Category Archives: Business

Who’s The Smartest Guy In The Room?

Or perhaps the title should have been “Who’s the biggest CRETIN in the room?”

During all the devastation that was happening in Texas due to Hurricane Harvey, a panel on a business show was debating what the best money play is to profit from the disaster. This was the day after the hurricane made landfall and the first inkling of the devastation was shown.

The panel was discussing what would make a better investment play, new car sales or large used car dealerships.

Okay, I understand that investing is generally a “someone wins and someone loses” system, but this discussion about how to maximize a return as people are dying, losing their homes, trying to find shelters was a bit too disgusting for me. Three guys sitting around in suits inside of a comfy studio nonchalantly speculating on how best to capitalize on the suffering was abhorrent. Couldn’t they have had a bit of humanity and saved this discussion for a later date?

I believe that these “investors” were mostly trying to prove on national television how smart they were. First to come to the profit party. To me they only proved how worthless they are as human beings.

I remember a similar incident in the 1980s.  A volcano erupted in Columbia and buried tens of thousands of people in mud and ash. “Investors” were speculating on coffee futures because of the devastation.  Nothing like profiting on death and destruction of brown people in South America.

It’s not always about money!

I encourage anyone who is reading my musings to donate to the Red Cross or Samaritan’s Purse or to any other agency of your choosing, to help in the disaster relief.  Whatever amount you can, no matter how small or large.

What A Great Country

I started to write about the Yale University hunger strike that is going on. Doctoral students are “symbolically” holding a hunger strike demanding the university pay more than the $30,000 a year stipend, full medical coverage, and $40,000 in tuition. $80,000 per year just doesn’t go as far as it used to for one individual.

Oh, and the “symbolic” part, is that the snowflakes leave their sit-in to get pizza and burgers if they get hungry during the hunger strike. One student commented that it’s “still inspirational” even if they eat during the hunger strike.

The $80,000 per year number sent me down the trail to see just what the poverty level is in the United States and at what level does a citizen receive Obamacare subsidies.

From the ACA (Obamacare) website, a family of EIGHT is considered at the poverty level if their income is $40,890. HALF of what a Yale doc is GIVEN. For an individual, the poverty line is $11,880 or 7 times less than what the POOR Yale graduate student is compensated.

Life is hard…

The reason I mentioned at the beginning of this musing that I “started” to write about the poor snowflakes, is that while researching about the poverty level I tumbled across a financial “advice” website that had recommendations to reduce a person’s Adjusted Gross Income to maximize their Obamacare subsidies.

The website had these “tips” for HIGH INCOME EARNERS to reduce their AGI and maximize how much money the government (fellow tax payers who actually pay taxes) gives to them.

Contribute $18,000 to your 401K and $5,500 to your IRA to remove $23,500 from your income level.  This is good advice for anyone.

Have and S-Corporation or LLC to write off all your business expenses. The financial advice about S-Corps is to structure them to provide NO  OR LITTLE PERSONAL TAXABLE INCOME.

Own rental property and deduct all the expenses of managing the properties, as well as the depreciation to reduce or eliminate any income tax.

But here’s the best advice.,,

The website points out that if you have your rental property in say BORA BORA, you are allowed to deduct TRAVEL EXPENSES to check on your property there.  A business class round trip ticket from Los Angeles to Bora Bora is only $6,168. Do that once a quarter and you get an additional $24,672 in deductions.  Of course you’ll need to stay at an over the water bungalow at $2000 per night while your checking on your multi-million dollar rental investment.

And the Progre-sissies who whine about income inequality want to KEEP Obamacare as the law of the land.

As I said in the title “What a great country!“.

Really?

Do we really need all these warnings?

I was looking to buy a chainsaw to take down a dead tree in my backyard.  As I am Mr. Green energy with my electric vehicle I thought that an electric chainsaw would make the most sense.  No hydrocarbon emissions.  No mixing fuel and oil.  No need to worry about storing gas.

What I didn’t realize was the hazard in owning such a device.  Good thing that Amazon gave me ample warning before I bought  a 40V, brushless motor, 16 inch saw.

“NOT for children under 3 yrs.”

You can click on the picture to zoom in.

I will admit that I’m not a parent, but is a chainsaw something that you would give to a toddler as a toy?  Is a chainsaw okay to give to a kid older than 3 years?

Lawyers, bah humbug!