My dear readers - 7

My son is struggling in this economic cesspool we have plunged ourselves into, or rather, that we have been plunged into.
But folks, we have to take some responsibility because we voted for the buffoons who made this quagmire and created highways of quicksand.

Let me tell you, I’m pissed.
Now back to my son.
He recently lost his three-figure job, can’t pay his mortgage, has to withdraw my granddaughter from the fine private school she attends, must turn in his car, and so on down the line.
The solution seems simple:
I have money (no brag, just fact) and I want to give him what he needs to get on his feet and keep going, minus a few unnecessary elements of his lifestyle.

Well, have you ever heard of gift tax?
When a person dies, in order to ensure the feds get their full share of estate tax, they have enacted a gift tax law which allows a parent to give each child a maximum of $12,000 each year.
(This amount is periodically adjusted for inflation).
This is designed to prevent parents from giving their children their inheritance before their death, when the total estate is taxed and its value reduced.

Now, if more than $12,000 is given to a child, then the giver (parent) must pay taxes on anything over that amount.
And what is the tax rate?
It is anywhere between 41 – 45 percent.
The child theoretically doesn’t have to pay a dime, but if you consider the almost 50 percent tax rate, tax payment is passive (reduced amount of inheritance).

So, back to my son: is he screwed?
here is one way around the gift tax thing, and that it is to fashion a loan at an interest considered to be the “going rate” for similar loans.
This may be our way to go because I don’t want to pay close to 50 percent in taxes, and I don’t want my son to get gypped out of money he needs.

Okay, loan aside, because I love my son, I will find a way around this and help him survive.
But what I resent and want to point out to you is the complete hypocrisy of discouraging me from helping my son in an abominable and outrageous economy!

By the way, as a preview to a complete overhaul of the current tax system, I invite you to download my report “Done with Cash” for free.

My dear readers - 6

Per usual, I awoke to the classical music and NPR news of my favorite local radio channel. Business as usual, except that it wasn’t.

It wasn’t because today was the sound of an unscheduled station membership drive.

As a not-for-profit, the organization supplements its government allocations and grants with income derived from local members.

But the fact is, these membership drives are only held twice each year and for a week at a time – in the spring and in the fall.

So to wake up this morning to the anchor’s almost desperate plea for listeners to pick up the phone and make a donation was a disturbing way to be jolted out of bed.

Antenna tuned, here’s what I learned about this drive.

First, it was a one-day drive.

Second, it was quickly assembled to make up some portion of what the station recently learned is a 50 percent cut in its state funding!

I was astounded.
Evidently, so were station execs. In belt-tightening mode for quite some months, their expectation was for a 20 – 25 percent reduction.

Imagine their concern (panic) when they learned it was indeed going to be 50 percent?
Imagine my concern to think that my precious NPR station might need to cease its local programming and rely strictly on the canned stuff?

Did I pick up the phone this morning?

You bet I did.

What’s next?
Is my church going to close for lack of Sunday contributions and diocesan budget cuts?
Is the state college where I teach going to eliminate my program because it has 10 fewer students enrolled than last year?
Do you think this economic game of dominos will ever cease?

By the way, as a preview to a complete overhaul of the current tax system, I invite you to download my report “Done with Cash” for free.

My dear readers - 5

I’m calling this letter “The All-American Steak-out (Not)” in honor of what has become the most devastating economic time since the great depression.
Needless to say, we are NOT eating a lot of steak out.
Perhaps you’ve noticed many restaurants suddenly closing their doors with nary a notice to customers or employees?
Or, for those stalwart souls who keep their restaurants running, the menus have changed: fewer selections and higher (much) prices.
A glass of wine?
Get this, I paid $9 for a glass of the house wine in one of my favorite haunts, recently.
Haunt is indeed the word – I am haunted right out of it and most restaurants for some time to come.

Now for the subtitle of this little diatribe of mine:

How to Out-Steak and Survive a Tumbling Economy.

Onward with our adventure:
I’ve compiled a medley of techniques, ideas, and suggestions to help you keep your financial feet on the ground during this turbulent time:

1. Destroy all credit cards:
   No more living on credit, gang.
   That’s how this whole thing began!
   What you can’t pay cash for, you simply don’t get.
   But what’s cool is that you’ll be able to sleep at night while Joe Blow down the street who went and bought it on credit will lay awake nights wondering how he’s going to pay for it.
2. Discontinue all services.
   From now on, shovel your own driveway, mow your own lawn, clean your own house, sew on your own buttons.
   Think of the exercise, the fun, the Zen!!
3. Drastically cut your entertainment budget.
   Now, mind you, I’m not saying to cut out entertainment, I’m just saying to cut the budget.
   I mean: forgo the five-star restaurant for a five-course home-cooked meal. Quit your movie outings and get Netflix instead.
   The midwinter Caribbean cruise?
   Nope – go buy a palm tree, sunlamp, and mix up a pitcher of pina coladas.
   Summer in the mountains?
   Take the kids to the local climbing wall instead.
4. Keep your car:
   forever!
   Well, this is a bit of an exaggeration, but the days of a new car every other year or so should be GONE!
   Should be no problem as long as you keep your car in good condition and keep up with the every 3,000 mile oil change, new tires when needed, and so on.
5. Downsize.
   Do you really need that monstrous house in the ritziest suburb around?
   We drove up to a disgustingly big house one day and my daughter asked me, Dad, is this really necessary?
   Keep it simple, Simon (and Sally) and get what you need – no more, no less.

By the way, as a preview to a complete overhaul of the current tax system, I invite you to download my report “Done with Cash” for free.

My dear readers - 4

Some accuse me of favoring an equal distribution of wealth, thereby wanting to eliminate class and economic distinctions in favor of pooling financial resources and distributing them equally to all people.

Please, time to set the record straight.

I do NOT believe in a society/economy where everyone’s financial resources are the same.

However, I AM an egalitarian.
What’s the difference, you say?
Big difference, I respond:
an egalitarian advocates for equal political, economic, and social RIGHTS!

In other words, I believe we are entitled to that which we earn, but the person making $10 an hour deserves to have the same political, economic, and social rights!
Everybody savvy on where I’m coming from?

Phew, now that we’ve got that solved!

Until next time …

By the way, as a preview to a complete overhaul of the current tax system, I invite you to download my report “Done with Cash” for free.

My dear readers - 3

Have you discovered BoingBoing.net?
According to author Chris Anderson, (The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More) in 2006 it was the world’s most popular blog, known for its comments about technology and subculture.
Today it is number 21

Why do I bring up BoingBoing?

First, I highly recommend it as a valuable source of knowledge and commentary with a slightly liberal slant.

Second, on a recent reading, I discovered this link: http://www.wallstats.com/deathandtaxes/

Mind you, dear readers, I am not a sales agent for this operation, but I urge you to review the site and ponder this issue of Death and Taxes, specifically, examine where your hard earned, tax dollars are going.

Think about who is calling the shots.

Think about the confusion and complexity of the budget and its appropriations

Scroll down the site and read some of the comments.
One that I particularly took note of was:

“I have your chart hanging in my office - I work for the Dept. of Defense, and I enjoy reminding my fellow civil servants of the trust and confidence placed in us by the taxpayer, as evidenced by the sheer magnitude of dollars they send us.

For me, it’s a helpful reminder of how lucky I am to work here and that I’d better accomplish something meaningful with these resources.”

Kevin Marlowe, Director, Strategic Plans and Policy USJFCOM Joint Systems Integration Command

Here’s another interesting comment:

“We have it up in the lobby of 5 Sylvan Learning Centers.

Everyone who studies it is captivated.

We point out that everything is proportional, and like to point to the Department of Education.
Our clients are amazed, and often horrified, to see how Congress sees education relative to, say, the “War of Terror”.

You know, I hear government expenditures referred to all the time on the news, and sometimes they even say “this contrasts to the Department of Defense’s budget of ….”, but NEVER in the context of the whole budget.

It’s quite the learning experience to see it all in one place!”brLee Pierce, Sylvan Learning Center

My point is twofold.

First, imagine the person hours and resources necessary to convert monies collected by the IRS into this massive, complex, complicated budget.

Second, consider how the dollars are allocated, what the priorities are.

If you are indeed a left winger, then a budget heavy on military spending will be hard for you to swallow.

If you are without health care, a budget that insurance companies at the expense of the little guy will be impossible to understand.

But imagine if you didn’t have to pay any taxes?

If your government representatives were beholden to you, their supporters, for budget decisions and financial allocations? Imagine what a world this would be.

To be continued…

By the way, as a preview to a complete overhaul of the current tax system, I invite you to download my report “Done with Cash” for free.

My dear readers - 2

I truly don’t portend to be the prophet of doom, but I suppose that to achieve my goal in creating a tax-free society, I must be when discussing the current situation.

Fact. tax time loometh.

Fact. It’s time to make an appointment with the accountant, yourself, or TurboTax.

Fact:

There are several types of accountants and I’m going to tell you about (warn) them right now.

1. The legitimate, honest, in-your-corner guy:
   This is the accountant we dream about.
   This guy gets all the necessary information from you, knows the latest tax laws, and manages to legally get you the absolute best deal he or she can.
   I am lucky, I have one of these guys in my corner, and though I cringe every year thinking, this is it, the year I’ll have to pay, never happens
2. The honest, in-the-fed’s corner guy: I once had one of these guys, and he was SCARY!He was scary because dealing with him was like dealing with the IRS.In fact, he was a certified IRS agent, which meant he did everything by the book, and it wasn’t my book!
   The guy was meticulous, I’ll give him that, but he followed the rules to a “T.”
3. The dishonest, in-your-corner guy:These guys are smart – don’t want to take that away from them, but they are also sleazy and often lazy.They pride themselves in getting you money back, but we’re talking beyond bending as in breaking the rules.
   Some people flock to these folks, but talk about walking on thin ice.
4. The dumb, incompetent guy:Let’s face it, there are a lot of essentially incompetent tax accountants out there.Lord only knows what you’ll end up with when you get hooked up with one of these guys.

Fact

When my tax-less, cash-less system is implemented, all your tax time loometh woes will be gone!
Now what could possibly be better than that?

By the way, as a preview to a complete overhaul of the current tax system, I invite you to download my report “Done with Cash” for free.

My dear readers - 1

The other day I got an email from yet another dear reader that was certainly about an issue to which we can all relate.
Rather than repeat her story, I have decided to print her note to me in its entirety, with her permission, of course.

Dear Corney,

It’s time, last Tuesday I went out and bought my yearly pair of shoes.
It doesn’t so much matter what kind of shoes I buy – this year it happened to be a pair of those sassy short boots that are all the rage – its more the box that they come in.
I mean, during the year I buy other shoes – I don’t relish walking around barefoot – but this between Christmas and New Years shoe purchase is my annual ritual.

To what ritual might I refer?
A long time ago, when I was so traumatized by the whole tax process, had my own small business, and never could get the necessary receipts together at the end of the year, a good friend told me to keep it simple and use a shoebox to collect my receipts in.

She told me that whenever I come in with a receipt to just toss it into the box and forget it to the end of the year.
A miracle!

I have been using this miraculous technique for 10 years now, and it does keep me sort of centered around record keeping, though it is notably low tech.

But the main thing I wanted to tell you is that although the ritual of going out and buying a new pair of shoes after Christmas every year takes some of the sting out of this tax process, I dread it, I hate it, and I think it is the scourge of modern civilization.
I have depression and anxiety at the beginning of every year, a time when I should be celebrating, taking stock, and positively planning my life for the upcoming year.
Do I do that?
Do any of us do that?

No!
We scurry around collecting receipts and records, making appointments with accountants, downloading the latest version of TurboTax, and going shopping for shoes that come in a satisfactory size box. (This year my box is the perfect size – small solace though it be).

So, dear Corney, as we waste ¼ of 2009 completing the required tax forms, and all of 2009 keeping track of receipts and records, I implore you to get out there with your tax-less, cash-less plan so I can once again breathe easy and don’t feel compelled to buy a damn pair of shoes during the last week of December every year.

Your devoted reader and fan,

Doreen Hildebrand

By the way, as a preview to a complete overhaul of the current tax system, I invite you to download my report “Done with Cash” for free.