Robert G. Yetman, Jr.

Geithner Mess Proves The Righteous Remain Weak

Tim Geithner is now, officially, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under President Obama… but he shouldn’t be.  His nomination to that post should have been voted down by every right-thinking U.S. senator, but therein lies the problem: There aren’t enough of those remaining in that once-esteemed body.  Now, we have a bona fide tax cheat in charge of the IRS.  And on it goes…

 

You may have heard about Geithner’s problems, in passing, but remain unclear about what they were.  Geither did not pay self-employment taxes in years 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004.  Following an IRS audit, Geithner made good on his ’03 and ‘04 obligations, and ponied up for his ’01 and ’02 liabilities only after he received the treasury secretary nomination.  Those years as a self-employed person were spent at the International Monetary Fund, an international group that oversees the global financial infrastructure.  In other words, Geithner, who has a master’s degree in international economics from Johns Hopkins and has spent nearly his entire professional life working at or around the highest levels of government finance,  is the quintessential professional money man, and should have absolutely known better when it came to his taxes.

 

There was a time when nominees to such posts were bounced over the smallest of improprieties. While that may have been a bit drastic at times, I believe we as citizens are much better served by a heavier hand, rather than a softer touch, when it comes to passing judgment on our leaders.  What has been allowed to occur here with the nomination (and subsequent approval) of Geithner is both embarrassing and highly offensive.  The media actually did a pretty good job reporting on this, but where were our Republican senators?  Senators like Orrin Hatch of Utah and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina were an embarrassment throughout this process.  Hatch actually praised Geithner as “person of great integrity,” and Graham said about the situation that “now’s not the time to think in small political terms…I think he’s the right guy.” Small political terms?  A tax cheat overseeing the IRS?

It makes you wonder if the Republican senators who actually voted to approve this guy have their own dirty little tax secrets they want to keep hidden, and are afraid they’ll look like hypocrites should those secrets one day become public knowledge.

These useless elected officials aside…where were you?

Where was/is your outrage?

Unless I’m missing something, and I don’t think I am, we didn’t get any reports from individual senators saying that they were bombarded with phone calls from constituents, threatening to toss them in the next election if they voted for Geithner’s nomination.  Are you people not taxpayers?  Don’t you know what the IRS would do to you if it was found you dodged your tax obligations for four straight years?

I expect the mainstream media to give its usual pass to Obama and all he does…but I expect much more from Republican members of congress…and I expect more from you.  If you find that your representatives are not doing the job they should to uphold ethics, morality, and decency in government, then it’s up to you to force them.  Do it.

Robert G. Yetman, Jr.  Editor-At-Large www.ChristianMoney.com

Tags: geithner,+secretary+of+treasury,+irs,+robert+g.+yetman,

What Really Happened to Circuit City?

Circuit City is now the largest retailer to bite the dust amid the worsening global economic implosion.  While many analysts had expected the ultimate demise of Circuit City from the time it announced its Chapter 11 filing last November, it’s nevertheless a bit of a shock.  As with anything else, life support is not the same as dead; once something is officially gone…no matter how much the passing may have been expected…it’s still a moment for noticeable pause.

It is at times like these that the analyses of “what happened” begin rolling in from all quarters.  For example, some ascribe the closure to the retailer’s decision to lay off 3400 employees in 2007 and replace them with lower-compensated folks in an effort to keep costs down.  It was suggested that company morale would suffer, and that customers would be turned off by at least the perception of a resulting downturn in customer service.

That move, however, was not the problem, and neither, really, was any other fundamental business policy implemented (or not) by the one-time retail giant.  The problem remains what it has been for many months now: In a world where consumer spending habits are changing significantly and, it seems, permanently, there’s just not the same amount of room in the retail sandbox that there was once. 

Indeed, all of the teeth-gnashing and hand-wringing over what should or should not have been happening in terms of managing the business is wasted energy.  This comes down to the fact that in a period of historic consumer spending contraction, there’s just not room for everybody.  I’m not saying there aren’t management –related reasons for why Circuit City was firmly rooted at #2 (behind Best Buy), but that’s not the same thing as explaining why a company like that goes all the way under.

Going forward, I believe you will see more and more specialty retailers…including those as storied as Circuit City…die off as we become a Wal-Mart-based society of consumers.  The ongoing micro-analysis of why a Circuit City ultimately failed in this historically bad economy is akin to obsessing over exactly which thing John McCain did or didn’t say and/or do that cost him the election.  In the case of the economy, that which began happening in 2007 and continues to unfold today is resulting in a seismic shift in how Americans view “stuff.”  We are not the same people.  We want to spend less, use less credit, hang on to things longer.  There are just not as many people who can make sense of spending $3,000 for a television as there were three years ago.  We are redefining the concept of “have to have,” and the list of items that now make the cut is a great deal shorter than it was just a couple of years ago.  Who says old dogs can’t learn new tricks?   

Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor-At-Large www.ChristianMoney.com 

Tags: circuit+city,+robert+yetman,+james+l.paris,+christian+financial+advice

Re-Double Your Efforts for Retirement Savings

Saving for retirement is something that seems to have fallen greatly out of favor these days.  The principal reason for this is the obvious blow dealt to the stock market; in the face of the current calamity, many are now shrugging their shoulders and asking, “What’s the point?”  In addition, more and more companies are doing something we never thought we’d see – drastically reducing, or suspending altogether, matching contributions to 401(k)s.  Granted, they’re taking this step to help avoid taking the more draconian step of laying people off, but it’s yet another cue to many that perhaps saving for retirement should not sit as high on the totem pole of personal financial planning objectives as it once did.

Obviously, if you are out of work and potentially headed toward dire financial straits, retirement planning is not an overriding priority for you at present.  Understood.  You need to do what you must to survive.  However, if you are (thankfully) like most Americans, you still have a job and will continue to work throughout the duration of his mess.  Assuming that’s the case, try to avoid feeling futile about saving for retirement, and, in fact, work harder at it right now.  In a market that’s down as much as this one, the share prices of the mutual funds and stocks that you normally like to buy are very much on sale.  This is, in fact, an unprecedented opportunity for you to score big.  If your employer has cut back or eliminated a matching 401(k) contribution, make it up on your own to the extent that you can; it’s more than worth it.

It’s understandable that you’re less-than-enthusiastic about thoughts of retirement planning, at present.  If you know me at all, you know I don’t really believe in the retirement concept, anyway.  However, I do believe in saving for the future, for a whole host of reasons that don’t necessarily have to do with a plan to stop working while you’re still able.  As bad as things may seem right now, there will come a time when you will want to have a large sum of money set aside when you have some opportunity to travel, want to work less, or simply reach a point when you can’t work at all.  That day will come.  Forge through today with thoughts of making it through to tomorrow, and remember that if we see another global economic implosion in the future like the one through which we’re suffering today, your ability as an older American to survive with room to spare will likely be directly correlated to how much money you’ve accumulated overall.  Think about it.  

Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor-At-Large www.Christianmoney.com   

Tags: retirement+investing,+retirement+savings,+christian+financial+advice

Re-Double Your Efforts for Retirement Savings

Saving for retirement is something that seems to have fallen greatly out of favor these days.  The principal reason for this is the obvious blow dealt to the stock market; in the face of the current calamity, many are now shrugging their shoulders and asking, “What’s the point?”  In addition, more and more companies are doing something we never thought we’d see – drastically reducing, or suspending altogether, matching contributions to 401(k)s.  Granted, they’re taking this step to help avoid taking the more draconian step of laying people off, but it’s yet another cue to many that perhaps saving for retirement should not sit as high on the totem pole of personal financial planning objectives as it once did.

Obviously, if you are out of work and potentially headed toward dire financial straits, retirement planning is not an overriding priority for you at present.  Understood.  You need to do what you must to survive.  However, if you are (thankfully) like most Americans, you still have a job and will continue to work throughout the duration of his mess.  Assuming that’s the case, try to avoid feeling futile about saving for retirement, and, in fact, work harder at it right now.  In a market that’s down as much as this one, the share prices of the mutual funds and stocks that you normally like to buy are very much on sale.  This is, in fact, an unprecedented opportunity for you to score big.  If your employer has cut back or eliminated a matching 401(k) contribution, make it up on your own to the extent that you can; it’s more than worth it.

It’s understandable that you’re less-than-enthusiastic about thoughts of retirement planning, at present.  If you know me at all, you know I don’t really believe in the retirement concept, anyway.  However, I do believe in saving for the future, for a whole host of reasons that don’t necessarily have to do with a plan to stop working while you’re still able.  As bad as things may seem right now, there will come a time when you will want to have a large sum of money set aside when you have some opportunity to travel, want to work less, or simply reach a point when you can’t work at all.  That day will come.  Forge through today with thoughts of making it through to tomorrow, and remember that if we see another global economic implosion in the future like the one through which we’re suffering today, your ability as an older American to survive with room to spare will likely be directly correlated to how much money you’ve accumulated overall.  Think about it.  

Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor-At-Large www.Christianmoney.com   

When is Financial Prudence Ever a Bad Idea?

With the end of 2008 came a collective sigh of relief from the financial community.  This was the worst year for the U.S. stock markets in the post-World War 2 era, and it seemed like there was no respite anywhere from anything: banks closed at a record pace, foreclosures surged at their own ridiculous rate, housing activity dropped to nothing, and the auto industry, once the surest bet in our manufacturing base, teetered (and still does) on the brink of bankruptcy. 

Enter 2009.  What’s fascinating abut 2009 is the diverse nature of the financial prognostications we’ve already seen from this same community of financial reporters, analysts, money managers, et.al.  For example, alongside headlines that read things like, “Stocks to Post Big Gains, Economy to Rebound,” are others that say, “Economy May Be Worse A Year From Now.” (These are both real headlines from CNBC.com, and both actually appeared right next to one another.)  If you keep your eyes open, you’ll see plenty of contradictory predictions for what the coming year will bring.  The question, then, is this: What do you, Mr. and Mrs. Average American, do with all of these acutely mixed signals as you try to make plans for a better year?

You do what you always do, or at least what you should have always been doing: behave prudently.  Do not allow yourself to be unduly sidetracked by predictions of sunshine and rainbows, nor by predictions of continued doom and gloom.  Live like you should always live – with great prudence, perspective, and hard work, understanding that doing so is the best way to prosper in any sort of economy.  For example:

Strive to live with little debt.  It may not be possible for most people to buy a house or car without the use of credit, but beyond those essentials, for what reasons are you leveraging yourself?  What is it you’re buying with a credit card that you cannot live without?  Then stop it, and focus on paying down that which you’ve accumulated.

Lower your spending.  When has it ever been a good idea to spend unwisely?  Many consumer advocates are encouraging people to re-examine their spending habits and make adjustments in the wake of the economic implosion.  My attitude?  You should be doing that anyway…all of the time.

Invest as always.  If you have a 401(k) or IRA, stay strong in a good portfolio of mutual funds.  Last year was admittedly terrible for the stock market, but that climate won’t continue forever, and the new money you’ve (hopefully) continued to put in your funds each month has been buying new shares at great prices.  Just keep going.

If you want a house, buy one…but do so because you want a place to live, not as an investment you hope to flip in a year for oodles of money.  Most people who buy a house do so because they want a place to live they can call their own.  They’re not seeking to become real estate moguls.  If you like where you’re at and see yourself living there many years from now, don’t be afraid to buy.  Get a good deal (they abound right now), buy your house, and live your life.

Maintain a cash reserve.  That has always been a good idea, but you’d think it was a novelty based on how frequently you’re hearing it recommended these days.  You should always maintain at least three months’ worth of living expenses in a liquid account.  Always.

Work hard and endeavor to expand your resume.  It’s funny, because a lot of articles now talk about how that’s so important in the current climate.  Unless I’m missing something, I think it’s always been smart to stay ahead of the curve at work.    

Can I ask you something?  When was any of this ever a bad idea?  In other words, if some or all of these ideas are particularly good strategies right now, was there ever a time they weren’t good ideas at all?  Hardly.

M point is that you need not be overwhelmed by what you see and hear coming from the financial news media when it comes to making your own plans.  Just listen to your own common sense.  Spend and invest wisely, with prudence and long-term planning in mind.  If you do that, there’s really nothing else you need to do…ever.               

Robert G. Yetman, Jr.  Editor At Large – www.ChristianMoney.com   

 

Tags: financial+planning,+layoffs,+recession,+savings