Craig and Kimberly Shadur Give to Make a Difference

Local Couple Gives to Opera to Make a Difference

BY STEVE DINNEN

Craig Shadur was busy with his fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, when his boss called asking a favor. Could Shadur please pull some strings with his brother-in-law, an investment banker in New York, and secure tickets to a production by the New York Metropolitan Opera that was coming to Boston?

"I’ll try," said the young doctor. "How many do you want?"

“Two,” he replied. “Or if you’d like to attend, get four.”

Shadur landed four tickets and for his first-ever opera saw the incomparable Luciano Pavarotti performing in "La Traviata." He was immediately hooked, and for the past 40-plus years he has sought out opera productions far and wide. (One time he, another doctor, a Des Moines businessman and a local architect jetted to Italy just to see opera at La Scala in Milan). Closer to home, the retired nephrologist and his wife, Kimberly, drive to Indianola to see Des Moines Metro Opera productions the company stages during its annual Summer Festival.

The Shadurs have for years been impressed by the nationally recognized DMMO, enough so that they have given their time and talent to the organization. They both served on its board of directors, including as board chairs. Craig currently sits as a director of the board as well as the DMMO Foundation.

So it wasn’t hard to imagine that when DMMO launched a $15 million comprehensive campaign last year—called "50 Next: Giving Voice to the Future"—they got in line with a commitment for $500,000. They and more than 100 other donors, a handful of whom kicked in $1 million or more—Nix and Virginia Lauridsen led the pack, with $2 million—have pushed the campaign to likely top its goal by its June 1 conclusion.

“I thought of giving because it makes a difference,” said Craig Shadur, who will see the funds spent on “advancing DMMO’s artistic legacy and build[ing] our capacity to serve a growing and diverse population.”

Shadur was trained in the medical arts, not music, but says “I am a passionate guy” and opera is certainly about that. He and Kimberly also have made substantial contributions to the Des Moines Art Center, where he is an honorary trustee. Craig says he's pleased to financially support both institutions.

(Read more about the upcoming opera season and related events in this dsm story and about the $1 million commission of DMMO's "A Thousand Acres" in this story from our archives.)

Avoid Using IRA Dollars to Buy Higher-Dividend Stocks

BY STEVE DINNEN

It would not be my first mistake with investing, but hopefully one of my last as I strive to minimize taxes on my investments.

Lately I have trended toward more stocks that pay higher dividends, such as master limited partnerships, business development corporations and royalty trusts. Some of my current picks have dividends as high as 8%, and my plan is to acquire enough of these to develop a decent monthly income stream.

There is market risk, obviously. Beyond that, though, I bought many of these stocks inside my IRA. There’s the mistake, since the only way to get at the dividend income is to take a distribution and that money is then taxed as ordinary income. There, tax rates start at 10% and climb steadily to 37%. Dividend income typically is taxed at either 15% or 20% (there are some exceptions, and MLPs can avoid them), so it’s pretty easy to pay a higher rate on a payout that comes through an IRA distribution than would happen outside of that.

Easy solution: Don’t use IRA dollars to buy high-dividend payers. This does not apply to popular REITs, which also can carry high dividends. Their payouts live in a world of their own, as they can be classified as ordinary income (customary), capital gains or return of capital.

Poll: Most Americans Say It's a Bad Time to Buy a House

BY SARAH HANSEN FOR MONEY.COM

Home prices and mortgage rates are soaring, while the number of houses for sale has plunged. Is it any wonder that a record high percentage of people believe it's a bad time to buy a house?

Nearly 70% of Americans now think that it’s a bad time to buy a house, according to a Gallop poll conducted last month. This is the first time in the 44 years that Gallup has been collecting such data that a majority of people are pessimistic about buying a home. And the sentiment represents a huge majority at that.

Just 30% of Americans think now is a good time to buy, versus 53% a year ago. For the sake of comparison, in 2003, which was a few years prior to the housing bubble that triggered the Great Recession, 81% of Americans said it was a good time to buy a home. READ MORE.

What the Fed's Rate Hike Means for Your Pocketbook

BY JESSICA DICKLER FOR CNBC.COM

The Federal Reserve raised its target federal funds rate by a half point at the end of its two-day meeting Wednesday, notching the largest increase in the benchmark in more than 20 years.

“The Federal Reserve is behind the curve,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. “They have to raise interest rates a lot—and in a hurry.”

The hope is that the Fed can crush inflation while not killing an economy that lately has looked vulnerable to shocks. (The fear is that the central bank will slow down the economy so much that it tips into recession.)

For consumers, this aggressive approach could bring relief from surging prices, but it also comes at a cost. READ MORE.