An article Arrested for breaking the law of large numbers caught my eye this week. Have you heard the financial talking heads go on about how large companies’ growth must slow due to the Law of Large Numbers? It’s a complete misuse of this phrase and this article does a great job to explain why.
As we get closer to tax day in the US, April 17th, it’s only appropriate to share Kay Bell’s Wild, wacky and illegal tax deductions. Now that Jane 2.0 (my daughter) has convinced us to buy a dog, it’s timely to find out he doesn’t come with a tax deduction for us. Too bad.
Nelson Smith guest posted at Canadian Finance Blog about The 9 Biggest Rip-Offs Ever. I don’t know if it should count as ‘biggest’ but I agree with Nelson that the movie popcorn is up there. I know what the signs say, but I still pack my own snack to go see a show on the big screen.
Reuters asked the rhetorical question, Who could be against Obama’s tax break on RMDs? Last month, congress was going to tinker with the beneficiary rules on IRAs (not good), but the 2013 budget had this buried perk in there. Retirees with less than $75,000 in their IRAs might be able to void a required distribution.
Clever Dude wrote Don’t let your kids grow up to…work from home. An interesting take on why the office cube might be missed if you’re working from home.
My Friend Neal Frankle asks (and answers)Â Should You Create an IRA Trust? Of course, it depends. The trust is a great way to throttle the withdrawals if the beneficiary is bad with money, and an even better way to avoid the tragic mistakes an uninformed beneficiary can make.
At Couple Money, Elle explained the difference between Tax Brackets (Marginal Rate) and Effective Tax Rates. Many still don’t understand the difference, and Elle explains it in a way that should leave no doubt.
A personal note on today’s post title – a few weeks back, our daughter presented a Keynote Slide Show, multimedia style, on why she deserved a dog. Part of my agreeing to it was that she write a few posts for me, first describing her approach and, after we pick up the dog, an update on how the first weeks go. So, in few weeks, we will be a dog family. And I don’t even get a tax break for it.
I told the story of the slideshow to a friend and was told there was a (Microsoft) commercial that was similar. Since then, Jane and I heard our daughter talk to a family friend who is a college freshman. She thanked her for the advice. It seems this girl had used the same strategy to get her dog 5 years ago.
Good round-up and I love the way your daughter presented her case! Cute puppy too. Have fun with it!
Is that your baby? so so cute. Why can’t we tax deduct our pets? 😉
Yes, he is still with the breeder, and arrives here next week. Sorry, no deduction for pets. A shame, I know.