by Leif Jensen | Oct 28, 2020 | Rant |
Did you know that the $2 bill is still in circulation? Did you know that they are not scarce? Did you know that printing $2 bills is twice as cost-effective for the government as printing $1 bills since they both cost the same amount (5.5 cents) to manufacture? But...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 27, 2020 | Running a Business |
Now is not the time to be a landlord. Federal regulators are halting evictions of residential tenants for missed rent through the end of the year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued the order after a ban on evictions from federally owned housing...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 26, 2020 | Uncategorized |
Despite the warnings from Steven Hawking, Elon Musk and Bill Gates; everyone is rushing to get and implement “Artificial Intelligence” into every aspect of our computers. The one I hadn’t really considered was the military aspects of “AI”. Now I find that the U.S....
by Leif Jensen | Oct 21, 2020 | Taxes |
Have you been working from home since your employer’s office closed? If so, you do not get to claim the home office deduction, you are an employee. Prior to 2018, certain employees could deduct the cost of home office expenses as unreimbursed employee costs included...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 20, 2020 | Rant |
IRS must soon start sending out economic impact payments to prisoners, according to a district court orders after two prisoners filed suit, claiming that the agency was wrongly withholding stimulus checks from them. Nothing in the CARES Act specifically prohibits the...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 19, 2020 | Estate Planning |
Here is the way to assist your kids or grandkids with their college education: Pay tuition directly to the school. The payment is nontaxable to the student, it does not count against the $15,000 annual gift tax exclusion, and it reduces your estate. The same can be...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 14, 2020 | Rant |
Daylight Saving Time ends in 2020 at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1, marking the time when clocks “fall back” and we gain an extra hour of sleep. Daylight Saving Time, often incorrectly referred to in the plural as Daylight Savings Time, started in 2020 on Sunday, March 8....
by Leif Jensen | Oct 13, 2020 | Rant |
I watched the 1st Presidential debate for about 5 minutes, during that time I was embarrassed by both candidates behavior. Neither looked presidential, they looked and acted like preschoolers. While we essentially have only two political parties according to the...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 12, 2020 | Running a Business |
While Congress is still be debating the color of an orange, the SBA did something for small PPP loan holders. Both parties have stated that they believe that a complete streamlined forgiveness PPP plan should be made for loans of $150,000 or less. But there has yet...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 7, 2020 | Running a Business |
Illinois Department of Human Rights Beginning July 1, 2020, Illinois employers who have had an adverse judgment or administrative ruling related to sexual harassment and/or unlawful discrimination in the preceding calendar year shall disclose annually to the Illinois...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 6, 2020 | Economy, General |
The carbon footprint of our food as been in the news for awhile. Not screaming headlines, but lurking in the shadows. Livestock farming produces from 20% to 50% of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Shrink That Footprint’s has a chart that shows that a meat...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 5, 2020 | Running a Business |
Several large retailers have entered into product streams that are beyond their typical products or services for vertical integration. Walmart, Kroger and Albertsons have entered the milk business bottling business. They all use low priced milk as a loss leader to...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 30, 2020 | Economy |
RBC Capital Markets, an arm of the Royal Bank of Canada, on August 3rd of this year lifted its high-case forecast for the price of gold to $3,060/oz by the first quarter of next year. This is thanks to soaring demand for the metal which also doubles as a reserve...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 29, 2020 | Taxes |
We have all heard the ads on the radio. People promising to get the IRS off your back, Those promises to settle your IRS tax debts for pennies on the dollar are just that: Promises. Firms that hawk these types of tax-debt relief plans are referred to by the IRS as...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 28, 2020 | Taxes |
Leasing a vehicle to use in your business is a bit cheaper tax wise in 2020. If a car that is worth more than $50,000 is first leased for business during the year, the lessee must pay income tax each year on an amount spelled out in IRS tables. For example, on a...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 23, 2020 | Running a Business, Taxes |
I have lots of clients who want their vehicles to be company vehicles, but they only use the vehicles for commuting back and forth to their offices and for other personal uses. So they don’t get to claim a business vehicle. They can get reimbursed for their business...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 22, 2020 | Economy |
There has been and continues to be a huge push for Blockchain data to be widely accepted. Blockchain is an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way from the inception of the currency. ...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 21, 2020 | Running a Business |
“Failure is not to be feared. It is from failure that most growth comes.” Failure is usually the greatest fear of most entrepreneurs. That fear is exponentially increased especially if you are just starting your business and have a family to feed. Fear can be...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 15, 2020 | Investing, Retirement, Running a Business |
Yes, there are options for retirement plans for small owners and their employees. I have a SIMPLE set up in my office. But there are a number of options for small businesses to assist workers save for retirement: SEPs, SIMPLE IRAs, payroll deduction IRAs, profit...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 14, 2020 | Corporate Entities, Rant, Running a Business |
The streaming service wars are showing how well run some of the parent companies are run. Looking at two of the newest services from a couple of the largest companies is a telling sign. Looking at Disney and ATT. Disney Plus shows that Disney’s parent is well run and...
