The August 2009 Consumer Price Index – the main indication of inflation – has a surprise. It’s one that may mean no raises next year if you receive social security, invest in TIPS or if your income is somehow tied to the CPI. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) apparently decided those Cash for Clunkers checks decreased the price of new vehicles. With an estimated 700,000 cars bought under the program, that’s a lot of money not being counted as what Americans spent on cars.
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A new study by Angus Deaton (Princeton University) uses Gallup World Poll data from 146 countries to analyze the relationship between being religious and one’s health. He concludes that religious people – especially men – are healthier than those who are not religious. In fact, there are some “startling differences in health outcomes and health behaviors by religiosity.” Melinda Beck, writing in the Wall Street Journal, has a good summary of ‘advanced directives’ – those documents that give direction to family and medical professionals who “may have to decide whether you would want to be kept alive artificially, what level of disability you’d be willing to live with and how to let you die if you had no hope of recovery.” This is a question President Obama was asked in an AARP town hall meeting last week. A Congressional website refutes claims that health care reform will start “us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia”. What’s the truth? This article will help you sort through the facts to find it. A recent Tax Court case, Garnett v. Commissioner, could mean you may be able to offset losses from ‘part-time’ business ventures against your salary and other investment income. But the case is not as black and white as some may think it is. Earlier we reported the administration’s proposed changes to the estate tax laws. This article delves deeper to look at how proposals offered by the administration and in several Congressional bills, might affect common estate planning tools and techniques. Have you ever been involved in a project that seemed doomed to failure almost from the start? Yet it limped along painfully for months or years before someone had the courage to put a bullet in its head. If the horse is dead, get off it. The faster you get off the wrong horse, the faster you can find the right one. Pooh and Piglet can teach us all a lesson about making sure we don’t let the tools we use dictate the things we really want to do. (With special thanks to all the fans of Winnie the Pooh!) Pooh Bear was talking with his friend Piglet in the hundred acre wood. “Piglet, I am so excited. I [...] People won’t buy something until they understand it. It doesn’t matter whether it is a product, a service or an idea. You have probably come across people who refused to take action even after you clearly and concisely laid everything out for them. They just didn’t seem to get it. And, because they didn’t get it, [...] Question. Why do seemingly intelligent people get excited about lousy ideas (especially lousy ideas promoted by sometimes obviously seedy people)? Answer. The urge to get rich is easier to massage than the desire to avoid being poor. We assume we will be the exception to the rule. That’s like a toddler thinking, “I’m going to [...] Imagine an exciting race between two great sailing ships. They are about to glide along a sea filled with sand bars and uncertain currents. The ships are identical in all respects – except one. One ship has a rudder; the other does not. Wagers are about to be placed on the outcome of the race. [...] We see the world through our own experiences. You and I can both look at the same thing and see something entirely different. That’s most definitely true when we talk about financial concepts like retirement planning, financial planning or estate planning. If you cannot put yourself into another’s shoes and cannot see things as they see [...] A little mouse once dreamed of the future. He was a smart little mouse and sought out the elderly mice of his community to benefit from their wisdom. The elderly mice spoke of the past. They pondered the future. They reflected on the friends they had enjoyed during their lives. And remembered the lessons learned – [...] What would you think of a bridge builder who makes assumptions like these in designing a new bridge you will drive across every day? Earthquakes never happen. As it does each year, the IRS has released its Dirty Dozen – the top tax scams taxpayers should be aware of. This year the IRS has included a 30-second video on YouTube warning: “If it seems too good to be true, ask a reputable tax advisor or go to www.irs.gov.” Unfortunately, after watching the [...] |
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