Alternative Energy Stocks: Their Time Has Come

Though we certainly have a long way to go, most will agree that the economy is looking up.  Just a few weeks ago, Jeffery over at Queercents wrote about positive signs in the real estate market.

In this article, I’d like to share with you my optimism on alternative energy stocks.

Both legislative and public sentiment has shifted.  Alternative energy is “in.”

1. People like the idea of not being at the mercy of companies like Exxon-Mobil and the like for their energy needs. When it cost over $100 dollars to fill up your SUV every week, you start believing in alternative energy.  For a few quarters of excessive profits, oil companies will pay dearly.
2. Obama is definitive in his support, both verbally, and with lots of cash. Some of his goals : supplying 10% of all electricity used in the US with alternative energies by 2012, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050.
3. The success of products such as solar panels, windmills, and the Prius is snowballing.
4. Much as many will never admit in the USA - global warming is a given.  Ask the polar bears.

Here’s some great reading - should you be inclined.  As always, buy stocks only after extensive research.

• Alternative Energy Stocks
  
• The NY Times Green Blog
• SecurityStockWatch: Alternative Energy Solutions
• Autoblog Green
• Seeking Alpha:  Energy

To all of us Treehuggers:  We have climbed the mountain.  Let’s enjoy the view.

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Passive Income Review - April 2009. May Goals.

Goals Review for April

1)  Blog

• Increase monthly blog income to $75

Result:

• The bad news - I played around with the Google ad positioning at the sacrifice of some revenue for the month.  I did not reach my target of $75 total blog revenue.
• The good news - I’ve optimized Google ad positioning.  It should do well going forward. And I made some money on Amazon ads - first time.

2) Credit Card

• Find new best credit card cash back option.  My credit card earning 2% cash back is being converted to one that earns 1% cashback.

I’ve been unable to identify a better card, except possibly the Discover Card.  Does any one out there use this card?  When the fine print says “up to 1 % cash back” what does that mean exactly?  Is it 1% or not?

3)  Identify 1 new passive income stream.

Amazon associates ads may be it.  I’ve positioned the ads into articles.  This proved more successful than just having links in the sidebars. 

4)  Research a stock to add to my portfolio.

I’ve added the following stocks to my portfolio:

Speculative:

1. General Motors (GM).  220 shares @$1.89.
2. Ford (F).  100 more shares @ $3.85.  Add these to my original 150 shares purchased last month @ $2.00.

Growth/dividend:

1. Trinity Industries (TRN).  100 shares @ $12.93 and an additional 50 @ $12.65.

Growth:

1. Marvel Entertainment (MVL).  100 shares @ 29.87.

Portfolio Summary April 2009
(to view click on the links)

Table

Chart

Passive Income Summary April, 2009

Table

Goals next month

1. Get the blog income up.
2. Continue learning about stocks and monitoring portfolio, with a focus on alternative energy stocks.

How’d your month go?  If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, I look forward to hearing from you.

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Stock Market Investing Tips 101: Creating a POA Revisited

(this is an update of a post from January,2008)

To all of you novice investors out there: with little money, but a brimming curiosity for the stock market, last January,2008, I started stock investing.

I started by writing this Plan of Action (POA).

If you want to start your own investment plan, sit down, pick up a pen, and make your own POA right now. Go ahead! What have you got to lose?

Stock Market Investing Goals for 2008/9

1. Opened an Ing Sharebuilder Account (completed, with there $50 promotion). If you are interested in a current promotion, Jim over at Bargaineering has a $25 deal going.  I am reading through various posts that Trade King is doing a lot right these days as well - and for less cost than Sharebuilder.  So you might want to check them out.
   
2. Generate $1000 through alternative incomes other than my day job. I generated about $500 through taking advantage of credit card sign-up bonuses, and giving up things like Starbucks’s coffee through the year.  Once I gained a little more confidence, I took a portion of our savings.
3. Through identified investigative strategies as described by Jason Kelly and Investor’s Business Daily, I chose 3 Stocks for purchase: Google (GOOG), a growth stock, Annaly (NLY), an REIT dividend stock, and Ford (F), a speculative stock.
   
4. Watch these stocks and purchase at low points in their market price fluctuation cycle. I now have 2 (yes 2!) GOOG, 400 of NLY, and 250 of F.
   
5. Watch the money grow!

To see my portfolio results so far go to this link.

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Careful If You Relocate - State Budget Shortfalls Mean Higher State Taxes

41 states could go bankrupt by 2009-2010 - the table below shows which are the worst.

As state governments scramble to stay above water - cutting both unneeded and needed services - the local legislatures grapple with ways to increase revenue.

And you know what that means. More taxes for all of us.

No more wondering what I’ll be doing with that $600 federal tax rebate check.

What the federal government giveth, the state government taketh away.

I don’t quite understand why every bank and their grandmother’s bank is getting TARP funds - while the states are left holding the bag.

More than 10 states are considering major tax increases, reports the Wall Street Journal.  These include “Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.  California and New York lawmakers already have agreed on multibillion-dollar tax increases that went into effect earlier this year.”

State taxes come in many forms beyond income tax.  Depending on where you live, and what your vices are, you could be nickled and dimed out quite a few dollars.  Here’s some of the taxes being considered for increases in various states.

Cost of living taxes

• Sales tax
• Fuel tax
• Property taxes
• Personal taxes, such as excise tax, and fees for registering your car or boat.
• Reductions of personal exemptions and standard deductions, medical/dental exemptions, and federal income tax deductions.

Target taxes

• Retirement taxes
• Military retirement taxes
• Estate Taxes

Vice taxes

• Cigarette tax
• Alcohol tax
• Gambling tax

What you can do

• Contact your local legislature.  Here’s how.
• Reduce or quit a vice.  Bummer.
• If you’re considering relocating either for job or retirement, you’ll want to take into account the tax burden you’ll be expected to handle at the new location.  Is it higher or lower than where you live now?  Here’s a list of per capita tax burdens by state:

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Should I Refinance? Obama Says Yes.

If you’re on the fence about taking the refinancing plunge, you should investigate now.  The US Government is giving the real estate market a kick-start, and the time could be right. For more details about it, you can read Jeffery’s article “Mortgage Rates Hit Record Lows,” posted in January at Queercents.

Making Homes Affordable - the US government estimates that 8 million Americans are eligible for government mortgage programs.  Are you one of them?

Turns out I’m not.  But I may refinance.  I’m at 5.875 and mortgages are below 5% right now.  Obama says 7-8 million Americans can benefit from refinancing right now.

Pinyo over at Moolonamy offers some great advice on the pros and cons of refinancing.

Here’s a great refinance calculator to see if it makes sense dollar-wise.  Here’s a second one should you not like the first.

And finally, if you need some help clearing up your credit, first check out the US government’s National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

On a side not, if you’re a first-time home buyer you may want to “Take Advantage of the $8000 First Time Home Buyer Credit.”

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• Irresponsible Home Buyers Reaching Deeper into our Pockets Handout specialist - and professional nose wiper - President Obama has decided to toss more taxpayer money at irresponsible home buyers. (I won't say home...

Take Advantage of the $8000 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

U.S. News published The New First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit- 7 Things You Need to Know this morning.  Here’s their list:

1. The specs: The tax credit is equivalent to 10 percent of the purchase price of the home–which must be a principal residence–but is capped at $8,000. It applies only to first-time home buyers, who are defined as buyers that haven’t owned principal residences for three years before making the purchase. The tax credit, however, is subject to income limitations. A single buyer would need an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less to be eligible for the full credit (For married couples it’s $150,000.) Those who make more may qualify for partial credits.

[For more details, check out First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit: 6 Things to Know.]

2. 2009 buyers: The credit only applies to those who buy a home on or after Jan. 1 and before Dec. 1, 2009. That means anyone who bought a home last year is out of luck. But Richard Moody, the chief economist at Mission Residential, says a more significant shortcoming of the tax credit is that it won’t help 2010 buyers. Moody argues that the biggest factor keeping people from buying homes these days is the weakening labor market. In other words, as long as Americans are worried they could lose their jobs they won’t buy homes, he says. “I don’t expect to see any appreciable improvement in the labor market until sometime next year at the earliest,” he says. “[As a result], I think this [tax credit] is going to expire before a lot of people feel confident to go out and make this purchase.”

3. $15,000 letdown: The tax credit is much smaller than a similar $15,000 measure that was included in the Senate’s version of the stimulus bill. The $15,000 tax credit was scrapped during negotiations between the House of Representatives and the Senate. “We would have liked to have seen [a bigger tax credit],” says Tom Kunz, the president and CEO of Century 21 Real Estate. “But $8,000 is still $8,000.”

4. No payback: The good news for prospective homebuyers is that unlike a previously-enacted $7,500 tax credit, this one doesn’t have to be repaid. That makes the credit much more attractive from a would-be buyer’s prospective, says Keith Gumbinger of HSH Associates. “[It's a] more traditional sort of incentive,” he says.

5. One of many: With home prices declining and job losses rising, the tax credit is just one of many factors to consider when deciding whether or not to buy a home, says Mike Larson of Weiss Research. “It should factor into your decision, but it shouldn’t drive your decision,” he says. The trend of property values in a local market, the buyer’s job security, and the number of years the buyer plans on living in the house are more important. “This [tax credit] can help, but those are the real things that are going to be a fundamental driver,” Larson says.

6. Market impact: Gumbinger expects the measure to have only a modest impact on the housing market. That’s because it can’t do anything to address the weakening labor market, falling consumer confidence, or tightening lending standards that are working to prevent many would-be buyers from entering the market. “It certainly helps to serve an audience which can [already] participate in the market,” Gumbinger says. “But it doesn’t do anything to help to develop demand from those borrowers who are at the fringes–or far away from the fringes–of participating.”

7. Part of a bigger effort: Nicolas Retsinas, the director of Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, says the tax credit should be perceived as one component of a broader effort to revive the housing market and the economy. The economic stimulus package is designed to bolster the labor market, and the Obama administration’s new housing plan will attempt to limit foreclosures. “If those two make a difference, then this could be an added stimulus,” Retsinas says. “But again, it’s tough to buck the erosion of jobs and the foreclosure market.”

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Blog Notes and Statistics for March, 2009

Blog Stats

Blog income - see my Passive Income for March post.

* Visits - 7156 (+ 14% from Feb)
* Page views - 12687 (- 32%)
* Bounce rate - 63.92% (+1181%)
* Average time on site - 1 min, 42 sec  (no change)
*1.77 pages/visit (- 41%)

(above data from Google Analytics)  I don’t quite understand the dramatic drop in page views.  Did anyone else see the same thing?

I posted 28 articles in March (20 in Feb, 36 in Jan.)

Goals Progress

• Increase passive income to $75 per month. Got to $56 per month from $46.
  
• Fix scrolling of features section.  ( I believe a plug in has messed it up. ) Done.
  
• Shopping page? In progress- see the Deal Talk page above!
  
• Continue increasing readers, subscribers, traffic and comments. Feedburner subscribers ~ 150 at end of March. Up from last month by about 20?  It’s hard to get a montly average the way the data is presented.  I’ll need to make an excel spreadsheet or something.
  
• Find one new channel of revenue for the blog. To do
• Explore possibility of forming a Midlife Network, complete with widget, from the Alltop Midlife page. To do
• Develop new article series. Check out The Bloghound.  Send me contents - I’ll post it to help our traffic.
  

Blog Highlights

• Have become a proud member of the Pecuniary Network.
• Created a MyAlltop/GreenerPastures page.  Still working on it.
• Was featured in a post on the MSN Money Network

Twitter - 996 followers - Helping traffic.
Stumble - Still my best traffic generator.
Facebook - Helping traffic.  Need to work on.
Alltop’s topic pages:  Midlife and Personal Finance - not much traffic generated from these.

Goals for April

• Increase passive income to $75 per month.
• Hosting Money Hacks Carnival
• Continue work on the Deal Talk page
• Continue increasing readers, subscribers, traffic and comments.
• Find one new channel of revenue for the blog.
• Explore possibility of forming a Midlife Network, complete with widget, from the Alltop Midlife page.
• ???

How did your month go? Any suggestions for this blog?  Would you like me to look at yours and make suggestions or comments?  I would be glad to!

Photo credits: PicApp

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Passive Income Review - March 2009. April Goals.

OK, so it’s not quite as easy as this.

How’d your month go?

The downside:

A decrease in ING’s interest rates, and a less than expected ad revenue on the blog, were among the factors contributing to a low passive income month.

The upside:

The market had a great 4 weeks.

• Increased my Annaly (NLY) shares dramatically. and will see a $200 dividend payout next month.
• Added Ford Motor Company (F) as a growth stock.
• Google (GOOG), Ford, and Annaly are all doing well.

Goals Review

1)  Blog

• Increase monthly blog income to $75 (~50%.)

Increased 22% from $46.35 to $56.34.

• Work on developing revenue through CJ ads.

Decided not to use CJ (Commission Junction Ads.).  I’ve also dropped Green CNBC ads.  The revenue was just too low for the space.

2)  Credit Card

• Find new best credit card cash back option.  My credit card earning 2% cash back is being converted to one that earns 1% cashback.

Still on to do list.

3)  Identify 1 new passive income stream.

Still on to do list.

4)  Purchase 10 more shares of NLY stock.

Purchased 236 shares NLY (Own 400 shares.  Dividend payout in April of 50 cents/share)
Purchased 150 shares of Ford

Passive Income

Portfolio as of April 4th

Goals for April

1)  Blog

• Increase monthly blog income to $75

2)  Credit Card

• Find new best credit card cash back option.  My credit card earning 2% cash back is being converted to one that earns 1% cashback.

3)  Identify 1 new passive income stream.

4)  Research a stock to add to my portfolio.  I still haven’t decided if it will be a dividend or a growth stock.

How’d your month go?  If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, I look forward to hearing from you.

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How Have Your Retirement Plans Changed?

My spouse and I are both in our early fifties, and both of our 401ks have been trashed.  And the clock is ticking.

With only 10-15 years to recover, we’ve had to dramatically re-adjust our retirement strategy.

• As painful as it feels, we are still putting money into our 401ks. We’re actually putting a little more in than we had been.

• We’re paying extra on our mortgage - with the hope of having it completely paid off in the next 10 years.  Tax-wise, right now this doesn’t make sense.  The interest deduction is a big help.  But once we retire, not having the financial burden of a mortgage will be a tremendous relief.

• We’ve had to push our retirement age out at least a couple of years. How many years will be determined by the rate of economic recovery.We realize that - at least at the start of our retirement - we’ll be working part time.

• We’re hoping that a solid national health insurance program is put into place in the next 15 years.

How have you adjusted your retirement plans?

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Ford CEO Takes Compensation Cut. But are the Vehicles Better?

Let’s talk about Ford.  I just bought 150 shares.

Two epiphanies about Ford have come out of this recession:

• CEO compensation is out of control.  Who gets paid $20 million to lose $14.7 billion, and need a $9 billion dollar bailout to stay in business?
• You don’t want to be driving a Ford lately. The Consumer Reports Car Issue tells all.

OK, so these aren’t exactly epiphanies.  U.S. consumers have felt let down by Ford - and other U.S. car companies - for a while.  The difference now is that Americans are no longer willing to tolerate poor quality for the sake of buying American.

Let’s look at Ford in more detail.

CEO Compensation

In an effort to address investors’ and taxpayers’ explosive negative feelings surrounding skyrocketing CEO compensations whilst they are all being hung out to dry,  CNN reports that Ford has given their President and CEO, Alan Mulally, 5 million shares of stock options between now and 2012.

Mulally will take a 30% pay cut for the next two years, reports CNN.

Further, all previous incentive bonus plans for both 2008 and 2009 have been eliminated - not only for. Mulally, but for all executives and salaried employees.

Mulally can sell up to 1/3 of the options a year from now, 2/3 two years from now, and all must be sold by 2019.

What’s good about this announcement?

• (Finally) tying executives’ incentive packages directly to profits makes sense.  They got away with blockbuster paychecks for as long as they could.  And without any regulation, you can bet when the heat’s off they’ll be walking away with  them again.  But at least their salaries are being held in check right now.
  

• As an owner of 150 shares of Ford stock (purchased at $2.04/share this week,) it gives me a “we’re all in this together” kinda feeling.  I like that.

What stinks about this announcement?

• On Dec. 4th, 2008, CNN reported that Ford promised to cut Mulally’s salary to $1 per year if they took the government bailout loan. Well, they took the $9 billion loan, but even with the 30% pay-cut, Mulally is still making over $1 million dollars a year. His standard salary without bonuses was $2 million.
  

• His stock options were priced at $1.96/share.  The stock closed at $2.19/ share on Friday.  That means if the company goes nowhere and the stock stays exactly where it is until 2012, Mulally still makes $11 millon.

Have You Driven a Ford Lately?

The really sad question, of course, is “Why would you want to drive a Ford lately?“

And the really sad answer given by many Americans is “You don’t.”

In 2007, Time magazine published the Top 50 Worst Cars of All Time.  The Ford Model T (1909), Edsel (1958), Pinto (1971), Explorer (1995), and Excursion (2000) all made the list.

I owned an Escort station wagon in the 1990’s, and once the car hit 75,000 miles it was over.  I became friends with the Triple A towing service dispatcher.

This got me to wondering:  “Were Fords ever any good?”  Or was it just that we didn’t know any better?  The success of Ford - and other poorly built American cars - may be purely the result of:

• brain-wash type marketing, and
• the “I must buy American” guilt complex.

Were Fords actually better built then?  Or was it just that we didn’t know any better?

Case in point.  Who remembers the Ford Pinto scandal?

Many of the Ford cars made the 50 top selling lists and 50 top famous cars lists as well.  That’s what makes me love them even as I hate them. When I was in college, I traveled many miles in an old (even back then!) blue ’60’s mustang.  A milk crate kept the driver’s seat from falling back.

So, if I feel this way about Ford, why did I buy those shares?  Because Ford has momentum right now.  They aren’t going under any time soon.  They’re making press announcements that say what I want to hear.  And the market is gaining momentum. Oh, and at $2/ share, they’re a bargain.

I checked out the Ford website, and right now - other than the Ford Ranger pick-up, which has always been my secret dream vehicle - nothing is catching my eye.  How about you?

What’s been your Ford experience?

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Federal Government Spending = Pork Spending? You Decide.

OK, I guess you all know I really like this Obama guy.

Here’s another reason why I really like him.

This website:

Recovery.gov

Here I can find out where the billions of tax dollars dropped on the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

are going.

Skeptics will claim that Recovery.gov is blatant “pull the will over our eyes” propaganda.

Could be.

There’s definitely spin doctors at work, I’ll give all you McCain lovers that.

BUT

I’m glad it’s there.

I’ll read it.

And I’ll breathe easier.

I like where my tax dollars are being spent.

The Psychology of Money: Economic Survivor Syndrome

It wasn’t the first and it won’t be the last, layoff I’ve survived.

It was one of those small,”under the radar” types.  6 great hard-working people, all great at what they do.  I’m sure they’re scratching their heads right now, puzzled, hurt and angry at what happened.

As a layoff survivor, I’m also shaken.  I cared about these people.  Why them and not me?  Will I be next?

Keith Ablow, a noted psychiatrist and author of the book, Living the Truth, published a great article in my local newspaper today that addresses this issue.  I thought I’d share it in its entirety with you here.

Weathering Economic Survivor Syndrome

Living the Truth
Dr. Keith Ablow

With the economy under siege and mass layoffs around the country, men and women are sharing with me symptoms of depression and anxiety clearly triggered by job loss. Never before in my 16 years of practice have I seen so many people so shaken by joining the ranks of the unemployed, with all the challenges that presents to their self-esteem and confidence in the future.

I am also hearing from others who still have their jobs, but are clearly suffering the effects of what has been called “survivor syndrome” in the workplace. Witnessing layoffs of valued colleagues, they aren’t feeling relief or a sense of having triumphed over adversity. Rather, they feel as if they have little control over their futures, regardless of how well they perform.

They have a sense of impending doom that the next downsizing will include them. And many actually feel deeply troubled — even guilty — that co-workers have lost their jobs while they have kept theirs, almost as though, by staying aboard, they have sanctioned the firings themselves.

Indeed, recognized symptoms of survivor syndrome in the workplace include less motivation to excel at one’s job, a lack of trust in management, reduced loyalty to the organization and feeling like it might be better if the whole company were to perish all at once.

The roots of survivor syndrome sometimes lie in one’s life history. Seeing sudden distress in others can reawaken feelings of sadness, helplessness and anger attached to earlier life events, like sudden illness in a sibling or a treasured childhood friend suddenly moving out of state. But our vulnerability to the syndrome is ultimately connected to our wonderful human capacity to empathize with the plight of others.

Here are a few keys to overcoming survivor syndrome:

Realize that it’s unlikely anyone in the organization — including top managers — is eager to cut jobs or is unaffected by economic stress. There’s no bad guy to hate.

Focus on what you can do to make the workplace cohesive and to comfort those who remain on the job.

Reach out to see how colleagues you care about who lost jobs are doing, a week or a month later. They’ll appreciate it, and you’ll be showing yourself and them that camaraderie doesn’t haven’t to dissolve when a company downsizes.

¢¢¢

Keith Ablow, MD, is a psychiatrist, best-selling author, Fox News Contributor and founder of www.LivingtheTruth.com. He lives in Newbury. His column is reprinted from New York Post. Contact him at info@keithablow.com.

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Blog Notes and Statistics for February, 2009

Blog Stats

Blog income - see my Passive Income for February post.

* Visits - 6296 ( + 14% from January )
* Page views - 18746 ( + 5% )
* Bounce rate - 4.99% ( - 36% )
* Average time on site - 1 min, 44 sec  ( - 35% )
*2.98 pages/visit ( - 7% )

(above data from Google Analytics)

I posted 20 articles in February  (36 in January.)

Review of Blog Goals for January

• Increase passive blog income to $50/month
• Increase subscribers and Twitter followers 10% 
• Increase comments by 5%
• Find one channel of revenue through the blog  
• Come up with a “shopping” page plan (In process)

What I’ve been doing to increase comments:

1. Added Most Frequent Commentors list to sidebar
2. Continue latest comments links in sidebar
3. Frequently responding to commentors
4. Comment Luv
5. Increasing the number of genuine comments I’m leaving on my favorite blogs, and new blogs.
6. Frequently leaving comments on the blogs of bloggers who comment on my blog.

It’s a slow climb, so if you like my site, please sign up for my feed and my Twitter. Oh, and a stumble would be nice, too.)

Blog Notes

Greener Pastures has been added to two of Alltop’s topic pages:  Midlife and Personal Finance!

Here’s the feeds below.  If you have a chance, please go check them out. There ’s some great blogs on these pages. While you’re there, if you take a second to click on a link back to my site, it will help me move higher up on their page.

Twitter - Increased to over 700 followers.  This h.as helped traffic
Facebook - too early to tell what’s going on.  See next month.

Goals for March

• Increase passive income to $75 per month.
• Fix scrolling of features section.  ( I believe a plug in has messed it up. )
• Shopping page?
• Continue increasing readers, subscribers, traffic and comments.
• Find one new channel of revenue for the blog.
• Explore possibility of forming a Midlife Network, complete with widget, from the Alltop Midlife page.
• Develop new article series.

How did your month go? Any suggestions for this blog?  Would you like me to look at yours and make suggestions or comments?  I would be glad to!

Photo credits: PicApp

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Passive Income Review - February 2009. March Goals.

OK, so it’s not quite as easy as this.

How’d your month go?

Goals Review

1)  Increase monthly blog passive income to $50

Income - $49.45. 29% increase, over last month, 1% short of target.
Comments:

• one single line text link ad purchase for $20 (2 months.)
• cNBC ads did not perform as well as I’d hoped, with a drop in revenue.
• Google Adsense increased revenue of  41%

2)  Re-evaluate Commission Junction Choices.

• I’ve pulled all CJ advertising until I can find ads that also pay on a per-click basis. CJ ads require purchase immediately after click.  Does this happen?

3)  Identify one new potential revenue mechanism to be implemented next month.

• I did not have time to accomplish this.  Moved to next month.

4)  Purchase 10 shares of Annaly (NLY) dividend stock.

• I was able to purchase 30 shares
• Total NLY holdings: 163.4 shares
  
• Current Dividend interest rate (rolled back into stock): 14% ($2.00 per share annual)
• Next dividend payout: April 30th (est. at $81.70)
  

Passive Income

Goals for March

1)  Blog

• Increase monthly blog income to $75 (50%.)
• Work on developing revenue through CJ ads.

2)  Credit Card

• Find new best credit card cash back option.  My credit card earning 2% cash back is being converted to one that earns 1% cashback.

3)  Identify 1 new passive income stream.

4)  Purchase 10 more shares of NLY stock.

How’d your month go?  If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, I look forward to hearing from you.

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What if You Could Choose How the Government Spent Your Tax Payments?

How about you?  What do you want your hard earned tax dollars spent on?

My biggest complaint with paying taxes is that I don’t want to be footing the bill for certain government projects.  I want to pay my fair share - could be considered a left winger, sheesh, almost a friggin’ socialist, by my conservative friends.

I just don’t want to finance “my fair share” of things like the war in Iraq, nuclear energy funding, or oil drilling.

At breakfast this morning, my spouse and I got to talking about how great this would be.  We thought it’d be interesting to see how others felt about it.

I know I’d feel a whole lot better about paying my taxes if I were designating where the money went.

How about you?

Where would you like your hard earned tax dollars to go?

If I get enough responses, I’ll summarize them in a future post.

Here’s where I want my tax dollars going:

• public education and health care
• social security
• jobs
• maintaining our infrastructure
• alternative energy development - eliminating oil dependence
• research in medicine -and in other projects that improve the quality of life on our planet
• reducing global starvation
• improving global health
• building a sustainable planet by fighting the war against pollution and global warming
• developing global relations with other countries
• supporting the arts
• World Peace.

Feel free to also list where you wouldn’t like your tax money going, too.

photo credit: PicApp

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