Link: Vallejo, California Drafts Bankruptcy Exit – WSJ.com This is a very important development.  There’s been some talk lately about possibly allowing states to go bankrupt, but the implications of that are far from clear.  We won’t know how bondholders, for example, end up getting treated on the municipal level in this particular case for […]

Link: The Paradox of Corporate Taxes in America – NYTimes.com It’s worth remembering that corporations don’t pay taxes.  Their customers and their owners do and make no mistake that their owners do everything the can to make sure it’s the customers who pay.  In fact, the managers who run the companies on behalf of the […]

Link: The Haves and the Have-Nots – NYTimes.com Fascinating profile of cost-of-living adjusted wealth in the world.  As massive populations in China, India and Brazil start to have growing incomes, there may be some great ways for an American investor to profit as well.

The safety trap: Protect yourself against index annuities – Jan. 17, 2011

Link: What the 2011 Tax Changes Mean for You – WSJ.com

Link: Court: Medical residents not students : SCOTUSblog After a long time and a lot of uncertainty, the Supreme Court has given us a final answer.  Medical Residents are employees, not students.  The distinction is very important because it affects whether or not residents (and their employers – the teaching hospitals) have to pay FICA […]

Link: Goldman’s Mutual Friend – NYTimes.com An interesting NYTimes Blog post discussing Goldman’s investment of $450 million into Facebook – and what it costs Goldman (very little – they still get basically free money from us taxpayers) – what they may get from it (lots of stuff) and what we and other outsiders get from […]

Link: Tax Deal: What’s In It for You? A nice summary of the parts of the new tax cut deal which will likely affect most people.  In particular, the continued lower rates on income taxes, of course, as well as the continued lower rates on certain investment income (qualified dividends and long-term capital gains), as […]

Link: Experts agree: Get over your fear and get back into stocks – USATODAY.com As usual, a useless headline.  Where were these “experts” in March of 2009?  And they’re recommending getting into stocks *now* – after a great 6 months, and after nearly doubling over the last 18 months.  And did they tell everyone to […]

Link: How to Avoid Making Mistakes When Giving to Charity – WSJ.com Some very important reminders, both about selecting and managing your charitable giving – and about some sometimes subtle tax matters to be careful of.