Showing posts with label bank fees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bank fees. Show all posts

Friday, October 6, 2023

Which portfolio is the best for you now?

 

Our ‘Representatives’ let the rich pay less tax than we pay

A married couple making $200,000 a year could end up paying higher tax rates than a person making $200 million a year. That is the conclusion we see from analyzing the 15 top income earners. Some pay nothing just like the most profitable corporations. Who makes the rules that make the American progressive tax system a lie? They are the people we elect who take campaign funds (bribes) from these same wealthy folks. As one of the wealthy admitted: "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes." When our Reps create systems that help wealthy folks hide their income, the tax rules can’t be used. The rich have no earned  ‘income’ to tax. They hide their assets in legal entities that can’t be taxed by any method. Meanwhile working people pay about 32.9% total tax. We can’t avoid SS, Medicare, property, Fed and state income taxes. We can’t hide from taxes since we don’t have dummy corporations, trusts, oversees entities and many other legal tricks. For instance, Jeff Bezos with $177 BILLION net worth had so little ‘income’ in a couple of recent years that he was able to pay $0 in federal income taxes in those periods. Our Congress creates loopholes so the rich have NO income—so no taxes—and never get audited. For instance, they can live on a loan financed by their assets. Loan income isn’t taxed: a $ billion asset can produce $100 million a year. The IRS can’t even figure out their schemes. We live under “socialism for the rich.”  We pay for the airports, highways, sports teams, courts, police, military, subsidies they use. They pay little.

https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Socialism-Rich-little-people/dp/1535218584

 

When to start taking your Social Security benefits?

Use this free calculator to maximize your benefits: https://opensocialsecurity.com/. There are a lot of issues in this decision for some people. SS benefits are usually taxable. For others like myself, I had to begin early because I could find no work in my career field. For others like my wife who was still working and building her final pension, the wait till age 70 was a way to increase her benefits to the maximum—about $1 million. Your situation is unique and this decision is worth between $500,000 to $1,000,000 in income over a lifetime. Get help using free sources, including a visit to your local SS office or pay a fee-only financial planner to help you calculate all your income sources and potential tax situations. A commission or paid-fee sales person may not provide the best unbiased advice. Always get a second opinion if a certain product is recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Do-Numbers-Creating-Retirement/dp/1502775522

 

How much tax did you have to pay for Twitter?

Musk bought Twitter with loans instead of selling his stock. He paid no taxes by using his ownership of Tesla to get the loan. You and I would need to pay capital gains tax if we sold our new car to buy an older car. When people buy a car from him, you and I give Musk a $7,500 subsidy—total $7,021,290,000 on 936,172 sales in 2021. Despite selling all those cars, Tesla paid nothing in taxes on a record profit of $5.5 billion in 2021. You and I pay more taxes/national debt since Tesla paid nothing. Elon Musk's net worth has surpassed $300 billion but he pays taxes at a rate much lower than ours. Elon Musk paid less than $70,000 in federal income taxes between 2015 and 2017, and he did not pay anything in 2018, according to recent reports. But even though we helped Elon pay for another asset he owns, we will receive nothing except paying for his avoidance of taxes. We and our kids will pay for the subsidies over time as we pay off the national debt. When people sue Musk for his mistakes, we pay for his use of court and judges from the taxes we pay and he doesn’t. It is a great system for the wealthy and powerful.

Avoid paying the taxes he should pay: https://www.amazon.com/Tax-Shelter-Avoid-taxes/dp/1985448300

 

Tax-refund Millionaire-- https://www.irs.gov/refunds

Most people spend their tax refund—your refund could be a retirement nest egg

Michele had trouble saving. She seemed to always be waiting for her next paycheck. She never had enough to save for a rainy day like her Mom did. She used to make about $35,000 as a shop manager but with federal, social security, Medicare and state taxes, unemployment, disability, and health insurance, she was not able to put anything away for retirement. Years ago, her local tax preparer suggested she use her tax refund to create a retirement fund. Usually Michele would use her refund to pay bills or buy something special. The tax preparer said that if she agreed to start an IRA with $2,000 of her refund, she would be able to increase her refund—Uncle Sam would help her save. The amount she invested would reduce her income and make her refund larger. The $2,000 could grow over time, if she left it in stock mutual funds in her IRA account. Over time, it has grown large enough that she will have enough for retirement.

I will help you start in 1 hour: https://www.amazon.com/Tax-Refund-Millionaires-Let-Uncle-Help/dp/149595644X

 

Which portfolio is the best for you now?
We are entering a time of high inflation and higher interest rates. What your advisor should be emphasizing now is a broadly diversified portfolio. Some advisors are pushing crypto for retirement even thought crypto is a speculative asset. Crypto may sell TV time but beware the dangers. Stocks are necessary because they are the most likely to overcome inflation in the long run. When interest rates are rising, fixed rate bonds are going to decrease in value. The bonds you can buy today will provide less interest in the future so few will want them and they will be reduced in price. When you compare the potential value of commercial real estate, you will hold on to your REITs. Commodities have been on a wild run recently with the Vanguard Index hitting 56% for 1 year. This fund represents a potential hedge against inflation risk and as further diversification for a traditional stock/bond portfolio. Keeping your money in a portfolio with a set of low-cost funds may be the best way to deal with the current uncertainty. No advisor can know the future so controlling your costs and taxes may be the best choice for now and the future. Learn yourself and save.

https://www.amazon.com/Millionaire-Mutual-Funds-Save-taxes/dp/1534939490

 

Annuity substitute

The annuity industry is pushing for Congress to have your employer include these expensive products in your 401k retirement options. Instead of moving your money to an IRA and taking the money for retirement income monthly, you would pay an insurance company extra to send you a monthly check. Employers used to offer a pension that you could count on to never run out of money. In return for your loyalty working for your company for 20-40 years, your boss would make sure you had income for the rest of your life. Sometimes employers even continued paying your spouse and included health care too: no longer. Since the 1980s, employers took the money for pensions and increased payout for senior management and stockholders. Employers passed the expense and investment risk to working people. Managements were still guaranteed their $ millions. The employees were given a couple of bucks to invest without knowing about investing. Most have done a poor job of guaranteeing a living retirement income. Employers are happy to pass on the responsibility to the insurance industry by encouraging workers to pay more for an annuity. The selling point is lifetime guaranteed income—but at a much smaller amount.

Consider annuity alternatives: https://www.amazon.com/Best-Annuity-Strategy-Income-Growth/dp/1497532019

 

A cost-effective emergency fund

If you own your home with some equity, you can set up an emergency fund at no cost. If you had an emergency expense like medical emergency surgery that was not covered by your health plan, where would you get the money? Would you go to your family, a 25% credit card, or file bankruptcy? A low-cost alternative would be a HELOC—a home equity line of credit. At the current 4% interest, you would be able to handle your emergency now and pay back the self-loan at your own pace and avoid overpaying for interest. HELOC amounts are tied to the equity in your home, a good credit rating and home appraisal. There are no closing, administrative or lawyer costs—little or no out of pocket costs until you use your line. Save $3,000 on fees, commissions, overcharges. Save $3,000 a year: https://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Guides-Discount-Financial-Services/dp/143480593X

 

 

 

********ACCOUNTABILITY**************?

 

 

Like 1776, this period is a test of democracyWe rejected an "American fascist" once

 

 

The Path to Dictatorship: 2010-2030

 

Parallels of this era in the past may hint at our future: democracy breaks apart legally

 

 

Jan 21 2010 Corpor­a­tions’ election-spending unlim­ited

Billionaires paid $881 million for votes in 2022 midterm elections

 

Nov 2020 Wealthy discredit election process

 

Nov 21 2020 Trump’s Plans for a Coup: criminal

 

Nov 21 2020: Trump plan: US Marshals seize voting machines

 

Jan 6 2021 Direct govt overthrow failed: guns & bombs ready

 

Trump engaged in a "criminal conspiracy" to stop Biden

 

I don’t f—ing care that they have weapons

 

Trump was “detached from reality”

 

Trump used mafia-style intimidation on the defenseless

 

Trump still terrorizing election woman

 

Parscale: “a sitting president asking for civil war.”

 

Trump: “Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me” 

 

GOP fascism: “RINO hunt armed; no bagging limitJ6 comm threat

 

January 6, 2021A date which will live in infamy

 

Trump’s Supremes END personal rights & state laws except for weapons WMDs

 

Fascism: GOP to stop women leaving state for abortion

 

It’s not a court. It’s a junta: Two Americas

 

Trump: President Biden is 'enemy of the state'

 

Christian Nationalist Party (CNP) replaces GOP

 

Nov 8 2022 Trump’s “national revolution” failed

 

Nov 15 2022 Trump announces for 2024 to avoid lawsuits

 

Dec 3 2022 Trump: cancel Constitution rules so ‘I win

 

Mar 11 2023 Pence straddles his place in history

 

Mar 31 2023 Trump indicted misusing election money

 

Apr 7 2023 One GOP guy decided which drugs we can use

 

Apr 9 Illustrated Anne Frank book removed by Florida school

 

Apr 21 Trump: “I am your justice

 

May 9 Trump guilty of sexual abuse

 

Jun 8 Trump indicted by the United States of America

Violation of the Espionage Act

Conspiracy to obstruct justice

Making false statements 

 

Aug 1 2023 Trump indicted by the United States of America

Conspiracy to defraud the United States

Conspiracy to obstruct Congressional proceeding

Obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding

Conspiracy against right to vote

 

 

Attempted coup d'état by any other name

 

350+ people have been sentenced to jail or prison.

 

 

Trump and His Gang Get the Mob Treatment

 

Aug 4  “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”

 

Mobster #1 Enrique Tarrio gets 22 years 

Mobster Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years

Mobster Ethan Nordean gets 18 years

Mobster Dominic Pezzola sentenced to 10 years

 

 

 

Aug 14 2023 Trump & 18 indicted by the State of Georgia

 

VIOLATION OF THE GEORGIA RICO (RACKETEER INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS) ACT SOLICITATION OF VIOLATION OF OATH BY PUBLIC OFFICER

CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT INIPERSONATIN PUBLIC OFFICER FIRST DEGREE

CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT FALSE STATEMENTS AND WRITINGS

CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT FALSE DOCUMENTS

FORGERY IN THE FIRST DEGREE

CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT FALSE STATEMENTS AND WRITINGS

FILING FALSE DOCUMENTS

SOLICITATION OF VIOLATION OF OATH BY PUBLIC OFFICER

FALSE STATEMENTS AND WRITINGS

SOLICITATION OF VIOLATION OF OATH BY PUBLIC OFFICER

FALSE STATEMENTS AND WRITINGS

 

 

Aug 24 2023 The Don, Racketeer: GA jailhouse real ‘mug’ shot

 

Oct 2 2023  Kelly, Trump’s staff, confirms Trump called our veterans/wounded soldiers “suckers

 

 

 

 

 

Jan 2025 Dictator pardons himself: his Supremes agree

 

 

How Govt wastes our money:

1.4 million wealthy Americans failed to file returns: $66 billion we pay for them

9:30: Congress votes to avert shutdown for 45 days—do it again Nov 17

4% extremists rule/shut gov: helps ‘wannabe dictator’ become President Germany

 

Collecting rocks from Mars costs $11billion: too much!

NASA's vision for homes on Moon by 2040: but human body can’t take it

 

 

SCAMS/SPINS:

Garland: “one law for all”—Trump threatens Milley with DEATH!  But no arrest?

Trump Sharing Submarine Secrets Rocks Defense Community

 

New iPhone also doubles as an expensive hand warmer automatically

phone-notifications-are-messing-with-our-brain

 

 708,000 Ford SUVs probed over catastrophic engine failures tied to a faulty valve

Chase Bank Customers Report Account Glitches, Again

Morgan Stanley raising prices in 2024: advisors and firm taking bigger cuts

 

Video promoting dental plan with AI version of me.” It is not me, Tom Hanks' said.

If you Claim Social Security Early, Take These Steps to Avoid TAX Surprises

Beware: improper deductions for art donations: promoter’s exaggerate

 

Scam: Robo Portfolios Vary Widely for Same Client Profile: Morningstar

 

Cody Robert Roos caught falsifying clients’ documents: 4 month suspension

Tony Barouti LA caught selling GWG bonds (defaulting) $7.85 million in complaints

 

Jobs

Heart disease twice as likely among men doing unrewarding work

Teacher shortfall: teachers still earn about 17% less than well-educated workers.

If immigrant labor were eliminated from the dairy industry, price of milk would double

 

The UAW strike targets Three automakers, but suppliers are feeling the pain

jobs.interestingengineering.com/

How to Find Jobs at Small Companies

 

Keep meetings on target:

Think small. Don't be afraid of micro-meetings.

Break habits. Many of us schedule 30-minute meetings but really think about how much time is needed for your catch-up.

Be punctual. Conversation about what's on the docket or what you had for lunch should stop at the meeting's scheduled start time. This also signals to all the attendees that you value their time.

Present with purpose. Six slides (with few words, clear points and color!) is a good rule of thumb.

Include everyoneWhether you're leading the group or are an attendee, make an effort to bring in the thoughts and ideas of quieter participants.

 

70% of employees say they've lied on their resumes

 

Who owns your account now?

Medicare Open Enrollment starts October 15! Review drug and health cover to ‘24.

Oct. 16 tax filing extension deadline nears for millions of taxpayers

New covid vaccine: https://www.vaccines.gov/ free to millions

 

Social Security rules on kids’ benefits

Best stock index funds/ETFs: best-u-s-stock-index-funds-morningstar/

Five lifestyle choices for longevity: stress, movement, sleep, connected, think positive

Ozempic: weight-loss drugs could hurt demand for high-calorie, high-fat. sugary foods

 

Your pension outsourced: Most corporations with defined benefit plans to transfer out

Creative Planning acquired a Philadelphia-area firm, Kistler-Tiffany Advisors

Edelman Financial Engines has acquired Align Wealth Management

 

Miracles:

Catholic Church uses legal trick to avoid response to 600 sex abuse victims: 150 clergy

Pope Francis created 21 new cardinals in the field who will help enact his reforms

Thousands of Fish, Dolphins Dying in the Amazon as Water Temperatures Soar

 

Planet’s average temperature broke the previous September record

England is now “the most difficult place to find a home in the developed world”

Homo sapiens already had a foothold in North America during the Ice Age.

 

 

 

 

 

@

 

Our Universe is Mind-Blowing

Light is both a particle and a wave depending on how we look at the light.

I don’t think that there is any such thing as a position or a velocity of a particle.

Everything (galaxies to stones) in universe made of subatomic energy ‘vibrations’

A subatomic ‘particle’ is the smallest possible vibration (quantum) of a quantum field.

A ‘particle’ is an event; not an objective thing. This event is set of complex relationships.

 

Mass–energy equivalence: E=mc^2.  At the smallest level; Everything is moving

Energy into matter: scientists converted light energy directly into matter in one step

In place of atomic lattice, light waves used to create an optical lattice with same geometry

Physics Nobel Prize: “entanglement” 2 particles share info instantly at a distance

Quantum mechanics violates local realism: two objects behave as single system at distance

 

“It may be that gravity and quantum mechanics are exactly the same thing,” Leonard Susskind

Gravity might induce the collapse of quantum vibrations into 1 quantum state—our world

Strange state of physics that allows energy to flow frictionlessly through a material

Bending light from extreme gravity reveals largest black hole so far

Curved SpaceTime: heavy masses and simultaneously quantum effects become visible

There is no TIME at this level because of force fields come and go in all directions. 

Universe expanding: events may not come together like they did before: created our time.

Our planetary system: rarest system: only 1% of all systems with same number of planets

 

Stars fueled by the self-annihilation of dark matter might have been spotted for the first time by JWST

Inside protons, neutrons, it is the fields of the virtual particles that creates its mass.

Gold made from neutron stars: collisions produce more neutrons:79 protons,118 neutrons

The proton is so complicated science still finds new energy entities/forces every year.

 

“Empty space is a boiling, bubbling brew of virtual particles that pop in and out of existence in a time scale so short that you can’t even measure them.” Space expanding.

New method to study systems with long-range interactions: previously puzzling experts

The electricity we use comes from the field around the wire not from electron itself.

 

Scientists build 'baby' wormhole as sci-fi moves closer to fact: inside quantum computer

starts-with-a-bang/universe-expansion-not-accelerating/

Physicists knew black holes eventually disappear particle by particle. Now they think everything else does, too.

Astronomers discover raw materials for life are present all across the Universe: methyl cation

 

 

@

We can apply for Medicare online: https://blog.ssa.gov/apply-for-medicare-online

We can apply for Social Security online: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/

We can apply for health care online: https://www.healthcare.gov/

 

IAN

973.746.2014

http://www.theinsidersguides.com/ 

Alerts available at http://dankeppel.blogspot.com/ No AI used in these comments

 

 

Friday, October 19, 2018

Did the Trump tax cut for corporations bring all profits home from overseas?


Did the Trump tax cut for corporations bring all profits home from overseas?
Most businesses are continuing with business as usual when it comes to their valuable intellectual property since the tax law’s provisions aren’t enticing enough for them to keep it at home, according to experts who advise large public companies. It means that other countries ultimately get to collect the billions of dollars of tax revenue generated by many U.S.-made innovations, including life-saving drugs, the algorithms that power social media networks, and the software running computers and smartphones. Apple for instance is still parking its profits in the tiny island off the coast of France. So Trump’s promise of bringing the tax revenue back the US to pay for the huge breaks to individuals like himself has not happened. In fact, all of Trump’s tax cuts have not spurred any growth in tax revenue—tax breaks DO NOT pay for themselves. We taxpayers, who do not have a way to dodge taxes by moving our assets to a foreign country, will have to pay for the wealthy tax breaks eventually. The average tax rates paid by the very wealthiest has fallen in recent years from a peak of 24.1% in 2013 to 22.9 on 2016. For the top 1%, the rate has fallen a full four percentage points below the 26.9%. The deficit is 18% greater than last year!! We can’t spend more than we make and survive.

  
What about your mental fitness—a gym for your brain?
Everyone gets in a rut. ‘Rut-living’ means brain power is reduced—your brain cells are not called to work and so they don’t stay fit. Result: Not Good. Remember the nun study—expanding mental tasks decreased the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Exercise of brain power is necessary just like physical exercise. Focus – avoiding distractions to the mind – seems the first step. I can’t learn how to do my own taxes or how to invest wisely (learn a new language) without FOCUS. Training the brain to stay on one task at a time is hard work like working up to a 10K run. I assume I will need all the brain power I can muster for the decisions about making my money last. First, I take small lists of things I want to do and put them on my calendar. Next, I break the job down into parts and tackle one at a time. No skipping ahead. I set a time. I don’t stop to answer the phone or check email/texts. I take courses that help me FOCUS on the goal. There are many around.

Younger generation does not need financial industry any more
Survey respondents were risk averse and skeptical of the financial planning and investment industries in a survey of 1,000 affluent millennials with at least $50,000 in net worth or $100,000 in annual income. Why? Affluent millennials are still most likely to be do-it-yourself investors, with 35% claiming that they make all their own financial decisions without any help or advice. Another 27% said they consult financial professionals for affirmation, but continue to make their own decisions. Only 15% of affluent millennials retain a professional money manager. According to the survey, 77% view the financial system as rigged to favor the rich and powerful at the expense of ordinary people like them. Millennials also don’t trust recommendations from advisors working on commission: 80% said that they were suspicious of the commission revenue model in the financial services industry. Things have changed since I worked—good!

Trump’s ‘advisor’ Jared paid little tax using the same shelter as The Don
How do you shield yourself from paying your fair share of tax? The Don’s son in law used the same method: tell the IRS you lost money on real estate ventures. The losses were driven by depreciation, a tax benefit that lets real estate investors deduct a portion of the cost of their buildings from their taxable income every year. In 2015, for example, Mr. Kushner took home $1.7 million in salary and investment gains. But those earnings were swamped by $8.3 million of ‘losses’, largely because of “significant depreciation” that Mr. Kushner and his company took on their real estate, according to the documents reviewed by The Times. Not illegal now but the depreciation deduction often represents a lucrative giveaway to developers like Mr. Trump and Mr. Kushner. Its enormous flexibility allows real estate investors to determine their own tax bills. They pay nothing! 

Why are some states restricting voting?
Why do some in GOP want to stop people voting?  Democracy is about voting, isn’t it? GA is stopping 53,000 people from registering. Since the 2010 election, 23 states have adopted new restrictions on voting, such as stricter voter ID laws, cutbacks to early voting, and aggressive purging of voter rolls. This week, the Supreme Court upheld a voter ID law in North Dakota that could prevent thousands of Native Americans from voting, and the Associated Press reported that Georgia is blocking 53,000 voter registration applications, 70% of which are from African Americans. Some states are making it easier for people to vote and harder for states to gerrymander political districts. There are more Dems than GOP so I assume GOP wants to keep the Dems from voting like in GA. TX has gerrymandered districts so all the Dems are in a few districts.
Make America democratic again! Vote for your future, not the past.

Are your 401k or 403b fees taking 63% of your future nest egg?
You may be giving up more than HALF your future retirement income to fees your employer loads into your retirement plan. Some have even been taking kickbacks from the company that runs your mutual fund choices. Some even go to the head of the company alone. Unfortunately, Washington University in St. Louis has beaten a lawsuit by employees participating in the school's 403(b) plan. One analysis shows that if you pay excessive fees for record keeping and investment management you can give up 63% of your potential total savings over time. WOW that is a lot. The answer is switch to an IRA at a low-cost mutual fund firm. You could earn 10-12% instead of 6-8%.

Make your tax refund larger BEFORE December 31
Tax changes you need to know before end of year MAY help increase your refund. You can no longer deduct alimony if divorced after Jan 2019 so finish by Dec so your future payments remain deductible to payer and income to recipient. Medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of AGI are generally deductible. Beginning in 2019, qualified medical expenses will have to exceed 10% of AGI to be deductible. You might want to prepay in 2018 to take the full deduction. Many middle income folks will not itemize since the standard deduction doubled. There is no penalty for canceling medical insurance, so more and more healthy people choose to be uninsured as premiums escalate. The result may be more bankruptcies from medical bills when a illness or accident strikes. If you are one who decides to go ‘naked’ find a bare bones comprehensive policy to avoid the worst disaster.



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Make America, “The Don”, Great Again

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

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Trump snags 1 of 5.7 millionillegal’ voters and nets $200; costs $6,000 to prosecute.
Governments blame each other for lack of help to Michael victims: water sits in PR dock


SCAMS/SPINS:

Fidelity sued by 401k participants: excessive fees and poor returns.
Bank fees devastating to some workers: $2,000 out of pay of $30,000 is excessive.

Bruce Fixelle NJ Aurora caught promising safe new company trading stole $3 million.
Dawn Bennett stole $20 million in Ponzi ‘hoodoo spell’ scheme gets 20 years.
Decoding the electric car sales pitch—what works and what doesn’t in electrics.

Drug prices: 5 common generics—SHOP and SAVE either $66 or $928.  

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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.
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Jobs:

Who owns your account now?

Miracle:

IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
MontclairNJ   07042
973.746.2014
Alerts

Friday, August 3, 2018

Is $1,000 advisor fee too much?


Is $1,000 advisor fee too much?
Many investors are happy to pay their advisors $1,000 a year in fees for the satisfaction of having a human to call when they panic. But everything is relative as they say. The average investor balance is about $96,000 but the median is only 27,000. Some wealthy people have $ millions in their 401k. An expense of 3.8% is just over the inflation rate so most of us are not making money. Our advisor is eating our lunch AND dinner. On the other hand, if you have $600,000 in your retirement accounts, $1000 sounds about right. That is 0.16% and assures you of a growing nest egg for almost any asset mix. Some Robos charge 0.25 and Vanguard’s human charges 0.30%. The larger your account, the smaller percentage you need. Since we are worried about OUR future not our advisor, total fees during our lifetimes should be less than 0.5%. If we pay 2% or more, we give up 63% of our total potential nest egg. It is our money. We take all the risk and we need every cent for the future escalating costs.

Is Fidelity’s ZERO fee mutual fund right for you?
Your advisor is probably squirming in their chair today. No fee is the final stage of the price war Vanguard set in motion years ago. Fidelity’s two new funds will have an expense ratio of zero and require no minimum investment. Compared to 0.14% and 0.09% (9 basis point) costs of the equivalent “Total Stock Market” index funds of Vanguard and Charles Schwab, that gets attention. The average cost of US bond and equity funds has slipped from 0.76 per cent and 0.99 per cent respectively in 2000 to 0.48 per cent and 0.59 per cent last year, according to the Investment Company Institute. Investment groups can still make some money from zero-cost funds thanks to the revenue they get from lending out the shares they own to short-sellers, a practice known as securities lending. However, they need huge deposits to make up for the lost fees. Since Fido is owned by the Johnson family they can probably use the loss leaders for a while. However, legal disclaimers say they could up the fees or other charges at any time. Your money is still being handled by a profit-seeking manager. Vanguard funds are owned by the investors themselves so investors lower costs by ending inefficiencies like small account paperwork. They pay only $200 a year on half a million dollars for support.

How is your spending plan? Meeting goals?
I know there is no ‘average family’ when it comes to spending. We are all different so it is instructive to look at what others spend for the same things. Averages from Labor Bureau are 2.5 people family; 1.3 were wage-earners earning $74,664 with 1.9 vehicles. 62% owned homes, going down. They spent $57,311: Food 12.6% with HALF spent on meals at home, but going down. Home 33% going down. Transport: 15.8--$755 a month—new vehicles? Apparel and services: 3% going down. Healthcare 8% going up; Entertainment 5% going up; Contributions 3.6%; Pension & SS 11.9% going up. Misc 4%. Taxes were not in the survey but gross-net=$17,353 or 23%.

Are the new short-term health plans right for you?
Trump promised to replace Obamacare with “something terrific.” Trump’s mob has just completed rules that let insurers offer a new kind of health insurance. So-called short-term plans will be offered for relatively longer periods — just under a year at a time, with renewals for up to 36 months. They are cheap. Cheaper than the Obamacare plans—for good reason: They tend to cover fewer medical services than comprehensive insurance, and they will charge higher prices to people with pre-existing health problems, if they’ll cover them at all. In three months, who will buy these plans? Young healthy folks who are short on cash or those in between jobs are the users and they have always been the target. However, an accident or illness can strike anytime. Trump has made the plans renewable so he can claim we have it cheaper, better “terrific”. Sickness not covered.

New ways the wealthy avoid their fair share of taxes
Though President Trump’s tax law increases the amount that can be passed to heirs, these thresholds expire in 2025—if a new federal administration doesn’t change them first. Wealthy people might look to longer-lasting vehicle to pass on wealth: dynasty trusts. With a dynasty trust a taxpayer transfers assets to the trust. The trust assets move from generation to generation with no corresponding payment of taxes. America ends up with a class society even though the upper class hates to admit it. Since the trusts can foot the bills of the next generation without taxes, we have to make up the loss of govt revenue since the rich use the courts, police, military, roads, airports, etc. As long as the estate tax and generation-skipping transfer tax GST lifetime exemptions of $22.36 million per couple are applied to the assets placed in the trust, the assets and their growth are out of the estate of the grantor and they can pass to multiple generations free of taxes. 
Use your tax credits to avoid paying their tax: https://www.amazon.com/Tax-Credit-Class-your-credits-ZERO/dp/1539462382

How is your Wall Street guru doing these days?
If you are looking for a STAR who will consistently beat the market—any market—you will need to keep looking. Popular myth says that consistent high performance over time indicates skilled active management. However, you probably are not with a fund that performed well across three- and five-year periods, according to “Does Past Performance Matter? The Persistence Scorecard,” a July 2018 report by S&P Dow Jones Indices. Famous investor Warren Buffett recently won a $1 million bet that proved it is almost impossible to find the 1 or 2 out of 557 funds that beats a low-cost index fund. Fixed income vehicles are little better. So is ‘skilled management’ just Wall Street hype to entice us to move our money around? More ordinary investors are coming to that conclusion. Many studies show that understanding all the variables of a company’s success is just not possible—even for expensive computer software. Plus, there is the unknown future. The one consistent factor: low-cost funds beat high cost funds.

Do you take all the deductions for your small business?
Most small businesses are headquartered in the home. Yet fear of audit keeps many law-abiding taxpayers from taking home office deduction. Unless you measure every square inch of space used exclusively for it, your business is missing the $1,500 deduction. That is the recognized IRS amount for home businesses using the simplified method. Make sure you are taking your fair share of deductions. Don’t rely on your accountant to explain them all. There are just too many.
Reading is fundamental.

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 firms can deduct from their taxes. The rich get richer. We have to pay for the courts, police, military, roads, airports, etc. US firms use but don’t pay for. Trump sold the cuts as a way to dissuade companies from moving profits overseas. The cuts may make moving profits a lot more rewarding. For example, pharma firm AbbVie (Humira) told investors it expects its tax rate to fall to 9% from 22% because of the change. Many profitable firms have moved their patents and subsidiaries to low tax countries to accomplish similar tax avoidance schemes. Bermuda has a zero tax rate on corporate profits. Despite recording over half its $28.2 billion in 2017 sales in the US and basing most of its research facilities there, AbbVie has never ‘reported’ a profit in the US. They all do it: Pfizer Expedia Boston Scientific Microsoft.  

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Make America, “The Don”, Great Again


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

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Last GOP govt shutdown cost us $24 billions.

Trump’s cut in capital gains means $100 billion less: King not Congress decides taxes.



SCAMS/SPINS:
Trump’s Ed Sec pushing Private Schools Home Schooling but not better than Public
Trump snows farmers with fake news on EU soy deal Farmers upset about loss of market

Trump’s people watching you if you use toilet, cell, computer, sweat, passport, on plane
Red light cameras don’t reduce traffic accidents: causes more rear-enders to avoid ticket.

21% taxpayers will owe more in taxes in 2019 due to change in deduction cuts. Deficit up
Trump’s wealthy friends got a tax shield from the federal estate tax; did you?
Trump goes around Congress cut gains taxes. Constitution says Congress lays taxes.

NKorea "no longer a Nuclear Threat" –  Putin not hacking’ -- Trump’s real ‘fake news’
Trump national socialism beliefs & theory to keep base occupied while democracy dies


               police shoot owner who already shot intruder. All kids have plastic killer guns?

Jobs:
Small business owners’ profits and savings up; wage earners take the hit from stagnation
Trump gives civil service jobs to his supporters/donors.

Jobs abound but where are the raises: time to find a better deal

Who owns your account now?
Travel sites are all owned by two firms: oligopoly; not competition
Last time GOP shut down govt; Social Security still paid on time.
Cure for SS benefit shortfall in 2034More immigrants who work

Best Brokerage Bonus for the Brokers/Advisors: Where are the clients’ yachts
Best Bonus Miles Card: Use anywhere but watch the fees

Best Bank Bonus: $300 for new checking but watch the fees

                                                  
Miracle:

Pope says killing is wrong even by the state; priests kill innocent children’s virtue.

IAN
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