These articles have been compiled from the last 25+ years and are archived here to serve as an incredible free resource for our long time listeners and those new to the show. Topics range from financial planning basics to politics, life, the economy and more.
Use holiday bonuses to max out annual retirement plan contributions first and for presents second. Avoid year-end capital gains by gifting appreciated securities rather than cash. Make charitable donations before the end of the year to obtain better deductions. Use the $11,000 annual gift-tax exclusion (increases to $12,000 in 2006), but do not exceed it. […]
One of the most beautiful places I have had the opportunity to visit is the Greek island of Santorini. I am well-aware of my own limitations as a writer; therefore I do realize I do not have the descriptive abilities of a John Steinbeck, so I will not even attempt to illustrate how striking the […]
Scenario: You have a friend; a close business associate that is about to make a monumental mistake that could ruin his business at worst, or cripple it at best. Would you do everything in your power to stop your friend; save him or her from possible ruin? When markets are under duress like they are […]
It has been argued that the House Ways and Means Committee is the most powerful committee in Congress. The duties charged of the committee are to write tax legislation, and other bills that affect Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs. This committee wields the mighty power of our 67,204 page tax code. The committee […]
This past May, at the Berkshire Hathaway annual conference in Omaha, Warren Buffet stunned many investors with his statement, “If a stock I own goes down 50%, I’d look forward to it. In fact, I would offer you a significant sum of money if you could give me the opportunity for all of my stocks […]
I wrote a column back in November of 2002 entitled Return of the Indulgence Citigroup, UBS Paine Weber, Merrill Lynch, Bank Of America are all being sued, investigated, subpoenaed, or all of the above by the Securities and Exchange Commission, individual and corporate investors, and various state attorney generals in connection with it’s handling of […]
I had eight people call in and cancel their subscriptions to the Markowski Monthly last month due to my article Defying Economic Gravity “How dare you quote my candidate in an honest manner?” where I quote Barack Obama directly in regards to his plan to almost double the capital gains rate to 28%. Gee…Sorry that […]
My youngest son’s favorite program is the Disney produced Little Einsteins. On this show, an eclectic bunch of kids travel around the globe on a rocket ship on various adventures. Along the way they learn about famous artists and classical music composers. On one recent episode, I noticed Nicholas was a little frightened by a […]
Should you fire up the gas powered shredder or not? There tends to be a serious amount of confusion when it comes to the plethora of paper records required to substantiate the information Americans use for their tax returns. Record-keeping requirements have been growing, as evidenced by the recently expanded requirements for receipts supporting charitable […]
I know its June, but for small business owners the April 15th We often encounter many small business owners that carry the misconception that 401(k)’s are only for larger corporations and are unaffordable or they don’t have enough employees to be eligible. Fortunately, businesses as small as one person can open up affordable 401(k) plans, […]
John Donofrio is our resident expert on all things tax. His column Tales From the Crypt makes a regular appearance in the Personal CFO. This month our Crypt keeper, needed to blow off some steam. Here is another example of how frustrating my business is. Like clockwork, I was doing my post-morning workout homework (WSJ, […]
A popular method for unscrupulous brokers and advisors to generate revenue to make those quotas and to keep their sales managers happy is churning. Churning is when in a broker excessively trades an account to generate commissions. Currently fraud charges are being brought against firms that are levying excessive fees in wrap accounts. This past […]