Next week as part of his final budget request President Obama will propose a $10/barrel charge on oil. The fee would be paid by oil companies which of course means it will be paid by consumers as surely the oil companies will pass along the cost to end users. The fee’s purported goal is thievery [...]
It’s nice to see Hillary Clinton pandering once more . . . or does she really believe tax, redistribute and spend will actually grow the pie and kick start the economy? Speaking at an organizing event in Waterloo, Iowa, the Democratic frontrunner railed against all those evil / unethical / immoral people of wealth. "It’s [...]
The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) was created in the wake of the 2008 credit crisis. As with many government agencies the theory behind it is valid. Their actions, however, seem designed to protect us from ourselves and our oftentimes willful stupidity. Case in point is the new “Know Before You Owe” rule. It’s designed [...]
In an oft-paraphrased 1789 letter to Richard Price Thomas Jefferson wrote that a well-informed electorate is a prerequisite to democracy. The next time we as a society collectively wonder about the political landscape and direction of our country we need look no further than ourselves and the things we deem important. Just what are the [...]
No, we don’t mean this Myra or this Myra. We mean this myRA courtesy of our friends at Treasury. We, um, “sat down with myRA” to get to know her. Let’s see what she’s all about: Apollo: When were you born? myRA: President Obama mentioned me in his 2014 State of the Union address. Apollo: [...]
In an attempt to close a ‘loophole’ they claim is exploited by ‘evil one-percenters’ Congress has done away with a very useful planning strategy – File and Suspend. File and Suspend allows spouse #1 to file for and immediately suspend receipt of benefits until a future date up to age 70. This allows spouse #2 [...]
Last week the IRS told us what’s new in 2016. While some items remain unchanged there are interesting developments with 401(k) contribution limits, income tax brackets and deductions, IRA contributions, the estate tax credit, AGI phase outs and more. More than 50 tax-related items were addressed. A partial summary and some of the more interesting [...]
Much confusion exists in the minds of consumers about who in the financial services world is a fiduciary. Currently the product-pushers are lavishing ungodly sums of money upon Washington as their army of lobbyists seeks to water down or eliminate a uniform fiduciary standard. And these are the people who claim to be looking out [...]
Are we living longer? Absolutely. Should we factor this into pension funding obligations? Not according to the IRS. The Society of Actuaries released new mortality tables in 2014 to better reflect how long Americans are living. The IRS was expected to adopt the new tables. Instead the IRS has decided to use tables developed 15 [...]
Surely this comes as a shock given how well government programs are administered (insert eye roll here!) but this report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration spells out among other things that taxpayers received $572 million of excess tax credits as part of the Affordable Care Act.