Your Unbiased Advisor: Unsafe vehicles

How Govt wastes our money: Apr 2024

NASA wastes taxes: Microgravity Disrupts Astronauts’ Gene Rhythms During Space

Biden gives $ Billions in bombs to Israel same day as acknowledging US killing innocents

Biden to sell 50 military planes to Israel worth $18 B income to Boeing over time

133,000 households split $20 trillion 2020 as of 2023 up 47% with fewer 2017 taxes.

1,000 people died after police subdued them with this kind of “less-lethal force.”

NASA wastes $4.25 Billion on Jupiter moon as possible habitable ice ‘home’

3 out of 10 Americans have no retirement savings: we will have to pay higher taxes

SCAMS/SPINS:

"Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value." – Albert Einstein

Judge warns us against Trump tyranny: Trump attacks judge’s family

Judge Luttig: Trump’s mobster tactics: ‘Nobody in a position of responsibility has addressed it'

Trump’s audience is his congregation: White religious folks find a savior to believe in

“Restrictive ed laws affect 1/2 the kids aged 5 to 19.” limit or forbid sensitive topics

CA fails to deal with lack of homeowners’ insurers: premiums up; coverage down!

Vehicle touch screens tempt drivers to look away from the road

Recall: Kia recalls 400,000 SUVs over rollaway issue: moving in Park!

Kia, Hyundai engine failure class action settlement

Subaru Ascent CVT defective transmissions class action settlement

Audi vehicles had engines with defective pistons: VW class action settlement

Fake subscription renewal notices take us for a costly ride

Facebook Scams: common online scams

Use of ChatGPT is ticking up, but few trust its election information

Biden administration is not secretly flying undocumented immigrants to the U.S.

No evidence that collapse of Bridge was intentional attack or caused by DEI programs.

We led the way in new oil and gas projects in 2022 and 2023: we make world hotter!

Climate change is making giant heat waves crawl slower across globe

Recall: Hazardous Products That Were Recalled This Week: Cancer ‘cures’

42,000 bridges nationwide were rated as poor: IA PA have greatest number “poor”

William Jack Berg IA stole $1.5 million from clients promised invest in securities.

Christopher Turean IN stole $4.7 million from client promised high real estate returns

White GOP boss votes illegally 9 times; fined: Black TX woman votes 1 time; 5 yrs jail

Beware: IRS Cracks Down on Abusive CRAT Strategy: trust profit to annuity penalties

Scammers that aggressively mislead taxpayers into thinking ‘tax debts can disappear.’

Biggest drug companies fail to turn enormous profits into discoveries: little guys do

Physicians with other specialties are practicing cosmetic surgery on us and some die

World Central Kitchen says Israeli strike kills 7 of its workers in Gaza

‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza: “illing machine”

15-year-old killed by sheriff's deputies as she followed their instructions

Jobs

jobs.interestingengineering.com/

Cheap child labor replaces immigrants in some 16 states as 13 strengthen labor laws

Latinos are launching new businesses at staggeringly higher rates

Who owns your account now?

Where is your refund? irs.gov/wheres-my-refund IRS: what-if-i-cant-pay-my-taxes

Biden restores endangered species protections rolled back by Trump

Wellness: Cancer patients want 2^nd round treatment when cancer returns

Elite Clubs and the Process of Exclusion: Wealthy have their own hang outs.

Best vehicle choices for safety within size categories: foreign names made here.

Medicare Advantage chaos: some providers cancel insurer plans

Audit Technique Guides can help you find what IRS is looking for in your accounts

are-you-liable-for-data-breaches/: depends on type of business

Can we fail in retirement: hard to stop accumulation phase emotionally

Documents you need in retirement: it may be too late later

NYTimes to soon offer most articles via automated voice

Most retirees still had 80% of their pre-retirement savings after 20 years of retirement

Average retirement savings balance by age

Save money: free tax filing options—get time extension to file return

Best & Worst Firms for Self-Directed Investors: J.D. Power, 2024

Fireman's Fund (Allianz’s U.S. insurance unit) to Arch Insurance

Miracles:

Cancer signs could be spotted years before symptoms, says new research institute

Focused Ultrasound Emerges As Game-Changer For Chronic Pain Relief

New blood test might offer convenient way for people to get tested for colorectal cancer

3D-printing living brain tissue that grows, functions, and communicates like normal tissue.

Americans 100 or older is projected by the Census Bureau to quadruple in the next 30 years.

Lessons from successful investors

Insure your life -style

Invest the same amount you spend on life insurance to save your life –style later.

Young people want to know how much should they invest. At a recent wedding, the groom asked me this question. Most young people don’t start investing until they settle down and get married and or get pregnant. The easy answer is start investing as soon as you get a job. However, investing becomes critical when we start a family. Many are starting a family later than previous generations. It becomes critical to saving enough for retirement that we begin at this time of thinking about the future. It is a critical time because there is a big difference between investing for 30 years ($569,831) and 40 years ($1,594,195). A simple example makes the case: invest $250 a month for 30 years vs 40 years at the average stock market return rate. Would your family rather have $1/2 million or $1 and a half million for the future 30-40 years of retirement?

It is TIME not timing: https://www.amazon.com/Buffett-Strategy-854-000-not/dp/1978481020

“Playing the market” is a waste of money

This is the conclusion of many money experts who have compared ‘buy and sell’ to “buy and hold” strategies. Why? The market movements are like the weather—experts make predictions that are wrong. Some analysts have made the right decisions for a short time but none have shown how to be correct all the time. Warren Buffett has a 59-year record of earning 19.8% a year of being right by holding many stocks for decades. He does engage in “buy and sell” because his 60-year experience has taught him a few investment secrets. However, he does fail from time to time. This is the lesson for most of us without the knowledge or experience: the “buy and hold” strategy is the superior way to investment success. Otherwise, we think of investing as equivalent to gambling: some win and some lose. Usually we play for the fun and most of us lose our stake. Grow your wealth account; don’t gamble it with the wrong strategy.

Use Buffett as your advisor: https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffett-Your-Investment-Advisor/dp/1518690963

Making Financial Independence less boring

Many clients come to me when they get bored saving and investing for the future. When they try to stay informed about financial matters, they hear about new thrilling news from their friends or on the media. The hype is usually short-lived—they don’t hear about the letdown that often follows. Their friends don’t provide the embarrassing follow up that puts them in a foolish light. I try to calm my clients by getting them to restate their goals—especially their short-term goals and achievements. I underscore the fact that they DID accomplish the goal of paying for their child’s education or buying that expensive vehicle or vacation. They are now living in the best home they could afford at the time and wow, it has really appreciated in value, thank you. Setting and reviewing interim goals and achievements must be done on a regular schedule. Celebrating a goal met is often overlooked. Saving and investing on a monthly basis looks boring compared with the exciting happy-hour banter we hear regularly. Sorry but most of it is just making conversation to impress others. I ask clients to offer their real-life milestone achievements to counter such talk. Offer: “We finally got David through his first year without taking that $20,000 loan.” Or: “You should look into spending 2 weeks on that fantastic Spanish coast near Málaga.”

Focus on interim wins: https://www.amazon.com/Patience-is-profitable-passive-investments-Street/dp/1986843777

Teaching your child how to build wealth

The Simple, Easy and Wise Plan: $9 a day grows to $55,000, $400,000, $2,000,000 over time, 1 hour to set up at no cost, 1 hour to manage once a year, a tooth brush to remind you building wealth is a habit. Every year your child delays investing costs them $100,000 later. Accumulating $2,000,000 over time does NOT require them to be a genius or lucky stock picker. All it takes is one hour on the telephone or computer to set up a tax-FREE account at no cost. You or your child tell the trustee to take $9 a day—$250 a month from their or your checking account automatically. They check on their low-cost mutual funds once a year. That's it. Oh yes. Every morning when they brush their teeth, they think about how their wealth is growing because they are leaving it alone. Remember what the great investor, Warren Buffett, said: “We continue to make more money when snoring than when active.” In the last few years, smart investors have come to learn the secret of building wealth by doing NOTHING. After a hundred years of the financial industry broadcasting the myth of Wall Street, some have come to realize that we don't need a highly compensated salesman to build wealth. The myth of Wall Street is that only the ‘professionals’ know how to build wealth. Luckily, in 1951, John Bogle, outlined a way to accumulate assets without the high cost of using a salesperson to pick securities. Wall Street was busted and your child wins the wealth-building game.

Help them start: https://www.amazon.com/Building-Wealth-Like-Brushing-Teeth/dp/1470141469

What is the right asset allocation for you?

Advisors show clients a huge process of picking the “right” portfolio for them. This lengthy process can take many weeks and several personal visits. All this time and energy looks impressive and the bill is even more impressive. But does it really matter? Over time your asset allocation should lean toward the less volatile. The standard practice matches your age to your fixed securities choices. Since you have time to grow out of the experience of high volatility-high returns (stocks), your advisor or your Target-Date mutual fund should be making changes periodically. You should be receiving cash-flow management, tax planning and wealth protection from your advisor during this process. The theory is that when you are near retirement age you should have a 40/60% stock/bond allocation for wealth protection. At younger ages, you should have a 90/10% stock/bond allocation for accumulation. Of course every person has different needs. However, master investor Warren Buffett advocates owning only two funds for life. He says a low-cost S&P 500 index fund should be funded with 90% of your retirement dollars. The 10% provides you with income for the current year.

https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffetts-Vanguard-Funds-Retirement/dp/1496148592