for life and liberty

Now Obama wants your 401(k)

"Since 2010, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Department of Labor have been holding combined hearings on various plans designed to introduce government-mandated retirement plans and investment options, including government annuities invested primarily in U.S. Treasury debt, into the private retirement savings market. With the issuance of the White House 256-page Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2013, the Obama administration endorsed 'Automatic IRAs,' in which private companies would be automatically enrolled into government-mandated IRAs, forcing those businesses to contribute on behalf of their employees unless an employee opts out." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNow Obama wants your 401(k)

Chinese buyers lead foreign investment in US housing market

"Non-American buyers accounted for $82 billion in home sales last year. More than $7 billion of that is by the Chinese, who are now the second largest foreign home purchasers after Canadians. They're buying high-end, multimillion-dollar homes from California to New York and paying cash. While some of the Chinese buyers live in the U.S. full or part-time, realtors estimate about 40 percent of the homes are for investments. They're snapping up houses in states hit hard by foreclosures such as Nevada and Florida. Some are buying two or three homes at a time. Buyers from China also invested almost $2 billion in commercial property in 2011." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChinese buyers lead foreign investment in US housing market

Asia, not North America, now has most millionaires

"Millionaire wealth in the United States and Canada in 2011 fell 2.3 percent to $11.4 trillion - still the wealthiest region by this measure - though it had 1.1 percent fewer millionaires, slipping by about 39,000 to a total of 3.35 million. Strong economic growth in China and other markets increased the ranks of millionaires across the Asia-Pacific region by 1.6 percent to a total of 3.37 million, as Asia vaulted past North America as home to the most millionaires." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAsia, not North America, now has most millionaires

Expatriation Can Save You From the Not-So-Free America

"The terrorist attacks of 9/11, 2001 have been used as a twisted justification by the U.S. Congress and by two presidents to enact unconstitutional laws that sacrifice the very principles they claim to be defending, all in the name of an elusive national security. This is a list of illegal and unconstitutional actions on which I recently spoke to a group of 50 Sovereign Society members who visited Uruguay last month. Many in the group seemed genuinely surprised when they saw the list, unable to believe such things were possible in America." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingExpatriation Can Save You From the Not-So-Free America

How Congress Snuck in a 3.8% Tax Increase that Will Kick in on Jan. 1

"Scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, the tax, which was adopted as part of the 2010 health-care law, is a 3.8 percent levy on interest, dividends, capital gains and passive business income received by taxpayers with incomes exceeding $200,000 (or $250,000 for couples). Because the new tax was added to the health-care law late in the process without congressional hearings, it received little attention at the time. With only a few weeks left before it takes effect, it remains largely unknown. One problem with the unearned income Medicare contribution tax is the name Congress chose for it, which is a triple misnomer." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow Congress Snuck in a 3.8% Tax Increase that Will Kick in on Jan. 1

Understanding the Budget Cuts in the Current Fiscal Crisis Talks

"Even someone following the budget negotiations closely might be surprised to learn that there are no real cuts on the table in the way normal people think of them. That goes for Republican proposals, too. For example, households may decide to reduce their holiday spending this year from $750 to $500 and forgo the summer family vacation because times are tough. Those are spending cuts. Washington is the only place where a cut isn’t a cut. Instead, so-called spending cuts are reductions in the growth rate of outlays as prescribed under current law. Nothing is cut." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUnderstanding the Budget Cuts in the Current Fiscal Crisis Talks

A Swiss-Style Spending Cap Would Have Prevented the Current Fiscal Mess in America

"I greatly admire Switzerland’s 'debt brake' because it’s really a spending cap. Theoretically, taxes could be hiked to allow more spending, but that hasn’t happened. The Swiss are very good about voting against tax increases, so the politicians don’t have much ability to boost the revenue trendline. Since the debt brake first took effect in 2003, the burden of government spending has dropped from 36 percent of GDP to 34 percent of economic output – a rather remarkable achievement since most other European nations have moved in the wrong direction." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA Swiss-Style Spending Cap Would Have Prevented the Current Fiscal Mess in America

Why Your Take Home Pay WILL DROP in 2013

"The headlines all talk about taxes being increased, as a result of Obama and Boehner scheming, for those earning over $400,000 per year, perhaps $1 million per year. Nothing for you to worry about, right? Not so fast. Little discussed is the fact that the payroll tax is very likely to go up. Letting the payroll tax rate revert to the old 6.2% from the current 4.2% would raise government revenue by about $125 billion next year, equivalent to 0.8% of total U.S. economic output, according to J.P. Morgan Chase. WSJ estimates that it will mean an average tax increase of about $1,000 a year for the typical American household making about $50,000 annually." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhy Your Take Home Pay WILL DROP in 2013

U.S. Treasury to miss deadline on FATCA tax crackdown

"The Treasury Department will miss a year-end deadline to publish final rules for a new global tax enforcement regime targeting the offshore assets of U.S. taxpayers. FATCA was enacted in 2010 after an outcry over a Swiss banking scandal that revealed U.S. taxpayers had hidden millions of dollars in assets overseas from the Internal Revenue Service. The law requires foreign financial institutions to tell the tax-collecting IRS about Americans' offshore accounts worth more than $50,000. International businesses ranging from Western Union Co to BlackRock Inc are waiting anxiously to see the rules so they can figure out how to comply with the law." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Treasury to miss deadline on FATCA tax crackdown