Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures In 1986, President Ronald Reagan quipped that the government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases, including, “If it moves, tax it.” Well, Uncle Sam is already chasing income, payrolls, corporations, gifts, estates, imports, and gasoline and alcohol sales. Yet we’re still almost… Read More

Help Wanted Fifteen months of COVID-19 have changed the face of employment here in America. The pandemic wiped out 20 million jobs, yet employers are struggling to hire while employees reevaluate their post-pandemic plans. Can you spin your old position into a work-from-home opportunity? Should you take advantage of soaring housing prices to make a… Read More

Overstuffed Back in 1997, Delaware Senator Bill Roth sponsored a new kind of retirement savings account with a back-end benefit. In contrast to traditional IRAs, which let you deduct your contributions and defer tax until you pull money out, the Roth IRA lets you contribute after-tax dollars in exchange for tax-free withdrawals. Roth designed his… Read More

Writing a funny tax column every week, and keeping it as consistently brilliant as we do, is actually harder than it looks. (Less glamorous, too.) Sometimes there just isn’t an obviously fun story to cover. What do we write about in a week with no criminals cheating, celebrities misbehaving, or holidays we can skewer? If… Read More

  Pure Imagination Fifty years ago on June 30, Paramount Pictures released an enchanting spun-sugar delight of a movie that remains a classic. Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory features Gene Wilder as the reclusive confectioner who hides five Golden Tickets in his candy bars and promises the finders a tour of his mysterious factory… Read More

The post-punk philosopher and M&Ms enthusiast David Lee Roth once said, “Money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you a yacht big enough to pull up right alongside it.” So, if you like big boats and you cannot lie, this week’s discussion will put a salty smile on your face. Summer is here,… Read More

Eat the Rich Most Americans would agree that capitalism is the greatest wealth creation engine the world has ever known. But it’s hard to argue that capitalism distributes its rewards equally, and today’s “winner take all” economy is concentrating wealth beyond Gilded Age levels. Forget about that top 1% the “Occupy Wall Street” movement targeted;… Read More

Rope, Shoot, Fry, Tax Taxes were in the news this Memorial Day weekend: the new administration leaked word that the higher capital gains taxes included in their American Families Plan would be retroactive to April when they first rolled out the bill. That’s drawn predictable fire from the usual suspects on Team Red and the… Read More

Free Advice People have loved advice columns, in print and elsewhere, since Daniel Defoe launched the “Scandalous Club” back in 1704. Since then, we’ve lobbed questions to Abby, Ann, Polly, Prudence, Miss Manners, Dr. Phil, Dr. Ruth, Dr. Drew, Dr. Laura, and even Frasier Crane. (“I’m listening.”) But few letters stand out like the one… Read More

The More Things Change… The Biden administration has rolled out an ambitious set of tax hikes to support new spending on infrastructure, families, and other priorities. While the plan includes raising rates, much of the action focuses on closing loopholes, especially for corporations. But if you’ve ever had front-row seats to that particular horror show,… Read More