Will Taxes Increase? January 11, 2010
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Hyperinflation, Money, Uncategorized , 1 comment so far
I was just listening to a recording of a conference call this morning where a financial planner began his presentation with this premise:
Taxes will be increasing in the future
I haven’t listened to the rest of it because I had to pause it and write this post. I’m sure when I go back this guy will paint a whole picture based on the assumption of taxes increasing in the future.
Really?
Maximum Taxes
Well, first, let’s admit to ourselves that there is a very real, hard maximum taxation point. That’s 100%. A taxpayer cannot pay more in taxes than he has. Beyond that is impossible.
Second, let’s admit that there is effectively a maximum taxation point that is well below 100% of what a taxpayer has. Taxes going beyond this point is improbable. Let me explain…
Whether you may realize this or not, you probably pay 60%, 70% or more of every dollar that has ever been “yours” in taxes. Income taxes, property taxes, sin taxes (on booze), gas taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, franchise taxes, death taxes, etc. Some of these taxes show up on paper that you can see, and some of these taxes are never declared to you at the point at which you pay them.
Where the Line is Drawn
So with the majority of the money that was ever yours already going to these direct taxes, how much more taxation can you take? Imagine a scenario where we go from systematically losing 70% of our money to losing 90% of our money.
Do you think hundreds of thousands (more…)
The Top 5 Investing Myths of 2008 January 5, 2009
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Money, Personal Enjoyment, Personal Productivity, real estate, Self Directed IRA Solo 401k , add a comment
2008 was a very interesting year to say the least. Possibly the most productive outcome of the year was the restless message of “rethink things” coming from the little voice beckoning each of us in our minds.
Myth #1… The SEC keeps investment information honest and accurate
The Securities and Exchange Commission (abbr “SEC”) should be done away with. The Madoff debacle along with the dozens of other securities frauds that draw less (or no) attention every single year should be evidence that the SEC is failing. It is tasked with making investments safe and transparent and is having the opposite effect. When an investor or fund manager is considering a particular investment, they believe that the investment is truthful, transparent, and honest because the SEC is supposed to regulate it into such a position. The result can be decreased due diligence because of reliance on the SEC. This leads to disaster when the SEC ends up not doing its job very well. If we didn’t expect the SEC to be “keeping investing safe and honest” then investors and asset managers would take a closer look at investment opportunities which would result in better thought out decisions. I’m not saying the SEC should be doing a better job – I’m saying we shouldn’t expect regulation to create investment safety in the first place.
I believe the SEC does more harm than good by offering a false sense of security.
Myth #2… Financial planners give good investment advice
Something very interesting happened in the last 15 or so years: Stock brokerages spent millions of dollars convincing the American public that securities salesman had become “financial planners”. That move alone shifted the perception of almost every American and the magnitude of Wall Street’s success (theirs, not yours). A “stock broker” is to securities as a car salesman is to cars… but a financial planner sounds a lot like somebody whose job it is to plan your finances. What actually changed to make stock brokers become financial planners? (more…)
Feedburner Subscribe
