February 4, 2010 - ChaddsFordLive.com

Know Your Finances

Leslie from Glen Mills asks: Should I open a Roth
IRA account?

Leslie, yes you should open and contribute to a Roth account
if you qualify for it. The
contributions are after tax dollars and, as long as you own the account for at
least five years and wait until you’re at least 59½ to take withdrawals, gains
on your investment are never taxed again. Plus, you never have to withdraw the
funds like you do with traditional IRAs.
If you have children it is a wonderful inheritance for them that they
never will pay tax on! If you don’t have children the power of tax-deferred
growth will still work beautifully for you.

If you are single you can contribute up to $5,000 or $6,000
(50 years old and older) if your 2009 adjusted gross income is less than
$120,000 (you can’t contribute the full amount if your income is between
$105,000 and $120,000). And if you are married and filing jointly your 2009
joint adjusted gross income must be less than $176,000 (you can’t contribute
the full amount if your income is between $166,000 and $176,000.)

If you are working for a company that offers a matching
40l(k) or 403 (b) plan make sure you take advantage of it and first fund the
company’s matching plan before funding the Roth.

Linda from Chadds Ford asks: Now that Congress says that people who earn more than
$100,000 can convert their IRA to a Roth in 2010 is there any reason I
shouldn’t convert?

Linda, converting does not make sense for everyone. The
upfront taxes are a heavy burden and the Roth needs at least 20 years for the
conversion to make sense when you compare the traditional IRA and the Roth. I look at the upfront taxes paid, the
opportunity cost of the taxes, and the required minimum distributions from the
traditional IRA. If you won’t need the funds for retirement and you have
children or grandchildren to leave it to, converting is usually a good idea.

Ken from Chadds Ford asks:I am so nauseated and scared by the huge federal deficit
spending and $12 trillion national debt level. Is the dollar going to collapse
and should I be putting all of my assets into gold and silver?

Ken, I get asked this a lot. It is scary and the dollar is
weak for good reason (reflecting our weakened balance sheet and budget deficit). If you think that the dollar will
collapse you should not only buy gold and silver, you should buy a farm and
grow your own food!

But seriously, perhaps I am an eternal optimist, but I don’t
believe that the end is near. The dollar’s strength or weakness is
relative. Our country absolutely
has problems but relative to the rest of the world we are doing better. You
won’t see a steady stream of Americans leaving the country to become taxi
drivers in Beijing or Bangalore any time soon. And, though the Chinese make noise about selling dollars for
Euros or a new basket of currencies, the reality is that the U.S. dollar
remains the safest currency. Why? Because despite out economic deficiencies, we
still have an infrastructure of law and free movement and free speech and
possibility of advancement and sophisticated technology and economic efficiency
and environmental safety that is much better than most other nations.

Realistically, I can envision a basket of currencies replacing
the dollar to reflect the globalization of trade, but it will take several more
generations before it materializes.

* I look forward to
receiving your questions about anything related to investments, retirement
planning, or the economy. Send them to: ellen@ascendinvmgt.com and write
“Chadds Ford Live” in the subject line.

About Ellen Le

Ellen is the Founder and President of Ascend Investment Management. She was born in Philadelphia and has lived in the Delaware Valley for most of her life. When she is not researching investments and managing portfolios, she pursues her interests in tennis, bridge, hiking and art. Beginning her investment career in 1981 as a stockbroker at E.F. Hutton and Co., Ellen now has over 20 years of investment management experience. Prior to founding Ascend in 2006, she managed high net worth assets for many years at Bank of America, Mellon Bank, and most recently at Davidson Capital Management. At Davidson Capital Management, Ellen served as a Senior Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager of the firm. She managed assets for more than 50 family relationships and was a core member of the firm’s Investment Committee.Ellen earned a BA in History from Brown University and a MBA in Finance & Investments from The George Washington University. She is a member in good standing of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute, which is a global organization dedicated to setting a high ethical standard for the investment profession. Her professional memberships include the Delaware County Estate Planning Council, Women Enhancing Business (WEB), and the Chadds Ford Business Association. She is a docent with the Delaware Art Museum and an active volunteer with the Brown University Alumni Association.

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Mind Matters

Along the Ford

“Don’t ask, don’t tell” says the news announcer on the radio
as I drive. Of course, this phrase these days almost exclusively refers to the
U.S. Armed Serrvices’ so-called “solution” of accepting gays in the military by
denying that they are there. It’s akin to the denial found in many a
dysfunctional family.

Alcoholic families, families where there is sexual abuse or
physical abuse or both know this mantra “don’t ask, don’t tell” very well. Its
corollary is “shoot the messenger if the truth be told.” Dysfunctional family
systems and dysfunctional institutional systems operate similarly.

However, sometimes the avoidance of truth in a family is not
a coverup of anything debilitating to the family. In fact, acceptance of the
secret situation would indicate a highly differentiated and mentally healthy
system, a system where individuals could have a sense of belonging while able
to be self-actualized at the same time. When families can accept the coupling
of their children to persons of a different faith, or same gender, or different
culture or race (actually, genetically and scientifically speaking, “race” is
an obsolete nomenclature signifying very superficial differences), then thse
families have a tolerance for differentiation and flexibility. And this is
healthy!

When families can face their problems and struggles, that is
healthy too. Rather than denying that Dad is alcoholic, when family members can
address the illness, they are all getting free of the burden of denials.
Families, in their dysfunctional moments, can attempt to deny all sorts of
stressors. “Let’s pretend Mother doesn’t have cancer.” “Let’s not tell grandma
she’s dying, and we don’t believe it either.” Don’t let Dad know you had a
fender bender.” “Let’s pretend that Auntie way up the family tree didn’t commit
suicide—after all, it was so long ago.” Creating a family mythology around such
lies embeds a subtle toxin into the fabric of life.

How ironic that we tell our little children not to lie and
deny, meanwhile setting our own duplicitous example. Would that the military
and other institutions recognize that denying the individuality of a person
doesn’t serve the health of the system any more than it would serve the health
of the family system.

Relationship and connection depend on acceptance and
openness, not denial and avoidance. For health’s sake, do tell!

• Kayta Curzie Gajdos holds a doctorate in counseling
psychology and is in private practice in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. She
welcomes comments at MindMatters@DrGajdos.com
or (610)388-2888. Past columns are posted to www.drgajdos.com.

About Kayta Gajdos

Dr. Kathleen Curzie Gajdos ("Kayta") is a licensed psychologist (Pennsylvania and Delaware) who has worked with individuals, couples, and families with a spectrum of problems. She has experience and training in the fields of alcohol and drug addictions, hypnosis, family therapy, Jungian theory, Gestalt therapy, EMDR, and bereavement. Dr. Gajdos developed a private practice in the Pittsburgh area, and was affiliated with the Family Therapy Institute of Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, having written numerous articles for the Family Therapy Newsletter there. She has published in the American Psychological Association Bulletin, the Family Psychologist, and in the Swedenborgian publications, Chrysalis and The Messenger. Dr. Gajdos has taught at the college level, most recently for West Chester University and Wilmington College, and has served as field faculty for Vermont College of Norwich University the Union Institute's Center for Distance Learning, Cincinnati, Ohio. She has also served as consulting psychologist to the Irene Stacy Community MH/MR Center in Western Pennsylvania where she supervised psychologists in training. Currently active in disaster relief, Dr. Gajdos serves with the American Red Cross and participated in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts as a member of teams from the Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.Now living in Chadds Ford, in the Brandywine Valley of eastern Pennsylvania, Dr. Gajdos combines her private practice working with individuals, couples and families, with leading workshops on such topics as grief and healing, the impact of multigenerational grief and trauma shame, the shadow and self, Women Who Run with the Wolves, motherless daughters, and mediation and relaxation. Each year at Temenos Retreat Center in West Chester, PA she leads a griefs of birthing ritual for those who have suffered losses of procreation (abortions, miscarriages, infertility, etc.); she also holds yearly A Day of Re-Collection at Temenos.Dr. Gajdos holds Master's degrees in both philosophy and clinical psychology and received her Ph.D. in counseling at the University of Pittsburgh. Among her professional affiliations, she includes having been a founding member and board member of the C.G. Jung Educational Center of Pittsburgh, as well as being listed in Who's Who of American Women. Currently, she is a member of the American Psychological Association, The Pennsylvania Psychological Association, the Delaware Psychological Association, the American Family Therapy Academy, The Association for Death Education and Counseling, and the Delaware County Mental Health and Mental Retardation Board. Woven into her professional career are Dr. Gajdos' pursuits of dancing, singing, and writing poetry.

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Chadds Ford looking at USDA study on deer hunt

Local News

Chadds Ford Township supervisors agreed to learn what’s
involved in a USDA survey that could lead to a large-scale deer hunt. The hunt
is designed to reduce the incidents of Lyme disease.

Supervisors discussed the option during a Jan. 25 workshop,
but agreed during the Feb. 1 regular meeting to talk with people at the United
States Department of Agriculture to see what’s involved in an $8,000 study that
would determine whether the township is eligible for the hunt.

The move is a follow up to a Civic Association study that
recommended the hunt. That study itself came at the request of the supervisors
who wanted to know how prevalent Lyme is in the township.

According to Peter Jesson, who led the study, Lyme is
“epidemic “in Chadds Ford. He gave a full report to the supervisors during the
Jan. 6 meeting.

If the township qualifies for the program, sharpshooters
with noise suppression and night vision equipment would bait large open spaces
and cull the deer herd at night.

At the request of Supervisor Garry Paul, supervisors will
first talk with the USDA to see what’s involved in the program before
committing the $8,000 for a study that would determine whether the township
qualifies for the hunt.

<B>Other business<B>

Supervisors voted 3-0 during the Feb. 1 meeting to extend
the temporary sign ordinance that went into effect in early 2009. Supervisors’
Chairman Deborah F. Love said, however, that business owners must still follow
the rules for the extra signage and pay the appropriate fees. Business owners
with questions should call the township building.

• The township will hold a recycling day on Saturday,
April 17 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the township building. Accepted for the
program will be paper for shredding, electronics and appliances, residential
propane tanks up to 20 pounds, clothing, household items and furniture.

Donations will go to Goodwill.

Items that can’t be accepted include mattresses and box
springs, tires, firearms, paint and flammable material, dangerous materials and
books.

Anyone with questions should call Christine at the township
building, 610-388-8800.

• Supervisors made two new appointments during the Feb. 1
meeting. Planning Commission member Mike Ashmore was appointed commission member
to the Historical and Architectural Review Board. They also appointed Joe
Barakat, the township manager, roadmaster and emergency management coordinator,
to be the deputy zoning and code enforcement officer.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.

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Rescue Ink is on the case looking for whoever killed Emma and Luna

Local News

cap 1 — Rescue Ink is on the case looking for whoever killed Emma and Luna

Rescue Ink, the tattooed, motorcycle-riding street toughs
from New York who track down animal abusers, are on the case in Chester County.
They’re helping to find the killer or killers of two German shorthaired
pointers, Emma and Luna. The dogs—family pets—were found shot to death along
the railroad tracks at Brinton’s Bridge Road in Pennsbury Township in October.

The members of Rescue Ink are internationally known from the
National Geographic Channel TV show “Rescue Ink Unleashed.” They held a press
conference at the Chester County SPCA on Jan. 29, a town hall meeting at the
Chadds Ford Historical Society that night and were at Hank’s Place Saturday
morning, Jan. 30.

Pennsylvania State Police and Humane Society officers from
the SPCA have been investigating the case since the dogs were found Oct. 25
but, according to SPCA spokesman Richard Britton, the leads are now cold and
have dried up. The SPCA is offering a reward of $50,000 for information leading
to the arrest and conviction of whoever killed the dogs.

Britton said the animals were shot execution style—through
the head at close range— then laid out tail to tail on the railroad tracks. Rescue
Ink was called in to assist the investigation and bring awareness to the case.

Member Joe Panz—who says he’s been a street guy all his
life—said before the Friday afternoon press conference that there are things
his group can do that the police can’t do.

“A lot of times people are more inclined to talk to us
because we’re not authority figures. When an authority figure shows up, the
threat of arrest is very apparent so people are more inclined to open up to us
because we aren’t authorities. Also, we have a different way of approaching and
talking to people,” Panz said. “We’re street guys. We know who to talk to. We
know where to go. We know what to say.”

He said the first order of business in the Emma and Luna
case would be to canvas the area, talk to people and “knock over some trees,
beat some bushes and see what comes out.”

Another member of Rescue Ink, Big Ant, said the group’s
approach is different because they’ll show up in an area riding their
motorcycles or driving a hot rod instead of a police patrol car. The personal
vehicles help break the ice and get people to start talking.

He said their success rate has been good.

“We’ve put a lot of dents in a lot of cases,” Big Ant said.
“We got them solved because we know who to talk to, we know where to go.”

He added that he sees no difference in working a rural area
like Southern Chester County as opposed to an urban area like New York City.

“The crime is the same… An abuser is an abuser, that’s it,”
he said.

Group members were reluctant to get into specifics of the
case, but told the packed house at the town hall meeting in the Historical
Society Visitors’ Center that they want families to talk about the case and
that they want to be able to talk to students in the schools. Panz said that’s
likely how information will ultimately surface to find the killer.

Rescue Ink does more than just rescue abused animals or
bring abusers to justice. Big Ant said they also assist battered women who are
reluctant to go to a shelter because there is a pet in their home and they’d
rather stay with an abusive husband than leave their animals. Ant said Rescue
Ink will get the animal so the woman in question will go to a shelter, but then
give the animal back to her once she’s resettled. Battered women’s shelters
won’t take the pets.

Panz said the group also does more than protect animals from
people, but also protects people from people. Citing an FBI report, he
explained that people who abuse other people—pedophiles and serial
killers—started out by abusing animals. Panz said that nabbing them early might
prevent human murders.

“We’re not experts,” Panz said. “We’re just trying to make a
difference.”

He told of a case in New York where a woman would punish her
children by killing their pets, sometimes making the kids help. For a 10-year
period, the woman would buy puppies from a pet store. In total, more than 40
dogs were found buried in the back yard. Panz said Rescue Ink broke the case
because they were the only people who listened to and believed one of the
woman’s children.

Member George, or “G” as the others refer to him, advised
people who want a dog to avoid the pet shops because they usually get their
dogs from puppy mills. He said to adopt from a shelter or buy from a reputable
breeder.

The group has been responsible for starting marches against
puppy mills in Lancaster County and stopped a man in New York from throwing
cats off his roof.

Rescue Ink came into existence five years ago. It exists
because, as Big Ant said: “Animals have no voice. We don’t mind speaking for
them.”

On Saturday morning the members were out at Hank’s Place
handing out copies of the reward poster.

Also attending the press conference and the town hall
meeting was Paul Bartholomew, one of the owners of Emma and Luna. Bartholomew
thanked the audience at the towns hall meeting for their interest and support.

About Rich Schwartzman

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Hand and Stone opens in Concordville

Local News

A new Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa is now open in
the Concordville Town Center in Concord Township. The spa had its official
ribbon cutting Saturday, Jan. 30.

Hand & Stone is a franchise spa. The Concordville shop
is owned by partners Jerry L’Heueux and Patrick Purcell and will be open seven
days per week.

L’Heueux’s daughter, Lauren, said people should think of the
shop as part of a total health and wellness regimen to augment a health club
membership.

“We’re a spa that
focuses on health and wellness of massage and facials. We believe it should be
a part of everybody’s monthly health routine. … We believe that massage and
facials should be a part of the monthly health and wellness plan,” she said.

The signature massage at
the spa is, as the name implies, a hot stone massage. Hot river rocks are used
in conjunction with the massage.
Lauren L’Heueux said the stones are tools in the massage and are
constantly in motion.

“There’s a deeper
penetration from the heat with the stones,” she said.

Debbie L’Heueux, Jerry’s
wife, said the shop offers monthly memberships at $59.95 per month. Memberships
include a monthly massage or facial and a discount on products.

“It gives [members] the
opportunity to come once a month to do a massage or have a facial,” she said.

Nonmembers would pay
$89.95 for a relaxation massage. A hot stone massage for nonmembers is $109.95.
Members pay $49.95 for the relaxation massage and $69.95 for the hot stone
massage. There is also a $39.95 introductory relaxation massage for first time
customers, and a $59,95 introductory hot stone massage. All massages are 50
minutes long, according to Lauren L’Heueux.

The shop is open Monday
through Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 10
a.m. to 6 p.m.

On hand for the ribbon
cutting ceremony was state Rep. Stephen Barrar, R-160, of Boothwyn. He gave the
shop a state flag and said it takes courage to launch a new business in tough
economic times.

About Rich Schwartzman

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Adopt-a-pet

Local News

Foxy
is a young adult female pit bull that
is available for adoption through the Chester County SPCA.She
was lost and is now looking to find a new forever home. She was housed with a
family for a month but they were not allowed to have a pet where they lived.
Foxy is a very friendly dog that was allowed to sleep on the end of the bed. Foxy is now looking for a
responsible care giver that will give her the love and attention she deserves. If you are able to provide that home, visit the
Chester County SPCA at 1212 Phoenixville Pike in West Goshen or call
610-692-6113. Foxy’s registration number is 96798300. To look at some of the
other animals available for adoption, visit the shelter or log onto www.ccspca.org.

About CFLive Staff

See Contributors Page https://chaddsfordlive.com/writers/

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Hand and Stone opens in Concordville

Business