Reasons I Like ROTH IRA

• I'm more likely to take an active interest in a retirement account if I know all the money made will not be taxed.
• Therefore, let's say I have $100K in ROTH account. If account were to grow to $2million (add $1.9M), every cent is tax free.
• If I made $1.9 million now outside of ROTH, almost 50% would go to taxes. Not only would I be left with only $1 million, I'd forever lose the chance to make money from the money paid in taxes. And of course any future monies made would be taxed.
• It's a fact that we're living longer. With a ROTH IRA instead of a traditional IRA, I can let my money  keep growing instead of taking forced withdrawals at 70.5 years.
• If I die, spouse would be in higher tax bracket. With ROTH, it doesn't matter.
• Social Security can be taxed up to 85%. With a ROTH withdrawal, it's not counted as income.
• If taxes go higher, both Federal and State, which looks like they will, I'm protected.

These are the reasons I like a ROTH IRA. How exciting if I was 16, starting out, and maximizing my ROTH. And what must be understood for young people is that you are always able to withdraw what you put into a ROTH with no tax liabilities.

Of course who knows what the future portends. It's still one hell of a safety net. Though I can live like a king on $10K/year in today's monies, a $2 million ROTH account would be the same as $2 billion--more than I'd ever need.

Health

In describing my blog, three of the main topics are Western Civilization/Politics, Personal Finance/Economy and Nutrition/Health.

Looking back at my posts, not only is there anything I wish to change, but everything I wrote I stand by today. No regrets.

As I'm getting older, nearing 60, I'm getting the chance to look back over my life and decisions made.

For instance, in the beginning, my seach for great health was to live near a reputable hospital. IOW, my health was not in my hands, or my responsibility, but the doctors'.

Now for some reason, I find I'm in a very extreme small minority when it comes to health/nutrition. I was always concerned with health. I gravitated towards a vegan diet and the writings of doctors such as Dr McDougall.

In the beginning of my journey, I didn't think I would ever be able to gain the health that I wanted. People who I read about, one was a mentor of mine, spent time at Dr McDougall's health retreats to gain back his health. I thought I would never have the chance for the same health because I was too poor to attend Dr McDougall's seminars.

But what I've learned is there is no magic in attending Dr M's classes. What needs to be learned can be gleaned from his books and videos from Youtube. 

To gain health is actually quite simple. And inexpensive. What's difficult is going against everything  learned and culture.

As I've said earlier, I'm older and as time's gone by, I've gained wisdom. And some of that wisdom is regarding nutrition. In general, with our ideas, customs, etc, we all regress to the center of the Bell Curve. If we stray out to the fringes, we realize our mistakes and are brought back in the fold. The center is usually right. 

But on the fringes I will stay. Eating meat, meat byproducts, processed foods is the norm in America. Overweight is the norm. Taking pills is the norm. I choose to eat a diet free of animals, and its by-product, animal suffering. I want to eat foods grown from the earth in as minimally processed fashion as possible.

It doesn't seem to do that would put me on the outer fringes, but it does. Certainly times are changing, and I do believe the Bell Curve will slide over to where I'll eventually be in the center, but that time is still far away.

Google Ripped Me Off

A few months ago, I received a flyer in the mail. It was a special offer, $50 to advertise with Google.

I checked my Visa statement yesterday. A $200 charge from Google!

I called Google and asked what it was about. They said it was for advertising with them. I said I never wanted to advertise with them beyond their $50 offer. They said they make it clear when I sign up that there will be additional charges that will be debtited from my Visa automaticly every month.

So not only do I not get a refund from Google, they are charging a $113 to close the account. Classy Google.

What I've now learned with Google if they offer anything where they want my Visa card number, stay away. Google's offered a lot of free stuff that I use daily, but now I hate Google.

PS. If you're wondering if the advertising did any good, the answer is no. I do appliance repair and I did not get one lead from Google.

Trybrid Bicycle

Bikes have a long distance to get into the 21st century.

Here's a few suggestions:

1. Trybrid bike instead of hybrid. Operate via gas, electricity and peddle power. Gets 200 MPG, so service is usually once a week at most. 35 MPH top speed, traffic lights programmed so no need to stop.

2. Self balancing. Won't fall over and works like this motorcycle.

3. GPS. Able to drive itself without a driver. Same as Google's self driving car. Let's say you're in Vegas walking around all the casinos. You get tired and call for your bicycle to come near where you are at.

4. Self locking and unlocking system.

5. Bicycle recognizes who you are. If someone else takes it, police are notified and bicycle will take picture of thief giving police picture and GPS coordinates.

6. Make wheels easily interchagable so can be converted into mountain bike or for city driving.

Nathan Pritikin

I had the good fortune of getting sick this week. It wasn't pretty folks, coming out both....

What was so good about getting sick though was loss of appetite. I didn't eat for two days. And that made me happy. Many times I start a fast, but as the day wears on, I end up eating. Being sick, it was a piece of cake not to eat. Funny, ha ha. Bun intended.

Fasting is the best gift by far we can give ourselves. This organization (one of the best fasting centers in the world) states that one of the benefits of fasting is  like resetting the clock. They compare it to rebooting a computer. Simple foods, like watermelon which I usually break a fast with, tastes extraordinary. And though I only fasted 2 days, my goal is to do a 3 week fast sometime in my life.

While resting, I got in touch with an old friend--A book by Nathan Pritikin ($.01 used at Amazon). I've probably read this book 20 times. I read it again this week, and I'm going to read it again starting today. I continually am dumbfounded by the wisdom this man expressed and the truths that even for today are so profound. The book was written in 1979 and of course the studies he states happened even before then. And remember, I said Nathan Pritikin, not Dr Pritikin. He was a lay person, not a doctor.

When I say I read his book, actually it's mostly to page 62. Then at the end of the book there's an appendix titled, "For the Health Professional". That's another 40 pages. That's it, the rest is superflous. So it doesn't take much to get through his book.

But, oh the wisdom. He recalls studies by fellows named Lester Morrison, Roy Swank, Dennis Burkitt et al. As far as I know, besides Dr Burkitt--Morrison and Swank are little known, though what they did, far reaching. Especially Dr Swank. Unfortunately, I won't even bother to tell my friends who have multiple sclerosis about him, because in the past I've learned it's fallen on deaf ears.

On Thanksgiving, a guest kindly brought me a magazine called "Well Being Journal". One of the articles on the cover that caught my eye was "Healthy Saturated Fats". I read the article and got both depressed and angry. This is what passes for so called scholarship these days.

There are two forewords in Mr Pritikin's book. One by the great Dr Burkitt and the other by a Dr Harper. Dr Harper was in charge of some kind of insurance program for pilots. If what he says alone in his "Foreward" is true, it's almost unbelieveable. Just reading the two Forewards is worth the price of the book;-)

If you want to see and discover real truths, read the first few pages of Nathan Pritikin's book. If you follow that, you won't have to read any other book on nutrition the rest of your life.

Here is an old video with Dr McDougall and Nathan Pritiken

Inspiring--Brilliant Kid

TED-Most ever watched-Gratefulness

Most watched TED show. On gratitude. Simply marvelous.

A quote from the video:

Today
It's the only gift that is given to you
Today
It's a gift
It's a gift that you have right now
And the only appropriate response
Is gratefulness

Girl buys house at 14

Here's a link about a girl who bought her first house at 14. It also shows her on the Ellen D. show talking about how she did it.

Now imagine this: If this young lady was to maximize her ROTH IRA of $5000/year for every year until she turns 59, at 6% her IRA is valued at $1.132 million. That's tax free.

So right now, being that her income is so low, she'd pay almost no taxes to fund a ROTH IRA, and then when she's in a high tax bracket later, she'd have over $1 million saved that is tax free monies. Also any other money that those monies further make. Forever....

Imagine if she was able to put 2 more deals together before she's 18 and have the houses paid off, drawing $1000/month rent from each property. She in all reality could retire before she even enters the work force.

Another thing, her options truly become her options. She doesn't have to stand on the corner holding a sign making $10/hour so she can get her next meal. Most likely by 20 she'll consult and charge $250-$500/hour for her services.

Here's another well written story about this remarkable young lady.

Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind

This speech is given by Doug Lisle. He's also the author of one of the greatest books on nutrition--"The Pleasure Trap".

If you think you lose weight by eating less food and exercising, you're in for a big surprise. Are people who are successful at losing weight and staying that way because of will power? Find out in this fantastic talk by Dr Lisle.

Dennis Miller

I feel the same way. I truly don't get it.

http://dennismillerradio.com/b/Well-Know-on-November-6th.../601380515394641505.html

Doing My Great, Great...Grandfather Proud

Col John Crane, my Great Great...Grandfather, was a member of the Boston Tea Party.

According to my Uncle, Ray Nelson (Senator Pell's Press Secretary), Col Crane was the only one injured during the Boston Tea Party.

Today, I hope I did my GG Grandfather proud. While many will see the Chick-fil-A support as a symbolic waste of time, I'm sure many thought the same of the Boston Tea Party. 

Chick-fil-A symbolizes more than just being able to open a franchise. It represents not only the intolerance of left (which touts itself as being tolerant), but something far more sinister. And that is, if you don't think the group think way, we don't want you here. Just as Obama claims that people who are successful in their businesses didn't build it, a reason for higher taxes to those who've created great businesses, it's another means to weaken the citizen and grow the government.

Here's a picture I took of my GG Grandfather while in Whiting ME two years ago, where also is buried my beloved Grandmother and Grandfather:

Your Money Or Your Life

Your Money Or Your Life, by Joe Dominguez, a seminal work defining how we look at work and money.

Let's say one earns $40/hour. To go out to eat, spend $40 for dinner is equivalent to one hours worth of labor. But not so fast.

First, (and I'll be fast and loose with my numbers), the $40 becomes $20 after paying all the mandatory taxes. But let's not stop there. Let's add in the time to prepare for work, and the cost of the vehicle to transfer to work. And after work one must decompress by having a few drinks. The $20 easily becomes $10. And how about the cost of gas going to and from the restaurant?

So the $40/hour translates into working 4 hours for that meal. This is what Joe D. was talking about. We're trading a lot of our life's time and energy in wasteful means. By making a few thoughtful different choices, our lives could be much fuller with greater happiness and satisfaction.

Most people's lives are spent/stressed over making money. Getting up early, putting on the nice clothes, driving the expensive car, from the expensive house to make money. It's not just the job where one makes money, but it's the getting up early preparing for the job, then working and the enormous amount of time decompressing after the job.

Here's a list of stuff I'm writing down that is free. While it might seem trite, it's not meant to be in any way:

A healthy body including heart, liver, kidneys, pancreas, you get the idea. When we're healthy we might take them for granted, but if we don't have outstanding health, we know how important it is. As one famous writer said "Happiness is a good bowel movement".

The air we breathe, water, library, sun, warmth, flushing toilet, eye sight, beauty, walking, the ocean, exercise, tennis, the parks, hiking, our five senses, friends.

Things nowadays that are free or nearly free: internet, phone, fruits and veggies (especially at the $.99 store), legumes, camera, video camera, voice recorder, you tube, facebook, email, netflix, calculator, fed ex, ups.

So we can choose to spend thousands on cars and houses, or make simple modifications like eating at home, and choosing to do those things that are free or cost little.

Is one's life richer because one owns more things and spends more money?

To Be American

Dennis Prager

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=XNUc8nuo7HI

Dr David Barton

Dr. David Barton is more of a historian than a Biblical speaker, but very famous for his knowledge of historical facts as well as Biblical truths.

Dr. David Barton - on Obama

Respect the Office? Yes.

Respect the Man in the Office? No, I am sorry to say.

I have noted that many elected officials, both Democrats and Republicans, called upon America to unite behind Obama.

Well, I want to make it clear to all who will listen that I AM NOT uniting behind Obama!

I will respect the Office which he holds, and I will acknowledge his abilities as an orator and wordsmith and pray for him, BUT that is it.

I have begun today to see what I can do to make sure that he is a one-term President!

Why am I doing this?

It is because:

- I do not share Obama's vision or value system for America;

- I do not share his Abortion beliefs;

- I do not share his radical Marxist's concept of re-distributing wealth;

- I do not share his stated views on raising taxes on those who make$150,000+ (the ceiling has been changed three times since August);

- I do not share his view that America is Arrogant;

- I do not share his view that America is not a Christian Nation;

- I do not share his view that the military should be reduced by 25%;

- I do not share his view of amnesty and giving more to illegals than our American Citizens who need help;

- I do not share his views on homosexuality and his definition of marriage;

- I do not share his views that Radical Islam is our friend and Israel is our enemy who should give up any land;

- I do not share his spiritual beliefs (at least the ones he has made public);

- I do not share his beliefs on how to re-work the healthcare system in America;

- I do not share his Strategic views of the Middle East; and

- I certainly do not share his plan to sit down with terrorist regimes such as Iran.

Bottom line: my America is vastly different from Obama's, and I have a higher obligation to my Country and my GOD to do what is Right!

For eight (8) years, the Liberals in our Society, led by numerous entertainers who would have no platform and no real credibility but for their celebrity status, have attacked President Bush, his family, and his spiritual beliefs!

They have not moved toward the center in their beliefs and their philosophies, and they never came together nor compromised their personal beliefs for the betterment of our Country!

They have portrayed my America as a land where everything is tolerated except being intolerant!

They have been a vocal and irreverent minority for years!

They have mocked and attacked the very core values so important to the founding and growth of our Country!

They have made every effort to remove the name of GOD or Jesus Christ from our Society!

They have challenged capital punishment, the right to bear firearms, and the most basic principles of our criminal code!

They have attacked one of the most fundamental of all Freedoms, the right of free speech!

Unite behind Obama? Never!

I am sure many of you who read this think that I am going overboard, but I refuse to retreat one more inch in favor of those whom I believe are the embodiment of Evil!

PRESIDENT BUSH made many mistakes during his Presidency, and I am not sure how history will judge him. However, I believe that he weighed his decisions in light of the long established Judeo-Christian principles of our Founding Fathers!!!

Majority rules in America, and I will honor the concept; however, I will fight with all of my power to be a voice in opposition to Obama and his "goals for America ..."

I am going to be a thorn in the side of those who, if left unchecked, will destroy our Country! Any more compromise is more defeat!

I pray that the results of this election will wake up many who have sat on the sidelines and allowed the Socialist-Marxist anti-GOD crowd to slowly change so much of what has been good in America!

GOD bless you and GOD bless our Country!

One For The Team