An old bumper sticker and tshirt in the 70’s was, “the devil made me do it.” That get lost on a lot of people, but there are factors on your decisions that end up out of your control. Are you making a decision just for you, for your family, or for the greater good?
One of the most frustrating things for many people is not being able to get a yes or no answer to a question they ask. I’m convinced that politics were born out of this need to justify how we respond to these answers. Let’s get real simple, you’ve placed your order and the waitress asks, “would you like fries with that?” Now that seems a simple question on the surface, but bear with me while I get politically correct. You suddenly feel a tug from the left side of your conscious and ask yourself, “where were those potatoes grown?” “Is someone at the table going to want to share these also, what size should I get?” “What kind of salt to they use on them?” “How many calories does a large have?” “What kind of oil were they cooked in?” “Fries make little Timmy gassy, will he pass all that before we get in the car to ride home?” Life was simpler before we knew about carb diets, gluten-free, vegan or intolerances to dietary restrictions. Back in the day it was “rice, or potatoes one of two ways, baked or fries.” You liked a place because you knew the folks who owned it, or the people preparing the food. Nowadays you have to determine if their rating is good, do I need a reservation, how long will I have to wait to be seated, or if there’s convenient parking for the location.
The reason I get into all this, and normally I don’t delve into the political arena or conspiracies, but there were some interested statistics put out this week that shed some light on where you could stand amongst the financial elite in the country. There are a couple of very important issues that are probably not front line for the average joe and that’s the discussion of the capital gains taxes being promoted by both parties. The republicans lowered the previous capital gains to 20% for long term holdings over 1 million dollars. Why is that important to you? Because depending on how things shake out, the number of people realizing capital gains on their currency could tip the scales on the number of taxes collected. The media would tell you that most people won’t be affected. Why? A billionaire minimum tax on unrealized capital gains would apply to taxpayers whose net worth is above $100 million, as proposed by the most recent Biden-Harris administration’s budget proposal. But looking deeper, to help put that in context, just 20,209 taxpayers – or about 0.01% – had net worth valued at $50 million or more in 2019, according to the latest IRS data available. So this idea that millions of millionaires will be created by a currency revaluation event just doesn’t stand up. First of all, there aren’t that many holders of foreign currency to tip the scales. My expectation is there is somewhere between 600k and 800k foreign currency holders, of those, I believe only about half hold 1M in notes. So that would be somewhere in the 300k to 400k of people that would be invested for a million in profits (at an even $1 rate). But BWM, there are lots of people who are rich investing in the dinar. Ok let’s look at the rich folks numbers. More recent data from Altrata, a private firm, suggests the number of high-net worth individuals has grown over the past five years. But the share of all US taxpayers earning more than $100 million is still likely to be small. About 875,500 taxpayers – or 0.54% – reported having that over 1 million in income in 2021, according to the IRS. Now even though many of those EARN more than 100M, their liquidity marks a stark reversal when you see that only 10% of those have a NET worth over that amount. So less than 100k people who are generally in the ultra-rich category. But BWM, my neighbor Jim has over 10M dinar, he’s going to be ultra-rich! Jim is fortunate in having the foresight to have invested well, but the danger is this, the Democrats proposal to increase the tax rate on realized capital gains to 28% would apply to taxpayers with income over $1 million. So if you have 1 million IQD or more, the chances of your taxes increasing GREATLY with a Democratic plan is significant. This is where I loop back to the dark side of politically correct.
So you believe in party lines about certain things, and maybe you’re hung on one issue or the other, but if you have a family and hope to create generational wealth as I have, there is a looming problem. What happens to my wealth when I’m gone? How much inheritance tax will my kids be responsible for? How much will they lose on money I’ve already paid taxes on to be taxed AGAIN for transferring it to them? These are the issues that you should consider at the polls. Yes, there are many other issues that are important but when you look at the long term effects on your time in this investment, NONE is bigger than the capital gains tax. Keep that in mind as you go to the polls next month, and also when you look at the issues of each candidate and their solutions.
Now on to some breakdowns:
10-6-2024 RayRens98 WAITING TO HEAR WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE MARKET OPENS AT 5PM EST TODAY, HEARING INFO FROM BAGHDAD (FROM MOSQUES) ABOUT POSSIBLE RATE CHANGES, WAITING TO GET CONFIRMATION. And confirmation obviously didn’t come, missed again. I know that’s where I get all my trending financial advice, at church, NOT.
10-6-2024 MarkZ Chase always saying they have nothing to do with Iraq…but in the meantime they are opening 10 branches in Iraq while working with them to update their banking system. Chase never said they have nothing to do with Iraq, just the exchange of exotic foreign currency, which the dinar is. J.P. Morgan has extended letters of credit through the Trade Bank of Iraq for opportunities to expand in the region.
10-6-2024 Mnt Goat I was also told that in late November or early December we will see the newer lower denominations and their pictures and features depicted on the CBI site. The ending of the currency auctions at the end of 2024 will also be signal to us that everything is moving correctly and we should see the IQD returned or reinstated back to FOREX in early 2025. This is the only way I’ll believe the new notes are out and all this “education” is being done to the citizens. The only logical place you’ll see ANY of these genuine notes being displayed will be first on the CBI website, not on some alleged cut sheets at some branch.
Hope your week is off to a great start. Continued prayers to the residents of Florida who prepare for another hurricane. Keep those in your thoughts and please look for ways to help if you can.
BWM