Friday, August 28, 2015

Why borrow from China to pay for rich people's toys?

Why are we borrowing from China to pay for rich people’s ‘toys’?
$1.22 TRILLION in tax breaks—mostly to corporations and the wealthy—just in 2015. “Tax Expenditures” include deductions for mortgages on 2nd homes in Swiss alps, yachts costing $1 million, “gentleman farms,” and ‘art’ gifts to charities. This $1.22 T tax loss is GREATER than all the other things Congress spends on. We have to borrow $583 billions to make up this GAP. We have to pay $229 billions in interest on all the loans from the past. Our military spending has increased 50 percent since 9/11/1. We spend HALF of our discretionary spending on paying for the defense departments of Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, S Korea, Japan, Germany, and Ukraine. 800 bases! We buy planes and ships the military doesn’t even want. Meanwhile, roads and bridges fall—Madness.

State Farm caught ripping us off
“LifePath” target date funds are managed by BlackRock Advisors but State Farm takes 0.28% of each account for its limited role. Investors claim breach of fiduciary duties and want their money back. Target date funds use index funds and they cost only 0.05%.

Is BlackRock’s robo-advisor money management for you?
BR buys FutureAdvisor for its banks, brokerage firms, insurers and 401(k) plans to use the company's digital platform to serve mass affluent investors and millennials. The largest asset manager will share excess fees with another layer of middle people. Paying more for a robo-advisor with standard portfolios may not help you to meet your long-term goals. Many studies show the best predictor of investment success is low cost.


Tax evaders continue to use indicted Swiss banker’s firm
Americans that used Swiss banker Josef Beck to evade taxes continue to evade with indicted banker’s sons firm, just created after Josef Beck was indicted in 2012. Regulators can’t prosecute because Switzerland won’t extradite its own citizens.

Our pension benefits are undermined
State pensions had a $968 billion shortfall in 2013. Pension benefits that were promised in legal contract to state employees will NOT be paid because annual payments are skipped, according to a Pew report. Our social contract is broken.


How much of your retirement are you giving away?
Are you losing 63% of your retirement earnings to Wall Street?
Broker/advisor/trading cost 1% to 3% every year.
If you use a salesperson, costs can take over HALF of your money!
If you contribute $3,000 a year to your 401k, IRA, etc plan, you end up with:
$3,000 per year @11%    for 33 years = $1,018,177
$3,000 per year @11-1% for 33 years = $778,768
$3,000 per year @11-2% for 33 years = $613,805
$3,000 per year @11-3% for 33 years = $486,634
If you had been using a low-cost mutual fund like Vanguard you would have paid 0.17% for 17.31% annual return for the last 5 years. Your account would have more than doubled.
Tell your broker/advisor they can’t take your money anymore: http://www.amazon.com/Wall-Street-Cleans-Up-Advisors/dp/1517043255


Which investments for the market decline?
If the stock market news makes you uneasy, where should you park your long-term retirement funds? Most low-cost balanced funds will help you remain sane by avoiding the lowest lows. For instance, the Vanguard Target Date 2035 has almost doubled your funds since 2005 with less loss in 2007-8. There were ONLY 40 days from 1950 to 2007 that produced 70% of all the S&P 500 index’s total returns. That is 40 out of 14,528. We can't possibly know when to sell and buy back before the rebound. Vanguard’s Top Ten also protect your spirits and may keep up their 10% returns for the rest of your life: http://www.amazon.com/Vanguards-Top-Ten-mutual-funds/dp/150073909X

401k plans have too many options
Plans that match contributions, usually match 50% up to 6% of income. A study by Yale showed that ‘auto enroll’ and ‘auto escalation’ increased participation and amounts. However, “for every additional 10 fund options, the participation rate is lower by 1.5 to 2 percentage points,” James Choi found.

What happens if you sell and buy in a panic market?
Imagine two people who each invested $1,000 in the S&P 500 at the beginning of 1980. The first one buys once and never sells. The second one is slightly more cautious: He sells any time the market loses 5 percent in a week, and buys back in once it rebounds 3 percent from wherever it bottoms out. At the end of last week, the first investor’s holdings would be worth $18,635. The second investor would have just $10,613. HALF.

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense.” Lewis CarrollAlice in Wonderland
America’s real reality TV show: 2016 election
Carson to bomb Mexican border crossing “caves” that immigrants use!
Carson is pro-choice but against abortion but uses fetal tissue for research.  
Walker: “politicians haven’t been committed to following through on their promises."
Trump outs hedge funds: "They're paying nothing [in taxes]. And it's ridiculous."
Cruz’s satellite vs NASA’s satellites=oceans invade land in real time
Christie is sued for using deficit tax dollars for non-Gov business instead of pensions.
He spent $1 million on out-of-state security costs since 2010. $1 million on whitewash.
Christie blames Obama for heroin epidemic and market crash. Droughts? floods? Fires?


Health brokers use ObamaCare needs to grow business
Brokers say they increasingly view the ACA as an avenue toward new revenue opportunities and roles around education and communication. GOP plans to repeal ObamaCare. Will brokers’ lobbyists take Obama’s side?

Do foreign-born really steal jobs from native-born Americans?
GOP makes it sound simple. Data suggest that everyone that wants to work finds some employment but level of skills/education still determines who gets good-paying jobs. Smart and educated native- AND foreign-born are rewarded for creative work. EG: An average Entry-Level Information Technology Consultant can expect to take home roughly $61K. Machinist average $45K with overtime. According to SimplyHired.com, the average salary for a waiter in Houston is $49,000 a year, and “some can make a lot more than that.”

Fight fire with fire--RoboCaller killer

WOW—Star Trek’s Replicator?
MIT researchers created MultiFab, a relatively inexpensive 3-D printer that can print out lenses, fiber-optics, and fabric. Soon, it can do full-color models of everything from movie sets to electric motors.

Convenience that kills
Cars that don’t turn off kill 13 and car makers are sued. With keyless ignition/off/on that drivers forget and CO fills attached home killing occupants.



SCAMS
We are spending $8 million per HOUR on our wars in Iraq/Afgan. We are paying for the defense departments of Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, S Korea, Japan, Germany, and now Ukraine. Why are we going into debt with China for them? They have money!

GEICO caught discriminating—no jail time
Geico was charged with quoting inflated rates to women, low-income and non-professional-level applicants. The company agrees not to consider education and occupation in sorting coverage limits via a three-year settlement. Pays fee.

James R. Glover of White Hall, Md., Signator Towson, Md., office, Glover illegally raised $13.5 million from 125 people to invest in Colonial Tidewater Realty Income Partners LLC. Glover misappropriated approximately $840,000 from the investment money. No felony indictment. No jail. 


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