Fareed Zakaria on the new tax bill Whether or not one agrees with the wisdom of the GOP tax bill, if it becomes law (as it looks like it will, as of December 17th, 2017), then each taxpayer probably wants to make the best of it on a personal basis....

Arun Muralidhar , inventor of the SOLFIE, on managing financial risk With the declining availability of defined benefit pensions, the risk of having enough income in retirement is falling on the individual shoulders of a larger percentage of the workforce...

one entrepreneur's method for profit from used books " Arbitrage " is a Wall Street word for selling assets (or companies) at a profit at almost the same moment you are buying them at the lower price. The Planet Money episode linked below...

California fires 2017 Almost every homeowner has fire insurance...but, is it enough to replace one's home and belongings? Like every contract, the devil is in the details. What is covered?: Assessed value? Original cost? Depreciated cost...

from Fox Soccer The U.S. soccer team will not be involved in the World Cup play-offs for the first time in 30 years. They lost in the men's qualifying event to LAST place Trinidad-Tobago. But Fox Sports was an even bigger loser: " The most...

trailer of Netflix series from YouTube Ozark' s initial reviews described it as being less compelling than Breaking Bad. Therefore , in the era of Too Much TV ( Forbes ), it did not get my attention right away. But a recommendation from a former...

PwC tries to justify using non-GAAP acct'g measures YouTube PayPal's second-quarter earnings "beat the numbers": its revenues of $3.14 billion were higher than analysts predicted "Beating the numbers" is helpful in maintaining...

image from The Tap Blog The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has changed its estimates of U.S. economic growth as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP). The estimates have declined. As of April, 2017, the IMF estimated 2.3% growth this year...

chart from thrillist.com Airline frequent flyer miles are a currency that is always undergoing a process of devaluation. While a traveler is busy saving up miles for a big trip...the number of miles that it will take to fly for free is almost always...

an Uber receipt in New York State As you may be able to see in the receipt above, New York State sales tax is charged on Uber rides...but the amount is taken out of the driver's pay, rather than paid as an add-on tax by the customer. Most of us...

Taking the first step to invest in your financial future may seem daunting if a parent or a mentor did not help you get started. Although the internet is a morass of both good and bad advice, the NerdWallet website, which is not selling particular products...

Ford plant in China, from NYT Daily 360 In January 2017, Ford Motor Company scrapped its plan to build a $1.6 billion factory in Mexico, partly in response to "chiding" from Trump . Instead, at that point they planned to re-tool an existing...

The Wizard of Lies trailer The story of Bernie Madoff is a classic drama involving business ethics. Madoff was the financial manipulator behind the largest Ponzi scheme in American history. A Ponzi scheme is set up so that the earlier investors are...

from The Edge TV, YouTube In 2013, Malaysian financier Jho Low made Steven Witcof's extravagant plans for the NYC Park Lane property seem possible. Low had promised 85% of the financing, and had provided twice the usual non-refundable down payment...

PM images/Getty images via the podcast linked below NPR's Planet Money posed these questions recently: What is the value of a lost tooth to the tooth fairy...over the last 40 years? What is the value of an "Oxford comma"...when clarity...

AON Affinity executive discusses cyber risk via AICPA and YouTube The AICPA , which is the professional organization that promulgates standards for accounting reporting and auditing, is issuing guidelines on assessing and mitigating cyber risk. Amy...

TEDx March 2017 via YouTube: Steve Ballmer talks about USAFacts Steve Ballmer , a "numbers guy" who retired from his position as CEO of Microsoft in 2014, is about to launch a new project: USAFacts.org . This is a database of financial information...

Minh Uong, NYT The headlines about Trump's proposed tax plan mostly opine that it represents a huge tax cut for the wealthy. But the article linked below highlights a different aspect of the plan. Like current tax law, there are loopholes...but...

From the W. Cotton Mather, CPA website A few months ago, Congress authorized the IRS to use private collection agencies to collect overdue taxes. The plan is to turn over 1,000 accounts a month to businesses who will pocket 25% of the amounts that they...

image from a credit card review by The Points Guy American Express credit cards have long been positioned as the high-end credit card. Its various metal colors have conveyed different levels of prestige. The attached perks have come with annual...

In these days when egregious ethical violations by businesses, complicated by cover-ups, often make headlines--here is some good news: KPMG (one of the Big Four auditing firms), has taken immediate action to fire five partners and one other individual...

image from Calbuzz Joe Bankman (a Stanford professor) has a tax reform idea that would simplify the process of reporting and paying taxes. The idea is simple, and is modeled after the practices in several European countries and Australia. Since the...

image from the Better Business Bureau If you sign up for an online budgeting and bookkeeping system like Mint , you agree to allow them access to your credit card and banking transactions. What they (and other tech companies) might do with the information...

image from The Street The tontine is an investment vehicle with a shady reputation...but with a certain logic for retirees who might live longer than they ever imagined when they were doing their financial planning. Putting aside the sinister aspects...

image from biz journals.com In introductory Accounting and Business courses, the basic principles of business ownership are covered. Corporations sell shares of stock to raise money to invest in their business plan. Stock owners have the right to vote...