Article
YEAR-END TAX REMINDER
Below are a few tax planning strategies that you can take advantage of before 12/31/08 (please note that each taxpayer’s situation is unique and these strategies may or may not apply to you): 1. Making your January 2009 mortgage payment on your residence before the end of this year allows you to deduct the interest […]
YEAR END TAX STRATEGIES
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. […]
IGNORING THE VOLCANO
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 […]
WALL STREET REMAKE
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 […]
WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE
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 […]
PEP TALK OR REALITY CHECK
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 […]
SAME SCAM DIFFERENT SECURITY
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 […]
RALPH WIGGUM VS. ABE SIMPSON
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 […]
DA WITCH
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 […]