Cashless Society - 5

What’s your cash quotient?
That’s right, your cash quotient.
How much cash do you carry with you at any given time?
One dollar? Five dollars? Twenty five? Five hundred?
Is your security based on how much cash you carry?
As we move toward a cashless society, I ask you to be conscious of your cash quotient.
My cash quotient is zero.

In other words, I rarely have any more than some random change in my pocket. Here are the benefits of this:

1. When my kids come ask me for money for silly stuff, I pull out my wallet, lay it open in front of them (seeing is believing) and beg poverty.
2. When a street person asks for money, I drop in a quarter or dime, and plaintively say that’s all I have.
3. I don’t have to worry about putting my pants in the wash with a pocket-full of paper money
4. My days of being a pickpocket mark are over. (Yup, been there, done that)
5. 1.I save myself a lot of stress when paying for something by not having to rummage around for money, figuring out if I have enough, waiting for change, and so on.

How do I pay for things?
I use my debit card – that’s right, not credit card, debit card.

I believe the debit card will be the forerunner of more advanced technologies to come.
In the meantime, try it, get used to it, you’ll like it!!

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

Cashless Society - 4

Would a cashless society infringe upon your rights of privacy and individual freedom?
Some people think so, and to be honest, it very well could be! But it doesn’t have to be, and here’s why.
It’s all based on its implementation and management.
If a cashless system was designed and managed by an entity with a centralistic, upper-class, militaristic mentality, the technology to manage a cashless economy would be designed for “Big Brother” to keep tabs on things (us).
But in this new era it is far more likely that the design of this system would be egalitarian, decentralized, and “for the people.”

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

Why Can’t Linda Bair Do Her Job?

By Corney Vanhelden

Tuesday, on Obama’s inauguration, the Dow fell 332 points, or 4 percent.
The values of Citigroup and Bank of America’s stocks plummeted.
Those, as well as other banks, managed through a screen of incompetency and failure, continue to wallow, dragging down the market, the banking industry, and the economy as a whole.

At the core of this mess is the credit demon and those who managed it.
We’ve been all through it – the sup-prime mortgage thing and other debt defaults.
The risks many bankers took were dumb, shortsighted, and sprung from greed and financial gluttony.
This is ugly stuff.

As of this moment, both Citibank and Bank of America are insolvent, begging for bailout from the feds.
But it’s not the feds who are bailing them out, my friends.
It’s us: you, me, your next door neighbor and every United States citizen who pays taxes.
How does that make you feel?
Here we have a cadre of buddies on Wall Street who’ve been doing what they damn well please at our expense.
And here we are, anguished over how to pay next month’s mortgage, electricity bill, car payment, and health insurance.

But of course, we pay our taxes only to have the monies born from good citizenship deposited into the hands of the incompetent and corrupt.

Now why, pray tell, doesn’t the government step in here and do something?

One person wants to do just that.
Her name is Sheila Bair and she is head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) whose purpose is to protect us, the faithful people who open checking and savings accounts in the banks in whom we trust!
The only problem is, she has not been allowed to do her job; here’s why: the banking execs have seen to it to contribute mega-bucks to their favorite politicians, and so these guys who make all the rules and laws in Washington, have set roadblock after roadblock in Ms. Bair’s path.

Next is that the banks have taken OUR money and run willy-nilly to create these mortgage and other loan programs, lent our money to very risky borrowers because of their poor judgment about the housing market, and whammo, here we are, a housing market in shambles, loans defaulting all over the place, and the fate of my money causing me insomnia.

Chris Whalen, managing director and co-founder of Institutional Risk of America, predicted the insolvency of the large banking institutions many moons ago. Here’s what he says are the necessary steps to fix the problem:
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/161718/Crisis-Solved-Give-Money-to-Healthy-Banks-Let-FDIC%27s-Bair-Handle-the-Dying?tickers=C,JPM,BAC,USB,WFC,XLF,SKF

1. Force banks to write down bad debts
2. Allow FDIC chair Sheila Bair to do her job
3. Give money to healthy banks
4. Stop the Fed’s support of the OTC credit default swaps market

Now imagine a straightforward, simple, technology-based system, debt-free, cash-free and tax-less.

Such a system would have prevented the crumbling of the Great Wall Street Walls and certainly secured the position of us – the little people, the ones on the bottom rung, the ones who make it happen.
Too bad, but all too often, those “in charge” make things so darn complicated and pervert programs designed for the greater good.

So here’s what I say, gang: Get rid of the cash, get rid of the taxes, get rid of the mess, and we’ll all live happily ever after.

Corney Vanhelden is a successful entrepreneur and international businessman with many years of experience. This article is a short note on one of the chapters of his new book `How to Survive without Taxes`, see his site for www.Done-with-IRS.com specifics.

The Eye-in-the-Sky

I read in this morning’s news that Barack (amazing, to actually feel like we can be on first name basis with our president) has instructed federal authorities to loosen up their practices of secrecy of information.

Remember the Freedom of Information Act?

Well, he’s actually enforcing it.

Now, you ask, what is the relevance of this to my Corney’s Model of a cashless, taxless economy?
It has significant relevance.
One of the primary arguments against my model is the alleged ability of our private financial affairs to be monitored by a centralized, “Eye-in-the-Sky” force of power.
Guess what, folks?
With Barack’s policy of open information, we will become that “Eye-in-the-Sky” force of power with the ability to monitor who, if anyone, is monitoring our private stuff and act accordingly.

Thus, here we have another instance of power-to-the-people, and another solid argument for the implementation of my plan.

Cashless Society - 3

I heard a man talk this morning.
In fact, I heard him give a speech.
Did anyone else hear this man talk?
Before I heard this man speak, I thought that the days until our cashless society would be quite some indeed.
But today, in the day of this new America, in the light of this man’s view of America: a view of not tolerating putting off decisions that will be good for all because of politics and childish behavior, I’m beginning to think that day might be closer than we think.
Let’s just hope the 44th President of the United States, Barak H. Obama, can pull it off.

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

Cashless Society - 2

It’s been five years since Keith Regan wrote about a cashless society in an article in E-Commerce Times.
Since that time, progress has been made to that end, albeit in indirect, yet effective ways.

Here’s the deal, guys and gals.
Cash is expensive. Huh? That’s right.
We’ve got an economy out there that is melting before our eyes and yet we insist on traveling to the bank once a week, and buying things with cash money.
In fairness, though, we have made progress.
We are not visiting the bank quite as much, which reduces their costs which in turn is good for us customers.
But, instead we are visiting ATM machines where we are getting — CASH!!!

What’s the alternative? Technology!
Technology in the form of electronic payment devices – cash cards, debit cards, antenna’d devices, or even cell phones!
The cost of using technology for financial transactions is far less than the cost of dealing with money – money costs money to make, store, distribute, and bank. Technology costs virtually nothing other than the price of the gadgets involved.

Regan also points out that the
road block on this cashless thing is US!
That’s right – it is our reluctance to give up our pocket and pocketbook full of change for lunch, candy, or a newspaper.
We have also become attached to the feel of a thick wad of green stuff.

Illusion! Think!
That pile of green stuff in your pocket might
as well be rotting cabbage.
Those clinking coins might as well be a pile of tin. Worthless.

Think more: a cashless society means more money for all of us.

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.

Cashless Society - 1

You know how everyone is one their cell phone?
24/7? While horseback riding, roller skating, driving, and just about any other activity you can think of?

The cell phone has become ubiquitous.
Its availability transcends economic boundaries and it has become the beacon of modern day society.

In an article in E-Commerce Times in 2004, Keith Regan, discussed the inevitability of a cashless society, an inevitability that will benefit our economy in countless ways.
But the point I want to make now is that he poses the idea of the cell phone as the point of power – the point from which all financial transactions originate.
The topic of a cashless society has been raised before, including by yours truly, and many payment vehicles have been suggested.
But this cell phone thing is really the cat’s meow, IMHO.
Assuming its use, implementation is simply a puff of smoke away!

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.

How to Lose your House the easy Way

“One of every five mortgage holders now has a home worth less than the mortgage on it”

From the Washington Post.com, January 17 edition:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/16/AR2009011604724.html?wpisrc=newsletter

I am stymied to see this in print, but at the same time, not surprised.
My jaw dropped when I read the bit about a couple in Riverside Ca. who are paying a mortgage of $6400 a month yet their home’s value is now far below what they paid and selling is therefore impossible.

California is known for its high taxes so I can’t help but wonder how much of this payment is for property and school tax.
Taxes, the bane of existence, at least as structured today.
All very Republican in approach. I have high hopes for President elect Obama: do you?

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.

When Newspaper are Gone, what will you miss ?

By Corney Vanhelden

Read this and you know what we are talking about

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/01/when-newspapers.html

Yeppers, the days of newspapers are numbered, and as Mr. Godin points out in this provocative commentary “When newspapers are gone, what will you miss?”

Here’s what I will miss.

Yes, I will miss sipping my coffee at the kitchen table, newspaper in hand, glancing out the window every now and then to see the deer nibble away in my garden, the wild turkeys waddling to my back door looking for their daily treat, and the fox playing with each other in the back field.

In this environment, I can peacefully digest those good pieces of journalism and ponder their messages while observing another, gentler side of this world.

Reading at the computer?

Yes, a necessity, but one that inundates me with distractions and stress as I struggle to stay focused on the message at hand.

My problem, you say?

To be sure, but I bet there are a slew of us out here with the same problem, a slew of us who relish our paper and peaceful mornings communing with the outside world.

Plus, I am notorious for spilling my coffee on my computer — might not do a darn thing for the foresters out there, but sure keeps the high tech industry flourishing!

Corney Vanhelden is a successful entrepreneur and international businessman with many years of experience. This article is a short note on one of the chapters of his new book `How to Survive without Taxes`, see his site for www.Done-with-IRS.com specifics.

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.