Archive for February, 2009

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Cobra Payments Adjusted – Check with your Former Employers

Friday, February 27th, 2009

I’ve been talking to a lot of people and the rumors are true. Companies are now getting in compliance with the new stimulus package and they are adjusting their Cobra payments down in some cases from something like $1000 for a family of three to $350. That is great news for families who are Cobraed. If you aren’t covered by Cobra don’t fret. I think there are provisions to allow you to rejoin and get your lost medical coverage at the lower rate – and the lower rate is something like 65% lower so it is a good deal.

Don’t skimp when it comes to medical coverage unless you are in superb tip-top health and your family is the same way. If you haven’t been getting letters, call your Human Resources Dept and ask them about it. They should send out a new form to sign-up with the different rate plans and you can add or delete the options as you see fit.

For those of us with kids who have braces, people with medical conditions or just playing it safe in case you break an arm, medical coverage is a good thing to have.

The stock market was up today but financial stocks were down on the news from the government. It looks like Citibank may get another infusion of cash and General Motors may get the same treatment. Pundits are saying that we may be in for a downslide of 15% then the markets will roar to have a drop-off like a diver from a cliff flattening everything. Pundits have been right and wrong before so just act accordingly and keep an eye on your money. Be very careful if you are shorting stocks. You can get nailed in a rebound rally or news bounce on earnings just as easily as the stocks can continue to drop on bad news (or news that business thinks is bad).

Stay safe everybody.

Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale.   Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax”?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!

 If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book listed below.  Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

Kim Greenblatt

 

Cobra Payments Adjusted – Check with your Former Employers

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Was Mom Right After All About You At Least Still Having Health?

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Ahhh, remember when Mom or neighbors would say if you lost some money or if you had some misfortune, “Ah, at least you got your health.”  Is Mom right in terms of business and money or is she just being mom and being polite and loving?  The answer is she was very right.

The cost of health can’t be measured until you start having bad health.  All of a sudden, and this rings true for people with disabilities and special needs, there is money that you need to come up with to get tools or equipment or services that can help you or your family.  You will find that simple inexpensive items have their prices jacked up if there is insurance reimbursement and it pays to get both the over-the-counter-price for medications as well as the insurance price to compare.  Go generic if you can.

Once you have health issues things that you would take for granted are roadblocks to earning a living, to even getting up in the morning sometimes.  Let’s take something as simple as breaking an arm – something I did rather stupidly a few years ago.  My emergency room visit came in at around $9,879 and my co-pay was only $100.  That covered x-rays, drugs to keep me from screaming like a mainiac and some bandages.  I had pain killers and antibiotics that would have run me about $400 and I only paid $50 for them.  I had therapy that was out of pocket $25 a visit an my insuance picked up the rest.

I didn’t have the cash to pay for the whole thing out of pocket but if I was out of work and didn’t have insurance back then I would have had to pay for all of that or go around in pain with one good arm and one broken arm.  If I had to set it myself I probably could have and then I would have had a healed arm that wouldn’t look right.

Like any other business, you pay for the professionalism and quality of service that you would expect from doctors and hospitals.  It isn’t cheap though.  Preventive medicine and good health, diet and exercise, as simple as they are to talk about, are what it is all about in trying to avoid hospital visits.

People who are out of work cannot afford to drop money like that and it is a good thing that the Cobra benefits will be continued and hopefully partially picked up by the Federal government.  It turns out that not only was Mom right, Mom had the right idea about keeping us healthy and trying to teach us good hygiene and health information.

Thanks Mom and thanks readers.  Stay healthy so you can get back to being wealthy.

Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale.   Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax”?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!

 If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book listed below.  Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

 Kim Isaac Greenblatt

Was Mom Right After All About You At Least Still Having Health?

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Posted in Business, special needs | 2 Comments »

How To Budget Your Money For the End of the World

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

The most important thing in planning for the future, even for the end of the world as some Mayan doomsayers, is having the appropriate budget so you can have money for any end-of-the-world last minute sales and anything else that you might need.  If you are having an end-of-the-world party, and sure it is several years before the Mayan prophecy (which I think isn’t half as scary as the number of people that are unemployed these days), but it pays to plan ahead.

If you are running a business, make sure that you have a lot of water for sale, blankets, and canned foods.  Nothing will be great for business better than last minute purchases for water and sundries.  Sure, money will be meaningless at that point but as people use to say, people who have the most cash or toys when they die win.  Either that or they are still dead.

What if the end of the world doesn’t come?  Ah, well then how about a more practical budget where you can actually save money and keep living?

Make sure that you have enough money for food, water, shelter and warm clothing.  If you are in winter climates, if you can, think about leaving for warmer climates or make sure that you have energy.  If you are on unemployment or have Cobra payment plans, make sure that you are current with your reporting and payments respectively.  You need to keep the income stream flowing (even though it is a small one, it is better than nothing) and you need to have medical coverage.  The nationwide Federal Stimulus package should help with that.

Keep your sense of humor, even if it seems a bit on the dark side (like this blog entry) but deep down be like me and be the eternal optimist.  Yes, things are bad and yes it is hard.  There is still a lot of money staying stuck in constipated mode in the banking system and it needs to make it’s way out to people who need it.  Even though everybody is planning on saving all their money, people still need to eat, sleep and stay warm.  Also habits are tough to break and everybody has some addiction or vice that they are using to cope through things so try and insure that you are placing money in our budget for things like that.  It may be a great time to give up smoking, but if you are doing it at the same time you are a nervous wreck, you may be jeopardizing your health.

Keep food on hand for six months if it is canned – I wouldn’t go survival end-of-the-world nuts only because things expire.  It makes sense to keep a few gallons of water around the house, especially if you live in desert areas such as parts of the Western United States.

Be prepared still to pay taxes.  I suggest that for overkill that you have a third of your income put aside for tax liabilities for people who are working and making good money.  That should cover the Federal income taxes and a portion of any State taxes.  We don’t know how long AMT (the Alternative Minimum Tax – see some of my other blogs) will be “on hold”.  There are so many people who need money that I wonder what the IRS will be doing to go after people who are in the extreme wealth tax brackets.  I have no idea.  Make sure that you are saving your receipts and if you are making donations for charity that you are getting letters from the organizations and you are paying by check to keep a paper trail.  I know that Fat Tuesday is over but it doesn’t hurt for some Not So End of the World advice to make it through to an awesome financial afterlife.   Or at least you might get a bigger tax refund at tax time.  It is one or the other I guess.   It is very easy to get caught up in hysteria – and there is a lot of it and some of it justifiable – but you still have to pay your taxes.  I have been getting a lot of comments and e-mails and my advice is pretty much the same.  Vote with your pocket book and at this coming election in March.  Vote in State elections and if you have problems with people in office, vote them out or run yourself.  Do not try to avoid paying taxes.  Not only is it against the law, it will get you in trouble in other ways down the line as well.  If you are planning on buying a home, a boat or anything in the future or even getting a business line of credit, you will possibly and in some cases certainly need to show your tax returns.  That is the way it goes.  Okay, I am off my soapbox on that point.

If you are looking for financial investments all I can tell you is that for right now, cash is still king (I’ve been saying that for months now) but I am honestly looking for something that isn’t a con to put money in to get a reasonable rate of return.  No, I am not talking about Forex or other deals that are being hyped on the Internet.  I am talking about practical things.  Any investment that is genuinely in the infrastructure, if it applies to actual construction, may or may not be considered “green” has the potential not only for making money but being politically correct (whatever that means in this day and age).

So, sorry if the end-0f-the-world isn’t going to be with giant monsters, aliens or explosions.  It isn’t going to happen other than you maybe running out of cash or going deeper into debt than you would like to.  For whatever reason it is worth, you are not alone and historically tough times don’t last forever. 

Be safe, happy (for your sanity and it helps you make clearer decisions), healthy and try to hang onto your wealth.

 

Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale.   Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax”?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!

 If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book listed below.  Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

 Kim Isaac Greenblatt

 

How To Budget Your Money For the End of the World

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Posted in Business | 6 Comments »

Government May Have Partial Nationalization of Banks

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

With all the concern about the Federal government nationalizing banks, you have to understand that there is a major incentive to NOT want to do that. Our country is based on capitalism, albeit it has been a modified form and with the last few decades we have been in what can be called world wide capitalism at it’s best. People and countries moving markets left and right. We didn’t have any checks or balances. Okay, so moving forward what can we do?

For the short term, unless somebody comes up with something else, the Federal government is looking to step in to help cover bad loans. Personally, I think it is a bad idea and that businesses should be allowed to die off if they are bankrupt. People have been cut off left and right already so at this point there isn’t much left of a lot of the beasts except a debt filled corporate carcass.

Unfortunately, that isn’t how things look to be going and a lot of companies may be saved with the Federal govt stepping in. Saved is a generous word since there will be major accountability issues and probably a lot more red tape than the companies had before.

Ultimately it isn’t going to help the average taxpayer until jobs are being created again and wealth starts getting back into the hands of the American and subsequently world population.

There will be more of a freefall in the stock market like Monday was if more and more banks get partial or complete subsidies to run their business.  The share values of stocks will be worth next to yuck and phooey in terms of price.  Where is a good place to put your money?  I am open to suggestions.

Be safe and healthy!

 

Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale.   Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax”?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!

 If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book listed below.  Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

 Kim Isaac Greenblatt

Government May Have Partial Nationalization of Banks

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California Tax Refund Update and Stuff

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

In keeping with the updates of what is current with the economy, business, California Tax refunds and taxes in general, here is the latest and greatest:

1.  California tax refund information is on hold for at least two more weeks because of the State Legislature waiting to get the Federal funding and seeing where they are financially before they start either releasing the state refund cash or if they decide to issue warrants or nothing.

The good news is if they fail to get us our refunds by May 31 (I think that is the correct date), they have to start paying us interest.  The bad news is if you are waiting for the state refund to pay for bills or a trip, you can’t count on the money coming in time.  Please plan and act accordingly.

2.  President Obama is working on getting legislation and a budget into play that will balance our budget and start taxing the wealthier people some more.  I don’t have a lot of information on the details yet and I wonder how well that will fly once Congress starts screaming.  Will a lot of wealthy people leave the country?  Probably some will but most won’t.  They can look for other tax shelters and ways to lower their tax liability.  When you have money, there are more avenues for protecting your wealth then when you don’t have money.

I would expect the stock market to be drooping tomorrow and I will be surprised if it does go up.  For the immediate to mid-term future I would expect to see some sort of rally and then things to drop down.  As I’ve stated in other blogs, I am not a fortune teller but for the immediate future I don’t see anything to bring people’s spirits (or their finances) up without some period of adjustment and financial aggrevation.   Plan accordingly by keeping savings for at least three months of living expenses and more if you can sock the money away.

If you can’t do that, make sure you have enough money to pay important bills like energy bills so you can have heat and warmth if you are living in cold climates.

Here in Southern California, there is at least one foreclosed house or one becoming foreclosed on almost every block.  Property values are hovering though and not crashing because there are people who have money and savings who are jumping in to buy homes.

Between the lowest interest rates in years and the glut of houses on the market, if you have the cash to look for a home and not for an investment, this is an ideal time to start researching and thinking about buying a house if you have a steady job that is Depression resistant or lots of cash that has been sitting on the sidelines.

As for me, I am debating what to write for my next book.  Any suggestions about what you want to read about in terms of tax planning, starting a business or surviving a Depression?  Drop me a line or post and take care of yourself and those you care about!

I also ordered an Acer 10 inch netbook.  You can find a link for one from my pages referenced down below.  I liked that one because the battery life looks pretty good, the screen size is larger and the Acers have been getting decent reviews.

 Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale.   Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax”?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!

 If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book listed below.  Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

 Kim Isaac Greenblatt

California Tax Refund Update and Stuff

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Posted in Business | 3 Comments »

How To Do Online Tax Return Preparation and Planning

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

With the advent of web returns and software packages literally as low as a buck, that means one US dollar, I thought I would answer some questions for people who are having a hard time with simple online/software package tax returns.

0.  Start by planning that you will do the return.  How do you do it?  You get all your important papers together before getting started.  That way you can determine if you really want to do it yourself or pay some tax professional to do it.  Gather your W-2s, 1099s, 1099-R statements, interest statements, mortgage interest statements, etc and start going through them.  Don’t forget any stock transaction statements that are finally starting to come out now.

1.  The do-it-yourself software package, despite the conversational tone and friendly mannerisms that it guides you through in processing still requires you to understand what you are doing.  For very simple tax returns, I fully stand behind software packages or going to the IRS website and filing directly there.  Nothing beats that for a simple return with one or two W-2s.  If you are more complex than that and like to do research, then if you have things like mortgage interest, property tax, investment income from stocks, etc, you can save money from paying a tax professional. 

2.   If you hate being a do-it-yourselfer when it comes to tax returns, just pay somebody to do it for you and don’t balk too much at the price.  There are some complex returns, such as trusts and estates and for some it may be something as simple as understanding how to calculate the appropriate medical deductions, that require some expertise.  When you need your car transmission changed, you generally go to a mechanic unless you really like working on cars, right?  So if you really like working on tax issues, go for it.  Otherwise, have a professional do it.

3.   Most people need to remember to update the software.  A lot of people download software packages and even when prompted for updates, they don’t and they wonder why they have problems with their returns.  The tax updates are corrections or changes to forms, etc that sometimes just aren’t ready when the software ships.  It is not uncommon, like this year, for the state legislatures to dog it and take things slowly in getting things approved.  A lot of tax sofware users fail to upgrade the software.

4.  Take your time and go over the questions you are asked in the software slowly.  If you are asking for specific help questions through the software don’t ask for your return to be completed for the $29.99 you are spending.  It is called Do It Yourself for a reason and the help desk tax professionals can help you but they aren’t there to work for free for you.

5.  Lastly, if all else fails, drop me a line or post it as a comment and we will see if we can the community to help out. Just keep the questions simple, please.  I am not getting paid to answer them on this site either.

Hope you are enjoying the weekend and keep your questions coming!

 Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale.   Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax”?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!

 If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book listed below.  Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

 Kim Isaac Greenblatt

How To Do Online Tax Return Preparation and Planning

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Posted in Business | 1 Comment »

College Students Don’t Clobber Parents At Tax Time Please

Saturday, February 21st, 2009

A common scenario at tax time is for students away at college (or even students living at home) to go ahead and file their tax returns on their own as a proclamation of independence. Even more importantly, they are doing it to get the tax stimulus rebate checks from last year. Please don’t do that without checking with your parents, especially if you are living at home and extra-especially if they are paying your college tuition. Getting the $300 in incentive money might blow them out of the water not only in terms of losing the dependency exemption they take from you but also in terms of any college deductions (Lifetime Learning, Hope Credit or Tuition and Fees). Parents and adult children of college age of the previously mentioned parents, please take the time to talk about filing and income taxes before you jump in. If the student has already filed and taken their own exemption, have them do an amended tax return (Form 1040X) for the Federal return and whatever you need to amend for your respective state taxes (in California for example it is 540X).

You will need to mail in your amended return for them claiming zero exemptions for the student on their own return and then mail in the parents return claiming the student. It will take a few months to get things straight but it will happen.

Also for parents who are taking daycare deductions, for the state of California you will need to have not only the employee identification number or social security number  for the person caring for your child (or children) but their

phone number with their address as well.  You will also need to take into account how much time the actual child lived in your house throughout the year.  That is an important issue for separated parents or people who are divorced who are splitting the benefits of a child due to a court order or the divorce settlement.

In other news, the supply destruction of jobs and resources is continuing with more companies laying off workers and shuttering production facilities until things pick up. Make sure that you are aware of your surroundings at work and if you aren’t starting to save an emergency fund – get started on it just in case your business is next.

Have a good weekend.

 

Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale.   Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax”?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!

 If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book listed below.  Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

 Kim Isaac Greenblatt

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Posted in Business | 1 Comment »

California Budget Passed To Be Signed Friday

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Finally!  It is the coming of the Messiah!  Wait, that isn’t it.  It is the end of the world.  Nope, that isn’t it either.  Ah, the California Budget debates are over and the State Legislation has approved the budget and is passing it to the Governor for his signature.  Well, the budget may be balanced and we may be getting some help with the stimulus package from the Fed but we are still in for a long, slow ride to recovery.

Interesting note in the news today about California and housing.  Homes are affordable enough for about 60 or so percent of the people in California and that includes parts of Los Angeles.  The bigger issue is can people qualify for the homes if they are laid off or don’t have the higher down payment requirements which are in the neighborhood of 20%. 

I am inclined to think that once all the noise about the Depression is over and if we all aren’t all sleeping under the trees or fighting for a dry spot under a freeway overpass we will find that the average price for homes will float down about 6% a year for the next few years and maybe in five years it will be bottomed.  I am going on record with this after conversations with some people in the bank repo business and of course, there are exceptions to every rule.  One major exception is any place where there is a killer school system.  People will do what they can to keep themselves in a neighborhood where it is safe and their children can go to school.  There are still a lot of places like that in California and of course all about the nation.

What do the super rich do about things like that?  They don’t worry about it because they live in gated communities and they have their kids either tutored privately or they go to expensive private schools, or at least until their stock portfolios are dried up.  Speaking of which, I don’t expect any kind of super rally for a long period of time and I sold my CAT stock and took my losses and my lumps.  Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose and the important thing is to have enough cash to be able to invest (or speculate) another day.

Now that I have been rambling all over the place let’s get back to talking about California.  From what I have heard, a lot of services will continue the way that they are meant to and that hopefully will be good for those of us with special needs families.  The reason isn’t though because of California.  It is because abou 9 billion dollars in Federal stimulus money will be heading our way.  Hopefully that will continue to fund school supported special needs programs.  Be vocal people.  If we don’t talk, nobody else will.

What about Hollywood?

The motion picture industry starts to get some incentives in 2011 (if I got the year right from what I read)  with the following three items in the package that will be signed tomorrow:

1. Studio film projects shooting for less than $75 million can apply for a tax credit amounting to 20% of all “qualifying production expenses” — essentially below-the-line costs.

2. Independent film productions of $1 million-$10 million and all TV series relocating to California will qualify for a 25% tax credit.

3. Productions must locate in the state for 75% of shooting days or spend three-fourths of a project’s budget in California.

It is just enough to keep middle or average productions in-state so that the cast and crew can go home and sleep in their own beds in their Valley homes or condos.  Some other states have some lavish incentives but those will draw super blockbusters only if they also fit their location needs.  State estimates suggest that every $100 spent on production in California returns about $285 in economic output.  The state projects the program should be cost-neutral because of benefits in business retention.   Others think it will add more.  Hey, I think anytime you can keep jobs close to home you are doing local economies a blessing.

Considering California is about the equivalent of the eighth largest economy in the world (according the State itself) we are probably also one of the most cash broke economies.  We need to work on generating state income to support state programs so we can continue to function and try to recapture being the world trend setter in making money as well as style.

No word on State refund checks.  I am hoping those will start going out as soon as possible.

Be safe people!

Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale. If you like poker, Heroes (the TV series), comic books, Watchmen, etc, there may be some fast links to get you to what you are looking for.  Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax”?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!

 If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book listed below.  Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

 Kim Isaac Greenblatt

California Budget Passed To Be Signed Friday

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Posted in Business | 3 Comments »

What Isn’t Stimulating About the Stimulus and Calif Needs To Get Hustling

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

I have been reading up on the benefits and good news that is being introduced in the Stimulus Package and there is a lot of interesting stuff that hopefully will help the economy, our environment and the infrastructure.  The problem is, it isn’t enough and it isn’t getting into the hands of people fast enough.  Here in California we are at a pivotal point where there isn’t any incentive to do business in the State of California.  How crummy is that?

Folks- text, email, fax, write and telephone your State representatives and the Governor to not only get the budget passed and balanced but to get their own incentives going to get and keep business in the State of California.  I have mixed feelings that California will another (if not the first) state to start going Third World.  By that I mean that the quality of life out here will get bad enough to have people homeless everywhere, embracing superstitious nonsense and out of work.  We can’t live like that.  This ties back into my blog and my question.

What will stimulate getting the money into the hands of the average citizen?  I am not advocating giving $10,000 to each American (though that would help).  I am advocating for direct accountability to getting money to the average person.  I like the tax breaks for workers and the increase in benefits for people who are unemployed and on COBRA benefits.

Protectionism isn’t the answer though I agree to a certain point that we need to roll up the doors and windows a little bit and get and keep more work domestically than trying to get it internationally.  I am an international businessman and that is a very hard thing for me to admit to.  I still  do business in Europe, Asia and Australia.  I just wish that I could do more business but I need to focus on getting people working again.

Ideally for all you Fed stimulus receiving people who have a day job.  Take the extra money that is in your paycheck and stash it as savings for something fun for you to do later on.

I wish there were more direct incentives to get money into people and getting more energy saving, green and reconstruction projects going.    Ah, time to get off my rant stand.

Remember Californians that we need to get on the case of our State representatives.  We need to remind them to get in contact with us, their constituency and listen.  We need to get more jobs going and we need to do it fast.

— 

Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale. If you like poker, Heroes (the TV series), comic books, Watchmen, etc, there may be some fast links to get you to what you are looking for.  Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax”?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!

 If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book listed below.  Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

 Kim Isaac Greenblatt

 

What Isn’t Stimulating About the Stimulus and Calif Needs To Get Hustling

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Posted in Business | 1 Comment »

How To Stay Sane While Unemployed

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

I get e-mails all the time about people who are starting to go bonkers since they have lost their jobs.  One of the hardest things about dealing with lay offs – and it happens to all of us, trust me- is how to deal with the down time.  And by how to deal with the down time I mean how to stay sane.

If the bills are piling up, start organizing them into what is a higher priority than the other one.  That will make it easier to also start cutting back on spending for things that you don’t need or won’t use.

If you are running low on medicine that you need, make sure that you get it.  Your health has to stay intact so you can make it through the Depression we are in and out to better times.

Expect the bad times to last for about five years.  If you are out of work now, start looking at what job do you want to do to make a living.  Take advantage of the down time to start retraining yourself for something that is marketable.  The so-called green industries are thriving and despite Caterpillar stock dropping like a rock (boo hiss) there is a lot of infrastructure work that is needed in this country and we need more engineers.

Keep your brain sharp by doing crosswords, puzzles, brain teasers and memory games like Concentration.  Ever play the game of Concentration?  It is easy.  Get a deck of cards, shuffle it and place them on the table in a tableau ( a table) layout so the cards look like a board.  With at least one friend, take turns turning over two cards trying to make matching cards.  If you get a Jack with oe card and a Two with the other number, that isn’t a match.  Two sixes are a match.  You get to keep the cards that you matched.  Winner of the game is the person who can get the most sets.  It is a great game for matching things and keeping yourself sane by keeping your memory skills sharp.

Practice your writing skills on a computer.

Keep your mind sharp by playing chess with the computer on increasing levels of difficulty.

Exercise, exercise and exercise.  Keep your body moving and healthy to keep your brain young and agile.  You can do it.

Watch your expenses and try to watch your diet.  By avoiding too many snacks you can save money and keep yourself alive longer by watching your weight.

—–

There may be relief coming now with the stimulus bill being signed.  Medical benefits may be covered a little longer and better with the government paying for part of the missing COBRA benefits.  That will lower the payments for those of us who are unemployed to something little easier to pay.

For those of us who are under-employed there will be a little extra money in each paycheck.  Our Federal taxes will have less money taken out.

And no shock here, the State of California STILL hasn’t balanced the budget.  Sheesh.  We have people waiting for their refunds here!  Come on gang, get with it.  Californians, get ready to vote them all out of office if they don’t get with the program.  People are losing their homes and are hungry here!

—–

Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale. If you like poker, Heroes (the TV series), comic books, Watchmen, etc, there may be some fast links to get you to what you are looking for.  Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax”?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!

 If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book listed below.  Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

 Kim Isaac Greenblatt

 

How To Stay Sane While Unemployed

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Posted in Business | 5 Comments »

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