Friday, December 28, 2018

We have 3 days to save $4,000 on taxes


ALERT: We have 3 days to save $4,000 on taxes
December 31 is last day to invest in your retirement account and claim a $4,000 tax credit. The amount of the credit is 50%, 20% or 10% of your retirement contributions depending on their adjusted gross income. The Saver’s Credit can be taken for your contributions to a traditional or Roth IRA; your 401(k), SIMPLE IRA, SARSEP, 403(b), 501(c)(18) or governmental 457(b) plan; and your voluntary after-tax employee contributions to your qualified retirement and 403(b) plans. Uncle Sam gives you money to enhance your retirement fund. And you can use Warren Buffett’s investing strategy so you accumulate a $ ½ million over time. Look at how you can make saving and investing easy for the rest of your life: http://www.saferchild.org/power/. The electronic book is available 24/7! https://www.amazon.com/Tax-Refund-Millionaires-Let-Uncle-Help-ebook/dp/B00IHIFG38


Is your advisor’s model portfolio right for you?
You are paying your advisor, their firm and the firm that actually does the portfolio creation and their back office and compliance departments for your fancy asset management advisory platform. Some extremely-well paid person is making up the securities in your ‘model’ portfolio. They decide what is right for you—not the person you speak to or meet with. They put you in index funds—the expensive ones called ETF. You or they just fill in a form about ‘risk and reward’ available at any vendor, and vaole, your asset management plan is ‘personalized.’ What a B.S. game—an expensive game. As guru Bill Gross said: “Professional money management is a gigantic rip-off.”  You pay 1-2% of your money every year even when they lose your money. 1-2% over time adds up to 63% of your potential earnings you are giving to make others rich. You would have done better just buying the index yourself for 0.04% a year. Dalbar study.

Vanguard cuts fees again
Vanguard eliminated commissions on 1,720 ETFs. That creates a huge new marketplace for ETFs trading at no cost - far bigger than any of its rivals. Schwab offers 265 commission-free ETFs from 15 providers, and Fidelity offers 95. TD Ameritrade tripled the number of commission-free ETFs on its platform last October, now offering nearly 300. “Vanguard has been very transparent for a long time that they won’t pay for eye-level shelf space on any third-party platform,” says Morningstar. “They’re practicing what they’re preaching here.” “Their message is that pay to play is not in best interest of investors, and it will create pressure on the other brokerage platforms.” “Vanguard doesn’t want or need to do the service-and-technology-intensive RIA custody business.” Vanguard already has low personal advice management fees starting at 30 basis points, much less than the 100-150 basis points at other firms. If you trade frequently, Vanguard offers all the ETFs you could possibly use. If no ETFs, you get low-cost for life. You get the best without having to give up 63% of your potential nest egg anymore.

Another way wealthy Americans avoid their fair share of taxes
A dynasty trust — to take advantage of the law doubling the amount that can be passed to heirs without being subject to estate and gift taxes. The new threshold of $22 million for married couples means the trusts can be funded tax-free. They can leave $22 million to the kids Tax-Free. The wealthy look to capitalize on the additional $11 million they can now easily shift over. Some families want to transfer money out of their estates into the trusts in case Democrats take back control of Congress and pull the limits back down. Moving assets before they appreciate even more provides even less tax in the future. Trump’s IRS said in November that it won't seek retroactive taxes when this Trump bonus for the rich expires in 2016. The wealthy will never pay tax on gains either.

American socialism: giving business our tax revenue does not help us
Wealthy businesses would have built that factory or hired workers without giving them tax money according to various studies. In other words, giving our tax revenue to businesses just makes the owners richer and us poorer. The authors found “little evidence that the [subsidies] generate new jobs or other direct economic benefits to the states that employ them.” Results show incentivized firms “would have made a similar decision location/expansion/retention decision without the incentive.” In MI for instance, for every $500,000 in subsidies paid out through 2016, there was an associated loss of some 600 jobs in the county. Another study found “little evidence to suggest that the subsidy creates significant job and establishment growth.” In fact in many cases, the larger firms out maneuvered the targeted small entrepreneurs receiving subsidies. So the wealthy elect state lawmakers to use tax money to make them richer--cutting out new firms. Amazon in Queens is an example of wasting $3 billion in tax money.


Is giving discretionary trading authority to your broker right for you?
This retired person had $1 million in their IRA. She lived frugally but her account balance was losing big chunks and was down $500,000 in 7 years. Her relatives asked for help from their own broker. Searching her statements, they found out that her broker was writing options on oil. Of course, the brokerage firm was not checking compliance to her trading profile. Her broker was making money for the firm but losing the client’s life savings left and right. No red flag. No review by her broker’s manager. Her relatives wanted to bring in securities officials. Her broker agreed to give back $80,000 if they dropped the case. This retiree did not want to go thru a prolonged fight so she settled. Giving up control is dangerous especially when you know nothing about securities. Like putting all your money in an expensive variable annuity—you have no recourse. Beware.  

Hope you didn’t dump your stocks because you just miss biggest gain.
As Warren Buffett wrote in his 2017 letter to shareholders, investors should do two things when stocks are falling: Stay in the market and buy at a bargain. "Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful." One day jump 5%-- the biggest rally in American equities since 2009. Anything can happen in the day you are out of the market. You don’t have to keep your marketing people happy with gains every month like ‘professional’ money managers. Hold for the next wave up or down. Over time investors have been rewarded for every period of at least 5 years. For 30 years ended 2014, you earned 11% a year. Apple Microsoft Amazon Google Berkshire Hathaway Johnson & Johnson JPMorgan Chase Facebook Exxon Mobil Pfizer still makes money. Get them on sale: https://www.amazon.com/Vanguards-Top-Ten-mutual-funds/dp/150073909X

Medical expenses are deductible?
Trump’s new tax breaks kept this deduction for his wealthy friends who seem to have large medical bills (custom surgery in world resorts that can handle their yachts). If you itemize, the list of deductions is fairly long: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc502: Air conditioners, contacts, special diet, exercise programs, etc are now deductible. Transportation for medicals is also deductible. If you don’t have enough this year—postpone expenses you can until next year. Find your tax credits and pay Zero tax like Jared. One year, The Don had $916 million tax loss so NO taxes for up to 18 years.



**************

Make America, “The Don”, Great Again
Truth isn’t truth, his lawyer


Two Americas: A Banana Republic? Do we really want an infant king? Daddy Putin!


***********************

How Govt wastes our money: Congress spends $1.3 Trillion we don’t have! 
Trump cut from Syria because Turkey wanted it. Dictator Erdogan became a hero.
Coulter Limbaugh intimidated The Don into $24 billion gov shutdown; terrorists?
Trump buys up all his own calendars for all the leaders of the world.



SCAMS/SPINS:
Tariff’s war on Poplar Bluff MO my friend’s home town is trade war victim.
Trump’s lies hurt: 6 new steel plants were just lies to get political support.

Trump tells 7 yr old his belief in Santa is ‘marginal’ –devil undermines child’s beliefs.
The Don becomes a security risk by divulging SEAL team in tweet: dictators do this.
The Don’s deal with Apple Foxconn shifts to Indiafrom WI 25,000 jobs $3 billion lost.


PA public pension losing $1 billion in fees for poor performance. ‘gigantic rip-off’.
GOP to workers: you signed up for no pay with The Don but Congress still gets paid. 

Morgan Stanley caught allowing clients to launder money. Fine but no jail time.

BEWARE: Advisors paying for your dinner can cost you more than the meal.
Nice guy advisor can cost more than you earn: always compare to your benchmark.



The Mob Boss can never go to jail: Trump has Kava as Supreme so no indictment.
‘No man is above the law’ … well up till now. Dictators nullify courts first, then votes.
----------------------------------

Jobs:
WellsFargo hurt customers, laid off workers; rehires oversees workers—follow money.

Who owns your account now?

Got a phishing email: Netflix account suspended: ‘change payment’ Netflix said not ours


Miracle:

IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
MontclairNJ   07042
973.746.2014
Alerts 

Friday, December 14, 2018

This is how Jared avoids his fair share of taxes


This is how Jared avoids his fair share of taxes
Like papa, Jared uses other people’s money to buy commercial real estate. He pays himself well to create losses. He adds the phantom expense called depreciation (building use and aging). The losses mount up over the years and are added to this year’s loss. He earns $millions but never pays tax. We taxpayers actually give him a refund. Here’s an example from 2015. W-2 income: $198,000. Taxable interest: $536,000. Dividends: $1,000. Capital gains: $974,000. Deductions: Tax losses from real estate and other partnerships: $3.5 million. Tax losses carried forward from previous years: $4.8 million. Total adjusted gross income: Negative $6.6 million. Tax refund $4,000. A new Jared NJ property just so happens to be located on one of papa’s US Opportunity Zones for another tax subsidy in Jared’s future. We have to pay Jared’s share of taxes too.

Prepay your 2019 tuition to maximize your tax credits
If you paid less than $4,000 of tuition for your college student, you can pay for the first semester or quarter of next year's college tuition in December and use that tuition for this year's American Opportunity Credit. However, you want to do the exact opposite if you've already paid more than $4,000 for your college student who qualifies for the American Opportunity Credit. You get no additional benefit from the American Opportunity Credit (max $2,500) if you pay more than $4,000 in tuition each year. In this case, you'd want to wait until January to pay tuition. That way you might increase your American Opportunity Credit next year since you've already maxed out the allowed credit this year. Be sure to show a Form 1098-T from your college or university to your preparer. Credit is partly against tax and partly refund if you owe nothing. 

Are you tempted to move your nest egg to gold?
Before you buy gold or its ETF, GLD, compare the fall it made in 2012, losing more than HALF its value over 10 years. Meanwhile over the same 10 years, the stock market index IVV, grew 129%. Use perspective to judge your investment accomplishments. Of course they all go up and down but did you and your broker KNOW to get out of gold on July 1 2012? I doubt it. Market timing is a sure way to lose money—you must be correct getting in and getting out. Over time your best bet (unless you have insider information like our Congress people do, is to hold, NOT to use a professional ‘gambler’. Compare broker /advisor-assisted accounts to a stock index (S&P 500): 3.79% vs 11.04%. Would you rather earn 11% over time? (most fund fees <0 .04="" o:p="">

Is final expense ‘senior’ life insurance right for you?
‘Premium never goes up and coverage never goes down.’ ‘You can’t be turned down.’ ‘Don’t leave your family with expenses.’ ‘Only $13.40 a month.’ Let’s look at the caveats for these plans. Coverage is limited for first 2 years and $13.40 buys only a $2,000 benefit at age 60 if you are female. Average age at death is 81 female, 76 male. So $13.40 for 20 years is $3,216. A $2,000 benefit (costing $3,216 or more) will be worth $1,000 in 20 plus years (inflation). You can buy more but the cost goes up at each age when you buy it. If you want to cover funeral and medical expenses for sometime in the future, this is the worst way to do it. No medical means the rate is the highest possible. If you invested your premium in a saving account or CD, you might have $4,400 not $2,000. Bank POD accounts serve this purpose. Clearly this account is for someone who responds to emotional TV appeals. A cost-effective legacy would provide an IRA which pays the beneficiary immediately. This could include funds for the funeral AND help the grandchild. Besides, after you pass, your debts are not owed by your relations.

Need help starting to save? How’s 5%?
This credit union will pay you 5% on your money to get you started in a regular savings plan. This plan includes a checking and savings account plus certificate of deposit earning 5%. The requirements make it a perfect savings starter for a young person. This is the first step to using the IRS approved tax-FREE account—the Roth IRA. You earn great rate and you pay no taxes on the interest. WOW 5% without paying taxes on interest. Later when you feel comfortable, you can experience tax-FREE growth on a securities account at a low-cost mutual fund provider. Then you can earn 10-12% on your retirement investments and pay no tax now or later when you take the money out. You can take out contributions anytime tax FREE. However, if you keep investing automatically in this account, you could reach $1 million later—Compound interest and earnings without taxes EVER. Compounding is what keeps the rich, rich.

Is this tax shelter right for you?
You can save/invest up to $500 a month and never pay tax on your earnings. This tax shelter is approved by the IRS! You don’t have to hide your money overseas. You don’t need a lawyer to set up the trust. You don’t need an advisor to manage your earnings. You don’t need an accountant to prepare your return for this shelter. You can set up this shelter on the phone or online in about 1 hour. You can have the trustee put the same monthly amount in automatically. You can have the unbiased trustee manage the securities at little cost. Tax-FREE earnings means you are not paying 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, or 37% on your money after you accumulate $500,000 or a $1 million or TWO. (You can earn 10-12% a year over time.) There is no penalty if you need to take out the amount you put in so far. You may even be able to put your 401k in this shelter.

How can you avoid home buying mistakes?
No 1 rule: get mortgage first so you can pounce. Write down your absolute needs. This will NOT be your only house. Be practical—walk around neighborhood at night and day—looking for noise and pollution. Never buy a home with a shared driveway. Consider the nearby activity—your street used as detour from main road when school in session? Do research: Look at the neighborhood tax records—are taxes jumping in recent years? Consider estate sales—study internet listings for private sales—for real bargains. Make sure you have $5,000 on hand for immediate repairs or new inside painting—costs less BEFORE you move in. Buy lawsuit insurance too.

Is the IRS saver’s credit right for you?
Yes, you can receive a credit for saving worth up to $4,000. The amount of the credit is 50%, 20% or 10% of your retirement plan or IRA or ABLE account contributions depending on your adjusted gross income. The maximum credit amount is $2,000 ($4,000 if married filing jointly). The Saver’s Credit can be taken for your contributions to a traditional or Roth IRA; your 401(k), SIMPLE IRA, SARSEP, 403(b), 501(c)(18) or governmental 457(b) plan; and your voluntary after-tax employee contributions to your qualified retirement and 403(b) plans. Let Uncle Sam help you get rich.


**************

Make America, “The Don”, Great Again
Truth isn’t truth, his lawyer


Two Americas: A Banana Republic? Do we really want an infant king? Daddy Putin!


***********************

How Govt wastes our money: Congress spends $1.3 Trillion we don’t have! 

Here are the people who REALLY decide how our tax dollars are spent.

SCAMS/SPINS:
3 people agree with Trump’s global warming analysis: Putin, Saudis, Kuwait dictators.
10 terrorists were NOT caught at border: Trump’s trumped up hysteria for the base.


The ‘Leader’ violates every legal protection under the law: Obstruction and Tampering.
Can Don the Mob Boss escape his ‘dirty deeds’? Don still not knows he broke the law!


The Mob Boss can never go to jail: Trump has Kava as Supreme so no indictment.
‘No man is above the law’ … well up till now. Dictators nullify courts first, then votes.
----------------------------------

Jobs:
Extra cash from jobs you can do any extra time.

Separating children from parents seems to be part of the job: NYPD, ICE
Facebook calculating where you will be in the future: prevent crime? Catch criminals?


Who owns your account now?
What are your rights when you buy a DNA test?
Fewer children have health care with Fed cuts. Congress people take more coverage.
Merced P&C taken over by CA after fire claims wiped out insurer of many wildfires.

Let a real estate company buy your house: forget the hassles … for a price.
Keep your receipts: IRS goes after the ‘little people’ since ‘short 1/3 staff’ for wealthy.
Did your ObamaCare plan lower its price this year: check out what you have TODAY.

Miracle:



IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
MontclairNJ   07042
973.746.2014
Alerts

Friday, December 7, 2018

What do you do when the market falls?


What do you do when the market falls?
Sell or stay the course? Why do the non-commission advisors like Warren Buffett tell us not to panic when the market declines? Why do the smart investors use the decline to BUY, not sell? The only reason is they have the experience of seeing the losers after they sell. Here is what I do, even in retirement: I look at the past market behavior-- http://www.moneychimp.com/features/market_cagr.htm. 2008=-37%, 2009=+27%, 2010=+15%; 2002=-22, 2003=+29; 1974=-27, 1975=+38, 1976=+24. Notice that when it falls, it rises. If that is not convincing you, look at the actual average earnings for advisor-assisted investors compared to the unassisted stock index fund: 3.79% vs 11%. Earning 11% a year (index accounts cost 0.04 % or less) over time beats 92.2% of the advisors and brokers unless they have illegal insider information. I use ‘perspective’: 2018 Jan 2=271; Dec 6=271 plus dividends. Last year I gained 22% tax free.

Is your ‘retirement’ account really an ATM?
Most (59%) of investors ages 18 to 34 say they already have taken money from their retirement accounts according to a survey. Yet most believe they will have enough to enjoy their retirement. Not long ago, only 31% had raided their future nest egg. What happens when our 401k or 403b is used as an ATM? The compounding effect is destroyed. Compounding is the effect of making money on our existing money without adding more. Invest $250 a month, $3000 a year for 33 years ($99,000) and compounding produces about $1,000,000: $900,000 was from compounding. When we interrupt the growth—just 5 years—by stopping the flow and ALSO reversing savings, we lose about HALF the final total.

Wages are up 3.7% Who is getting the raises?
The unemployment rate is now at 3.7%, the lowest since 1969. On a yearly basis, wages and salaries jumped 3.1%, the biggest increase in 10 years. But, which groups are getting the lion’s share of the increases? Corporate CEOs and upper management seem to have taken more than their share—perhaps from the corporate tax cuts. Most line workers seem to have given up more than they got—they will pay for the corporate tax cuts. The highest-rated employees earned 4.6% in raises in 2018, compared to the 2.7% average raise given to employees with an average rating. Although minimum wages were raised in some states, the big increases went to a few. Clothing manufacturing wages jumped 14% with only 116,000 workers. Refiners of petroleum and coal with 115,000 jobs saw the 2nd highest raises. Data miners are in demand. So most of the wage increase of 3.7% was for a sliver of very skilled workers and their bosses. CEO's have seen a 937% increase in earnings since 1978: Workers saw 11.2% during the same time. "CEOs are getting more because of their power to set pay, not because they are more productive or have special talent or have more education," says one report. Given cuts in corporate and wealthy taxes, paying for the narrow group of raises will fall to the working class only.


Do you need a REAL middle-income tax break?
The REAL tax break from the GOP and Trump is the removal of the income cap on conversions from traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs. The 1.6% income increase for the average household earning $50,000 to $75,000 has been eaten up by tariffs and health care costs. Compare the $thousands you save in taxes during retirement when most of your income is tax-FREE and you no longer have to take taxable RMDs from your IRAs. For many, the elimination of tax on IRA distributions means their income can continue to grow after age 70 ½ AND they will pay less tax or nothing on their SS benefits.



Advisor’s plan for your retirement spending is impossible
The average spending for households headed by 55- to 64-year-olds was $65,000 in 2017, according to its Consumer Expenditure Survey. Spending dropped to $55,000 between ages 65 and 74, and after that it fell to $42,000. Housing costs remained steady and health care expenses increased, but nearly every other category — transportation, entertainment, clothing, food and drink — declined sharply. Retirement is NOT a fixed expense so putting all your money into an annuity or other fixed income vehicle is absurd. We all need flexibility unless we are going to watch TV for the rest of our lives. Advisors used to get off easy by telling us to take 4% a year. They were just lazy—it takes work to know how much to spend in the future. Chase bank created 4 profiles: homebodies, globe-trotters, health care spenders and foodies. Most advisors build inflation escalators into their financial plans but the data shows otherwise. For some, the huge bump comes with unexpected health care expenses. On the other hand, you should make that great trip or other retirement dream while you are able. Plan for flexibility!

Are trusts to avoid $10K cap on property tax right for you?
Wealthy folks in CA, CT, NJ, and NY are using trusts to hold their properties so they can avoid the cap of $10,000 on property tax set by Trump’s new tax bill. Those who previously deducted $50,000 or more for property taxes are moving ownership of their holdings to Alaska, where the tax is $0. Building and administering the trusts could cost about $20,000 plus you have to put investment assets in the trust that will generate enough income to balance out the $10,000 deduction. So this option will not work out for most taxpayers in the affected states. They will carry the load for the wealthy again. With a $20,000 property tax bill, the average homeowner will need to pay a larger chunk to cover Trump’s tax breaks for the rich.

Another way the wealthy avoid paying their fair share of tax
Feds just charged 4 people with helping the wealthy avoid US taxes using a law firm in Panama. The charges come from journalists getting records from the Panama Papers. One method: lawyers set up a fake investment into which a rich person could get the money out of the country. Then lawyers created a paper loss so the transaction could be called a non-taxable loss. The original money could then be returned to the US without a taxable event reported to the IRS. The rich could then use the untaxed money to buy a hard asset like a mansion with no questions asked.

This is how Jared avoids his fair share of taxes
Like papa, Jared uses other people’s money to buy commercial real estate. He pays himself well to run the business at a loss created from using the 'virtual' expense of building use and aging called depreciation. The losses mount up over the years and are added to this year’s loss. He earns $millions but never pays tax. We taxpayers actually give him a refund. Here’s an example from 2015. W-2 income: $198,000. Taxable interest: $536,000. Dividends: $1,000. Capital gains: $974,000. Deductions: Tax losses from real estate and other partnerships: $3.5 million. Tax losses carried forward from previous years: $4.8 million. Total adjusted gross income: Negative $6.6 million. Tax refund $4,000. A new Jared property just so happens to be located on one of papa’s US Opportunity Zones for another tax subsidy in Jared’s future.





****************

Make America, “The Don”, Great Again

Two Americas: A Banana Republic? Do we really want an infant king? Daddy Putin!


***********************

How Govt wastes our money: Congress spends $1.3 Trillion we don’t have! 
Police paid by us for protection, not sadism: ‘It’s still a blast beating people’

US now exports oil: Saudi dictator can now be sanctioned—Trump need not fear him.

SCAMS/SPINS:
This is what the Trump ‘swamp’ really looks like: 3 swampers took $148 million.
Danard Brown Legend Securities caught ‘churning’ account for fees—fined, no jail
OptionSeller caught losing options customers $35.3 million they must pay back. Jail?

Bart Posey TN caught selling 17,000 fake health insurance policies: jail time.
Trumper attacks Mexican American tire store owners: Mormons killed hate-crime bill.

“Trump creating “new liberal order that prevents warSec State tells Europe. Crazycrazy
GOP tampers with votes again: it’s the only way to win with no credibility left.

Scammers favorite time is tax time. Forward to IRS for verification.

Wealthy men follow Pence to avoid women instead of treating them with respect.
Loan sharks have turned legit: miss a payment and you wish you were dead: Boiler Room

Advisors who filed bankruptcy recently might cause you pause at your account.


GOP: TX state platform head: ‘I’m a WHITE NATIONALIST and very Proud of it.

The ‘Leader’ violates every legal protection under the law: Obstruction and Tampering.

The Mob Boss can never go to jail: Trump has Kava as Supreme so no indictment.
‘No man is above the law’ … well up till now. Dictators nullify courts first, then votes.
Supremes protect Don’s ‘Orders’? – GOP: Sure, pres can change Constitution anytime.
----------------------------------

Jobs:


Who owns your account now?
OptionSellers.com’s disastrous gas options loss: clients owe brokers $35.3 million.
Start collecting your deductions now and file early Feb 15 for quick refund.
4% on your checking account? Are they crazy? Read details if it is for you.

Safest way to lose your future retirement nest egg: any of  these 10 ways to go wrong.
Brokers you might want to avoid: Check their history at BrokerCheck.

Miracle:

How did they get that shot? 100 Best Photos by National Geographic Utah's Bears Ears!

Michelle tells women they just need confidence—everyone else is not really that smart.

Blood test can detect cancer in 10 minutes. 90% accuracy for early treatment.

IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
MontclairNJ   07042
973.746.2014
Alerts