It seems to me like if you drive an old clunker, you probably put pretty little value on the “looks” of your vehicle.  And I’m guessing that you probably HATE the thought of spending a years salary on buying a new one when your old one is serving you just fine and is allowing you to keep putting food on the table. 

I could be missing something, but WHO CAN AFFORD a new car at today’s inflated prices, without job security, with the value of your home in the tanks, with taxes going up, and with your investments a fraction of their former selves.  Not to mention that wages are decreasing across the country and millions of people who do have jobs are having to take paycuts and are under employed. 

Is it stupid to think that a better plan may have been to incentivize WEALTHY AMERICANS to start buying more and newer cars.  They actually have the cash to do it…and they can give their old Cadillacs to their grand kids or something like that.  Give the rich people a tax break for once and see how they open up their pocketbooks and jump start consumer spending. 

Trickle down baby, trickle down!

Wow, the last few weeks have been awesome and crazy.  The launch of the new company is going WELL above my initial expectations.  We are extremely busy with good work.  For this I am thankful, but it has made it extremely difficult for me to find time to post here at TAM.  You all know my girls are my number one priority, so they have been getting any free time that I can muster.

This quick post is important as Michigan released unemployment data and we hit a staggering 14.1% unemployment rate here in this once great state of opportunity.  This is sad and sobering.  Basically 15 out of every 100 people that I know in Michigan are unable to find work. 

The situation here in Michigan is simply out of control.  Big government and a burdensome tax system here in the Great Lakes state has left our economy decimated.  We seem to tax EVERYTHING…even in hard times.  There is hardly an incentive to innovate here anymore.  The emails that I’m receiving from you readers who are looking to start business show a common theme.  Most would be entrepreneurs are held up by fear of the tax system, or not understanding the legal issues of owning a business.  THESE THINGS SHOULD BE CLEAR AND EASY, THIS WOULD PROMOTE INNOVATION AND RISK TAKING MORE THAN ANYTHING!  Couple that with some strategic, easy to access investment dollars for GREAT business plans…and we could turn this thing around. 

I’m praying for my state, but the sad fact is that Jesus did not come to save us from bad business decisions.  We must deal with those here and now!

So I broke down and filed my 2008 Federal & State Taxes last night!  I’m am SO GLAD to have it behind me.  It was a great tax year for me in 2008.  I had instituted significant tax planning at the beginning of the year that paid off big time.  No one has paid me to say this (nor is it an affiliate link) but TURBO TAX is an easy and amazing way to do easy or complex tax returns for about $75 bucks.  I’ve been using them since 2001 and have had nothing but great experiences.  And the software gets more user friendly every year.  I highly suggest that you check it out. 

In 2001 I took my return to someone at H&R Block here in Michigan.  That individual was nice, but I knew right away that I knew WAY MORE about tax filing than she did.  I actually got behind her computer at one point and was inputting some stock trading transaction data for her…(she didn’t understand the concept of cost basis).  Anyways.  I ended up paying her like $190 bucks and never even sent in the returns that she printed off for me when I left her office.  I went home and got online and messed with Turbo Tax for a few hours.  When I was done, I had an ACCURATE return that was putting $800 more into my refund.  I’ve been hooked on Turbo Tax every since. 

So good luck with your tax filing.  GO FOR IT!  DO IT YOURSELF.  You can always e-mail your CPA friend if you run into any questions!