Friday, November 4, 2022

Tax-FREE wealth

 

The only ways to get rich:

  1. Marry money.
  2. Inherit money.
  3. Exploit a unique talent.
  4. Get exceedingly lucky.
  5. Own or lead a successful business.
  6. Spend less than you make and invest your savings wisely over long periods of time.

 

It is really just common sense. Our grandparents learned the hard way during the global Depression of 1929-39. You were lucky to have a job. People saved: never spent more than they made. You can become rich by saving 10% of what you make and never going in debt—except to buy your home. You get richer by investing when nobody else will. Working people who get rich don’t try to keep up appearances. We have recently learned that you can’t avoid risk by saving in bank products. Banks make a lot of money from folks who fear taking market risk even though inflation wipes out their 1-2% savings tools. Over time, investing in profitable companies beats inflation and can make you rich. You don’t pay an advisor 1-3% in charges and fast trading. Cost is the best predictor of investing success. Using tax-FREE stock index accounts, you can be rich in time.

https://www.amazon.com/Tax-FREE-Wealth-How-laws-free/dp/1475089236

 

How is your retirement fund doing?

With the fall in stock market value this year, have you quit saving? Have you automated your saving/investing? Do you track your progress annually with a calculator like Vanguard’s retirement calculator? Do you have a balanced stock/bond portfolio that allows you to sleep at night? Do you have enough saved that you can calculate a future nest egg for your needs? Automatic investment strategies help you buy more shares when prices are low and fewer when high. Will your debt be under control later? Have you made a plan for expenses and income? Have you learned about Warren Buffett’s strategy? Do you take the time to learn how to read your financial statements? Are you buying stocks on sale? According to AARP, over 57 million Americans don’t have access to a workplace retirement savings plan. This access makes you 15 to 20 times more likely to save for retirement. Use a tax-FREE investment accounts. Start a plan today. https://www.amazon.com/Best-Robo-Advisor-Ultimate-Automatic-Management/dp/1537111957

 

Who pays your bills when you are away?

Automatic investing complements automatic bill pay. My mutual fund trustee debits my checking account every month. My wife’s 403b takes her pension contributions automatically each pay day. My gas and electric are paid automatically by a set up with my bank. My mortgage is always the same amount so it is on automatic. For most bills, I set up payment on the day before the payment is due in advance so I don’t get his with $29 late charge. If I am out of town and don’t have a bill, I can pay via their website. The only time I got hit with the late charge was when I did not get the bill because the credit card had illegally force my account into “no paper statement” mode. I complained and the website removed the charge automatically. I never send money by Zelle or other hackable “peer-to-peer” digital payment services. My only problem is making sure there are funds in the account on time. Most of my income sources are dependable. When there is a goof, my bank account is overdraft protected. I share this info with my kid.

https://www.amazon.com/Give-your-child-leg-manage/dp/1096505355

 

Which is better—ETFs or funds?

ETFs are good for trading in your brokerage account. Mutual funds are for long-term accumulation. Cost is important to long-term investors since you will kill the “miracle of compounding” with high costs. Both index mutual funds and ETFs can provide investors with broad, diversified exposure to the stock market. Trading an index ETF seems a contradiction to me since the purpose of an index is to take advantage of better investing results by holding quality stocks forever, not missing the highly volatile gains in the market. Fast trading has been shown to be a losing strategy by many unbiased money professionals. Even master investor Warren Buffett recommends using only two low-cost index funds for retirement income. Plus index funds are very tax efficient since the index that they reflect doesn’t change often—buy and hold.

Follow Buffett’s advice: https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffetts-Vanguard-Funds-Retirement/dp/1496148592

 

Which life insurance is right for you?

If you have a family or folks who count on you for their income, you need to make sure they will have income if you are not around. Term life insurance is right for you. However, in the past some folks had no way to save for a life-long income, bills, mortgage, funeral and final expenses. So they used permanent life insurance. Since the 70s, whole and universal life insurance are not as good a savings/investment vehicle as low-cost mutual funds. Why—because you get a lot more for your money and you don’t have to die to receive benefits. At average earnings of 11% per year, you can accumulate $500,000 for the same cost of a whole life premium policy. Instead of leaving an expensive death benefit to your family, you can have $500,000 in 35 years of investing. You can then supplement your retirement income and have money to pay for end of life needs. You may be able to leave a larger legacy too.

https://www.amazon.com/Life-Insurance-Need-Save-right/dp/1480002178

 

Annuities add little value for investors with income plan

A recent Morningstar study concluded that annuities add little value for investors who are well-prepared for retirement. The study looked at failure rates, or the probability of running out of retirement savings. Most retirees need a steady income and the annuity option as part of a 401k or 403b plan is the industry’s solution. However, annuity costs exceed the cost of a trustee-managed IRA payout using low-cost mutual funds. Many trustees offer steady income at no extra cost. The standard IRS tax schedule provides steady income of about 4% per annum. The RMD or required minimum distribution is specified by the IRS based on age and the previous year’s total accumulations. Using a balanced mutual fund, this strategy overcomes the problem of an annuity payout that loses value to inflation. If you have $500,000 in this kind of account, you are likely to receive $20,000 plus a year recalculated for inflation each year. Even better, if you use the tax-FREE retirement accounts, you pay NO taxes on your retirement income and probably none on your SS benefits either.

Plan for NO taxes: https://www.amazon.com/New-American-Retirement-System-Reserve/dp/1461030072

 

Did you miss FREE money from the IRS?

More than nine million people may qualify for tax benefits but didn’t claim them by filing a 2021 federal income tax return. Many in this group may be eligible to claim some or all of the 2021 recovery rebate credit, the child tax credit, the earned income tax credit and other tax credits. These and other tax benefits were expanded under last year’s American Rescue Plan Act and other recent legislation. The only way to get the valuable benefits is to file a 2021 tax return. Often, people can get these expanded tax benefits, even if they have little or no income from a job, business or other source. This means that many people who don’t normally need to file a tax return should do so for 2021, even if they haven’t been required to file in recent years. To help people claim these benefits, Free File will remain open for an extra month this year, until November 17, 2022. People with income of $73,000 or less can electronically file a return for free using brand-name software. Free online filing means you get ALL of the money you deserve.

https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free

 

Who is a real fiduciary?

Not all financial advisors are fiduciaries

Selling only their firm’s high-cost products isn’t in your ‘Best Interest’. Regulators have given into the financial sales industry in the sense that now almost every sales person can call themselves a ‘fiduciary’. A fiduciary is a person who does not profit from the advice they give. All financial people who work for a firm—brokerage, advisory or trust company—must sell only what their firm has a contract to offer. Legally these ‘fiduciary’ financial advisors can’t avoid this conflict of interest because they work under a license provided by their firm. In each of the firms I worked for, the products and services we offered were authorized by management. As a member of the product selection committee, I had to provide full due-diligence on the vendors and products we used. We picked the compensation structure we needed for our revenue goals. Sales people can be paid by commissions, quarterly fees, shared-revenue and other means. They can’t offer Vanguard products and services because Vanguard is owned by its investors. You will know you don’t have a real fiduciary when you must sign a BICE. A Best Interest Exemption gives the broker/advisor a safe harbor to recommend an investment product that may benefit them more than it benefits you, and that is a conflict of interest, no matter how much lipstick you apply. Use a certified financial planner (CFP®) for unbiased advice. Or learn from experts like Warren Buffett, John Bogle, and Burton Malkiel what you need.

https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffetts-Vanguard-Funds-Retirement/dp/1496148592

 

 

 

?**********ACCOUNTABILITY**************?

 

 

Like 1776, this period is a test of democracyWe rejected an "American fascist" once

 

 

The Path to Dictatorship: 2010-2030

 

Parallels of this era in the past may hint at our future: democracy breaks apart legally

 

 

Jan 21 2010 Corpor­a­tions’ election-spending unlim­ited

Billionaires paid $881 million for votes in 2022 midterm elections

 

Nov 2020 Wealthy discredit election process

 

Nov 21 2020 Trump’s Plans for a Coup: criminal

 

Nov 21 2020: Trump plan: US Marshals seize voting machines

 

Jan 6 2021 Direct assault failed: guns & bombs ready

 

Trump engaged in a "criminal conspiracy" to stop Biden

 

I don’t f—ing care that they have weapons

 

Trump was “detached from reality”

 

Trump used mafia-style intimidation on the defenseless

 

Parscale: “a sitting president asking for civil war.”

 

Trump: “Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me” 

 

GOP fascism: “RINO hunt armed; no bagging limitJ6 comm threat

 

Trump’s Supremes END personal rights & state laws except for weapons WMDs

 

Fascism: GOP to stop women leaving state for abortion

 

It’s not a court. It’s a junta: Two Americas

 

Trump: President Biden is 'enemy of the state'

 

Christian Nationalist Party (CNP) replaces GOP

 

 

Nov 8 2022 Trump’s “national revolution

 

Jan 2025 Dictator pardons himself: his Supremes Agree

 

 

How Govt wastes our money:

Shell ExxonMobil selling CA wells despite high oil prices: we pay cleanup costs?

Gouging for profits: Heating oil up 60% leaves homeowners cold; NYS $5.76

Amount of taxes owed but not paid is increasing: excess profits tax now?

Corporate profits avoid tax to buy elections: no voters: $millions to GOP election deniers

 

Can any citizen get out of jury subpoena from Supremes like Lindsay? Just GOP?

 

GOP agenda: Medicare & SS entitlement reform as a way to rein in spending?

 

SCAMS/SPINS:

Trump terrorist after Pelosi: Suspect shouted "Where is Nancy?" assaults husband

Trump & Son caught avoiding being served with lawsuit paper: Judge orders ‘email it’

Trump: “Our Country is Rigged, Crooked, and Evil” Maybe he should move to Russia

 

Clarence Thomas was “key” to Trump’s plan to overthrow government of Biden

Trump gets his Supreme justices to hide his taxes from Congress inquiry: above the law

Trump sues NY Attorney General to delay her suit against his fraud biz ‘Derangement’ 

Trump to announce 2024 run to avoid indictment for overthrow of US government

 

Christian nationalism has rooted itself firmly in the Republican Party: no more GOP?

Church political endorsements used to be against the law but Supremes already OKed

The banned book list: what white religious folks are afraid of most:

 

Police have trouble with premitless open carry gun laws: which guy is the bad guy?

 

School shooter buys AR-15 privately after failed background check: out of control guns

 

We are spending $1,705 on auto insurance, up 4% from 2021, 17% from 2020: cut extras.

Plus we are being charged monthly fee for some extra features on our new car: Oh My!

pharmacy chains caught mishandling opioid painkillers: drug pushers fined, no jail

CBS Moonves caught forced multiple employees to perform oral sex on him: fine no jail

Hospital caught overcharging for procedures and services never delivered: no fine, no jail

Make sure you are ‘admitted’ not ‘observed’ in hospital visit so Medicare will pay.

 

Jobs

400 engineers for Flexport logistics startup

 

 

Who owns your account now?

New Credit Score Rule for New Home Buyers: easier or more tape?

New affordable health care: lower premiums, free preventive care, sign up Nov 1

SS 8.7% COLA paid to new claimants but starting early means less for life

 

Pick Medicare plans by Dec 7: assess your needs: optimize coverage

Best 529 college savings plans: Morningstar ratings: compare state tax benefits

44% of registered voters think US government controlled by secret cabal

 

Miracles:

Safe I bonds issued between Nov. 1 and the end of April is expected to drop to 6.89%

Researchers have found a new way to predict and affect how cancers behave.

This coral reef resurrected itself — and showed scientists how to replicate it

 

Tool to help find the real cost of health care at hospital, dental and services

 

 

 

 

Our Universe is Mind-Blowing

Light is both a particle and a wave depending on how we look at the light.

I don’t think that there is any such thing as a position or a velocity of a particle.

Everything (galaxies to stones) in universe made of subatomic energy ‘vibrations’

A subatomic ‘particle’ is the smallest possible vibration (quantum) of a quantum field.

Mass–energy equivalence: E=mc^2.  At the smallest level; Everything is moving a little

Physics Nobel Prize: “entanglement” 2 particles share info instantly at a distance

“It may be that gravity and quantum mechanics are exactly the same thing,” Leonard Susskind

Gravity might induce the collapse of quantum vibrations into 1 quantum state—our world

 

There is no TIME at this level because of force fields come and go in all directions. 

Universe expanding: events may not come together like they did before.

Inside protons, neutrons, it is the fields of the virtual particles that creates its mass.

“Empty space is a boiling, bubbling brew of virtual particles that pop in and out of existence in a time scale so short that you can’t even measure them.” Space expanding.

The electricity we use comes from the field around the wire not from election itself.

 

 

 

@

We can apply for Medicare online: https://blog.ssa.gov/apply-for-medicare-online

We can apply for Social Security online: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/

We can apply for health care online: https://www.healthcare.gov/

 

IAN

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

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

 

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