Friday, August 22, 2014

Congress OK with TAX EVASION

Why doesn't Congress stop corps from TAX EVASION?
One reason our Reps do nothing to change the tax laws may be that there are many companies that like paying low or ZERO TAXES now! There are 20 huge companies, including drugmaker Merck, diskmaker Seagate and automaker General Motors. They reported effective tax rates of 0% or lower despite reporting a profit. So says a USA Today analysis of data from S&P Capital IQ. They don’t need to fake an offshore address to pay 12%? They pay zero at home. Why reform our tax system. Some even get a refundable credit, just like the poor with their Earned Income Tax Credit.
Pay your fair share of tax—NOT their share TOO. You can avoid paying their tax with your IRS tax shelter: http://www.amazon.com/The-Tax-Shelter-Americans/dp/1500426520

Is $250,000 – retirement fund or child care – right for you?
To raise a child born in 2013 to the age of 18 will cost you over $245,000, according to Gov. Let Gov help you have BOTH: a retirement nest egg of $250,000 and child by using compounding of your tax refund (average $3,000) or $9 a day. Compounding converts your refunds into $500,000 tax FREE. That’s worth $250,000 in 30 years. http://www.amazon.com/Tax-Refund-Millionaires-Let-Uncle-Help/dp/149595644X


Advisors failing to attract or keep women clients
New study shows nearly 24% of advisers said some portion of their female clients who had gone through the death of their husband took their business elsewhere. Nearly 29% of the respondents said they had similar experiences with women who had gone through a divorce. Firms don’t hire women advisors. Women focus on retirement goals and perhaps they realize better than men that advisor fees directly reduce their nest egg. John Bogle, founder of Vanguard, estimated that the average worker can lose 63% of their total egg because of lifelong fees. http://www.amazon.com/Are-you-ready-retirement-worst/dp/1491002662

Is the Roth 401k right for you?
When the Roth option is available, 11% of participants contribute to a Roth, up from 9.6% in 2012 and 8.1% in 2011. Roths are favored by young men. Younger workers benefit more from the Roth option. They have time for compounding to multiply their money 5 or more times. IT IS ALL FREE of tax. By salary, workers earning between $60,000 and $79,000 had the highest Roth usage at 13.6%. In 2013, employees who made Roth contributions saved more on average than their non-Roth-using counterparts: 10.3% v. 7.7% respectively.
$3,000 a year for 30 years ($99,000) is worth about $500,000 FREE of tax using a stock index fund. http://www.amazon.com/The-Working-Millionaire-Self-insure-Self-fund/dp/1460945484

Advisors don’t give refunds and can trick anyone, even governments
In 2008, Goldman lost Libya’s gov a $1 billion and still made $350 million in fees. Goldman’s Arabic salesmen gave Libya gifts like after-shave and chocolates on shopping trips for leaders. They invested in bank stocks and currency and lost. The SEC is investigating one of the schemes as a Qaddafi kickback fund that Goldman paid off. 
Time to consider alternative? Low-cost investments beat high-cost investments no matter which advisor you use: http://www.amazon.com/Pay-less-Get-more-investment/dp/1500598321

Is your advisor using the wrong retirement income strategy?
It is a mistake to move your hard-earned nest egg into bonds to avoid market volatility. Bonds are NOT safe for retirement income as advisors were taught 20 years ago. When rates go up, you will lose value—your nest egg falls 10% for each 1% move up. At least stocks beat inflation. What does Warren Buffett do so his family has enough in retirement? He says his will specifies that the executor put most of his legacy in stocks. http://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffetts-Vanguard-Funds-Retirement/dp/1496148592

Is an international stock fund right for you?
Any successful portfolio must own some stocks of non-US companies to capture growing global enterprises like China’s search engine Baidu. With returns averaging 11% since 1981, a global fund may offset poor US returns some years. Take one of our clients’ favorites: the Vanguard International Growth Fund. This fund has expenses of only 0.48%--less than a third that of similar funds. This fund is one of their Vanguard Top Ten: http://www.amazon.com/Vanguards-Top-Ten-mutual-funds/dp/150073909X

Why we praise Wall Street convicted felons like Belfort—The Wolf of Wall Street?
We all want to be rich. Wall Street TV is giving a huge platform to the person who stole $ millions of hard-earned savings from clients of his brokerage firm 20 years ago. He is getting FREE publicity for his “motivational speaking(?)” US tour so he can earn more $ millions. And he is praised for paying his ill-gotten gains back to those he stole from. Jordan Belfort, The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Comedy | Crime, did some time in the federal “summer camps,” and is now doing self-promotion. Why don’t we praise the bank robbers when they get out of jail? Is it class or race or just envy .

GOP crazies
A grand jury indicted Gov. Rick Perry on two felony counts, charging that he abused his power last year when he tried to pressure the district attorney here, a Democrat, to step down by threatening to cut off state financing to her office. The indictment hurts Mr. Perry’s run for Republican nominee. Perry is charged with abusing his official capacity and coercing a public servant, according to Michael McCrum, the special prosecutor assigned to the case. The long-simmering case has centered on Mr. Perry’s veto power as governor. His critics asserted that he used that power as leverage to try to get an elected official — Rosemary Lehmberg, the district attorney in Travis County — to step down after her arrest on a drunken-driving charge last year.

Christie out of NJ more than in it
NJ taxpayers are paying through the nose to keep their Gov. on the road. His admirers are living in GOP states these days. He will be in MS, ME, AL pushing for media exposure. NJ voters wish him well. They expect no more $1 million bridge whitewash reports.

GOP Gov says “my wife made me do it”
Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell took the stand Wednesday in his public corruption trial and wasted no time distancing himself from his wife. The Republican told the court that the day after he won the governor’s office in 2009, while dealing with post-election phone calls, he could tell that his wife, Maureen, “wasn’t as happy as I was about the result.” She worked hard during the campaign, Bob McDonnell said, “but at the same time, I could sense some tension about her impending role as first lady.” The McDonnells are both accused of trading government favors for about $165,000 worth of gifts and loans from a supplement promoter.
 

Dem crazies
LA Officials to Consider Reward Lottery in Low Voter Turnout "Crisis"
Citywide voter turnout in last year's mayoral election was 23 percent, the city Ethics Commission says. Each vote is chance at $100,000.

Which cars are dependable?
Lexus products had the best ranking because they averaged 68 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100). Mercedes-Benz took second with an average of 104 PP100, and Cadillac was third with 107 PP100. General Motors, Toyota and Honda had the most category winners. The study asked 41,000 original owners of 2011 model-year vehicles after three years of ownership. Millionaires buy used luxury—2011 Lexus costs about $21,000 in NJ. Least dependable vehicles are new or poorly designed: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2012/10/the-10-least-reliable-cars/index.htm

State Farm repairs are dangerous
"State Farm has created a culture of unsafe business practices in which consumer vehicle repairs are performed with cost-savings as the primary goal, rather than safety and reliability," Caldwell said a press conference announcing the lawsuit filed in 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge. Louisiana is the first state to file such a lawsuit but "it's a national problem," Caldwell said, and he expects other states to file similar lawsuits. He said using "after-market or junkyard parts" is dangerous because they often don't fit right or are damaged, so a second collision could result in major injuries to vehicle occupants.

Will your vehicle be stolen? Honda 5 times more likely than Toyota
For 2013, the most stolen vehicles in the nation were (total thefts in parentheses): Honda Accord (53,995), Honda Civic (45,001), Chevrolet Pickup (Full Size) (27,809), Ford Pickup (Full Size) (26,494), Toyota Camry (14,420), Dodge Pickup (Full Size) (11,347), Dodge Caravan (10,911), Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee (9,272), Toyota Corolla (9,010), and Nissan Altima (8,892).
Thieves go for easy work NOT more expensive!?!

SCAMS           Why are we still paying $700 Billion a year for WWII deployments?
We are paying for 164,253 of our active-duty armed personnel to be in 150 countries around the world. We have about 50,000 in Japan and 50,000 in Germany.
Are we preparing for WWII again? There are 1,208,083[1] armed personnel in the United States. Our taxes pay for about HALF of the WORLD’s military expenditures every year. We have wasted $398.6 billion so far on the F-35 program—they can’t fly safely.
We just can’t afford to pay for everyone else’s defenses anymore.
Japan, Germany and S. Korea can pay for their own defenses.

Mortgage mess created--no banker jail time—only $16 B, mostly lawyer pay
The people who made the mess—thousands of empty homes and bank accounts for working people—got bonuses and no jail time. Bank American’s stupid purchase of Countrywide after the crash has cost a bundle plus $16 B to settle liability (for lawyers). Little goes to those hurt financially not to mention all the lost homes sitting in mold etc. States want to demolish the properties now after they can’t be renovated and sold. What ever happened to sweat equity—give them to Habitat for Humanity for those in need?

Is user ID/password use not worth the effort anymore?
Thieves have ours already? 1.2 billion unique usernames and passwords and 542 million email addresses were reportedly stolen from 420,000 websites, according to The New York Times. The websites ranged from Fortune 500 companies down to small online retailers.

“Science fiction” in the making?
Russian scientists say they discovered plankton while studying samples from the exterior of the ISS — samples they only found because they were doing a routine cleaning of the ISS' windows. Scientists are now baffled about how these marine organisms made their way into space. How can they live in extreme cold and no oxygen? Maybe the Russians brought the cleaning cloth from home?

IAN
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