by Leif Jensen | Feb 3, 2020 | Investing |
The beginning age for taking required minimum distributions rises to 72 from 70½. This easing applies to account owners who turn 70½ after 2019. So, if you turned 70½ in 2019, you must still take your first RMD by April 1, 2020. Employees who work past age 72 can...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 29, 2020 | General, Money Management |
I have no idea why lately I have been intrigued with businesses that focus on targeting low income people. I know that I have seen a commercial recently that was advertising payday loans. I guess this piqued my curiosity that it was a profitable enough industry to...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 28, 2020 | Franchises, Retail, Running a Business |
Cricket is a strange player in the cell phone market. Before the purchase by AT&T, I met with an owner of three Cricket locations. This gentleman owned a dozen or so franchises of different sorts and was thinking of hiring a CPS firm to handle the bookkeeping...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 27, 2020 | Money Management, Running a Business |
A payday loan is a type of short-term borrowing where a lender will extend high-interest credit based on a borrower’s income and credit profile. A payday loan’s principal is typically a portion of a borrower’s next paycheck. … These loans are...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 22, 2020 | General, Money Management, Running a Business |
“Banks and credit unions have become so sophisticated in driving up overdrafts that Americans now pay more in overdraft fees every year than they do for books, cereal, or fresh vegetables,” according to the Center for Responsible Lending senior researcher...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 21, 2020 | Expense reduction, Rant |
It probably took over a year to get my wife to finally agreed to cut the cord. We were paying $160 a month for DirecTV. Once purchased by AT&T there was no discounts or flexibility with DirecTV unless you purchased their other products, which I did not need. I...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 15, 2020 | Rant |
I have been thinking about one the side hustles that I read about and was not overly fond of when I first read about it in an article. The choice was to develop a class to teach online. I still think it may be a stretch for most people, myself included. Though in...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 14, 2020 | Running a Business, Taxes |
Payroll tax scofflaws continue to be a major area of focus for the IRS. These are firms that withhold Social Security and Medicare taxes from employees’ paychecks, but use the withheld funds for personal expenses or to pay other creditors instead of sending the money...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 13, 2020 | Retail, Running a Business |
It is not hard to believe that the e-commerce is still growing, if you listen closely you can hear another retailer shuttering their doors. Nor is it hard to imagine that electronic business to business if the fastest growing segment of the market. Apparently half of...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 8, 2020 | Running a Business |
Michael Lewis in his book “The New, New Thing” offers us possibly the best distilled the definition of a business model: “All it really meant was how you planned to make money” That is the ultimate purpose of all businesses, enterprises and Not-for-Profits, it is to...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 7, 2020 | Running a Business |
I was at a several day seminar a few weeks ago and at several times throughout the seminar touched on the topics of due diligence. That got me thinking about my clients and their responsibilities for due diligence: with clients, employees, health and well-being, etc....
by Leif Jensen | Jan 6, 2020 | Running a Business |
Cash the life blood of every organization. So what is the current state of your receivables? I personally always liked how Jean Sheppard put it “In God we trust, all others pay cash”. I know he probably did not create the saying, but I know it from his book. If...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 6, 2020 | Investing |
Surprise it seems that stock gamblers are on the rise. But, sooner or later, they will lose most—if not all—of their recent gains. Just look at options trading, which has been surging. Many traders use options as a cheap way to try hitting the jackpot: stock-market...
by Leif Jensen | Dec 18, 2019 | Rant, Running a Business |
Merriam-Webster has a contrarian as a person who takes a contrary position or attitude specifically: an investor who buys shares of stock when most others are selling and sells when others are buying. Malcom Gladwell essentially labels them as outliers. W.Chan Kim and...
by Leif Jensen | Dec 17, 2019 | Advertising, Rant, Running a Business |
“How to Network” I am awful at this. I hate going into a room where I may kind of know only one or two people, or worse know no one in the room at all. But, I need to network to continue to grow my business, so I go to networking events. I also prefer those events...
by Leif Jensen | Dec 16, 2019 | Rant |
I was reading yet another article on the impact of student loans on Millenniums. They had been listening to their parents who were working off the assumptions that had helped them make their place in the world. But apparently the world had changed, and those...
by Leif Jensen | Dec 11, 2019 | Taxes |
I was reading an opinion piece in the WSJ about Warren and her “2 cents” Wealth Tax campaign, and it reminded me of this story. Granted the percentages have changed since this was first printed, but the meaning is still valid. Also, I think this was originally done is...
by Leif Jensen | Dec 10, 2019 | Corporate Entities, Running a Business, Taxes |
The goal of most business owners beyond profit is to protect their businesses and themselves. This is why the government has allowed people the ability to organize or incorporate their businesses. This is how at a basic level you can legally protect the individual...
by Leif Jensen | Dec 9, 2019 | General, Investing, Money Management, Rant |
There is a whole cottage industry running to show you how to do just that; books, articles, webinars, seminars. You name it there is someone trying to sell you their plan to help make you a millionaire. Most of it is bullshit, there is no magic elixir that will get...
by Leif Jensen | Dec 4, 2019 | General, Running a Business |
Over the years that I have seen some awful and then worse ideas for a side hustle. But there are some ideas that are pretty good and others that are great. Here are some that either myself or my clients are involved with: Sell on eBay – I am doing this, and I know...
