your specialties… Choose the experience or personal qualities that most represent your brand. If you don’t like to write about yourself, enlist the help of a professional writer/editor to help you.

Choose a custom Public Profile URL.  Kim recommends using your name since your employer or business could change. You will always be you. For example, my URL is http://www.linkedin.com/in/cathycurtis

Choose custom names for your websites by ignoring the default “my website”, “my blog” and choose “other.” By choosing other you can name your links whatever you like. Another great tip: rotate your links and websites depending on what you want your contacts to know about you. For example, Kim has a website link called Get LinkedIn’s Audience Stats and Follow Kim on Twitter.

Edit your Public Profile. The default public profile is too basic. At least include your picture, headline, summary, specialties, websites and interests. If you peak a viewer’s interest the more likely it is they will go on to read your full profile increasing your chances for a connection.

Use the Network Updates box to promote yourself and your business. Some ideas for effectively using this feature: post new blogs you have written; post event info, let your contacts know about special projects you are working on related to your business or job, if you are openly job hunting, let people know here. Network updates is a great tool to remind your network of what you are up to on a regular basis.

Take Advantage of LinkedIn Applications
LinkedIn has added several applications and there are more to come. Here are a few that are easy and fun to use and further the goal of building your personal brand:

Reading List by Amazon:   You are what you read?  Let your contacts know more about you by what you read. You can post your reading list and write recommendations for books you like.

My Travel by TripIt, Inc:  Fill in details of your upcoming trips. The application then let’s you know who lives or works in that area or if one of your connections is travelling there too. Think about the opportunities to meet business contacts while on the road?  Or solicit helpful comments about places you are going?

WordPress: This automatically syncs your wordpress blog posts with your LinkedIn profile. Expand your readership and contact list.

Tweets: Integrates your twitter account with LinkedIn and allows you to choose tweets for posting on LinkedIn.

SlideShare Presentations:  If you are particularly proud of a presentation you have created, you can now share with your connections. This is an effective way to highlight your particular knowledge or expertise and show off your slide-making skills. Think about the opportunities for connections with potential clients or employers!

Once you get your profile primped up to perfection, you can step up your network building activities and then start to leverage your network. In closing last night, Kim challenged us all to log-on to LinkedIn and spend a couple of hours carefully going through every section under “settings’:  Profile settings, email notifications, home page settings, RSS settings, groups, personal info, privacy settings and my network. There are many important choices within these sections that you won’t want to miss.

I’ve primped my profile, have you?

Primp your LinkedIn Profile:  Your Brand is Depending on You.