Ventura County Star from Ventura, California (2024)

May 2, 2004

Publication:

Ventura County Stari

Location:

Ventura, California

Issue Date:

Sunday, May 2, 2004

Page:

55

Extracted Article Text (OCR)

Sunday May 2 2004 FC The Star D5 BUSINESS Use that cash to pay down credit-card debt Buying a house not advisable Debt Adviser when financial times are tough The lease on our rental By Steve Buccl (or less) that it takes to pay off your credit-card balances will not be wasted and you will both sleep much better at night without that $100000 debt a $225000 mortgage and college costs hanging over your heads One last piece of advice: I would strongly recommend when it comes time to purchase a home that you take a good look at your financial situation and do not buy more home than you can comfortably afford Steve Bucci is president of CCCS Credit Advisors Visit or call 1-877-31 1-2227 for additional debt advice The Debt Adviser is a weekly feature of bankratecom Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service You also have a son in college So do I and the cost is not cheap or predictable Now for the biggest issue in your question You have $100000 in credit-card balances For a family with $60000 of income this is a huge debt load and not usual in my book You must be losing sleep at night If you have a 25 percent minimum payment which is common you are paying at least $2500 in minimum payments on these balances each month If you continue to pay the minimum assuming your rate is 13 percent (the national average today) it will take you almost 37 years to pay it off You are on the right track to begin to pay down your credit-card debt with the $25000 After that if instead of paying the minimum you continue to make your $2500 payment you could have the debt paid off in just under three years Three years or 37? In the meantime stop charging even when you get below your card limits If the fates are with you and your husband's business does take off this year you will have additional income I would recommend you save the majority of his earnings for an emergency-savings cushion and for reinvestment in the business Then and only then would I consider a home purchase or additional payments on the credit-card balances The money that you will spend for rent in the three years Let's look at why I feel so strongly as you do that this is not the time to incur more debt More than one issue is at hand in your question First of all the $250000 house is a concern given the fact that you currently have an income of only $60000 1 would hate to see you make a bad situation worse by purchasing a home that is more than you can comfortably afford by banking on income from a business that may or may not produce Not to mention that a no-income-verification mortgage loan will likely have a higher interest rate and cost you more in the long run than a conventional mortgage bankratecom Dear Debt Adviser My husband and I are $100000 in debt from credit cards which are now maxed out We're getting $25000 in cash soon I say "Use it to pay down our credit cards" He says "Use it as a down payment on a house" I earn $60000 a year He has a new business we've been trying to get off the ground for three years but it has only shown a loss so far He thinks that will change this year We have a son in college house is up next month He says buying a house will help produce income tax breaks and keep us from "throwing money away on rent" He's hoping to buy up to a $250000 house by getting a loan that doesn't require income verification Is that the best way to use the $25000? Dear Elizabeth Your question points out the fascinating differences between two people's financial thoughts in a marriage My answer to your question is a resounding NO! Chamber faces some challenges Business site geared to Spanish-speakers It includes finance marketing data WM fli HI I cided to launch the Web site for those who wanted to start their own business or make their business bigger" The one-stop hub offers services from in-person seminars with business leaders in key markets to live chats and first-time availability to key magazine articles "AOL Latino will translate all articles from Fortune Magazine Business 20 and Fortune Small Business" Shalkow said A "Business Tools" section on the site provides information on money and finance sales and marketing and links to a resource center and a "Discover How" section Another part of the Web site "Making Dreams a Reality" offers business success stories from the Hispanic community AOL's Latino Interactive Community offers chat sessions with entrepreneurs consultations with a business expert message boards and the Mi Ne-gocio Panel of Advisors Selected by Ford those advisers come from the areas of finance government entrepre-neurship sales and marketing They will participate in live symposiums in Los Angeles Miami and Austin later this year On the Net: Mi Negocio: timeinc netwebpartn ersminegocio Ford Motor Co: By Frank Moraga fmoragaVenturaCountyStar com Making sense of capital finance marketing trends and other economic issues is hard enough for English speakers who are just opening their own business For many Spanish-speaking potential business owners trying to learn the business lingo may be a challenge too great to overcome without help To aid those business owners Ford Motor Co and America Online are launching Mi Ne-gocio (My Business) which they tout as the first-ever Spanish language Web site to help Latino entrepreneurs find resources and information to help them establish their businesses The Web site rtnersminegocio was unveiled last week by AOL Latino a division of America Online "We are proud to help Hispanic entrepreneurs access the resources they need to succeed and the new hub is a key component of our ongoing commitment to promoting economic success in the Hispanic community" Nick Scheele president of Ford Motor Co said in a release "They decided to launch the Web site because there is not a lot of information for entrepreneurs in the Spanish language" said Aida Shalkow spokesperson for the program "There are many entrepreneurs who like to speak Spanish and comprehend Spanish so (Ford and AOL) de HISPANIC From Dl members) chambers At its peak the older Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Ventura County had about 500 members said Andres Herrera former chamber president and current Oxnard City Council member Herrera said he is very supportive of the new chamber and its goal to reach out beyond business professionals and assist startup entrepreneurs "The elements involved with this chamber are more representative of the business community" he said "I'm very excited that this time they started up" an organization that represents the entire business community Creating longevity Making any new business group a long-term success can be a challenge "One of the things about alternative chambers is that they need strong leadership for a few years to keep it going" said Bill Watkins executive director of the University of California Santa Barbara Economic Forecast Project Cordobes agrees "Too often chambers start and then they fall off the map" he said "It happens not just to the Hispanic chambers but to the majors" To prevent that the Gold Coast Chamber will train its board members in leadership organizational development media communications and strategic planning Cordobes said Board members include a real estate lender financial consultant mortuary owner community relations specialist marketing specialist real estate firm owner a representative from a teen parent awareness program a newspaper media relations representative and an The chamber will face challenges typical of all new business organizations said Jim Barroca communications director with the Ventura County Coastal Association of Realtors Barroca said he is enjoying his after-retirement job with the association after serving as manager of the Greater Ventura Chamber of Commerce "Getting people to join and stay with an organization is difficult at best" he said "It's a constant thing to attract new members One of the biggest benefits to a chamber is to meet and trade business and so it's going to be a little easier for this Hispanic chamber "I personally welcome any kind of chamber where business people can come together" Building bridges The Gold Coast Chamber already has started reaching out to existing chambers "We've talked to the Ventura chamber and the Oxnard chamber to cooperate with them" said Cordobes who noted his experiences in Dallas when members of the Hispanic black and Greater Dallas chambers of commerce worked on mutually beneficial programs "I was at their (the Gold Coast Chamber's) kickoff meeting and talked to their executive board prior to that and we've talked about doing joint programs together" said Nancy Lindholm president and chief executive officer of the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce "I've talked with them to see what kind of things We can do to collaborate and assist them with and hopefully not duplicate programs "I think we have a good working relationship to begin with" she said "In conversations with them they said they will encourage their members to be involved with the local chambers and we welcome that" Joseph A Garcia Star staff Carmen Verdin co-owner of La Placita Restaurant in Oxnard takes a lunch order from Andy Pompa left of Santa Paula and his son Andrew Pompa Top counties for Hispanic-owned businesses Ventura County had the ninth-largest number of Hispanic-owned firms among California counties according to 1997 US Census data with the smallest county population among the top ten Number of Sales in Rank County businesses millions 1 Los Angeles 136678 $16246 2 San Diego 28087 5217 3 Orange 24184 8663 4 San Bernardino 18031 2919 5 Riverside 14171 2486 6 Santa Clara 12927 4869 7 Alameda 8790 1734 8 Fresno 8100 886 9 VENTURA 7150 821 10 Sacramento 7128 486 "I don't see it as competition" said Watkins citing what he has seen in Santa Barbara where there is a strong Hispanic chamber "I see the real movers and shakers of the Hispanic chamber at other chamber events all over town" he said "It's another way for them to achieve their objectives" Herrera owner of the human resources consulting firm HAV and Associates agrees that all the chambers need to work together "There is no sense in reinventing the wheel" he said "They need to take advantage of the existing organizations and resources Business is business and it doesn't distinguish between Hispanic or not The money is still green" Scripps plans 2-for-l split Source: US Census Bureau Star Staff CINCINNATI (AP) The EW Scripps Co's board of directors has increased the media company's dividend 14 percent and is preparing to declare a 2-for-1 stock split It would be the first split since the company went public in 1988 said Scripps the parent company of the Ventura County Star The dividend will go from 175 cents to 20 cents a share It is payable June 10 to shareholders of record on May 31 The proposal to double the current authorization to 120 million Class A common shares and 30 million common voting shares must be approved by holders of the company's common voting shares Those shareholders are to vote on the proposal at a special meeting July 15 If approved the board could declare the split at its next regularly scheduled meeting in late July The split would not change the proportionate interest a shareholder maintains in the company The company's Class A Common Shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SSP SEC may file charges against PepsiCo over Kmart revenue SEC staff that it proposes to recommend bringing a civil action against them the Purchase NY-based company said in a news Frito-Lay has been scrutinized by the SEC staff for revenue bookings at one of its retail clients The Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay divisions received notice from the helping the troubled Kmart retail chain improperly book revenue the soft drink maker said It marks the second time in six months that Piano Texas-based DALLAS PepsiCo's Frito-Lay Inc and Pepsi-Cola divisions are facing possible lawsuits from the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly Are You Sitting on a Privacy Time Bomb? If you provide health insurance you're sifting on a potential time bomb That's because tough new nrivnrv rfinn ntiorK under the Hea th nsurance Portabi itv and Accountability Act ot I I wir 1996 (HIPAA) become effective for small companies on April 14 2004 You can comply by: Restricting the amount of personal health information that comes into your company Making sure that all data is protected physically stored in a locked office or transmitted via a dedicated tax machine I Money Market I Account $1000 Minimum Notifying your employees of their new privacy rights which include the right to review and amend their Countrywide Bank' private health information According to Inc Magazine November 2003 THC J) Hernandez Co 1-800-480-5635 Monday through Friday 5 am 6 pm vmwcountrywidebankcom A DIVISION OF TREASURY BANK NA CD rates that'll take you places Insurance Services employee benefits Westlake Village 30699 Russell Ranch Road Suite 140 (Behind Costco) Ventura 1708 SVictoria Avenue (Montalvo Square Shopping Center) Monday-Friday 8:15 am- 5:15 pm Santa Barbara 801 Chapala Street (Across from Paseo Nuevo Center Free parking behind building) 3500 Camino Avenue Suite 200 Oxnard CA 93030 Tel: 8059889670 Toll Free: 8006009670 Fax: 8059814524 2004 Treasury Bank A Tradeservicemarks are the property ot Countrywide Financial Corporation andor its subsidiaries 'The Annual Percentage Yields (APY) set forth above MEMBER are accurate as ol the publication date but are subject to change thereafter until account is opened Money Market yields are subject to change after the account is opened Money TTSMg Market accounts require ttOO minimum to open the account and $1000 minimum average daily balance lo obtain the APY A penalty may be imposed lor early withdrawal and rQ there may be additional penalties lor early withdrawal from an IRA account or certificate ol deposit accounts Consult your lax advisor CWB VC5 050204.

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