Did your “representatives” give you tax breaks like those
for the wealthy?
GOP says that the package of tax breaks “will grow our
economy and help American taxpayers keep more of their hard-earned dollars”
while providing “certainty to American taxpayers.” This is the old “trickle
down” strategy. Business got research and development tax credit and heavy
machine deduction to $500,000. A business can deduct 50% of new equipment and vehicles
in 2016. They got many other tax breaks.
Take your tax breaks: http://www.amazon.com/The-Tax-Shelter-Young-Americans/dp/1500426520
Succeed in this angry American decade
Many Americans are angry with their situation just like
during the 30’s Depression. Leaders are competing for support by driving wedges
between us. We are unhappy that our labor intensive jobs have flown. We are
unhappy that we are stuck with wages
that don’t increase with our productivity. The wealthy now own 90% of
assets. 20% of children live in poverty. Our middle-class is shrinking while
new entrepreneurs make a fortune overnight. America
has swung to its individualistic right. The trust
of an earlier period of the American Dream for all is shrinking fast. Demagogues
appear in times like these because they offer simple solutions—target one group
and control the angry mob as leader. Leadership in one man (usually) allows
power to corrupt absolutely. But in our short history, we have voted for a
Teddy to breakup corporate power and FDR to fight right-wing extremists
overseas. Most of us do not like giving all the power to one person like our
ancestors did.
A new poll shows that the majority
of us do NOT feel comfortable with a group hater as President. We prefer a
positive hopeful future for all of us even if it isn’t possible.
27% student loans owed by seniors are in default—Solution?
The amount of education debt held by people 65 and older has
risen from $2.8 billion in 2005 to $18.2 billion in 2013. Gov guarantees the loans
and lenders can collect
our Social Security benefits FOREVER. There is no time limit and no bankruptcy
discharge. Bankruptcy judges have said that to get education loans wiped away,
borrowers must show their entire lives would otherwise be characterized by a “certainty
of hopelessness” or that repaying the debt “strips [the debtor] of all that
makes life worth living.” Federal rules allowing education debt collectors to
auto-dial borrowers’ cell phones. Parents become indentured servants for life. See
discharge process: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation
Why are women better investors than men?
New survey says men lost 1.8% while women only 1.4% in 2015.
They become rich
faster than men now. Over time, both would be better
off NOT trading the study shows. Trading assumes we know or we think our
broker/advisor knows what will happen in the future. Greed and fear are Wall
Street’s tricks to separate us from our money like fortune tellers. Buffett
says his holding period is forever. 257
hedge funds closed this quarter because they lost so much money. The record
is clear: earn 3.79%
with managed account or 11.06% with index funds. If we just held the whole
market and didn’t try to time the ups and downs, we could earn 10-12% a year.
This is the record you could have:
2014 13.80%
2013 32.43
2012 15.88
2011 2.07
2010 14.87
Why let your broker/advisor take 2/3rd of your returns?
You put up the money and take all the risks. You should earn
the full amount of return the market provides. Your broker has no special
information or technical tools to win or they would own their own management
fund. As a sales person, their job is to sell you for a profit, just like all
salesmen. Successful investing is about putting your money to work not playing
poker or the slots. It takes a lifetime to build a successful business. Why
would investing be any different? Let your money work and compound for you.
Over time your $250 a month compounds to $1 million. Earn 11% not 3.69%:
Which vehicles last at least 10 years?
Sad but true that all 10 have foreign labels but are made by American workers. American management seems to have hard time managing the process of making reliable cars. Perhaps their top brass does not stay long enough in the job or wants more money or wants to build a corporate empire or run the company into bankruptcy or sale in order to cancel labor contracts or run up the stock price by cutting R&D so the options have more value or retire with a $1 million pension while cutting everyone else’s pension and health care benefits. It is amazing that the best cars are made by the management that takes the fewest rewards. Bottom of the reliability scores: Jeep, Dodge, Ford, Chrysler
Sad but true that all 10 have foreign labels but are made by American workers. American management seems to have hard time managing the process of making reliable cars. Perhaps their top brass does not stay long enough in the job or wants more money or wants to build a corporate empire or run the company into bankruptcy or sale in order to cancel labor contracts or run up the stock price by cutting R&D so the options have more value or retire with a $1 million pension while cutting everyone else’s pension and health care benefits. It is amazing that the best cars are made by the management that takes the fewest rewards. Bottom of the reliability scores: Jeep, Dodge, Ford, Chrysler
Does our President need to be rational and truthful?
Cruz on budget: "It was Republican leadership playing
Santa Claus to the lobbyists”
Trump: “while I hate some journalists, “I’d never kill them.”
“There is
no proof Vladimir Putin has
killed enemies or journalists.”
Putin is a
“strong leader” Putin thinks Trump is “brilliant”
Christie: "does anybody
really care if Hillary apologizes to Donald or vice versa”?
Jeb: “I am more comfortable ranking lower in the polls
because it means less
scrutiny.
Graham: I
told them how to fight ISIL so now I’m done.
Sanders: “Sad
reality is Wall Street regulates the Fed.” Fed ready to bail them out
again.
New poll: Americans oppose
Donald Trump’s plan to ban all Muslims from coming to the country by a more
than 2:1 margin (66 percent to 27 percent). The partisan divide on
the issue, however, is sharp. Democrats would accept Syrian refugees (74-22)
while Republicans (82-13) and independents (51-42) would ban them. All three
groups oppose barring all Muslims: Dems (79-18); Republicans (51-41) and
independents (67-22). A majority (55 percent) of Americans believe domestic
extremists are a bigger threat than foreign radicals, while 55 percent think
Islam is a peaceful religion. Americans also support (50-42) sending ground
troops to fight ISIS.
Regulators are the only protection we have since we
can’t sue anymore
“It
is nearly impossible for one individual to take on a corporation with vast
resources.”
Supremes
stop us from suing—State courts no longer available to sue corporations!
Lisa Lewis, former
Fidelity broker, caught check-kiting from client accounts.
Olympus Corp’s duodenoscopes found to
kill 21 patients but not disclosed to anyone.
LifeLock caught (AGAIN) promising what
nobody can deliver—ID security
VA
revokes 25 state’s gun permits to fugitives, stalkers and drug dealers,
etc.
Wall Street could lose $19 billions if Fiduciary
Rule to protect us becomes law. Currently savers
are losing $ billions with high
fees and bad sales practices.
Galen Marsh, MorganStanley, caught
stealing 730,000 customer account records
Honda
air bags kill 9: why do we leave testing to the companies themselves?
We need regulation—GOP is wrong—companies would not fix
bad products on own
Is a SBLOC right for you?
Securities-Backed Lines of Credit are being marketed by your broker/advisor but regulators are concerned that when your portfolio loses value, you may have problems with repayments. Your loan may be called at any time so the extra capital may not be worth the risk especially if you are using assets you expect to grow long term. On the other hand, if you have a sure thing—an investment you know will perform (?) and you pledge a small part of your portfolio, the low fixed interest rate on these loans may be perfect. Compare a 15 month 0% balance transfer loan from your credit card. A variable rate SBLOC may add another level of risk not worth taking.
Securities-Backed Lines of Credit are being marketed by your broker/advisor but regulators are concerned that when your portfolio loses value, you may have problems with repayments. Your loan may be called at any time so the extra capital may not be worth the risk especially if you are using assets you expect to grow long term. On the other hand, if you have a sure thing—an investment you know will perform (?) and you pledge a small part of your portfolio, the low fixed interest rate on these loans may be perfect. Compare a 15 month 0% balance transfer loan from your credit card. A variable rate SBLOC may add another level of risk not worth taking.
Check with Warren
first: http://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffett-Your-Investment-Advisor/dp/1518690963
Future of computers, internet and work?
Many are already doing everything online on their smartphones, so why pay for home broadband or landlines? Cable firms have a problem. Where will we do work if we are already on call from employers via phone. If all major computing is done in cloud, why keep data on separate drives? We won’t need a wallet or purse for creds/info. Work will be running machines that actually do the physical stuff except personal services like plumbers, electricians and movers. Most of us find answers online now—diagnose illness, home and car repairs/problems/purchase, work issues. We buy almost everything online from Amazon, et al so retail stores become rare treat. What change is next?
Many are already doing everything online on their smartphones, so why pay for home broadband or landlines? Cable firms have a problem. Where will we do work if we are already on call from employers via phone. If all major computing is done in cloud, why keep data on separate drives? We won’t need a wallet or purse for creds/info. Work will be running machines that actually do the physical stuff except personal services like plumbers, electricians and movers. Most of us find answers online now—diagnose illness, home and car repairs/problems/purchase, work issues. We buy almost everything online from Amazon, et al so retail stores become rare treat. What change is next?
Already, some create their own financial system to produce
tax-FREE income: http://www.amazon.com/Create-Your-Tax-FREE-Financial-System/dp/1466367466
HOW CONGRESS WASTES OUR TAX DOLLARS
Special Inspector General John F. Sopko has spent years
documenting waste, fraud and abuse in the U.S.
military’s efforts to rebuild war-torn Afghanistan .
We
have spent $110 billion on reconstruction projects in Afghanistan .
When adjusted for inflation, that total exceeds the value of the entire
Marshall Plan effort to rebuild Western Europe , WWII.
=More than $8 billion in spending on counter-narcotics
efforts in Afghanistan
that have “failed by every conceivable metric. Afgans grow poppies like we grow
corn.
=The purchase of nearly $500
million worth of airplanes that never could fly and had to be turned into
scrap.
=Construction of a building
that literally began to melt when it rained.
A
$500,000 health clinic that lacked water and electricity. Newborn babies
had to be washed in a nearby dirty river.
= Biden promised an additional
$190 million to fight corruption in Ukraine's law-enforcement and reform
the justice sector.
=Congress
cut future Social Security benefits to spouses but not their own account.
=Navy's new $362 million ship broke down and had to be towed--lasted three weeks.
=VA keeps
paying managers found guilty of retaliation on workers who complained.
=federal workers,
who will get a 1.3 percent raise in 2016 but NOT for SS
recipients???
=$400 million for new FBI HQ in VA or MD.
=IRS stopped from limiting political gifts from non-profits so
rich can buy more votes.
= Military-industrial got biggest bump. For the first time
since Cold War, contractors are sending tanks, fighting vehicles and heavy
weapons to several Baltic and eastern European countries. Europe
can’t defend itself? Putin responds with more nuclear weapons. We have 50,000
‘active’ military that can’t deploy but are being paid. More =Nat. Guards
needed to fill in. Civilians hired to steer
drones from Las Vegas and get
bonuses.
=US just killed
ten Iraqi soldiers by mistakenly bombing own lines near Falluja
=IRS handed out $46 million in tax refunds
in 2013 by mistake—hire bill collectors
=FL postal worker landed his gyrocopter at Capitol proves $3 billions
wasted
SCAMS
David
J. Homan, Wells Fargo Advisors, Saginaw
stole $513,000 from elderly by fraud.
Over 3,000
prisoners were mistakenly set free early in Washington state computer bug.
Lottery
fixed in IA, CO, OK, WI by guy in charge of security—Nice job.
Wall Street claims average investors will be harmed by new “do
the right thing” Rule.
KY GOP cancels voting rights of more than 100,000 nonviolent
felons.
Who owns your account
now?
Deutsche
Bank private-clients to Raymond James,
Nomura Holdings, Japan ,
agreed to pay CIBC about $1 billion for its 41 percent stake in money manager American
Century.
IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
973.746.2014
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