February 26, 2010 – 8:51 AM
This past Valentines Day Elizabeth and I spent some serious time on the couch, spending time together and watching Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca. The story is a classic: intrigue, love, corruption, and the old double cross.
This past Christmas would have been the 110th birthday of Bogie, and the movie Casablanca was a turning point for his career. It won an Academy Award nomination (unfortunately, not an Academy Award winner) but was voted Best Motion Picture of 1943. Bogart was not the first pick… Continue reading
February 23, 2010 – 8:46 AM
As of Monday, 2/22/2010, there are new rules as to how your credit-card statement will look, what it will contain, rates, age restrictions, and a host of new items aimed to protect the consumer. Remember TARP? Remember Bailout? Hello, new credit card rules.
To begin, let’s look at what they CAN’T do, presumably for our benefit, as listed in the Journal News today:
- They can’t automatically charge fees when credit-card users continue using their cards
February 20, 2010 – 9:29 AM
In a surprise to the markets Thursday after the close, the Fed raised the Discount Rate from .50% to .75%, a raise of one-quarter point. While this small raise may seem relatively small measure-wise, it was the first raise of the Discount Rate since August of 2007. The significance? Well, the big question is: does this raise signify a turnaround of the Fed’s view of the markets, and is it the start of an upward trend in interest rates?
The discount… Continue reading
February 19, 2010 – 9:24 AM
When is the last time you were on the New York subway, or utilized a component of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA)? Put in place last year, employers of 12 NY counties pay a payroll tax of $.34 for each $100 of payroll to help the MTA through it’s cash deficit. Employers- far from NYC (some of whom never ever took that “trip to the big City”) found themselves levied with another tax that really had nothing to do… Continue reading
February 17, 2010 – 9:44 AM
Ok, back on December 7 I wrote that I just could not see our Congressional leaders in Washington allowing an estate tax loophole to exist whereby for the calendar year 2010 there would be no estate tax. Sure, that was how the tax laws in existence read at the time, but who seriously thought that it would be allowed to remain that way. In fact, at that writing the House of Representatives had passed a “patch” that would maintain the 2009 estate tax law… Continue reading
February 16, 2010 – 9:47 AM
Welcome back from Part 1 so that I can bring up a few more points that you really need to consider before converting that traditional IRA to a Roth.
It is not advisable to have income tax that will be owed withheld from the Roth IRA conversion transaction. Reason one is that the money withheld reduces the conversion amount. For example, the taxpayer wants to convert a $100,000 IRA and withhold $20,000 for taxes. In this case the conversion… Continue reading
February 12, 2010 – 8:55 AM
Like all insurance products, long term care policies can be daunting and confusing. It’s not at all a straightforward purchase: there are many variables that make up a long term care plan. When looking at a long term care plan, here are a few of the key common components:
Elimination period
Basically a time deductible. The elimination time is the period from the time you submit your claim until they begin payments. Choices may be 10,20,30,60,90,180 or 360 days depending on the company you are applying with. We… Continue reading | 1 Comment
February 9, 2010 – 11:08 AM
So there I was Sunday night all set to watch the big game with a plate full of chicken wings, guacamole dip and chips, and having just feasted on some stromboli. Now it was time to get serious and consider the financial consequences for the stock market over the outcome of the game! Let’s see, according to the Super Bowl theory, stock market trends are predicted by the game winner. In fact, the game indicator suggests that a win by an old American Football Conference (AFC) team… Continue reading
February 4, 2010 – 10:25 AM
While speaking to the children of a recently deceased client, they explained that they were surprised to learn that their Dad had collected Matchbox cars for years and years, and had found them in a closet in the house. They all in their original packaging, in perfect condition. They had no idea that their Dad had any interest in cars, let alone toy ones. When asking their Mom about it, she commented that Dad just thought they were cool and had thought that someday he would resell… Continue reading
February 1, 2010 – 11:32 AM
When the year 2010 began it opened up a whole new set of rules for the availability of Roth IRA’s to more taxpayers. Beginning January 1, 2010 all persons who own a traditional IRA, not just those who have modified adjusted gross incomes under $100,000, will be able to convert their traditional IRA accounts to a Roth IRA. That’s good news, but there are a number of considerations that you need to make in order to be sure that you are making the… Continue reading
