Steve Jobs - 1955-2011

     Apple has announced this evening that their founder, Steve Jobs, has passed away at the age of 56.   It's been known that he's been battling cancer as he stepped down from Chief Executive of Apple in August, also taking a medical leave in January of this year.
     Rightly considered a modern genius for his innovations and world changing influence of consumer technology, he will be recognized as one of the greatest pioneers of any era.  He's responsible for advancing personal computer to developing todays iTunes, iPod, iPad, iPhone, the App store, et cetera.  He revived Pixar Animation Studios as well, after he purchased them and released Toy Story and Finding Nemo to name a couple.  His resume will be discussed through every outlet countless times in the days, months, years following, well deservedly.  It's only fitting as I found out of his passing on my iPhone and type this up on my iMac.  His influence is literally with and used by millions of humans every day.

God Bless

Pics from Apple.com

Just Do It Better

     At this point, a lot of people my age, have grown up with Nike pretty much being a staple in our lives in many ways.  First, the easiest being the sneakers and athletic apparel that we've worn since we knew how to tie shoes, then through the countless soccer games and practices, let alone every other sport kids play.  The marketing of Air Jordan, Bo "Knows", Nike Air to current day products and innovations has cemented Nike as a global company that is at the forefront of athletic performance equipment/apparel in a very fashion forward style.  They've masterfully combined function and performance with cutting edge style and design.  Couple that with marketing genius and a long history of continuing to innovate and improve and you have one of the most intriguing entities on our planet.  The founder of Nike, Phil Knight, along with Nike have released this short video of Nike's own self-awareness and their place on this planet.
The responsibilities that come with a company of this magnitude and balancing that with the ability to continue to grow and move forward as a successful corporation.  The recognition of the immense footprint that Nike leaves on all scales, from the creation of their products, to the people who design them and the ones who wear them, the consumer.
    It's unbelievable to see how far Nike has come and grown in the past 33 years since it started, but I'm also very inspired to see what the next 33 years will bring….enjoy the video.

Dirty Cash I Never Heard Of Ya

     Money.  Everybody uses it but do we really know what we're putting in our pocket and exchanging with millions of other people every single day.  Who makes it, where does it come from, what is it, how dirty is it?  All these questions are answered and more at this groovy link.  Click for the entire story of the life of Cash Money.

Cheddar Burning A Hole In Your Pocket?

     Saving money can be a very difficult thing to do in tough economic times.  The thing is that most people don't save when times are good.  It's easy to find things to spend money on from clothes, vacations, going out to eat and of course....sneakers.  That gives us instant gratification, but that only lasts so long.  Here's an article that brings up some great points about how spending too much can hold us back from security and consistent life.  Click here to read.

A Billi A Billi A Billi ....

     Millionaires sounded like comic book super heroes back in the 80's, but now we're into a new decade and Forbes has announced their celebrity Billionaires list (as of Feb. 2010).  You can read the article here and also get a complete list of the richest people in the world.  Needless to say, the numbers are stunning and the amount these people make is just mind boggling.

~KR, Wormy

The Real Estate Tax Credit

Will it jumpstart the housing market? When do I buy?

The Real Estate Tax Credit purpose is to jumpstart the housing market. When it was realized that by 11/30/09, when the tax credit was supposed to expire, that the progress was not enough, it was decided to extend to 04/30/10 and adding exiting homeowner qualifications to expand to those that can benefit from the program.

The tax credit awards First TIme homebuyers (those individuals who have not claimed interest on any property or owned a home for the past three years) with $8,000.00 or 10 % of sales price, whichever is lower. Existing homeowners can get a credit of 6500.00 if they show that they owned and lived in a home for 5 out of the last 8 years. New purchases must be under contract by 04/30/10 and close by 6/30/10. Question is that will the Credit jumpstart the housing market. Despite heavy criticism, the numbers do not lie. Despite a slow 4th quarter , 2009 saw a 15% increase in sales and applications for the month of January 2010 exploded.

Many consurmers are hesitant to buy with decreasing values and speculation on the mortgage process. The benefits of being a homeowner need to be addressed outside of the immediate "tax credit carrot" that the government is dangling in front of potential buyers. The market and industry must not depend on this credit if they want the recovery to come full circle. On top of the tax credit new homeowners have an advantage come tax time. Not only do they get the credit but the "writeoffs" are great. Property Taxes, Interest Paid, Origination Fees, home repair charges, home improvement charges, green friendly upgrades. Im not a tax expert but the amount of money gone into a home can benefit you way more come tax time then a renter.

Think about this scenario, 5k for property taxes, 8 k of mortgage interest paid, 3k for mortgage origination, 2k for new bathroom, 5k for eco windows, 2k for green appliances. Thats 25k in writeoffs that renters would not benefit from. Oh yeah I almost forgot I walked with 8k for just buying. Thats a 33k swing on income. Even if the house that I buy for 150k drops by 10% in the next year, thats only 15k compared to the 33k beneifit I got for buying this year. That does not count the tax benefits of writing off property taxes and interest paid every year after year one.

I am not a tax expert and please consult a tax advisor for the best advice.

~Mini Rizz