Ah, my favorite subject to ramble about - Foundations.
Here's some evidence of the type of bullshit I've been talking about. Our wonderful Survivor celebrity decided he was above the law and spent a good chunk of the money from his Foundation on stuff he wanted for himself.
Check out this part of the story...
prosecutors accused Hatch of using money donated to his charitable foundation, Horizon Bound, an outdoors program he planned to open for troubled youth. He allegedly spent the money on expenses including tips to a limousine driver, dry cleaning and tens of thousands of dollars on improvements to a house he owned.
Give me a freakin break. Do you really think he is the exception? Come on. The only reason this is making news is because he is a half-ass celebrity. This kind of crap is going on EVERYWHERE.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Home sales/values are beginning to decline...
Today was a good/bad news day.
On the plus side, we may be able to avoid a housing bubble bust since home sales/values are beginning to decline gradually.
On the negative side, America continues to lead the world with very poor savings rates. It's really remarkable to me how Thailand with it extremely low annual income rates can surpass the United States in savings rates.
On the plus side, we may be able to avoid a housing bubble bust since home sales/values are beginning to decline gradually.
On the negative side, America continues to lead the world with very poor savings rates. It's really remarkable to me how Thailand with it extremely low annual income rates can surpass the United States in savings rates.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Classic Cars
Like stocks, real-estate and art, classic cars can be great investments with an opportunity to achieve significant monetary gains. Doug was fortunate enough to do well selling four of his vehicles at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale. Way to go Doug!!!
1998 Harley-Davidson Softail Custom Motorcycle ( Sale Price = $35,640 )
1969 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe ( Sale Price = $39,960 )
1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Fastback ( Sale Price = $64,800 )
1967 Chevrolet Corvette 427/435 Coupe ( Sale Price = $97,200 )
Also, while Doug was in Scottsdale, he picked up this sweet #1 edition 2006 Ford Stallion - very cool !!!
Also, while Doug was in Scottsdale, he picked up this sweet #1 edition 2006 Ford Stallion - very cool !!!
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Consumerism
In my mind, Consumerism is the primary illness of Western Civilization. The quote I found below beautifully sums up why I believe Consumerism undermines the healthy workings our society.
Consumerism interferes with the workings of society by replacing the normal common-sense desire for an adequate supply of life's necessities, community life, a stable family and healthy relationships with an artificial ongoing and insatiable quest for things and the money to buy them with little regard for the true utility of what is bought.
In my life, I have rarely felt a need to become an activist for anything, but as I grow older, I continue to grow frustrated with the lack of maturity and judgement of human beings to disregard such hurtful mindsets and turn their attention to more healthy activities.
Consumerism, as a disease, is most effective when taking hold of the most vulnerable in our society - the poor and undiscerning. Christmas-time is the most destructive time of year for the American people. Each year, people that do not have the money are seduced by our media to consume items on debt that will take them months, years, foreever or never to pay off.
What if we simply bought what we needed, invested in our children and saved money such that we could pass it along to the next generation such they may have a sense of security.
Consumerism interferes with the workings of society by replacing the normal common-sense desire for an adequate supply of life's necessities, community life, a stable family and healthy relationships with an artificial ongoing and insatiable quest for things and the money to buy them with little regard for the true utility of what is bought.
In my life, I have rarely felt a need to become an activist for anything, but as I grow older, I continue to grow frustrated with the lack of maturity and judgement of human beings to disregard such hurtful mindsets and turn their attention to more healthy activities.
Consumerism, as a disease, is most effective when taking hold of the most vulnerable in our society - the poor and undiscerning. Christmas-time is the most destructive time of year for the American people. Each year, people that do not have the money are seduced by our media to consume items on debt that will take them months, years, foreever or never to pay off.
What if we simply bought what we needed, invested in our children and saved money such that we could pass it along to the next generation such they may have a sense of security.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Monday, January 16, 2006
Sunday, January 15, 2006
China
China continues to build momemtum economically. Sound Money has been conducting their program from China and assembled an economic timeline of this huge country. As China continually makes improvements in the quality of their goods, their low cost labor coupled with this fairly new idea of "quality" will propel them into THE most powerful nation economically.
My dad has recently made a game of always looking at the "made in" tag on any product he buys. He and like to laugh about how our American flags are made in China, but, in reality, it's a bit frightening to see the percentage of goods in America that are produced in China.
Based on Gross Domestic Product, China has now surpassed Great Britain as the 4th largest economy in the world. It is projected that China will surpass the United States as the number one largest economy in the world in the next three decades.
My dad has recently made a game of always looking at the "made in" tag on any product he buys. He and like to laugh about how our American flags are made in China, but, in reality, it's a bit frightening to see the percentage of goods in America that are produced in China.
Based on Gross Domestic Product, China has now surpassed Great Britain as the 4th largest economy in the world. It is projected that China will surpass the United States as the number one largest economy in the world in the next three decades.
Monday, January 9, 2006
My Foundation
Man, the market has really been going crazy lately. The DOW surpassed 11,000 today for the first time since pre-nine-eleven and my overall return right now is at 23.9%.
Back to my latest "hot button" topic - Foundations. In an effort to help maintain "a better America", I have decided to start my own Foundation. From this day forward, the Foundation will be known as...
The Foundation for the Financial Betterment of the Life of Scott Karas
Back to my latest "hot button" topic - Foundations. In an effort to help maintain "a better America", I have decided to start my own Foundation. From this day forward, the Foundation will be known as...
The Foundation for the Financial Betterment of the Life of Scott Karas
Sunday, January 8, 2006
401K Roth IRA
You may have already caught wind of this, but there is a new critter in the investment world - the 401K Roth IRA. I currently have a Roth IRA through Vanguard Investments ( not within my 401K ) and I'm a strong proponent of Roths.
The new Roth 401K allows you to contribute up to $15,000/yr instead of the $4,000 restriction on a normal Roth IRA. The Roth 401K will be available for the next five years unless Congress extends this period through legislation.
The new Roth 401K allows you to contribute up to $15,000/yr instead of the $4,000 restriction on a normal Roth IRA. The Roth 401K will be available for the next five years unless Congress extends this period through legislation.
Saturday, January 7, 2006
Barrett-Jackson Car Auction
A couple notable events occuring this month...
Congratulations to my wonderful parents for reaching a major milestone in their lives - 50 years of marriage !!!
Obviously, this is a major event that lends itself to a significant celebration. At 2:30pm today my dad and mom are off on a three week adventure to Australia. We are all so very happy for them and they deserve a special trip like this. We hope they have the time of their lives down under.
Also, coming up January 14th through the 22nd is the annual Barrett-Jackson car auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. Dayna's dad has recently become the poster boy for Barrett-Jackson. There is a nice 8-10 page write-up/layout of him in this month's Barrett-Jackson Experience Magazine.
Doug has four submissions in this years auction...
1998 Harley-Davidson Softail Custom Motorcycle (Wednesday, January 18th - Lot #415.1 NO RESERVE)
1969 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe (Wednesday, January 18th - Lot #427 NO RESERVE)
1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Fastback (Thursday, January 19th - Lot #718.1 NO RESERVE)
1967 Chevrolet Corvette 427/435 Coupe (Friday, January 20th - Lot #1018.1 NO RESERVE)
Good Luck Doug in Scottsdale!!!
Congratulations to my wonderful parents for reaching a major milestone in their lives - 50 years of marriage !!!
Obviously, this is a major event that lends itself to a significant celebration. At 2:30pm today my dad and mom are off on a three week adventure to Australia. We are all so very happy for them and they deserve a special trip like this. We hope they have the time of their lives down under.
Also, coming up January 14th through the 22nd is the annual Barrett-Jackson car auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. Dayna's dad has recently become the poster boy for Barrett-Jackson. There is a nice 8-10 page write-up/layout of him in this month's Barrett-Jackson Experience Magazine.
Doug has four submissions in this years auction...
Good Luck Doug in Scottsdale!!!
Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Start Your Own Foundation
I've alluded to this before, but, hey, if you want to get rich in America then start your own Foundation. There is a yahoo used car salesman here in Tulsa who is advertising his dealership on the radio and soliciting people to donate to HIS Foundation. Ever since reading the Lance Armstrong Foundation Financial Statements, I've come to the conclusion that starting one's own Foundation is the way to appear "philanthropic" to the world while banking the money that comes through the doors. Oh sure, a portion of the money goes to a cause, but what ever happened to the idea of people giving out of the goodness of their hearts, not because they can benefit financially from the idea.
I'm going on a quest to find the IRS rules on Foundations. There are obviously some pretty loose rules that many people of low integrity are taking advantage of. We can be sure some of these people are not doing this out of the kindness of their own hearts.
Gig'em Longhorns !!!
I'm going on a quest to find the IRS rules on Foundations. There are obviously some pretty loose rules that many people of low integrity are taking advantage of. We can be sure some of these people are not doing this out of the kindness of their own hearts.
Gig'em Longhorns !!!
Tuesday, January 3, 2006
Healthiest Cities
A couple of days ago I talked about how how health is a key aspect of one's overall financial situation. I'm always reading many non-scientific stats within my Men's Health magazine and often take these with a grain of salt. In this month's issue, the magazine lays out what it thinks are the healthiest cities to live in. Austin is obviously very HIGH on the list and Tulsa is obviously very LOW. Tulsan's idea of a healthy diet is to eat at Burger King each night instead of McDonalds. Tulsa's cost of living is clearly very low and that is a good thing, but other than that the city could use an influx of more healthy young people. Living in San Francisco and/or Austin definitely has its benefits, but it's tough to buy into the high cost of living. So much more can be done with your money here in Tulsa that is constructive. It's difficult to not get caught up in the unnecessary expenses of living when you're surrounded by an abundance of things that separate you from your money in a "hip" location like California or Boston.
Sunday, January 1, 2006
Investment Strategy For This Year
Hello 2006 !!!
My investment strategy for this year is to not buy equities and to store as much cash as possible.
The factors that have led to this shift in my approach...( 1 ) The investment vehicles that I've been pumping my money into over the last several years are at pretty high levels and I don't want to continue to buy high right now ( 2 ) With Dayna not working at the present time, our marginal tax rate will fall to 15% ( 3 ) Only contribute the minimum 4% to my 401K in order to maintain the 2% company match
Preserving cash right now may also be helpful in order to handle the new expense category "Baby Karas". I also thought long and hard about reducing my 401K contributions. After crunching all the numbers and going on the assumption that our current marginal tax rate of 15% will most likely be the same rate during our retirement years, it was just a matter of determining whether or not I wanted to pay the tax man now in 2006 or wait until my retirement years. The important thing here is that I ensure that I continue to take advantage of the matching company funds ( which I am since I'm still contributing the minimum 4% instead of the 21% I contributed last year ).
So, hopefully, as the cash accumulates this year, I look forward to a possible opportunity to invest in some instrument at the end of the year that may be at low levels. I was fortunate enough last year to find the Vanguard Primecap Core Fund at $10.18 only to see it rise to $11.41 by year end. Purchasing a thousand shares of that last March has given me a nice return on my investment in just nine months.
Happy New Year !!!
My investment strategy for this year is to not buy equities and to store as much cash as possible.
The factors that have led to this shift in my approach...( 1 ) The investment vehicles that I've been pumping my money into over the last several years are at pretty high levels and I don't want to continue to buy high right now ( 2 ) With Dayna not working at the present time, our marginal tax rate will fall to 15% ( 3 ) Only contribute the minimum 4% to my 401K in order to maintain the 2% company match
Preserving cash right now may also be helpful in order to handle the new expense category "Baby Karas". I also thought long and hard about reducing my 401K contributions. After crunching all the numbers and going on the assumption that our current marginal tax rate of 15% will most likely be the same rate during our retirement years, it was just a matter of determining whether or not I wanted to pay the tax man now in 2006 or wait until my retirement years. The important thing here is that I ensure that I continue to take advantage of the matching company funds ( which I am since I'm still contributing the minimum 4% instead of the 21% I contributed last year ).
So, hopefully, as the cash accumulates this year, I look forward to a possible opportunity to invest in some instrument at the end of the year that may be at low levels. I was fortunate enough last year to find the Vanguard Primecap Core Fund at $10.18 only to see it rise to $11.41 by year end. Purchasing a thousand shares of that last March has given me a nice return on my investment in just nine months.
Happy New Year !!!
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