Archive for April, 2010
Next Entries »Analyzing Possible Future Tax Increases
Monday, April 12th, 2010I just read this article: ‘Earthshaking’ Ways to Fix U.S. Debt According to the article (and common sense) there are three ways the U.S. can get its debt under control: • Cut spending • Raise taxes • Some combination of both The article then went on to explain what would have to be done if [...]
Does It Make Sense to Wait Until Full Retirement Age to Start Collecting Social Security?
Thursday, April 8th, 2010I was looking around on the Social Security website and found their retirement estimator. For fun, I plugged in our numbers to estimate our benefit. This is what it spit out: At your current earnings rate, if you stop working and start receiving Social Security benefits… At age 62, your monthly benefit will be about…$1,763.00. [...]
We Need a Fair Tax System
Thursday, April 8th, 2010Does this income tax example of a family of four making $50,000 per year seem fair to you? Here’s how they did it, according to Deloitte Tax: The family was entitled to a standard deduction of $11,400 and four personal exemptions of $3,650 apiece, leaving a taxable income of $24,000. The federal income tax on [...]
Interesting Morninstar Article on Mutual Fund Trading Costs
Monday, April 5th, 2010From Morningstar: “…the average equity fund pays approximately 0.30% of assets a year [in trading costs]. That’s roughly 30% of the average no-load large-cap fund’s expense ratio. Thus, brokerage commissions can take what looks to be 0.90% paid in expenses each year up to 1.20%.” This topic has been receiving more attention over the last [...]
Does This Sound Like a Scam to You?
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010This afternoon I was in an office supply store, waiting to check out. In front of me were two guys. Each guy had three $200 American Express Gift Cards that they were waiting to purchase. Each guy paid for their $600 worth of gift cards with a credit card. Call me crazy, but this seemed [...]
YTD Total Returns for the S&P 500, Midcap 400, and Smallcap 600
Thursday, April 1st, 2010I don’t have data for the Midcap and Smallcap indices, but March’s return for the S&P500 was the 7th best going back to 1926.
OT: This Guy Voted for the Health Care Bill!
Thursday, April 1st, 2010A little humor for today: Hank Johnson’s Afraid Guam Might Capsize.
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