by Leif Jensen | Aug 16, 2017 | General |
I was listening to a podcast, probably “Under the Influence”, they was talking about Coca Cola and Pepsi. It seems that Pepsi had overheard, discovered or stumbled over Coke’s marketing plan. But Coke was not worried. It was explained away by these points:...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 15, 2017 | General |
“`I just had a client call asking about their refund. They had not presented us with their banking information so the refund was going to be a paper check. But, also they moved at the beginning of the year. But all of the tax docs for this new client...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 14, 2017 | General |
Apple has finally made it to the table, joining in with Amazon, Google, and Microsoft in allowing us to pay to put spying devices in our household. It is expected that the Apple loyal will allow Apple to quickly gain traction with its voice-activated speaker....
by Leif Jensen | Aug 9, 2017 | General |
China has put into effect a new cybersecurity law, mainly to vex U.S. companies. The policy went into effect on June 1; it is expected to cost large firms millions of dollars to comply with. The tangle of rules will be especially tricky or near...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 8, 2017 | General |
How many of you have protection on your businesses smartphones? My guess is none have done it, yet. As more and more of your business transaction and personal lives are run on these phones security should be a much higher concern. The protection of...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 7, 2017 | General |
It seems that the big investors are finally getting fed up with stocks that don’t come with voting rights for shareholders. Mutual funds, asset managers and other large institutional investors are finally pushing financial regulators to stop firms from issuing...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 2, 2017 | General |
We now populate the odd urban locations and out of sight suburban areas with storage unit facilities. This has allowed a specialized group of people to capitalize on our near complete inability to make a decision. I have known multiple people who while moving...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 1, 2017 | General |
I have quite a few clients who own rental properties that generate actual cash flow, but because of the depreciation expense of the properties generate actual tax loses. Over the years, I have had clients that were reluctant landlords. With personal changes in their...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 31, 2017 | General |
A stock is a type of security that signifies a small percentage of ownership in a corporation and represents a claim on part of the corporation’s assets and earnings. Warren Buffett likes to say that the first rule of investing is “Don’t lose...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 26, 2017 | General |
I was on my way to a client and I heard a story on NPR about the impact of student loan debt and the stats threw me, so I went back to get the details. According to the story there are 44 million Americans that currently have student loan debt. This is over...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 25, 2017 | General |
A client was generous enough to track down a library that still has a copy of Seth Klarman’s “Margin of Safety “available to read in the library. Yes I own many, many books but I am not willing to spend $1,200 on this one, when I can read it for free. Klarman starts...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 24, 2017 | General |
When I am starting to work with new clients, one question I typically ask them is do they have a Board of Directors (BOD) or a Board of Advisors (BOA). Basically someone whose opinion that they trust and respect that they can bounce ideas off of. One client...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 19, 2017 | General |
Is U.S. economic growth threatened by a shortage of qualified workers? I know this sounds like a recruiting line… But small-business owners should be concerned about where and how they are going to meet their personnel needs. As the economy seems...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 18, 2017 | General |
Due to a paid preparer’s series of errors with a client’s tax return, the client was excused from a penalty. A woman who had sold her stock in connection with a corporate redemption and received a check dated Jan. 4, 2012 and a statement with an Aug. 2011...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 17, 2017 | General |
Ok, I just don’t understand the logic behind this case from a tax standpoint; from a curiosity stand point yes, but not a tax standpoint, no. A son took it upon himself to start an investigation in 2003 of his father’s mysterious death in 1946. The son...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 12, 2017 | General |
It seems that people forget that when they are an independent contractor getting a paid on a 1099 can create a huge tax liability. If you have a “Schedule C” business, you recognize your 1099 income and get to deduct related business expenses. But any profit...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 11, 2017 | General |
While certain business owners can get all wrapped up in analysis paralysis, I have a client who is taking the philosophy of “Leap” for 2017. He is making decisions based upon his goals and future plans. There are financial costs to these decisions, the money...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 10, 2017 | General |
Lately I have seen signs stating that there are openings at companies, but only if the have specific experience doing exactly what they are looking for. I imagine that the companies also expect the job candidates to know their corporate culture and company polices as...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 5, 2017 | General |
Did you forget to disclose all of your Swiss Bank accounts to the IRS by Tax Day? You need not panic yet if you missed the April 18 deadline for reporting foreign accounts. The IRS has allowed for you to have an automatic six-month extension (until Oct....
by Leif Jensen | Jun 28, 2017 | General |
Profit is not a dirty word! All businesses have to make a profit to survive, even Not-for-Profits, they more than any other needs to have a profit for those inevitable lien times or for future growth. One client has been struggling to firm up their fixed and...
