Things To Do In SW Florida

PORT CANAVERAL — Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Disney and MSC Cruises may be competitors, but leaders from the cruise lines came together on board Royal’s newest cruise ship Utopia of the Seas this weekend to solve the collective problem of reducing carbon emissions.

Royal used the first shakedown sailing of Utopia of the Seas to bring together representatives from shipping and other maritime sectors to a Decarbonization Summit. The goal: to try and set the standards for how the industry will get to its goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“We’re all locked in for 2 1/2 days. We can’t escape. We’re all going to be in here until the white smoke comes out,” said Bo Cerup-Simonsen, the CEO of Maersk McKinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, referencing the Catholic Church’s tradition for when a new pope is chosen.

He was part of the keynote address for the summit Friday ahead of a three-night cruise from Port Canaveral hosted by Royal Caribbean on board its ship that arrived to Port Canaveral this past Thursday, and is set to begin sailing with paying customers for the first time on Friday this week. read more

Unfortunately, many families don’t take advantage of the opportunity to make contributions to spousal IRAs when they can afford to do so.

In addition, I believe when you can do so you should favor Roth accounts. Following are the regulations related to contributing to spousal IRAs.

When a couple file a joint return, and as long as one of the spouses has earned income, contributions can be made to the IRA accounts of a nonworking spouse or a spouse whose earnings are below the level which allows maximum IRA contributions.

If you don’t take advantage of the opportunity to make the maximum contribution to the nonworking spouse in a year in which you don’t make the contribution, you can’t make a larger contribution in a subsequent year.

Making such contributions can make a significant difference when you approach retirement. Contributions you make to a spousal IRA account have the same advantages you have with your own IRA account. All dividends and increases in value grow on a tax-deferred basis. If you select a Roth option, all earnings and increases in value will be tax-free. read more