Can the Estate Tax Solve the Fiscal Cliff?
The battle over the fiscal cliff has so far revolved around income taxes for the wealthy and entitlement reform. But there are many other ways the federal budget deficit could be trimmed that haven’t received much of the spotlight recently, and one of those is the estate tax. The estate tax has gone through many changes over the past ten years, as the tax cuts enacted early in President George W. Bush‘s first term reduced the rate Americans pay on inheritances and raised the threshold amount under which estates are exempt from the tax. The tax was briefly repealed altogether in 2010, before it was reenacted in a 2010 compromise which set the estate tax rate at 35% for estates valued at more than $5 million ($10 million for a couple), indexed to inflation. But without Congressional action, the estate tax will revert to its pre-2001 form January 1st. Under that version of the law, estates valued over $1 million were subject to an estate tax on a graduated basis from 37% to 55%, and a 5% ...
action
america
americans
buffett
bush
business
conclusion
conference
copes
entitlement
exemption
gates
george
government
inflation
inheritance
investment
pre-bush
president
recession
regulations
soros
statement
technology
warren
Dow Hits Record, Erasing Great Recession Losses
(NEW YORK) — The stock market is back. Five and a half years after the start of a frightening drop that erased $11 trillion from stock portfolios and made investors despair of ever getting their money back, the Dow Jones industrial average has regained all the losses suffered during the Great Recession and reached a new high. The blue-chip index rose 125.95 points Tuesday and closed at 14,253.77, topping the previous record of 14,164.53 on Oct. 9, 2007, by 89.24 points. “It signals that things are getting back to normal,” says Nicolas Colas, chief market strategist at BNY ConvergEx, a brokerage. “Unemployment is too high, economic growth too sluggish, but stocks are anticipating improvement.” The new record suggests that investors who did not panic and sell their stocks in the 2008-2009 financial crisis have fully recovered. Those who have reinvested dividends or added to their holdings have done even better. Since bottoming at 6,547.05 on March 9, 2009, the Dow has risen 7,706.72 ...
americans
apple
berkshire
bny
brothers
buffett
bush
business
colas
convergex
dow jones
george
improvement
inflation
iphone
lehman
nation
nicolas
oct
recession
retirement
standard
strategists
trillion
unemployment
warren
york
Why Warren Buffett Loves Ketchup, Plain and Simple
For many Americans, Warren Buffett isn’t just one of the world’s greatest investors. He’s a folksy grandpa with a mysterious wizard’s touch. Everything about him—his upbringing, employees, travels, personal life, investing style, even his home decor—has been picked over for details about what exactly goes into his pixie dust. (There have been two dozen books published on him in the past year alone). Naturally, his $28 billion purchase of HJ Heinz with U.S.-Brazilian private equity group 3G Capital (owner of Burger King and a piece of Anheuser-Busch InBev) on Feb. 14 caused a lot of chatter. But the move is no mystery; it’s classic Buffett, and here’s why. Buffett lauded Heinz for good management and for making “great tasting products.” No surprise that the “Sage of Omaha” is a big burger eater. But that’s hardly enough to sway Buffett the number-cruncher. As market watchers know, he’s considered a value investor—someone who buys companies when they’re cheap—which ...
americans
anheuser-busch
balance
benjamin
berkshire
billion
buffett
burger king
business
cadbury
capital
columbia
comcast
conagra
digiorno
equity
feb
graham
hathaway
heinz
hershey
inbev
intelligent
jack
kraft
management
nbcuniversal
nestle
omaha
recession
sage
tombstone
warren
Paul B. Farrell: Time bomb to market meltdown ticks louder
The ticking time bomb gets louder as we keep watching an avalanche of predictions that echo Warren Buffett’s earlier warnings of recession, bubbles and another market meltdown.
buffett
farrell
paul
predictions
recession
warren
5 Career Paths to the Millionaire’s Club
While the Patriotic Millionaires and Warren Buffett are busy lobbying for higher taxes, let’s take a peek behind the curtain and see how the rich got that way. Six in 10 Americans with a net worth of at least $25 million have followed five basic paths in life, according to a Spectrem Group survey. The super-rich in the Spectrem survey comprise a more elite group than those signing the patriots letter asking for higher taxes for the good of the country. You need have only $1 million to be a “patriot,” a group that includes many lawyers and entertainers. The $25 million threshold breaks out like this: 27% are entrepreneurs 15% are corporate executives 7% are managers 6% are investors 6% are doctors and dentists (MORE: Where Are All Those Free Checking Accounts Hiding?) These paths seem to be how you get rich. Yet within these groups there is a split on the kinds of qualities that lead to wealth. Spectrem found that 75% of wealthy entrepreneurs and business owners attribute their success ...
americans
buffett
business
creation
dentists
education
frugality
group
investment
obama
president
quality
serendipity
spectrem
warren