Congress cut IRS auditor unit--RELAX

Congress cut IRS auditor unit—RELAX

If you made less than $200,000, your chance of being audited was just 0.88 percent. That's down from the 0.94 percent audit rate in fiscal year 2012.

Your audit odds increased if your income was between $200,000 and $1 million. In fiscal year 2013, just 3.26 percent of returns filed by individuals in that income range were audited. And if you made more than $1 million, almost 11 percent of returns got closer looks from IRS auditors. 14 ways to avoid an IRS audit.

Put your refunds to good use: http://www.amazon.com/Tax-Refund-Millionaires-Let-Uncle-Help/dp/149595644X

Avoid the tax prep scam and their “mistakes”

Last year, when Congress sent "secret shoppers" to tax prep firms, only 11% got them right. Mistakes ranged from giving taxpayers $52 less to $3,718 more than they were entitled to. Part of the problem say Internal Revenue Service is that almost anything goes in the tax prep industry. Most prepares earn under $10 with 10 hours training. Check credentials. Get Tax Refund in 2-3 weeks! File taxes for free using easy online efile screens. E-file, when combined with direct deposit, is the fastest way to get a refund. It costs nothing for those who choose Free File. State fees are $12.95 +. Some states allow FREE state filings for simple returns.

Avoid the tax return scam: http://www.amazon.com/Money-Scams-2014-insurance-financial/dp/1505437962

Pope says it’s ok to smack your children...as long as dignity maintained.

GOP crazies

Romney gives up before he starts.

Christie (“Sit down and shut up”) in England says you don’t need to vaccinate your kids even though it is good enough for his kids. California is experiencing the worst of the epidemic after visitors and workers at Disneyland contracted the virus from a non-vaccinated person. Kids in 14 states are now infected because of some anti-vaccine anti-science anti-gov guru. 

Supremes say our union contracts may be violated—reversing contract law

On Jan. 26, the Supreme Court decided that health care benefits provided through a collective-bargaining agreement vest once an employee retires and continue through that individual's lifetime can be terminated. It is ironic that the only black judge Clarence Thomas wrote the decision. “When a contract is silent as to the duration of retiree benefits, a court may not infer that the parties intended those benefits to vest for life,” wrote Mr. Thomas in his opinion. Historically, contracts without a specific end time are presumed to continue.

“Tom’s won four Super Bowls with the salary cap. It’s hard to argue against that.”

                                                                        Julian Edelman, NE Patriots

Wealthy man tells poor to buy fewer things, live simply—flies 2 nannies in private jet!!

“America’s lifestyle expectations are far too high and need to be adjusted so we have less things and a smaller, better existence,” Billionaire Greene said in an interview today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Greene, who flew his wife, children and two nannies on a private jet plane to Davos for the week, said he’s planning a conference in Palm Beach, Florida. Do as I say not as I do.

Pay No Taxes in Retirement: Learn how to avoid taxes legally like the wealthy do. http://www.amazon.com/Pay-No-Taxes-Retirement-legally/dp/1507527977

Your Roth IRA conversion is now tax and penalty FREE

When it comes to Roth IRAs, qualified distributions, which are 100% tax- and penalty-free, are the name of the game. Once you have held it for 5 years and are over 59.5 years old, all distributions from any of your Roth IRAs will be tax- and penalty-free for the rest of your life. Beneficiaries of such Roth IRAs can also take tax- and penalty-free distributions of inherited amounts.

http://www.amazon.com/401k-IRA-Tax-FREE-Tax-Deferred-retirement/dp/1475057938

How are your target-date life mutual funds doing?

Ratings are for 5 years so it is hard to judge how well you will do in the future:

http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20150201/BLOG18/150139994/the-best-and-worst-performing-target-date-funds

You can use create your own Tax-FREE pension with one account: http://www.amazon.com/Create-Your-Tax-FREE-Financial-System/dp/1466367466

Did your advisor beat a low-cost index fund?

DALBAR's annual Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior (QAIB) shows most advisor accounts earned 5.02% over the last 20 years while just letting your money sit in a market index account earned 9.22%. Your investment doubles every 7 years versus every 15 years. Vanguard’s Top Ten earn 10-12% over time. Double it every 6 years--

Time to switch to the Vanguard Top Ten: http://www.amazon.com/Vanguards-Top-Ten-mutual-funds/dp/150073909X

Which is best investment long-term?

Real estate, gold, stocks, bank savings? Most people think it is real estate since many own their own home. However, consider Gates, Buffett, Slim, Ortega. You have to go to number 22 in the world’s wealthy list to find real estate.

Go Long: http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Tax-FREE-Wealth-Reserve/dp/1456505041

Global warming in the future means MORE snow

A study of 20th century snowstorms published in the August 2006 issue of the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, before the big storms of recent years, found that most major snowstorms in the United States occurred during warmer-than-normal years.

Make your later years income tax-FREE: http://www.amazon.com/Your-Tax-Haven-Tax-FREE-Americans/dp/1482659441

SCAMS           Why are we still paying $700 Billion a year for WWII deployments? That is 27 cents of each dollar in taxes—the largest part of our money—and we aren’t even at war. We could pay off our debts and fix our schools, roads and bridges!

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.

The War on Terror requires SEALS’ attacks on top terrorists at their homes. Iraq proved converting a nation to Western-style republic doesn’t work. Our trained troops ran away.

After Surgery, Surprise $117,000 Medical Bill From Doctor He Didn’t Know

Out of Network doctor assistants at last minute pile on charges without reason. In operating rooms and on hospital wards across the country, physicians and other health providers typically help one another in patient care. But in an increasingly common practice that some medical experts call drive-by doctoring, assistants, consultants and other hospital employees are charging patients or their insurers hefty fees.

NJ property tax hits new highs—Christie promise broken—takes expensive trips

New Jersey’s average residential property-tax bill rose 2.2 percent last year to an all-time high of $8,161, slightly exceeding Governor Chris Christie’s 2 percent cap on growth in the levies, according to state data. The average homeowner paid $173 more than in 2013. The state’s real-estate taxes are the nation’s highest, and their unpopularity helped Christie oust Democrat Jon Corzine in 2009. Tax relief checks to seniors haven’t been sent out again. This is the third time in Christie’s five years as governor that he has delayed the rebate. Property taxes have increased 75 percent since 2001.

Have a tax problem—work for the IRS

Auditors found the Internal Revenue Service between 2010 and 2013 gave jobs to 323 former employees who had displayed unsavory conduct during prior stints at the agency, according to the U.S. Treasury's Inspector General for Tax Administration on Thursday.

The audit looked at roughly 7,000 workers rehired in the period to fill mostly temporary positions. Among the 323, five of the rehired workers had "serious misconduct" issues, a category that includes threats and sexual harassment. Another five had willfully failed to file federal tax returns.

Anthem health WARNING

Dwayne Melancon, chief technology officer at information security products vendor Tripwire, warns individuals affected by the Anthem health information breach to be wary of emails or calls they receive.

IAN

41 Watchung Plaza, B242

Montclair, NJ 07042

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

Alerts 

Why send your taxes to states that don't want them?

Why send your taxes to states that don't want them?

Many of the red states take more of our tax dollars than they pay in. If they hate the federal government so much, why are they taking all the money? If Texas wants to succeed, why rely on my taxes to do it. See your state:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/states-givers-takers-152624695.html

Best time to start an IRA?

Parents can guarantee their child a future when they start their first job (even chores). You can match your child’s earnings in a Roth IRA and give them a head start on college, home, business, a brighter future. With each $100 they earn, you can place $100 in a Roth IRA. If they have $12,000 in their Roth by age 21, it could grow to a $1 million by age 66. Better than child life insurance. If they keep adding to your gifts, they could have $70,000 in 10 years, $200,000 in 20, and so on. They can even borrow from their Roth for emergencies with no tax or penalty. Start today: http://www.amazon.com/Create-Your-Tax-FREE-Financial-System/dp/1466367466

Need health care insurance?

If you were just laid off or are using a COBRA policy, you may be able to take advantage of the ObamaCare subsidies for a policy at substantial savings. For those who still have COBRA coverage, purchasing coverage on the marketplace could save thousands of dollars a year. Under COBRA, you pay the full cost of your old employer’s coverage. Through Obamacare, individuals and families can purchase coverage that, depending on their income, could be subsidized by hundreds of dollars a month. Call 1-800-318-2596 to activate the special enrollment period and tell the representative that you are calling about their COBRA benefits and the marketplace. If determined to be eligible, they may shop online or over the phone. They are allowing special enrollment periods for those whose individual market plans are renewing outside of open enrollment and for AmeriCorps, VISTA and National Civilian Community Corps members. In addition to the special enrollment periods, the Affordable Care Act also permits people to shop for coverage if they undergo significant life events, including loss of a job, divorce, marriage and birth of a child, among other things.https://www.healthcare.gov/how-can-i-get-coverage-outside-of-open-enrollment/

NJ pays highest health care premium

New Jersey customers had the highest average monthly premium for family plans, at $987 a month. For individual coverage, New Jersey shoppers chose plans with the third-highest price tag — $346 a month — below only New York and Massachusetts.
One factor driving those high costs was their choice of policies with lower annual deductibles. The average deductible for a family plan chosen by New Jersey customers was $3,912 — the second-lowest behind onlyMassachusetts. By comparison, deductibles chosen by residents in Alaska, Illinois and Texas topped $10,000. Offering more people health insurance could save tens of thousands of lives nationwide in the coming years, a new analysis of data from Massachusetts, whose trailblazing reforms became the model for President Obama's health law, suggests. Buy only what you need: http://www.amazon.com/Health-Insurance-ONLY-right-policy/dp/1480125083/

Supremes may force lower 401k fees

A long-awaited case about employers’ duty to offer low-cost mutual funds in their 401k may be heard this year. The U.S. Department of Labor calculates that a 1-percentage-point difference in costs for a 35-year-old worker could reduce a retiree's account balance by 28 percent at retirement age. The case charges that California-based utility Edison International (Tibble v. Edison International) offered mutual funds carrying retail share price fees, when the same funds could have been had at lower institutional prices. The higher expenses paid by plan participants were shared by the mutual funds and the plan's record keeper, the lawsuit charges. In turn,Edison allegedly received a reduction from the record keeper in the fees it pays for plan administration. Pension funds usually pay less than 0.25%. Check your fees: http://www.brightscope.com/

If your employer does not match your contributions, you can buy a tax-FREE retirement with costs under 0.20% not 1.5%: http://www.amazon.com/Your-Pension-Box-tax-FREE-employer/dp/1481945157

GOP Crazies say ObamaCare healthcare=Holocaust death sentence

“Democrats bragging about the number of mandatory sign ups for Obamacare is like Germans bragging about the number of mandatory (sic) sign ups for “train rides” for Jews in the 40s,” TN State Sen. Stacey Campfield.

GOP Crazies pass laws to ban car-sales competition in MO, NJ, TX, AZ

The challenge in Missouri comes as Tesla appeals New Jersey’s March decision to ban direct auto sales by manufacturers and the company works to keep selling Model S sedans at its Massachusetts stores. While Texasand Arizona also bar direct sales of Teslas, the Palo Alto, California-based company worked out arrangements inOhio and New York this year to keep selling in those states.

And the GOP says it wants FREEDOM from regulations?!?

Insurers say most applicants have paid ObamaCare premiums

Paul Wingle, the executive director of exchange operations and strategy at Aetna, said: “As of the third week of April, Aetna had over 600,000 members who had enrolled and roughly 500,000 members who had paid. GOP commentators were claiming ObamaCare failed again.

GOP House committee says climate changes not linked to humans

The House Energy and Commerce Committee Tuesday voted down by 2 votes an amendment that would have stated conclusively that climate change is occurring. For the sake of coal and oil company profits and House members’ campaign coffers, the world will lose millions of miles of coastline from 53 meters of rising water sooner than they think.

IL drivers pay more

State Farm, Illinois' biggest car insurer, plans to raise its auto rates in the state by an average of 2.3 percent starting May 26. Shop and use your discounts now: http://www.amazon.com/Vehicle-Insurance-Beware-Double-Coverage/dp/1480027634/

BEWARE: UBS out to take more fees from your accounts

CEO challenges brokers to do more lending and boost margins. UBS chief executive Robert McCann raised targets for the firm's 7,100 financial advisers, saying lending and managed accounts would boost profit margins. A critical component was increasing the number of advisers providing clients with high-cost mortgages. Also the goal is to have more than 40% of client assets in managed accounts in the next three years, he said. Managed accounts have high fees no matter how much you gain or lose. UBS wants to cut the expense of paying brokers to move from other banks.

Use Buffett’s strategy and avoid high fees for poor returns: http://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffetts-Investment-Strategy-Forget/dp/1484822900

The Patience Way to Wealth The Wealth Tao: Wu wei (Do Nothing)  by Zhou Wang

Patience is important in life and in building wealth. Most investors are not patient so most investors are not wealthy. In fact, the average investor earns only 2.56% annually according to DALBAR’s annual Qualitative Analysis of Investor Behavior. Mr

Buffett's strategy of patience is the most successful. He earns about 20% a year compounded over time. “The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.”      Warren Buffett

Try the patience way to wealth: http://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Tao-Wu-Wei/dp/1499351348/

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 just can’t afford to pay for everyone else’s defenses anymore.

Our tax money, $1 billion to Russia for helicopters ship to Afghanistan?
Can you believe our ‘reps’ are so stupid? Lobbyists win again. No bid contracts. OMG

We make great helicopters in PA. Let the Afghans buy their own f___ helicopters.

Why using spy plane over LA? Are there skinhead missiles there?

A spy plane was responsible for a computer glitch that caused air-traffic chaos in western US states last week, the Federal Aviation Administration has revealed. The meltdown occurred when software incorrectly thought the plane was on a collision course with other airplanes. The system was overloaded as it struggled to plot new courses for affected aircraft. Hundreds of planes were grounded at Los Angeles International airport.

IAN

41 Watchung Plaza, B242

Montclair, NJ 07042

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

Alets