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The Spectrum . Redwood City's Monthly Magazine
COMMUNITY INTEREST
Sequoia High School Reunions
TheClass of 1956 is planning a 50th reunion for September 30, 2006. Contact:
Ken Pellizzari at kenpellizzari@squaglia.com or write to SHSAA - 1956 Class
Reunion, P.O. Box 2534, Redwood City, CA 94064-2534.
The classes of 1975 and 1976 are planning their reunions for Saturday, September
30, 2006, at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos. Contact
sequoia7576reunion@gmail.com or call (650) 368-2434.
Mark Your Calendars for Earth Day
Spring Cleanup - April 22
Here’s an early heads-up for the city’s annual Spring Cleanup Day! This year
Redwood City’s Spring Cleanup Day falls on national Earth Day, Saturday, April
22, and focuses on sprucing up Redwood Creek, nearby waterways and the
Historic Union Cemetery. Join in the fun and meet at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, April
22, at the city’s Public Works Services building, located at 1400 Broadway (near
Broadway and Woodside Road). After a complimentary continental breakfast,
cleanup teams will move out and descend on this year’s targeted areas: Redwood
Creek and the Historic Union Cemetery. Then, at noon, volunteers will meet for
a special free lunch as a “thank you” for participating in this annual fun project
that helps the entire community. Redwood City thanks the generous sponsors of
the annual Spring and Fall Cleanup Days: San Mateo Credit Union and Norcal
Waste Systems of San Mateo County. Please call (650) 780-7300 for more information.
On the same day, Allied Waste Services will sponsor the Great Compost
Giveaway. On April 22 and 23 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., you can bring two or three
trash cans, bags, boxes or other containers to the Public Works Services parking
lot and load up with free compost – a limited supply will be shared among our
community’s neighbors on a first-come, first-served basis. The compost is generously
provided by Allied Waste Services.
Workshops at Every Woman Health Club
What Women Want To Eat. Saturday, April 8, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. Workshop fee:
$15. What do we really know about the influences of foods and supplements on
PMS and menopause? Can good nutrition help optimize energy level and mood,
as well as bone health and heart health? This one-hour seminar will focus on topics
of particular interest to women and how we can eat for good short-term and
long-term health. *** Hand Weights How-To. Saturday, April 15, 10:30 – 11:15
a.m. Workshop fee: $10. Weight training builds bone density and increases muscle
mass and metabolism. Learn the proper use of hand weights to maximize the
benefit to your muscles and prevent injury. *** Self-Defense for Women. Saturday,
April 29, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Workshop fee: $35. This interactive workshop
teaches you what to do if you find yourself in a dangerous situation and helps you
avoid getting into one in the first place. Join us for this informative and interactive
workshop. *** Pre-registration recommended for all workshops. For more info
or to register, call (650) 364-9194 or e-mail info@everywomanhealthclub.com.
Every Woman Health Club, 611 Jefferson Ave., Redwood City. Visit us on the
Web at www.everywomanhealthclub.com
and more. The immediate result is an anticipated annual savings of over 4.6 million
gallons of water! One of the longer-term benefits of the program is to help create
lasting partnerships between local schools and the community while generating
enduring attitude changes about energy and water conservation. This is just
one of many water conservation programs Redwood City is bringing to the community
– go to www.redwoodcity.org/conservation for more information on this
and other water saving programs.
Your Kids Can Reduce
Your Taxes and Get Rich
By Peter B. Diaz, CPA
One often-overlooked tax benefit for business owners is putting their kids to
work in their business.
If you are self-employed, you can take advantage of this by paying your kids
$4,000 each for performing services in your business. The business gets a tax
deduction for the compensation, and that saves taxes on the parent’s tax return.
Also, there is no Social Security or Medicare taxes due on the wages you pay to
your child.
The next step is to open a Roth IRA for the child and contribute the $4,000 to the
IRA. The child may not withdraw this money until age 59 1/2. The earnings and
the amounts contributed grow tax-free and are generally never subject to tax when
withdrawn. On the child’s tax return, he or she gets no tax deduction for the IRA,
but the child may not pay tax on the $4,000 if he or she is at a low enough level
of income.
If you do this for 10 years, from ages eight to 18, and the IRA earns an eight percent
return each year, your child should have around $1.5 million at age 60, and
that should grow to over $2 million by age 64.
If you plan to do this, consult with a professional tax advisor first and be sure your
children are actually performing services for your business. Also, check that the
work is not violating any child labor laws.
Editor’s note: Peter Diaz is a tax advisor in Redwood City and has been practicing tax consulting
for 22 years. He can be reached at (650) 400-2539 or peter.diaz@diazconsulting.com.
Visit his Web site at www.diazconsulting.com.
Redwood City Students Learn to Be
Water Wise
Last month, many local children brought education home – and their families were
delighted when they saw a box packed full of water-efficient products that will help
save water and money, every day. The city has teamed up with Resource Action
Programs to distribute over 500 WaterWise kits to local elementary schools. Fifthgrade
students in several schools throughout the city are spending one week learning
the importance of conserving water and will install high-efficiency water-saving
tools in their homes and learn techniques for saving nearly half the water their
families use. But instead of simply reading textbooks and completing traditional
homework assignments, the students have the opportunity to participate in exciting
activities, games and projects, and have even been given the tools needed to
make changes, turning regular learning into unforgettable conservation knowledge
for the students and their families – the hands-on way! During class, students and
teachers discussed the significance of water conservation by participating in various
activities and assignments. The students were also given a WaterWise
Resource Action Kit to take home that contained a high-efficiency showerhead,
kitchen and bathroom aerators, an energy cost calculator, an interactive CD-ROM,
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