5 Ways to Absolutely Destroy Your Finances!

Ben Stein has a book called How to Ruin Your Finances. To be honest, I’m not sure an entire book is needed on the subjectthere are some fairly quick and easy ways to accomplish the task. (Before continuing, let me be clear that I do not actually recommend such activitiesThis is a reductio absurdum argument, meant to spur an opposing realization.)

#1: Buy everything, yes, everything

You never know when a neighbor may come over to use your dish towels, so make sure they are Ralph Lauren, less than six months old, and all the same color. While you’re at it, buy things that you don’t need now, but may need in the future, such as eleven new sweaters, a top-of-the-line treadmill, and some bestselling novels (just in case you ever read the 38 already on your bookshelf).

#2: Charge all purchases

That way you can itemize all your spending, which is sort of like budgeting. When the bill comes each month, be consistentpay only the minimum. If there’s anything left at the end of the month, see #1.

#3: Don’t be concerned about retirement

That’s what Social Security is for! Our country is run by intelligent economists, and they’ll make certain there’s enough for you in 25 years.

#4: Buy a $4 million home, with 1% down, and a 30-year mortgage

Then, spend your entire working life paying it off. Don’t worry if you haven’t invested in anything elseyou can sell the home when you reach 65, rapidly adjust your lifestyle to match your new one-bedroom condo, and live off the difference.

#5: Start being frugal ‘tomorrow’

Please, finish your $7 mocha latte and go about your day. After all, this article was obviously written for the other guy!

© 2005 Matthew S. Clement, All rights reserved

Matthew S. Clement is a financial planner and investment advisor representative with Financial Network Investment Corporation, member SIPC. He provides holistic wealth management and retirement planning to individuals and businesses. He can be reached in New York at (845) 942-8578, or by email: ClementM@FinancialNetwork.com

FCD Specialists in Foreign Currency

www.currencies.co.uk is England’s prima independent foreign currency negotiators, Foreign Currency Direct have been around since the year 2000 currencies.co.uk are currently practiced in the field and own an excellent team of operatives that can be found all set and also waiting to support you yourself with just about everything one should need.

www.currencies.co.uk offer one off overseas payment, so for the reason that people need to transfer a lump sum to a different currency. www.currencies.co.uk will supply one with a specialist account manager to deal with all of the aspects of one’s transaction. Saving up to 0.04 against average prices sold through high street banks can only make said transaction significantly lower priced as well as hassle free. They additionally sell spot contracts targeted at settlement within 2 working days with fast transfer to the bank account you define, or possibly a forward contracts to select a currency exchange rate for the future, for example, when a apartment completion is timed in a few months time, by having a forward contract folk might often know how much GBP people might require for a future requirement for an overseas currency. Should you be looking to bring back to the UK foreign currency click here, Foreign Currency Direct have years of experience with foreign currency exchange.

Foreign Currency Direct also have knowledge in timely overseas transactions, if you yourself have a Euro mortgage in France, Spain or maybe Portugal there timely payment plan is a very good means to minimise the monthly sterling cost. Foreign Currency Direct offer free payments for transfers and it includes 0 bank costs for payments beyond £300. Lastly but not least the business have knowledge during exchanging foreign currency back to the UK, should your selling a overseas houses and require to send foreign currency back to the GB in sterling, then maybe currencies.co.uk could support you. Customers might utilise a trained account managers that will probably share their expert knowledge with you yourself & serve folk conduct all your required arrangements.

Tax Reform, My Way

We need real tax reform and we need it now. Previous attempts have been made at tax reform, but they have only provided band-aid solutions that have still left us with too many quirks, complication, and read tape. There are several things Congress could do to simply the tax system and benefit the taxpayers and federal budget at the same time.

First, I would institute a simple two-tiered tax on earnings and passive income (interest, dividends, capital gains, etc.) that are not in a tax-sheltered account. They would be treated equally and no distinction would be made between long-term and short-term capital gains. Individuals (whether married or not) who have taxable earnings and passive income of less than $30,000 would pay no federal taxes. Amounts equal to or greater than $30,000 but less than $200,000 would be taxed at 25%. Amounts equal to or greater than $200,000 would be taxed at 30%.

Second, I would get rid of the quarterly estimated tax requirements and associated penalties for everyone except those who are habitually late (after April 15) filing their return and/or paying their taxes. Few things in our tax system are more complicated than trying to figure whether or not you paid enough estimated taxes, whether they were paid on time, and/or the penalty for not doing so. Even the IRS acknowledges how complicated it is to figure out this penalty, as they offer to calculate it for you.

Third, I would eliminate the annual limits on capital losses as well as those special “wash sale” rules, which further restrict the writing off of capital losses. The reporting of capital gains has never been limited and neither should capital losses. “Wash sale” rules restrict the writing off of capital losses for stocks and mutual funds sold at loss but bought back again within 30 days. As I mentioned in a previous writing, these rules can get very complicated, with those for figuring the estimated tax penalty being the only ones that are more difficult to understand.

Fourth, I would keep personal exemptions and child tax credits intact but eliminate all deductions except for charitable contributions and mortgage interest on one’s primary dwelling. There would be no standard deduction or Earned Income Tax Credit.

Fifth, I would eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). This is probably the third most complicated item in the tax law. It was designed to make sure the rich pay at least some taxes, but the elimination of most deductions would accomplish this goal now by taking away most of their shelters.

Sixth, I would make some adjustments to inheritance and gift taxes. For the most part, they would not be treated any differently than ordinary income. However, there would be some exceptions. Inheritances and gifts passed from one spouse to another would be exempt from federal taxes. Inheritances of family farms and other legitimate businesses by any family member from another would not be taxable.

These changes would benefit individuals by making the tax system less complicated for everyone and taking a smaller percentage of income from most taxpayers (especially the middle class). The government would benefit from collecting more taxes because more people would be working and receiving higher incomes (as this system would encourage more investment in infrastructure). Also, more people would be encouraged to make more taxable passive income. The current system discourages taxable passive income. In addition, the extremely wealthy would have fewer options for sheltering their income.

Terry Mitchell is a software engineer, freelance writer, and trivia buff from Hopewell, VA. He also serves as a political columnist for American Daily and operates his own website - http://www.commenterry.com - on which he posts commentaries on various subjects such as politics, technology, religion, health and well-being, personal finance, and sports. His commentaries offer a unique point of view that is not often found in mainstream media.

Tax Returns Required for Businesses in Washington State

Your business activity must be included on a federal tax return. Which return and when it’s due will depend on your choice of entity selection. If you are a sole proprietor or a single member LLC, put it on schedule C of your individual tax return (form 1040). Otherwise, it goes on a separate tax return. If you had expenses only but no revenue, you should still complete a return to utilize the loss either this year or to create a net operating loss carry forward or carry back.

Revenue Tax: Washington State imposes a tax on total revenue. Some cities impose a similar tax. These returns are due either monthly, quarterly or annually. The state (and perhaps your city) will assign a frequency based on information you put on your business license application. Getting help from a professional can save you the trouble of completing returns more frequent than needed. The tax rate depends on the type of business. Many service businesses pay a state revenue tax of 1.5% of gross sales.

Sales Tax: Washington State imposes a sales tax on the retail sale of tangible goods and many services. This tax is reported on the same revenue return discussed above. Thus, it can be due monthly, quarterly or annually. The rate varies depending on your location.

Other State Taxes: The State imposes other taxes on specific industries. For example, hotel/motel tax, public utilities, tobacco products, refuse collection. Consult a tax professional regarding taxes for your industry.

Employment Taxes: When you hire your first employee, the government gives you a few more rolls of red tape. Both the State and the federal government impose a variety of taxes on businesses that have employees.

Federal Employment Taxes: The federal government requires all employers to complete quarterly employment tax returns (form 941). These returns are usually due the last day of the month following the quarter. Form 941 tells the IRS how much income tax you withheld from employees, how much social security and medicare you withheld and the employer’s contribution to social security and medicare.

Tax accountant John Huddleston has a law degree and masters in tax law from the University of Washington School of Law. He has been a guest tax expert on the radio. He advises small businesses in the Seattle Bellevue Kent Everett area on various tax issues. His firm, Huddleston tax accountants, also provides tax preparation service, quickbooks consulting and general accounting and bookkeeping service. Seattle Bellevue tax accountant John Huddleston is a frequent publisher of tax saving ideas.

Creating A Household Budget

Creating a budget can be a very difficult task. Although we as consumers know that we need to pay our bills, buy our necessities, and put money away for savings, we don’t really know how to start.

I know from personal experience how hard creating a budget can be. In the beginning stages of my road to financial freedom, I would write all my expenses down on paper and noticed that I had little and sometime nothing left over to save. I tell my clients that seeing everything on paper is only the first of many reality checks while getting their finances in order.

I think all advisors in the financial world can agree that using categories helps tremendously. Everyone will not have the same categories thus making every budget unique.

A category simply is nothing more than a grouping. Instead of listing each credit card bill separately on my budget, I will give all of my credit cards a category, for example I will list it as “debt”. Some popular budgeting categories are housing, savings, utilities, donations, healthcare, miscellaneous and income to name a few.

There are many budgeting software programs out there. I suggest however, that in the beginning stages of creating a budget you should continue to do things manually. This way you are constantly viewing your money and staying in touch with your expenses.

Another very important task of a successful budget is keeping up with your expenses and all of your receipts. Now, I know this is difficult especially when buying what we think are small things but believe me it is very significant, especially for married couples. If one spouse is spending over $4.00 a day 7 days a week on a cappuccino, that one purchase is costing your household $120.00 a month. To help solve this difficult task, keep a box in a common area and commit to tossing all your daily receipts in that particular box. When you sit down to work on your budget pull out all the receipts and categorize them. I suggest you do this weekly in the beginning. The box can fill up pretty quickly, especially when two people are contributing their individual receipts.

Last but not least place your categories in a percentage list. For example look at your life in the eyes of a lender. You should spend no more than 35% of your gross income on rent or a mortgage payment including tax and insurance. If you’re spending more than 35% adjust your budget according to your true picture. However the total of all your categories cannot exceed 100%. Once you tally-up your actual budgeting totals, compare them to your translated percentage dollar amounts and see how you rate. Most will find out that they have a lot of work to do.

If you find that creating and sticking to a budget is overwhelming, seek the help of a professional.

Dina D. Harbour, Financial Coach
info@wanteddebtoralive.org (or visit)
www.wanteddebtoralive.org

All Rights Reserved

Financial Management Experience:
Since 1986 Dina has taken an interest in the financial world. Starting her career as a Loan Clerk she quickly learned the importance of establishing good credit. After examining and improving her own financial situation she began to do research on minority lending in efforts to understand the reasons why minorities have the lowest approval rates for home loans. Her findings sparked a desire to share with others what she learned.

Since that time, she has worked as a Loan Closer for the SBA, Loan Officer for ACORN Housing, Trust Assistant for Wells Fargo Bank, and successfully won a $5000 laws suit against Equifax Credit Bureau in 2002 for reporting improper credit information. She has over 18 years experience helping people understand the importance of debt and credit. She has given many seminars over the years to Non-Profit Organizations, Libraries and private groups.

Stock Versus Bonds

A lot of investors may wonder if they should have invested in
stocks or bonds or both. Both investment vehicles have their own
merit in the investment world. However, the best investment
choice depends on your investment horizon and your risk
tolerance.

Bond is a certificate of debt issued by governments or
corporations which will be repaid later at maturity. Bond
investors get steady stream of interest while the principal will
be paid at maturity. Currently, the ten year treasury bond yield
4.48 %. This guarantees investors that held the bond to
maturity, an annual 4.48 % return on investment assuming a
default risk of 0. Since treasury bond is backed by the United
States government, it is safe to say that the default risk is
nil. Treasury bond price fluctuates daily. But the potential
capital gain from the price change is fairly minimal. As of
Tuesday December 6th 2005, the 10 year treasury bond is priced
at around par value of $ 100. Therefore, the investors’ main
return on investment is through the interest payment of the bond.

When investing in common stock, investors may be rewarded with
either dividend payment or capital appreciation or both. Mainly,
investors are aiming for capital appreciation profit when they
invest in stocks. Historically, stock market indices has
returned 10.5% since world war II. Stock investors may be
exposed to a lot of risk due to the price volatility. When the
company is doing poorly, investors may lose half or all of his
principal. Bond investors do not have this problem if the debt
issuer still survives.

In my opinion, investors are well served investing in stocks if
they will not use the savings for more than five years. The
reason is simple. Common stock gives a much larger return than
bond. Investing in bond merely get you even with inflation. Some
common stock can even give you that kind of return from dividend
alone. If stock investors properly calculated the fair value of
the common stock, the short-term volatility of stock will not
matter. In the long run, stock will be traded close to their
fair value.

There is no need for investors with five year investing horizon
to avoid common stocks. While investing in treasury bond is
theoretically safe, its return barely match inflation. In other
words, investing in treasury bond will not make us richer.

Your Home Can Act As a Carriage For Car Loans; Do You Know the Term for That? Secured Car Loans:

Car is a necessity for some, and for others it is a luxury. But
everybody needs a car. There are hundreds of automobile
companies in the world selling thousands of different car
models. There are cars for every taste and every mood. You can
buy an economy car if you just need a mode of transportation. If
you are rich and want to show off, you can buy a luxury car.
Then there are sports cars for car enthusiasts.

All this is well as long as you have money to buy a car. If you
do not have sufficient money to buy a car, then you will have to
go for a car loan. Getting a car loan is
not difficult. However, you might not get a car loan deal of
your choice. You will have to search a lot to find a perfect car
loan. You might not get an adequate loan amount. If you manage
to get the amount, you might not get a low rate of interest.

Getting a car loan of choice is not a problem for
homeowners. If you are a homeowner, you can use your house to
obtain a car loan. First of all, homeowner loans are easily
available. Since they are less risky for lenders, lenders are
usually willing to offer such loans. Another advantage is that
you can get a car loan
with terms and conditions adjusted as per your needs. The rate
of interest is quite reasonable because such loans are secured
against a property.

A car loan secured against your house is ideal if you have a bad
credit history. Borrowers with a bad credit history are always
on a back foot when they apply for a loan. They are considered
as high risk borrowers. Lenders charge a high rate of interest
on bad credit loans. It is easier to get a bad credit loan if it
is secured against your house. The rate of interest will also be
reasonable in case of a bad credit secured loan.

Retirement Accounts & Early Retirement

Early Retirement: What You Should Know

For many reasons, more and more people are opting to retire at
an early age. The growing trend for the retirement is based on
the fact that people are enticed to retire early than continue
working and wait until they reach their retirement age of 65.

In fact, most of the surveys conducted in the United States
asserted that 60% of the respondents would love to retire at an
early age.

In reality, there are many benefits that people can derive when
they retire early. However, there are also many consequences
that result from early retirement. What they do not know is that
early retirement has the potential of bringing more problems
than reaping in benefits and advantages.

Here is a list of some of the reasons why retiring early can be
a pretty risky activity.

1. Not in accordance with the regulations of Social Security

When people will retire at an early age, there is a great
possibility that they cannot immediately obtain their Social
Security benefits. This is because according to the rules and
regulations of Social Security, anyone who is born after 1938
will have to wait longer than their retirement age of 65 before
they can get their benefits.

Hence, early retirement may only contribute to a negative upshot
if the older people’s finances where not managed properly and
the only thing they expect to help them are the Social Security
benefits they can get.

2. If people who took early retirement get sick, they cannot
acquire some Medicare benefits.

This is because the age when people can get their Medicare
benefits is when they already turn 65. Hence, if they are
hospitalized and they have already filed for their early
retirement, they have to obtain the necessary amount of money in
order to cover the expenses in the hospital without Medicare.

3. Penalty charges apply to those who retired early and had
withdrawn their IRAs early.

For people who would like to retire at an early age and wish to
obtain their IRAs, they have to face a hefty 10% penalty charge.

Moreover, experts contend that the nest egg of people who wish
to retire early is only 80% of what they should be getting when
they retire at the age of 65.

The bottom line is that early retirement is, indeed, a personal
choice and preference of an individual but one must consider the
factors that may affect their life in the end.

Achieving Competitive Advantage through Collaboration with Key Customers and Suppliers

An Evolving Operational Focus

In the past when companies pondered corporate strategy,
operations had been peripheral to the discussion. Operations
were considered a technical matter with one way of doing things
and therefore not, strategic. Strategy is about products,
markets, and competitive advantage with divergent possibilities.

Operations were seen as a series of puzzles with single best
solutions. The realization that optimization of parts did not
optimize the whole led to new focus - operational management
went up a level from looking at individual tasks to looking at
whole processes. During the 1960s, Japanese manufactures
obtained competitive advantage by optimizing operational
efficiency, which meant lower prices, flexible production
capabilities and a reduction in lead times. Operational
considerations became a key theme in strategic discussions.

During the 1990s, companies like Dell took this further. The
computer market was changing faster than any other market had
done in history. Dell began managing operations by synchronizing
functional activity into a single corporate heartbeat. An order
instantly drove procurement, which drove production and then
distribution. The result was a further drop in lead times,
inventory requirements, and operating costs along with
flexibility. Operational efficiency was Dell’s sole source of
competitive advantage and it reaped enormous market share gains.

Collaboration - The Next Step

The historical trend is clear. The impact that one activity has
on the next means they cannot be optimized in isolation. The
result is that operations have become the key corporate
strategic consideration. Yet the nature of competitive advantage
is to elapse as competitors replicate it, which places a
continual onus on companies to find new differentials. This begs
the question - what next?

The answer lies in another step up in the way we view corporate
operation. We need to look beyond the borders of the firm in our
search for operational efficiency. Optimized company operations
can only be achieved through alignment and coordination with the
agents up and down stream. Collaboration with suppliers and
customers is the essential vehicle of the 21st century for
achieving competitive advantage from operations.

The benefits of Collaboration

1. Sharing demand signals

The first step to collaboration comes through information
sharing. Across nearly all industries, companies play a guessing
game (called forecasting) to estimate the products and
quantities that their customers will demand across different
markets. Even if a company gets it just right it still needs
large inventory buffers to cope with demand variability, thus
dramatically reducing its capital efficiency. It is imperative
to compress lead times to meet demand rapidly and lessen these
negative effects - this can negate the production-cost benefits
of today’s off-shoring vogue in China. The butterfly’s wing
effect on forecasting and ordering means the end demand signal
gets wildly distorted as it echoes up the supply chain being
reinterpreted and exaggerated at each turn. Inaccuracies are
amplified at each stage, leaving suppliers facing high-stake
production gambles.

The answer is simple - relaying end user demand signals and
likely future order quantities to suppliers up the chain. This
is the single biggest benefit of collaboration and it comes at
virtually no cost reducing much of the variability from the
forecasting calculation. A supplier’s response will be a much
closer fit to market demand if information about likely order
quantities is shared. Typically, inventory levels can be reduced
by two thirds, service levels sky-rocket while lost revenues
evaporate, and supply costs are cut by a quarter when demand
information sharing is implemented correctly.

2. Efficiency through alignment

The next step is operational coordination. Working capital
naturally collects at the borders of the firm. Finished Goods
nearly always account for much more inventory than Work in
Process, mainly because of the typical inadequacy in
coordination between supply chain entities. Accounts receivable
tend to be swelled by disputes and billing problems, which would
be ironed out instantly if they were internal issues. Most
companies currently allow working capital to accumulate at the
point where their processes meet those of their customers and
suppliers, which provides a great opportunity for freed cash
flow and increased capital efficiency.

Costs can also be reduced dramatically through simple
operational coordination between suppliers and customers.
Systems, processes, and organizations can be joined up much more
effectively to eliminate unnecessary duplication and increase
the through-put and flexibility of both supplier and customer
organizations.

The interfaces of goods delivery/goods-receipt,
invoicing/invoice-processing and collection/payment all exhibit
the same misalignment and duplication. The painstaking effort
spent on internal efficiency is negated by a clumsy operational
weld between suppliers and customers. Functions get managed to
performance metrics, which encourage activity that runs, counter
to the efficiency of the organization, let alone the total
supply mechanism. Firms should optimise their impact on their
key customers’ total cost of supply. Configuring and managing
the organization to better align with key customers and
suppliers facilitates a more fluid transfer of goods, cash and
information up and down the supply chain. This provides a
win/win of capital and cost reduction at the same time as
enhanced revenue levers for all organizations involved.

3. Joint exploration of strategic options

The final step is a strategic coordination-unlocking new market
development and product development possibilities based on
co-exploring avenues to competitive advantage. This is only
attainable once trust has been built through information share
and some steps in operational integration. With the foundation
of operational collaboration set, customers and suppliers can
combine in entering new markets, coordinated off-shoring and
shared selected R&D to explore exciting product development
opportunities and condense launch times.

Overcoming the Zero Sum Mindset

The greatest barrier to successful collaboration is the
conventional mindset of a combative relationship with suppliers.
Negotiations are perceived as a zero-sum margin tug-of-war, with
the relative power balance determining the result. This
precludes a focus on win-win value driving activity. Suppliers
and customers end up perpetually wasting and reworking because
they see opening a constructive dialogue as weakness or even as
surrender. Many executives fear a loss of flexibility through
higher switching costs from greater collaboration. The truth is
that most firms’ key supplier base has not changed dramatically
over the last 2 years, so collaborative activity would have been
massively beneficial as the payback period can be. Still, this
does not irreversibly affix firms together - competitive
pressures still work to drive down prices and provide the
incentive to offer the best value.

Another fear is that companies would give away their competitive
advantage to customers or suppliers if they collaborate. The
reality is that core competencies do not vanish through sharing
demand information, or through bridging operational rifts. The
reason that there are few truly vertically integrated industries
is testament to this - core competencies dilute and effective
organization is impossible over too lengthy a chain. Such
anxiety may be unfounded, but the fear is real and debilitating.
This is why companies should commit progressively and in
parallel, reaching a point acceptable to both parties; from
information share, to operational alignment, through to
symbiotic strategic planning. As a further development,
(depending on the concentration of the end user markets for a
product), a company can then extend its collaborative
relationships further up and down the supply chain to suppliers’
suppliers, customers’ customers and beyond.

As with preceding operational evolutions, collaboration will
doubtless be pioneered by some companies and shunned by others.
Far from the micro/technical operational thinking of the past,
collaboration offers a strategic perspective, divergent options
and colossal profit, and capital efficiency benefits. Until it
becomes universally adopted, collaboration is the most promising
source of competitive advantage from operations available today.

Dxinone E-currency Trading

E-currency trading is growing into a worldwide business. If you are looking for a growing business that will never let down E-currency is a great one. Dxinone is a very confusing system for a person that has never seen or used it before. If you have no idea how to sign up or start to fund your account you will miss out on a very good way of making money-using e-currency.

The web page they use offers no guide to helping you start using the Dxinone system. There are however VERY helpful guides that you can buy for a small price that teach you everything you need to know about Dxinone, and how to get start in e-currency.

Once you join Dxinone and make an account you can then fund your account with money using NetPay, E-gold, E-bullion, and a few others. Once you have funds in your account you can then start to make money in the e-currency system. You will buy digots with the funds in your account. These digots act like a share of stock would. A window will open in Dxinone, and you will see a list of places you can buy digots from. These digots will be how you are going to profit from the e-currency system.

Once you have used all the money in your dxinone account you now will see how the system works. Each night you can log into dxinone, and check up on your digots to see how much you made in profit. Everyone has a different way for buying his or her digots. Again buying and selling digots is just like buying and selling stock. You will see under your TDV Total digot value how much profit you have. You can also tell how much money you used, and how much you can take out of dxinone. Each night you will gain any where from .35% to .5% in returns as profits. The nice thing about dxinone is that your money is compounded daily unlike other investments that might only compound weekly or even monthly. Each night you are making money with e-currency.

As you can see it can be very hard for someone to learn how to use or even start with Dxinone. This is a system that everyone should get to know, as it is a very profitable way of making money online with e-currency exchange.

Visit Mazu e-currency online for more information about dxinone and e-currency trading.

I used the mazu guide to help me get started in Dxinone. It also helped me take my $400 investment into Dxinone and turn it into $5,100 in 4 months. Visht Mazu E-currency Online to see how the mazu guide can help you.