Bill Gates throws up his hands and declares Elizabeth Warren’s proposed wealth tax will break him. Gates, whose financial worth is reported to be $106.8 billion dollars, would pay about 3 billion in wealth taxes under Warren’s plan. But even if his fears were correct and he would

In 2011, I opined  I envied the lifestyle of the monied class. I even speculated that having a butler, a cook, and a chauffeur would be necessary for my declining years. My 105-year house offered a clue.  It required an army of gardeners, plumbers,  roofers, and house painters to k

Recently, I left my dental office with a generic drug prescription and paid less than $3 for it.  Medicare paid the major portion, but I admit, I had reverse sticker shock.  After the EpiPen scandal, where a generic drug that normally sold for $50 suddenly shot up to $300, I

Turning your investment money over to a robot, with its almost infinite database, may lead you to believe the advice you receive is objective. (Blog 4/15/15)  Why shouldn’t it be?  Robots have no personal interest at stake.  An added plus is no middle man fees. Banks

As the stock market remains choppy, I’ve chosen to shift some money into certificates of deposit.*(CDs) Interest rates for this kind of investment are low, but so is inflation. With a 2% return, I can keep my finances afloat. Recently, my broker recommended I add U. S. Treasuries to

The Brookings Institute, a respected think tank, recently issued a report on the political benefits of Congressional earmarks. Earmarks are footnotes an elected representative once was allowed to insert into the Congressional budget. Usually, the earmark was for a project which favore

“What kind of a woman are you?” Henri Matisse screamed at his model as he stood before his canvass.  He and dozens of other Parisian painters in the 1920s, Chagall, Cocteau and Braque among them, would never find out.  Only Picasso refused to paint Mari Lani, a model who became

GlaxoSmithKline has a cure for the “bubble boy” affliction, an ailment that attacks people’s immune systems.  The price tag? $634,000. (Ibid, pg. 22.)   Spark Therapeutics, Inc. has a gene therapy to cure a rare form of childhood blindness. What is the value of gaining one’

When President Barrack Obama rejected the application for the  Keystone XL TransCanada pipeline, he had more on his mind than the environment.  The project made no economic sense.  According to the U. S. Department of State, bringing heavy oil sands across our border, among the mos

I sat down to coffee in the retirement lounge, recently, needing a time out. My head was spinning from my conversation with my stockbroker.  Exasperated, I said to the woman next to me, “How can I leave my money in the hands of someone who approves of Donald Trump?”  The woman,