Few figures from recent history loom larger than British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, "the Last Lion." He spent "the wilderness years" of the 1930s fighting the Conservative Party's leadership, most notably Neville Chamberlain, to campaign for rearmament. As...
How big a tax bill would you have to pay before it really hurt? Would sending the IRS $10,000 do it? What about $100,000? What about $1 million? Would you toast the good fortune that left you with enough income to owe that much tax, or would you stamp your foot and...
Every so often a new show hits Broadway with lights that shine brighter than the rest. In 1996, Rent celebrated a group of impoverished East Village artists struggling to thrive in the shadow of AIDS. In 2003, Wicked imagined the lives of the witches of Oz before...
Paying your taxes is one of those responsibilities that most of us accept when the time comes. Sure, we grumble about it. But we pay, then get on with the day. We don't expect to get brownie points just for doing our duty. In fact, if you give yourself too much credit...
Here in the United States, Uncle Sam imposes a "progressive" income tax. As your income goes up, so does your tax rate. However, those rates go up incrementally. If you're married, filing jointly with your spouse, the 39.6% top rate kicks in at $413,201. (We use the...
Every once in awhile, some knucklehead in a position of power at one of the world's biggest businesses does something so incredibly stupid, you wonder how they can remember to put their shoes on before they head to work in the morning. Bernie Madoff did it for decades...
Last month, one of the most truly American lives came to an end at age 90. Baseball legend Lawrence "Yogi" Berra was a superstar both on and off the field. As a player, he won 10 World Series rings and made the All-Star team 18 times in 19 seasons. He was American...
Imagine you're a hardworking pot dealer just trying to operate an honest shop in the newly legal marijuana industry. You get audited, and the examiner hits you with a $290,000 bill. He then asks to talk "off the record," and tells you he was lenient with your...
Coca Cola has earned a lot of headlines for their "Share a Coke with . . . " marketing campaign, printing bottles and cans with 1,000 of the most popular names in the country, along with nicknames like "Mom," "Dad," Soulmate," and "BFF." You can even go online to...
Turn on the financial news and you'll hear all sorts of explanations for the stock market's ups and downs. Oh no, the Fed's going to raise rates! Oh no, they're not! Who knows what the real answer is? But last week, the IRS moved the market — when they casually...
