Do Over!!

Okay so I totally abandoned this blog for a while. I don't know what happened except that life and laziness got in the way. So I'm going to start fresh and get going again.

U.S. Income Tax 100 Years Old

"The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax."     ~Albert Einstein, Super smart guy

" The income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government."

                       ~Barry Goldwater, U.S. Senator

" How about this one? "

"The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets."           ~Will Rogers, Humorist

Wouldn't it be nice if April 15, was just another nice spring day?

"You don't pay taxes. They take taxes."  ~Chris Rock, Comedian

Tax The Rich!

An IRS Tax Code Book

I was talking to a man, in McDonald's yesterday, when politics and taxes came up. In the conversation he said he was a 100 percent Socialist, and then said, "Tax the rich to feed the poor, until the rich are rich no more!"

I replied, "That sounds great, except for one little thing. When the poor are still poor, and the rich are now also poor, then who do we tax to feed all of us?"

His reply was, " Oh, I get it, you're one of those !&%#!*!, crazy, right wing, Republican NUT-JOBS!!" the last screamed at the top of his lungs, as he left.

The truth be told I think both the Republicans and the Democrats have strayed from their mission purposes, and beliefs. I refer to myself as a Fiercely Independent American. Part of the reason I support the Fair Tax.

The first income tax, in 1913, was four-hundred pages and "only" taxed the richest one percent. (sound familiar?) Soon everyone was being taxed because they could get more money from everyone than from just the top wealth earners. The tax-code has gone from four-hundred pages to 54,846 pages in 2003, to 73,608 pages in 2012.

I understand that our government needs money to operate, but so do I. I also believe our federal government has way overstepped its boundaries and needs to be knocked back into place. Their job is to; protect our borders, mint coinage, postal service, federal judicial system, and foreign diplomacy. The rest are states issues. I realize that going this far would be difficult, if not impossible, but the less thy have to deal with the better!

So, anyway, I got to thinking, instead of, "Tax the rich to feed the poor, until the rich are rich no more!" why don't we try pulling each other up instead of knocking each other down? How about a new mantra, "Let the rich teach the poor, until the poor are poor no more!" After all as Sophie Tucker once famously quipped, "I've been rich and I've been poor. Believe me, honey, rich is better."

I encourage everyone in the US to take a look at the Fair Tax at fairtax.org.

Getting Healthy

     You know it's time to do something about your weight when your almost-four-year-old niece climbs up beside you on the couch, smooshes your gut like she's fluffing a pillow, then cuddles up to you! Actually, I've known I needed to lose weight for a long time. It's not like I'm blind or anything, but I felt fine, so I ignored the fact that I was getting...well, fluffy.

     Recently, however, I've been feeling sluggish and a bit achy, it's harder to get out of low chairs and sofas, and I'm running out of breath with very little physical exertion. First things first. I almost always have a soda pop in my hand. Big problem, number one. So instead of starting my day with a soda, I had water. With breakfast I had a mug of hot, green tea with a little honey and lemon in it. I'm drinking water the rest of the day except for lunch and dinner, I will allow myself one soda pop, eventually dropping them altogether. My next big problem is that I hardly move anymore. I used to be very active. I never "exercised" but I was constantly moving. I'd walk or ride my bike, I'd go to the park and shoot hoops, or go to a club and dance. I've gotta get moving. I'm getting up and moving for five minutes sometime during every hour that i'm sitting at my desk, just to get me started moving again. Big problem number three is not that I'm overeating, it's that I'm eating junk! I will never stick to a "diet", I know myself too well, but I can change my eating habits. I'm going to have one meatless meal a day, cut out the processed foods and eat real food, natural and organic when I can, and follow the healthy eating guidelines. 

            

My Personal Wealth Building Challenge

     There's a story about a wealthy man who has a son. Now the son will soon be eighteen and going out in the world to make it on his own.  His father, having taught him well, and wanting to help him out as he starts life on his own, calls him into the office and makes a special offer. There are two coffers sitting on the desk, one has one million dollars ($1,000,000), the other a penny.(.01). The boy has to choose between the two coffers. If he chooses the coffer with the million dollars he gets it immediately, but if he picks the coffer with the penny he has to wait until his birthday 30 days away. However, his father will double the money in the coffer every day for the thirty days, and he will get whatever money is in the coffer at the end of that time. Which would you choose?

     The boy chose the penny. Here's what happened to his penny. On the first day he had a penny, the second, two cents, the third, four cents. At the end of the first week he had 64 cents. fifteen days into the deal he had $163.84. Half way through and the kid only has $163.48... are you starting to think the kid made a Big mistake? Lets continue, on day 25 the boy still only has $167,772.16... A far cry from the million dollars in the other coffer, and he only has five days left. Lets keep going, and see how short he comes of the million dollars in the other coffer. 

Day 26: $335,554.32

Day 27: $671,008.64

Day 28: $1,342,177.28 (one million,three hundred forty-two thousand, one hundred seventy-seven dollars and twenty-eight cents.) Um...wait the penny was supposed to be a bad deal! And there's still two days left! He was $832,227.84 Short of a million dollars with just 5 days to go. and now he's over by $342,177.28 and he still has two days to go.

Day 29: $2,684,354.56

Day 30: $5,368,709.12

     On his Birthday, the boy is given a coffer with over 5 million dollars in it! 

     This story is often told to show how compound interest can add up over time. I, however, being the smart guy that I am, knows that no one is going to offer me 100 percent compounded interest, tax free, for 30 days. So I got to thinking, "What if I turn these numbers into a game?"   

     So this is my Personal Wealth Building Challenge. Instead of days, I'll make it 30 months, starting January, 2013. (I'm sure glad the Mayans were wrong!) Now January, 2013, the goal is only 1 cent. Now I'm not going to stick a penny in a jar and be done for the month. I'm going to put as much money into my account as I can. 

     I am going to do whatever I can to build wealth legally, ethically, and morally. I'm gonna find some sort of  net worth form, and cash flow form, to keep track of my progress. I also got a transaction register to keep track of all my spending. I'm not going to say,"I can't." I'm going to say, "How can I..." 

     I realize that this is a bit far-fetched. But this is all about learning to build wealth, and having fun doing it. So Win, Lose, or Draw. I think that somehow I'll still come out ahead. So if anybody reads this, If you want to join me in this challenge I'd love to hear about your struggles and victories with this challenge. I'll post about how, and what I'm doing. 

Challenge Months:

January 2013: $0.01                   January 2014: $40.96                     January 2015: $167,772.16

February 2013: $0.02                 February 2014: $81.92                  February 2015: $335,544.32

March 2013: $0.04                     March 2014: $163.84                    March 2015: $671,088.64

April 2013: $0.08                       April 2014: $327.68                       April 2015: $1,342,177.28

May 2013: $0.16                       May 2014: $655.36                        May 2015: $2,684,354.56

June 2013: $0.32                       June 2014: $1,310.72                     June 2015: $5,368,709.12

July 2013: $0.64                        July 2014: $2,621.44

August 2013: $1.28                   August 2014: $5,242.88

September 2013: $2.56             September 2014: $10,485.76

October 2013: $5.12                 October 2014: $20,971.52

November 2013: $10.24           November 2014: $41,943.04

December 2013: $20.48           December 2014: $83,886.08

Glazed Carrots: A Holiday Favorite

     So starting a new blog at the beginning of the holiday season was probably not the best idea. I can't believe it's been as long as it's been since I wrote my first post. Anyway, Thanksgiving has come and gone. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

     One of my favorite things about the holidays is the food, so today I thought I share one of my favorite recipes for Thanksgiving and Christmas...although this recipe is simple enough that it sneaks out of the Holiday Cookbook and makes an appearance several times throughout the year.

Glazed Carrots

1 lb. Carrots (can use baby carrots, or regular carrots peeled, and sliced into rounds)

2 Tbsp. Butter

1/3 cup Brown Sugar, packed

1 cup Water

dash of Salt

Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan.
2. Stir to mix ingredients.
3. Bring to a boil over high heat.
4. Reduce heat to medium and continue to boil uncovered for 25 minutes or until the carrots are tender and the liquid has evaporated.

                                                                                                                     Serves  4

Super easy and delicious!