New ways the wealthy avoid taxes that we have to pay
for them
The Trump
tax breaks did not reduce the amount the well off can deduct from their
taxes. The
rich get richer. We have to make up the loss of govt revenue since the rich
use the courts, police, military, roads, airports, etc. They
can deduct the amount they give their own charitable foundation and have the
foundation buy the things they like to have. If they like old cars, old
bicycles, old antiques, art of any type, they have their foundation charge it. They
can control when they let others see their stuff too. There are a growing
number of private tax-exempt exhibition spaces that use this model. As the founder,
they can deduct the full market value of any art, cash and stocks they ‘donate,’
even when the museums are just a quick stroll from their living room. “I think
these types of deals do not follow the intent, even if they follow the letter,
of the law,” said Rebecca Wilkins, senior counsel on federal tax policy at
the Institute on
Taxation and Economic Policy. Robert Storr, dean of the
Yale School of Art, worries that some collectors are exploiting a legal
loophole without fulfilling a broader mission of education or research. It is
unlikely that the IRS will get tough since its boss uses his foundation in this
manner—his
foundation buys his own portraits to put in his own businesses. Private
foundations may be the biggest scams ever. US
is home to many tax havens like this.
Avoid paying wealthy people’s taxes: https://www.amazon.com/Trump-Tax-Shelter-Avoid-taxes/dp/1985448300
Why do we pay tax on Social Security Benefits?
Taxpayers who receive income besides SS benefits may
have noticed that they must add some of their income
from SS to their taxable income on line 20b of Form1040 or 14b of Form 1040a. For
those working and receiving benefits, up to 85% of the benefits may be taxable
income. Why do we pay tax on our benefits since we paid for the benefits (FICA
tax) all our working lives? This is the progressive income tax. Those who have
more income in retirement pay tax on more of their SS benefits. If we wish to
reduce the tax on our income we have to reduce our taxable income. We can do
this starting before or after retirement by funding a tax-FREE trust account at
any financial institution. We can also convert IRA money to this account at the
firm where we have our IRAs. We can convert any part of our IRAs as well as
contribute if we are still working. So whether working or retired, we can make
our long-term savings and investments into income that we no longer pay tax on.
Tax-FREE income means we lower the amount of taxable SS benefits. When we must
begin withdrawing our pension, 401k and IRA money, converting it to tax-FREE
income is one of the ways we can use our withdrawals after age 70 (RMD) if we
don’t need it for expenses.
Check 17 ways to use your RMD: https://www.amazon.com/What-your-RMD-much-spend/dp/1718946716
Are you subject to quarterly estimated income tax
payments?
If you are both retired and receive RMD, pension, SS
benefits, part-time work earnings, or any other income, you may have to pay
what you may owe the IRS each quarter during the year. For example, your
required RMD is $12,000, your pension, SS benefits and $15,000 non-employee job
have no federal and state income taxes withheld for the IRS. You must either
have one or more of them withhold tax or you have to send in the money with Form 1040-ES. The IRS
likes the payments in 4 equal measures. If you receive your income all in one
period—RMD, pension and part time pay all come in December, you will need to
ask for the waiver of penalty on Form 2210 with Schedule AI
on your return. The most common solution is to have one of the payers withhold
and send it each month or quarter.
Plan your retirement spending wisely: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Retirement-Spending-Plan-enough/dp/1461084016
SCAMS: Beware illegal unregistered
securities scheme
Brokerage
firm LPL
was caught selling illegal unregistered securities and not supervising
brokers for years. The Securities Act of 1933 requires that investors receive
valid information about the securities they are sold and that sellers don’t
mislead investors about them. This is accomplished by the registration of all
but govt securities sold by the firm. Various tricks are used to offer these
investments for sale. The firm may have registered a version of the security
but not the one you buy. Remember the 2007-8 mortgage backed security scandal
in which the packages of MBS were put together with little information about
the sub-prime loans inside them. Or consider the Master Limited Partnerships
units being sold by many firms. It is not always clear what is being sold: tax
benefits, timeframe and rights of the limited partners are obscure. Statements
can be altered to make securities look legit. Don’t accept vague promises or
values.
Lesson:
don’t assume your broker is offering you a legal deal if 1) the deal is
great—above the market returns; 2) the firm or broker has a record on BrokerCheck;
or 3) you don’t verify your money went to place your broker claims. In this
case, you can confirm the registration at https://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. Unfortunately,
the industry has little oversight of the supervision of their brokers.
Investors must file for arbitration when they suspect they are mislead or
defrauded. The firm’s culture is all about making money--caveat emptor
and white collar crime is NOT a priority for Sessions
and Trump.
Check all transactions: https://www.amazon.com/Pimps-Wall-Street-money-middlemen/dp/151525254X
Your broker wants commissions
upped with the ‘Fiduciary Rule’ dead
Merrill
announced it may bring back commissions to gouge out seniors’ retirement
money with complicated annuities and other ‘packaged’ products. The reason
Obama instituted the fiduciary rule for salespeople was that unwary
customers were being cheated out of $17 billions. The products
are complicated for a reason—to protect the brokerage firms and the
manufacturers. The regulators have more complaints about annuities
than almost any other product. The Rule is grounded in the procedures used by
trust companies as they administer trusts: do what is best for the
customer NOT for the seller. Thus we had a better chance of learning the
downside to products and the sellers’ conflicts of interest. The most recent
violations: FifthThird
was caught ‘twisting’-- exchanging an annuity they already had commission
from for a new one with new commissions. They claimed the new one had benefits
it did not have. A small fine with ‘no admission of guilt’ means they can commit
fraud “misstatement” “mislead” again and no one goes to jail. Simple is best.
Use the best products for YOU: https://www.amazon.com/Fiduciary-Rule-BEST-dont-anymore/dp/1530980275
New study shows our losses from
trading, fees, taxes vs index fund
After 25 years of study, Research
Affiliates has found that taxes are still the largest drag on investment
returns. Arnott’s research found that the tax and fee burdens of active and factor
funds destroys their ability to beat their benchmarks. Cost matters. In
the period from Jan. 1, 2008 ,
to Dec.
31, 2017 , active funds
outperformed their benchmarks by an average of 0.7 percent gross of fees, but
lost ground to underperform
by 0.4 percent net of fees, underperform by 1.5 percent after internal taxes
before liquidation, and underperform by 1.9 percent after capital gains taxes
post-liquidation. The
internal tax expenses caused by the turnover of active mutual funds still
weighs on investor portfolios. Smart
beta funds, on the other hand, outperformed their indexes from 2008 to 2017
by an average of 1.2 percent gross of fees and 0.6 percent net of fees, but underperformed
by 0.1 percent after taxes pre-liquidation, and by 1 percent after taxes
post-liquidation. Pay less; keep more.
Buffett credits ‘compounding’ for
his huge successes
Buffett’s company, really a mutual
fund, has returned 19%
a year earnings because his assets compound earnings year after year with
little trading. His firm has owned stock in Coke, American Express, Bank America
Make Warren Buffett your advisor: https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffett-Your-Investment-Advisor/dp/1518690963
Unhappy with your auto insurance?
Maybe you are not alone. JD Power asked customers how they felt. Certain states have preferences for sure. Progressive has saturated the TV with cute commercials but their ratings are average. Most regions have a local favorite, beating the national brands.California
Central: Shelter
Florida
Mid-Atlantic:Erie
New
England : Amica Mutual
New York New York
North Central: Auto-Owners Insurance
Northwest: PEMCO Insurance
Southeast: Farm Bureau Insurance—Tennessee
Southwest: CSAA Insurance Group
Texas Texas
Maybe you are not alone. JD Power asked customers how they felt. Certain states have preferences for sure. Progressive has saturated the TV with cute commercials but their ratings are average. Most regions have a local favorite, beating the national brands.
Central: Shelter
Mid-Atlantic:
North Central: Auto-Owners Insurance
Northwest: PEMCO Insurance
Southeast: Farm Bureau Insurance—
Southwest: CSAA Insurance Group
If you are shopping for lowest
cost, remember to ask for the discounts that fit your situation. Sometimes ‘bundling’
auto and home is MORE expensive. Bundle umbrella liability with auto cover to
save. Shopping for auto cover every 2-4 years makes sense because your needs
and the insurers’ needs change. However, in old neighborhoods, home insurers
reward longevity—no claims for years.
Check each discount: https://www.amazon.com/Vehicle-Insurance-Beware-Double-Coverage/dp/1480027634
Get your grandchild started
The combined wealth of
millionaires worldwide topped $70 trillion for the first time in 2017,
according to Capgemini’s World
Wealth Report 2018. The report attributed the rise in wealth (an increase
of 10.6 percent over 2016) to an improving global economy and strong
stock market performance. The number of millionaires also grew 10 percent,
up 1.6 million to 18.1 million. The United States Japan Germany China
****************
Only a criminal
looks to a pardon for a defense
Trump’s Gestapo
ICE troops break into house in front
of kids
TX
deputy sexually assaults immigrant girl taken from Mom
Constitution: no clause
for ‘absolute right’ to pardon
“He speaks and people sit up at attention,” Trump said. “I
want my people to do the same.” Bible has slavery verse too
FBI
finds answers in ‘The Don’s’ consigliore’s office/home/hotel
Trump thinks the govt is ‘conspiring
against him.’
Trump
received money-laundering funds from Russians
(Dictators often
have delusion
they are being attacked by insiders)
Putin’s influence: Manafort,
Flynn, Gates, Page, Stone, Papadopoulos, Sater, Zwaan jailed,
Kilimnik,
Prince,
Jr,
Jared,
Sessions,
Cohen,
Yohai,
Freidman
Manafort
put in jail for witness-tampering: Needs pardon bad!
Putin controls power
utilities, 21 state voting
files, Trump
slush fund, networks
“The
election is going to be rigged—I’m going to be ‘honest’”
Trump can “adjourn
them [Congress] to such Time as he shall think proper.” Art II, Sec 3
Can Trump postpone Nov 2018
election using excuse of Putin meddling needs fixing?
Elections compromised by Russia
Two Americas
4 of 5
Supremes say OK
to seize our cell records showing friends, location, personal data.
Will
Supremes make America a dictatorship? Trump’s appointee Gorsuch is GOP
Middle
class shrinking: wages
for ‘nonsupervisory’ jobs falling even in great market
After large tax cut, workers'
share of corporate income less than in 1958
Men are no longer in the workforce. 31%
vs 14% in 1950 are not contributing.
Number
of products NOT made in America is growing: cheap labor, automation
Trump
lawyer: Russia probe crimes ‘cleaned up with pardons’: criminals he knows!
************************
How Govt wastes our money: Congress
spends $1.3 Trillion we don’t have!
Trump could end
opioid pandemic by closing drug makers and middlemen: orphans grow
Trump’s mob infighting: Cohen
wants Trump to pay his legal fees—RNC out of money?
SCAMS/SPINS:
Ami
Forte Morgan Stanley caught
‘churning’ elderly client account: $34 million award
JPMorganChase
caught
trying to fix interest rate derivative index: $65 million but no jail.
Terry
Lee McCoy Morgan Stanley caught
‘churning’ elderly client $9 million in fees
Richard
Belott Chatham caught
stealing client funds with unregistered promissory notes.
First Nationle Solution, United RL Capital Percipience Global caught:
lied ‘guaranteed returns’
Trump mob
makes money on US decisions before we can—insider trading par excellence
Waiver
from tariffs process allows mass cheating by Trump’s mob/friends/lobbyists
Where American stuff is really made: Sam Adams
beer: old
Schaefer plant, PA
Jobs:
Playing
video games half a day is now a mental illness not an after school job.
ICE
arrest more workers doing jobs Americans won’t take—business bankrupt
Top
firms hire top
health officer to run co-op for employee health: SinglePayor model?
TX
deputy refuses to help herd prisoners like in Gitmo: “I think it’s wrong”
‘unGodly’
Who owns your account now?
FREE
money: Find your old 401k account with help-- pbgc.gov/
or pensionhelp.org/
Get robo
call from your own mobile? Or ‘neighbor’ you never called? They steal any
#.
Can we trust Ari
Melber to explain the legal case against POTUS? Steele?
Miracle:
How can Dems lose election? GOP
stands with separation of children into cages
Evangelicals
back immoral acts of Trump: What would Jesus do?
IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
973.746.2014
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