www.donalsonvillenews.comPage 4 Donalsonville News Thursday, February 28, 2013

For the � rst time since 2008, contribu-tion limits have risen for one of the most popular retirement savings ve-hicles available: the IRA. � is means you have a greater opportunity to put more money away for your “golden years.”

E� ective Jan. 1, you can now put in up to $5,500 (up from $5,000 in 2012) to a traditional or Roth IRA when you make your 2013 contribu-tion. And if you’re 50 or older, you can put in an addi-tional $1,000 above the new contribution limit. 

Over time, the extra sums from the higher contribution limits can add up. Consider this example: If you put in $5,000 per year to an IRA for 30 years, and you earned a hypotheti-cal 7% per year, you’d wind up with slightly over $505,000. But if you contributed $5,500 per year for those same 30 years, and earned that same 7% per year, you’d accumulate almost $556,000 — about $51,000 more than with the lower contribution limit.

Keep in mind that if you have invested the above amounts in a traditional, tax-deferred IRA, you’ll be taxed on your withdrawals at your ordinary income tax rate. With a Roth IRA, your contribu-tions are made with a� er-tax funds, but your withdrawals have the potential to be tax-free — provided you’ve had your account at least � ve years and don’t start taking withdrawals until you’re 59½. (Not everyone is eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA, as income limits apply.)

If you have an IRA, you already know its advantages. If you aren’t investing in an IRA, you should be aware of these key bene� ts:

• Tax-deferred growth — A traditional IRA can provide tax-deferred growth while a Roth IRA can poten-

tially grow tax-free, provided you meet the conditions described above. To get a sense of just how valuable these tax advantages are, consider this example: If you put in $5,500 per year (the new IRA maxi-mum) for 30 years to a hypothetical investment

that earned 7% a year, but on which you paid taxes every year (at the 25% tax brack-et), you’d end up with slightly more than $401,000 — about $155,000 less than

what you’d accumulate in an IRA. As men-tioned above, you will eventually have to pay taxes on your traditional IRA withdrawals, but by the time you do, you might be in a lower tax bracket. Furthermore, depending on your income level, some of your contributions to a traditional IRA may be tax-deductible. (Roth IRA contributions are not deductible.)

• Variety of invest-ment options — You can invest your funds within your IRA in many types of investments — stocks, bonds, certi� cates of deposit (CDs), U.S. Treasury securities and so on. In fact, within your IRA, you can create a mix of investments that are suitable for your risk tolerance, time horizon and long-term goals. Of course, invest-ing always carries some risks, including loss of principal — but the risk of not investing may be greater, in terms of not having enough assets for retirement.

Here’s one more point to keep in mind: � e earlier in the year you “max out” on your IRA contributions, the more time you’ll give your account to potentially grow. By reaching the new, higher contribution limits, and by fully funding your IRA as early in each year as possible, you can help yourself take full ad-vantage of this powerful retirement savings tool.

� is article was written by Edward Jones for use by Emily Yeant, Edward Jones Financial Advisor.

Take Advantageof Higher IRA Contribution Limits

Financial Focus

Emily YentEdward Jones

Emily Yent

The Seminole County Board of Commissioners will hold a “Called Meeting” on Thursday,

February 28th, 2013 at noon in the Law Library. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss

the Courthouse Grounds Project.

Paula L. Granger, County Manager Seminole County Board of Commissioners

200 S. Knox AvenueDonalsonville, GA 39845

229-524-2878 offi ce 229-524-8984 fax

If you’re not at your last job, why is your 401(k)?

Public NoticeCalled Meeting

For some of the eighty cast members of this year’s “Swamp Gravy,” twenty years is longer than they can remember, or have even been alive. For others, 1992 seems like just yester-day. Whatever your point of view, that’s how long Swamp Gravy has been changing lives right here in Miller County… And on March 1st, we’re at it again!

For the last twenty years Sara Ann Keaton led our story gathering team, pre-serving the stories of indi-viduals from Miller County and the surrounding areas. � ese stories have pro-vided the basis of 19 origi-nal scripts, penned by Jo Carson, local Debra Jones, Jules Corriere, Tom Poland, and most recently Swamp Gravy alum Will Murdock.

Names and details are o� en changed in the scripts, but that story you’ve seen on-stage might have happened to that person next to you in the grocery line, or to your coworker, or to some-one in your church. A story you see on stage could even be your story, with maybe a detail or two di� erent.

� e unforgettable “Sto-rytelling Song,” written by Karen Kimbrel, is just one of the many original pieces of music audiences have fallen in love with over the years. All of our original music comes from local tal-ent, such as Debbie Sloan, Charlotte Phillips, Jenni-fer Roland, Becky Gordon, Steve Hacker, Amy Ard, Buddy Johnson, Je� Bras-well, and others. Mean-while, the “Swamp Gravy

Family” includes hundreds of people, all volunteers who have put hundreds of thousands of hours of work and love into our produc-tions.

“We performed � rst in the school auditorium, now in Cotton Hall, and in spe-cial performances all over the U.S. Dozens of com-munities in this and other countries have adopted the Swamp Gravy model for their own communities, hoping to match the trans-formation seen in Colquitt.”

� e latest production, “Swamp Gravy: Live and Learn, returns to the stage in Cotton Hall March 1-23, taking true life stories and mixing them with toe-tap-ping original music, a high dose of local talent, and the magic of Cotton Hall to

create an experience you’ll never forget.

Meet Jack, a man strug-gling to learn that his past doesn’t have to determine his future; Bertie, a young teacher learning it isn’t al-ways easy making people notice the “new” you; and Della and Sylvie, two girls � guring out that sometimes you have to pick your bat-tles, but that doesn’t mean you can’t stay friends. Im-portant lessons are o� en learned outside the school room, and this season, we celebrate them all!

Performances are Fri-days at 7:30, and Saturdays at 2:00 and 5:30, at Cotton Hall � eater at 158 E. Main Street in Colquitt, Georgia.

For tickets, please visit www.swampgravy.com or call 1-800-514-3849.

Live and Learn to open Swamp Gravy’s 20th Year

Swamp Gravy: Live and Learn returns to the stage in Cotton Hall March 1-23

� roughout Southwest Georgia, the Spring Creek Health network connected 1,170 patients to more than 4.5 million dollars of free and/or reduced medica-tions in 2012.

Spring Creek Health Co-operative (SCHC) is a non-pro� t corporation that has been providing prescrip-tion assistance to the un-insured and under-insured since 2001. O� ces are lo-cated in Seminole, Miller, Early and Mitchell coun-ties, but they also serve pa-tients from Baker, Brooks, Calhoun, Clay, Colquitt,

Cook, Decatur, Dougherty, Grady, Lowndes, Quitman, Randolph, and � omas counties, as well as � ve counties in Alabama and Florida.

Eligible persons include unemployed adults, em-ployed persons without health insurance, Medicare patients in the doughnut hole, uninsured children, and insured persons who have spent 3% of their an-nual income on medica-tions.

� e annual income re-quirements for a single per-son is around $27,000 and for a larger family of four,

it is about $55,000; how-ever, income limits vary by pharmaceutical companies, so call for further informa-tion.

Without assistance from Spring Creek Health, many of these patients would fail to access their medications resulting in more sick days, more emergency room vis-its, and more hospital ad-missions for those least able to pay for care, placing an additional burden on the local hospital and taxpayer.

� e Seminole County SCHC o� ce continues to be located on the � rst � oor of the Donalsonville Hospital.

O� ce hours are currently Monday and � ursday only (two days per week) from 8:15 to 4:45 or you can call 229-524-5217 ext: 295.

“Our goal is to help pa-tients improve their health status by accessing pre-scribed medications at the lowest price possible and in most cases the medications are FREE,” commented Sheila P. Freeman, Execu-tive Director, Spring Creek Health Cooperative

Spring Creek Health Cooperative is sponsored by the Seminole County Commissioners and the Donalsonville Hospital.

$949,821 in Free Meds Provided LocallyFREE from Page 1

Southwest Georgia Farm Credit held its Annual Stockholders’ Meet-ing Tuesday, February 19 at the Hil-ton Garden Inn in Albany. Nearly 250 members and guests attended. Mem-bers of the agricultural cooperative re-elected Robert L. Holden, Sr., to the Board of Directors. Kim D. Rentz of Colquitt was also elected to serve on the Board. The annual meeting provides an opportunity for members to review the Association’s fi nancial performance, as well as learn about

the upcoming year’s business plan objectives.

Other members of the Board in-clude Bobby J. Brooks, Robert B. Moss, T. E. Allen, III, James H. Dixon, Jr., Clifford Dollar, Jr. and Jeffrey Clark.

Members also elected the 2014 Nominating Committee: Martin Miley Adams, Sr., Robbie Baggs, John B. Johnson and Glenna G. Thornton.

Southwest Georgia Farm Credit,

headquartered in Bainbridge, Geor-gia, is an agricultural lending cooper-ative owned by its member-borrow-ers. It provides farm loans for land, equipment, livestock and production, as well as rural home mortgages. It is part of the nationwide Farm Credit System, a network of fi nancial coop-eratives established in 1916 to pro-vide a dependable source of credit to farmers and rural America.

For more information, visit SWGAFarmCredit.com

SWGA Farm Credit Announces 2013 Board

� e Underwoods from Je� Davis County express a sincere thank you to Zack Bridges and family with Bridges Livestock, from Donalsonville, for all the help and support they received in suppling their pig for this season’s show.

Je� Davis County 4-Her Chanleigh Underwood, right holding trophy, won the Grand Champion Market Gilt Award with her hog, Tootsie, at the 2013 Georgia Junior National Live-

stock Show in Perry, on February 23. Pictured from left , GFB Presi-dent Zippy Duvall presents the $1,500 prize check to Chanleigh, her mother, Autumn, and sister, Jaci, as judge Travis Platt and fa-ther Chad Underwood o� er con-gratulations.

Chanleigh, a student at Je� Da-vis Elementary School, has been showing since she was four years old. � e pair also won Chanleigh fourth grade Showmanship Class, sponsored by Farm Bureau.

Thanks for the Fine Swine from Donalsonville

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