Whether or not the Declaration of Independence was issued on 4 July 1776, we have decided to codify that date. And, that means we celebrate our freedoms on that day- today. (Thankfully, it is not among those days that Congress, in its infinite wisdom [read as stupidity], elected to move to Mondays, affording a longer weekend.) We celebrate the day with fireworks, with going to the beach, with barbeques, and with get-togethers.
Continue reading 237 and counting
Uh-oh. This time it could be for real. That oft-quoted, hardly found marriage penalty? I guess it finally had to come about, since Peter has been calling Wolf so long.
Continue reading Marriage Penalties
Imagine you’ve been in business for years. Imagine you’ve been successful. (Of course, you have been! Why else would you be in business!) Now, imagine the world is going to change overnight. What would you do now?
Truth is stranger than fiction. Especially, when we are talking about how banks (you know, the industry that basically tanked four years ago and you and I bailed them out, only to have them stab us in the back) are putting the screws to their customers. No, I am not going to talk about some new fee, how they change their policies willy-nilly to cost us money. Nope! I am going to explain how the banks save money- and put us at risk.
Continue reading Surprise! You’re Sharing!
Most of you know that I believe in universal health insurance. Because in the long run it will save us (as a nation, and individually) money. Notice, I did not say universal “free” health insurance, even though I recognize that about 10% of Americans can’t afford it, another 10% will need help paying for all of it, and about 15% of Americans think they don’t need it. (Of course, about 15% – or more- of Americans don’t think they need car insurance, but that doesn’t mean we don’t demand they carry it.)
Continue reading What Medicare Needs?
For decades, I’ve been telling my clients and friends that they are wasting their money buying vitamins. Because unless you don’t eat properly – or have a very specific condition (like the need for folate by pregnant women, calcium and vitamin D for some post-menopausal women, or those with macular degeneration needing antioxidants and zinc)- there is no value in taking these little pills (except to the manufacturers and vendors).
Continue reading Megavitamins are Megadangerous
For years, the one crucial question I had to ask my business tax clients was, “Can you be considered to be a real estate professional?” (If you don’t recall my discussions on this matter, you can refer to my blog posts here and here.) Because without that certification, it’s possible that all expenses involved in rental real estate operations may not be deductible on one’s Schedule E (1040).
Continue reading There’s a New Tax in Town…
Continue reading Shared Group Homes- with a Twist and a Benefit
The Federal program we know as Medicare, became a reality on 30 July 1965, when it was signed into law. But, the first patients could not sign up for benefits until 1 July 1966. And, by 1979, the American Medical Association managed to get a ruling that the moneys paid to doctors under the program could not be revealed to the public. The reasoning (sic) was that this was an invasion of the physician’s privacy.
Continue reading FOIA now works for Medicare, too!
We’ve got a problem. We seem to have forgotten how to interact with humans. Oh, don’t tell me that you text your friends, you “Facebook” them all the time. No, that’s not human interaction. That’s avoiding human contact- unless you live on the other side of the world from your friend.
Continue reading Can you hear me now?