Financial Answers "IN SIMPLE LANGUAGE"

As usual a lot of vermin have crawled out from under their rocks to try and take advantage of all of you innocent people.  It seems that the recent government stimulus package that you are constantly hearing about has created an opportunity for the dirtbags of the world to target you and me.

 

Diamond Mine for Dirtbags

 

According to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), these dirtbag rip-off artists are taking advantage of many people who have lost their jobs and are running out of options on how to pay their bills.  These scammers are running ads on the Internet social networking sites and through the use of search engines trying to take advantage of people who are already hurting.

 

What makes these schemes work is the confusion of the government’s programs and the lack of clarity in explaining how the programs work to help people.  This is no surprise but now we have to be on the lookout for the scammers even more so.

 

Here’s what’s happening. The scammers have websites advertising that they can help people get their share of the economic stimulus package money.  Then they sit back and wait for people to contact them through their website.  When you contact them they send an email asking for your bank account information so that the monies you are entitled to can be directly deposited into your bank account.  Of course the scammers are gathering this information so they can empty your bank account into their pockets.

 

You ask how can anyone be that naiveté to give this information?  Desperate people will do desperate things.  And these are desperate times for many people.  This has been happening since before recorded history.  The only thing we can do is try and make people aware and arrest as many of these scammers has we can catch.  Not an easy thing to do and they know it.

 

Bogus Emails

 

To add insult to injury, many of these scammers not only take your money but also download a “worm” to your computer’s hard drive to find out more information on you. I believe the worm they download is one of their parents.  I wonder on what planet these scammers were hatched.

 

A lot of these bogus emails appear to be from governmental agencies.  They ask for information to verify that you qualify for monies from the stimulus package.  Then they use that information to steal your identity.  Use common sense with any website you go to.  If it doesn’t feel right it probably isn’t.

 

Pay Me Now

 

Another scheme that is being using is charging you a nominal sum such as $1.99 to get a list of grants available through the economic stimulus package.  It is amazing the creativity that people come up with when it comes to cheating someone out of their money. 

 

This one not only takes your money up front for worthless information but now that they have your credit card number they can really do a number on you.

 

Some of these dirtbags have even used the president’s picture on their websites to give it a more official and patriotic look.  Maybe we should paint their prison cells in red, white, and blue when we catch them.  And we will catch them.

 

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Thank you for taking the time to visit In Simple Language.  J     Copyright © 2009

 

Looking for a financial speaker or financial writer?  Contact Rich today at rsowa@insimplelanguage.com or call Sowa Financial Media now at (502) 569-1714.

 

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We have been hearing about the AIG (Arrogant International Group) bonuses ad nauseum for the last month or so.  And it seems like this is finally going to be resolved.  We can only hope.

 

Bonuses for Boneheads

 

Unless you have been hibernating in a cave near the North Pole you are still pretty upset with the constant negative comments about the $165 million paid in bonuses to the AIG executives.  This money is our taxpayer money and yet AIG had the nerve to pay these exorbitant bonuses to many employees that got the company into the mess it is in. And then AIG flaunted it in our faces.

 

If you have been watching the news over the last couple of days you will have seen that fifteen of the twenty executives who got the bonuses decided to give them back.  I have not seen or heard about the intentions of the other five executives nor am I absolutely clear that there were only twenty people involved or just twenty executives and a whole bunch of other employees.

 

Now I am disgusted about the sheer arrogance of this giant insurance company just as you are.  And I feel it is morally and ethically wrong for them to give bonuses to anyone when the company is on the verge of bankruptcy. 

 

But that is not the issue of this post.  The issue is more compelling and more serious than a messily $165 million.  That is what our Congress calls small pork barrel items that they like to hide in stimulus bills.  A messily $165 million.

 

The Real Issue

 

In my opinion, whatever you think that is worth, “taxing the bonuses” by Congress is the real issue here.  It is the way that Congress has re-acted to this situation that has me worried.  It has not been proven as of this writing that the contracts that were signed by the AIG employees were not in place long before the company was known to be in trouble. 

 

So far no one has proved that AIG did something illegal regarding these bonuses. Unethical yes but nothing illegal so far.

 

So let’s get back to the real issue.  Ask yourself are we, as American citizens, going to let Congress use the powers of the Internal Revenue Service and the tax laws to punish a select group of people because Congress doesn’t think it is ethically and morally right?  Are we, as American citizens, going to allow Congress, who we elected to office, usurp the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights just because they don’t like what a very small select group of people have done that hasn’t been proven illegal? 

 

Yes, these people from AIG are a bunch of greedy dirtbags that should be taken behind the wood shed and given a good talking too.  Right!  But that’s not the real issue here.

 

Who is Congress’s next target?  Your Bible study group?  Your Koran study group?  Your networking group?  Where should we draw the line?  Folks this is the real issue here.

 

Congress has over stepped its authority as a lawmaking body.  If an individual congressional person wants to rant and rave about how unethical and immoral these AIG bonuses are that’s okay.  But for Congress to have a special session to pass an onerous 90% tax on a select group of people after the fact is smelling of Nazi Germany, Communism, Fascism, and every other evil form of government and dictatorship ever dreamed up by mankind.  We, as American citizens, must let our elected officials know that we do not approve of this type of behavior.

 

Members of Congress are elected to do the bidding of the people, us.  Sure we are mad as hell about these bonuses but for Congress to act in sure an irresponsible manner by singling out a group of people and coming down on them with the IRS hammer is unacceptable.

 

Is it worst to “steal $165 million” from the American taxpayer or is it worst to completely control and intimidate any taxpayer that Congress doesn’t agree with?  Now you may not agree with me but let’s act on this bonus problem and not react to the emotions it has created. 

 

If you read this far there may be something about this post that you are relating to.  There may be some financial related pain In Simple Language is talking about.  Tell us your story.  We really do want to know.

 

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Thank you for taking the time to visit In Simple Language.  J     Copyright © 2009

 

Looking for a financial speaker or financial writer?  Contact Rich today at rsowa@insimplelanguage.com or call Sowa Financial Media now at (502) 569-1714.

 

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Remember watching the shark movie on television called Jaws and the music would start playing and you could sense that something ominous was about to happen?  You’re sitting there waiting for this shark to jump out of the water and bite or eat someone or something.  Well that’s what just happened.

 

Human Sharks

 

In the beautiful State of Massachusetts, whose eastern side borders the Atlantic Ocean, Massachusians are aware that there may be an occasional shark in the water.  They are also aware that there may be an occasional shark swimming on land.  Massachusians are perceptive people.

 

With all the hoopla with the likes of Bernie Madoff and R. Allen Stanford you would think that other financial crooks would be crawling back into their slimy mud holes.  Well that doesn’t seem to be the case…at least not in Massachusetts.

 

In recent weeks, federal investigators have caught several more dirtbag financial advisors-one who allegedly has stolen a paltry $60 million and another with a Ponzi scheme worth a messily $750,000.  Hardly worth mentioning or going after.  Right!  Unless it is your money.

 

It seems these two dirtbags, not working together, decided that he could steal money from trusts of wealthy Boston families-in the case of the $60 million theft-and the other dirtbag committed wire fraud by stealing $750,000 from two of his trusting clients.

 

Why Work When You Can Steal From Somebody Else

 

In the case of the $60 million theft, John Doorly, indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston, was in desperate need of money so he could pay off his extravagant credit card purchases, buy several houses and airplanes and take care of his mistresses.  Now that seems like a reasonable thing to do. Don’t you think?  This guy felt that if he wanted to live like his rich clients then the least they should do for all his financial advice and expertise was to let him steal from them.  So what’s the problem?  These people are wealthy anyway.  They aren’t going to miss a few million here or a few million there.

 

Then there’s Ryan Nestor, a representative with an affiliate of MassMutual Financial Group who needed a few extra bucks so he decided to help himself to $750,000 from two of his “they don’t need the money” clients.  He has been charged by Massachusetts’s investigators.

 

But my favorite is Mark Harrington, a former vice president of Anchor Capital Advisors, LLC of Boston, who allegedly ran an adult escort business on the side. It seems Mark used $368,000 from his firm’s 401k plan, allegedly, to cover losses from gambling and his divorce.  Oh yes, he also needed to buy a home for his girlfriend.  A rather creative way to pay for things.  Don’t you think?

 

The Diseased Financial Industry

 

It seems that in the State of Massachusetts and most likely in the other 49 states, that we, the American investing public, have a serious problem on our hands.  Morals and ethics have gone out the window and a rampant disease of greed has taken over.

 

In the 1987 classic movie “Wall Street” Michael Douglas playing the part of Gordon Gekko said this now infamous line “Greed is good.”  It seems that many of our financial people have taken this saying to heart.  With the enormous amounts of money that these people deal the temptation is always there.  At least that is what some financial advisors will say.

 

I am not an advocate for more government intervention and regulation on Wall Street.  We just need to enforce what we already have in place and let the financial advisors do what they honestly want to do…help you and me invest and make money the old fashioned way through trust and guidance with our financial advisor.

 

My advice to you is get to know your financial advisor both personally and professionally.  It’s no guarantee that something won’t happen but it lets you have a level of comfort that you won’t get from a stranger.

 

If you read this far there may be something about this post that you are relating to.  There may be some financial related pain In Simple Language is talking about.  Tell us your story.  We really do want to know.

 

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Thank you for taking the time to visit In Simple Language.  J     Copyright © 2009

 

Looking for a financial speaker or financial writer?  Contact Rich today at rsowa@insimplelanguage.com or call Sowa Financial Media now at (502) 569-1714.

 

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I know it is hard to be positive in this economy because of all of the negative news.  And the last thing anyone wants to hear is another problem whether it is here and now or is coming down the road to run us over.  However, do you really want to bury your head in the sand and hope that everything is going to be alright rather than putting some effort into addressing the problems?

 

The purpose of this particular post is to make people aware, especially women, that there is another freight train rolling down the tracks heading right for them.  This is not to scare you. I don’t want to do that. I want you to be informed so you can take action as soon as possible and lessen the impact when that train hits.  And it will.  Because that train is part of life and is called the “getting older express.”

 

Plan Today the Best That You Can

 

Unfortunately with today’s economy in the crapper-named after Sir Thomas Crapper inventor of the toilet, not John Crapper-people are more focused about today and not thinking about tomorrow.  Downsizing and job losses are forcing us to rethink our retirement planning.  Losing half our retirement monies to the stock market has taken its toll on when and how we will retire.

 

This is a difficult situation but one we must face.  What we are not hearing about anymore is that 76 million baby boomers are continuing to retire or semi-retire and statistically speaking one out of two of them, that’s 38 million, will face some kind of long term health care issue at least once in their lives.

 

And a large portion of those 38 million will be divorced or single women who have made less money than their male counterparts, don’t seek financial advice, and haven’t saved enough money for retirement let alone planned  for long term health care needs.  We have the makings of another financial crisis coming around the bend.

 

A Luxury or a Necessity

 

A recent survey by America’s Health Insurance Plans has shown that planning for long term care by women has gone by the wayside.  With the economy in shambles, many women are looking at long term care as being a luxury rather than a necessity.

 

A group of women surveyed between the ages of 30 and 59 has shown that women are looking differently at their long term care planning needs because of the declining values of their portfolios.

 

Many women-and men-are under the mistaken notion that Medicare or Medicaid is going to take care of their long term care needs.  Medicare is health insurance and has very little to do with long term care and Medicaid, a state run program, only kicks in when you become literally destitute. Flat broke!

 

 

Long Term Care Insurance

 

I do not sell or represent any companies that offer long term care insurance but I am a big advocate of it.  My brother recently died and was under long term care for the last five years.  If he had not been in the military, with a military related disease, he would have been wiped out.

 

Long term care insurance is only one of the answers.  It can be expensive so you need to shop around.  Women are most susceptible to the needs of long term care insurance because they almost always outlive the men.  A blessing or a curse?  You decide.

 

I would suggest that you learn what you can about long term care insurance through your state’s insurance department and plan accordingly.  Do something today while you still qualify. My brother had his retirement all planned out and none of us imagined that this disease would come out of nowhere, incapacitate him for almost five years and eventually kill him. Go on the internet and get the free state information on long term care today.

 

If you read this far there may be something about this post that you are relating to.  There may be some financial related pain In Simple Language is talking about.  Tell us your story.  We really do want to know.

 

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Thank you for taking the time to visit In Simple Language.  J     Copyright © 2009

 

Looking for a financial speaker or financial writer?  Contact Rich today at rsowa@insimplelanguage.com or call Sowa Financial Media now at (502) 569-1714.

 

Check out the “SERVICES” tab above the beginning of the post for all available services.

 

Member One Southern Indiana Chamber of Commerce 

 

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A  Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone.  May you have a healthy and happy day. 

 

Let’s get back to one of my favorite corporations-The Arrogant International Group known as AIG.  These wonderful corporate izods have finally disclosed what they have been doing with some of the money the U.S. Government has been providing to them-somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 Billion plus.  I have been trying to figure out approximately what has been paid to AIG but there is conflicting information as to how much AIG has received.  I’m sure Congress knows because of all the controls that they have put in place. Yea right.

 

So Here’s What AIG Has Done With Some of Your Money

 

My understanding of the recent economic stimulus package’s purpose was to stimulate the U. S. economy and get “our” banking system functioning properly again.  That is what I keep reading.  That is what all the politicians, including President Obama, continue to tell you and me.

 

So why is it that AIG has taken $11.9 billion and paid that to French bank Societe Generale? 

Why has AIG paid German bank Deutsche Bank $11.8 billion and Great Britain’s bank Barclays $8.5 billion.  If my math is correct that adds up to $32.2 billion paid to foreign banks.  That is about 20% of your tax money that has been provided to AIG to keep it afloat and help to stimulate the economy. Our economy. The American economy. Not the overseas economy.

 

What also should disturb all Americans is none of these foreign banks will comment on this.  So here we go again.  Our inept Congress is giving away your tax money to everyone outside of the United States so they can look good to our foreign allies.  But why don’t our foreign allies work with us instead of declining to comment?  Are they worried we, the American public, will find out how we are being taken advantage of again? That’s another story for another time.

 

Let’s Be Fair

 

Now in fairness to AIG-I really don’t mean that-let me get back to a related issue regarding the stimulus package.  We have been hearing, off and on, about how the U.S. economy is really driven by all the small businesses.  The small businesses-the entrepreneurs of this great nation-are the real driving force behind keeping this nation going.  President Obama stressed this in his speech on television yesterday at around noon.

 

Just to prove that the government feels strongly about small business here is a quote from Christina Romer, who chairs the White House Council of Economic Advisors.  Ms. Romer said, “We know that small businesses are the engine of growth.”   Now I believe that she believes that and is sincere.

 

However, I wonder if our inept Congress agrees with her or even has a clue as to what she or President Obama is talking about. 

 

Case in point. The $787 billion economic stimulus package is allocating $730 million to help small businesses.  The very same small businesses that keep this country going.

 

This $730 million is congressionally approved and is intended to cut lending fees, provide better loan guarantees and help to expand other un-named programs.  Sounds pretty good?

 

Let’s take a closer look at this.  If you do the research it will tell you that the small businesses in the United States account for the majority of jobs and a major portion of the size of the U.S. economy.  Yet if you look at the $730 million allocated toward getting small business going it is less than 1% of the total $787 billion economic stimulus package-$730 million divided by $787 billion = .09275% which is less than 1.00000%. 

 

So our Congress has allocated less than 1% of the “stimulus” money to the part of the economy that generates the majority of the impact on the economy.  And you wonder why this is the lowest rated and dumbest Congress in this nation’s history.

 

What is it going to take to wake up this lowest rated Congress?  Maybe they need another pay raise or a couple more weeks’ vacation.  Yea, that will make them more effective.

 

If you read this far there may be something about this post that you are relating to.  There may be some financial related pain In Simple Language is talking about.  Tell us your story.  We really do want to know.

 

·         Please ask your questions of In Simple Language and we will answer you as soon as possible in the comments section of the blog article you asked about.

 

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Thank you for taking the time to visit In Simple Language.  J     Copyright © 2009

 

Looking for a financial speaker or financial writer?  Contact Rich today at rsowa@insimplelanguage.com or call Sowa Financial Media now at (502) 569-1714.

 

Check out the “SERVICES” tab above the beginning of the post for all available services.

 

Member One Southern Indiana Chamber of Commerce 

 

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