Taxing Situation

A new year. In fact, a new decade. But the shiny newness of 2010 is starting wear out and the arrival of those 1099s, W-2s, etc brings with them the sobering reality that April 15, a Thursday this year, is not far off.

We are not tax professionals, but since most of persons who are not tax professionals still have to file a return, or accurately determine whether they are required to, it pays to know where to find the answers before at best, dread, or at worst, panic, takes hold. Even the IRS states on its website, “Many people will file a 2009 Federal income tax return even though the income on the return was below the filing requirement.”

Ah, but you say, Sure. How do I know I am not making a mistake by not filing? Or by filing? The information below, from the Internal Revenue Service website-- http://www.irs.gov -- will help you determine if you have to file a Federal Income Tax return or if it would make sense to change your withholding so you do not have to file unneeded returns going forward. This site is the best place to find accurate and up-to-the-minute tax info and is easy to navigate.
Additionally, one of the most helpful publications, available to download from the site or to order by mail, is Publication 17, which explains in minute detail who must file and what must be included in the return.

Generally speaking, for tax year 2009, if at the end of 2009 you were under age 65 and your gross income was at least $9,350 ($18,700 if married and filing jointly) you must file a return. But there are other conditions and requirements depending not only on your age or marital status, but on other criteria, ie, Were you a church employee? Did you sell your main home? Did you make early withdrawals from a qualified retirement plan? And much, much more. Not only are tax laws complex, many of them change every year so a deduction you were able claim in, say, 2007, may not apply to 2009. So asking an accountant or knowledgeable and well- trained tax preparer is the best way to be sure not only if you need to file, but what forms you need to use.


And please don’t procrastinate. April 15 is headed straight for you so getting the paperwork together now is the best way to meet the filing deadline and retain some peace of mind. And wallet.

Inconspicuous Consumption

What can be said when we need a magazine with the name REAL SIMPLE to help us to have at least the illusion that we can manage just fine with a lot less? Real Simple was started in 2001, in a period when people seemed engulfed in buying more and more stuff. About a decade before that, there had been a mini-backlash against conspicuous consumption, but there was no heart in it. Now the push to Less is More not only has heart, it has teeth.

And there the magazine is now, staring at you, simply; mocking you as you wait on the checkout line, because if you need a magazine to tell you how to live simply, you’re too far gone.

It is not just a Gift to be Simple. It is now a necessity.

Spend or Save................again

Once again, we are being told we should spend money to help the economy. Will this really help the U.S. economy --long-term--or will saving lead to a recovery on firmer footing? Consumer spending is what drives the economy but saving somehow feels safer. And should we be spending what we don't really have? (Imagine if we all had huge budget deficits.)But where is the incentive to save when interest rates for savers are so low as to be practically zero?

Mad Men and Women

The second season of Mad Men is upon us. And unlike most sophomore efforts, this season is off to a pretty respectable start.Here we have people who say they are "selling happiness" and yet none of the characters or anyone in their orbit of relationships is really happy. There is a serious and yet stylish disconnect among the inhabitants of this series. And it only makes them more challenging and appealing, not in a likeable way---more like in a fascinating, examining way. It has been said elsewhere how good the cast is-and they are. But I'd also like to add that is well-researched. Birth control pills were unreliable in 1960. And opportunities for women at that time paled compared to today. So, the roles for the women are mainly tangential to the men, except for restrained, persistent and seriously competitive and now junior copywriter Peggy Olson, wonderfully played by Elisabeth Moss. (Interesting that account executive Pete Campbell only finds Peggy attractive when she is a secretary and therefore under his control. As soon as she is bit freer-writing copy and trying to lure him to dance the Twist with her he can't handle it.

Actually, he can't handle a lot below the surface.) For women, the ceiling then wasn't glass for women-it was concrete and only a few could break through. [Some did break through, though, in real life, most notably perhaps Mary Wells Lawrence. She was the first international advertising superstar and highest paid female executive. Take a look at her bio in Ad Age http://adage.com/century/people019.html and another article in USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/money/covers/2002-05-03-wells-lawrence.htm (The Alka-Seltzer mention in Mad-Men--she is the one who came up with the slogan for it.) ] You can see the nascent emergence of the late beatnik/early hippie movements and their avant-garde ideas. But it is clear that the advertising world, like the real planet, had to start changing, and the series reflects that. The Volkswagen ad was one of the first, if not the first, ironic ads. The ad business started to evolve --some shops more slowly than others---with the changing attitudes. There probably will be some soap tricks in the second season, like Campbell wanting to finding the son he had with Peggy-and doesn't know about yet-because let's see, he and his wife will find they either cannot have children or they will lose a baby. Or something. And odds are that Joan gets her consciouness raised.

In any case, the series manages to entertain while giving a glossy glimpse into 1960's business attitudes and habits.

UnHealthly Care

What exactly is not clear about making health care accessible to people who need it? The system definitely is broken and most assuredly needs to be fixed. Sure, anything government gets its hands on often comes out looking like it was designed by a committee of seagulls in the middle of a hurricane. But we need a start. We really do.

Let’s hope Congress remembers long term care for the disabled—remember them? They are among us and usually end up getting pushed out of the health care roulette wheel just when more time and care might help them improve their lives. And it’s one thing to have the system; it is another to get doctors, etc, to accept it.

We think that one of the reasons that health care reform is being pressed so urgently at this time is that some of us can see the pandemic H1N1 flu barreling right for us in the fall. Doesn’t matter that it has started slowly and without too much drama. This virus is an unknown for the most part and a lot of people are going to be affected in some way. Having a comprehensive health care system in place is going to be a necessity.

Make sure your representatives know how you feel. And Make sure you know how you feel and why.

Iran—The Whole World is ………………..

......Waiting.

It does seem that way. Certainly no one wants to make the mistakes of a previous administration, from uttering the cringing C word to meddling in another country’s politics. But when does a religiously political (politically religious?) decree become a human rights violation? Even with news coverage blackouts, how different this is from 1979, when the pendulum swung the other way. Even tough it is hard to really know what is going on images are getting through.

Waiting to comment early on was the smart thing to do. But now, not commenting might appear to be condoning. It really is time to step up.

TV Reality doesn't bite. It stifles and smothers

Reality television shows. Whose reality? Sure, producers and networks love 'em because they are cheaper than creations that use writers and actors and an actual thought process (usually).

Be obnoxiously inconsiderate of your circle of humanity and you are rewarded with 15 minutes of speculation about having your own reality show. And often, with a show.

There is something unreal about Reality T.V. . It is a type of pornography.