Do you remember when your parents would talk about the way it was when they were young? I was recently talking with my dad about his school days and he was telling me about how he learned to type on an old Royal typewriter as a young boy in Junior High School. He said that he learned to type 52 words per minute by seeing how fast he could pound out the sentence. “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country”, over and over. Although I was impressed by his typing prowess, I was more impressed by the thought behind those words…now is the time.
If you have been following me for any length of time, you have discovered that I am very passionate about a number of Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Jordan | Posted in Finance, Government | Posted on 02-18-10
In the next year—2010—the IRS plans to look closely at small business owners and the self-employed. Here’s how to be ready if an auditor comes knocking at your door. Now, don’t panic. Don’t get mad. You’re honest, right? Well here’s the secret word on how to deal with the IRS. Preparation. Preparation means substantiation. If you have your receipts and checks in order, you have nothing to fear. Here’s what to do:
Meals and Entertainment. A meal or tickets to entertain clients that costs $75 or more must be backed up with a piece of paper. Any expense under $75 can be substantiated with an entry in your day planner or diary. In both cases, you need the date, the restaurant or entertainment facility name, the address, the amount paid, the person or people Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Jordan | Posted in Finance, Government | Posted on 02-18-10
Let’s say you own a small business. You think you’re successful. You’re a pillar of your community. Or you’re self-employed and doing well. Or you just can’t resist putting money into overseas investment vehicles. The folks at the Internal Revenue Service want to get to know you much better. Not because they’re mean, but because they want your money. The largest reason is that some of you underreport your income. And according to the agency’s just released 2010 game plan, they’re coming to get you!
There is a gap between what taxpayers should pay every April 15th and what they actually pay. It comes to about $345 billion a year, Chris Wagner, the commissioner of the IRS’ Small Business and Self-Employed Operating Division, told a recent conference. About 44% comes from small-business underreporting, he added.
His division, which is responsible foe 41 million self employed workers and 9 million small businesses with assets of less than $10 million, is investing heavily in personnel. By the end of 2009, the division expects to have hired 4,000 more Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Jordan | Posted in Business, Government | Posted on 02-18-10
The United States of America has always been one of the greatest places in the world to have a job. There are many different classifications for what constitutes a job. Some people own their own business; some are part of a large corporation; some work for small companies, and some freelance on the side. However, there is another special kind of worker that constitutes the very essence of what defines employment in this country—the public sector employee. We’ve all seem them. At the post office, the DMV, or at your local courthouse—customer service is virtually non-existent. Please don’t ever try to contact these people after 4:30pm or every other Friday. For the majority of these employees, they feel it is their right to have a job in this country no matter how many customers do not ever get the attention they need.
Now, I do not mean to generalize all government workers as unrealistic and clueless to the happenings of the real world; but let’s be honest about how many of these people truly care about the services they are providing more so than the paycheck they are receiving. Are they really in touch with what drives American business and the current Read the rest of this entry »
While many Americans are living on tight budgets because of lost jobs or fear of losing a job, companies face a different dilemma: They’re sitting on growing piles of cash. Faced last year with the doomsday scenario of the next Great Depression, companies slashed jobs and cut expenses. The depression never came, and money continued to roll in, albeit at lower levels. That’s left companies overflowing with cash—at least a half-trillion dollars more than they had at the end of 2008 and probably much more.
CEOs, of course, gain nothing by saving. They need to put money to work or pay it out to shareholders. So unless the economy scares them again, expect companies to start unleashing their moolah. In other words: Brace yourself for a Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Jordan | Posted in Government | Posted on 02-18-10
As I write this, President Obama is presiding over what he’s calling a “jobs summit.” This is just a colorful way of describing a bunch of federal and state politicians, economists, business people and labor leaders getting together at the White House to jaw about putting people back to work. Now, at the risk of sounding extremely disrespectful, this jobs summit is truly laughable. Not that the nation’s 10.2% unemployment rate is any laughing matter, far from it. In fact, the sad state of employment in this country is something that makes my blood boil. But what makes me even more furious is that the federal government has decided to take the lead in job creation, as if the government were the ultimate arbiter on jobs.
John Stossel expressed it best in his Fox Business News article: “What arrogance! The political class thinks that economies revolve around them, that Washington makes things happen, that politicians are the most important players.” You see, the hubris here is that the government can come up with some new magic policy prescriptions Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Jordan | Posted in Government | Posted on 02-18-10
For many Americans, especially the almost 16 million out of work, merely mentioning the word “recovery” can make the blood boil. And yet, amid the persistent job losses, tight credit, and looming foreclosures, the economy’s pulse is beginning to pick up. It’s very faint still, as if the patient is in the emergency room and nobody is sure when she’ll get better.
As of the new data from September, 100 metro areas—or nearly one in four across the country—have started to recover, according to the latest Adversity Index from Moody’s Economy.com. That’s up from 79 metro areas in mid Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Jordan | Posted in Government | Posted on 02-18-10
The economy is looking increasingly dicey for 2010. Sure, things look OK right now. The most recent numbers are, in fact, reassuring. The United States seems to be on track for something like 3% economic growth in the fourth quarter. That would be a slight acceleration from the 2.8% growth in the third quarter. And it would put the economy on track for the kind of decent, but not great, recovery in 2010 that most investors and economists are expecting.
But recent numbers suggest that instead of accelerating off that fourth-quarter growth, the economy might be headed or a slowdown in 2010. Not all the way back to negative numbers but definitely a deceleration at a time when just about every stock is priced for Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Jordan | Posted in Government | Posted on 02-18-10
In recent months, President Barack Obama, through his spokesman, claimed that he was unaware of the tax day tea parties being held throughout the country. Now granted, the main stream media did a very good job of suppressing any sort of coverage ahead of time, and what little coverage they did provide was derisive at best. However, with that being said, is it really possible for one to be that unaware of such happenings taking place in your own country? Especially in such a power position as the President of the United States of America? Let’s examine just how “out of touch” this commander in chief has been.
*He was UNAWARE that he was attending a church for 20 years with a racist Pastor who hates America.
*He was UNAWARE that he was family friends with, and started his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist. Read the rest of this entry »
