A Little Goes a Long Way
Allan Rolnick, CPA Sometimes, when Washington changes tax laws, it’s Big Freakin’ News. Back in 1986, a bipartisan group of senators and representatives re-wrote the entire Internal Revenue Code from stem to stern. Publishers killed entire forests printing their analyses in newspapers and magazines, and tax pros spent years catching up with the changes. (Passive […]
Membership Has Its Privileges
Allan Rolnick, CPA In 1958, American Express launched its first credit card. They worked to position it as a premium offering right out the gate, with a whopping $6 annual fee – a full $1 higher than Diners Club. Those first cards were purple cardboard with typed names and account numbers. But one year later, […]
Unaffordable at Any Speed
Allan Rolnick, CPA Have you tried buying a car lately? It’s nuts! Carmakers are scrambling to find the chips they need to power features like entertainment systems and digital displays. That means fewer vehicles are rolling off assembly lines. And as everyone knows, when supplies go down, prices go up. That means dealers can scrawl […]
Lights, Camera, Action
Allan Rolnick, CPA Last weekend, Hollywood’s elite gathered to do what they do best: celebrate themselves at the Oscars. And while Will Smith smacking Chris Rock sucked most of the oxygen out of the room, Sunday night’s “main event” still managed to honor the big-name nominees for awards like Best Picture, Best Director, and Best […]
Fill ‘er Up!
Allan Rolnick, CPA With Vladimir Putin’s troops wreaking havoc in Ukraine, Western governments have hammered Russia with unprecedented sanctions that may have already destroyed the country’s economy for a generation. However, those moves have cost us here at home, too. Russia is the world’s second-largest oil producer, and gas prices have hit all-time highs. Millions […]
Cascading Consequences
Allan Rolnick, CPA Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has shocked the world and united the globe. In less than a week, Putin turned himself, his country, and the billionaire oligarchs who back him into international pariahs. Russia’s currency and economy has been destroyed. Interestingly, the Russian legislature has made it a crime, punishable by 15 […]
No Good Deed
Allan Rolnick, CPA The ancient Greeks believed that sometimes life calls for sacrifice. In Greek mythology, King Minos of Crete forced the people of Athens to send him seven young men and seven maidens in retribution for the death of his son Androgeos. They couldn’t have been happy to board the boat, knowing they were […]
I’m Listening
Allan Rolnick, CPA From 1993 through 2004, Kelsey Grammar became the highest-paid actor on television, playing the psychiatrist and radio host Frasier Crane in the critically-acclaimed sitcom Frasier. Every weekday at 2:00 PM, he took to his mic on Seattle’s KACL and opened his show with the soothing words, “Hello Seattle, I’m listening.” Invariably, hijinks […]
High Stakes
Allan Rolnick, CPA These days, it seems like every time you open your laptop, some crypto-bro is philosophizing about the brave new world of cryptocurrency. Today it’s our turn to jump on that bandwagon. We’re not going to tackle the existential questions, like “is crypto really just astrology for libertarians?” We can’t tell you whether […]
Odds are Good
Allan Rolnick, CPA Life is full of mysteries that we may never solve. Nature or nurture? Growth or value? “Tastes great” or “less filling”? But last month, one fortunate gambler proved it’s better to be lucky than smart. He started with a $20 credit on the FanDuel betting site – house money! He bet that […]
