The 401(k) has become the de facto method of retirement savings for many Americans. Because it is more often than not the centerpiece of one’s finances, it is important to ensure its maximum efficiency. Mistakes can be costly, and they should be relatively easy to avoid given proper planning. We will look at the three biggest to provide an easy checklist for your situation.

Not Contributing Enough

Retirement is so far away and current needs always seem more pressing than putting dollars aside for later. As a result, there is a tendency to leave money on the table by not contributing enough to fully take advantage of an employer matching contribution. Each company is different, so it is prudent to check with human resources to see what the details are. It is important to be contributing at least enough to maximize that company match. To illustrate, imagine a situation where a 30-year-old making $60,000/year misses just 1% of company match for the next 35 years until retirement. At the end of those 35 years, he or she will have missed out on almost $120,000 in company contributions and associated growth. It adds up!

Contributing Too Much

After ensuring that you are maximizing your match, contributing too much can be equally damaging. The IRS restricts access to money in retirement plans until you reach retirement age and will assess penalties for early withdrawal. If you are overcontributing at the expense of not having enough readily accessible savings, you risk getting hit with penalties just to access your own money. According to the IRS, Americans recently paid a total of $5.7 billion in a single year for early withdrawal penalties – that does not even factor in interest paid on 401(k) loans. A sound financial plan should have ample balance between short- and long-term money.

Checking Your Balance Too Much

Saving for retirement is a process that takes time. Logging in to check your balance frequently would be like planting an oak tree and measuring its growth every day. Investment decisions should be made with the head rather than the heart and checking your 401(k) too frequently can cause action based on the emotions of seeing volatility in your account balance. Once you are comfortable with your investment allocation, check in no more than once or twice per year. 

It is said that a football game comes down to the fundamentals like blocking and tackling. Those teams that do them well, win. Nailing your retirement savings is the blocking and tackling of personal finance. To win the game it is essential to focus on what matters most and ensure you are doing everything correctly.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — An iconic Saratoga Springs market that has served community life for nearly a century has re-opened after extensive renovations with a new look, an upgraded menu and a new name.   

Located just east of Broadway where Park Place and Lincoln Avenue meet Clark Street and Jefferson Street on the city’s east side – the Little Market at Five Points has re-opened in a space formerly occupied by Five Points Market & Deli. 

“Going back to the 1920’s, it has always been a market of some sort,” says co-owner Jim Morris. “It’s nice to keep the tradition going.” 

Husband-and-wife team Jim and Kerry Morris, and co-partner Michele Morris – “We all have the same last name, but we are not all related” – he points out, opened in late March, following an extensive 7-monyh-long renovation that saw the installation of new floors and windows, a new awning at the entryway and a new name.    

Jim and Kerry Morris started the popular Scallions restaurant in the 1980s. Michele had worked at the restaurant, eventually purchased it and operated it for a generation, first on Broadway, and then on Lake Avenue, before selling it a few years ago. 

Jim and Kerry meanwhile in 2007 bought the building that houses the Little Market at Five Points, making what they call the natural move to operate the deli downstairs. 

“For us, we created a menu and basically started from scratch,” says Jim Morris. “We kind of upped the game on how we do things. We kept the beer, and we have the dairy.”   

 “We’re looking to catapult on what already was here – the breakfast sandwiches, the lunches – but adding to it,” says Michele. Those new offerings include cappuccinos and grab-n-go prepared dinner meals. “Some nice cuts of meat to take home and put on the grill and just a little more upscale than it was before,” she says. “There’s also a lot of vegetarian and vegan offerings which wasn’t something that was available before.” 

Menu to-go includes a bevy of signature sandwiches, make-your-own sub and sandwich choices, salads and other fare; morning nourishments comes via breakfast sandwiches and cappuccino. 

The Little Market at Five Points offers indoor and outdoor seating and is currently open 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday. Those hours are seasonal, the owners say, and will increase moving forward into the warmer season. 

For more information, visit thelittlemarket5.com or call 518-450-7068. Little Market at Five Points is located at 42 Park Place in Saratoga Springs.

Jim Morris and Michele Morris (not related), inside the newly opened Little Market at Five Points on the city’s east side. Photo by SuperSource Media. 

On Thursday, April 8, 2021, at 9:00 a.m., I met up with Ryan McMahon, Darryl Leggieri, and Deann Devitt on the City Center’s surface parking lot. We were meeting with Peter and Cole Gailor, of Gailor Landscaping. They had generously agreed to help us move concrete blocks to support the local restaurants on Henry, Caroline and Phila Street.

One year ago, D.A. Collins had donated and installed these concrete blocks in the same places. Over the winter, the City Center had stored them so that they could be reused. With several new restaurants participating this year, D.A. Collins would again help us out. Standing there looking at the blocks before they were moved, the four of us reminisced a little bit. Not one of us ever thought we’d still be doing this a year later. But the virus had other ideas.

Last March, we formed a partnership with the Saratoga County Chamber, Discover Saratoga, the Downtown Business Association, the City Center and the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership. We had been meeting every week since. We had been talking, texting and collaborating nearly every day since. We had help as well from Samantha Bosshart, from the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, and Martin Mbugua, from Skidmore College. 

We said that if you called any one of us, we’d all come to help. We did this. We are still doing this. It was this Saratoga Crew that gathered information that all of us shared via email and social media to help local organizations to stay informed about EIDL and PPP loans; reopening protocols; special promotions and events. We coordinated on a range of advocacy efforts. We created and distributed hundreds of recovery kits filled with PPE to area employers as they reopened. We were the ones that drafted and then implemented the Saratoga County Economic Recovery Plan. We organized Saratoga County’s reopening ribbon cutting and the Save Our Locals campaign.

We’re all great friends now as well as colleagues. We were there to help everyone in our community as well as each of our organizations. This work was not without stress. We struggled too at times. We always knew we could count on each other. Sometimes we offered advice. Sometimes we offered a joke or a reason to laugh. We lived the mantra we had pushed out across our community. One year later, we know that WE are Stronger Together. 

I learned recently that while our groups were collaborating in an extraordinary fashion, so were others. The leaders of a group of local impact sector organizations have been collaborating to create and implement a comprehensive effort to help those who are homeless in our community. The leaders of a group of arts organizations and local venues have been collaborating to create an extraordinary series of events we’ll all be able to enjoy later this year. This gives me hope.

As we recover and reopen, I hope we find joy not just in gathering again but also in collaborating like never before. Let’s do our best to not just meet together but to take action together. Let’s not just collaborate together but celebrate together. We’ve been living, working, learning, and doing alone for too long. I’ve witnessed the power of collaboration at what might have been our darkest hour as a nation and a world. 

Our small businesses are not out of the woods yet. Our civic institutions continue to be challenged. We have people living in poverty whether that is defined by the absence of income, food, a place to live, a job, health, personal safety or someone to care for them. We’ve got more work to do. There are more people who will need our help. To really help them, we will need to always be Stronger Together.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Capital Bank, a division of Chemung Canal Trust Company, today announced the recent hiring of Billie M. Taft as its newest Commercial Loan Officer.  Taft brings strong commercial-banking experience to Capital Bank, having worked over 10 years in the field.

In 2010, Taft joined Saratoga National Bank and Trust Company, where she enhanced her commercial-credit experience. In 2013, Taft was promoted to Commercial Loan Officer, followed by a promotion to Vice President in 2016.

Taft graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Business & Economics from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs  and now lives in Greenfield Center. 

Capital Bank is a division of Chemung Canal Trust Company, a full-service community bank with full trust powers. Established in 1833, Chemung Canal Trust Company is the oldest, active, independent bank headquartered in New York State.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Commissioner of Public Works Anthony “Skip” Scirocco announced this week that the historic Canfield Casino has reopened for 2021 weddings and events. 

The venue closed in March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and because of New York State health and safety mandates which limited social gatherings.

“Guests will still need to follow CDC and State guidelines to attend, but this is the first step towards normalcy,” Scirocco said, in a statement. 

The occupancy of the Canfield Casino will allow for events of up to 150 attendees in compliance with NYS guidelines. Additionally, as outlined by Gov. Cuomo, all attendees must have proof of a recent negative test result or proof of immunization prior to the event. Masks will be worn at all times except when eating or drinking, and socially distanced dancing is allowed in designated areas.

“An upgraded sound system was installed in the venue, and detailed restoration work of the decorative woodwork in the parlor and bar was completed, along with refinishing the bar and ballroom floors during the casino’s closure, Scirocco added. 

The casino was originally built in 1870 as a gambling establishment by John Morrisey, and upgraded by Richard Canfield in the early 20th century to include the ornate ballroom. Canfield closed the establishment in 1907 and it was sold to the then-Village of Saratoga Springs in 1911.

Interested parties should contact Mary in the Department of Public Works at 518-587-3550 ext. 2555 or mary.castanza@saratoga-springs.org to obtain a contract or for more information. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Stewart’s Shops employees now own over 40% of the company through profit sharing, the company announced. 

Last week, 2,850 Partners received their 2020 Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) statements. Their accounts received approximately 20% growth and a $19 million contribution, which is about 19% of their 2020 pay. 

There are now 105 Partners with a balance of over $1 million and nearly a third of these millionaires are still actively working. This is possible because of Stewart’s stability, enabling years of double-digit percent of pay contributions, plus double-digit growth of balances each year.

The ESOP program is 100 percent funded by the company for anyone working at least 1,000 hours a year. After six years in the plan, a Partner’s balance is usually greater than a year’s pay. 

Founded in 1945, Stewart’s Shops is an employee and family-owned convenience store chain based in Saratoga Springs.   

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce will host a panel discussion via Zoom with Sarah Craig, Executive Director – Caffe Lena; Louise Kerr, Executive Director- Saratoga Arts; Elaina Richardson, President- Yaddo, and Elizabeth Sobol, President/CEO – Saratoga Performing Arts Center. 

The virtual event takes place 10 – 11 a.m.  on Wednesday, April 28. Fee/admission is $25 for the general public, $15 for Chamber members. Please register online at: Saratoga.org. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — An international resort company that first set its sights on developing a luxury hotel in Saratoga Springs in 2018, before reportedly backing off that plan when the pandemic hit last year, may once again be targeting the Spa City to site a facility that caters to Americans interested in experiencing the culture of Japan without having to travel internationally. 

Hoshino Resorts operates more than three dozen facilities both in and outside Japan with four distinct brands: luxury flagships, hot spring resorts, resort hotels, and city tourism hotels, featuring venues which vary from countrified mountainside resorts to the heart of big-city Tokyo. 

In September 2018, the company entered into a Memorandum of Agreement of Sale as purchaser of two parcels of land totaling nearly 87 acres, located just south of Saratoga Spa State Park. A deed agreement was subsequently filed with the Saratoga County Clerk’s Office one month later.      

The two specific parcels named in the memorandum included 6.88 acres at Route 9 and Columbia Avenue, and 79.34 acres at 38 Columbia Avenue. Those lands are located in a mostly wooded area, just south of the Saratoga Spa State Park and East West Road, just off Route 9. The closing and transfer of title date were slated to take place by late 2020, with Hoshino holding the exclusive right to purchase the properties under the agreement. 

When that didn’t happen by the end of the calendar year 2020, the plans were believed to be off. 

However, Hoshino Resorts has expressed its interest, once Covid restrictions ease, to resume its goal of working to open its first location on the U.S. mainland in the next three to five years, Chief Executive Officer Yoshiharu Hoshino told Bloomberg. “One ideal spot, in his view, could be Saratoga Springs, about a three-hour drive from New York City and Boston,” according to the article written by Lisa Du, Grace Huang, and Stephen Engle, and published in Bloomberg on
April 4.

Hoshino Resorts was first established as a traditional Japanese inn in 1914. Its stated mission is to “dream big” and according to company’s literature, provides “a unique experience focused on the local charms of each destination and a high level of omotenashi Japanese-style hospitality.”

“My personal goal is to bring traditional Japanese hot spring resorts to North America,” Hoshino, the fourth generation in his family to run the firm, said in an interview on Bloomberg TV. “It’s now time to think about the next 100 years of developing hot spring hotels globally.”  Specific plans for the type of development initially under consideration for development in Saratoga Springs, as well as the status plans of the Spa City specifically as a future destination, are not currently known. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga’s Credit Union added a new branch in Ballston Spa that opened this past February 2021. The new location at 444 Geyser Road, Ballston Spa, NY 12020 brings a full service, local, financial institution to the center of the Town of Milton equipped with traditional drive-thru access as well as an Interactive Teller Machine (ITM) and 24/7 ATM. 

The launch of the new branch is joined with the development of new services offered by the credit union, Saratoga Mortgage. Patti Montgomery joined Saratoga’s Credit Union and Saratoga Mortgage, specializing in mortgage financing. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Local eatery, Urban Roots Kitchen, announced the launch of a new brand identity, name and vision for its future. The company will begin operating as Thorn + Roots. 

“As part of our expansion focus, our team, Allen and I believe it was appropriate to rebrand our company to more specifically reflect our vision for the future,” said co-owner Brandon Acres, in a statement.  “We are very excited about the introduction of our new company name, Thorn + Roots, as it allows us to better represent our business to all of our guests.”

The former Urban Roots Kitchen opened its doors in Saratoga Springs in October 2018, followed by its sister store, Thorn + Roots, which opened in Burlington, Vermont, in October 2020. Located at 46 Marion Ave. in Saratoga Springs, Thorn + Roots is open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

The new additions to the business will prominently feature the company’s focus on expanding its product lines and growing the brand. The company’s ownership and staff have not changed. For more information on the rebrand or to learn more about Thorn + Roots, go to:  thornandroots.com.