There are many ways to train someone into a new behavior. Reward is great but punishment can be effective as well.
Obamacare is training companies and institutions to establish new working limits for hundreds of workers. It's just begun to hit people. Their employer will not be supplying health care but simply cutting hours to avoid penalties.
Several articles over the past few months have sounded shocked that this is the course employers are taking. Cutting hours.
In November it came out through the Huffington Post that 200 adjunct faculty members and 200 additional employees will have hours reduced at a community college in Alleghany County.
In January it was reported that the Wendy's of Nebraska would be cutting hours to avoid Obamacare penalties and that the Stark State College in Ohio has decided that part time employees and all adjunct staff will be limited to 29 hours per week on work assignments .
If one uses punishment to redirect behavior, one must not be surprised at the limits the trainee will go to to avoid consequences.
til later
Friday, January 25, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Tax Docs
Just a note regarding 1099 forms.
If your interest on a bank account is less than $10, you will not receive a 1099-INT. That doesn't mean you do not have to claim as income the interest paid on your savings account. It just means that the IRS will not receive a specific report of interest payments of less than $10 attached to your social security number.
If your dividend or capital gains distributions from a mutual fund or brokerage account amounted to less than $10 for the year, a Form 1099-DIV will not be generated for that fund.
How I wish interest rates were such that our $ was making $. But the truth is interest rates are as close to Zero as anyone can remember. In fact much of our mind set in the last 5 years has become safety. Keeping what we have safe from risk.
The sad truth, as the government is printing $ like crazy, is that the safe $ we have will be worth less and less. Inflation is coming. I am not the only voice saying this. Many smart economists are warning the same.
til later
If your interest on a bank account is less than $10, you will not receive a 1099-INT. That doesn't mean you do not have to claim as income the interest paid on your savings account. It just means that the IRS will not receive a specific report of interest payments of less than $10 attached to your social security number.
If your dividend or capital gains distributions from a mutual fund or brokerage account amounted to less than $10 for the year, a Form 1099-DIV will not be generated for that fund.
How I wish interest rates were such that our $ was making $. But the truth is interest rates are as close to Zero as anyone can remember. In fact much of our mind set in the last 5 years has become safety. Keeping what we have safe from risk.
The sad truth, as the government is printing $ like crazy, is that the safe $ we have will be worth less and less. Inflation is coming. I am not the only voice saying this. Many smart economists are warning the same.
til later
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Mail's Here!
It's the time of year where nearly every day's mail includes important tax documents. We have received statements from a couple of the charities that we supported during 2012. We have received one W2 and are awaiting another.
Here's how I keep track. I have a plastic folder that ties shut. I keep it by the phone, standing on end near the phone book and two other such envelopes. Each day when I find something that may be relevant to our 2012 taxes, I slip it into the envelope. When in doubt as to whether we will need it to do our taxes or not, I put it in the envelope just to be on the safe side.
The other plastic envelopes near the phone we use all the time. One is green. We collect in it important tax stuff that we get during the year. Things like receipts for the bags of clothes I dropped off at the Goodwill and the receipt for our real estate tax payments. I keep our last pay stubs of the year in there and compare them to the W2s as they come in.
The other plastic folder is red. It collects every credit card receipt from purchases. Bob is in the habit of charging our groceries and gasoline for our cars. Each receipt goes into the red folder. It helps when I reconcile the Visa statement each month.
Why green and red? Red implies red ink or negative $. It holds our expenses that are placed on our Visa card. Green implies $. Most of what lands in this envelope is for deductible expenses like gifting and real estate taxes.
I keep it simple so we don't have to remember and I don't have to label the envelopes.
Also to note: The color scheme in our kitchen and family room is deep red and lighter green.
til later
Here's how I keep track. I have a plastic folder that ties shut. I keep it by the phone, standing on end near the phone book and two other such envelopes. Each day when I find something that may be relevant to our 2012 taxes, I slip it into the envelope. When in doubt as to whether we will need it to do our taxes or not, I put it in the envelope just to be on the safe side.
The other plastic envelopes near the phone we use all the time. One is green. We collect in it important tax stuff that we get during the year. Things like receipts for the bags of clothes I dropped off at the Goodwill and the receipt for our real estate tax payments. I keep our last pay stubs of the year in there and compare them to the W2s as they come in.
The other plastic folder is red. It collects every credit card receipt from purchases. Bob is in the habit of charging our groceries and gasoline for our cars. Each receipt goes into the red folder. It helps when I reconcile the Visa statement each month.
Why green and red? Red implies red ink or negative $. It holds our expenses that are placed on our Visa card. Green implies $. Most of what lands in this envelope is for deductible expenses like gifting and real estate taxes.
I keep it simple so we don't have to remember and I don't have to label the envelopes.
Also to note: The color scheme in our kitchen and family room is deep red and lighter green.
til later
Monday, January 7, 2013
Under Informed
Obama wins war on the rich. Sock it to 'em, sock it to 'em. Taxes go up on the evil rich! The good guys win.
Now people are receiving their first paychecks of the new year. The new year where their leader (or in the case of Jamie Foxx -- lord and savior) triumphed over the rich and upheld his promise not to tax the well deserved middle class.
The new year brings a 2% reduction in every one's paychecks. Everyone includes the undefined middle class (unless you accept everyone who makes any amount of money less than $400,000 a year). Every single paycheck is smaller by 2%.
The under informed are outraged. No one told them about the increase in FICA withholding.
No one was the GOP and Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan.
I respond that it's important where we get our news. The administration-run media failed to tell the whole truth. In fact, undermined the truth as spoken by the bad people in the GOP. Don't listen to the people in the other corner. Those shouting that we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
The under informed is now learning the rest of the story. Their leader misled them. It's just the beginning. Inflation is happening and the cost of goods will be going up for several reasons. I am pointing my finger at Mr. Foxx's lord and savior.
til later
Now people are receiving their first paychecks of the new year. The new year where their leader (or in the case of Jamie Foxx -- lord and savior) triumphed over the rich and upheld his promise not to tax the well deserved middle class.
The new year brings a 2% reduction in every one's paychecks. Everyone includes the undefined middle class (unless you accept everyone who makes any amount of money less than $400,000 a year). Every single paycheck is smaller by 2%.
The under informed are outraged. No one told them about the increase in FICA withholding.
No one was the GOP and Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan.
I respond that it's important where we get our news. The administration-run media failed to tell the whole truth. In fact, undermined the truth as spoken by the bad people in the GOP. Don't listen to the people in the other corner. Those shouting that we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
The under informed is now learning the rest of the story. Their leader misled them. It's just the beginning. Inflation is happening and the cost of goods will be going up for several reasons. I am pointing my finger at Mr. Foxx's lord and savior.
til later
Friday, January 4, 2013
Medical Devices
Bloomington-based Cook Group announced in July that they had been planning to build 5 new facilities in small communities throughout the Midwest including Indiana. Why?
Some medical-device makers including Kalamazoo-based Stryker and Zimmer Holdings have announced large layoffs. Why?
Much smaller manufacturing companies including ConMed (employing in CO and FL), Symmetry Medical (employing in Mi and NH), and ultrasound pioneer Sinosite fear their small profit margins are in peril. Why?
Obamacare. Medical device sales are the target with the latest hit from Obamacare. There is a 2.3% tax on all medical device sales. Doesn't sound like much? This tax is not on profits but on gross receipts.
The smaller manufacturers fear this will consume their profit margin completely.
My prediction? Job losses, expansions lost, and high taxes will force manufacturing to migrate to other countries. Kill jobs, kill future expansions, move jobs to Ireland and similar friendly countries.
The culprits in this are Obamacare and corporate tax rates.
'til later
Some medical-device makers including Kalamazoo-based Stryker and Zimmer Holdings have announced large layoffs. Why?
Much smaller manufacturing companies including ConMed (employing in CO and FL), Symmetry Medical (employing in Mi and NH), and ultrasound pioneer Sinosite fear their small profit margins are in peril. Why?
Obamacare. Medical device sales are the target with the latest hit from Obamacare. There is a 2.3% tax on all medical device sales. Doesn't sound like much? This tax is not on profits but on gross receipts.
The smaller manufacturers fear this will consume their profit margin completely.
My prediction? Job losses, expansions lost, and high taxes will force manufacturing to migrate to other countries. Kill jobs, kill future expansions, move jobs to Ireland and similar friendly countries.
The culprits in this are Obamacare and corporate tax rates.
'til later
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