Bye Bye Dollar Bill?

The following article was from Yahoo News...

 

What do you think?  Would you use it?

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — American consumers have shown about as much appetite for the $1 coin as kids do their spinach. They may not know what's best for them either. Congressional auditors say doing away with dollar bills entirely and replacing them with dollar coins could save taxpayers some $4.4 billion over the next 30 years.

Vending machine operators have long championed the use of $1 coins because they don't jam the machines, cutting down on repair costs and lost sales. But most people don't seem to like carrying them. In the past five years, the U.S. Mint has produced 2.4 billion Presidential $1 coins. Most are stored by the Federal Reserve, and production was suspended about a year ago.

The latest projection from the Government Accountability Office on the potential savings from switching to dollar coins entirely comes as lawmakers begin exploring new ways for the government to save money by changing the money itself.

The Mint is preparing a report for Congress showing how changes in the metal content of coins could save money.

The last time the government made major metallurgical changes in U.S. coins was nearly 50 years ago when Congress directed the Mint to remove silver from dimes and quarters and to reduce its content in half dollar coins. Now, Congress is looking at new changes in response to rising prices for copper and nickel.

Read rest of article here:

http://news.yahoo.com/congress-looks-doing-away-1-bill-083418974--politics.html

Social Security Overhaul: An Obama Legacy?

CNBC.com Article: Social Security Overhaul: An Obama Legacy?

Getty Images

Among the fires that President Barack Obama must beat back immediately in his second term, Social Security reform isn’t in the mix. But if the president studies past administrations — and aims to enhance his legacy, as presidents do — Social Security may well rise to the top.

The question for a president is, “how willing you are to be a leader and make a name for yourself,” said Christian Weller, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and an associate professor of public policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Obama gives it [Social Security revamping] a try.”

 

Read rest of this CNBC Article Here

Is Social Security a Good Deal or Not?

Is Social Security a good deal? Many Americans worry that they will put more money into the system via payroll taxes during their working years than they will ever get back in benefits — and their concerns help fuel the ongoing push by Republicans to transform Social Security into a privatized system of personal accounts.

ImagesBazaar | Getty Images

Mitt Romney has supported privatization in the past (see his book, "No Apology"), and running mate Paul Ryan argued for it as recently as last week's vice presidential debate: "Let younger Americans have a voluntary choice of making their money work faster for them within the Social Security system."

Could workers make their money grow more quickly with personal accounts? The actuaries at the Social Security Administration (SSA) ran an analysis recently that simulated real (after inflation) annual rates of return on payroll tax contributions for beneficiaries who were born between 1920 and 2004.

It showed that some workers might beat Social Security's returns in some years if they took risks in the stock market. But over a lifetime, Social Security's consistent, risk-free and inflation-adjusted returns would be very tough to beat.

 

Read the rest of the CNBC article here.

CNBC.com Article: Marc Faber: Market Setting Up for ‘Serious Setback’

Global markets have been weakening technically and are poised to head sharply downward, “Gloom, Boom & Doom Report” editor Marc Faber said Tuesday on CNBC.

On “Fast Money,” he stood by his call that stocks would fall 20 percent.

“Basically, I think QE3, which I think is unlimited, and bond purchases by the ECB bailout of countries have been largely discounted by the market, and the markets have been weaking technically, so I believe that we may have here quite a serious setback,” he said.

Faber discounted the role of government intervention as a way to improve economic conditions.

(Read More: Marc Faber: Stocks Will Fall; Jim Rogers: China to Rise)

“We need less policies, not more policies,” he said.

“I would love to see everywhere in the world, certainly in the Western world, government expenditures and government bureaucrats cut by minimum 50 percent,” he added. “That would turn me very bullish.”

Pressed for a place to put his money, Faber looked to Asia.

 

Read more of this story here.

 

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Spiking the Monetary Punch Bowl

October 5, 2012

How Helicopter Ben Helps Jobs and, Inadvertently, Gold

By Frank Holmes
CEO and Chief Investment Officer
U.S. Global Investors

The world’s central bank leaders continue to spike the monetary punch bowl, with investors imbibing on gold once again. This flurry of gold buying prompts many curious investors and doubting media to ask me two questions: 1) How can demand for gold and gold stocks continue; and 2) How high can the precious metal go?
To answer these questions, we need to look at the intentions behind the economic and political decision-making across several developed countries, analyze the causes, the effects, and the possible ramifications.
For example, one of the most debated topics today is America’s ongoing unemployment situation. Job loss has affected the lives and pocketbooks of millions of Americans and our friends and families, culminating to a center-stage position in the election this year. All eyes turn to President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to explain how each intends to create jobs.

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CNBC.com Article: Tax Hikes Coming No Matter Who Wins White House

CNBC.com Article: Tax Hikes Coming No Matter Who Wins White House

 



Regardless of who wins the White House this November, the new health-care law will raise taxes on high-income Americans next year—and that could have implications for stocks and other assets.

Starting Jan. 1, there will be an additional 3.8 percent tax on investment income—including capital gains, dividends and rental income. It will apply to married couples with adjusted gross income of $250,000 or more and for individuals above $200,000.

There will also be a 0.9 percent tax next year on all salaries and wages earned above those same threshold amounts.

The new taxes, part of the 2010 health care law, are expected to help fund Medicare.

The tax hikes mean that the current dividend and capital gains tax rates of 15 percent will rise to at least to 18.8 percent next year for the wealthiest tax payers.

If Democrats win the White House and Senate, they are expected to push for a 20 percent capital gains and dividend tax rate, while Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney favors no change.

 

Read Full Article:CNBC

As Low Rates Depress Savers, Governments Reap Benefits

A consumer complaint is ricocheting around the world: low interest rates are eating away at savings, the New York Times reports.

Bill Taren, a retiree near Orlando, Fla., discovered in August that his credit union would pay only 0.4 percent annual interest on his saving account, even though inflation averaged 2.8 percent over the last year. So he and his wife decided to just stuff their money in the mattress, he says, because at least there “we can see the cash when we want.”

Jeanne and André Bussière, in Annecy, France, have a stable pension and a bank account that pays 2 percent interest — “almost nothing,” they say — even though the consumer price index rose an average of 2.5 percent over the last year.

Jiang Rong, an information technology professional in Xiamen, China, decided to dive back into the speculative real estate market rather than watch his savings wither at the bank. In China, too, the cost of living is outrunning savings, as local restaurants nearly double their prices.

The fact that interest yields are so low in so many parts of the world is no coincidence. Rates are determined not only by markets, but also by government policy. And right now many governments say they have good reason to keep their own borrowing costs as low as they possibly can. Just last week, the government’s report on job growth in the United States showed continued weakness, and an international forecasting group warned that the European economic powerhouse, Germany, will fall into recession later this year.

 

Read more: CNBC.com Article:

Who's Profiting From Your 401(k)?

 

CNBC.com Article: Who's Profiting From Your 401(k)?

Why investors have suffered below-market returns even as mutual fund management company owners enjoyed market-beating results.

In this election year, there's a lot of talk about how the middle class has been decimated by our economic woes. In a sobering study titled "[T]he lost decade of the Middle Class", Pew Research Center defines this beleaguered group as those with household incomes between $39,000 and $118,000.

According to Pew, since 2000 the middle class "has shrunk in size, fallen backward in income and wealth, and shed some – but by no means all – of its characteristic faith in the future."

Their median income has fallen from $72,956 to $69,487.

Full Story:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/48827909

Learn more at www.donaldjlester.com

Article: How Much Will It Cost You If Bush Tax Cuts End? A Lot

CNBC.com Article: How Much Will It Cost You If Bush Tax Cuts End? A Lot

Americans would shell out as much as $5,700 more a year if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire at the end of 2012, according to a new analysis that highlights the perils and political consequences of the nation's fiscal cliff.

Full Story:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/48674247

Learn more about this....www.donaldjlester.com

The Historical Shift in Social Security.

The Nest Egg is Boken as reported by Fox News.

New retirees receiving less in Social Security than they paid in, marking historic shift.

People retiring today are part of the first generation of workers who have paid more in Social Security taxes during their careers than they will receive in benefits after they retire. It's a historic shift that will only get worse for future retirees, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.
Previous generations got a much better bargain, mainly because payroll taxes were very low when Social Security was enacted in the 1930s and remained so for decades.
"For the early generations, it was an incredibly good deal," said Andrew Biggs, a former deputy Social Security commissioner who is now a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. "The government gave you free money and getting free money is popular."
If you retired in 1960, you could expect to get back seven times more in benefits than you paid in Social Security taxes, and more if you were a low-income worker, as long you made it to age 78 for men and 81 for women.
As recently as 1985, workers at every income level could retire and expect to get more in benefits than they paid in Social Security taxes, though they didn't do quite as well as their parents and grandparents.
Not anymore.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/07/new-retirees-receiving-less-in-social-security-than-paid-in-marking-historic/#ixzz22yWt5aKh

Say Yes to Marriage, But Never to Joint Checking

Simple asset protection strategy.



CNBC.com Article: Say Yes to Marriage, But Never to Joint Checking

Newlyweds can mutually protect their credit scores by keeping their finances unentangled.

Full Story:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/48307272

Learn more about asset protection strategies by contacting Donald J. Lester at 719.330.2618

Crack Shacks, Mansions, and Household Wealth

Dave Gonigam – July 23, 2012

• Are Canadians richer than Americans. Well, yes… but for how long?
• Professor Niall Ferguson pinpoints “the biggest trend in economics, and perhaps geopolitics, in our lifetime”
• Byron King on the “white sands” that will speed up a critical step in the mining of metals by 99%
• A Chinese gold scam that could drive investors toward physical metal… an honest, if bizarre, silver offering from a scammy U.S. company… the most vitriolic letter ever addressed to The 5… and more!

Here’s a Monday milestone: Your typical Canadian is now richer than your average American. On paper, at least.
“Over the past five years,” reports the Toronto Globe and Mail, “net worth per Canadian household has exceeded net worth per American household (total combined value of liquid and real estate assets minus debt) for the first time.”
The paper cites figures from Environics Analytics that say the average household net worth in Canada was $363,202 in 2011. That compares with a U.S. figure of $319,970. The greenback and the loonie are more or less at parity these days, so the numbers aren’t skewed by currency fluctuations.
But wait, you ask… Isn’t Canada in the midst of a housing bubble? Wouldn’t that skew the numbers?
If you plug the word “Canada” and then “housing” into Google, the first auto-fill suggestion that comes up is “bubble.” Before “market.” Before “price.”
The question is of more than passing interest to this editor, en route to Vancouver for this week’s Agora Financial Investment Symposium.
Vancouver is truly a lovely place. It is also one of the world’s most-expensive housing markets. This year, it supplanted Sydney as No. 2 on a list assembled by an outfit called Demographia; Hong Kong is still tops.
Indeed, Vancouver is the inspiration for a website called “Crack Shack or Mansion?” — in which you look at pictures of various homes and guess whether they’re crack shacks or a $1 million-plus properties.




This one’s a mansion, listed for $1,180,000
“Canadians hold more than twice as much real estate as Americans and, once mortgages are factored in, have almost four times as much remaining equity in their real estate,” the Globe and Mail story goes on.
The part about their equity is good… as long as prices hold up. Right?
To be sure, Vancouver is an outlier when it comes to Canadian real estate. Still, the average home price in Canada last month was C$369,339, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.
In examining whether such a figure is sustainable, it’s worth asking how it compares with median household income — which in 2010 was C$69,860.
Ouch… The average house price is 5.2 times median household income — rather more than the 2 or 3 times the personal finance experts would tell you is prudent.
At the peak of the U.S. housing bubble in 2006, the average home price was $246,500. Meanwhile, median household income was $48,201. That works out to a multiple of… whaddya know, 5.1 times.
Hmmm….

Read More at Agora Financial: http://5minforecast.agorafinancial.com/crack-shacks-mansions-and-household-wealth/


Learn more how Donald Lester can help you with your retirement planning...Call him at 719.785.7170

Driving an old car? You're not alone.

From CNBC.com

Getty Images Mechanic Harrison Garcia works on a Ford Mustang at Brake and Wheel Service Center in San Francisco, California.

Feel like you're driving an old car? You're not alone. In fact, the average age of vehicles in the U.S. has hit a new all-time high. Experian Automotive says the average age of the 245 million vehicles registered in the U.S. in the first quarter of this year was 11 years.

That's an increase of just over 2 months compared the first quarter of last year.

What's behind the increase? Part of it is because the recession and sluggish recovery forced many people to put off buying or trading-in for a new or used car. Another factor is the fact cars and trucks are built to run longer. That quality improvement picked up momentum in the early '90s. Now, many of those cars and trucks are 13 to 22 years old, and yes there are millions of them still on the road.

In fact, Experian says more than 52 million cars and trucks in America are 16 years or older. (Related: What models will become collectibles?)

Ford Runs Strong

In its analysis of vehicle registrations, Experian found more Ford Motor [F 10.01 --- UNCH (0) ] models on the road than other model. That shouldn't come as a surprise since the Ford F-Series truck has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for 30 straight years. According to Experian Automotive, here the top 4 brands of vehicles in operation in the U.S.:

Ford: 17.2%
Chevrolet: 15.8%
Toyota: 10.4%
Honda: 7.3%

The four most popular models on the road in the U.S., according to Experian Automotive, are:

Ford F-150: 3.4%
Honda Accord: 2.6%
Toyota Camry: 2.6%
Chevy Silverado: 2.0%

One final note: For all the attention that's been given to hybrid and electric vehicles over the last decade, they are just 0.9 percent of the vehicles in operation in the U.S. That works out to a little over 2 million alternatively powered vehicles.

—By CNBC’s Phil LeBeau

USA! USA! USA!, Were Number 5?

"Free fallin, now I am, free fallin..."~ Tom Petty

Excerpt from AgoraFinancial.com

Even the power elite recognizes something is amiss. Each year, the World Economic Forum — the outfit that holds an annual shindig in Davos, Switzerland — issues an annual ranking of the world’s countries and how competitive they are.
The standards are cut and dried: Are property rights protected? Are officials easily bribed? Are the courts independent? Is organized crime a problem?
The United States ranked No. 1 as recently as 2008. By last year, it had slipped to No. 5. And the overall rankings don’t tell the whole story:

 

http://5minforecast.agorafinancial.com/something-rotten-in-the-state-of-america/

Loosing My Religion!

“I’m not one of those religious believers in gold,” says Matthew Bishop, “but I guess I’ve become a bit of an agnostic/atheist about my faith in government-backed money, so I really think governments are in a position where they’re going to debase in a big way.”
Mr. Bishop is New York bureau chief of The Economist… and he’s penned a book called In Gold We Trust?: The Future of Money in an Age of Uncertainty. He has put us in a difficult position as we aim to stake out “fat tail” ideas.
We likewise have no faith in government-backed money. And we’re agnostic about gold, for that matter. “Just because you understand monetary policy, the Fed and the dangers of fiat currency,” Addison said by IM between meetings this morning, “doesn’t mean you’re necessarily a gold bug.”
In any event, Mr. Bishop is onto something. “People have lost faith in the 20th-century religion of government-backed fiat money,” Mr. Bishop tells The Wall Street Journal’s video unit, “and they’re saying at the moment, ‘We don’t trust governments with our money.’”
To wit: The blogosphere is buzzing this morning with word that the national debt under President Obama has grown by $5,027,761,476,484.56.
That’s now more than George W. Bush racked up in two terms.
Early in Bush’s second term, we were already concerned enough that Addison and Bill Bonner teamed up to write Empire of Debt. Then Addison devoted 2½ years to turn it into a film… before the current occupant of the White House was even part of the national conversation.
Then, few were alarmed that Bush racked up a debt total nearly equal to all his predecessors combined. Now, however, it appears the outrage threshold’s been reached.

http://5minforecast.agorafinancial.com/fading-faith-in-fiat/

More than European debt weighing on investors’ minds.

Evidence is mounting that "sell in May and go away" might be a good idea again in 2012.

CNBC.com Article: World Stock Markets Face 'Risk-Off' Road Ahead: Index

Global stocks are entering a potentially negative period, according to one index with a solid track record that is indicating there is more than European debt weighing on investors’ minds.

World Stock Markets Face 'Risk-Off' Road Ahead: Index

Published: Thursday, 12 Apr 2012 | 1:43 PM ET

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By: Jeff Cox
CNBC.com Senior Writer

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Global stocks are entering a potentially negative period, according to one index with a solid track record that is indicating there is more than European debt weighing on investors’ minds.

The Global Financial Stress Index, compiled by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, has seen 10 of its 40 components rise to a level associated with risk-off mode in the financial markets, which means investors usually sell more volatile assets like stocks and move to the safety of fixed income.

The GFSI's Critical Stress Signal last flashed risk-off on July 12, 2011 and remained there until Jan. 4. While U.S. stocks, as measured by the Standard & Poor's 500 [.SPX1377.44-10.13(-0.73%)], fell 2.7 percent during that period, global indexes tumbled 9 percent. BofA says the CSS has been accurate more than 60 percent of the time in predicting global stock drops.

Full Story:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/47029609

Ez Credit: Here we go again!

Addison Wiggin – April 12, 2012

• Look out below: Three — no, make it 4 — reasons it feels like 2007-08 this morning…
• Subprime lending up (again… really?), private equity opting for IPO and a shocking fact you didn’t know about oil prices…
• “Normal market behavior”… Vancouver favorite cheers up gold holders who bought at the most recent top…
• Death, taxes and one grim statistic… still time to buy a house… muddy boots in South America… and more!

“Even I wouldn’t make a loan to me at this point,” says Annette Alejandro. Ms. Alejandro recently emerged from bankruptcy, her car was repossessed last year and she has no job.
But her mailbox is stuffed with offers for credit cards and car loans.
We begin today’s episode with “deja vu”-induced vertigo this morning. Three items flitted into our inbox in the last 24 hours. By themselves, the items might not mean much. Coagulated, they give us the same queasy feeling we had in 2007-08.
Credit card lenders issued 1.1 million new cards to subprime borrowers last month — up 12.3% from a year ago, according to the credit-reporting outfit Equifax.
“As financial institutions recover from the losses on loans made to troubled borrowers,” reports The New York Times, “some of the largest lenders to the less than creditworthy, including Capital One and GM Financial, are trying to woo them back, while HSBC and JPMorgan Chase are among those tiptoeing again into subprime lending.”
Plotted on a chart, it looks like this…



http://5minforecast.agorafinancial.com/feeling-the-2007-twitch/

Who is Donald J Lester, CFS?

Since 1998, Don has maintained his life and health insurance license and worked with a clientele comprised primarily of successful entrepreneurs and professionals. He maintains the Certified Funds Specialist designation (CFS) as awarded by the Institute of Business and Finance. CFS designees must adhere to a professional code of ethics and meet annual continuing education requirements to maintain their expertise and CFS certifications.

Specialties

Financial and cash flow analysis
Micro & Macro economic evaluation
Business sense and management
Risk identification and mitigation
Cost / Benefit analysis

Personally, Don grew up a “Farm-Boy” in the small Canadian town of Forest, Ontario.  As the eldest son, he was actively involved in the development and management of the family livestock and farming operation.  He opened his first business as a teenager and has started and sold others since.  He helped found and develop Rubicon Alliance, LLC and its affiliates since the days of conception and is a major factor in the growth and development of the Rubicon’s business model. 

He began playing ice hockey at a young age and developed into an all-star Defenseman while competing in the Canadian Junior Hockey League. He accepted an athletic scholarship from the University of Alaska to play NCAA Division I ice hockey in the fall of 1990.  He was named team Captain and Most Valuable Defenseman his Junior and Senior seasons.  After a successful college career, Don played professional hockey in the East Coast Hockey League spanning over five (5) seasons, which was highlighted in 1995 when he helped the Richmond Renegades capture the Riley Cup as playoff Champions.  Many of the professional teams Don played for took advantage of his financial skills and business experience in the front office to help manage and develop the business aspect of the sport.  Don moved to Colorado Springs in May of 1998 to help facilitate the start up of the Colorado Gold Kings franchise at the Colorado Springs World Arena.  He played his final season as a Gold King and retired from the sport for good in April of 1999.http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=13064

Don resides and works in downtown Colorado Springs and is an active and loving father of his two children; Jasper and Leah.  He is a member of the Penrose Club and Colorado Springs Country Club.  Don enjoys playing golf, vacationing, making a difference in the lives of others, and constant self improvement and continuing education.