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You know, one of the first ideas drilled to you as a sort of a foreign idea to you as a kid is that life is not fair. How come she got a pony for her birthday, I got a goldfish, something like that? Yeah, right, yeah. but where did we even get the sense of what's fair and what's not, of what's right, what's wrong, our sense of justice? Were they from theologians, spiritualists, philosophers, Talk show hosts?
Well, it turns out that the concept might go back even further than you think because our closest relatives, the bonobos and the chimps, have a sense of fairness and justice, too, as my next guest writes in his new book "The Bonobo and the Atheist." And fairness isn't the only human concept that turns out to be not uniquely human because our primate kin are also sharing our sense of empathy and altruism.
They comfort each other when they're sick. They stick up for each other. They break up fights when they're happening, even adopt their orphans, just like humans.
Frans de Waal is author of "The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates." He's also a primatologist and biologist at Yerkes Primate Center at Emory University in Atlanta. He joins us from WABE in Atlanta. Welcome back to the program.
FRANS DE WAAL: Yeah. I'm glad to be there.
FLATOW: This is fascinating. What do bonobos have to do with atheists?
DE WAAL: Well, I want to discuss the origins of morality...
FLATOW: Yeah.
DE WAAL: ...and automatically you get into religion because for many people God is who gave us morality. And so I need to get religion a little bit out of the way in order to discuss it. But I also need to get the neo-atheists out of the way who have sort of spoiled the debate by calling everyone who's not an atheist irrational or an idiot. And so I need to make room for the debate about where morality comes from, and I pushed sort of both extremes to the side.
FLATOW: Well, that's good. Let's get into some of those ideas. There are two major themes in your book: the origins of empathy and altruism, and the origins of fairness and justice. Let's talk about empathy first. What evidence do we have in other primates, or non-primates, that they have a sense of empathy?
DE WAAL: Well, there's a lot of evidence now for all sorts of mammals, but it started actually when I attended a conference by child psychologists who said how they tested empathy in children, what they do is they ask a family member to cry and say that they're in pain and that they're sick. And then they look at what young children do.
Young children touch them and stroke them and look at them and comfort them. And then I said, well, if that's empathy, if that's an expression of empathy, I see lots of it among my chimpanzees because they do exactly the same. They embrace someone who is just distressed. And so it started with these studies on the apes, but now there are many mammalian studies on empathy.
FLATOW: Mm-hmm. And it's a sense of justice and fairness. You have documented that also.
DE WAAL: Yeah. So that's an interesting one because we started out with Sarah Brosnan, my collaborator, we started out with capuchin monkeys that we put side by side and let them do a very simple task. And if you give them the same reward - let's say you give both of them grapes, or you give both of them cucumber - they're perfectly fine to do it 25 times in a row.
But if you reward one with grapes and the other one with cucumber - and grape is, I tell you, is far better than cucumber for a monkey - then the one who gets the cucumber gets very agitated and refuses to perform and throws the food away, food that they normally would always eat. So we saw that they got very angry at this particular situation, and so that's how we got into the study of fairness.
FLATOW: Yeah. In fact, we have one of those videos on our website at sciencefriday.com/fairness. And it is an amazing video of these monkey getting really upset with you, right, or whoever's giving them the - you gave that monkey a grape, and I get a cucumber? Throwing it almost in a rage, in the cage there.
DE WAAL: Well, the funny thing is, in that video you see that the first piece of cucumber she still eats.
FLATOW: Right.
DE WAAL: She's still perfectly happy with that cucumber. It's only after the other one got a grape that the cucumber became distasteful. And I show that video often because if I show the data, which are graphs and stuff like that, people are not really that convinced. But if you see the emotional reaction, the amount of emotion that goes in there, a bit like the Wall Street protest against the bonuses of the bankers or something, that's the reaction that you get.
FLATOW: Now, now, when you tried that same thing not on the monkeys, but on the chimps, you got a different reaction.
DE WAAL: Yeah, the chimps go further. So I used to reassure philosophers - philosophers were very upset with this experiment because they had decided that fairness and justice were very complex human concepts. And so for monkeys to have that, that really didn't fit their thinking. And so I always reassure them. I said, well, the monkeys are very egocentric. So they only cared about getting less than somebody else, not getting more than somebody else.
But now with the chimpanzees, we have reached the point that's really different. The chimpanzees sometimes refuse the grape until the other guy also gets a grape. Now, that gets very close to the human sense of fairness, and recently we tested that out by playing the ultimatum game with chimpanzees.
And the ultimatum game is the ultimate test of fairness in humans. They play it all over the world with humans. It always comes out that in the ultimatum game humans look for fair solutions. And so we did a similar thing with chimpanzees, and we got basically the same results.
FLATOW: So you're saying that contrary to what we think about how we have to be taught altruism and fairness and whatever, your study with the chimps show that this is maybe wired into our being.
DE WAAL: Yeah. The interesting - well, it is also a cognitive thing for a chimpanzee. So the chimpanzee needs to anticipate trouble, so to speak, to have that kind of sense of fairness. So there is some reasoning involved.
But the philosophers always assume that our sense of justice and many of our moral principles are things that we logically derive. We think about these issues, and then we come to a logical conclusion, and we say this is how we ought to behave.
But what I show with the primate studies is that a lot of these things are actually based on emotions, basic emotions, a bit like David Hume, the philosopher, tended to speak about moral sentiments. So that's the view that's becoming dominant, also dominant, I would say, among neuroscientists now, and psychologists. And so the philosophers have to deal with this new kind of science that's coming out.
FLATOW: But you say at the same time that you would hardly say that a - I'll read a page from your book: I am reluctant to call a chimpanzee a moral being.
DE WAAL: Yeah.
FLATOW: Yeah. Why is that?
DE WAAL: You wonder why?
FLATOW: Yeah.
DE WAAL: Well, they have all the ingredients that we use in our moral system. So they have empathy, rules - they follow rules. They enforce rules. They cooperate very - they have reciprocity, very important part of human - so they have all these ingredients.
But whether they try to objectify the rules the way we do, because we have moral rules that not only apply to you and to me, but we feel they ought to apply to all humans that we know. That's what - universal rules are actually sort of characteristic of morality, and I'm not sure that chimpanzees are into this kind of reasoning about moral principles.
FLATOW: So they'll - so as long as they can see the other chimp or the other - as long as they can see somebody else is getting the cucumber and not me, then they know - they notice some sort of fair play there, but they're not expanding that to the whole population of chimps they might live with.
DE WAAL: No. It's all in face-to-face interaction, but that's, of course, already a big step, and it's a little bit a matter of taste. I'm usually not calling chimpanzees moral beings, but I was just at a meeting where people said, well, why not, why not expand the concept of moral being and so we can have that debate?
FLATOW: So this is very much open to discussion among you scientists about what this - what's hardwired and where this originates?
DE WAAL: Yeah. So there's a lot of debate about - I called it my bottom up view of morality. We are used to the top-down views, which is either God gives us morality and religion, or the philosophers would say reason and logic give us morality. And then recently Sam Harris, the atheist, said science is going to give us morality. And these are all top-down views which basically assumed that humans don't know what moral is and that someone needs to tell them. It's either the scientists or the philosophers or God who's going to tell them.
And I'm much more in a new wave of people who look at morality bottom up and say morality comes from within. It is built into humans, and we derive it actually from very old characteristics that are primate characteristics.
FLATOW: Yeah. We'll talk more with Frans de Waal after this break. Stay tuned. We'll be right back. I'm Ira Flatow. This is SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR.
FLATOW: I'm Ira Flatow. We're talking with Frans de Waal, author of "The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates." And if you want to read an excerpt of the book, you can go to our website at sciencefriday.com/bonobo. Sciencefriday.com/bonobo gives you an excerpt from the book. Our number, 1-80-989-8255.
Doctor de Waal, what do you want to know that you don't know yet? I know it's a big question. It could be a lot of things.
DE WAAL: No, if knew that...
FLATOW: What's the overriding question you still want...
DE WAAL: See, if I knew what I wanted to know, I already almost knew it, of course. That's always the problem is that you discover things. So for example, the inequity aversion as we call it or the sense of fairness in monkeys, we discovered by accident. So we were doing experiments with monkeys where they sat side by side and they were exchanging items with us for food. And we noticed that if one of them got a better deal than the other one, they got upset. And so that's - we said, well, that's exciting. And so you discover these things by accident, and then you start testing them out systematically, of course, and then you see if it holds up.
FLATOW: Mm-hmm. Let me go to the phones. Give us a call here. Our number, 1-800-989-8255. Shel(ph) in Hayward, California. Hi, Shel.
SHEL: Hi. I appreciate the conversation. I think I've noticed that maybe (unintelligible) the bottom up in herds of buffalo had been witnessed, and even birds, there tend to be some pretty severe disagreements. And it seems like there are actually resolving matters of the flock or whatever that the animal would designated as. And it seems like they do follow rules that have been established at one point or another. And I'm just thinking that that's probably along with the primates and stuff, where (unintelligible) experiments of how the kingdom is, the animal kingdom is.
FLATOW: All right. Tell us - going to get an answer. Thank you.
DE WAAL: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Following rules is, of course, the reason the dog is man's best friend is because the dog follows rules, and they actually do experiments on that, is that how well certain breeds of dogs follow rules, and how much they internalize them. And so many hierarchical animals, obviously they follow rules. The dominant dictates sometimes the rules. But sometimes even the subordinate dictates rules.
And so, for example, in the chimpanzee community you may have an alpha male who is sometimes overly aggressive, and then the whole group protests and goes after him and beats him up and then he learns a lesson. And for the next six months he's going to be quiet and he's going to assert his dominance a little bit less aggressively. So all the kind of rules and restrictions on behavior occur in other animals.
FLATOW: Mm-hmm. You have a whole section in your book called atheist dilemma in which you take to task some of the world's most vocal atheist like Richard Dawkins, and you say science is not in the business of spelling out the meaning of life and even less in telling us how to live our lives.
DE WAAL: Yeah. That's not - the task of science is to illuminate how things came about and how things operate, and we're very good at that. And I think science is really a triumph of the human mind in doing that and in setting up alternative hypotheses and seeing what the evidence tells us. Science is really not in the business of telling me or you how to lead our lives and what a good life is, and why we are here, and why would I be a good person versus a not good person. Science is not in that business at all, and science is not inherently evil. Science is not inherently good. And so I don't know what to do with people who argue that science is going to be the solution to building a moral society.
FLATOW: On the other hand, you talk about why there was a need to invent religion.
DE WAAL: Yeah. That's a very interesting issue, I think far more interesting than saying does God exists or God not exist, you know, which I think is a totally uninteresting question, especially for a scientist I'm never going to resolve that issue. A far more interesting question is: why do all people in the world have religions? Why do all people in the world believe in supernatural powers? That's really a puzzle that we scientists - and that's a puzzle that we may be able to resolve at some point that we have no solution for at the moment.
They all keep an eye on each other and that's probably how we humans use to live, in small societies where everybody knew everybody, and I know if you behave well, you know if I behave well, and so on.
But when we get to societies with thousands of people or millions of people, that whole system collapses. We cannot keep an eye on everybody. And so maybe we installed religions who were going to do that for us and gods who were going to do that for us.
FLATOW: Yeah, the eye in the sky looking down.
DE WAAL: Yeah. So, in that view, of course, the - people often think that religion is the source of morality. But in that view, it's actually the opposite. Morality came first, and we packed religion onto it. We added religion to fortify the system, so to speak. And that means that if that's true, that religions play a role, a constructive role in upholding morality, and in that sense - of course, I disagree with people like Dawkins and other atheists who think we can just throw religion away. We don't need it at all. I'm not 100 percent convinced.
I myself am a non-believer, so, in that sense, I sympathize with them. And I provide actually arguments that morality could come about without religion, which is an important argument, of course, for the atheists. But on the other hand, I'm not 100 percent convinced that doing away with religion is a wonderful solution.
FLATOW: On the other hand, on page 31, you say science isn't the answer to everything, too. So you're down in the middle.
DE WAAL: That's right. Science has been involved in evil things, too. We know that. So, for example, Hitler's ideas about race, of course, came straight out of science. It didn't come out of religion. And so we should always keep in mind that both religion and science can be used for good and evil, and we know that.
FLATOW: Mm-hmm. 1-800-989-8255. Let's go to Denise, Denise in Lansing, Michigan. Hi, Denise.
DENISE: Hi. I had a question. I was wondering, the sense - the basic sense of fairness that you see in primates, is it equal between both sexes, or is the fairness only among the males or only among the females?
DE WAAL: Yeah. We have not been able to detect a difference. So - especially with the monkey study, since we had so many subjects, we had males and females, and we thought we were going to find maybe a difference. We didn't find a difference between the two sexes. And so it applies to both. We think the origin, actually, of the sense of fairness is in cooperative relationships. It has now also been tested.
Our experiment has been replicated on the crows, on dogs and on monkeys and apes now. And so we think it relates to cooperation, is that if I go hunting with somebody and this person - and so that's a cooperative act. And if the other always takes all the meat and I get just a few scraps, that's not a good partnership for me.
So I need to pay attention to what I get, versus what the other gets. And so in cooperative relationships, it matters how the things are divided, and that's where we think the origin of the sense of fairness comes from.
FLATOW: All right, Denise. Thanks for calling.
DENISE: Thank you.
FLATOW: Talking with Frans de Waal, author of "The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates." For people who are not familiar with bonobos, because they're sort of - they were sort of discovered relatively recently compared to, let's say, chimps. What's the difference between a chimp and a bonobo?
DE WAAL: Well, the bonobo is interesting, because they're exactly equally close to us as the chimpanzee. They are often neglected in the anthropologists' scenarios of human evolution because those scenarios are built around aggression and warfare, basically saying that we humans, we advanced to the point where we are by killing everybody else, including the Neanderthals, and so on.
The bonobos are peaceful. They have female dominance. When groups meet, there's some hostility. But then very soon, they have sex with each other, and then they mix. And then they groom, and the kids play with each other. And so it looks more like a picnic than warfare. And so that's totally different from the chimpanzees, where the males tend to kill males in other territories. And so the bonobo is sort of the hippie version of the primates, and it's not very welcome in the evolutionary scenarios of anthropologists.
But it's a very interesting species. And the recent genome that was published on the bonobo shows that they're exactly equally close to us genetically as are the chimpanzees. And so they're exactly equally relevant, if you want to explain human behavior.
FLATOW: Are they as studied as much as the chimps are now?
DE WAAL: Yeah, the reason that we know less about bonobos is that they were discovered fairly late, and that the fieldwork came about fairly late, because it's in pretty inaccessible forests in Central Africa. And so...
FLATOW: Something like 1929, or something like that?
DE WAAL: Yeah. They were discovered only in a Belgian museum in 1929. And at the time, I still remember that when I wanted to study bonobos - because I had studied chimpanzees for a long time. I thought, well, I need to know more about bonobos. People would say, well, why are you going to study the pygmy chimpanzees - because that's what they were called - if you can study the real chimpanzees?
DE WAAL: So they had this sort of - since they're slightly smaller, they felt they're less important. I don't know why that is.
FLATOW: And you mentioned - I think it's in your book - that they were mistaken for chimpanzees, even in famous photographs with primatologists?
DE WAAL: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Robert Yerkes, the founder of the Yerkes Primate Center where I work, he has a famous photo of him with what he considered two chimpanzees on his lap. And he wrote about one of those two - Prince Chim was his name - a whole book. The book is entitled "Almost Human." It's about Prince Chim. And later, in postmortem, we have discovered that it was a bonobo. And he was very impressed by that bonobo.
FLATOW: Yet there are some popular science books and articles that say we should be more like bonobos, peace-loving and all that, but you're not quite in agreement with that.
DE WAAL: No, there's a lot of wishful thinking that goes into that, is that I wish we were more like bonobos. But, you know, we have set up a completely different society. I love bonobos, and they're very empathic creatures. That's why I take them as an example in the book.
But they don't have any family structure like we do. So in the human species, males are involved in childcare, either in a mating bond, male, female children, but sometimes in different arrangements. But men are involved in child care, and that's very different from bonobos and chimps, where the males basically - no, they're not involved at all. They don't do anything, basically. Sometimes they adopt orphans. That's really interesting. But otherwise, they are not really much involved.
FLATOW: Well, if bonobos are more peaceful and chimps are more war-like and they live near each other, why didn't the chimps just attack the bonobos and wipe them out?
DE WAAL: Ah-ha. You're thinking like those anthropologists I talk about - like, how can you wipe out a population? There's two issues.
FLATOW: I talk to too many of them. That's the problem.
DE WAAL: There's two issues. One is that there's an enormous river that floats between them that is two miles wide, or something. So it's not - for chimps, it's not going to be easy to get into the territory of bonobos. But the second thing is, obviously, they will not just be killing each other. They will be having sex, also. And then you get the same phenomenon as what happened between the humans and the Neanderthals. We used to assume that we wiped them out, but actually, we may have bred them out of existence. And that's what probably would happen between chimps and bonobos. You were to get some sort of mixture between the two.
FLATOW: I'm talking with Frans de Waal, author of "The Bonobo and the Atheist" on SCIENCE FRIDAY, from NPR. I'm Ira Flatow. It's fascinating. You know, first time I heard about bonobos and I - many years ago, I asked a primatologist, what's the difference? How do you tell if have a bonobo or a chimp? And he said, well, give them an empty box. The chimps will go into the box and fight over who owns the box, and the bonobos will go into the box and have sex inside the box. Would that be close to the truth?
DE WAAL: Well, if you give bonobos food, for example, that's the easiest way to get sex among them, because food induces competition, and competition is going to be resolved sexually. And the same - yeah. If you give them any play item like an empty box, you get the same sort of thing.
FLATOW: So the bonobos will use food as an attraction for sex, or offer of food in - for sex, or something like that?
DE WAAL: Yeah. That's a typical trick, yeah, of dominant males - actually, chimpanzees also. Chimpanzees in the field have been seen to raid trees with papayas, then get some papayas. These are, of course, trees that humans have planted. They steal those papayas, and then they take one for themselves and one for a female, and then they get sex from the female for it.
FLATOW: Speaking of which, you have a picture of chimps kissing in the book. Why do chimps kiss? Why do - how did we discover kissing, you know, chimps kissing?
DE WAAL: Well, kissing on the mouth, you mean, because chimpanzees also kiss on other parts of the body, a bit like, the way the bishops kiss the ring of the pope, you know. And chimpanzees, also, they bow for the dominant, and they kiss his hands or his feet. But kissing on the mouth, we think the origin is food transfer between mother and offspring. So it happens, of course, in apes that the mother chews something and that she transfers it to her offspring. And that's also where the tongue comes in to kissing, you know. And that's may be also human kissing comes from.
FLATOW: There's an interesting picture in your book about the death of a chimpanzee or an ape, and the other chimps, the other apes lining up around that as if it were a funeral. They've, you know...
DE WAAL: Yeah. I'm pretty intrigued by the responses to death, because since I explore religion a little bit in the book and the origins of religion, I talk about the sense of mortality. Because we often assume that that's part of human religion, is that we think of an afterlife and mortality. And so what do chimpanzees know about death, for example? We think that they know quite a bit about the death of others. So somebody else has become immobile and is laying on the ground, is not breathing. They're very upset. They get very upset by the death of others, and they don't eat for a while, and they try to animate the individual. But what they know about their own death is still a puzzle. So do they know that they themselves, one day, will end up like that? I'm not sure they know that.
FLATOW: And one of the more fascinating parts was how they help each other out, how they know when an elderly chimp, and the youngsters help the chimps get up in the trees. They push them from the bottom. There's some that will bring water, right, for (unintelligible)?
DE WAAL: Yeah. We have that sort of thing in our own simple colony, because we have two groups of chimpanzees living outdoors here in Georgia. And in one of the groups, we had an elderly female who had arthritis and could barely walk and climb anymore. And we regularly saw younger females push her up into the climbing structure so that she could join a group of grooming chimpanzees. And we've also seen younger females run ahead of her to get water and then spit, because she had so much trouble walking that she could not, you know, on hot Georgia summer day, she could not get enough water to drink, and younger females go into water spigot and suck up water and spit into her mouth.
FLATOW: All right. There's so many more of these great stories in Frans de Waal's book called "The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates." Thank you, Dr. de Waal, for coming and being with us again. As always, fascinating to hear your stuff.
DE WAAL: You're welcome.
FLATOW: It's all there in "The Bonobo and the Atheist." Dr. Frans de Wall is also primatologist and biologist at Yerkes Primate Center at Emory University in Atlanta. That's all the have - time we have for today. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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The shoulder joint (glenohumeral joint) is a ball and socket joint, where the head of the upper arm bone (humerus) attaches to the shoulder socket (glenoid cavity). The shoulder socket is extremely shallow and therefore needs additional support to keep the shoulder bones from dislocating. The labrum, a cuff of cartilage that encircles the shoulder socket, helps serve this purpose by forming a cup for the humeral head to move within. It provides stability to the joint, enabling a wide range of movements.
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Description of Procedure
Bankart surgery can be performed by a minimally invasive surgical technique called arthroscopy.
During an arthroscopic Bankart procedure, your surgeon makes a few small incisions over your shoulder joint. An arthroscope, a slender tubular device attached with a light and a small video camera at the end is inserted through one of the incisions into your shoulder joint. The video camera transmits the image of the inside of your shoulder joint onto a television monitor for your surgeon to view. Your surgeon then uses small surgical instruments through the other tiny incisions to trim the edges of your glenoid cavity. Suture anchors are then inserted to reattach the detached labrum to the glenoid. The tiny incisions are then closed and covered with a bandage.
Arthroscopy causes minimal disruption to the other shoulder structures and does not require your surgeon to detach and reattach the overlying shoulder muscle (subscapularis) as with the open technique.
Post-operative Care
- After your surgery, you will spend about an hour in the recovery room.
- Your physical therapist will start you on shoulder exercises the day following your surgery to strengthen and improve the range of motion of your shoulder joint.
- You will be allowed to perform your daily activities as tolerated, but without lifting objects heavier than a plate or glass while you heal.
- Your arm may be placed in a sling for three weeks to restrict use of your operated shoulder.
- You may resume light low-risk activities, like jogging and swimming 8 to 10 weeks after surgery, and may be advised to avoid contact sports for some time.
Arthroscopic Bankart repair is a relatively safe procedure. Being minimally invasive it is associated with fewer risks and a quicker recovery. Some of the potential risks associated include:
- Infection
- Injury to adjacent nerves or blood vessels
- Stiffness of the joint
- Pain


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Samsung Laser Printer Service Shakopee
Minnesota • Samsung Laser Printer ServiceTrust Your Office Equipment To The Experts…
Kyocera • Copystar • Ricoh • Canon • Konica Minolta • Brother • HP • Samsung • Xerox • Toshiba
Samsung Laser Printer Service Shakopee MN
A broken copier or laser printer, can really slow down your business. We can fix it and you don't even need to have a contract with us.
Samsung Laser Printer Service Shakopee
Response Time
When you need Samsung Laser Printer Service in Shakopee – A Response Time of no more than 4 hours when your equipment needs service.
Professional Certified Technicians
Our Professional Certified Technicians will accurately diagnose your device and advise you of any repairs needed to ensure a cost effective fix.
Up Time
Your machine's uptime will be maximized. We restock and order parts daily so you'll always have the parts and supplies you need.
Get The Conversation Started… Tell Us What Is Wrong With The Equipment
99 5th Avenue N.E Suite 100
New Brighton, MN 55112
M-F: 8am – 5pm
S-S: Closed
Call Us
Samsung Laser Printer Service Shakopee Minnesota
Copier & Laser Printer repair can be very stressful and very expensive if the repair technician is not certified or properly trained. Unfortunately there's really no way to tell until it's too late. We offer full service warranties on all parts and labor.
We Offer Copier Service Contracts
As with most of our business practice we believe in transparent service agreements with all of our copier & printer leases. If you are just calling for service, and you are not one of our customers, then we can give you an honest competitive estimate upfront.
We Service Most Major Brands
We offer copier repair service for the following copy machine brands: Kyocera, Copystar, Konica Minolta, Toshiba, Sharp Ricoh, Canon, Xerox, HP, Samsung, Lanier, Brother and more….
XEROX – $150 per hour + Travel charge
Most other brands $105 per hour + Travel charge
Travel charge $35 in the Twin Cities metro area
What People Are Saying
Good company to deal with, saved us lots of money on the same machine we wanted top buy from a different company, it pays to keep your existing vendor honest, JR Copier offer a lower cost for the service and lower cost of the equipment (on the same equipment), very pleased with the change
Dependable and prompt service each and every time we have called them. Reasonable rates and friendly technicians are just an added bonus.
Very happy with the service that was provided and called before they were coming out! Strongly recommend this company!


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For sale
For rent
Find Property & Real Estate to Buy and sale in Pakistan with RightProperty.Pk - Pakistan number one property website. We are pleased to offer a range of property in Pakistan. If you are looking for your dream property to Buy and sale in , you have come to the right place! RightProperty.Pk lists the very latest Property & Real Estate in Pakistan.
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What Is a Zone-of-Fire?
The area in which a hunter can shoot safely is referred to as a zone-of-fire. Before setting off in a group, hunters should agree on the zone-of-fire each person will cover. A zone-of-fire depends on many factors, including the hunter's shooting ability, the game being hunted, the hunting environment, and the hunting strategy being used.
- A hunter's zone-of-fire changes with every step. This is particularly true of groups hunting birds, rabbits, or other small game.
- A hunter must never swing or shoot outside the safe zone-of-fire.
- For safety purposes, it's best to have no more than three hunters in a group. For new hunters, two is a safer number until they become familiar with maintaining a proper zone-of-fire.


text: SUV or 4WD (four-wheel drive) or 4x4 (four by four) are vehicles with the technology of four wheels powered and working simultaneously implemented. Predominanantly these cars are sport utility vehicles (SUV). The four-wheel drive provides stability on the road and better control of the vehicle especially during winter time and in severe weather conditions. Some back roads and those surrounding the mountain ski resorts in Bulgaria could be challenging in winter conditions and renting a four wheel drive vehicle is a good choice bringing you safety and peace of mind. We offer a wide range of SUV - 4WD vehicles for rent suitable for all roads and all weather conditions including ATVs and motorcycles.


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We offer a Free quote and UK design service, get in touch today.
Success on the field starts with an excellent pitch. Every player and world rugby fan knows that a field or pitch that has some heavy wear and tear is no good for a game, so, in the long run, it's better to make something durable that will last any stampede.
Our team at Artificial Rugby Pitch provides excellent pitch systems that fit your needs and requirements.
As experts in the installation and maintenance of synthetic grass rugby pitches in Westhope SY7 9 we can carry out several different services to meet your demands.
The latest technology 3G surface means that artificial turf pitches can be installed to meet the RFL and RFU governing bodies. We can also install 3G synthetic pitches tested for IRB accreditations in Westhope.
For more info on IRB accreditations, please click here http://www.artificialrugbypitches.com/irb-accreditation/shropshire/westhope/. By meeting the national governing body specifications, it is possible to play competitive matches, making the third generation surfacing a popular choice for sports clubs across the UK.
Other organisations that benefit massively from this type of sports flooring include:
Sports clubs in Westhope SY7 9 and surrounding areas can take advantage of the porous synthetic turf system as once installed, it required little maintenance when compared to a natural grass surface.
However, with a good quality bespoke maintenance plan, it is possible to extend the life of the carpet by several years and prevent the growth of moss and algae. The surface is made up using 3G synthetic fibres containing a sand and rubber crumb infill, which improves playing characteristics and the overall safety of the field.
Many organisations are now contacting us to ask, 'What is the cost of an artificial grass rugby pitch in the UK?' and this depends entirely on the size of the pitch, the specification of 3G surfacing and groundwork requirements.
With many contractors now claiming to supply and install the latest technology 3G surfacing, it is important to ensure that all the necessary credit checks are carried out before going ahead with the artificial rugby pitch installation. To learn more about the installations we offer, please click here http://www.artificialrugbypitches.com/installations/shropshire/westhope/
By asking companies to display case studies and product sheets showing examples of previous work, it provides you with peace of mind when constructing artificial fields or artificial surfaces.
The surfaces must meet the RFL and RFU national governing body guidelines before competitive play can occur. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the contractor chosen supplies and installs surfacing to this standard.
For more information regarding synthetic pitch construction in Westhope SY7 9 and surrounding areas in the UK, please fill out the contact form on this page. One of our representatives will be in touch with all the latest sport surfacing information.
We can provide you with information regarding material costs, prices of full construction and the type of surfacing required for different sports.
A synthetic field can dramatically improve the facilities at any sports club and can be used year-round during different weather conditions. The permeable surface and sub-base allow the free drainage of water into the sub-strata, ensuring that the system meets the SUDs requirements for environmentally friendly living.
The use of floodlights, fencing and storage areas can make the artificial field a top of the range sport area which generates income from outside sources.
If you are looking how to install a rugby pitch, please follow these steps:
Our professionals can carry out the installation of rugby pitches. We can complete the construction at reasonable prices and of high quality. If you have any questions about the installation process, please do not hesitate to contact us.
A 3G pitch is a type of synthetic turf surfacing used for sports like rugby and football. The artificial turf fibres can be installed in a range of different pile heights to meet various specifications. Artificial turf fibres are held in place in an upright position by sand infill, which improves the performance characteristics of the field.
3G pitches meet many accreditations, including IRB.
These will be tested for when installing the surfacing. Since many accreditations and performance characteristics are included with 3G surfacing, several professional sports clubs have 3G pitches installed. If you would like more information on the 3G synthetic grass pitches we can install, please fill in our enquiry form.
The cost to install a 3G rugby pitch near me can vary. One factor which causes the price to alter is the size of the area. If you have a full-sized rugby field installed, the price will be much higher than having a smaller field constructed.
For more details on the constructions we can carry out, please visit this page http://www.artificialrugbypitches.com/construction/shropshire/westhope/. We can alter the dimensions of the field to meet your individual budgets and suit your requirements. The price may also be altered if you require additional features like fencing or floodlighting.
These extras are not included in the cost, and you will need to let us know the equipment which you want.
As experts in the construction of sports pitches, we carry out our installations to a high standard. Although our prices may not be the cheapest, they will certainly be the best value for money. We try to offer competitive rates and the best service, so please let us know if you have any specific requirements and budgets.
The lifetime of an artificial turf rugby pitch is typically about ten years, depending on how well the pitch was built, the weekly hours of use, and how well the pitch was maintained.
There is still a question about the merits of an artificial pitch and natural grass in both codes of rugby, as in many sports. Natural grass is used in most rugby league and rugby union stadiums. However, an increasing number of rugby stadiums are opting for an artificial field as their primary playing surface.
The advancement in technology has made it possible for an artificial pitch to resemble natural grass, as it has in many other sports. Something that the world rugby regulation would have been unthinkable 20 years ago.
The artificial grass pitch has helped the game flourish in both codes of rugby. Many professional sports teams compete on baseball fields as well as artificial pitches. Getting an artificial pitch, on the other hand, is a double-edged sword. No games will be played at that stadium if the artificial grass does not meet standards.
Bringing the project through the design and planning stages, as with any building project, is always the most time-consuming aspect of the process. The average period of time on-site to build a new artificial rugby pitch is 12-14 weeks until planning is granted and the development schedule is settled upon.
If you would like more information on the installation or maintenance of synthetic grass rugby pitches in Westhope SY7 9 or you would like us to send you a quote, please contact us via the enquiry form.
Our experts will get back to you as soon as possible with more details on costs and prices as well as a range of case studies from our previous work.


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Resources for Personal training and fitness
What helps you learn Personal training and fitness? Sign up for free or log in to share your tips, resources, links and media about this subject.
Unlimited Resources
Every member of School of Everything can add notes, links, videos, images, documents and other things to the site that help people learn or teach a particular subject. If you're learning, you can use it to keep track of your progress in your subjects and all the things that help you learn like useful websites or how-to videos.
If you're teaching, you can share useful resources and advice that you think will help people learn you subjects. You can tag each resource post with one or more subjects, and your posts will appear to other people looking for those subjects.
Don't be shy, say hello. We'd love to hear from you.


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Certificate in Online Teaching
Program Courses
Advanced Teaching Online
Designing Online Instruction
Fostering Online Discussion
Other Online Certificates and Courses
Call us at:
Send email to:
In the 21st century, half of all learning will be online. The opportunities are tremendous for teaching online. Discover how to plan, develop and teach an online course. Take home a ten step model for developing your online course. Experience one of the most advanced online classrooms for teachers. Learn how to create online audio lectures with slide shows. Plus, find out how self quizzes enhance learning.
See an animation, drop-and-drop exercise, and dynamite welcome pages. Engage in online discussion with other teachers. An instructor's book, Advanced Teaching Online, is included.
One month course, includes book, William A. Draves and Mary Dereshiwsky, instructors.
Course Outline
Online learning is a fun, enjoyable and very productive way to learn. Millions of people are learning online each year. You will engage with the instructor and other participants. You will get to know your instructor and other participants. You may make friends. It's easy. It's fun.
How the Course Works
It is easy to participate in your online course. After you register, you will be given a web address to go to get into your online classroom. You will have a password and use your email address and password to gain access.
Once inside the online classroom, here's what you can expect.
Participate when you want
Participants can participate as little or as much as you want.
You can participate any time of day or evening. The online classroom is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
There are no live real-time requirements or meetings. You decide when you participate.
For the best learning, participants should log into the course on 2-3 different times a day, since its a week long course.
What you will do
For each Unit, you will:
The content (readings, audio lectures, slides) and self quizzes are accessible for the entire course, so you can work ahead, or go back and review again, at your convenience.
The Discussion for each Unit lasts one week. All comments are made in writing and can be made at any time of the day or night.
Your instructor will log into the Discussion area at least once a day and answer questions, make comments, and respond to comments by you and the other participants.
We encourage you to make 2-3 comments each day to maximize your learning and enjoyment of the course.
It's easy. It's fun.
Advanced Teaching Online
September 3 -
Designing Online Instruction
October 7 -
November 1
Fostering Online Discussion
August 5 -
November 4 -
Ave. hours 16, 1.6 CEUs/ILUs
About Your Instructor
William A. Draves is one of the foremost authorities in the world on teaching online. More than 6,000 faculty and teachers have taken this course. He did his graduate work in education, with an emphasis on adult education, from The George Washington University in Washington DC.
Draves has taught for over thirty years, including teaching at the graduate level. His books include "How to Teach Adults," the most popular book ever written on the subject, and "Energizing the Learning Environment."
He has been interviewed by Wired.com, The New York Times, NPR, NBC Nightly News, Washington Post, Virtual University News, Chronicle of Higher Education and other national media.
Draves is author of the book, "Advanced Teaching Online," which is used as the text book for this course. This course is part of the Certified Online Instructor (COI) designation, the most recognized certification for online teaching in higher education.
Mary Dereshiwsky is an expert in online teaching and creator of the online teaching technique "continuous engagement." She is a professor at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, where she teaches graduate courses online. She has taught other instructors how to teach online for more than five years.
Dereshwisky has also been on the graduate faculty of Capella University, written on the topic of online teaching, and given presentations at national educational conferences on the topic. She critiques online courses for other instructors and is Chair of the Advisory Board for the Certified Online Instructor (COI) designation for the Learning Resources Network.
What some students say:
"Thank you for opening my mind to the possibilities! I will be teaching my first online course in October and was a bit nervous. You have all helped me to understand more and be open to the possibilities. It was great sharing this experience with you! Thanks Bill and Mary for sharing your expertise. I would recommend this course to everyone." - Phyllis Frederickson
"Thank you so much for all your preparation and well-presented information. It was eye opening and thought provoking." - Susan Banker
Course Objectives
Course Outcomes
At the end of the course, you will:


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Coverage is a mathematical interpretation of the serial numbers that have been submitted so far. The term 'coverage' relates to the amount of the production run that has been 'covered' in the given submissions. There are two coverage methods shown, each has a different approach of calculating an guess on the number of games produced by analysing the currently submitted serial numbers. Linear: Linear coverage simply looks at the highest serial number and subtracts from it the smallest serial number to estimate the number of games produced. For some games, this works fine because the serial numbers were sequential and without gaps (Early Bally, Early Stern, etc). However, this approach starts to fail quickly for games that serial numbers are part of a bigger numbering scheme (Williams pre 1984, Current Stern) or that intentially had gaps/skips in the numbering sequence(Gottlieb post 1960). If you see a linear coverage number that is higher than the known production run, it is probably not the best way to look at the serial range and you should look at the clustered approach below. Clustered: Clustered coverage assumes that there are gaps/skips in the serial sequence for a game. It groups the serial numbers together based upon how close they are to the next serial number in the sequence. If they fall within a certain threshold then the SerialBot assumes that there are valid serial numbers between the two. If they are far enough apart, then the SerialBot assumes this is a gap. Once all the gaps and groups are determined, it sums up all the linear ranges in each group. This way, if a sample run of games started at 15,000-15,100 and the production games started at 17,000 onwards, it would assume that the serial numbers between 15,100-17,000 were a gap an are not counted. Using this method, as more serial numbers are submitted the gap analysis will get more accurate.
There are no serials registered for this game. You could be the first!
Game Traits are properties for an individual game that you would like to see tracked along with the other information gathered for a serial number submission. Some examples of existing traits are... Joust: Black or Blue bottom Arch, Black Knight: Faceted Inserts or Normal Inserts, Twilight Zone: 3rd Magnet Installed or not.
Older Gottlieb games have their serial numbers stamped/etched into the wood on the front of the machine. These can often be hard to read as some have been either damaged or painted over. On woodrails or pre 1960 games, check under the backglass, imprinted in the wood. The serial number may also be imprinted in the wood on the front of the cabinet. On my 1973 Big Indian game, the serial number is on the playfield on a Sticker attached to the top arch. However, there is also a serial number for the backbox (this may not be the same as the playfield number) which is stamped into the wood on the top of the backbox. If you have different serial numbers on the playfield and backbox, please remember to register both.
This game has the following serial number formats defined in the database. As serial numbers are sumbitted, trends are recognized and defined or information about a serial number format is collected through historical information.
Every game has many many serial number submissions, the goal of the IPSND is not to guarantee that *all* information is 100% correct but that over time, the system should automatically devalue inaccurate submissions while increasing the value of correct submissions.
You may click on the SerialBot score of any submission to see how it was calculated.
The following map shows the locations of all serial numbers that were submitted with a geolocation...


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An efficient search starts with a minimum of words. If the number of answers is too big, add an additional criteria. The search will be made on all the websites listed in the directory: title, description, keywords.
By using the radio button you associate words with the option AND or OR.
"A fun compulsive read!"
J. Matcham, Amazon
"I strongly advise people ready to live abroad to read this book!"
Patrice, Amazon


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You've started your own business, and growth is on the horizon. As you look toward the future, your eyes are set not only on immediate success but also on building long-term wealth for your company, your employees, and yourself. A retirement plan can help make all of these things happen.
As an entrepreneur, your business's results will dominate your financial outcomes over the short-to-medium term, so it can be tempting to allocate all of your concern to the business. Setting up a retirement plan allows you to take intelligent risks with your business. It preserves your ability to shoot for the stars at your current and future endeavors. Without a funded retirement plan, you might be forced into a lower-variance job mid-career if your early ventures don't pan out.
In addition to the benefits for yourself personally, retirement plans are increasingly becoming a standard offering as you begin to hire more employees. When asked, 76% of millennials said that "retirement benefits offered by a prospective employer will be a major factor in their decision on whether to accept a future job offer." Having a retirement plan in place can go a long way in attracting high-caliber staff.
The tax incentives for offering a 401(k) can be tremendous for businesses and business owners—not just employees. A 401(k) can allow for a company to reduce its taxable income while simultaneously reducing the taxable income of all employees at the company. Ultimately, it becomes a way to attain, and subsequently maintain, sound finances.
Retirement plans are complicated. Start with all the joys of financial planning. Mix in arcane decisions like pre-tax versus post-tax contributions. Top with complicated compliance testing rules. Now, stir while weathering a blizzard of acronyms.
We're here to explain the ecosystem in plain language so that you can make the correct decision for your business.
Retirement planning is heavily dependent on the legal and tax environment for each country. This article concentrates on information for privately funded retirements in US companies, particularly startups and other internet-enabled businesses. If you need legal or tax advice specific to your situation, you should speak to your lawyer or accountant.
What is a retirement plan, anyway?
A retirement plan is:
An investment account. The owner invests in stocks, bonds, or similar financial products with the funds.
Owned by an employee. In contrast to traditional pensions, employees own the contents of their plan at all times rather than them being held in trust by the employer.
Sponsored by an employer. The tax benefits are available to businesses, not individuals generally.
Earmarked for retirement. Money in the account is owned by the beneficiary and not by the business or any government, but tapping it prior to retirement might cause prohibitive penalties.
Governments have a vested interest in ensuring their citizens save for retirement. As an incentive to get businesses on board with promoting retirement saving, they offer businesses substantial tax benefits to establish and maintain retirement plans for their employees.
Though it comes as a surprise to some owner-operators, these benefits are available for very small businesses, even for small businesses where all employees are owners, and the benefits are substantial.
Why care about retirement?
With a workplace retirement plan, you can not only provide an immediate benefit to yourself and your employees, but you can also focus on building diversified, long-term wealth in a variety of ways:
Create portable capital: To encourage retirement saving, the IRS allows plan holders several options to roll over funds, retain account balances, and defer paying taxes until retirement age. That means funds aren't just tied to one company or one business: they follow you wherever you go. Startup founders and employees live with a high rate of business failure and less likelihood of multi-decade tenures than staff at pension-granting employers, and accordingly need retirement options that tolerate frequent change in employers.
Protect against career risk: Entrepreneurs are at a higher risk than similarly situated employees of suffering sustained periods of low income either when starting a business or during periods of business underperformance. Contributing to a retirement plan early in your career and continuing to contribute generously in good years allows you to stay on the happy path to retirement even if you suffer sustained mid-career income volatility. If you do not have a nest egg happily compounding upon itself, a failed startup or two in a row can markedly constrain your future career options; you might be forced to take a safe job just to afford retirement as opposed to continuing with the career you enjoy.
Protect against industry risk: If you are a young entrepreneur or professional in technology, a supermajority of your wealth is de facto invested in the technology industry: it is your future earnings from wages. While the industry is presently booming, it is not guaranteed to continuously boom for your entire working career. During the last major tech bust (after the dot-com era), many professionals similar to yourself suffered prolonged unemployment or took a substantial career downgrade when switching to a new field. A generously funded retirement plan makes you less dependent on the industry you presently work in.
Automatically diversify a portfolio over time: Many retirement account providers offer automatic rebalancing among asset classes. The ebb and flow of the markets can result in a particular asset class, such as stocks, becoming quite valuable in the short term, resulting in you being "overexposed" to it relative to the optimal allocation given your risk preferences. Your retirement plan can keep a sensible allocation automatically, without you having to actively manage it.
Why consider setting up a retirement plan?
A retirement plan is good for you, good for your employees, and good for your business.
Benefits to your business and beyond
A business's contributions to a retirement plan are generally tax-deductible to the business. This includes matching contributions, where the business encourages employees to save their own money by "matching" the money with the business's funds (effectively increasing their compensation). Taxes on both contributions and investment gains can be deferred until retirement.
When you and your employees retire and start withdrawing money, you will each be taxed at ordinary income rates on the money you withdraw. This will often be at a substantially lower rate than you were paying during your working career, because (since you won't be earning a salary in retirement) your investment income will be taxed in the lower brackets, rather than sitting "on top of" your peak earning years and being taxed in the highest brackets.
As an added bonus, small business owners may also qualify for a tax credit on top of contributions to their employees' retirement accounts. Qualifying new companies with at least one employee can get a $500 tax credit each year during the first three years in business for setting up a 401(k).
Personal tax benefits
As an owner of a business, you are likely also going to be eligible to contribute to your business's retirement plan. This can save you substantially on your personal tax bill, similarly to how the mechanics work for employees. You can also simultaneously decrease the taxable income of your business (if it is taxed separately from you).
It is worth noting that the contribution limits for business owners are extraordinarily generous.
A tool for hiring and retention
If rapid growth is in your future, hiring is going to be essential. A 401(k) plan is a great way to attract and retain talent. Almost 97% of large corporations offer 401(k) plans; employees of them rightly consider them "standard." Only 16% of small businesses offer 401(k) plans. This is unfortunate; it compounds small businesses' frequent inability to match salary offers with additional financial risk.
As part of a startup or early-stage company, your messaging regarding financial outcomes improves markedly by offering a 401(k) plan. You likely offer your employees material amounts of equity, and this has attractive upside potential. Offering a 401(k) plan as well insulates your employees from perceived downside risk. This helps to communicate that you make prudent financial decisions to younger workers (who are in an ideal career stage to start saving if they haven't already) while also alleviating a major concern of many more experienced candidates (whose financial security in retirement may be a top-of-mind issue).
Several states have launched a state-sponsored retirement plan or are considering offering one. State-sponsored plans will likely obligate you to either provide your own retirement plan, enroll your employees in the state-sponsored plan, or secure an opt-out from your employees.
The state-sponsored plans generally do not have as high of a contribution limit as company-sponsored plans ($20,500 vs. $6,000 for individuals under age 50). Company-sponsored plans usually offer a wider choice in investment options and lower expense ratios. (Expense ratios are the percent of assets that your employees will pay every year out of their retirement accounts. Higher expense ratios mean directly lower investment returns and, therefore, less money to retire on.)
Accordingly, if you are in the position to offer your employees a company-sponsored plan, it may be a better offer than defaulting them to the state-sponsored plan.
Pre-tax or after-tax
Depending on a plan's rules, a plan participant can contribute with pre-tax dollars, after-tax dollars, or both.
This sounds complicated but it isn't. Almost everything you purchase in day-to-day life is paid for with after-tax dollars. When you hear "post-tax dollars," just think "regular money."
A pre-tax contribution is slightly different: it's deducted from your salary before taxes are, effectively decreasing your taxable income in the current year.
Regardless of whether you contribute pre-tax dollars or after-tax dollars for a retirement account, every dollar that comes out of the retirement plan gets taxed exactly once (assuming the money stays in until retirement). Pre-tax dollars and all investment gains get taxed after you retire; post-tax dollars get taxed when you earn them during your working career.
One might wonder which is more effective. It depends on a variety of factors, including one's present income tax bracket, one's sources of income during retirement, the arc of one's career, and (potentially) one's view on whether tax rates or rules will change over the next few decades.
Your personal tax or financial advisors can help you math out which is likely the best for your personal situation. Speaking generally, most early-stage businesses have not achieved their maximum level of success, and most employees in the tech industry will have higher assets and income during retirement than they do presently. These factors tend to make after-tax contributions more effective over the long term.
Considerations for launching a retirement plan
Your business should probably have a retirement plan, but now might not be the best time to institute one. It depends on which stage your business is at:
Staying afloat: Your first priority should usually be keeping the lights on. If you're facing potential cash flow crunches on a monthly basis and are barely meeting overhead expenses, then a workplace retirement plan likely isn't top of mind. Stabilize your cash flow situation (or secure adequate investment) before funding employee benefits. Health insurance should come first, as it is the most-valued benefit by employees.
Growth stage: Once your business is able to cover health-related expenses of your employees, has a more predictable cash flow, and is working with more acceptable debt interest rates, then you should start considering a workplace retirement plan. There is unfortunately no hard-and-fast rule here, but a great rule of thumb is a mentality shift in the way you think about your employees—both current and future—in general.
When you have proof of concept and your company is gaining traction, hiring the best quality talent and retaining the talent you currently have becomes increasingly important to your business. This is when it generally makes sense to initiate a retirement savings plan, as it is a powerful way to attract new employees and show current employees you care about their long-term well-being, while also keeping bottom line business goals in mind.
Picking between the different flavors of plans
There are at least a half dozen different flavors of retirement plans available. Choosing between them strikes some entrepreneurs like alphabet soup. We'll break it down for you.
If you're a sole proprietor and don't have plans to expand your head count, you should consider a solo 401(k).
Solo 401(k)s are 401(k) plans with just one member (you, the business owner), and like regular 401(k) plans, they offer the option to contribute with pre-tax or post-tax dollars.
In 2022 you can contribute up to $20,500 ($27,000 if you're 50 or older) as an employee, and you can also contribute 25% of your net self-employment income for the year as an employer. The combined cap is a (very generous) $61,000. That implies plausibly tens of thousands of dollars of tax savings.
You don't need to contribute the maximum every year (and likely won't be able to hit that maximum in the first years of your business anyway).
Even better, a solo 401(k) allows you to also team up with a spouse. When a spouse derives income from the sole proprietorship, he or she is allowed to make contributions equal to those of the business owner. If your business achieves significant success, this means there's a potential to save up to $122,000 as a married couple every year for retirement.
The contribution limit of the solo 401(k) is unbeatable, and accordingly it is an excellent choice for businesses that have no plan to hire any full-time employees.
If you're a business owner who plans to expand head count, you have many more options.
If you're planning on hiring full-time employees, you have several options. Contribution limits are as of 2022.
SEP IRA: Only an employer can contribute (up to 25% of employee salary capped at $61,000). This can be a great option for a company with a single owner or a few cofounders, as it has fewer compliance requirements and thus less administrative burden, in addition to having an extremely high contribution limit.
401(k): You can choose plans for pre-tax ("traditional" 401(k)s) and post-tax contributions (Roth 401(k)s). Both the employer and the employee can contribute up to a combined maximum of $61,000, with no more than $20,500 coming from the employee (or $27,000 for those 50 or older).
The SIMPLE IRA, described in its substantial complexity by the IRS, offers an employee contribution limit of $14,000 ($17,000 for employees 50 or older), is only available to employers with 100 or less employees, and mandates (low) employer-provided contributions.
(For completeness: there is also a 403(b) plan, but availability is more limited. It often does not apply to entrepreneurs and startup employees.)
So what should a business pick?
Businesses should consult with their financial advisors before making major decisions. Most businesses with non-founder employees are best served by 401(k)s. A business with no non-owner employees can take advantage of the SEP IRA's lower administrative burden.
What to look for in a plan and a provider
Investment options: Seek low-cost index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
Check the list of available investment options that a 401(k) provider offers. Broadly speaking you will find either low-cost index funds or higher-cost actively managed funds. The index funds will, over the long run, generally outperform the actively managed funds by the difference in their fees. This conclusion is backed by decades of data. The improvement to investment returns by minimizing fees over the length of an employee's career is enormous. You picking a provider who makes low-cost funds available can save every individual participating tens of thousands of dollars over the long run.
The prevailing prices for funds for different asset classes vary, but as an example, index funds investing in US equities can charge fees as low as four basis points ($4 on every $10,000) per year. Actively managed funds in the same asset class can easily cost 20 times as much.
Plan fiduciary
A fiduciary is someone who is bound by law to put your interests before their own. There are many 401(k) providers who are not fiduciaries. This could result in them recommending suboptimal products in return for fees paid by the providers of those products. You will likely get the best deal from someone who is bound to your best interests, rather than those of the highest bidder. (A fun wrinkle of this field: they're bidding with your money.)
Scalable HR support
As the owner of a small business, you should generally spend your time on the points of highest leverage for increasing your revenue. This will almost never be filing HR paperwork.
You can, theoretically, self-administer a 401(k) plan or hire full-time staff to do it for you. You should probably choose a 401(k) provider instead. Ideally, select a service that can grow as your business grows. Look for a company that offers comprehensive 401(k) administration, including compliance testing, auditing, meeting IRS deadlines, and tax forms.
Plan design flexibility
Every business has unique needs and challenges: designing a plan that will maximize the benefits for both employers and employees is crucial. Take the time to find out about the needs of your employees and what their retirement saving goals are. You want to provide a plan that is truly valuable to your employees, that they are excited to participate in, and that can help you plan for your current state and into the future.
Low fees and costs
The Department of Labor breaks plan fees into four categories:
Asset-based: expenses based on the amount of assets in the plan, represented as percentages or basis points. This also usually lumps in "custodial fees," typically around two to three percent.
Per-person: expenses based on the number of eligible employees or actual participants in the plan. These can range from $8 to $750+ per month per person.
Transaction-based: expenses based on the execution of a particular plan service or transaction.
Flat rate: fixed charge that does not vary, regardless of plan size.
For startup owners, a flat rate model allows one to have the most control over expenses. While 23% of small business owners feel that a 401(k) is too expensive, there are increasingly affordable options that offer a higher caliber of services than were available just a few years ago.
Should you match your employee contributions?
There are four key benefits for matching employee contributions:
Giving tax-free bonuses: You could give an employee a $5,000 bonus, but at a 15% tax rate she would only receive $4,250. Additionally, your business would have to pay employment taxes on that bonus. Contributing $5,000 to her retirement account has the same motivational effect but results in more money for her future and usually a lower total cost for your business.
Reducing taxable income for the business: Matching contributions are a deductible business expense.
Passing compliance testing: Retirement plans are regulated by nondiscrimination testing and safe harbor policies to ensure that the benefits do not overly flow to highly compensated employees or owners. If you match contributions in a specific way, you can be exempt from some of these tests.
Encouraging and modeling responsible behavior: Matching employee contributions gives employees a reason to start or continue saving, and actively encouraging that shows a general level of care to your employees. Attracting and retaining employees requires you to demonstrate trust and commitment, and acting with responsible stewardship helps signal to employees that you are trustworthy across other contexts as well.
Keep in mind the applicable rules for matching contributions; you can't match in such a fashion as to exceed combined employer and employee contribution limits, and you can't violate the nondiscrimination testing provisions. These are particularly thorny issues for highly compensated employees (such as for example, founders). Often, entrepreneurs outsource their 401(k) plan management to a third-party provider that is well versed on all applicable regulations and can make sure that all i's are dotted and all t's are crossed.
If your business is on a successful trajectory, it should likely offer a retirement plan at some point. There are a plethora of affordable, flexible options available, allowing you to generate wealth for all employees and owners over the long term while keeping most of your active concern on the day-to-day and year-to-year management of the business.
This guide is not intended to and does not constitute legal or tax advice, recommendations, mediation, or counseling under any circumstance. This guide and your use thereof does not create an attorney-client relationship with Stripe or with the author. The guide solely represents the thoughts of the author and is neither endorsed by nor does it necessarily reflect Stripe's belief. Stripe does not warrant or guarantee the accurateness, completeness, adequacy, or currency of the information in the guide. You should seek the advice of a competent attorney or accountant licensed to practice in your jurisdiction for advice on your particular problem.


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At T O'Sullivan & Co we have helped many individuals in the Whitley Bay area to plan for a comfortable retirement. Here we consider some key strategies to help with your retirement planning, but please contact us for advice tailored to your circumstances.
It is essential to ensure that you put aside sufficient funds during your working life to allow for a comfortable retirement in the future. You could spend a third of your life as a retired person, so by taking action now, you can help to make this period as financially secure as possible.
Many options are open to retirees in regard to how they use their savings. It is important to seek appropriate advice on the options available to you. Here we outline some of the key areas to take into consideration when planning for your 'golden years'.
Your retirement planning strategy will be determined by a number of factors, including your age and the number of years before retirement. However, there are some other key issues to consider:
Individuals who reached State Pension age after 5 April 2016 receive a flat-rate pension, worth £221.20 per week where they have at least 35 years of national insurance contributions (NICs) or credits.
Those who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 will continue to claim their basic State Pension (plus any additional state pension that they may be entitled to). The basic State Pension is £169.50 a week.
To receive a State Pension forecast you can request via your Government Gateway account or phone the Future Pension Centre on 0800 731 0175.
There are two kinds of employer pension scheme into which you and your employer may make contributions. A defined contribution scheme pays a retirement income reflecting the amount invested and the underlying investment fund performance. A defined benefit scheme pays a retirement income related to your earnings: such schemes are very rare. However, in both cases, you will have access to tax-free cash as well as to the actual pension.
In order to encourage more people to save for their retirement, the government introduced compulsory workplace pensions for eligible workers. Under auto-enrolment, all employers must automatically enrol all eligible workers into a qualifying pension scheme. There is generally a minimum overall contribution rate of 8% of each employee's qualifying earnings, of which at least 3% must come from the employer. The balance is made up of employees' contributions and associated tax relief.
Relying on the State Pension will not be adequate for a comfortable retirement, so if you are not in a good employer scheme, you are advised to make your own arrangements.
To qualify for income tax relief, investments in personal pensions are limited to the greater of £3,600 and the amount of your UK relevant earnings, but subject also to the annual allowance. The annual allowance is £60,000, but this is tapered for individuals who have both threshold income (broadly net income plus any reductions in salary for salary sacrifice or flexible remuneration schemes less gross personal pension contributions) over £200,000 and adjusted income (broadly their income and employer's pension contributions plus employee contributions via a net pay arrangement) over £260,000. For every £2 of adjusted income over £260,000, an individual's annual allowance will be reduced by £1, down to a minimum of £10,000.
Where pension savings in any of the last three years' pension input periods (PIPs) were less than the annual allowance, the 'unused relief' is brought forward, but you must have been a pension scheme member during a tax year to bring forward unused relief from that year. The unused relief for any particular year must be used within three years.
Kevin has not made any contribution into his pension policy so far in 2024/25.
Kevin has unused annual allowances of £30,000 from 2021/22, £5,000 from 2022/23 and £20,000 from 2023/24 (total £55,000). Kevin's income is less than £200,000.
Kevin's maximum pension investment is therefore set at £115,000 (£60,000 plus £55,000) for his 2024/25 PIP. He needs to make a pension contribution of £90,000 (current year allowance £60,000 and £30,000 unused relief from 2021/22) in order to avoid the loss of the relief brought forward from 2021/22.
If contributions are paid in excess of the annual allowance, a charge – the annual allowance charge – is payable. The effect of the annual allowance charge is to claw back all tax relief on premiums in excess of the maximum. Where the charge exceeds £2,000, arrangements can be made for the charge to be paid by the pension trustees and recovered by adjustment to policy benefits.
Premiums on personal pension policies are payable net of basic rate tax relief at source, with any appropriate higher or additional rate relief usually being claimed via the PAYE code or self assessment tax return.
Linda will earn £60,000 in 2024/25. She will invest £12,500 into her personal pension policy. She is entitled to the basic personal allowance and has no other income.
Linda will pay her pension provider a premium, net of basic rate tax relief of £10,000. She is also entitled to higher rate tax relief on the gross premium, amounting to £2,500.
As Linda is an employee, we can ask HMRC to give the relief through her PAYE code. Otherwise, we would claim in Linda's 2024/25 Tax Return. Thus the net cost to Linda of a £12,500 contribution to her pension policy is just £7,500.
Scotland has income tax rates which are different from those that apply in the rest of the UK. Pension payments by Scottish taxpayers paying at the starter rate of 19% will be treated in the same way as 20% taxpayers in the rest of the UK. Scottish taxpayers who pay tax at 21%, 42%. 45% or 48% claim the difference between these rates and the basic rate of 20%. Contact us for specific advice.
Taxpayers have total freedom to access a pension fund from the age of 55. Broadly, this will increase to 57 from April 2028. Access to the fund may be achieved in several ways.
Up to 25% of the fund value may be taken as a tax-free lump sum with the remainder converted into an annuity which provides guaranteed income for life.
An annuity is taxable income in the year of receipt.
When an allocation of funds into a flexi-access account is made the member typically will have the opportunity of taking a tax-free lump sum of up to 25% of the fund value from the fund. The remainder is then invested by the pension provider.
The taxpayer will then decide how much or how little to take from the flexi-access account. Any amounts that are taken will count as taxable income in the year of receipt.
Access to some or all of a pension fund without first allocating to a flexi-access account can be achieved by taking small cash sums periodically from the fund (known as an uncrystallised funds pension lump sum). The tax effect for each payment withdrawn will be:
The maximum amount which can be withdrawn tax-free is limited to £268,275. This amount could be higher in certain circumstances where the lump sum has been previously protected.
The government is alive to the possibility of people taking advantage of the flexibilities by 'recycling' their earned income into pensions and then immediately taking out amounts from their pension funds. The Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) sets the maximum amount of tax-efficient contributions an individual can make in certain scenarios. The allowance is set at £10,000 per annum, with no carry forward of the allowance to a later year if not used in the year.
The main scenarios in which the reduced annual allowance is triggered are if:
However, just taking a tax-free lump sum when funds are transferred into a flexi-access account will not trigger the MPAA rule.
If you are in the Whitley Bay area and would like advice on personal tax planning strategies, please contact T O'Sullivan & Co.
Our comprehensive accountancy and bookkeeping service will alleviate you of these mundane tasks.
Contact us today to discover how we can help you.


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Wow. "Accident prone location" is the best euphemism for drivers speeding and running lights to get onto the bridge that I've heard in awhile. Meanwhile, this guy's so scared that he's wearing the world's biggest helment:
It's too bad that all this infrastructure and bike-sharing is rendered almost completely worthless by an official policy of victim-blaming. If they're going to put up useless signs, they could at least direct the messages at the people causing the problem:
Lastly, you know how professional cyclists were pretty brazen in their use of EPO, then people caught on, and then they kept doing it but just got a little sneakier about it? Well, bike reviewers are doing the same thing with the phrase "laterally stiff yet vertically compliant:"
See, they used to use that phrase all the time, but then suddenly people realized it was a load of crap, so now they just repeat it over and over again but using slightly different words:
Ride & handling: Subtle and light
Having tested plenty of top-end framesets that often seek to deliver performance over rider comfort, one thing becomes clear from the first few pedal strokes on the Aernario – it isn't your usual 'talkative' race bike. [Translation: Laterally stiff, vertically compliant.]
With a claimed weight of under 900g, the Aernario has a subtlety to it that's rare among frames in its weight class. Don't assume, however, that efficiency is compromised. [Translation: Laterally stiff, vertically compliant.]
Storck have put together a package that requires an attentive pilot while also instilling a level of forgiveness. [Translation: Laterally stiff, vertically compliant.] Taking a corner too excitedly, venturing into the rough or making the decision to travel along neglected roads will not leave you battered and bruised. [Translation: Laterally stiff, vertically compliant.] There's a level of appreciated feedback but it reaches your contact points at a reduced and dulled rate. [Translation: Laterally stiff, vertically compliant.]
Bringing the Lightweight Meilenstein Obermayer wheels on our test bike into play, we had a seriously light build beneath us. Your wheel selection will play an integral part in how your particular bike rides, but the sloping geometry and subsequent amount of post sitting outside the frame aids in the delivery of a more subtle experience. Want things a little stiffer under the seat? Install an alloy seatpost (not that we felt this was necessary). [Translation: You just paid almost $20,000 for a "laterally stiff, vertically compliant" bike when you should have just gotten a new seatpost.]
My favorite was the part about the "appreciated feedback" reaching his "contact points," which I can only assume he lifted wholesale from a Bust magazine vibrator review.
And now, I'm pleased to present you with a quiz. As always, study the item, think, and click on your answer. If you're right then great, and if you're wrong you'll see a crit.
Thanks very much for reading, ride safe, and may your contact points be the recipient of some much-appreciated feedback this weekend.
--Wildcat Rock Machine
1) The ideal gravel bike:
--Has a long wheelbase and stable geometry
--Has a short wheelbase and quick handling
--Is basically a cyclocross bike
--All of the above
2) This frame (without frameholder) ultimately sold for:
--A handful of gravel
3) Drugs!
4) This guy likes to dress in themes. What theme is this?
--The "Brunching-In-The-Pearl Theme"
--The "Portland-I'm-On-My-Bike-I've-Got-My-Bike-Bag-Going-To-Get-Coffee Theme"
--The "I'm-Training-For-A-Move-To-Brooklyn Theme"
--"Morning mist"
5) "She-Devils PGH" is:
--A new model of gravel bike
--"A camp-tastic, genre-defying caper, about an all-female bicycle gang that cruise the streets of PIttsburgh, regulating the safety of their fellow female riders."
--"A camp-tastic, genre-defying horror film about an all-female zombie bicycle gang from Pittsburgh that rides across the country to devour the hearts and brains of every single person in Portland"
--A prescription PMS pain medication for which professional cyclist Andy Schleck recently tested positive at the Tour of Poland
6) Which "artifact" is not part of the "collection" of the "Urban Cycling Hall Of Fame?"
--Lucas Brunelle's entire spoke card collection
--Original Monster Track artwork from Greg Ugalde
--An original ghost bike sign
--An autographed pair of underpants worn by Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "Premium Rush"
7) Ugh. Really?
--Incredibly, yes.
--Fortunately, no.
Seems about right.