Pay all your real estate tax bills — even though some installments may only be due next year — 2018.
Second To-Do: Read this New York Times piece:
Tax Changes Are Coming Next Year, but You Can Plan for Them Now
Tips from the article:
1. Pay property taxes early.
2. Prepay state taxes, but only if you don’t qualify for AMT.
3. Make large charitable donations.
4. Harvest stock losses.
5. Don’t act hastily.
Read the full article here.
Important weekend reading:
Skin Cancers Rise, Along With Questionable Treatments
Click here.
Hackers steal $70 million in bitcoin
Click here.
New Evidence for Critics of Weight-Loss and Sports Supplements
A study finds two illegal and two unknown substances; doctors worry about ties between dietary supplements and liver damage
Click here.
The Hidden Player Spurring a Wave of Cheap Consumer Devices: Amazon
Click here.
Harvey Weinstein’s complicity machine
Click here.
The Inviolate Stop Loss revisited
So it’s not inviolate. According to many readers;
+ “10% is too small for volatile tech stocks. 20% is better.”
+ “Often, when my stop is hit, the stock will appear to be right on support on longer and shorter term charts. In such cases I will hold the stock unless it breaks through support. It helps avoid the frustration of selling out right at the bottom.”
In short, if you’re uncomfortable with 10%, try 15%.
Stop losses can (and should) vary by stock. Ideas:
+ Tech stocks may deserve 15%.
+ Broken companies, i.e. ones with lately poor earnings and poor prospects may deserve 0%.
+ Your own enthusiasm for the stock counts, also.
Tips on how to offend everybody
I came out of the chip shop with a meat/potato pie, large chips, mushy peas & a jumbo sausage.
A poor homeless man sitting there, said, “I’ve not eaten for two days.”
I told him, “I wish I had your will power!”
A fat girl took a while to serve me in McDonald’s at lunch time today.
She said, “Sorry about the wait.”
I said, “Don’t worry dear. You might lose it eventually.”
An Irish boy stands crying at the side of the road.
A man asks him,”What’s wrong?”
The boy says,”Me ma is dead”.
“Oh bejaysus,” the man says.
“Do you want me to call Father O’Riley for you?”
The boy replies,”No tanks mister. Sex is the last ting on me mind at the moment..”
A woman has a medical at the doctors…
“You are grossly overweight,” he says.
“I want a second opinion,” she exclaims.
“OK. You’re ugly as well.”
Harry Newton, whose friends ask, “How does Trump work?“
My answer, based on living in New York and watching him over many years and speaking to his lawyers:
He tries anything and everything. And has — from an airline to a university, to steaks and a mortgage company, from board games to casinos. Most he seems to do with little forethought, or genuine understanding of the business. When they fail, he closes them down and moves on. He suffers a little. His creditors and investors suffer more.
Try anything. Roll the dice. This is a strange way to run a country. Combine “try anything” with fulfilling campaign promises he made to his supporters and you end up naming Jerusalem capital of Israel or promoting coal by removing restrictions on dumping dirty stuff into clean streams or spewing it into clean air. He made these promises up by seeing reactions from campaign speeches. Think those little red lights on top of the TV cameras. Make up promises. Keep the lights on.
Trump is making a handsome profit on the presidency — from the monies the government pays him, to attendance at his Washington hotel and events and attendance at Mar-a-Largo. Another four years as president will clearly benefit his pocketbook. It’s hard to figure if he enjoys being president. He clearly doesn’t enjoy the criticism. But he clearly enjoys the financial rewards — the biggest of which may well be Tax Reform.
Time magazine wrote about about his 16 biggest successes and failures here.
Harry thank you for the heads up on property tax prepayment. If tax reform goes thru and state tax deduction eliminated I won’t be itemizing next year. Better to prepay and get deduction this year. Not much downside other than paying a bit early.
Harry, as you know, when it comes to left or right political perspectives, there is a rational left as well as a rational right.
People from the rational left or rational right have something to contribute to the dialogue that can move the nation forward..
but as we see this morning irrational folks like some of your commenters have absolutely nothing to contribute except hate.
Best to ignore them- and keep them out of power.
….”the rational left”…..LOL
Hey bruuno, I know for a fact that Trump lives rent free in your deluted mind as well.
Trump is destroying your evil democrat party.
The democrat party is the party of “child trafficking and pedophelia”!!!!!!
Brunno,
There was no hate from me, just clear facts and observations backed up by supporting links to help those who have a rational mind to see a clear and consistently unfair bias. Wouldn’t you agree that slanted reporting and consistently one sided opinions without merit constitute real hate. Regardless of party or affiliation shouldn’t all rational people be on the side of truth. I know Trump is not a saint but even a small amount of honest web searching would demonstrate he is far from the monster that the liberal media portrays. Brunno, I assume you are a rational person and as such can clearly see Time Magazine and all of the other media references I have seen on Harry’s blog are anything but rational and fair. I know it is his right to slant the perspective and on;y show a hateful perspective of Trump and I accept that when I read it. I like to believe I am a rational and open minded person. I have been reading Harry’s blog since he quit his short lived magazine with the same title (which incidentally I subscribed to). I love Harry’s perspective for the most part. It saddens me that he only appears to review and ingest liberal media but that is precisely why I offered my post.
I wish nothing but happiness to you and to all who have a differing opinion, but most of all I wish for open, honest and truthful dialog and perspective.
Happy Holidays.
Gary
I appreciate the thoughtful response, Gary, I really do.
People who identify as either liberal or conservative can agree to disagree forever, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Speaking of perspective, I don’t know Harry personally but to me he comes across very much as a centrist when it comes to venturing into the realm of politics.
Just to give you an idea about me, I am an admirer of many of President Obama’s achievements and his public persona, but I am also very critical of many his actions while in office.
Cannot say that about the current officeholder, and it’s not about being a “monster”-
It’s the behavior:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/07/donald_trump_is_unfit_to_be_president_here_are_141_reasons_why.html
Happy Holidays to you!
Regardless of whether or not you dislike or like Trump and his comments, at least we have stopped the Clinton machine and once again I feel like we have a President that is doing what is right for the country instead of giving our soul away.
Harry, maybe Time Mag should do an article on the 16 biggest successes and failures of Barack Obama. I guess creating ISIS would be one of Obama’s successes…..LOL
Harry you also forgot to mention that Donald Trump lives RENT FREE in you tiny liberal brain.
Harry I almost forgot to congratulate you on the reelection of your wonderful NYC Mayor Billy deBlasio. Harry, I’m sure you voted for this gigantic piece of shit. You and all of the NYC limousine liberals deserve deBlasio.
I actually don’t vote in New York City. I vote in upstate New York.
Harry,
I hate to disagree with your Hate Trump bias as it is so very endearing to the irrational left but I must at least point out a fact and an alternate perspective for those who read your column and want a more balanced view.
Your statement “profit on the presidency — from the monies the government pays him” is flatly false. Trump is donating his entire salary to worthy causes. Each quarter he picks a different and worthy cause. This 3rd quarter salary is going to help resolve the opioid crisis. Last quarter he donated his salary to the Dept of Education. What kind of scoundrel donates his entire salary to worthy causes? Here is a link from the venerable USA Today detailing it.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/30/trump-donates-part-his-salary-federal-opioid-awareness-campaign/910838001/
I don’t have facts to refute the other allegations, but I will comment that as an ordinary American, I am less interested in how Trump benefits and more interested in how much it costs me as a tax payer. in that regard, the last administration cost me far more. Here is another link to detail that. https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/weekly-updates/much-obama-hawaii-trip-cost/
Thanks for providing the far left perspective all the time.
Gary
Re: Jerusalem Harry is just another self loathing jew