Posts Tagged ‘economy’

Return To The Cash Only Economy

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

Question from a reader:”I am going only to a cash only form of business.  My bad debt losses from credit cards defaulting are killing me.  Any other way I could proceed with my business that I didn’t think of?”

My answer is that in your particular business it may make perfect sense for the time being to take cash only.  In situations where a customer can reverse the charges on a credit card or you find out that the payment bounces higher than a rubber ball it doesn’t make any business sense to take credit cards.  There is a huge drive in the economy to get cash only and I’ve stated before that in tough economic times like this, you can’t go wrong or make any enemies by paying with greenbacks.

The rub comes though when  you are selling something that people want and they actually have credit left on their cards and they want to buy it and they don’t have time to hit the ATM for cash.  The other question is, what about debit cards?  If a debit card goes through, you have a payment there don’t you?  Same rules of the game might apply though in terms of potential denial of payment.  If you are selling big ticket items, like washing machines or cars, some people may not have thousands of dollars in hundred dollar bills in their wallets or purses.

Ultimately the business decision is yours and you sound like you have made the correct choice in your particular situation.  For people in a gig that is not related to cash (for example people who sell clothes through a website) they may be limited to continuing taking things like paypal, credit or debit cards or even something archaic as (gasp) a check.

Before I forget, for those of you starting out your own business, make sure you have an allowance for doubtful accounts or at the very least some padding for bad checks, shrinkage (a fancy word for theft specifically shoplifting in the retail trade) and any other issues that may make a dent into your income stream from slightly nefarious activities.

Hopefully you won’t have to allow for them but it is just good sense to take them into account prior to getting started so you won’t have any nasty surprises later on (or at least minimal surprises).

Be healthy and safe!

April 28 2009

If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book, Practical Money Making, that is listed right after his paragraph in this very post.  There are some great suggestions and ways to survive the Depression we are in.

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

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 Idea“?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!  Tax planning should be done year round and not just two weeks into January or later. 

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.

Kim Isaac Greenblatt

Return To The Cash Only Economy

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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 »

Monday Might Be Bounce Day If Stimulus Package Is Approved

Saturday, February 7th, 2009

Monday will be the big day and possibly the most watched day in terms of stock market movement because people are expecting things to get better once the stimulus package is announced and signed by both Congressional houses.  The financial realites are that it will take months if not years to see if the money being released into the economy is having an affect on business and the people.   

 

marketbounce

 

 

For people who are out of work and waiting for their unemployment checks, are debating whether to pay their medical insurance premium or the mortgage payment or their utility bill because they don’t have enough money, this coming Monday will be like any other day.  A day where they need money and they need it now.  The money that Congress is approving has to make it through to the people who need it so they can get employed and can pay their bills.

I still don’t expect anything other than a bounce because people now are being forced into savings mode.  The problem is companies across the globe are expecting people to buy their goods and services.  The companies that are waiting for clients or customers will be out of luck.  Unless they have access to cash to tide them over a little longer, they will have to lay off more people and possibly shudder their doors.  That will create a vicious cycle and somebody somewhere has to break it and start spending or hiring.  Possibly do both.

 

Some pundits think that once the stock market starts to recover that in six months the US economy will begin it’s recovery.  They are basing it on past recessions/Depressions but this time the problems are international and it may take a longer time till we bottom out.  I think that we still are at least a ways away from a bottom.  Maybe it is a year away.  The flip side of the coin is that when I see everybody shorting stocks (myself included) it tells me that we are on the way to the end of a cycle.  Whether it is a good cycle or a unicycle and I am just clowning around – only time will tell.  If you decide to invest next week, keep your investments tight and set stop loss goals.

 

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Good luck, stay healthy, get wealthy, become wiser and be happy! 

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

Monday Might Be Bounce Day If Stimulus Package Is Approved

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Business and Economy As Usual

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

I was wrong about the Inauguration day stock market results today (and by today at this point I mean yesterday as you are reading this – or even days or weeks later day).  I didn’t think that the market would react so negatively to news but when I heard it started with the Bank of Scotland having billions in losses I can see how things got off to a rough start. The question then is for those people who are shorting the market, at what point will the cash that is on the sidelines go back in to bounce things back.  I don’t think it is a vote of confidence or no-confidence, it is simply a reaction to the news about how bad things are.

More and more news is being introduced into the economy about more lay-offs.  That means that either the government is going to have to do something more aggressively to get people working or there will be a lot more hungry and homeless people walking around the streets in America.

If you are investing in this market, make sure you know your entrance and exit points and stick with them.  The rally that people were expecting didn’t come today.  Will it come after all the Inaugural Balls are over on Wed?  If you are shorting the market, you hope not.  If you are betting on the economy, you hope at least for a pop.

We’ll have to wait and see.

California Warrant News:

I think if you file your Fed and State retuns before the end of the month there is enough money to go back to you and the warrants won’t be issued till returns get filed after Feb 1 (or on Feb 1).  That means if you get your W-2s and other tax documents early, please file as soon as you can if you are expecting a refund from the Fed and the State.

No word yet as to what kind of incentive rebate the Fed is going to offer to the American people yet.  That should be forthcoming in the next few days or weeks.

Keep those questions and comments coming, folks!

 

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

Business and Economy As Usual

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Posted in Business | 2 Comments »

Middle East, Pakistan, India, War and Economy

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

Question from a reader:”In your opinion, how will the situation in the Middle East affect the economy?”

 

mideast

 

My answer is that so far, there has been a tremendous amount of money spent on fighting.  There will always be a budget for national defense in America, as well as other nations.  There are companies that end up benefiting from military build-up and from de-militarization.  Right now, I don’t see a drop down in money being spent in defense.  Some people argue that war spending drains an economy and can help create a depression.  Some people argue that war spending helps keep people employed.    Both topics can be argued and talked about for days so let me get back on track to your original question and try to keep the answer a little shorter than a week.

There will be short term drops and freak-outs and horrible analogies as events happen like the actions that are happening in the Middle East right now.  Pundits will say “Oil is shooting up in price because of long term fears that there will be major war, etc”.  Oil prices are reacting to a certain degree to fear and the kick-in is from news already previously released that there would be cut backs in oil production around the world as part of the supply destruction that we are seeing.  This is still holiday time and I have not seen any spike in volume of stock trades so honestly I don’t think it will amount to anything for the short term other than some drops in prices as normal knee jerk responses to international situations.  We’ve had worse situations and in fact, the situation in India and Pakistan is more of a concern for the markets (or it should have been) than the media has been saying but it is jazzier to complain and be afraid of the tensions in the Middle East.   Personally, I would be scared that Pakistan or India accidentally launch a tactical nuke at one another rather than anyplace else in the Middle East at this point in time.  Hopefully all the tension and conflict is getting resolved over there as well.

Over the long haul, I have to cop the answer that it is hard to say.  You are asking me to make a decision about something that I don’t have a lot of input in and I am not a fortune teller, even though I do, from time to time, can accurately forecast a few things – but, hey, anybody can do that if they are honest and have all the available information in front of them.  Since I don’t know how President Elect Obama will react to the Middle East (and India and Pakistan), I don’t know how the other nations in the Middle East will respond, I can only say that any changes are reactions and over-reactions as expectations to how the future will be.   If you are scared about investing, stay in cash.  If you are scared about the nature of cash and inflation, run to gold or silver.  I think the truth is that it is somewhere in between for right now.  It would be smart to not over react because you might miss an opportunity to make some money.

If companies you are investing in have good fundamentals, remember that wars and fighting don’t last forever, even though they seem like it.  There are always moments of peace and commerce.  I am not making this up, just look at history.  England, Japan and Germany were at one time or another our enemy and now our friends.  We have great trade relations with them.   In India and Pakistan, relatives are separated by a border and they cross it to visit one another on holidays while their countries may be fussing about.  In the long run, it makes good business sense to have peace because it is great for mutual commerce.  Everybody can make money in business that way.

You will see and hear a lot of horrible doom and gloom news articles because they will get your attention.  War is a horrible situation but the cold reality is that when you are thousands of miles away and watching it on a wide screen 1080p screen while cooking your dinner in a microwave and talking on your cellphone, it really doesn’t affect you as much as getting clobbered in the middle of the fighting.  Since wars these days tend to be localized relatively speaking, overall sales of goods and services aren’t affected unless the countries involved in the conflict clearly are major consumers of whatever it is we are talking about (say bananas) and they decide they don’t want to buy bananas anymore.  The banana market dries up, etc.  That is just one example.  I like bananas and want to keep the banana market going. 

There is also the fact that news stories about peace don’t get clicks or people to stop and read what you are writing.  Whenever any good news or resolutions come to pass they are brushed over or sent over to the back pages of the web article.  I still am old-fashioned and think that peace is great.  People generally have more things in common than they realize than things that can drive them apart from my experience, regardless of race, creed, color or religion.

 

1230prayer

 

Let’s all pray for a peaceful New Year.

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.

 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

 Middle East, Pakistan, India,  War and Economy

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More Interest Rate Cuts – Hot Or Not?

Tuesday, December 16th, 2008

Question from a reader:”Fed going to cut interest rates again like you said they might?”

My answer:  I did mention that I thought the Fed might do another cut at least for the short term, didn’t I? Well, if you were one of my tax students you heard me say that or if you heard me muttering to myself as I walk down the streets.  Any interest rate cuts may be of an undetermined amount and time frame to say the least.   But to get back to the question:

Rumor has it that the Fed may cut interest rates to help spur the recovery in the economy at their next meeting.  By the time you are reading this entry, they could very well have cut the interest rate (or not).  This particular entry is being written Sunday night and won’t post till Monday so who knows how the Fed and the stock market will react.  In any event, what does that mean overall to the average U.S. citizen?

For the short term, it may bring some relief in lowering interest rates for those of us who have some savings, some sort of employment and are struggling to make ends meet.  For those already in the deep end of debt, it may be somewhat helpful but if you are already overboard in owing money, it may not manage that much.

For banks, that will lower the rate that they can lend money between themselves and for the longer haul it may springboard some business and investing – provided we can get banks to start lending money again and not plunk all of it overseas in investing.  You can be sure that President Obama is doing what he can with his advisors to figure out how to get things going and getting cash back invested and circulated in our nation. You can expect news also coming from the Treasury to be reviewed very closely by his team as well.

 presidentobama

 What about our interest rate?

The interest rate can go all the way down to zero and if it does, all that means is that the prime rate that banks will lend to consumers – their very best credit worthy ones or people who have contracts like Helocs tied to prime rate – will be 3%.

Three percent is a good interest rate to borrow money at if you are working and can repay it. If you can’t repay the debt the interest rate could be zero and it won’t help you either get money or help you repay it.  The Fed is looking at other tools to get the economy going.  Hopefully there will be some sort of business stimulus loans put into places as well as the infrastructure expenditures.  That would help small firms get going and back on their feets and in turn, get more money circulating in local economies.

I would expect that there will be between now and the President-elect’s inauguration a pop in the stock market and some sort of mild bounce back from all the short selling, if nothing else.  In terms of the overall economy, like you, I have a general feeling that it will take some time till things get recovered.  As for how long the time period – months, years or decades, that will be seen only in hindsight by historians long after it is over.

Usual business rules of engagement should apply – keep saving, watch your spending and try to keep some sort of income stream going.  Since none of us know when the end will be, we need to just be prepared and ready to actually live through this.

Cheer up, it could be worse and based on what the President-elect is saying, it might very well be so for now, try to enjoy the holidays as best as you can.

Stay healthy!

By the way, if you need some ideas for making extra money and working extra jobs, please check out my book linked below. A part of all book sales goes to research a cure for Rett Syndrome.  Rett’s affects a girl born every fifteen minutes on the planet.  Boys generally die of Rett Syndrome 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

More interest rate cuts or not?

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Ten Things To Do While The Global Economy Works Itself Out

Saturday, September 27th, 2008

1.   Find an economist who is around from the 1970s and 80s and get him to advise us what to do.  We haven’t had an economy with stagflation since then and the current economists so far don’t have a clue as to what to do.

2.  Write your Congressmen and the candidates and tell them to give US $4-7000 directly to each taxpayer.  Let the money trickle up to the businesses in reverse trickle up economics.  Giving the billions to the banks didn’t work before and it doesn’t look like it will work now if the money isn’t getting to the people, not the businesses, that need it.

3.    Stay profitable by avoiding any investment where there is too much change for the immediate future.  If you are in something stable and happy, we envy you.  If you are in a stock or commodity that is all over the map, you may want to park your money for a bit, at least a few months – maybe longer till we see what happens.

4.   Be nice to people who can’t help themselves.  I am talking about people with special needs, the elderly, your relatives who can’t take care of themselves.  You don’t have to go nuts but remember that they need help and you could be worse off than you are right now. 

5.    Explain to your kids and anybody else who doesn’t quite understand what is going, what is going on.  This may be the turning point for a lot of people in terms of waking up financially and getting their acts together and they in turn can pass these values onto their kids.

6.   Hang onto cash and gold (actual gold if you have it).  Cash is more than king and if you remember the cliche, “Money talks”, you will be happy to know that the cliche is wrong.  Money doesn’t talk, it screams. See if you can get discounts with some merchants if you pay cash instead of credit cards. This won’t work with chain stores but maybe with some other stores or with business suppliers. Work on eliminating your debt in case interest rates start going up and to get you back to some position of financial stability if you don’t have one already.

7.   Keep your house or apartment clean. Clutter may keep your house warm but you will be pleasantly surprised at how psychologically your thinking will get cleaned up if your surrounding living space is clean. It will also be easier to find important financial documents, statements, tax information or anything else that you need or are looking for.

8.   Stay healthy and make sure your family and friends are healthy. Without your health, you will not be able to keep your spirits happy through the upcoming financial readjustments.

9. Ask questions about finances and keep your eyes and ears open. Don’t rely only on the internet alone for financial information. Everybody parrots everybody else and at this point in the world, nobody has the answers as to what we should do and where we are going.

10.   Get a copy of my book.  It will help you get and stay on track financially!

Anything else to say or add?  Post a comment or drop me an email!

Good luck everybody!

Kim Isaac Greenblatt

 

Kim Isaac Greenblatt has ten things for you to do while the global economy works itself out.

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Posted in Business, special needs | 1 Comment »

Building Bridges, Dams and Infrastructure

Thursday, September 25th, 2008

The way to rebuild the economy is through fixing up our infrastructure – the veins and arteries of our nation.  We have highways, bridges, levees, causeways, roads, storm drains, parks, and entire cities that need rebuilding.  If the Federal government is taking the time to pour money into saving banks and savings and loans, how about pouring some money into saving us as people?

Candidates and Congressmen – get legislation moving NOW to start getting the nation rebuilt.  it is simple economics, if you start paying people to work they will have money to spend.  When they are spending, they will encourage other companies to manufacture other goods and it will allow the companies to hire people. Companies can then pay their workers. 

Workers won’t be able to save for ten percent down for their homes if they don’t have an income stream.  Make savings education mandatory at schools.  What happened to teaching basic money management?  Obviously, people aren’t learning it at home.  If the parents don’t know how to handle their money how can we expect their kids to manage?

In the Depression of the 1930s, legislation was introduced to build dams for energy production, roads for people to travel across the nation.  The government worked at helping people help themselves and not get a handout. 

We need centers for our senior citizens that aren’t rat traps.  What is the purpose of working to a retirement if you are retiring to what basically amounts to a cell where you are let out just a couple of times a day?  Sounds more like prison than a retirement facility.  Why bother trying to be profitable if that is all that is waiting for you when you retire?

We need care for special needs and we need it at a national level.  Some groups of people are getting help and others are not.  If we are a country that is taking care of itself, we need to take care of ourself and those who cannot take care of themselves.  How about programs to build housing for people with special needs or disabilities?

It doesn’t take much in terms of creativity to get our country moving again.  We still have the wherewithall and energy to do what we want if as a nation we are directed.  Write your candidates and Congress.

Suggest they float bond issues to raise money for programs to get our country going – to be profitable and to be sane. 

Make sure the money is distributed throughout the US.  Yes, disaster areas are getting money but right now the entire country is looking at times like a disaster area!

Let’s build some financial bridges and real bridges to make things right.

We need to take action now!

Kim Isaac Greenblatt

 

Kim Greenblatt, in his blog, profitable, wants the US to start programs to work on our infrastructure.

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Posted in Business, special needs | 4 Comments »