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Human nature is a scary thing-the parking conundrum
20 MayI admit it, I’m obsessed. I can’t for the life of me figure out why anyone would intentionally park his or her car next to another car or between two other cars when an easy alternative exists. What am I missing here, is it simply the herding instinct? After all, being close to another car increases the risk of a ding or scratch and certainly makes it less comfortable getting in and out of the car.
I parked my car next to the tree and was the first car in the lot. Now I’m being spooned on two sides.
I am at a loss finding any advantage. This is a conundrum alright (do you get the idea I like that word?) or maybe it’s just that Americans don’t like to walk any further than necessary no matter what.
Let’s have your ideas on why people (and maybe you) do this!
Her name is Julia and her birth to death government benefits are what you will be voting on come November
10 MayThe Obama campaign has introduced a cartoon character named Julia to convince Americans of all the government goodies in place and on the way for this young lady (and by implication, you). Of course paying for them and meeting the already created long-term liabilities are not mentioned in Julia’s story.
Here is an excerpt from an opinion piece in the New York Times and the full articles is here.
Her name is Julia, and she has the lead role in an Obama 2012 slide show that follows what’s supposed to be an American everywoman from childhood into retirement, tracking everything the Obama White House’s policies would do for her and everything the “Romney/Ryan” Republicans would not. The list of Obama-bestowed benefits includes Head Start when Julia’s a tyke, tax credits and Pell grants to carry her through college and low-interest loan repayment afterward, guaranteed birth control when she’s a 20-something and government-sponsored loans when she wants to start a business, all of it culminating in a stress-free retirement underwritten by Medicare and Social Security.
There is more at stake than Julia’s promised benefits. The fundamental role of government in our lives and the dependency we place on government provided programs is what really matters. Oh yes, one other little thing also matters … How (and who) will we pay for all these programs?
If you think it’s the other guy who will pay for Julia’s contraceptives, subsidize her loans or child care, I think you are wrong.
Beyond Suzy Orman and Dave Ramsey-the simple secret to financial security that your grandparents or great grandparents knew
8 MayStep one: Enter your net income after all taxes and required deductions (including health insurance).
Step two: Subtract savings of at least 10% to build and maintain an emergency fund and for retirement, etc.
Step three: You may spend the difference, in other words this is what comprises your standard of living and no more.
Step four: Never use credit cards to make purchases that will not be fully paid within the billing period (or don’t use them at all).
The number that results from step three determines the kind of car you can drive, the type of housing you will have, how often you can enjoy some extras like eating out, vacation, etc.
Maybe the answer for now is you drive a Yugo, rent a one bedroom apartment, actually cook all your food at home and never take a vacation. That by the way is just about how my parents lived…except for most of the time, they couldn’t afford a car.
Now, if you are not happy with the number in Step three, you have to do something about it. That “something” does not include spending more than the amount in Step three to enjoy some extras or keep up with the Joneses. The “something” you need to do includes things like getting a second job even one related to french fries, developing marketable skills, starting a small side business, coming up with creative ways to make more money, perhaps selling something you are good at making, working as much OT as you can get, taking a paper route, write a blog with advertising, the possibilities are endless. It may not all be fun or even enjoyable, but you do what you have to do to reach your goals. See I told you it was simple.
At some point you may decide you are never going to reach a number in Step three that makes you happy and allows you to live as you would like. When that happens, it’s time to look into the mirror and ask a few questions. Do I have the skills and training to move ahead? What decisions have I made so far that limit my ability to do better? What do I really need to do to change things? Is there something about my attitude that is holding me back?
Or, you could take another route and join a protest blaming someone else for that lousy Step three number.
When I was seventeen, I had two goals that I recall very clearly. One was to own a Mercedes and the other was to be a millionaire by age forty-five. Well, I am nearly age 69 and I don’t own a Mercedes and instead of being a millionaire by age 45 it was then that we started a journey of one, two or three children in college each year for the next ten years. But missing those goals doesn’t bother me because I learned along the way your priorities quickly change and sleeping at night with no debt, paying cash for what you want and spending money on things other than “stuff” does have its own rewards.
The downside I suppose is to get to that point you must work a lot of years, perhaps work more than one job, definitely put up with a lot of crap and aggravation and find creative ways to make the things you want to happen, happen. That is not always simple or easy, it’s called life.
Debit card fees, bank fees and the unintended consequences you pay for
1 MayI recently read a short article in Money magazine lauding the efforts of the woman who mounted the campaign against the $5.00 monthly fee for debit cards. You may recall that fee was imposed by banks after Congress passed the financial reform law that also cut in half the transaction fee retailers are charged to $.22 per transaction. That cut was after lobbying by big box retailers so in effect they took money from the pocket of banks to give to retailers with no benefit to customers of either.
That “victory” over debit card fees was short-lived as banks sought to make up for lost revenue, the same banks by the way we all bailed out and whose balance sheets we want strengthened. Here is one example.
Federal law limits transfers you can make from a savings account to six per statement cycle. However, ATM and in person withdrawals and transfers are exempt from that limit. Banks charge a fee if you exceed the limit.
However, now at least one bank and likely others are charging fees for the same transactions even when you use an ATM or make the transaction in person. Of course you can avoid the fee if you keep a lot of money in the account, in this example, $15,000. You can see the information I received fom my bank below (I added bold and comment).
Here is the point, Congress is stupid and so are the people who rally the troops in protest naively believing there are no consequences to such action. Instead of a fee on the people who choose the convenience of a debit card, we have fees on anyone who puts money in a savings account and wants to use their money in any way they choose. Needless to say, there are many other new fees popping up in banks every month.
I can’t help but wonder what was wrong with charging the retailer $.44 per transaction for the convenience of not having to deal with cash from customers or the paying higher fees for credit card use? Oh, I know, the big retailers wanted to increase their earnings …bazinga!
From: Chase Online
Subject: Re: Account InquiryDate: 04-11-2012 15:34:34
Dear Mr Quinn,
We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced in regards with the fee on your account.
Federal Regulations limit the number of checks, preauthorized transfers and withdrawals that can be made from any savings or money market savings account. The regulation also requires us to make sure that these transactions do not go over the permitted limits.
Each monthly statement period, you can make up to six withdrawals or transfers out of your Chase savings or money market savings account if you complete them in one of the following ways:
- By check or debit card
- Overdraft Protection advances
- Any online payments or transfers, including those on
chase.com
- Telephone transfers
- Wires or other funds transfers
- Any other payments to any third partyDuring any monthly statement period, you are not limited to the number of withdrawals from or transfers out of any savings or money market savings account if you complete them in one of these ways:
- In person at any of our branches
- At any ATM
- By mailPlease note that a $5 Savings Withdrawal Limit Fee may apply to this account for each withdrawal or transfer out of your account over six within a monthly statement period. Any withdrawal or transfer out of your account, including those done in person at any of our branches and at any ATM, count toward the Savings Withdrawal Limit Fee.
To help avoid Savings Withdrawal Limit Fees, you can easily track the number of withdrawals and transfers out of your savings account in a monthly statement period through Chase Online(SM) and Chase Mobile(R) or by setting up account alerts.
For additional details, please see your Deposit Account Agreement. [In a seemingly endless document in 4 point type]
If you require further assistance, please e-mail us via the Secure Message Center or contact Chase By Phone
Thank you,
Internet Service Center
Obamacare inlcudes new 3.8% tax if you sell your home – get the facts
30 AprFollowing is the text (as I received it) about a new tax on the sale of your home. It says that come January 1, 2013 there is a new sales tax when you sell your home. It says that if you sell your home for $100,000 you will pay a tax of $3,800.
What it says is false!
I don't get it, check the facts!
The Affordable Care Act does contain a new tax on unearned income for certain taxpayers. However, the tax only applies to individuals who have incomes of $200,000 or more ($250,000 married). So right there over 95% of Americans are excluded from the tax under any circumstances.
In addition, the tax is not on what a house sells for but on the profit above the normal $500,000 tax exclusion on a home sale that applies to everyone. Let’s say you bought your house many years ago for $200,000 and in 2013 are lucky enough to sell it for $700,000. You made a profit of $500,000. That $500,000 is not considered unearned income for anyone so even if you make over $250,000 there would be no 3.8%
Get the facts on e-mail rumors before you forward them … please!
Text of most recent false e-mail on 3.8% tax:
If you own a home, Please read this.
THIS WILL BLOW YOU AWAY !!!!!
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The National Association of REALTORS is all over this and working to get it repealed, before it takes effect. But, I am very pleased we aren’t the only ones who know about this ploy to steal billions from unsuspecting homeowners. How many REALTORS do you think will vote Democratic in 2012?
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Did you know that if you sell your house after 2012 you will pay a 3.8% sales tax on it? That’s $3,800 on a $100,000 home, etc. When did this happen? It’s in the health care bill and goes into effect in 2013.
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Why 2013? Could it be to come to light AFTER the 2012 elections? So, this is “change you can believe in”? Under the new health care bill all real estate transactions will be subject to a 3.8% Sales Tax.
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If you sell a $400,000 home, there will be a $15,200 tax.
This bill is set to screw the retiring generation who often downsize their homes. Does this make your November and 2012 vote more important?
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Oh, you weren’t aware this was in the Obamacare bill? Guess what, you aren’t alone. There are more than a few members of Congress that aren’t aware of it either
For a more detailed discussion of the new tax visit this blog post
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Student loan interest rates, focusing on the wrong problem . . . AGAIN
28 Apr
Tuition is how much?
We cry over student loans and the interest rates on those loans, but we are silent on the $50,000 plus annual cost of tuition at many of our colleges and universities. That’s just like focusing on insurance premiums and not the underlying cost of health care.
Then we have the politics of short-term memory. Read the e-mail below from the White House but when you finish consider that the reduction in interest rates and the increase taking effect July 1, 2012 were both contained in legislation passed by Congress in 2007, the first year of a Congress controlled by a great majority of Democrats, the same people now using the increase as an election tool aimed at young Americans.
Ah, the power of coincidences.
Good morning,
If Congress doesn’t act by July 1, interest rates will double for millions of students with subsidized Stafford loans.
There’s no reason this has to happen, but unfortunately some members of Congress are placing top priority on giving tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires instead of making smart investments in education that put the cost of higher education within reach for more Americans.
So this week, President Obama is getting out of Washington and travelling to college campuses across the country to get the word out to students and families.
Learn more about how this could affect students in your state and find out how you can help spread the word: http://www.whitehouse.gov/double
Getting a college degree shouldn’t be a luxury only a few Americans can afford, and it’s the sort of critical investment in our future we should support, not cut. Every hard working student deserves a fair shot at getting the skills and training they need to get a good job and compete in the 21st century economy.
At a time when so many middle class students are struggling to afford a college education, doubling their interest rates will only make it more difficult for them to get ahead.
Take a minute to learn more about this issue and help us spread the word:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/double
Thanks for your help,
David
David Plouffe
Senior Advisor to the President
Yesterday I heard the President say, “Stopping this interest increase is vital for an affordable education.” Note the word “affordable.” If it sounds familiar, it should as in “affordable” health care. However, there is one glaring flaw in the Presidents logic. He does not understand what makes something unaffordable, rather he thinks the result is the cause and unfortunately he drives his policies on that basis. You see, what makes a college education unaffordable is not the interest rate on the loan, but the size of the loan necessary to pay for an exorbitant tuition and related costs. What makes health care unaffordable is not health insurance premiums, but the underlying cost of the care driving the premiums.
Unless our political leaders understand the problem and solve for that problem, making something affordable is meaningless.
Related articles
- Obama warns on student loan interest (politico.com)
- KCBS Cover Story: Interest Rate Hike Imminent On Thousands Of Student Loans (sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com)
How immune are you to political rhetoric? Do you want your fair share? The Buffett Rule, rules
27 Apr
Recently in relation to the ear catching phrase “Buffett Rule” the President said it would “strengthen our economy and create jobs.” That sounds like a good deal to me; squeeze the rich and create jobs. On the other hand I have this annoying habit, I have to ask, how?
How will adding $4.7 billion a year to government revenue strengthen the economy and create jobs? How will a few billion more do that when the trillions we have already spent have done little? I bet you have a question or two as well.
Keep in mind that the interest the government pays just on U.S. Savings Bond is over $500 million a month or $12 billion a year and that is a small fraction of the total interest paid on public debt.
There once was a man from Nantucket,
Who went to the well with his bucket.
The well was dry and he began to cry, but could not deny,
his trips had been more than a few.
We need a new rule to solve this mess, let me see, let me guess.
Oh, I have it, I’ll just take what I need from you!
A modest decrease in the national debt could generate interest expense savings far exceeding a new tax on a very small percentage of Americans freeing money to spend more productively.
That man from Nantucket dashed to a neighbor,
there is water in this well, I must have some,
you have more than me, that’s no fun.
He lowered his bucket as far as he dare, filling it up to the absolute top,
He leaned into the well and disappeared with a plop.
Need I say more, he got his fair share.
The next time you hear all that appealing rhetoric, ask “how”.
Wealthy people are smart people, that’s why they are wealthy.
21 AprAh, the Buffett rule, that proposed law so dear to the heart of our President and the liberal left. What could be better than the federal government getting its hands on more money to waste?
Apparently many of those smart, really wealthy people have a better idea … Give the money to charity where it will truly do some good and far more efficiently I might add. In the process they avoid paying an estate tax. While they are alive they can avoid all taxes and help communities by investing in municipal bonds.
Twelve families promised to donate most of their wealth to philanthropy, joining the Giving Pledge initiative started by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates.
Boy, do I admire smart people, especially wealthy smart people.
Out foxed again!
What has luck got to do with it? Millionaires should give us more of their winnings
20 AprThe following is an excerpt from an opinion piece on Bloomberg.com April 13,2012
A Guide to the Class Warfare of Presidential Politics Lucky, Not Evil Thirty percent is a perfectly reasonable tax rate on incomes over a million — even if the recipients are sainted small businessfolk. Whether 30 percent constitutes class warfare depends on the rhetoric that goes with it. People who make more than a million a year are not evil. They’re just lucky. Obama’s rhetoric has largely avoided cheap shots that imply otherwise.
“Just lucky?”
If I win the lottery for an equivalent of a million dollars a year, I’m lucky . If a rich relative leaves me a million dollars in his will, I’m lucky.
If I start a business and make a lot of money, get a good education and a good job and make a lot of money, if I invent something truly innovative and make a million dollars I am not lucky I am rewarded for the effort and sacrifice that any of the above take to achieve.
Extreme success may be accompanied by an absence of misfortune, but so may failure or mediocre success.
The essence of the fallacy surrounding our current debate over “fair share” to be paid by the 1% is that they are classified as lucky as if the day after they graduated high school they started earning $1,000,000 or even $250,000 a year.
This is a big political game that assumes the bulk of American voters are losers with an axe to grind against the more successful among us. If pitting the wealthy against everyone else had any serious impact on the deficit because the wealthy really didn’t pay their fair share, that would be one thing, but that is not even true. The truth is that the only reason high income earners pay a lower percentage in taxes is because the bulk of their income is in dividends and capital gains and taxed at 15% as is the case for every American, that and because they contribute generously to charity.
In the year 2000, families earning $20,000 or less gave an average of about $450 to charity, while families earning more than $100,000 gave away an average of a bit more than $3,000. The top 10 percent of households in income are responsible for at least a quarter of all the money contributed to charity, and households with total wealth exceeding $1 million give about half of all charitable donations. The American rich are generous, on average (interestingly, lower income people tend to give a greater percentage of their income to charity. This is thought to mostly be because of strong religious affiliations promoting giving). It is also true that lower income Americans spend a greater percentage of their income on lottery tickets than do the wealthy.
There is a great deal of unfairness though. Take for example the widow on a fixed income who can’t afford to stay in her family home of forty years because of high property taxes caused by irresponsible spending at state and local levels. Or how about the lucky gal who wins a big lottery, pays 35% in federal taxes dies the next year and her children get to pay another 35% in estate taxes. What about all the special benefits, tax breaks, and discounts for seniors based on income, but ignoring net worth or total assets? Is it “fair” that struggling young couples have their payroll taxes increased (and they will) to pay for the benefits for the boomers who in all too many cases did not plan for their own futures? Fair is fair.
So what say ye? Do you think that high income people should pay more in taxes? Do you think they are not paying their fair share? How do you define wealthy?
Gas prices apparently do motivate people … send a memo to the White House
19 Apr
Small efficient cars in the Netherlands (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sales of more fuel-efficient cars are up according to this report. Imagine that, rising gasoline prices motivate people to become more fuel-efficient and even trade in their ten-year old car… and not a tax credit or government subsidy in sight; just good old common sense.
As painful as paying at the pump may be, we should heed this short lesson in market forces. When there is a real reason (as opposed to a contrived reason) to buy fuel-efficient cars, including electric cars, people will by them.
The same holds true for all alternative energy, make it desirable and cost-effective and people will demand it. Shove it down their throats and your goals will ultimately be thwarted.
PS. Do you recall the political rhetoric just before and during the last Presidential campaign criticizing $2.00 gas prices under the previous Administration? Amazing uh?
What will motivate you to switch to a small car or an electric car?
Dividing America; the new normal in politics
16 Apr
Just when I think our esteemed White House can’t lower its standards any further, I am proved wrong. I recently received an e-mail with this message linked to a calculator so I can see how many millionaires paid a lower effective tax rate than I did.
What’s your Buffett number?
Frankly, I don’t care. What I do care about are the taxes I paid including several thousand dollars in alternative minimum tax. I also care about politicians who attempt to drive a wedge between Americans for their own gain. Perhaps the White House should add a calculator showing how much money these millionaires gave to charity, an activity far more productive than throwing more money down the bureaucratic abyss.
With the White House, the ARRP and Obama playing the “woe is me, somebody has more than I do and I’m entitled to more” card Americans should be insulted over the low esteem in which they are held by our leaders and policymakers.
“Hey, his piece is bigger than mine!” “I want to be first” “Mommy, that’s not fair.
All these attempts at diversion with no impact on our real problems; do you feel like a puppet? Should I be upset over the millions of Americans who pay a lower effective tax rate than I do?
Affordable health care and personal responsibility…we have long way to go baby
3 AprTwenty-five percent of Americans do not take their medication as prescribed (upwards of 75% for psychotic disorders), young, healthy (for now) people do not buy health insurance, 75% of black babies are born to unwed mothers, over thirty percent of Americans are clinically obese (the highest of any developed nation), depending on whose data you accept between 45 and 52 million Americans smoke, more than 22 million Americans age 12 and older – nearly 9% of the U.S. population – use illegal drugs, according to the government’s 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health and only 31% of Americans do enough regular leisure-time physical activity; about 40% do no regular leisure-time physical activity, government statistics show, the U.S. has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world costing $9 billion a year in welfare and public health expenditures.
Hey, I’m a conservative kind of guy, I favor personal responsibility and accountability, including for the consequences of ones actions. However, if you want to know why making health care “affordable” is such a challenge, keep all the above in mind.
And guess what, these personal choices by fellow Americans cost you money, a great deal of money in both health insurance premiums and in taxes. There really is a price for freedom (to act irresponsibly).
Welcome world. I’d like to hear from you
25 MarSince February 1st this blog has been viewed by people from fifty-four countries outside of the United States. Welcome world.
Given most of my topics are related to the US, I am fascinated by this diverse interest.
If you are reading this from somewhere across the seas, I am interested in topics you may find of interest. Send me a note or post a comment.
Thanks
Bill Maher; obnoxious on being obnoxious
24 MarYou should read this Op-Ed by Bill Maher, Please Stop Apologizing
His solution to the current state of this country’s discourse is not a modest increase in civility, but rather simply ignoring the ill advised often crude remarks by our leaders and celebrities. This is not unexpected coming from a person who makes his living being crude in an attempt to be funny.
By the way Mr Maher, I find you obnoxious, so I don’t watch you (and wouldn’t even if I wasted money on HBO). Oh, if you pull up along side me on the road and hear Limbaugh on the radio (he’s funnier than you), I’ll be in a Volvo, not a pickup truck.
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