April 2013

Job Security

In a changing economy, it is important to be confident that your job is secure before you make long-term investments. The future is not certain and if you lose your job you will require liquidity or you could end up in financial ruin. The key is to have at least 6 months of living expenses socked away in liquid assets before you invest in less liquid things like real estate, timber or privately held businesses. Although stocks are more liquid in a sudden downturn like we experienced in 2008 liquidity can be severely impaired (if there are no buyers) or you may be forced to liquidate at a significant loss. Warren Buffet is famous for maintaining massive amounts of cash waiting for just such an opportunity when he can name his price and everyone else is so strapped for cash that they have to accept his offer.

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Business Franchise

Buy a Business Franchise or Start Your Own?

Many people dream of owning their own business, setting their own hours, and being “the boss”.  Some budding entrepreneurs find that it can be a smart move to invest in or buy an established business rather than starting their own. Depending on a number of factors, there can be considerably less risk in acquiring or investing in an existing business rather than starting one from scratch. Another way to limit your risk is to go with a successful business franchise.

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Physical Gold vs. Paper Gold

Physical Gold vs. Paper Gold

Looking at the factors forcing the price of gold down last week caused me to scratch my head a bit. Even though the price of gold was falling on the futures market anecdotal evidence showed that physical gold dealers were doing a booming business as sales volume was actually up by 50% last week as buyers of the physical metal were jumping on the opportunity to buy gold at a discount. So I wondered how could demand for physical gold be up while prices continued to fall? The answer it appears is that there is a major disconnect between physical gold vs. “paper gold”. In today’s article, Bud Conrad looks at the factors in this disconnect.

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Natural Disasters That Have Created Investment Opportunities

Every cloud has a silver lining, and in the case of some natural disasters, there have been great opportunities to take advantage of financial markets after the worst damage has been done. Often when the old has been swept away and new modern construction takes its place an area can be revitalized and get a whole new lease on life.

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Business Insurance

Insurance Tips for Small Businesses

Boats carry life vests and life preservers and have lifeboats. Construction workers wear hard hats, skateboarders wear knee and elbow pads, professional football players and motocross racers wear helmets, and welders wear goggles. Why?  Because they understand the value of protection. In the same way, businesses need to understand the value of protection and that is why insurance is crucial, especially in business.

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U.S. dollar Currency

Is the Dollar Really King?

In addition to saving yourself time and worries by mostly ignoring public information, learning to discern the difference between good and bad information can lead to better decision making, in your everyday life, and in your investments. As a case in point, during the conference here, someone in the audience asked a question about quantitative easing. Doug Casey took hold of the microphone and replied along the lines of, “People need to stop using constructs such as ‘quantitative easing.’ Those are just terms that politicians have come up with to obfuscate the truth. The proper term for quantitative easing is currency debasement, plain and simple.”

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Income Taxes

The 100th Anniversary of the Federal Income Tax

1913 is a year that will live in infamy. On March 1st, 1913, the 16th Amendment took effect providing for a 1% Federal Income tax and on December 23rd President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law. Perhaps an effort to keep tabs on the Federal Reserve is what inspired the Department of Labor to begin tracking inflation that same year. Incidentally, that same year the department of Commerce and the department of labor split into two separate departments. Now 100 years later the average Federal Income Tax rate in 2011 was 11.8%. The top 5 percent of earners paid approximately 58.7 percent of federal individual income taxes while paying an average effective tax rate of 20.46%. The bottom 50% paid an effective Federal Income Tax rate of 1.85%.

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