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.

http://portal.kiplinger.com/article/taxes/T054-C000-S001-irs-audit-red-flags-the-dirty-dozen.html

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.”

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3860

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

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/29/us-usa-war-idUSTRE75S25320110629

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.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/business/jpmorgans-follies-for-all-to-see-in-a-senate-report.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

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

Montclair, NJ 07042

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

How is your pension doing?

How is your pension doing?

Corporate pensions continue to enlarge the deficit of $412 billion--$74 billion higher than it was when 2011 ended. Analysts say this is due to low interest rates even though a good portion of pension assets are in equities, which returned over 15% in 2012. Perhaps your employer is short changing your pension on purpose. 44 million workers’ pension have been reduced and closed. Some employers have stopped matching 401k contributions. 

You can earn 10-12% a year by funding your own pension in a tax-FREE account you can’t outlive: 

Your Pension in a Box

http://www.amazon.com/Your-Pension-Box-tax-FREE-employer/dp/1481945157/

Our representatives want to cut our SS and Medicare because they don’t need them!

HALF of our congress people are millionaires. They don’t need Social Security or Medicare. 47% of Congress Members are Millionaires. We continue to pay their salaries of $174,000 even when they do nothing. And they receive a healthy pension and medical in retirement—don’t need SS or Medicare! A member of Congress would be eligible for a pension payment of $84,645 per year.

Did you receive your death benefit yet?

Florida is seeking the rightful owners of $25 million in unclaimed life insurance benefits obtained through a settlement with American International Group.  Search for unclaimed property at www.FLTreasureHunt.org --

Taxes don’t change for most wealthy in high-state-tax states

For example, if you are married with two children living in California with annual income of $475,000 from wages, $21,000 in capital gains, $11,000 in dividends and $60,000 in deductions, you would have owed about $123,000 in federal taxes if the tax cuts had expired. Now, your tax bill would be the same with the threshold set at $450,000 because of AMT liability. This is the shadow tax established to hit the wealthy that pay no income taxes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_Minimum_Tax

Will you have to wait to file your tax return?

The IRS anticipates that the vast majority of all taxpayers can file starting Jan. 30, regardless of whether they file electronically or on paper. The IRS will be able to accept tax returns affected by the late Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch as well as the three major “extender” provisions for people claiming the state and local sales tax deduction, higher education tuition and fees deduction and educator expenses deduction.

Who Can’t File Until Later?

There are several forms affected by the late legislation that require more extensive programming and testing of IRS systems. The IRS hopes to begin accepting tax returns including these tax forms between late February and into March; a specific date will be announced in the near future.

The key forms that require more extensive programming changes include Form 5695 (Residential Energy Credits), Form 4562 (Depreciation and Amortization) and Form 3800 (General Business Credit). A full listing of the forms that won’t be accepted until later is available on IRS.gov. Deduction amounts 2012http://www.irs.gov/uac/In-2012,-Many-Tax-Benefits-Increase-Due-to-Inflation-Adjustments

GE’s long-term care insurance business at risk?

Shares of Genworth Financial Inc. fell after a Credit Suisse analyst on Tuesday downgraded the stock, saying a recent rally ignores the risks that Genworth faces in its life insurance businesses, particularly in long-term care insurance. Consider the alternatives: http://www.amazon.com/Long-term-Care-Insurance-better-alternatives/dp/147006877X

Are you still getting a government check?

The deadline is March 1 to switch to either direct deposit or the government's MasterCard debit card. The switch isn't optional. Since 2011, all new recipients have been required to get Social Security electronically. By March 1, remaining Social Security recipients must choose one of the two options.

If you are one of the 5 million holdouts, here's how to sign up:

• Go to the website GoDirect.org. (It's not a .gov site because it's owned jointly by the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve.)
• Call toll-free: (800) 333-1795. To prove who you are, be prepared to tell the person answering the phone the check number of your latest check and its amount.

If you are choosing direct deposit, you'll need to know your bank's routing number and your account number. Generally, both are across the bottom of your checks with the routing number on the left and the check number on the right. Best bet:  Direct Express card if you don’t have a bank account.

Our Social Security and Medicare will be cut to prop up two whole countries

Why our deficit continues to grow--$200 BILLION in this year alone for ‘WAR’ against a dead guy
If the CRS and OMB figures for FY2001-FY2013 are totaled for all direct spending on the war, they reach $641.7 billion, of which $198.2 billion – or over 30% – will be spent in FY2012 and FY2013. This is an tincredible amount of money to have spent with so few controls, so few plans, so little auditing, and almost no credible measures of effectiveness. We will end up paying $2.4 TRILLION through 2017 according to the CBO. CBO estimated that of the $2.4 trillion long-term price tag for the war, about $1.9 trillion of that would be spent on Iraq, or $6,300 per U.S. citizen. http://csis.org/publication/us-cost-afghan-war-fy2002-fy2013

Why not raise revenue by going after the BIG tax cheats?

A new Government Accountability Office analysis of the IRS' efforts to collect unpaid taxes from citizens and small businesses in 2007 and 2008 found that exams focused on those with an income of $200,000 or more produced “significantly more” direct revenue per dollar of exam cost. The government researchers concluded that by shifting about $124 million in enforcement resources away from lower-income returns to returns from individuals and small businesses showing income of $200,000 or more, the IRS could bring in about $1 billion more than the $5.5 billion it now collects with these resources.

The GAO analysis said exams of individual tax returns reporting income of between $200,000 and $1 milliongenerated $25.60 per dollar of cost and those reporting $1 million and more generated $47.20 per dollar of cost, the report said. Exams of tax returns for lower-income earners generated about $5.40 to $7.40 for every dollar spent. So going after the big money yields BIG money!  Duh.

Wall Street predicted the end of Europe in 2012

Many hedge funds and money managers predicted the drop of the Euro and European stocks for 2012. Instead, the markets made over 15% in the US and 20% in non-US markets. 

Members don’t trust Wall Street for unbiased advice: http://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Without-Wall-Street-Commissions/dp/1442168137

ObamaCare provisions you can already take advantage of:

1. Free preventative care for women
insurance plans are required to cover free annual physicals for women, HIV testing and counseling, HPV DNA testing, screenings for gestational diabetes, screening and counseling for domestic violence, breastfeeding medical support, counseling for sexually transmitted infections, and FDA-approved contraceptive products.

2. Insurance company rebates
insurance companies are required to spend at least 80 percent to 85 percent of their customer premiums on direct medical costs. If companies fail to do so, they must send the leftover cash back to customers in the form of a rebate. The average rebate across the nation is expected to be around $150.

3. Free mammograms and colonoscopies
Since September 2010, insurers have been barred from levying out-of-pocket costs on patients receiving mammograms and colonoscopies, two of the most widely used forms of preventative care. 

4. Staying on your parents' plan
Since September 2010, children have been allowed to stay on their parents' insurance plans until they turn 26.

5. Get insurance for kids with pre-existing conditions
Since September 2010, insurance companies have been banned from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, which include heart disease, cancer, asthma, and high blood pressure. By 2014, the provision will extend to all Americans with pre-existing conditions. It is also illegal for insurance companies to terminate coverage for any other reason than customer fraud — and insurers are barred from capping the number of benefits a customer can receive in a lifetime.

You can find lower-cost policies at the exchanges later this year.

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

AIG’s former CEO Greenberg wants to sue those who bailed it out—what CHUTZPAH:

The ex-CEO said that the rescue cheated shareholders by diluting their stake in the company. The insurer needed help after it was unable to raise money in equity and bond markets to pay clients who had bought protection against losses on mortgage-related securities. He is biggest stockholder and was kicked out of AIG.

“The idea that AIG would have been better off by going bankrupt, for the shareholders is a very, very hard thing to sell, I think, to a judge,” Neil Barofsky, the former inspector general of the U.S. Troubled Asset Relief Program said Tuesday on Bloomberg.

Wealthy can still avoid taxes with planning

Congress made the estate tax at $5 million permanent. This means the 2% can continue to use the $5 million gift and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions by making gifts into dynasty trusts. “All of our wealthy clients should continue to make these gifts,” one advisor said.

Also, Congress did not touch valuation discounts, grantor retained annuity trusts and other techniques. All of the tricks of avoiding tax are still intact so advisors will keep using them.

Romney will never have to pay tax on his $250 millions. We will have to make up the $100 million tax he avoids.

IAN

41 Watchung Plaza, B242

Montclair, NJ 07042

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

Alerts available at http://dankeppel.blogspot.com/