Sushi Money

Now there’s a proposal that just might help the family budget across the nation- give Americans a gas-tax holiday this summer, and double the child tax credit. Of course after yesterday, our tax consciousness is about at its limit right now, but for those with children this could really reduce taxes going forward.

Senator John McCain’s proposal isn’t as strange as it sounds, especially with the price of gallon of gas pushing past a national average of $3.30. And with fuel prices continuing to rise, it’s about time somebody does something to lessen the cost. Something else needs to give, and if we could find a way to lessen the speculative fever that might help.

But do you know how much you pay in taxes for each gallon of gas in your state?

The federal government charges 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel fuel.  And where I live our state charges us 18 cents tax on each gallon of both gasoline and diesel. Which is not too bad considering that some states charge as much as 31 cents or more!

API is a national trade association representing the oil and natural gas industries. Remember all those API specifications for oil and such? Lots of useful info if you’re in the industry, but it’s mumbo-jumbo to most of us. But they have some really nice charts regarding the taxes we pay for fuel in America.

Total Gasoline Taxes by State

Do you drive a diesel engine vehicle? With clean-diesel technology becoming a lot more popular, expect more demand there as well. I remember when diesel was much cheaper than regular gasoline, but not any more.

Total Diesel Taxes by State

If you live where gas prices are the highest, then you probably pay some of the highest fuel taxes too. It’s no wonder fuel costs so much in California!

Senator McCain has a few other ideas about reducing taxes for Americans, but I wonder if he’ll try to keep the Bush tax cuts in place instead of letting them expire in 2010? He voted against them in the past, but now says the middle class in American needs more help and lower taxes. Maybe he’s finally coming around. I just wish a few more Democrats would see the light on lower taxes as well.

For a daily picture of the national average for fuel prices, check out AAA’s Daily Fuel Guage Report. If you’re thinking about moving or close to retirement, the Retirement Living Information Center has some great tax-related info and can give you an idea of each state’s tax burden. And here’s a list of the national averages by state for gas prices from GasBuddy.com.

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A beautiful spring morning today after a week of cold and rain. Finally, the sun is shining and the days are warming. The spring season has come and nature is busy renewing the cycle of life. Amazing how just a change in the weather can beget a sense of hope and optimism. I think it presents a good case for all those naysayers about the economy, the dollar and the U.S. in general. All is not lost, we are just riding through a tough patch right now. One of these days very soon, we will find more signs of hope and optimism, and the media will begin extolling the virtues of positive living instead of how awful everything is.

As usual, Ben Stein gets it right, and reminds us that a little effort goes a long way:

“…even in a recession, there’s always a shortage of talented, hardworking people in every field. Be one and, even if the recession gets really bad, you can whistle past the graveyard. You may have to move locations. You may have to learn new skills. But a willingness to work will get you everywhere you want to be”

A willingness to work. Is that all that’s necessary? Even in the face of great financial challenges? Well yes, the challenges are there. Gas and grocery prices are through the roof and people are questioning themselves and wondering what they could do to better prepare for this situation.

I think what bothers many people is that regardless of how much we prepare, plan and work to reach a certain point- it seems like something can come along and whack us alongside the head when we least expect it. But isn’t that always true? After all, it happens every day with accidents, problems at work, and even challenges at home with family.

Some politicians even think we’re so bitter about it all that we’re clinging to our beliefs instead of embracing them for who we are and how we choose to live. I don’t know, are you really bitter? I’m sure there are more than a few folks that have been laid off, and are struggling to find a job, and bitter might be a descriptive word at times.

But if we’re walking around in a bitter frame of mind, how helpful is that going to be to get us out of our funk and improve our lives? I don’t think it’s helpful at all, and more than that it borders on being self-destructive. Let’s face it, everybody has challenges. Just when we think we’ve got it bad, we meet someone else who has it a lot worse. Like the old expression where “I used to feel bad about having no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.”

It is so often a matter of perspective. How many of us even consider the challenges that other people may face each day? I received a stark reminder to that question the other day when the husband of an acquaintance passed away suddenly in the night leaving little-to-nothing behind for the family. No insurance, no pension. Maybe a little social security, but he was only 42. This woman is a hard-working individual who gives much of her personal time volunteering and helping others, while raising two children at home and working part-time. Now her husband is gone, and she is trying to find full-time work and is struggling to figure out how to support her family. Most of us never knew how financially challenged this family was until after the children’s father passed away. People are now coming together to donate and help her, and contribute to the children’s college funds.

Rather than let feelings of frustration or anger or bitterness govern my attitude, I am reminded to appreciate what we have each day. We may not be able to control the price of gas, or the price of our stocks. We may not be able change the price of milk or a loaf of bread. Sure we can influence those things with our opinions and our ability to vote for leaders we believe in.

But even if we can’t control the external things we encounter in our lives, I think we can control our response to them. And by being aware of our response, ultimately we influence what comes into our life. Sounds like a bunch of hooey perhaps. But if I know anything about the last several decades of my life, it is that my attitude determines my outcome.

What we put in to something, and the mindset we take with us ultimately influences what we’re going to get out of it. We can choose to participate in the growth and success of our lives, or we can choose to ride the bus of our emotions, and go along for a ride to a destination unknown. Sometimes that bus carries a lot of other folks emotions as well. Me? I prefer to drive myself when it comes to my growth and life goals.

It all starts with attitude and a willingness to consider alternatives.

At one point in my life I was bagging groceries and cleaning bathrooms. With a college degree. Was that a horrible, awful, humiliating experience? Absolutely not. Some folks thought so perhaps. But it gave me cash and the freedom to work towards other goals. Cleaning the bathrooms was part of my job as a lifeguard that also let me swim and stay in shape for free. Through those jobs I met people that led me in directions I might never have considered before, and ultimately to a career doing what I loved.

Even with the challenges we face today, it’s important to have a positive, constructive attitude, to be open-minded and to consider alternatives. You never really know where they might lead.

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Still finishing those taxes?   Not surprising for many people, especially if you’re going to owe more money this year.  So this weekend is a busy time for completing all that tax paperwork.   Of course it’s also Master’s weekend at Augusta, Georgia and Tiger Woods is trying to put on his 5th green jacket in a race to do what no golfer has done before.  As of this morning he’s 7 shots behind the leader, but you never know what can happen when Tiger plays.  He can still win it by a mile!

There’s lots of tax tips out there to help answer your questions.  Personally I use TurboTax to do my taxes, and have been doing that for almost 20 years.  It’s a great resource, and makes filing pretty simple.

But I still roam the internet to make sure I understand everything.  Another great resource is the IRS itself, and their March 2008 Tax Tips offers some good insight.  Kiplinger has a short list of the Top 13 Most Overlooked Deductions that might be useful, and BusinessWeek offers their best Tax Tips for Procrastinators.

Remember: If you’re not sure how you can finish in time, or if you think you need more time to make payments, the IRS will work with you.  You can request an extension to file, and you can even make installment payments on the taxes you owe.  Remember, the worst thing you can do is to do nothing.  Take advantage of the offers to extend filing or making payments depending upon your situation.

If you need a break from taxes, or just love to watch those golf shots by Tiger, here’s a great roundup of some of his best!

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Sounds like the title of a newspaper with all the recession talk these days. While millions of U.S. airline travelers are stranded across the nation, the rest of us are paying the highest prices we’ve ever seen for a gallon of gas. But Carol Sottili of the Washington Post’s Travel Section shares a discussion about what travelers can do in the face of so many airline cancellations. It’s finally bad enough that some politicians are talking about airline re-regulation again. The cost of cancellations certainly hurts airlines and passengers, but with the price of fuel skyrocketing, maybe a few extra planes on the ground doesn’t hurt their business either.

What chance many of us thought for avoiding a recession here in the U.S. is now all but certain. Many experts believe we’re already in a recession and that company earnings reports are going to get worse before getting better. Others think that understanding the recession dynamics is really pretty simple. I certainly agree that it’s all about people. I also think it’s all about people’s response to economic challenge, and these days the economic challenges have continued to grow. So if the recession is here, what do we do about it? Matt Callow shows us how to profit from the global recession.

Is it really that bad out there? While some economists think the worst of the credit crunch is behind us, some folks think that a Worldwide Depression is a Real Possibility. That sounds alarmist to me, but as Ronald Reagan once said,

“A recession is when a neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours.”

He was pointing out that it can be a matter of perspective. Are we going to see a depression? I can’t imagine it, but if gas prices don’t start retreating it’s going to get a lot harder for the U.S. economy. Business week shows us that as with much in life, how bad it is out there depends on whom you ask. But it’s a wake-up call for many as recent data shows that Americans recorded the largest-ever plunge in retirement confidence in 18 years of polling.

The markets continue to wander with many investors wondering if it’s time to step back in the pool. But The Big Picture presents some interesting data and says stocks are really not cheap yet.

As to valuations: “Its hard to really say that stocks are cheap here. At best, I believe we can argue that — assuming that historically high earnings do not fade — that stocks are not terribly expensive. But that is very different than saying they are cheap.”

It’s hard to say what’s cheap or not these days while we hang on every snippet of bad news. But for a little perspective, I like Minyanville’s 35 Signs the Market Hasn’t Hit Bottom Yet.

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Here’s the video of the original version of Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. Simply beautiful. I remember I heard this before and never knew who sang it. Now I know, and I’m thankful I know a little of his life and how many friends he had.

While we read of so many challenges across the nation, and the unpredictability of the markets, I think it’s important to remember what we do have. To love and appreciate the people and relationships in our lives, and the simple good that we find around us. Being able to frame the context of life and our perceptions with something greater in the moment, and to look with hope towards the future… perhaps that’s what this song brings forth. Have a great day.

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How many of us watch American Idol these days? I do… I just enjoy the passion and singing of the competitors, and even getting to know their on-air personalities. David Cook is amazing, but then they are all doing an incredible job. Tonight I was amazed with Jason Castro’s version of Over the Rainbow. Gold awaits many of these performers, and a marketing bonanza for the promoters. And tomorrow Idol Gives Back brings us a wonderful charity special.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true

I believe in dreams, and that we can help others to realize their dreams. What an incredible, heartfelt song.

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So where might we see excess today? Maybe commodities, or prescious metals? Natural resources and energy? I think every one of those areas are seeing heightened speculation and excess, but that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it, especially if you’re making money. And it may continue for a long time. Or not. At some point it will be time to change and find a new trend. I wish I was better at that, but it’s one thing to look at future change and quite another to time financial decisions with that change to make money.

That’s why for most of us I believe in steady, disciplined investing over 20-30 years or more. You don’t need to worry about market timing over the long term. You do need to think about asset allocation and diversification, especially when nearing retirement. But even while we invest patiently for retirement it doesn’t mean we can’t look at the trends and make some other decisions about where we might invest our time, energy and even money. I set aside a little “investing money” that I use to do just that- invest in trends and ideas.

So what’s going to be “The Next Big Excess?” What’s the next big thing that thousands of consumers are going to plunge into for a few years, hoping to secure their fortune? Will there be one? Will it be another bubble? Is there something that will result in mass change or adoption? I wish I knew!

I think we can look ahead and pick out some themes of change that will affect our lives in the future. See if you feel the same way, or have different ideas:

Here are 10 Themes of Change I see over the next decade and beyond:

1. Boomer Retirement: The Boomer generation has begun retirement, and thousands of people will continue to do so every day for the next 20-30 years. Add another 20-30 years on to that for millions of older Americans that will have money to spend on services and support needs. There are many new business and franchise ventures focusing on services for older adults, and this demographic bonanza will continue for decades.

2. Health care services: Health care is an essential aspect of future services and business growth for the same reason as # 1: Millions of older adults will need health care services and products over the next several decades. Biotech may be struggling right now, but think of the potential for these markets in the years ahead.

3. Education and Job-retraining: With change comes the requirement to adapt and grow. Growth is based on learning, or at least a willingness to learn. There are enormous opportunities for businesses, consultants and industry in education and training, and we’ll continue to see that growth in the future. Older adults are also returning to the classroom and may prove critical to continued economic growth and fulfilling job needs within the community. Community college growth is expanding, and vocational-technical schools are serving an essential role as well.

4. Communication and Navigation: We’re going to know where we are and talk with anyone no matter our location in the years ahead. Oh wait, we pretty much already do that right? But it’s going to be increasingly simpler and more available. With GPS navigation and satellite and cellular technology advances, the world is changing fast. Garmin will have a mobile phone out this year where a friend sends you a pic and you push “Go!” and it tells you how to navigate to where they are. Imagine using Google Earth or Panoramio and picking out a cool tourist photo… then your gps can navigate you to that site.
5. Business coaching and consulting: Providing competent advice and counsel in response to complexity will grow by leaps and bounds. Related to many areas above, but coaching, consulting, advising and teaching emerges in response to the complexity of many aspects of our lives, especially with technology. If you have expertise and can help others improve their lives and function better amidst the complexity we face- then you have a marketable skill that others will pay for.

6. Engineering and technology development: Do we have growth at all if not for highly skilled knowledge workers who develop the hardware, software and networked applications to leverage technological advance? No. IT expertise continues to be in demand and companies reach across international boundaries because they don’t find enough skilled workers here in the U.S. Steve Rubel explains that what we see now as “the web” is not where the web is going. We see a reflection of web services, and service integration will grow by leaps and bounds.

7. Alternative energy services and the Green Movement: Could this be the “next big thing” we see? It’s already huge and growing by leaps and bounds. Several states are leading the way already but we’re going to see an explosion of interest in alternative energy development such as solar. California offers tremendous rebates and assistance with solar development and installation compared to many other states.

• Now that fuel prices have exceeded $3 per gallon of gas nationwide, people really grumble. But what happens when we start paying $4 or $5 a gallon? Gas prices are already changing the way we live. Families are going to be challenged as never before as those costs influence how we drive and consume food and other resources.
• Water use and scarcity may influence many changs in the future. Drought effects of the past two years were severe across the nation, with far reaching changes in water use and regulations. With increased population growth, water needs will continue to rise, and resource depletion may become a real threat over time.

In a society where we spend more money and resources to develop a product (ethanol) that raises the cost of production for other fuel and the food products we need (corn, soybeans, etc), then it’s time to look at a wider array of alternative resources. Solar energy will make an enormous difference as the barriers to entry (cost and physical size) continue to decrease. Many of us would put a solar array on our homes tomorrow if it wasn’t so expensive or difficult. Equally, more people recognize that the human footprint within the enviroment must not tread so heavily. We can focus on stewardship and resource use balanced with human needs. The Green movement continues to make a difference in pulling us in that direction.

8. Frugality and Living Simpler:

• What would the world of personal finance and blogging be without themes of frugality? Many of us are learning that it pays economically to live a more frugal lifestyle. Sure we appreciate good things and fine living, but the meaning, definitions and cost of doing so is changing. Realistically, we are finding that our future economic well-being is in our own hands. We can create the financial future we desire through sound strategies of saving and investing. And being frugal is an important theme for economic cost-beneifit analysis and increasing savings while decreasing spending.
• As we age, many people are choosing a simpler way of life. Downsizing to smaller homes, or homes with caretaking services for landscaping and other needs. Even for those not downsizing per se, there is movement towards the simpler, more carefree aspects in living. Making things simpler for others is a theme that works and, ironically, folks will spend a lot of money to find a simpler lifestyle.

9. Charitable Giving and Micro Finance: As we grow and technology enables choice and opportunity, I think we are becoming more action-oriented towards charitable causes. Whether that be with cash donations or though giving our time volunteering, people want to become involved in helping other people improve their lives. Micro finance lending sites such as Kiva.com are doing just that.

10.Biotech, Nanotech, Robotics, Astrosciences: Well, maybe the promise of the future is a bit early, but the gains being made in bioengineering and nanotechnology are amazing. Of course some people think none of this will really matter anyway because the world’s going to end in 2012. Or if it doesn’t the internet’s going to end in 2038! Who knows… I think we have enough threats already in the world via fanatical extremists and natural resource depletion to keep us occupied for a good many years.

I love thinking about the future, but sometimes it’s easier to stay naively optimistic. There are countless ideas and creative applications out there “whose time has come” but have yet to reach the masses. I hope to capitalize on some of these themes both in terms of investments and personal focus. And maybe we’ll even make decisions that influence our career based on future change. Do you see anything else coming down the road? Any career or technology aspects that will be important to think about?

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