Is it a Good Time to Buy a Car?

GM stock less than $1.00. Ford stock at $5 dollars. chrysler had to sell out. So is a good time to buy a car? Sure it is. Look we all have to get to work and if you have the cash now is a great time. You can deal in these ruff times. Like you never could before. There are auctions, repos, and just all out starving car salesmen and women that need to move those vehiclles. So if you have a nice down payment and your current vehicle is shotty, try your luck at an American dealership, don't tell nobody. Be sure to get your loan from the credit union, not the bank. The government owns the banks so they are still not giving out loans like they should. I'm not saying that it's the governments fault. the banks should give you a loan but they do whatever they want so... go to the credit union. try to pay the car off asap because you know that they are depreciating assets. Do not get a lease unless you can gaurantee that you will not go over the miles and you know you will be in good standings credit wise 4 years from now. I am going to go and look for something in Libertyville they are giving away $$$$ for anyone to spend if you buy a car from any dealership up there. so happy car shopping. Get your carmax report if you can before you drive off in the lemon of your dreams. LOL.

Agreeing with Suze Orman

Yes, can you believe it I am agreeing with Suze Orman!!! Not on everything, but on the topic about advisers. She had a young guy on her show who does loans at a bank. He was upset that the loans he was selling were on the verge of being unethical. He even admitted that he would not get into anything like this himself. He was just 23 or 24 years old. What I agree with is that Suze says that you have to check and double check everything before you buy. Just be patient. The other issue I have is that you may be involved with an adviser who is trying to make a living and is being pressured to sell to keep food on the table at home. That adviser may not be experienced or just out of school. How can that adviser give objective advise? The truth is they can't. This market place is so complex and easily changed that it is so hard to keep up with the rules let alone the products that come out with changes everyday. So I finally agree with Suze on something. She has been taliking my language lately so I hope she keeps it up.

Happy Memorial Day.

Just Talk!!!

The best yet from Maria B. CNBC analyst. She had all the best minds in the financial industry on tv tonight. Wow, is all I have to say. They actually are starting to talk like human beings. They still have a long way to go. Like the CEO of Citigroup. When they mentioned the fact that CEO's were making too much money he laughed and mumbled he is making a dollar this year. excuse me, what did you make in 2007, or 2008? Probably enough money for a lifetime!! Jack Welch was talking his normal, be a winner bull. Why are these people still in charge of everything? All I can say is that capitalism is still not fair. We are going back to the days when the only people that qualify for a job, a home, or car insurance are people who have never done anything wrong or have perfect credit. Which group of people in this country fit that description? Oh and I am tired of them saying they should blame the investor. The same investor who was never told the whole truth about the investment that they were getting into. These CEO's made their money and then turned around and started to act like they cared. It is so scary. Business as usual has to end. Change the economy by putting people in the position to help people not to feed off of people's ignorance and the thought of a better life. The carrot is just dangling. Never had enough money to buy a home, well here is the bad mortgage that you will never get a chance to pay back. Oh, jump into this IPO, after we make our money first, then when you jump in we will be getting out. It is just a shame that less than 60 years ago a certain group of people had to fight for the right to vote. These smart CEO's actually believe that equal opportunity has been achieved. How? The other group of people in this country have had 100's of years of a head start. When will they admit it?

ETF's Very Tax Efficient

These mutual/type funds are very tax efficient. Why? Because there is usually little turnover. So if you have a mutual fund that fund will buy and sell stocks and create capital gains even if that fund loses money for the year. ETF's may not do that as much because they are looking more at the day to day trading habits that come with the market. It's still a traders market so be careful out there.

New Jobs!

The new job is to have more than one job. Owning your own company is a blessing. But it is very easy to own your own firm. Just create an Internet website and start today. At least it is something. I just got back from Miami, and met our taxi driver. We got to talking on the way to the airport. Antonio the taxi driver owns an export business and a restaurant and he obviously drives his taxi, which he owns by the way. He said something very interesting he said, that he just goes for it. He does not want to have too much money. He is content with being able to live his life the way he wants to. He works 3 months straight and 1 month he takes off to be with his kids. Nice life huh? Well just keep working and we may all be like Antonio. You need at least three jobs.

First 100 Days. What Did You Do?

My first 100 days of 2009. Well it has been exciting. I am looking for my next 5 years. You see by the time I am 47, like our President, I want to have made a difference in the World. So it's good to start at 100 days but I am looking at 5 x's 365. Check out the video.

Top CFO 2009 or Top CF "NO" Award

Howard Atkins- Wells Fargo Stock price 52 week low-$7.80 Last year

Micheal Cavanagh- JP Morgan Chase 52 week low $14.96 Last year

Gary Crittenden- Citi Group 52 week low .97 cents Last year

Andres Cecere- US Bancorp 52 week low $8.06 Last year

they all were down further than anytime in history almost and then when they got bailout money....

Wells Fargo $24
JP Morgan Chase $34
Citi- $3.00
US Bancorp $14

So what did these bankers do? They got money from the government and stop lending money, kept their big salaries and got an award for the best CFO's of the year. They BORROWED tax payer's money to do business with each other!!!! How do they get an award this year for 2009 when 2009 is not even over with? This award came from surveys from financial professionals. I did not get the survey. Maybe it is because the survey was distributed to wall street professionals not mainstreet professionals like myself. Plus the 5-7 trillion dollar threshold to actually participate in this survey was pretty tuff to overcome. I did not have enough money to play. You know the financial award winners in my mind would be the people that did not qualify for the bailout. That would be regular people losing their jobs and losing their homes. Those people need to be awarded for staying alive, and figuring out how to feed their families.

2010 Roth conversion taxable or not?

The Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act (TIPRA) of 2006 will eliminate the eligibility rules for the Roth IRA conversion beginning in 2010. That means that any individual will be able to convert an IRA into a Roth IRA. No $100,000 rule for income. Plus any conversions done in 2010 are not taxable. Can't wait for 2010. Oops, sorry we are talking about the IRS here. Get this, it all sounds good BUT, you have to pay the tax on the conversion over a two year period. 2010-2012. Thanks alot that really helps.

2 days before vacation!!!

Debt, "The American Way?"

I have been thinking about this for a long time. I wish it were not true but it is. Debt is the way we pay for things and have been for 100's, well thousands of years. I just wish we could do away with the credit report. I was interviewing for a job and my credentials were perfect! but my credit report was not so I was not offered the position. I found out later that the person who had a great credit report that got the job ended up stealing from the company. Now that person is in jail and the company went under. Hmmmm........ This leads us to wonder if we should hire people based on who they are and not on the piece of paper that has some numbers on it?

Who Do You Trust?

In my everyday routine of meeting with clients there is one constant. They have questions. They have 3 or 4 people that they call their advisers. They have questions. I know I said that already but it is true. We all have to make a living but this is getting ridiculous. I met with a client today and the client showed me a couple of annuity contracts from two different advisers. The annuities were variable in nature. The client is retired and over 60 years old. Why would this client need a variable annuity? The advisers told the client that she could get a guaranteed return of 6% every year. They did not tell the client about all the different things that the client needed to do to get the 6%. Better yet the advisers did not tell the client about the things that could happen to mess up the 6% guarantee. The commission to the advisor is very lucrative. The advisers failed to mention that as well. This client called me and asked me about these contracts. I told her the truth. I also could have recommended these contracts but they are totally in appropriate for the client. The client trusted me because I did not try to sell her something. I educated her. Now those two advisers lost the sale and I gained the trust of the client. Just be careful out here. When you get ready to purchase products be sure that you need the product and get the advisor to educate you about the product first. When you make the decision instead of the advisor just coming up with something they get paid on then you may have a trustworthy advisor and a product that you need.

Change or Get Out!!!

It's all about productivity. There are companies out there that will keep you only if you produce. That is just fine if the companies spend the money on you to help you produce. What is going on? Look, if you get fired from a job because you are not having a good year won't that hurt your next search for a new job. It is just shocking that so many people lose their jobs because the company they work for changes it's tune about how they do business and the employees have to fall in line or get out. It's just wrong. If the company wants to change then the company has to help the employees change. Not give the employees ultimatums. It is a shame but you have to have two or three jobs waiting in the wings just in case your employer finds a new way to make money that may include you getting fired for not producing when the environment prohibits you from doing just that. Eh. I know, that's life. Well who said it has to be like this. I say that every profession needs a union. At least you have some place to complain.

ROTH IRA A Tax Free Arrangement.

A Roth IRA is an individual retirement plan that can provide you with tax free income.  You can put up to $6,000 in these accounts and invest the money in most anything you want.  There are no age limits but there are income limits to be elligible to contribute.  Also you never have to take your money out of this kind of IRA.  you can leve your mney in these for as long as you live.  If you do not have a retirement plan at work try one of these at the bank or your advisor can hook you up.  You will eventually stop working so you are going to need to save.  What beeter place than a ROTH IRA.  Just leave your money in the ROTH for 5 years and keep using it until age 59 1/2 and it is tax freee income from the tax deffered growth you gained in the account over the years.  Tax Free!! I like it.  Any questions?

Market Close!! Auto sales pretty low, mortgages are down. Still we were up today.