Hearings on Capitol Hill provided a lot of interesting topics, including a former Social Worker calling the United States a middle man in sex trafficking and child slave trade. Randy Weingarten said she had nothing to do with the closing of schools during the pandemic contrary to the evidence provided.
In this week, Speaker Kevin McCarthy surprised Washington in getting most of his caucus to vote for a debt ceiling bill, but a the same time he weakened his position by wheeling and dealing to get it passed, making additional sign ons almost impossible. This bill is dead in the Senate, but it shows that McCarthy needs to be dealt with in this debt ceiling. President Biden doesn’t know what country he is in and requires the hep of an eight year to let him know he recently visited Ireland. In addition, further proof media is coalescing with President Biden is providing him cheat sheets on questions, and doing cut jobs on his opponents including RFK Jr. RFK Jr announcing his candidacy immediately gets 20% of the democratic vote with Marianne Williamson getting an additional 10%, opening up the opportunity for a more mainstream candidate to enter the race.
Hearings on Capitol Hill provided a lot of interesting topics, including a former Social Worker calling the United States a middle man in sex trafficking and child slave trade. Randy Weingarten said she had nothing to do with the closing of schools during the pandemic contrary to the evidence provided.
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We are a quarter of the way through the year. We are leaving the colder months of the year and entering the budding of the rest of the year. In the first four months we have had some amazing accomplishments:
We are still having issues with the back door though. As we enter Spring going into Summer everyone is engaged in their practices, in outside activities, and wanting to be a part of something. I would like to have one ask, anyone with a conference room and video connection, please host a NAIFA Live event on the third Thursday of every month. Invite prospective members, invite current members, let us go to the micro level here and go back to our roots as an organization growing from the bottom up. I am hoping for past leaders and future leaders will invite just 2 people each month (1 prospective and 1 existing member) think about how that might grow. Let us know you are interested in attending and hosting and we will advertise and support. Who wants to lead this effort? We can all do it. I’m inviting 4 people to my office for a viewing in May, can you match me? Lastly, may bring us Congressional Conference in DC, with a huge attendance already occurring. This is an opportunity to grow and bring more people into the fold about what NAIFA does. If you cannot make it, then discuss and engage with other members about attending. As we move out of April showers and into May flowers think about what you can do to further blossom your practice, your industry, and others. As we conclude March and head into April, we leave March like a Lion having walked in with excitement from our conference.
March also brings us the March Madness tournaments for men and women, and is a great month to further launch the year. There is still a lot of work to do though but we are in the right position to have a successful year and win our “championship” this year between us and Florida and the rest of the association. As I mentioned at the conference there are 3 strategic priorities for NAIFA Texas this year: Membership, Membership Engagement, and Advocacy. Advocacy is our strongest leg so far this year as we just completed our state advocacy day and on the way to our Congressional Conference in May. Membership engagement, thanks to the strong work of our committee led By Rick Demko, is hitting its stride with programs, meetings, and engagement. We have several meetings scheduled to support your practice and help you grow further, an advantage of being with NAIFA Texas. Also, if you haven’t already check out the multitude of benefits that are available to you as a member of NAIFA. Another part of membership engagement is making sure we have the right governance to thrive as an organization. NAIFA national has asked us to change our bylaws and they provided us with a model. Your state board has been very diligent and has worked with NAIFA National to come up with wording and a document that helps us better serve you and meet the needs of all members and the objectives of NAIFA. There will be a vote at the end of the month, we will be hosting 2 town halls regarding these changes on April 11 and April 13. Growing our membership is where we need to focus the team. We have the right team leaders in place, including Jay Moyer our state membership chair and great things are happening. Let’s talk up NAIFA Texas and how we can continue to win. There are three simple things we all can do to be the leaders we know we are and win that championship for 2023.
Mike Lindell needs to hock more pillows, slippers, sheets and towels to pay off someone that proved him wrong proving business and politics don't matter, hope he can do it after being cancelled in the retail world.
Elon Musk and SPace X launched a new rocket, nd were ectstaic as it only lasted 4 minutes, more than most lanuches in the male dominated room, and got some fantastic data from it, proving we all can get excited on a failure to launch making all men very happy as long as we get good data Fox News saved their brand names by settling a lawsuit with DOminion at 5 times Dominiions actual business value, but depriving the AMerican Public the comic relief of a trial and the taking down of some thier profitable personalities. Supreme COurt allows abortion Pill to continue until it can be heard in the fifth circuit appeallate court . WHistle blowers are yelling loudly that the Bidens are corrupt and that they lied in 2020, will this be much ado about nothing or will there be some awakenings in Washington. Proving to me at least, We the People, is no longer true but has been revised to We the People as long as we in power agree. I was talking with someone the other day and they were saying that they supported the tax increases for everyone on their income. And I truly feel that in order to get out of the problems we are in financially there needs to be a balanced attack on our deficit and our budget and we need to drastically reduce spending but also we need to increase revenue, my thoughts are in a flat tax (which I will discuss in a later entry). However, as I was thinking about this conversation and discussing with my wife, I started to think about all the taxes I pay throughout my daily life and started to really think do they really need to raise my taxes or just get better on how the spend the money. I did this little exercise using my client’s average income and also the median income of the citizens of the United States.
So first let’s define what Taxes are. Taxes, according to Dictionary.com and Webster’s is a sum of money demanded by a Government for its support of specific facilities and services through income, payroll, property taxes, sales taxes, etc…. Also it is a burdensome charge, obligation, duty or demand. The following is an example of the taxes someone pays on an annual income of $100,000 residing in the great state of Texas. As everyone’s spending habits are different and not everyone has investments or owns property I used average prices and numbers. Please note on property taxes, even if you don’t any land or property you still pay property taxes as it is calculated into your rent you just don’t get to deduct it. Also note I am not a Tax Preparer and do not advocate any tax planning advice in this post. The numbers used are averages and everyone will have different numbers and I ask you to consult a tax professional for specific tax advice. This is on a fictional person in Texas making $100,000 gross income through a W2 system. All numbers below are based on Annual numbers. $100,000 income -$5,436 in Property Tax (Texas median Tax rate is 3.2% on a median home price of $169,900 in 2012 according to Zillow.com) -$28,000 in Federal Income Tax (assuming 2012 Rates) -$100 inspection and Car Registration $6,200 Payroll Taxes (Including SS, FICA, Medicare etc… Based on the Fiscal Cliff Bill passed January 1st 2013) - $1,996 – Gas Tax (Texas gas tax including 18.4 cents of Federal taxes for a total of 38.4 cents per gallon according to the American Petroleum Institute times 100 gallons a week used for 52 weeks according to Triple A.) Note- You could pay more than this depending on length of travel, type of vehicle, etc… $0 – State Income Tax (Texas has no State Income Tax, but you need to check your local states and municipalities as some have additional income taxes based on income level) - $100 Interest Income Tax (Assuming an average savings account and investment account paying dividends) - $1,000 Capital Gains Tax (Assumes average non-qualified investment activity resulting in Capital Gains. - $480 Phone/Cell Phone/and Cable Taxes and usage fees (According to Federal Communication Commission). Please note these are based on federal fees, states and local municipalities may have additional charges. - $7,712 in Sales Tax (According to Forbes.com in 2010 the average Sales Tax levied in United States was 9.64% the highest rate found was 13.65%. According to the U.S. Retail Association the average person consumes 80% of their gross income annually. Of course spending habits are different for everyone so these numbers may vary) -$900 Credit Usage Taxes (According to FCC average credit card is 3% and since most purchases are on credit and most people carry debt I used this times the average credit card debt of $30,000 Leaving you with $48,076 that you use for consumption, savings etc… Some things not considered on this number are pre-tax deductions like a 401(k) and certain insurance deductions out of a paycheck as those vary widely depending to choices and could potentially reduce taxable impact. Again consult a tax advisor for specifics to your situation. In addition, using the above definition of a tax is a sum of money going to a government or a burdensome charge obligation duty or demand here some additional fees and taxes that you might pay that would further increase the amount of money you pay in taxes. Professional Association Dues Professional License Registrations (i.e. Doctor, Lawyer, Financial Advisor, Real Estate Agents, Contractors, etc…) HOA/COA Dues Union Dues Pet Tax Facility Usage Fees Gym Fees Hotel Taxes if you travel Airport/Airplane Taxes if you travel Local Taxes Estate and Inheritance Taxes if you’re lucky. So after assessing these numbers knowing that I may have missed some and overestimated or underestimated on others utilizing median and average numbers I have realized that while I think we need to increase revenue at some point so we can pay down the debt, the government already gets way too much of my money as a whole, while recognizing not all of the above charges go to the Federal Government but some to the State Government, they need to really figure out how to best utilize the money they get not keep raising taxes and not adjust spending. After looking at the above numbers, 52% the above income is eaten up by taxes. When looking at my situation, my wife and I have over 63% of our income going to some form of taxes which is ridiculous. What strategies do you have to minimize tax implications for your financial strategies? You should consult a tax advisor and a financial advisor to identify specific strategies to potentially reduce taxable load. Hopefully this was as eye opening for you as it was for me. If I missed anything please let me know, and please comment on your thoughts. Photo Credit: Pixabay
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