William Penn Life, 1996 (31. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1996-08-01 / 8. szám
Page 2, William Penn Life, August 1996 William Penn LIFE Official Publication of the William Penn Association Published Monthly Office of Publication: 709 Brighton Road Pittsburgh, PA 15233 Phone: 412/231-2979 Third Class U.S. Postage Paid Pittsburgh, PA Permit No. 2724 George S. Charles, Jr. Editor-in-chief Frances A. Furedy Richard W. Toth Associate Editors John E. Lovász Managing Editor NATIONAL OFFICERS George S. Charles, Jr. National President Frances A. Furedy National V/Treasurer Richard W. Toth Acting Secretary BOARD OF DIRECTORS Michael J. Hrabar Chairman Roger G. Nagy Vice Chairman Elmer A. Furedy Vice Chairman Anthony C. Beke Louis A. Fodor Barbara A. House Michael R. Kara Andrew W. McNelis George F. Milkovich Michael F. Tomcsak Elmer W. Toth Frank J. Wukovits, Jr. Frank J. Radvany Secretary of the Board AUDITING COMMITTEE Charles J. Furedy Chairman Margaret H. Boso Secretary Dennis A. Chobody Joseph Hamari Robert A. Ivancso Ernest J. Mozer, Sr. CONSULTANTS Bruce &. Bruce Company Actuary Horovitz, Rudoy &. Roteman C.P.A. Rothman Gordon Foreman & Groudine, P.C. General Counsel Dr. Julius Kesseru Medical Director Unsolicited articles, letters, manuscripts, pictures and other material submitted to the WILLIAM PENN LIFE are forwarded at the owner's risk, and the WILLIAM PENN LIFE expressly denies any responsibility for their safekeeping or return The WILLIAM PENN LIFE reserves the right to edit, revise or reject any article submitted for publication. Postmaster: If undelivered, please send form 3579 to: William Penn Association 709 Brighton Road Pittsburgh, PA 15233 From Page 1 were drawn at random. Contestants had the option of "auctioning” their places in the raffle to the highest bidder among lifebenefit members in the audience. As the field was narrowed, bids of up to $300 were offered, but no contestant accepted. In the end, National Director Elmer A. Furedy stood alone as the winner of the clubs. Our thanks go to President Charles, Acting Secretary Richard W. Toth and Co-Administrators Beke and McNelis for organizing a great tournament. We also thank the staff and management of both the Holiday Inn-Columbus East and Turnberry Golf Thanks, hole sponsors! Allegheny Business Machines Mr. & Mrs. Anthony C. Beke Mr. & Mrs. Charles W. Boso Branch 14 Cleveland, OH Branch 18 Lincoln Park, Ml Branch 19 New Brunswick, NJ Branch 336 Harrisburg, PA Bruce & Bruce Company Computer Specialties Corp. W. L. Dillen Company A. G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. (John P. Kelly) Mr. & Mrs, Louis A. Fodor Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Hamari Horovitz, Rudoy & Roteman (Gordon E. Scherer, CPA) Mr. & Mrs. Michael J. Hrabar Mr. & Mrs. Michael R. Kara Mr. & Mrs. John L. Lovász Mr. & Mrs. Andrew W. McNelis Mr. & Mrs. George F. Mirkovich Mr. & Mrs. Ernest J. Mozer, Sr. PaineWebber (Donald Healy) E. H. Rees Design/Sales Rothman Gordon Foreman & Groudine, P.C. (Emil W. Herman, Esq.) William J. Szuch Michael F. Tomcsak Tucker, Johnson & Smelzer, Inc. United Industrial Group (William Furedy) Mr. & Mrs. Frank J. Wukovits, Jr. Course for providing us with fine facilities and service. We also thank our hole sponsors, the skill shot spotters, and those Home Office employees and Columbus-area members who worked hard to make this tournament a success. WPA Golfers Survey Golfers, we need your help. We’re trying to decide where to hold the 1997 Golf Tournament, and we’d like to know where you think we should hold it. Please number, in order of preference, the location(s) where you would like to play. Below your selection(s), please note any suggestions you think would improve our tournament. Thanks for helping! Chicago_____ Michigan_ Cleveland_____ New Jersey Lancaster_____ Philadelphia Other___________________________ Suggestions for a better tournament: Your Name: Address:_ Send your completed survey to: George S. Charles, Jr., National President William Penn Association 709 Brighton Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15233 Pd rather do it myself! By Emil W. Herman, Esq., General Counsel One of the biggest changes in today’s economy is the number of small businesses and home occupations that have sprung up around the United States. If you are considering starting a small business, one of the first questions you should address is how the business will be operated. There are several forms of business ownership, and over the next few articles I will address the benefits and disadvantages of each. Today’s topic is the most basic type of business ownership—the sole proprietorship. The essence of a sole proprietorship is the "sole”—there is only one owner (a husband and wife are considered one for such a purpose). If more than one person shares the investment and profits of the business, it cannot be a sole proprietorship. A sole proprietorship has only one owner, one investor, one person entitled to the profits of the business, and one person who suffers with the losses of the business. There is one major advantage to a sole proprietorship, and one major disadvantage. The advantage is that the profits of the sole proprietorship are taxed only once. You as the owner would, on your personal income tax form, report as deductions all of the expenses of the business and report as income all of the profits of the business. For many small businesses, the savings that accrue to the owner because of the single level of taxation overshadow any disadvantages that may exist. The major disadvantage to a sole proprietorship is the unlimited personal liability to which the owner can be subjected. If the business does not do well, the owner must pay the bills from personal assets. If someone sues the business, the owner’s personal assets can be subject to attachment to satisfy any judgment obtained. The risk associated with the particular business you intend to operate, and the assets you own, must be weighed against the tax advantage of a sole proprietorship as you consider in what business entity form you wish to operate your business. There are, of course, ways of minimizing the risk to your personal assets. One way is changing the way in which your assets are titled. If you alone will be involved in the operation of the business, rather than you and your spouse, putting assets into the name of you and your spouse, or in the name of your spouse alone, may protect those assets from attachment by your creditors. Putting the assets into the name of some other person, say a parent or adult child, can also protect those assets from the claims of your creditors. Of course, when you transfer title to the assets, you give up any right to control those assets, and, while relieving them of risk of attachment for your debts, you make them subject to risk of attachment for the debts of the person to whom you have transferred them. Transferring ownership, therefore, is not necessarily the best means of protecting your assets. Another means of minimizing risk to your assets is through business insurance. There are a range of protections that can be purchased; for instance, general liability insurance to insure any personal injury or property damage occurring on the business property, and business interruption insurance to provide an income if the business location is shut down by a fire or other damage. You need to evaluate the amount of coverage you should obtain, because, if a judgment is obtained against you in excess of the insurance coverage you have, your personal assets will again be subject to attachment. You should contact an insurance broker to determine the types and costs of appropriate coverage, and the coverage level you may need. If you have weighed the risk to your personal assets from operation of your business as a sole proprietorship against the tax savings that will occur in such an operation, and determined to go forward with tne sole proprietorship, the next step is to choose a name for the business. If you elect to operate the business under your own name there is nothing you need to do in the way of registration of that name. If, however, you add something to your name, or use something other than your own name for the business, your state may have registration requirements before you can use that name. Thus, if you as Joe Smith call yourself "Joe Smith, Contractor,” and you answer the phone "Joe Smith,” and your invoices say "Joe Smith,” people will know who owns the business and who is responsible for the work performed. If, however, you choose to call your business "Homes by Joe,” the general public would not know who was running the business. Many, if not all states, require that any type of business name be registered, identifying the business name and the name and address of the owner of the business. In Pennsylvania the name registered is called a "fictitious name,” and, in addition to registration, the owner must advertise the registration and reveal everyone who has an interest in the business. Registration of a fictitious name, however, does not provide any protection for the owner of the name; rather, the purpose of registration is to provide information to actual and potential creditors of the business. In order to adequately protect a business name from use by anyone else, you would need to undertake some type of state or federal trademark registration, which has been discussed in a prior article. The above gives you a basic background on the sole proprietorship. Next month we will talk about partnerships, and subsequent articles will discuss corporations and limited liability companies. Emil W. Herman, Esq., is general counsel to William Penn Association and senior member of the Pittsburgh law firm of Rothman Gordon Foreman & Groudine, P.C.
