Jeff - Founder/CEO - This will all be made clear. It's a UTMA and very easy to use. We will also be handling everything behind the scenes. Saving for your child can be complicated, but that is what we're going to change.
I'm surprised that this wasn't considered fraud.
Sometimes bank tellers make mistakes, but that shouldn't lead to the bank taking a $95k loss.
This guy played a joke on his bank - which would normally be considered illegal, but didn't like that the bank was angry?
The argument that taxes on capital gains is a double tax is crazy. The original principal isn't taxed, just the gain - no double tax.
There's no reason why capital gains shouldn't have a progressive marginal tax rate like ordinary income.
What happens if someone claims cherry scratched or left a ding in their car when they didn't. Couldn't someone pay $29 for a wash just to get something fixed.
Ratings required by the SEC, and the public, should not come from 'for profit' companies (S&P, Moodys, Fitch)when investment banks are allowed to shop around for the best rating. Blatant conflict of interest.
Discussion about tax rates usually revolve around ‘Tax breaks for the rich’, or ‘Tax the rich!’. Opinions are usually developed depending on the individual’s income, but what if common sense was used.
The U.S. has a marginal tax system. Although your employer uses a table to smooth out the tax burden over the year, the first dollars you make are taxed at the lowest rate, and as you earn more – and move up the income brackets, your tax rate increases for each bracket, and so on. When you file your taxes you’re paying an average of all the brackets that you earned income in.
That said if the government wants to cut taxes that truly affect the entire population, they would start at the bottom, since everyone pays the lowest tax at some point.
There are always economic factors that push for one cut or another, but if the government truly believes that a tax cut is necessary, it should happen at the bottom.
If the numbers in the article are correct, an IPO might be the beginning of the end. As a public company they will have to submit to outside audits. Based on their business model and cash situation they might not be of 'Going Concern' much longer.
Your parents home is also probably worth 5-10 times what they paid for it. Housing prices increase as interest rates decrease. Homeowners are still paying the same monthly bill (adjusted for inflation) but they're just paying more for the house vs. interest.
This is also why banks pay such poor interest rates on savings & CD's. As the cost of money decreases, so does rate of return on other banking products.
The 1099 reporting requirement seemed excessive, especially when some corporations deal with thousands of vendors. Having to ask vendors to fill out W-9's is already a hassle, following up on every vendor would be a huge burden.
Accounting: Assets = Liabilities + Capital. This deals with the Balance Sheet.
Expenses/Revenues are reported on the Income Statement. Two completely different things. An income statement basically explains how well you're using the items on your balance sheet.
I thought the author's comment that the most essential ingredient of capitalism is a salesperson. Most people in sales still say that today, but I believe innovation is what drives capitalism. When there's a possible reward, people are willing to take a risk. Innovation can create demand.
Maybe articles like this created the demand for companies like PayPal.
This should be a discussion about someone who had the conviction to quit his job and after repeated rejection turned an idea into a business. More examples would be helpful.
It's true that the 'Ivy League' graduates many smart individuals, but does the Ivy League actually make them smart. It's the inverse of "garbage in garbage out". A top graduate at an Ivy league school would be just as smart if they went to a small state school. The difference, and where most rankings come from are the connections. Graduates from any Ivy League school generally receive the best job offers (most money) even though there are a thousand other graduates that are just as smart, but didn't go to a name brand school. The Ivy League can only admit so many students.
I graduated from a small public university, but that doesn't mean I wasn't challenged during school. I worked extremely hard both in the classroom and at my jobs. The author of this article doesn't have a problem communicating with 'the working class', the author chooses to have a problem.
I'm not quite sure what makes the difference. I'm sure there are laws for large corporations vs. a small business. All I know is when our corporation isn't charged sales tax on a non-exempt item, it's our responsibility to pay the sales tax, even though we were the customer.
This can be difficult to explain. Sales tax or 'Sales and Use tax 'SUT' is the responsibility of the customer not the vendor. I'm an accountant and often a small business will send us a bill that doesn't include sales tax. Some things are exempt from sales tax, but some things are not. It's up to us to decide if we need to 'assess' ourselves sales tax based on the service/product that we received. We send a check to the government for the sales tax the vendor didn't charge us. When we're audited this is one of the big issues that we need to provide documentation. It seems to be a concept that's turned around, but it's up to the customer to make sure the tax is paid, not the vendor. Although it is different state to state.
The only way I see Amazon liable for sales tax is through the purchase of their inventory, not the actual sales to customers like us, although it is normally assumed that large corporations charge sales tax and there might be a tax law that says just that. I looked at my last Amazon order and I wasn't charged sales tax, so I'm not sure how Amazon gets around this.
Over the last 30 years mortgage rates have decreased and with that savings rates (the less it costs to lend money, the less you pay to purchase money). An emphasis was placed on creating wealth in home equity and the stock market vs. saving from your job/paycheck, and living off interest in retirement. Unfortunately it's hard to turn things around (deflation causes depressions) and we have to accept that it's going to take time. Our generation will never see the increase in home prices the way our parents and their parents experienced. The same goes with the stock market. We're overextended and it will take time for things to even out.
Being rich is having the amount of money that allows you to live the life you wish to lead. It's going to be more difficult for our generation to reach that point, but you can never go wrong with saving and preparing for retirement.
The Bush tax cuts expire at the end of 2010. This is just temporary until the new adiministration can pass their tax legislation which will probably include something similar to this.
Sometimes it takes experience to come across a problem that needs a solution. It's hard to come up with an answer until you fully understand the problem.
Buffet describes the 'businesses with franchise value' as a company with a large moat - or brand value. That's why he owns large stakes in companies like Coca-Cola. They're not unique, but consumers are willing to pay a premium even though there are competitors that offer a similar product.
I think working on your startup are hours spent working towards a greater potential outcome than hours spent working in a corporation. There's more of a reward (sometimes) to starting your own company.
Does anyone actually go to dealerships anymore to 'look' for cars? With websites like Autotrader, you basically have all of your choices listed for you. The last car I bought, I found online, went to the dealership, and it wasn't that bad of a situation. Just like any other major purchase you should do your homework before confronting anyone in sales.
My dentists keep changing because they keep leaving the practice I go to. That might be a sign to look elsewhere. Although my first dentist told me that at some time I would need a crown put on a tooth, and as soon as he left and the new dentist looked at my tooth, he said we should get this done now even though nothing had changed. One could have been complacent, while the other was proactive - who knows. There probably should be more of a standard than a gut feeling when it comes to medical procedures.
This is the same as any large company giving equity but requiring a vesting period. The reason you give equity vs. cash is to create an incentive for an employee to want their company to succeed. If the large transfer fees are in place to limit shareholders so they can stay under the 500 mark then it's a bit shady. If your shares are vested per the agreement you signed, it should be your right to sell when you want to without a substantial fee.
So what you're saying is as the average income increases, we should decrease the tax rate to maintain a level amount of tax revenue? Then as population grows their taxes should offset their cost?
Maybe in a perfect world, but you can't compare our population to a fixed cost.
What I'm saying is without the U.S. economy most successfull people wouldn't be successful. There's a price to participate in our economy.
Lowering taxes on the rich is the basis of supply side economics, which has been proven wrong time and time again.