Friday, February 16, 2018

Trump Tax Shelter avoids future taxes

Trump promised to save Medicare for working Americans
As a candidate, Trump repeatedly said he would never cut Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Now he wants to cut Medicare by $554 billion and Medicaid by $250 billion. He will send Medicaid money to states to eliminate coverage for citizens they don’t like. He will cut the subsidies to millions who use the marketplace to buy insurance. His budget cuts funding for the National Dislocated Worker Grants – which provides support to those who lose their jobs because of factory closures or natural disasters and the Adult Employment and Training Activities initiative, which serves high school dropouts and veterans. Trump wants to cut $214 billion from the food stamp SNAP program in the next decade, a reduction of nearly 30%. He is reducing Section 8 federal housing subsidies by more than $1 billion, zeroing out community development block grants and eliminating a $1.9 billion fund to cover public housing capital repairs—no new boilers. 29 programs that aid poor children in education will be cut. Trump selling our airports, our lands.
There will be No cuts to subsidies for oil, gas, coal, agribusiness, drug firms, or arms manufacturers. War machine gets more than it asked for from Trump. Plus parades.

Trump’s attitude about both sides of the story
Trump suppresses the other side of the FBI story. Now he won’t release the other side’s view of the process of FBI surveillance of known Putin agent “advisor to the Kremlin” Carter Page. The irony is he wants sexual predators to receive ‘due process’—let’s hear the other side. However, he is not willing to let us read the Dems’ memo about the FBI.
The Don complains that wife beaters and sexual harassers like him do not get due process—we don’t hear why they beat and harass women since we don’t have assault trials. He favors hiring and praising wife beaters with tacit approval of the GOP religionists. He seems to believe that if a predator like Judge Moore claims an ‘absolute denial’ that that proves he was not a child molester. Does this not leave many Trump voters with more concerns about his ‘grabbing’ habits and paying prostitutes $137,000 for sex and twisting the ‘fake facts’ to his benefit? Lies about Tower wiretap.
Is there anything that gives ‘conservative’American’s pause? Not sexual assault, not prostitution, or not one-sided propaganda? Power corrupts absolutely.
Why can’t we hear from both sides for truth’s sake?  

GOP gives military-industrial complex $700 billion more
Americans vote for the conservatives because they promise to not spend lavishly. It seems the GOP has changed to the spending party. Senate leaders have reached a two-year deal that would set defense spending at $700 billion for 2018 and $716 billion for 2019. “I’d rather we didn’t have to do as much on non-defense, but this is an absolute necessity, that we’ve got these numbers,” said the Senate Armed Services Committee’s Jim Inhofe. Ryan has pushed for cuts in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security in order to fund the increases but Dems resisted the cuts. Kentucky Republican Rand Paul cried about debt on Thursday after voting for the massive debt increases for his tax breaks earlier. GOP likes to borrow to pay their donors and then cut programs that benefit working Americans. The rich get permanent relief from future taxes while our tax rate reductions expire in 2026. GOP increases--not decreases--debt.


Best last minute tax saving move
Tax filing began Jan 29 even though all the forms are late in arriving. If you find you owe tax instead of hitting the refund button this year, you may still be able to claim your refund. You can reduce your 2017 income and receive a tax credit. Credits reduce your taxes dollar for dollar. In effect, Uncle Sam can help you reduce taxes AND save for retirement at the same time. On line 32, Form 1040 or line 17, Form 1040a, you can enter up to $5,500 ($6,500 over age 50) as IRA contribution to reduce your income. If you meet the qualification, a credit will show up on Line 51, Form 1040 or Line 34, 1040a. You subtract this credit from your tax. EG: Income $66,000: tax refund is $3,335, without IRA contribution. With the contribution, the refund is $4,392 or $5,553 if you both make the contribution. Credit against tax is $400. IRS checks to see you have IRA.

Trump giving investment advisors another break
Trump’s SEC will not fine or censure your advisor for hiding the 12b-1 fees that mutual funds charge every year to pay for marketing funds to other people. They should be disclosed before you buy. Trump has given advisors a pass if they ‘self-report’ by June 2018. Advisors need to tell you that the class of shares they sold you benefits their firm and themselves and that there are cheaper shares available. In the past several years, the SEC has brought cases against nine firms over failure to disclose conflicts around the receipt of 12b-1 fees. Trump is removing safeguards in every agency. Manipulation by WS firms is rampant. Since no one sees the disclosures in the prospectus, you may not know that your advisor fees can take up to 63% of your possible accumulations.


IRS free filing sites avoid $300+ cost of filing taxes
Commercial tax prep sites offer expensive loans as advances on your refund but you can keep your whole refund using the IRS free filing partners. Refunds can be in your account within 2-3 weeks. The average refund is over $3,000. Check your refund: https://sa.www4.irs.gov/irfof/lang/en/irfofgetstatus.jsp
You can create a tax-free retirement fund of $500,000 with that amount each year. If you need free tax preparer service for your 1040, use AARP Tax Aides near you. Bring last year’s return and ID: https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/aarp_taxaide/
Use your refund to fund your tax-FREE IRS approved account: https://www.amazon.com/Tax-FREE-Retirement-code-lifetime-income/dp/1475206976

Why luxury cars are NOT selling
Why are sales of Mercedes, Porsche, Lexus, etc falling like a stone? Well-to-do buyers want something different. They want 707 horsepower, 10 speed luxury rides. What? Yes, if you can drop $80,000+ at a local lot, you want something to impress. BIG trucks are the thing. GM, Ford and Jeep are making more money. You can control 7 different road surfaces, use big chrome wheels, a power tailgate, cameras on four corners and an adaptive cruise control system like Audi’s. The seats are nice too.




****************
Make “The Don” Great Again

Trump Is 'Doing Putin's Job for Him' by Attacking our FBI: McCain

Our intel agencies: we’re under attack and Prez says no—aid and comfort to enemy?
Mueller indicts 13 more for illegally helping Trump win election

GOP House will never impeach their ‘Savior’

“I have absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department,”

Bannon and I wish to “destroy the state”–our government: “I want to destroy
FBI doing its job following Kremlin advisor, Page, a suspected Putin spy



Trump can’t be a racist: he had a TV show”
“Why are we having all these people from ‘shithole’ countries come here?

‘I’m the only one that matters’ Mob Boss, Nov 3, 2017
The Don’s enforcers lie re: contacts to Putin and list longer: Why all the lies if innocent?

GOP suppresses vote: can voters make America normal again?

‘I was elected President.’ (to destroy ‘the state’)
Dictator’s great weapon is fear: Dems are evil (TV ad)



How Govt wastes our money:
FEMA spent $156 million for 30 million storm meals. Scamer T Brown delivered 50,000.

GOP votes to “ask” our ‘reps’ to repay us when we pay for their ‘sexual’ settlements.

Would your lawyer pay $130,000 for your prostitute out of his own pocket? We paid!S

SCAMS:
Trump VA: Cabinet on junket at our expense and conflicts of interest abound.
How many hunters need an AR-15 and 30 round mags to kill their prey?

Jobs:
Trump’s 2019 budget kills several agencies, grant programs, institutes. Many job loses. Cuts to opportunities in rural communities, locally-developed economic plans, before- and after-school programs, college preparation for low-income students and 25 more.

Another wife beater opening in Trump WH—“only the best” fact deniers need apply.

New nuclear cruise missile workers go to Orlando for 1800 jobs. War is planned.

Who owns your account now?
Something wrong with this picture of America: not ‘Make American Great Again’

Miracle:
Unless Americans use absentee ballots, Putin will change votes in elections again.

It would be a miracle if Congress could stop children killing other children. 17 more die so that some wealthy white men have freedom to kill with 30 rounds a minute. Madness!

IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
MontclairNJ 07042
973.746.2014
Alerts

Friday, February 9, 2018

What are you doing with your tax cut?

What are you doing with your tax cut?
Why not use this FREE money you did not expect, to secure your retirement nest egg? Warren Buffett makes it easy using a SIMPLE Strategy 
He beat Wall Street ‘professionals’ with his strategy—22% in 2017; 11.11% since 1976.
The Master of investing, Warren Buffett, proved it, again. You do NOT need Wall Street 'professionals' to reach your financial goals. In fact, if you use them, you may give up 63% of your potential accumulations because of trading, charges, commissions and fees. Buffett’s SIMPLE strategy earns over 11% per yearDALBAR keeps track of returns and found that the average managed-account equity investor earned just 3.79% a year over 30 years. The benchmark returned 11.06%. You and I can start beating Wall Street with one phone call. Earnings are tax-FREE after age 59 ½ in special account too.
Earn 11% a year with Buffett’s SIMPLE strategy: https://www.amazon.com/MasterClass-Buffetts-SIMPLE-Strategy/dp/1983485268

How do you know if this is a market correction?
You don’t know when it will occur. Nobody does. So, like any accident—unforeseen event—we must be prepared. We must have our portfolio so arranged that we know what will happen in a correction and we can live with it. Actually, many investors have seen this before and realize they have no alternative because there is no ‘safe’ investment. Wall Street creates these dives by using program trading to capture the ups & downs. Investments in different segments perform well over time—just not all at the same time. http://www.mymoneyblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/callan2018.gif.
Thus, last year every segment did well but in 2008, every segment did poorly except bonds. However, some segments did worse than others and then made it up the next year. Bonds remained at the bottom as they usually do. Only a few lucky advisors timed the market in 2007 to go into bonds and avoid the carnage. Buffett says “be greedy when others are fearful.” Now is the time to fund your 2017 IRA.
 
Is your Robo-advisor up to the task?
Many Robo advisors were just not available when the market changed direction quickly last week. Human advisors were hard to reach also. These advisors get paid to be there especially in a market downfall but they were AWOL. Why are you paying for advice which you don’t get at the MOST crucial time? It is something to ask yourself. Does it matter to you that their equipment can’t handle the calls or they are out sick. The point is you pay 1-2% of your assets EVERY year, not for the ‘tip sheet’ or special opportunities but for the hand holding when the bottom falls out of the market. Almost no security was sparred this time. Did you get an email or call reassuring you that you are in the market for the long-haul? Did your Robo explain that you had discussed what to do in a correction? Did your advisor remind you that your special opportunity might evaporate if the market went against you? Why pay for help you don’t need AND don’t get?

What happens if you have dispute with your broker/advisor?
You can file a complaint. You can hire a lawyer to plead your case to the FINRA—that broker-dealer ‘self-governing’ body. Only industry that Fed lets owners police themselves. You can win arbitration and have the record show you have an award. However, 30% or more monetary awards to investors in arbitration claims go unpaid, the self-regulator said. “It’s crystal clear this is and remains a huge problem for FINRA and therefore for investors,” says PIABA President Andrew Stoltmann. Deregulation by Trump allows your advisor to easily remove the record of their misdeeds. Bad brokers welcomed by firms that need revenue. Your broker/advisor has multiple lawyers paid big bucks to defend them. Brokerage failures are excused. Firms avoid fines with lawyers.
   

Best last minute tax saving move
Tax filing began Jan 29 even though all the forms are late in arriving. If you find you owe tax instead of hitting the refund button this year, you may still be able to claim your refund. You can reduce your 2017 income and receive a tax credit. Credits reduce your taxes dollar for dollar. In effect, Uncle Sam can help you reduce taxes AND save for retirement at the same time. On line 32, Form 1040 or line 17, Form 1040a, you can enter up to $5,500 ($6,500 over age 50) as IRA contribution to reduce your income. If you meet the qualification, a credit will show up on Line 51, Form 1040 or Line 34, 1040a. You subtract this credit from your tax. EG: Income $66,000: tax refund is $3,335, without IRA contribution. With the contribution, the refund is $4,392 or $5,553 if you both make the contribution. Credit against tax is $400. IRS checks to see you have IRA.



IRS free tax filing sites to avoid $300+ cost of filing
Commercial tax prep sites offer expensive loans as advances on your refund but you can keep your whole refund using the IRS free filing partners. Refunds can be in your account within 2-3 weeks. The average refund is over $3,000. Check your refund: https://sa.www4.irs.gov/irfof/lang/en/irfofgetstatus.jsp
You can create a tax-free retirement fund of $500,000 with that amount each year. If you need free tax preparer service for your 1040, use AARP Tax Aides near you. Bring last year’s return and ID: https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/aarp_taxaide/
Use your refund to fund your tax-FREE IRS approved account: https://www.amazon.com/Tax-FREE-Retirement-code-lifetime-income/dp/1475206976

Are you able to take advantage of the new 20% deduction?
Accountants are hard at work with Trump’s new tax avoidance angle: A 20% deduction for pass-through businesses. If you have your own business or could have it, your accountant is quickly working out how you either put all your income/assets into one entity or cutting them up into several. The model for this tax avoidance scheme is Trump’s own empire. He develops or owns real estate, runs properties for others, name royalties, sells beef & perfume, runs events and jets and TV productions. Because he has global reach, his profits may stay overseas or be taxed at lower rates inside subsidiaries or pass-throughs like LLCs. He may avoid tax by putting his profits in a subsidiary and then bankrupting the business debts. He did that in 1995 and avoided tax for years after.

Where are the Trump tax cuts going? Not for jobs
Twenty-seven of our biggest businesses have already spent about $100 billion buying back stocks from shareholders in 2018, a move that shows how the new GOP tax law is primarily benefiting wealthy Americans and large corporations, says a new report. “Firms already had access to all kinds of cheap investment capital, even before the tax plan,” said economist Jared Bernstein. At a news conference in late December, Trump cited Wells Fargo's decision to increase wages and charitable giving; changes the company says will cost about $215 million. In January, the bank announced about $22 billion in corporate share buybacks. Corporate buybacks involved more than 100 times as much money. So, let’s be honest. Tax breaks help the wealthy. Working people will get taxed.




****************
Make “The Don” Great Again

GOP House will never impeach their ‘Savior’

“I have absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department,”

Bannon and I wish to “destroy the state”–our government: “I want to destroy
FBI doing its job following Kremlin advisor, Page, a suspected Putin spy

Trump Is 'Doing Putin's Job for Him' by Attacking our FBI: McCain


Trump can’t be a racist: he had a TV show”
“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?

‘I’m the only one that matters’ Mob Boss, Nov 3, 2017
The Don’s enforcers lie re: contacts to Putin and list longer: Why all the lies if innocent?

GOP suppresses vote: can voters make America normal again?

‘I was elected President.’ (to destroy ‘the state’)
Dictator’s great weapon is fear: Dems are evil (TV ad)


How Govt wastes our money:
Trump to spend $ millions on DC military parade for his gratification like Putin Un Adolf


GOP votes to “ask” our ‘reps’ to repay us when we pay for their ‘sexual’ settlements.

SCAMS:

Carter Page, advisor to Trump, targeted by FBI, calls himself “advisor to the Kremlin
FBI wiretap on agent Page was reason Trump blamed Obama for wiretap of his phones

Pentagon lost $800 million in payments to contractors: “little idea where money goes” And 60% of new budget goes to military to make some GOP people even richer.

Bannon ignores Congress subpoena but not arrested. Can we do that? No law & order.

Jobs:
Recent job data shows older workers getting back to work. 797,000 people over age 55 found a job in December.

Trump is looking for a wife beater to fill a WH position—no need to pass security check. 


Who owns your account now?

Miracle:
FoxNews admits TrumpNunes memo does NOT vindicate Trump; shows FBI doing job

IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
MontclairNJ 07042
973.746.2014
Alert

Friday, February 2, 2018

Start cutting taxes now

Start now to cut taxes during 2018 and beyond
Trump’s new tax law may change your strategy for 2018. If you are in a high property tax state, your deductions may be reduced causing you to owe more tax. Prepare by reducing the number of allowance you declare to your employer on a W-4 form. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf. You may pay less tax with more children in 2018 since that credit was increased. Poor families will not get the Rubio increase.
You may start saving money now in January for a whole year’s benefit. First, PMI, the insurance you pay on your mortgage to protect your lender, is NOT deductible for 2018. (It is not for 2017 either) You can eliminate your PMI if you have paid down your loan so your home equity is over 20% of the value. PMI costs you 1 percent or more of the loan value each year. Ask your bank to remove the monthly PMI if your home has appreciated and or your loan balance is lower. The GOP also cut your energy credits for new appliances, windows and doors, tuition and fees deduction, and other special programs. Trump has told the diminished IRS staff not to worry about ACA penalties since the individual mandate is repealed for 2018 so refunds will not be held up. The mandate is in effect for 2017 tax year. The IRS says you won’t get some of your ACA forms until March (p 51, 1040). Despite promises for a ‘great health plan’ the GOP will allow less expensive insurance with fewer benefits to be sold. So-called ‘junk’ insurance caused thousands to go into bankruptcy from medical expenses.
Among Americans 65 and older, more than 5 million would get no tax break in 2019 and 5.6 million would see no tax decrease by 2027, according to an AARP Public Policy Institute analysis. In fact, cuts to Medicare and SS benefits are in the works for us so it is important to continue or start investing more to pay for the 2018 tax cuts for the wealthy. 
Avoid the coming tax increases with your tax-FREE account using your refund: https://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Tax-FREE-Wealth-Reserve/dp/1456505041


Best last minute tax saving move
Tax filing begins next week—Jan 29—even though all the forms are late in arriving. If you find you owe tax instead of hitting the refund button this year, you may still be able to claim your refund. You can reduce your income up to April 17 and receive a tax credit. Credits reduce your taxes dollar for dollar. In effect, Uncle Sam can help you reduce taxes AND save for retirement at the same time. On line 32, Form 1040 or line 17, Form 1040a, you can enter up to $5,500 ($6,500 over age 50) per person IRA contribution to reduce your income. If you meet the qualification, a credit will show up on Line 51, Form 1040 or Line 34, 1040a. You subtract this credit from your tax. EG: Income $66,000: tax refund is $3,335, without IRA contribution. With the contribution, the refund is $4,392 or $5,553 if you both make the contribution. Credit against tax is $400.

Experts say best retirement income strategy is ….[what]?
Academics looked at how to assure yourself you will have enough money in retirement. By looking at many ways to reach your goal, you can plan for a more successful financial life. Perhaps you think that you pay an advisor to worry about this problem. However, studies show advisors are not the best advisors when it comes to predicting your future behavior. Academics assume too much in this study. First, they assume everyone can wait to age 70 to take SS benefits. Most people actually can’t. They can’t afford to use their own nest egg until then. Second, cut back on spending during this period. But usually most people are most active just after retirement and want to do things like travel around the world or take 2 weeks on the beach in Hawaii. Third, we have no choice in the amount of income from our retirement funds like 401k, pensions and IRAs at age 70. The IRS tells us what amount we must take so Uncle Sam gets his cut before we die. You can’t use your nest egg at your own pace. Academics assume the perfect world.
Don’t leave this decision to advisors or academics: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Retirement-Spending-Plan-enough/dp/1461084016


IRS free tax filing sites to avoid $300+ cost of filing
Commercial tax prep sites offer expensive loans as advances on your refund but you can keep your whole refund using the IRS free filing partners. Refunds can be in your account within 2-3 weeks. The average refund is over $3,000. You can create a tax-free retirement fund of $500,000 with that amount each year. If you need free tax preparer service for your 1040, use AARP Tax Aides near you. Bring last year’s return and ID: https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/aarp_taxaide/
Use your refund to fund your tax-FREE IRS approved account: https://www.amazon.com/Tax-FREE-Retirement-code-lifetime-income/dp/1475206976


Buffett's SIMPLE Strategy Beats Wall Street—22% in 2017; 11.11% since 1976.
The Master of investing, Warren Buffett, proved it, again. You do NOT need Wall Street 'professionals' to reach your financial goals. In fact, if you use them, you may give up 63% of your potential accumulations because of trading, charges, commissions and fees. Buffett’s SIMPLE strategy earns over 11% per yearDALBAR keeps track of returns and found that the average managed-account equity investor earned just 3.79% a year over 30 years. The benchmark returned 11.06%. You and I can start beating Wall Street with one phone call. Earnings are tax-FREE after age 59 ½ in special account too.
Earn 11% a year with Buffett’s SIMPLE strategy: https://www.amazon.com/MasterClass-Buffetts-SIMPLE-Strategy/dp/1983485268

Fidelity raises fees on its Vanguard funds offering
In a surprise, the Johnson family is claiming it does not get paid enough to process Fidelity customer accounts so it is raising fees on those that hold Vanguard funds. Instead of competing on price like Schwab and others by lowering fees, Fido will go against the growth wave of low-fee funds. Since the largest index funds often carry a net expense ratio of 0.10% or less, they simply can't afford to pay for distribution unless they raise fees on all of their investors. Vanguard eschews the practice of paying for distribution, preferring to keep costs low. So far, the model is working, as the fund company frequently ranks among the top of the pack for investor inflows, proving that investors want low fee funds, even if they have to go out of their way to get them. For many types of assets, Vanguard maintains low-fee structure since it has no owner. Funds are owned by the investors themselves. A study by BrightScope found that stock funds in 401(k)s with fewer than 100 participants carried average expense ratios that were roughly 50% higher than plans with 5,000 to 9,999 participants. 

Which cars do mechanics claim are “crap”?
Asking mechanics about the cars they have worked on may have biased results because they have their personal favorite brands. However, when you ask enough mechanics, the same answers keep coming back. These are really bad reviews and they are sometimes specific: EG: Ford’s Ford Fiesta or Focus [automatics] are S@&$ and class-action suits are pending. Even expensive Porsche do not pass the smell test. Great comments: Spending $90K+ on what is essentially a 40-year-old tractor with nice leather seats.” Mechanics like cars that are reliable and if they break, are easy to get the parts and fix.

Ask your preparer about these tax CREDITS
A tax credit is more valuable than any deduction: a credit cuts your tax dollar for dollar and increases your refund. Even if you do not need to file a return, some credits will pay you for filing anyway. You may be eligible for up to $6,318. Use the EITC Assistant tool to find out if you qualify. If you qualified for health care premium tax credit you won’t know until you file. There are two child tax credits—one reduces tax and the other increases your refund. Credits to $2,500 are available to help you pay for post-secondary education for 4 years. The average refund is $3,000 and can pay for your retirement. Refunds may be delayed since lower withholding [2018 tax cut] means less Fed revenue.
Your tax refund can complete a $500,000 tax-FREE nest egg: https://www.amazon.com/Tax-FREE-Retirement-code-lifetime-income/dp/1475206976

Is portfolio rebalancing right for you?
This is the time of year when your paid advisor/broker will call you to rebalance—sell and buy. Could it be that is how they earn a living--sell and buy? Didn’t John Bogle say: unless you are heavily into foreign equities, rebalancing is not productive? Yes, if you worry about being too heavily into stocks and fear correction like '08, perhaps your portfolio is not balanced correctly in the first place. Bogle made the observation that many S&P 500 firms are actually rebalancing all the time--they earn 1/2 revenues overseas and they balance their treasury funds every day with hedging and government bonds. A well diversified portfolio actually rebalances itself. Many clients earn over 11% nominal using what we call the Vanguard Top Ten. Some "rebalance" by switching their 'dollar cost averaging' contributions to the fund with the smallest gain. One of our authors, Zhou Wang, wrote about this strategy in his book, https://www.amazon.com/Vanguards-Top-Ten-mutual-funds/dp/150073909X
As Mr Buffett has declared: you only need two funds for investing long-term. Another of our authors, Ian Sender, explained the Buffett strategy: https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffetts-Vanguard-Funds-Retirement/dp/1496148592
So we say, when you rebalance you are doing what Buffett says not to do--buy and sell. Trading is what keeps Wall Street owners wealthy: https://www.amazon.com/Pimps-Wall-Street-money-middlemen/dp/151525254X



****************
Make “The Don” Great Again

“I have absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department,”

Bannon and I wish to “destroy the state”–our government: “I don’t care.”


Trump can’t be a racist: he had a TV show”
“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?


‘I’m the only one that matters’ Mob Boss, Nov 3, 2017
The Don’s enforcers lie re: contacts to Putin and list longer: Why all the lies if innocent?
GOP suppresses vote: can voters make America normal again?

‘I was elected President.’ (and you weren’t)
Dictator’s great weapon is fear: Dems are evil TV ad




How Govt wastes our money:
$24 million for 2 refrigerators for The Don’s ride.
Defense Dept report: 50% F-35 can’t fly, bad helmet, can’t refuel in air, 1000 glitches.

SCAMS:
Is it that easy to kill? The accidental death of a player in an online video game sparked a Los Angeles man to place a deadly prank call that sent police to shoot a Kansas man.

Self-driving cars do not recognize human on motorcycle.


Advisors James Polese & Cory Peterson Boston stole $500,000 of their client’s money.


Jobs:


GOP donor Koch tells Trump not to change the immigration rate “Immigrants are essential to the success”

HI worker who sounded false alarm has been doing it for a while

Who owns your account now?
Russia retweeted anti-Hillary messages 470,000 times: created fake events to change us  using our own social media accounts.

Miracle:

If Trump can last after he ordered special prosecutor fired in June after fired FBI director. Then lied. Now disparaging FBI and investigators. No law and order left? No morality or truth left? No credibility left in case of real emergency. Are our ‘representatives’ asleep?


IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
MontclairNJ 07042
973.746.2014
Alerts 

Friday, January 26, 2018

Best January tax-saving move

Best last minute January tax saving move
Tax filing begins next week—Jan 29—even though all the forms are late in arriving. If you find you owe tax instead of hitting the refund button this year, you may still be able to claim your refund. You can reduce your income up to April 17 and receive a tax credit. Credits reduce your taxes dollar for dollar. In effect, Uncle Sam can help you reduce taxes AND save for retirement at the same time. On line 32, Form 1040 or line 17, Form 1040a, you can enter up to $5,500 ($6,500 over age 50) per person IRA contribution to reduce your income. If you meet the qualification, a credit will show up on Line 51, Form 1040 or Line 34, 1040a. You subtract this credit from your tax. EG: Income $66,000: tax refund is $3,335, without IRA contribution. With the contribution, the refund is $4,392 or $5,553 if you both make the contribution. Credit against tax is $400.


How did your advisor/broker do last year?
There were some lucky advisors/brokers out there last year. I settled for 21.1% total return but some clients got 62.8% return on their picks. Did your advisor/broker pick United Rentals, Avery, Marriott, Cadence Design, or Estee Lauder? These had 60% plus gains. Of course, for some of those returns, you had to NOT sell the year before when the stock cratered 60%. Trouble is only one or two people actually bet the ranch on one of these high flyers and got rich and they were ‘insiders.’ And what do you do for next year? Unless you have insider information, your advisor/broker is unlikely to pick the new winners for 2018. You have a 1 in 7,000 chance. In fact, studies show the annual winning managers are almost always next year’s losers. Again, if you were lucky you had these 4 top pickers: Steven Wymer, Larry Puglia, Paul Viera, or Henry Ellenbogen. This is why legendary manager, Charles Ellis calls stock picking the Loser’s Game and Warren Buffett recommends his SIMPLE strategy to NOT pick stocks.



IRS free tax filing sites to avoid $300+ cost of filing
Commercial tax prep sites offer expensive loans as advances on your refund but you can keep your whole refund using the IRS free filing partners. Refunds can be in your account within 2-3 weeks. The average refund is over $3,000. You can create a tax-free retirement fund of $500,000 with that amount each year. If you need free tax preparer service, use AARP Tax Aides near you. https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/aarp_taxaide/


Buffett's SIMPLE Strategy Beats Wall Street—22% in 2017; 11.11% since 1976.
The Master of investing, Warren Buffett, proved it, again. You do NOT need Wall Street 'professionals' to reach your financial goals. In fact, if you use them, you may give up 63% of your potential accumulations because of trading, charges, commissions and fees. Buffett’s SIMPLE strategy earns over 11% per yearDALBAR keeps track of returns and found that the average managed-account equity investor earned just 3.79% a year over 30 years. The benchmark returned 11.06%. You and I can start beating Wall Street with one phone call. Earnings are tax-FREE after age 59 ½ in special account too.
Earn 11% a year with Buffett’s SIMPLE strategy: https://www.amazon.com/MasterClass-Buffetts-SIMPLE-Strategy/dp/1983485268

Trump uses religion to maintain control over constituents
Where did Trump offer his anniversary inaugural speech? Not in the Congress where our Reps need to hear again why we are the United ‘states. No, he made it to the small sect of GOP regionists who follow only one god—anti-abortion and religious Intolerance. While claiming to fight for religious freedom, they mean ‘freedom’ to legally force all Americans to follow their creed—NO reproductive choice—sex for procreation only. Trump, as the poster boy for the ‘women as sex objects’ ideology, creates religious propaganda to unite his followers. This is the same Trump who proclaimed his lack of respect for women: he gropes them, claiming they let him grab by the pu**y because of fame. This is the same Trump who pays prostitutes for sex and for silence in front of his wife and daughters and sons. There is no celebration of life by this immoral devil. Can you imagine how they feel after being insulted and then hear his “pro-life” speech?
Surely, this person has separated himself from the God of love in order to have power.
What happened to the America that was founded on the freedom of EVERY citizen to be free to follow his own conscience and his own religion. That was a guarantee that we adult citizens don’t have to be bound by any religion/belief—we can be agnostics. Americans believe in taking responsibility for themselves, NOT in have GOP religionists decide what we do with ourselves.
We don’t need a self-righteous bully, a devilish man-child telling us what to do.
St. Augustine (354-430AD): Love God and do what you want.

When you have a sizable portfolio, you don’t want to lose it to a downturn, especially if you are living on the principal for income. If you are 10 years or more from living on a fixed income, you can stay invested the whole time and not suffer great loss. Actually, by staying in the market you are going to benefit when the rebound comes. No one has yet figured out how to time the market to get back in for the highest gain. However if you don’t have the 10 years for recovery, you must be prepared. The market fell in ’08 big time—37%. It then gained 27% and 14% and eventually you got back what you lost if you stayed around. Now we have had a 22% gain after 12%. Since no one (even the geniuses) knows what is going to happen, consider how you can be ready. Some of us anticipate the fall and our lack of time to make it up. So some have gone to a low-cost balanced fund for the bulk of our lifelong nest egg. Vanguard presents a viable strategy in its Wellesley Income Fund. It has returned 9.85% since 1970 with 60% bonds. Even though past is not the future, what about its record for market corrections? In ’08 this fund lost 10%. Some of us can live with that 10% correction since the fund has done well overall. And if we are using the tax-FREE trust account, we don’t have to pay tax on a bad year’s gains. I am ready for a correction, are you?

Our client’s Top Ten funds
extended their 11.7% annual returns for another year. For the last 20 years, clients who picked these low-cost funds did very well. Over time earning over 11% has created $ million accounts for their retirements. Investing can be easy. They bought these funds during their working lives and have maintained their annual average of over 11%. Solid returns and they avoided all the brokerage fees too with The Vanguard Top Ten.

2017 Total Return Fund        Long-term Return Longevity

            21.7% 500 Index                     11.1%* since 1976
            3.2% Energy                            10.7% since 1984
            17.9% Extended Market          10.9% since 1987
            19.6% Health                           16.5% since 1984
            42.9% International Growth      10.8% since 1981
            29.5% PRIMECAP                 13.9% since 1984
            16.1% Small Cap Index            10.7% since 1960
            10.2% Wellesley Income            9.9% since 1970
            19.1% Windsor                        11.5% since 1958
            16.8% Windsor II                    10.8% since 1985
            19.7% Average                        11.7%
*Average Annual Returns as of 12/31/17.
You enjoy high returns with less volitility too: https://www.amazon.com/Vanguards-Top-Ten-mutual-funds/dp/150073909X


How the GOP will take away the Medicare benefits we paid for
What can Trump say NOW?: here is what Trump said back in 2013 on the topic of cuts: “It’s not unreasonable for people who paid into a system for decades to expect to get their money’s worth – that’s not an ‘entitlement,’ that’s honoring a deal.” But now Ryan and the GOP millionaires, flush with their $1 Trillion extra income, are claiming they must stop paying our Medicare bills. The GOP’s 2018 budget resolution calls for $500 billion in Medicare cuts, largely by adopting Speaker Ryan’s privatization scheme: we will be given vouchers that do not pay full premiums for traditional Medicare or private health insurance. Since the GOP will control the voucher amounts, we will be forced to use our SS benefits which will also be cut starting in 2034. Rising health care costs will leave us without coverage in some situations. Ryan also wants to hike the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67. Congressional millionaires just assume that the promises America made to its citizens can be broken rather than make cuts to a bloated defense industry and industry subsidies. Congress relies on these donor groups for their election money so the only place left to cut is US citizens. We are not represented in this process. We lose.

Where do you keep your money when you need it in a year?
Short-term savings vehicles are easy to find. Lots of CDs provide guaranteed return of about 2%. However, what if you want more? Taking a calculated risk with a diversified bond fund may be your best bet. A low-cost government and corporate bond fund that offers 3-4% is a solid foundation. You can access your money quickly and you are not paying a redemption/penalty charge. You pay 0.05% a year not the average bond fund cost of 0.75%. You are paying for fund maintenance not for ‘star’ fund managers. Or, depending on the amount, you can hedge with a set or ladder of longer-term CDs which provide money using climbing interest rates. If you are in retirement, low-cost annuities can be laddered so that you stay ahead of inflation in future years.

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Make “The Don” Great Again

“I have absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department,”

Art of the Deal does NOT work in government: too many power players

Trump can’t be a racist: he had a TV show”
“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?

‘I’m the only one that matters’ Mob Boss, Nov 3, 2017
The Don’s enforcers lie re: contacts to Putin and list longer: Why all the lies if innocent?
GOP suppresses vote: can voters make America normal again?

‘I was elected President.’
Bannon and I wish to “destroy the state”–our government: “I don’t care.”
GOP to destroy FBI investigators and rule of law to save their mob boss
Dictator’s great weapon is fear: Dems are evil TV ad




How Govt wastes our money:
Party politics brings end to American democracy and Reps get paid to do it. $6.5 biln/wk
We pay and train Afghan units implicated in “gross human rights violations

SCAMS:
Kushner, in hock up to his ears to China investors, is meeting in secret with the Chinese. 
Chase gives raise to 9% of employees; Disney gives 1 time bonus to some. Propaganda!

Jobs:
Trump’s Labor proposal: employers to pocket their workers’ tips if pay minimum wage.
Trump’s new solar tax eliminates 23,000 jobs

Who owns your account now?
PA considers ending property tax: fund schools via sales and income tax.

Miracle:

“Fake news is a sign of intolerant and hypersensitive attitudes, and leads only to the spread of arrogance and hatred. That is the end result of untruth.” Pope Francis

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