Showing posts with label derivatives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label derivatives. Show all posts

Friday, May 18, 2018

What to do with your RMD: 17 alternatives


What to do with your RMD: How much will you spend?
Your RMD or required minimum distribution is the amount the IRS calculates for income tax purposes from your retirement accounts annually after your turn age 70½. You may want to invest part of it for the future or cut the amount in your IRA that you will pay tax on in coming years or contribute to legitimate charities. I help you answer these questions now: Will you have enough? How will you invest? How much will you spend? Explore 17 alternative uses of your RMD. Create tax-FREE income from your IRA while reducing future RMD. Take advantage of the miracle of compounding: $100,000 may become $500,000 in 15 years. Create an investment plan for 30+ retirement years. Self-insure and self-fund all your financial needs. Social Security to cut benefits in 2034 so you may need more income later. You have time to do something about the future.

Trump tax plan has NOT brought outsourced cash back for jobs in US
GOP gave corporate America a great deal besides cutting rates so actual rates are less than 15%. Apple, Microsoft, Google, Oracle and Netflix have removed from reports any mention of their overseas cash totaling $ TRILLIONS. Most corps have given their senior staff and shareholders BIG raises but have hired few new taxpayers. GOP’s new 15.5% rate on repatriated cash seems to have few payers. But if the $ Trillions are not tracked, how will we know if the special tax deal we must pay for is effective? We taxpayers will still have to pick up the slack since most corps don’t need capital or jobs here in US. Most will find their next decade of profits overseas so they plan to use the money there. Why pay 15.5% when they can pay 0% in most tax shelters. Apple hides their cash in Jersey, an island off France. I would keep my money in 0% tax Jersey if I could too.

Do you need a gift for your grad?
Best gift for your graduate: The Gift of a Lifetime.
Your monthly gift could provide your grandchild with real ‘social security:’ their own tax-FREE money. You take advantage of the miracle of compounding. Your gift becomes a $2,000,000 tax-FREE Wealth Reserve. You could reduce your taxable estate by $500,000 for each grandchild. Your grandchild will NEVER have to pay taxes on the money either. Social Security will exhaust its funds in about 2034. Every year you delay costs your favorite kid $100,000 later. 


Are you eligible for Medicaid to pay your long-term care costs?
The way annuities can help with Medicaid eligibility is that they can transform otherwise countable assets, such as savings accounts, into a non-countable income stream, thus protecting assets for heirs while spending down what counts against you in Medicaid eligibility. You are essentially giving up your asset temporarily. So the annuity must be non-cancelable and non-assignable and name the state as beneficiary for at least the value of the Medicaid assistance received (exception for disabled child). Thus most annuities sold do not fit the requirement. You must obtain a confirming statement from the insurer to protect yourself. Typically it is a single premium immediate payout annuity. State law varies so use a qualified sales person. This strategy may not work for you since you won’t know for sure it works until you need it. Your spouse will not be made destitute in this process if you plan well.


How much are ‘reasonable’ advisor fees?
Again, it depends. How much is your advisor doing for you? Money management only costs 0.22% for a balanced (bond/stock) fund with a 40 year history of providing superior returns (9.4% a year). If your advisor is giving you financial planning services, including mortgage, college, tax and retirement funding, quality will cost you 0.30-0.50% of your <$1 million portfolio each year. If you just want periodic advice, pay $500-$2,000 an hour to a certified financial planner, depending on your needs. That way you pay as you go for professional services and leave the money management to institutions that know what they are doing. Investors not traders go for the long term rewards. If your advisor is asking you to move your money to another firm it is because they are getting a bonus up to $600,000 and you don’t want to be around as he has to make it to the firm next year.

Why do you need 12 Energy ETFs?
The fact that every brokerage firm seems to be pushing its own commissioned index with annual fees up to 1% should not surprise anyone. But I am. Some 3 year returns are negative (-16%). Some don’t even have them. All earn less than the proven market leader with over 10% returns since 1984 and no commission and lower annual cost of 0.41%. If you know when energy prices will spike, which one of the 12 should you buy? Can your broker tell you when to sell? If you have insider knowledge, why not just buy the company stock? What about the gains from oil and gas company earnings? China seems to own the solar panel market. Is that your short- or long-term bet?

Can you time the market declines/risings?
Many studies have been done on this strategy. When you listen to market commentators and they talk ‘over weight’, ‘sector rotation’ and ‘moving to cash during the cycle’, remember they are getting paid very well at sounding good trying to predict the future ($1 million is  better than fortune tellers). They are not actually doing what they talk about. Their wealth does NOT come from their ‘insight’ into market tea leaves but from entertainment TV sponsors. The reality is that timing and picking does not work. Look at one study ended 2015. How would you have done if you missed the market’s top-performing days, assuming you can’t predict the future? Your $100,000 investment would have reached $120,230 if you missed 25 days of the 7,300 days. However, if you were out for 20 days, then $148,698; 15 then $186,715; 10 then $238,637; only FIVE then $317,215. If you never left the market, then $478,171! Your money went up 378%! That’s about 8% a year nominal. $478,171 is more than $120,230. It’s time not timing!

Advisors are now allowed to sell you the worst products (best for them)
A court struck down Labor’s fiduciary rule so the DOL said it won’t enforce ‘prohibited transactions’. Sellers will go back to selling annuities to 90 year old widows as they did before. Lawsuits have been brought that allege that certain insurance companies and banks target elders and use scare tactics to pressure seniors into investing their life savings in deferred annuities, which can make the seniors’ savings inaccessible for 10-20 years, can carry exorbitant surrender charges and severe tax penalties, and can create complicated estate problems after death. Appealing, yet misleading, sales pitches to seniors often describe annuities as “guaranteed” and compare them to having money in the bank that is “safe” but pays a better return. Confusing language in the annuity contract often obscures the devastating fees involved if money needs to be withdrawn as the senior citizen ages. Additionally, many of these annuity products are sold by agents being paid significant commissions for such sales, creating a potential conflict of interest. Don’t settle for poor products. Use firms that put your best interests first.

Is it worth making a financial plan?
People who make a financial plan are more likely to be ready for whatever our economy throws at them. Companies and their jobs can come and go in a very short time. Even though it seems that people who want to work can find a job in today’s market, our situation can change quickly. If there are tons of jobs in another region, can we just pick up and leave? Most people need time to adjust—move or find another job. This takes an emergency fund. According to a Schwab study, 65% of people who plan have one; 24% of non-planners do not have one. People who plan are less likely to live paycheck to paycheck. They feel financially stable. Making a plan does not require you to hire a financial planner or open a brokerage account. It takes just 2 weekends.

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Make America, “The Don” Great Again







Trump thinks the govt is ‘conspiring against him.’
(Dictators often have delusion they are being attacked by insiders)

Trump gives Putin control of election: eliminates U.S. cyber advisor
Treason definition: ‘giving them aid and comfort within the United States’

Fake ‘Witch Hunt’ produced 5 guilty; 17 indictments.

Putin controls US power utilities and 21 state voting files, Trump slush fund, etc

The election is going to be rigged—I’m going to be ‘honest’” 

Could Trump postpone Nov 2018 election using excuse of Putin meddling needs fixing?


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

            Is The Don still getting tax breaks from taxpayers? Fills DC hotel and winter WH.
            Trump lifts sanctions on Russian aluminum billionaire but not everyone else.


SCAMS:
Jared’s ‘peace within reach’ solution—Israel snipers kill 60 after rocks thrown. Qatar?
What is this ‘deep state’? Fed govt that groups don’t like who control no accountability.
GOP hits zenith: states can now take money from every gambler instead of the mafia.

Trump’s greatest con continues as victims believe he protests against being disrespected
Hannity becomes Trump’s last ‘advisor’—con men share jokes/domestic policy/hate.




Fake memory enhancement Prevagen sued for false claims but still makes $ millions.

Jobs:
GM to stop making cars; joins Ford and Fiat keep trucks and electrics
Truck drivers to $150,000 in TX; nurses signing bonus $25,000
Trump working hard to restore jobs in China China caught helping Iran N.Korea.

Get your degree online from best universities: https://www.coursera.org/degrees

Who owns your account now?

What if your home/car can be hacked like your vote, credit, friends’ data?
All personal phones (except 1) are taken from WH staff but didn’t prevent leaks so far.

Can we trust Ari Melber to explain the legal case against POTUS?

Miracle:

            Former Trumper warns Americans are losing their democracy with alt. facts.

“A ticking time bomb,” the Vatican calls financial derivatives. They take vital life-lines.

IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
MontclairNJ 07042
973.746.2014
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Friday, April 5, 2013

Is it not time you paid your fair share?


7,000 millionaires did not pay income tax in 2011—How about you?
Over 275,000 returns showed adjusted gross incomes of $1 million or more. Roughly 7,000 millionaires didn't pay any income tax in 2011. More than 11,000 individual tax returns reported adjusted gross income above $10 million yet most pay LESS than us.

Is it time you paid your fair share?
Use your refund to create a tax-FREE income. The average tax refund was $2,953. Start your account today.
Your Retirement Portfolio: Tax-FREE Income for Life
+Earn 10-12% on your retirement money with no taxes or fees.
+Use a tax-FREE account to protect all your earnings and gains.
+Spend 8% of your nest egg FREE of income tax annually.
+Avoid tax on up to 85% of your Social Security benefits.
+Turn your taxable pension or IRA into tax-FREE income.

Obama will trade our contributions for a sound retirement for GOP support
President Obama next week will take the political risk of formally proposing cuts to Social Security andMedicare in his annual budget in an effort to demonstrate his willingness to compromise with Republicans and revive prospects for a long-term deficit-reduction deal, administration officials say. Compromise never worked with GOP before.
Perhaps we should start building our own sound retirement. http://www.amazon.com/Your-Retirement-Mutual-Funds-retirement/dp/1481114026

Housing growth spurs economy
The price of U.S. homes rose by 8.1% in January from a year earlier, the biggest annual price gain in six and a half years. The main drag on sales contracts was a shortage of properties for sale. NAR predicts that housing starts would have to rise 50% to resolve the inventory shortage. 

New insurers and rates with ObamaCare exchanges
California chastised Anthem Blue Cross for levying a 5.2 percent health premium increase on its small business customers. CT has a new nonprofit health insurance company sponsored by state physicians' groups and intended mainly to provide coverage for individuals and small businesses.

Are you paying higher premiums due to DMV errors?
Car insurance companies make millions from us paying higher premiums than we should, due to errors existing on our driving record. A survey of driving records conducted by the Insurance Research Council (IRC) showed that one in five convictions for traffic violations may contain errors from motor vehicle records. The IRC looked at driving records in four states, ConnecticutFloridaOhio, and Washington. The study showed that convictions for driving infractions were either incorrectly entered or were missing from driving records. Errors can boost an average policyholder’s auto insurance premiums by as much as 22 percent. One insurance quote company provides free information about fixing your record:  http://quote44.com/driving-record-repair
There is only one way to find out if you are paying too much. Use our Insiders’ Guide to buy only what you need with discounts: http://www.amazon.com/Vehicle-Insurance-Beware-Double-Coverage/dp/1480027634

Do you have an insurance question?
You have a question but you don’t want to call your agent or insurer. Try this free site.

SCAMS           “Deficits don’t matter” GOP grandfather, Dick Cheney, 2002

“Entitlements”—our Social Security and Medicare money—did not produce the deficits. Two tax cuts for the rich and the Chaney/Bush wars cost $3.7 Trillion and counting.


We never learn
The House Agriculture Committee debated and passed seven bills designed to roll back derivatives regulations that were created by Congress three years ago in the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill. Derivatives allow banks to place leverage bets on anything that can be measured. Last year, Morgan Chase lost $8 billions of deposits on derivatives. Buffett called derivatives "weapons of mass destruction." 

Who owns your account now?
Genworth Wealth Management, Altegris, to Aquiline Capital Partners and Genstar Capital. 

American Family policies to Kansas City Life Insurance 

IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
MontclairNJ 07042
973.746.2014

Friday, March 22, 2013

Why pay more taxes than the wealthy do?


Zero Tax Account: Why Pay More Taxes than the Wealthy Do?
What is your fair share? The wealthy pay as little as 13%. 2/3 of corporations pay NOTHING even though the law says they pay 35%. We are paying for US troops in 150 countries so the countries don’t have to. We are still stockpiling missiles and fighters at $80 Billions. We have already spent $3.7 Trillion on these two wars we did not have the money for.  
Now they want to cut our Social Security and Medicare account benefits.
Is it time you started paying your fair share—ZERO tax on all your future investment earnings? With the cuts, you shouldn't pay taxes too. Open your legal account today:  http://www.amazon.com/Your-ZERO-Tax-Account-Wealthy/dp/1482772795/


Are you paying more tax than Apple, Google, Facebook?
Yes, you probably are. They pay under 10% using legal tax avoidance tactics you can’t use. Over a four years period from 2008 to 2011, 26 companies managed to avoid paying any American income taxes, even though they earned $ billions during that time, according to research done by Citizens for Tax Justice.


IRS has $917 million in unclaimed 2009 tax refunds
You would think they could give me back my payroll tax hike with all this extra money sitting around. What about 2010 and 2011 refunds?
Also there's currently more than $58 billion in unclaimed money floating around in the form of abandoned bank accounts, stock holdings, insurance payouts and pension benefits. The states have most of that money and they cry about no money too. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/14/17m-in-unclaimed-tax-refunds-to-expire-april-15/

Is the IRS cutting audits like the White House is cutting visits?
You bet.
However the IRS computer searches out mismatches in various categories. See if you could be making it easier for them to find you.

Drinking may cost more than your drink
The price of car insurance for a Florida driver will almost double the first year after a driving under the influence conviction and will go up an average of $5,525 over seven years, according to a new study. Just in the first year, Floridians' insurance will jump 86 percent on average after a DUI conviction, with premiums spiraling to $3,072 a year, from $1,650, according to an insurance comparison website. Shopping may help you lower your premium: http://www.amazon.com/Vehicle-Insurance-Beware-Double-Coverage/dp/1480027634

US lags other countries in average old age …. due to gun play!
 Life expectancy in the United States is lower than in nearly every other developed country. "We die more at younger ages," says Jessica Y. Ho, whose study of the gap in mortality for those under age 50 was published this month in Health Affairs. For men, those younger deaths accounted for 67 percent of the shortfall in U.S.life expectancy compared with an average of 16 other high-income nations. For women, it was 41 percent. For men, nearly a fifth of the excess mortality was due to homicide. Transportation injuries, mainly car crashes, was close behind, followed by other injuries -- particularly drug overdoses. Perinatal mortality, such as pregnancy complications and birth trauma, accounted for 13 percent, cardiovascular diseases made up 8 percent, and other chronic conditions, 10 percent. Also contributing: suicide (4 percent), HIV (2 percent), and other communicable diseases (2 percent). Mortality per miles driven is no higher here than in 15 other wealthy countries. Americans simply drive more. Americans who made it through their younger years arrived at old age very, very healthy.

Will teachers help students understand using money?
The new financial literacy standards establish benchmarks for what kids should know by the end of grades 4, 8, and 12. They are broken into six personal finance categories:
  • Earning income This includes collecting rent, stock dividends and interest on bonds. It also includes a discussion of the labor market and how education may lead to higher wages.
  • Buying goods and services This includes planning, comparing, budgeting and making choices.
  • Saving This includes near- and long-term goals and how time, interest rates and inflation affect savings.
  • Using credit This includes borrowing options and how credit history helps determine availability of credit and the rate of interest that you pay.
  • Investing This includes risk, rates of return and diversification.
  • Protecting and insuring This includes potential loss of health, assets, income and identity, and how behavior affects the cost of insurance.
    Read more: http://business.time.com/2013/03/12/coming-soon-new-standards-for-teaching-kids-about-money/#ixzz2Ntvaq7uB

USAA, State Farm Top in Customer Experience
Temkin Experience Ratings includes 14 insurance carriers. It evaluates three areas of customer experience:functional (can customers do what they want to do), accessible (how easy it is to work with the company), and emotional (how consumers feel about their interactions). 21st Century and Liberty Mutual were the lowest rated insurers. The Hartford and 21st Century had the largest decline from 2012, losing seven percentage points. http://experiencematters.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/usaa-and-state-farm-lead-insurance-industry-in-2013-temkin-experience-ratings/

Do women know more about car insurance than men?
One survey says, “yes” but both know very little about their coverage.http://www.autoweek.com/article/20130311/carnews/130319981

Does your advisor get to keep more of your fees?
Advisers with Raymond James Financial Services who have at least $100 million in discretionary assets under management can choose to retain 100% of their advisory fees and pay a quarterly fee based on assets under management, instead of the traditional payout on fee revenues they produce. Raymond James will charge six basis points 0.06% on the first $100 million under management, three basis points on the next $100 million,one basis point (0.01%) on assets between $200 million and $300 million, and nothing after that, for a maximum of $100,000 per year.
So now we know what it really costs to manage your funds.
Vanguard has fees as low as 0.05% so we can skip the advisor fees of 200 basis points.http://www.amazon.com/Your-Investment-Edge-Tax-FREE-Account/dp/1482695677

Are you in the crossfire of the ETF price wars?
Fidelity allows advisors to trade 65 iShares exchange-traded funds without paying a commission on the Fidelity platform, up from 30. However, in offering the 65, Fido took away the 10 most used by advisors. Another beef is a $7.95-per-trade exit fee Fidelity will charge investors who sell the commission-free ETFs within 30 days of buying them. For advisers, the fee kicks in if an ETF is sold within 60 days. When it says 'FREE' you must look at the mouse print for other fees to make up for it.

Young investors MORE wary of advisors, survey says
“Surprisingly, the millennial generation has emerged from two boom-and-bust cycles even more conservative about investing and more skeptical of financial advice than the generations that were hit hardest by the market,” said Alex Pigliucci, global managing director of Accenture Wealth and Asset Management Services.
“Generation D,” a swath of investors 75 million strong that cuts across so-called millennials, Generation Xers and the baby boomers, poses a “a fundamental challenge” for advisors who want a piece of what has often been called the largest wealth transfer in history, Pigliucci said.
The internet has made investing directly more likely: http://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Without-Wall-Street-Commissions/dp/1442168137

How was your advisor trained?
Advisors are trained to make sales to you. You are sold what their firm has to sell when you seek help from your banker, broker, agent or advisor. Salespeople are required by their employers to follow the rules. Sell this, Say that, Do these things. Choices are gone. Their employer wants everyone to fit the mold—for the firm profit and protection. Read how they are trained: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/03/02/selling-the-home-brand-a-look-inside-an-elite-jpmorgan-unit-2/

Largest pension fund finds advisors are just not worth the expense?
In the latest sign of the apocalypse for active management, the largest pension fund in the United States is mulling a move to an all-passive portfolio. The California Public Employees Retirement System's investment committee is evaluating whether the fees it pays its active managers are worth it or if paying less fees for passive management will lead to better long-term results. Experts say that at any given time, half the managers are ahead of the market and half are behind. Net result is the average less the fees. Members have already discovered this trend: http://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Without-Wall-Street-Commissions/dp/1442168137

What does your retirement budget look like? ACT NOW
57% of U.S. workers have less than $25,000 in total household savings and investments, excluding their homes.  28% said they have no confidence that they will have enough money to retire in comfort, the highest level in the 23-year history of the EBRI study. Only 66% report having any retirement savings, compared to 75%  of workers in 2009.
Many workers (41%) named cost of living and day-to-day expenses as their top reason for not contributing more to their employer’s retirement plans. Only 46% said they have calculated what they would need to save in order to live comfortably in retirement, EBRI says. Average worker incomes have fallen since the 1970s by 7% in real wages. Social Security benefits may last to 2033. “In 2033, incoming revenue and trust fund resources will be insufficient to maintain payment of full benefits,”   . Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, said, referring to Social Security.  “At that point there will only be enough money to cover about  three-fourths of full benefits.”

Big Bang confirmed—the entire universe came from a speck—The First Miracle
New data says the visible portion of the universe was smaller than an atom when, in a split second, it exploded, cooled and expanded faster than the speed of light. The Planck space probe looked back at the afterglow of the Big Bang, and those results have now added about 80 million years to the universe's age, putting it at 13.81 billion years old.
The Second Miracle:
Even Mrs Bachmann was created from that tiny speck: "Let's repeal this failure [ObamaCare] before it literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens," Bachmann said on the House floor. 
Even Rand Paul who thinks Obama would kill Americans with a drone was created by a Miracle


SCAMS           “Deficits don’t matter” GOP grandfather, Dick Cheney, 2002

“Entitlements”—our Social Security and Medicare money—did not produce the deficits
Chaney/Bush wars cost $3.7 Trillion and counting

Another DANGER sign ignored—taxpayers set to bailout banks again!
U.S. House lawmakers advanced legislation that would ease Dodd-Frank Act derivatives rules and give banks greater ability to trade swaps overseas. It allows trading of almost all types of derivatives by units of banks that hold government-insured deposits. A separate bill would restrict U.S. regulators’ ability to apply rules to overseas transactions.  “It is incredible that less than a week after new JPMorgan Whale hearings detailed how the bank’s London office piled up risk, hid losses, and dodged regulatory oversight, that some House members are again supporting the weakening of derivative safeguards.”

Chase lost $6.2 billion on derivatives but still does not know how
"There's a lot of evidence that they are maybe too big to manage," Sen. Levin said in a press briefing Thursday morning. But "our focus," he said, "is on the danger of derivatives which are not regulated properly." Regulation may not be possible and we may be asked to bail out another disaster.http://www.cnbc.com/id/100553551

Big banks cannot be regulated and will cause another bailout—HOW?
The emails presented by the Senate report show that JPMorgan did not follow their own guidelines and limits to control their traders. There is no accountability. Banks can just lie to the regulators and pay a fine if they are caught. Meanwhile they are betting your money in risky ways most regulators don’t even understand. They know we will have to bail them out no matter what happens. No one wants the system to crash. Read and weep.

Investors 'aghast' as Cyprus to siphon cash from retail bank accounts
Levies of up to 12 percent part of bank rescue plan; citizens of divided nation united against scheme. Cyprusvoted down a controversial bank bailout deal.

U.S. Companies Stashing More Cash Abroad As Stockpiles Hit Record $1.45T
U.S. firms keep 58% of their cash, or $840 billion, overseas. Companies are hording cash overseas to avoid paying taxes. They are not using the cash for development, hiring, expansion in the US since it is more profitable to grow in global new markets. Of course they expect US forces to rescue them if their plants or executives are attacked around the world. However, they don’t want to pay their fair share to support USpresence where they are expanding.

Wealthy moving to Puerto Rico—ZERO tax on capital gains
PR’s new tax system allows new residents to pay no local or US federal taxes on capital gains. Hedge fund managers are starting to house hunt in Condado and put their kids in private St. John’s School. We will need to pay for the 23.8% they would have paid here. They will still be protected as US citizens but don’t pay for USmilitary protection. We pay the taxes for them.



IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
MontclairNJ 07042
973.746.2014

Friday, January 18, 2013

Raise your net pay


You can raise your net pay
Yes, it is possible to counteract the hike in payroll taxes. If you normally receive a tax refund each year, you have been paying for $3.2 billion refund to GE in 2010. You can pay only what you owe each paycheck by raising your exemptions by one or two points. Use form W4: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf. You can recalculate your exemptions with p501:


Are you using these tax breaks? Use them before the GOP takes them away
There are 35,000 wealthy families who did NOT pay any income taxes. Isn't it your turn?
Employer contributions toward workers' medical insurance premiums and medical care are not taxed: $181 billion.
Retirement plan contributions and earnings are not taxed: $165 billion.
Mortgage interest deduction: $101 billion.
Lower tax rates on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends: $84 billion.
Deduction for state and local taxes: $69 billion.
Deduction for charitable contributions: $46 billion.
Social Security and veterans' benefits are not taxed for lower-income filers: $45 billion.
Interest on tax-exempt state and local government bonds is not taxed: $26 billion.
When someone dies, the capital gains on their investments are not taxed: $24 billion.
Income from some life insurance products is not taxed: $23 billion.
The largest of all tax breaks: owning a business. For instance, GE paid no income taxes in 2010 and actually got a tax benefit of $3.2 BILLION. 

Can you qualify for any of these tax credits?
Most of what we had in 2011 remains. Only high incomes had a change and most pay the AMT anyway. eFile starting January 30 using IRS approved sites. Take your credits:

Did you get a break on your insurance premiums?
Thirty-seven percent of Americans spent more on insurance over the past year while only 7% spent less, according to Bankrate.com. The only way to reduce your costs is to shop around. Members obtain 3 quotes on policies every 2-3 years because insurers don’t voluntarily cut your rates—We have to ask:http://www.amazon.com/Drop-Your-Insurance-Only-What/dp/1448623391/

Do you work from your home? Deduct $1,500 with no form!
The Internal Revenue Service decided that people who work from home or run a small business from home and have a “qualifying home office” can deduct up to $1,500 a year. That's based on an allowance of $5 per square foot of home office space on up to 300 square feet. This option — easier than filling out the current 43-line Form 8829 that requires burdensome estimates of allocated expenses, depreciation and carryovers of deductions not taken in previous years — will be available beginning in the 2013 tax year. About 3.4 million taxpayers claimed the home office deduction in 2010.


Regulators warn investors chasing yield and using leverage
FINRA has sent a letter to brokers warning them that customers can be hurt by these activities in the markets. A study of what happens to winning stocks after they climb shows that the winners lose money and the losers become winners. Buying winners is a loser’s game. Use a better way: http://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Without-Wall-Street-Commissions/dp/1442168137


Safe public-employment jobs now at risk
Sixty-one key cities across America have emerged from the Great Recession with a gap of more than $217 billion between what they had promised their workers in pensions and retiree health care and what they had saved to pay that bill. Don’t rely on the government completely. Make your own tax-FREE Pension in a Boxhttp://www.amazon.com/Your-Pension-Box-tax-FREE-employer/dp/1481945157/

Flood insurance rates will rise on coast—no more free rides for water properties!
Many Coast residents will be paying higher flood insurance premiums soon. The increases, the result of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, will be based on individual circumstances, By August, subsidized flood insurance policies around the nation will be eliminated and rates based on risk will be implemented. FEMA plans to phase out grandfathering of insurance policies beginning in January 2014.
A policy's rates will then be based on a property's elevation and risk factors according to the flood zone maps for their areas.
Oceans are rising. In 2012, there were at least 3,527 monthly weather records for heat, rain and snow broken by extreme weather events that hit communities throughout the U.S.

Is your insurer trying to buy back your annuity?
The National Underwriter reports cash buyouts offered by variable annuity insurers for guaranteed living benefit or guaranteed death benefit riders may not be a good deal for us, the annuitant. The value for many annuitants exceeds the cash amount offered by the company. That makes sense since the insurers would not be willing to offer the buyouts if they were not in the company's best interest. 
Just say no!

Wealthy do not let advisors tell them what to do
For the wealthiest investors, the more assets they have the less likely they are to cede control over investment decisions to advisors says a new report. Our members act like the wealthiest so they become wealth by NOT giving up 40% of their earnings to advisor fees: http://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Without-Wall-Street-Commissions/dp/1442168137

How much do you pay for mutual funds?
"In every single time period and data point tested, low-cost funds beat high-cost funds." Morningstar study. 


SCAMS           “Deficits don’t matter” GOP leader Dick Cheney 2002 

Banking excesses begin again with CDO derivatives and new bubble
Currently, the banks now tap into soaring demand for commercial real estate debt by selling collateralized debt obligations, securities not seen since the last boom. Sales of CDOs linked to everything from hotels to offices and shopping malls are poised to climb to as much as $10 billion this year, about 10 times the level of 2012, according to Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.
The rebirth of commercial property CDOs comes as investors wager on a real estate recovery and as the Federal Reserve pushes down borrowing costs, encouraging bond buyers to seek higher-yielding debt. The securities package loans such as those for buildings with high vacancy rates that are considered riskier than those found in traditional commercial-mortgage backed securities, where surging investor demand has driven spreads to the narrowest in more than five years.
“Investors are willing to go further afield in their quest for yield,” Ed Shugrue comments. “With demand rich,Wall Street is scouring the cupboards to find anything with a cash flow that can be securitized.”

MetLife caught overcharging MA drivers
MetLife will pay at least $50,000 in penalties and refund an undetermined amount of money to customers to settle allegations it imposed costly surcharges on Massachusetts drivers who were found not at fault in auto accidents.

Insurers caught overcharging MA motorcyclists
More than $2.8 million in insurance refunds have gone back to Massachusetts motorcycle owners, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced today. Since 2010, 17 insurance companies have settled with the AG's Office resulting in more than $42.8 million in refunds to Massachusetts motorcycle owners.

We are paying for bank mortgage settlement too—rewarding bad behavior!
Banks will take a tax deduction for their bad behavior in causing the recession of 2007-12. We will pay more tax to make up for their deductions for crashing the system and no one stops it.  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/business/paying-the-price-in-settlements-but-often-deducting-it.html?_r=1&


IAN
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