At Mackey Advisors we have two main lines of business. Our personal financial planning division and our business services arena offering financial advisory services to small businesses in the area of tax, accounting, Controllership and CFO consulting.
As President of the company, the bottom line is my responsibility, which has been no walk in the park this year. I have updated our revenue forecast and reprojected our budget more times this year than in all the 27 years of my business career combined. As business clients cut back their budgets, some cut their service level with Mackey Advisors. We took that time and repurposed our efforts to marketing.
Having more time to tell our story has paid off. We are now experiencing a higher level of growth than at any time in our 27 year history. Recession? Maybe it is just another word for opportunity.
Mackey McNeill, CPA/PFS
President and CEO
Mackey Advisors
www.CultivatingProsperity.com
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Social Security wage base remains at $106,800 for 2010
The Social Security Administration has announced that the wage base for computing the Social Security tax (OASDI) in 2010 remains unchanged at $106,800.
With consumer prices down over the past year, monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits for more than 57 million Americans will not automatically increase in 2010. This will be the first year without an automatic Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) since they went into effect in '75. Since there is no COLA, the statute prohibits an increase in the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax as well as the retirement earnings test exempt amounts.
The FICA tax rate for employees and employers is 7.65% each—6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare tax. For self-employed workers, the FICA tax is 15.3%—12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare. There is a maximum amount of compensation subject to the Social Security tax, but no maximum for Medicare.
On a salary of $106,800 (or more), an employee and his employer each will pay $6,621.60 in Social Security tax in 2010, the same as in 2009.
A self-employed person with at least $106,800 in net self-employment earnings will pay $13,243.20 for the Social Security part of the self-employment tax in 2010, the same as in 2009.
The FICA tax rates have remained unchanged since '90.
With consumer prices down over the past year, monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits for more than 57 million Americans will not automatically increase in 2010. This will be the first year without an automatic Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) since they went into effect in '75. Since there is no COLA, the statute prohibits an increase in the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax as well as the retirement earnings test exempt amounts.
The FICA tax rate for employees and employers is 7.65% each—6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare tax. For self-employed workers, the FICA tax is 15.3%—12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare. There is a maximum amount of compensation subject to the Social Security tax, but no maximum for Medicare.
On a salary of $106,800 (or more), an employee and his employer each will pay $6,621.60 in Social Security tax in 2010, the same as in 2009.
A self-employed person with at least $106,800 in net self-employment earnings will pay $13,243.20 for the Social Security part of the self-employment tax in 2010, the same as in 2009.
The FICA tax rates have remained unchanged since '90.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Intergenerational Wisdom
I remember driving through town with my Mother, passing the Dairy Queen. “Can we stop for ice cream?” I asked. “We have ice cream at home,” was my Mother’s response. My Mother was raised in the midst of the Great Depression, and she knew how to stretch a dollar. Going out to eat anything, even something as simple as an ice cream, was a treat reserved for special occasions.
Most of my media requests are requests for tips for ways to reduce spending. When you get into the specifics, there are so many ways you can cut your spending. However, to be effective for the long term, it begins with changing our perspective and thinking.
We have to learn to think like our grandparents or great grandparents. We have to tap the wisdom of our great aunts and uncles.
The challenge really isn’t finding a new way to save money. The challenge is to find a new way of thinking about spending money in the first place.
Try this on as an opportunity. Make a date with an elder in your family. Sit with them and listen. Ask about their lifestyle, how they spent and saved money. Ask their opinion about debt and how they managed without it. Not only will you garner invaluable wisdom, you’ll warm the heart of someone that really matters in your life. There is nothing like a good listening to, to feel important. So go out there are make someone’s day. And in the process, change your prosperity, forever.
Most of my media requests are requests for tips for ways to reduce spending. When you get into the specifics, there are so many ways you can cut your spending. However, to be effective for the long term, it begins with changing our perspective and thinking.
We have to learn to think like our grandparents or great grandparents. We have to tap the wisdom of our great aunts and uncles.
The challenge really isn’t finding a new way to save money. The challenge is to find a new way of thinking about spending money in the first place.
Try this on as an opportunity. Make a date with an elder in your family. Sit with them and listen. Ask about their lifestyle, how they spent and saved money. Ask their opinion about debt and how they managed without it. Not only will you garner invaluable wisdom, you’ll warm the heart of someone that really matters in your life. There is nothing like a good listening to, to feel important. So go out there are make someone’s day. And in the process, change your prosperity, forever.
May prosperity be yours,
Mackey McNeill, CPA/PFS IAR
President and CEO, Mackey Advisors
www.CultivatingProsperity.com
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Autumnal Equinox
Fall Equinox represents a time when the light and dark exist in sacred balance. It provides you with an opportunity to tune into the balance of your life. As the sun moves into Libra, it also brings the teaching of balance. As teacher of balance in relationships it shows you how to honor another’s point of view, balance opposites, and consider options.
During this time evaluate things that may need your attention in order to come into greater harmony and alignment. Notice if you need to balance anything in your life to more effectively bring your desires into being? Perhaps you need to balance your active outer world actions with more quiet restful energy or balance your time indoors with more time spent in nature. Or maybe you need to focus your actions to get some energy flowing. You can simply ask internally what is it in you that needs to be balanced at this time so you can begin making the necessary changes.
excerpts from Lisa Micheals
Learn more at www.NaturalRhythms.org
During this time evaluate things that may need your attention in order to come into greater harmony and alignment. Notice if you need to balance anything in your life to more effectively bring your desires into being? Perhaps you need to balance your active outer world actions with more quiet restful energy or balance your time indoors with more time spent in nature. Or maybe you need to focus your actions to get some energy flowing. You can simply ask internally what is it in you that needs to be balanced at this time so you can begin making the necessary changes.
excerpts from Lisa Micheals
Learn more at www.NaturalRhythms.org
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Living Green at Red Sunflower Farm
From the Barn to the Boardroom, Sustainability Creates Opportunity
Choice. It’s the single defining characteristic of what makes us human and when we recognize and embrace the power of choice, anything is possible.
We can choose to make the world a better, cleaner, safer place. We can choose to use our gifts, talents and resources wisely; working together to grow them and shepherd into being a world that is better tomorrow than it is today.
This is the choice that Mackey McNeill makes everyday, personally and professionally and we invite you to join Mackey as she talks to Phyllis Parker on Channel 9 WCPO, September 15, 2009, at 8:00pm about how her home reflects her commitment to living consciously and sustainably. Many thanks to Gilkey Windows, Apollo Heating and Air, Potterhill Homes, Towne Properties, and the Household Coalition for Healthier Homes for making the show possible.
Mackey and her husband live on a 21 acre organic farm in Independence, Kentucky. Together, they use the resources it provides to lessen their dependence on traditional energy, water and food sources. “We have geothermal heat and air conditioning; we collect and filter water from rain and snow and use it in cooking and bathing; and we raise organic vegetables. Our home was built with energy efficiency as a primary goal and we’re consistently looking for ways that we can reduce, reuse and recycle,” Mackey explains.
Mackey doesn’t leave her commitment to sustainable living back on the farm come Monday morning. “What sets Mackey Advisors apart from traditional financial management firms is that we truly believe everyone can experience the beauty and richness of life when they start with clarity in their intention, make conscious choices that reflect their values, create with a purpose of sustainability and work toward enoughness, as they define it. Having a client place their trust in us is a privilege and we honor that trust by focusing on our client’s future and helping them build their material wealth in ways that support and strengthen their ideals. Prosperity, from this view, is not just measured by the money you have today, but by your relationship to it, the opportunities it brings and the legacy you create for your future generations,” she said.
Living and working on the farm provides Mackey with valuable lessons that she shares with her clients and they, in turn, inspire her. Mackey describes the two worlds as, “A wonderful partnership in which each supports the other and both preserve the gifts of today and contribute to a more sustainable, prosperous future that impacts everyone.”
Tune into Channel 9, WCPO, Tuesday September 15th at 8:00pm, enjoy the farm and share the inspiration
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Focused on your personal net worth, or your banks?
If there was ever a time in history when it paid to budget wisely, it is now. With banks looking to enhance their bottom line, fee income is name of the game. Those steep fees come out of your pocket!
Read more at http://tinyurl.com/m9zn6p
Read more at http://tinyurl.com/m9zn6p
Monday, September 7, 2009
What do you really know about food?
Health is on everyone's prosperity list. With all the debate about health care, what has disappointed me the most is no one is talking food. Yes, food. For so many of our health issues arise out of the high carb, high sugar diet we in the western world have adopted.
The truth is we do no treat food as medicine. If we did, out health care if we did.
It is way past time for us to get in the kitchen and cook for ourselves. Eating at home saves money and if you are educated about food, eating at home can greatly increase the nutritional quality of your diet.
My favorite new source for healthy recipes is Sally Fallon's book, Nourishing Traditions. I spent the weekend making fermented vegetables. Try it out for yourself!
For more reviews, here is a direct link to Amazon.
http://tinyurl.com/ljnna7
The truth is we do no treat food as medicine. If we did, out health care if we did.
It is way past time for us to get in the kitchen and cook for ourselves. Eating at home saves money and if you are educated about food, eating at home can greatly increase the nutritional quality of your diet.
My favorite new source for healthy recipes is Sally Fallon's book, Nourishing Traditions. I spent the weekend making fermented vegetables. Try it out for yourself!
For more reviews, here is a direct link to Amazon.
http://tinyurl.com/ljnna7
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