Rotary Club of Marana
We had the pleasure of welcoming a visiting Rotarian all the way from London, Tony Sharma, DG for Rotary District 1130. Tony felt right at home as Mother Nature delivered a steady, driving rain during our breakfast meeting.
Tony told us about two service projects that his Rotary club has sponsored: 1) a global grant which set up a fire station in Ethiopia using a refurbished fire truck; and 2) a double-decker “Shelter Bus” which travels around London and makes various stops to provide food, clothing and counseling to the homeless. The “upstairs” of the bus has clothes that the clients can pick out for themselves. Impressive projects, no doubt.
Announcements included:
- Our members authorized to contribute $1,000 to the Oro Valley Club’s global grant once it gets approved.
- President Richie Benner, Program Director Denise West, and your humble secretary are signed up to attend the Rotary Leadership Institute. Mary Straus is on the faculty.
- Randy Brooks is traveling to Mexico to check out the microloans program.
- Tour de Cookie is set for March 14. Dan Contorno, our tour de force of tour de cookie, asked for folks to help out on Sundays prior to the race. Dan is setting up a table at 9 a.m. along the Loop at Rillito Racetrack to hand out information to riders.
Happy Bucks flowed for the rain, the rain, and the rain. And more bucks showered down for our visitor from the U.K., our own Carl Maes for speaking about the “Secure Act”, for visits from children and grandchildren, for hikes, and jazz concerts.
Lynne’s joke was lighthearted and garnered laughs and a few groans: “I went to see my financial planner and asked him to check my balance. He tried to push me over.”
Carl Maes, our resident financial planner, presented information about the “Secure Act”, which went into effect January 1, 2020. While the long-term implications are still being determined, Carl said one of the main take-aways is the increase in age for the required minimum distribution from 70 ½ to 72. Additionally, you can keep contributing pre-tax dollars into a traditional IRA or Roth until age 72.The Secure Act also increased the incentive (from a $500 to a $5,000 tax credit) for small businesses to start-up retirement plans for employees. If you have questions or need more detail about how the Secure Act impacts your small business, check in with Carl.
Carl also reminded us that it is important that you update your beneficiaries because many of the changes could end up affecting them.
Submitted by Laura Clymer, secretary.