From the Courier Post:
‘Fake farmers’ avoid paying $82M in taxes
Spotty enforcement and an outdated state law allow thousands of landowners to pay pennies on the dollar in property taxes.
The Farmland Assessment Act of 1964, intended to preserve agriculture in New Jersey, is being used by millionaires, developers and anyone with at least 5 acres of land to slash their farmland tax bills by 98 percent.
A Gannett New Jersey investigation into farmland assessment records found that hundreds of landowners deemed “fake farmers” by those calling for reform are producing little more than the bare minimum — $500 — in goods to qualify for the tax breaks.
One landowner tried to declare weeds as a farm product and another forged a signature on a government document in attempts for the tax break, the investigation found.
“It was never the intent of the law that fake farmers would benefit,” said state Sen. Jennifer Beck, R-Monmouth, who has proposed changes to the law. “If it’s not fulfilling the intent of the law, it is a violation of the public trust.”
The so-called fake farmers are likely costing local governments at least $82 million a year in lost property tax revenues, according to the analysis of 3 million property and tax records.
…
“Farmland assessment was intended for farmers to get a tax break, but what’s happened is the homeowner wants a tax break so he pretends he’s a farmer,” Motyka said. “If you have 300 people get farmland assessment (in a town), that means everyone else, including the farmers, has to pay taxes on their land to make up for that.”
…
A lack of inspections. Only 10 percent of the required inspections of farm-assessed woodlands were done this year by the state Department of Environmental Protection. DEP foresters are required to inspect such woodland properties every three years. DEP officials say they can’t ensure that owners of uninspected properties are meeting the requirements for a tax break.
…
Developer Hovsons Inc., for example, owns 10.5 acres of rolling pasture and woods along the scenic Navesink River in Middletown, one of the most exclusive areas in the state. Yet the Tinton Falls-based company will pay $30.52 in property taxes this year on that parcel. That’s a six-figure savings.How did Hovsons do it?
The company set up nearly two dozen beehives and sells at least $545 worth of honey each year to qualify for a 98 percent tax reduction.
“fake” is the Jersey way.
From HousingWire:
Fitch sees 10% drop in home prices in 2011, negative outlook for MBS
Fitch Ratings expects another 10% decline in home prices in 2011, as the supply of distressed properties continues to weigh down the housing market.
Accordingly, analysts maintained the agency’s negative outlook for the residential mortgage-backed securities space and said 53% of all investment-grade RMBS rated by Fitch have a negative outlook. The number of downgrades will once again outpace upgrades in RMBS, but not as severely as the past few years, according to analysts.
The fix is simple, adjust the $500 from the 1964 dollar, to the 2010 dollar (adjust it for inflation), and ensure it adjusts for inflation every year forward.
Done
$500 was a significant sum in 1964, it isn’t today.
According to Zillow I am about even on my home’s value since my 2002 purchase. Now let’s see what the tax man has to say. Though since 2002 my taxes have doubled.
Correct the $500 to $3,500 for the starting income and we can go from there.
If all you can earn off your 5 acres a year is $500, you aren’t a good enough farmer to qualify. That doesn’t constitute a contribution to food supply or economic activity.
Bailout # 987 on the way! No really, THIS one will work!
From the Washington Post:
Agencies clash over mortgage relief
The top federal agencies responsible for setting housing policy are clashing over a new program designed to help borrowers whose homes are worth less than they owe on their mortgages, according to industry and government sources.
The Federal Housing Administration says the program could avert foreclosures, but the Federal Housing Finance Agency has concerns that the program, if expanded to include the government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, could be a logistical nightmare that would cost taxpayers too much, the sources said.
About one in four borrowers is underwater. Without equity in their homes, these borrowers tend to be vulnerable to foreclosure because it is difficult for them to refinance or sell their homes. Housing advocates have said that helping these borrowers is important to stem the nation’s foreclosure tide.
At issue is an FHA program launched in September that would allow some underwater borrowers who are current on their mortgages to refinance into more-affordable loans with a smaller loan balance and lower interest rate.
“The Farmland Assessment Act of 1964, intended to preserve agriculture in New Jersey, is being used by millionaires, developers and anyone with at least 5 acres of land to slash their farmland tax bills by 98 percent.”
Everyone except that disable cop in Jackson from yesterday’s news story!
From Bloomberg:
U.S. Home Values to Drop by $1.7 Trillion This Year, Zillow Says
U.S. home values are poised to drop by more than $1.7 trillion this year amid rising foreclosures and the expiration of homebuyer tax credits, said Zillow Inc., a closely held provider of home price data.
This year’s estimated decline, more than the $1.05 trillion drop in 2009, brings the loss since the June 2006 home-price peak to $9 trillion, the Seattle-based company said today in a statement.
“It’s definitely going to continue into 2011,” Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television today. “The back half of 2010 looked horrible and 2011 should look like the mirror image of that.”
The drop in home values pushed more buyers underwater, meaning they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, Zillow said. The percentage of homeowners with mortgages with so-called negative equity reached 23.2 percent in the third quarter, up from 21.8 percent at the end of 2009.
From the APP:
Farm assessments brought NJ land owners nearly 100% tax break
This year, New Jersey had 985,798 acres of farm-assessed land, down 13,101 acres from last year, according to the Department of Agriculture.
Cropland comprised about half that land, while woodland amounted to more than a third. The rest were pastures, according to state data.
Property owners paid a total of $11.3 million in taxes on the nearly 1 million acres. That’s a median of $10.39 an acre — a 98 percent property tax break.
Without farmland assessment, the taxes last year would have been $562.7 million.
But what exactly distinguishes traditional farmers, who earn most of their income from the land, from land bankers, who buy farmland for future development or as giant buffers around mansions?
Political connections.
“But what exactly distinguishes traditional farmers, who earn most of their income from the land, from land bankers, who buy farmland for future development or as giant buffers around mansions?”
Remember the Star Ledger showing the airial view of ex Govenor Whitman’s mansion years ago the one with two swimming pools that’s what the whole article was about because she was paying under $2000.00 for her so called farm. One one the electrical contractors that comes here brags he has a McMansion in Bernardesville and he’s doing the same thing. He must sell at least $500.00 worth of produce a year to qualify.
The end of public pensions?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/business/10norris.html?ref=business
The Grim Truth http://www.escapefromamerica.com/2010/06/escape-from-america-the-grim-truth/
First
13.Mike says:
December 10, 2010 at 7:10 am
The Grim Truth http://www.escapefromamerica.com/2010/06/escape-from-america-the-grim-truth/
It’s about 90% accurate.
Holy cow confused (15). That article is no way to start the day. Anyone who reads that is guaranteed to stab themself in stomach immediately thereafter.
Unfortunately more than half of it is garbage spun to sound as if reader were hearing it for the first time and the laundry list of reasons it claims make us shi t are actually reasons why we are superior.
No one will be spared. No one.
Oblivion, dead ahead.
From yesterday
“179. Just another cut and paste. This simpleton couldn’t come up with a ‘story’ like that and he probably can’t explain it. Just another example of a failed wisdom.”
Agreed. There is total lack of wisdom (or honesty) in 25% of the population being forced to support 40% of the population, and when said 25% are granted some relief being villified (while still supporting and paying a wildly disproportionate share of the operating expenses of this country).
Failed wisdom thought up by simpletons from 1913.
“Fitch sees 10% drop in home prices in 2011, negative outlook for MBS”
Freaking fantastic. Where were you in 2005/2006 when we were all called wannabes?
By the way, where are those name callers?
Hey, Clot. I know what you SAY your real name is but, are you sure it is not George Voinovich ?
Washington Sketch
A mainstream Republican’s glum farewell
By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
George Voinovich, retiring from the Senate this month, is leaving behind an elegant legislative proposal for the Congress in which he served for a dozen years.
“I think we have to blow up the place,” says the Ohio Republican.
Voinovich isn’t a violent man. To the contrary, one of his finest moments in Washington was when he broke with his party and tearfully announced his opposition to John Bolton, whom George W. Bush had nominated to be U.N. ambassador even though Bolton had once proposed blowing up U.N. headquarters.
So when Voinovich talks about blowing up Congress – as he did Monday afternoon at an Aspen Institute luncheon – it packs more firepower.
snip
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/06/AR2010120607437.html
Pitchforks
17.Lamar Asperger says:
December 10, 2010 at 8:39 am
No one will be spared. No one.
Oblivion, dead ahead.
Well the Government is pretty close to finalizing Sodom and Gomorrah again, so historically you are correct. If you get out, remember not to look back, lest you become a pillar of salt.
Sad but True! But Historically we have become Sodom & Gommarh
repost from lat night…..
chicagofinance says:
December 9, 2010 at 11:43 pm
The theme song to the Montklair Public School System….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ6UNrCZ4VE&feature=related
Oops. This one’s for you, Shore.
Via Gawker:
The FAA doesn’t have important registration information for some 119,000 airplanes—about one-third of all planes in the U.S—thanks to missing or invalid forms. But they’re just planes, right! I mean, what could possibly happen?
FAA missing key data on 119,000 planes
Agency fears ‘questionable registration’ could be exploited by terrorists, drug traffickers
NEW YORK — The Federal Aviation Administration’s aircraft registry is missing key information on who owns one-third of the 357,000 private and commercial planes in the U.S. — a gap the agency fears could be exploited by terrorists and drug traffickers.
The records are in such disarray that the FAA says it is worried that criminals could buy planes without the government’s knowledge, or use the registration numbers of other aircraft to evade new computer systems designed to track suspicious flights. It has ordered all aircraft owners to re-register their planes in an effort to clean up its files.
About 119,000 of the planes on the U.S. registry have “questionable registration” because of missing forms, invalid addresses, unreported sales or other paperwork problems, according to the FAA. In many cases, the FAA cannot say who owns a plane or even whether it is still flying or has been junked.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40590745
“ex Govenor Whitman’s mansion years ago the one with two swimming pools that’s what the whole article was about because she was paying under $2000.00 for her so called farm. ”
Are we too stupid to realize that one can tax the dwelling and some bit of land around it differently than the rest of the “farm”? Heck, Bon Jovi’s place on the river is classified as farm, and it bears no resembalance to a real farm.
#6
will the gvt. Be guaranteeing that all home sales from here forward will never go underwater?
“The FAA doesn’t have important registration information for some 119,000 airplanes—about one-third of all planes in the U.S”
Hey! What is the registration number of that plane the guy just loaded 10 drums of Jet A and fertilizer into a little while ago?
I dunno, N***** I think.
Gator,
As if the bad guys need any help getting us, now the Keystone Kops are in charge of aviation record keeping?
Southern cities hope to recruit officers from pool of recently axed N.J. police
Published: Friday, December 10, 2010, 6:30 AM
Police officers facing layoffs in Newark, Camden and other New Jersey municipalities may be taking their pink slips and heading south.
Several southern cities — including Nashville, Atlanta and Norfolk, Va. — are recruiting in the Garden State in an attempt to lure New Jersey’s finest to their police departments.
“These people are an asset,” said Detective Leonard Keeler of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, which wants to hire at least 100 officers within the next year.
Keeler spent two days this week recruiting in New Jersey, focusing on Camden, where the police department is facing severe cuts due to the city’s budget troubles. He returned to Tennessee with a list of 50 officers interested in making the 750-mile move south.
Tempting New Jersey police officers with a lower-paying position in Nashville’s 1,350-member department wasn’t difficult, Keeler said.
“There’s no income tax,” Keeler said. “Toll roads — we don’t have them here.”
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
• Nashville police recruit Camden officers about to be laid off
• Large cuts in staff for Camden, Newark police could threaten anti-crime progress
• Camden council approves laying off nearly half of police force
• Editorial: Brace yourself: Police layoffs could cost lives
• Newark finalizes 167 police layoffs after union refuses Booker’s plea to return to negotiating table
• Jersey City announces plans to lay off 82 cops; talks with police union collapse
• Atlantic City rehires 17 laid off police officers, as Jersey City announces layoffs
Across New Jersey, police departments are facing budget and staff cuts as cities try to stay out of the red. Newark recently laid off 167 officers after failed negotiations between the police union and the mayor. In Camden, nearly half the city’s 373 officers could lose their jobs if the city does not reach an agreement with its unions. Jersey City, Atlantic City and other cities have either lost or are planning to lay off dozens of officers.
Meanwhile, many police departments in the South are expanding or looking for experienced officers to supplement their ranks. Several out-of-state law enforcement agencies reached out to New Jersey cities after seeing media coverage about police cuts.
“We’ve made almost worldwide news,” said Officer John Williamson, president of Camden’s Fraternal Order of Police chapter.
In addition to Nashville, Camden police were contacted by recruiters from Atlanta, Baltimore and Norfolk, Va., Williamson said. In Newark, multiple in-state and out-of-state police departments inquired about the city’s pink-slipped officers.
Newark officers were notified of job openings through e-mails and announcements on a Facebook page, said Officer Derrick Hatcher, president of the city’s police union. One Newark officer has already been hired by neighboring Bloomfield.
Norfolk’s police department also posted a recruitment notice on the New Jersey State PBA website touting the benefits of working in Virginia’s harborside city.
“Salaries are lower than in New Jersey, but the cost of living here is lower as well,” Norfolk police Sgt. Fred M. Jackson said in the post. “We are less than 15 minutes from the beach, and you do not have to live in the city of Norfolk in order to be a police officer here.”
New Jersey officers relocating out of state may have to take a steep pay cut. In Camden, base salaries for officers start at about $31,000 and can go up to $73,000 after 10 years, the police union said.
Recruiters from the Nashville force are offering applicants rookie positions starting at $40,000 to $42,000 to fill vacancies from officers retiring or leaving, department officials said. The maximum salary after 10 years in Nashville is $57,000, not including incentives.
Nashville police will not pay relocation costs for New Jersey officers moving south. But relocating officers would save on other costs. Unlike their New Jersey counterparts, Nashville police don’t contribute to their pension, which is funded by the city.
Keeler, the recruiter from the Nashville Police Department, also touted the benefits of Tennessee’s lower property taxes. Keeler said he pays about $1,700 in property taxes on his house in Tennessee while his cousin in New Jersey’s Hunterdon County pays about $9,000 annually for a house of approximately the same value.
If New Jersey officers are not interested in the Nashville jobs, Keeler said he has other out-of-state departments on his recruiting tour. Next stop: Ohio, where departments are facing similar budget cuts.
“We’re looking for the experience. We’re looking for the best candidates,” Keeler said.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/12/southern_cities_hope_to_recrui.html
Losing control? That’s not part of the game plan. Be careful what you wish for.
“Agreement in Washington on a fresh fiscal package has set off dramatic rise in yields of US Treasuries and bonds across the world, threatening to short-circuit any benefits of stimulus. The bond rout raises concerns that the US authorities may be losing control over events.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8190059/Global-bond-rout-deepens-on-US-fiscal-worries.html
Its hard to get real excited about higher rates pushing prices down. In either scenario yu an afford the same mthly pmt; hence same house.
$400k mortgage at 4.5% = $2k / mth
$250k mortgage at 10% = $2k / mth
Sure its great to have freedom to pick up and move family to low tax state but how many are actually going to do that?
I’ve got a colleague who bought in Lebanon, NJ (close to Tewksbury) back in 2007, paid just under $1mn for a “farmhouse” with a pool, looks like he’s only paying property tax of $11k/yr, because he and his wife raise 2 cows every year and then sells the meat to folks in the office for just over $500. I told him he should name his two cows “tax” and “break”. Of course he’s one of the office liberals, supporting higher taxes for the rich, etc.
Youngbuck Number 29 Our laid off cops will have to be retrained in how to handle “red neck rage”
“Its hard to get real excited about higher rates pushing prices down”
Veto [31],
I would imagine one who is paying cash or taking out a small mortgage is estatic? No?
I’d think a Camden cop could kick some ass in Baltimore.
Neanderthal Number 31 It’s very easy to get excited if you have alot of cash on hand. You could wipe out that 250K faster than the 400K. Cash is king
Wantan,
Flash from the past:
Wantan,
Flash from the past:
-Kettle1, December 20, 2008 at 1:40 pm
https://njrereport.com/index.php/2008/12/20/realtor-chief-economist-i-spun/#comment-250718
I still think our region will see a bottom in the 2012 – 2014 range, funny how i was scoffed at then.
Schrodinger’s Cat = Kettle1
reformatted……
Looks like im SOL on opening a Canadian account. Have to be a resident with an address. I told the rep that I am a US citizen and my country is going to hell in a ham basket and that I plan on ex patriating to Canada when doom finally comes. The rep with empathy said, “I know, unfortunately there is nothing I can do.”
Pretty laughable when foreigners feel sorry for American citizens.
All aboard the express elevator to hell. We’re going down.
Re. Farmland
Just one more issue I remember reading about on NJREReport.com a few years ago. Way ahead of the curve!
Neanderthal
Do you have the link to the chart you put together with everyone’s predictions? Any chance you might want to throw in the most recent data and see how the predictions are holding up???
[208 prior]
For some professions, firms pay a 20 – 70% premium in the NE (depending on level). I rejected a relocation offer down South as it would have meant a regional adjustment, in the 2nd year, amounting to a drop in pay of @45%.
“Oh and by the way, the “you earn more here” is also an invalid statement, check your sources and you will see that income is comprable.”
Neanderthal
Rates change principle doesn’t (well usually, Big Daddy O’s plans may change that). If you take a mortgage out at 7,8,9% and hold the mortgage for 10+ years you will most likely see rates drop below your original rate at which point you can drop your monthly payment.
Cat [38],
You’re Kettle?
The rodent, Neel Cash-n-Carry, surfaces for a moment. He should get a meal full of rat poison as his reward for dreaming up the robbery known as TARP.
“Neel Kashkari, previously of Goldman Sachs, subsequently of TARP creation fame, and currently of PIMCO payroll generosity and Macroeconomic Advisors “expert network” insight, has penned a charmingly faux-heartfelt, and supremely hypocritical Washington Post op-ed in which he asks rhetorically whether “Washington can tackle the big economic issues?” Ironically these are precisely the same “issues” that have arisen as a result of none other than his very own decision to make moral hazard a global policy courtesy of his own TARP creation. It was also none other than the Washington Post’s own profile of Kashkari that explained the deep thought that went into the creation of the biggest Bernanke Put in history: “Seven hundred billion was a number out of the air,” Kashkari recalls….”It was a political calculus. I said, ‘We don’t know how much is enough. We need as much as we can get [from Congress]. What about a trillion?’ ‘No way,’ Hank shook his head. I said, ‘Okay, what about 700 billion?’ We didn’t know if it would work. We had to project confidence, hold up the world. We couldn’t admit how scared we were, or how uncertain.” So the next time Kashkari’s own boss at Pimco waxes philosophically on how it is that “the Fed is now the most brazen of all ponzi schemes” perhaps he can first get the advice of his own puppet whose own morally hazardous actions “held up the world.” And, by the way Neel, had the US government done the right thing, and not “held up the world” letting those who deserve to fail, actually fail, then there would be no need for Washington to tackle big economic issues – ironically the market would have long been able to fix said problems on its own. But thanks to your actions we will indeed watch in terror as the government continues its exercises in supreme central planning.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/neel-kashkari-exercises-rhetorical-hypocrisy-asks-if-government-can-handle-fall-out-his-acti
Wantan
Yes, I thought you knew that.
Kettle1 —- Mr Hyde —– Schrodinger’s Cat
Let’s see, history may repeat, for instance:, my Belleville Condo sale prices:
1985: $82,000
1987: $135,000
1991: $102,000
1999: $92,000
2006: $250,000
Seems if you add, say 20 to the years, we see a similar story….things should be pretty good in 2026…
If people are selling their NE home at a profit to move down south to a cheaper home what do mortgage rates have to do with anything?
Bank rates are 1/2 of 1%, if you are retiring or moving down south to a lower income the tax deduction from mortgage is not worth much. Why would someone selling a 900K house to move to a 250K house in retirement need a mortgage?
Wantan, KetCat
I didn’t know that either til now.. :(
I wish name changers would let other’s know…
Ket/Cat, thought you vanished! Missed you at our gtg – I didn’t know your name changed… sorry!
sl
BC ? 44 you didn’t know that?
Oh, let me add..I obviously bought in 1987 and sold in 1999!!!!
Sorry for the mystery all.
SL, I saw your invite for your GTG but was unavailable. Life is getting very crazy lately. I dont know if i still have your e-mail. e-mail me and i’ll share, you might get a kick out of it.
I thought my current name was apt given the current Schrodinger economics being run in the global economy. And yes i was using that concept here before zero hedge grabbed it.
1987
I have data going back about 150 years and during that period there is a very consistent 18 yr RE cycle. if we peaked in 2006/07 the next peak will be in the neighborhood of 2024. Historically, the bottom of the cycles come before the 9 yr midpoint and there is a long slow recovery before a sharp pop as the peak nears.
Shore,
Remember the article you posted on the company that tracks blogs and archives the posts with the user names, and sells the info to intelligence groups? I am assuming they appreciated my post at #47
Another good example of the foreclosure mess. Banks trying to nullify auctions not because they weren’t held but because well the banks lost money.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/real-estate/a-house-for-200-foreclosure-confusion-leads-to-1110164.html
Cat [46],
Just goofing around.
SL were you been?
How about Kettle is Kettle ,Clot is Clot,BC is BC & Veto is Veto would take a lot of guess work out of it.
Mikeinwaiting
It’s easier to accommodate my multiple personality disorder when i change names on occasion. other wise my other persona’s get jealous, and that isnt pleasant.
2011, more of the same; distort and inflate.
QE will be put into high gear; 2010 was just a warm up. States and municipalities owe trillions to bondholders while tax receipts are taking a swan dive. It’s QE till infinity. No need to worry, Ben says the fed is not printing money. It’s simply an entry on a balance sheet.
I’m praying that shiny throws the late comers under the bus. All I want for X-Mas is a huge sell off.
Wantan
The state and municipal bailout is going to be the Tsar bomb of bailouts.
http://tinyurl.com/2oqymx
Hey, I only changed after I pinned Mrs Wantanabe to the wall (can’t wait for JJ’s take) and then got caught in the Greek riots.
BC,
What you two do in the privacy of your own home, well, rented abode, is your business.
“going to hell in a ham basket ”
Hand. Hand basket.
True for the 3% of buyers who don’t need mortgage, higher rates are welcome .
Cat check posts from last weekend. Prediction chart has been updated and posted. More to come.
mmmmmm. Ham Basket.
Shore [64],
It’s been troubling lately; held up without a gun!
Well there’s men hunkered down by the railroad tracks
The Elkhorn Special blowin’ my hair back
Tents pitched on the highway in the dirty moonlight
And I don’t know where I’m gonna sleep tonight
Any advice on 529 college savings plans in NJ? I have a 4 month old (first kid) and just started looking into it. Is it true the only plans available are administered by Frankin Templeton? Can I just sign up for a 529 savings account w/ another brokerage and invest in, for example, an index fund? I’m an unsophisticated investor with a full-time job and would prefer a low-maintenance option that doesn’t bleed me dry with fees.
Veto [66],
Who cares about the other 97%. Hey, 99 channels and nothing’s on. That song needs to be updated.
A&P is expected to file for bankruptcy. I thought they had once before in the mid or early 80’s but there’s no mention of it in the article.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-10/a-p-may-file-for-bankruptcy-as-soon-as-weekend-after-151-years-in-business.html
I should add A&P is based in Montvale NJ…. and is no where near as good as Wegmans.
“I have a 4 month old”
The crap shoot is trying to figure out what will hold value, let alone gain value, over the next 18 years. Good luck with THAT. Over a period 1/4 that length I have no fricking idea. I do know that when we looked at 529 plans we were not impressed by many of them and underwhelmed by the tax savings. I don’t know if that was because of the tax laws in general or because of our particular income/tax level.
Tosh,
I believe it may be a felony to mention them both in the same sentence.
off to the salt mines.
Tosh – When Wegman’s opened up in Manalapan, I swear all the other local grocery stores just stopped trying. Pathmark in Marlboro is gone already and the Marlboro Shoprite just plain sucks.
Tosh have you ever been to an A&P? The only reason to go to one is guarantee of no lines. There prices make whole foods blush.
Totally OT
Anyone using the Blackberry Torch 9800? Need to replace my 6 year old basic model that looks like it was dropped from 35,000 feet but still working.
Not sure if I like the edge around the keypad and wondering how durable it is.
Thx.
Veto 66, anyone, have a link to chart.
Shore [74],
If they’re anything like my 401k the past 10 years, I’ll be lucky if I get back the money I put in. Looks like there are options to invest in other states’ 529 plans since NJ doesn’t offer a state tax incentive anyway.
#78 – There’s a fairly nice A&P by me in Holmdel, but it’s impossible to find anything as the layout is a mess. I haven’t been back to it in about a year or so, so I don’t remember what the pricing was like.
#77 – That was about the same thing I saw when the Wegman’s in Ocean opened up in ’04 (?).
I’m praying that shiny throws the late comers under the bus. All I want for X-Mas is a huge sell off.
BC,
How can we get a sell off when we extend tax cuts, QE2 will go over $600B, state and municipalities crisis is aroudn the corner and everyone sees it coming. Unless we get ron paul like type person to run the fed and manage deficits its chinese water torture.
I wish we had one closer to us than Woodbridge. As it stands now, I have to limited my visits to when we go visit my family. D*mn East Hanover for blocking one a few years back.
Has anyone added Miley to the celebrity death pool?
re # 79 – Left – get an Android or an iPhone. The Blackberry is yesterdays toy.
Goon –
State Plans…
http://529.morningstar.com/state-map.action
Basic info / comparison tools…
http://www.savingforcollege.com/intro_to_529s/what-is-a-529-plan.php
“How can we get a sell off”
Make [83],
China raises rates? How about year end profit taking? Rebalancing of the market? Papa has to buy mama a nice X-Mas present? It’s been a hell of a run since August.
[39] AG
Start the paperwork for perm res status in Canada now and avoid the rush.
Neanderthal [66];
There are also people who may need a mortgage to buy (especially at still historically inflated NY Metro prices), but don’t plan on keeping one for life. Those folks [raises hand] would take the higher rates and lower prices in the short term because it puts them in a better position long term.
But just keep thinking about next quarter, like Harry and Hilda Howmuchamonth think they’re well-off because they can make the minimums on their credit cards.
A&P bought Pathmark which declared Bankruptcy in the past, that garbage dump Pathmark with highly overpaid unionized workers and run down large stores that need extensive maintance is bringing them down. If fact Trader Joes, Stop and Shop, Wild by Nature, Whole Foods, Wauldbaums in the past few years have on purpose been opening stores right next to existing Pathmarks as it is so easy to steal customers from run down and disorganzied stores. their senior bonds are going for peanuts.
[39] AG
Canadian PR app fees for a family of four are about 1,800 but that may prove to be money well spent. And there is a really tenuous argument that it can be deducted as an investment-related fee, sort of like the fee for a safe deposit box (and no, I am not advising that).
Who cares about a sell off. They are painting the tape. Its all doom all the time. Buy the dips!
In fact, since my practice does involve expatriation planning, I wonder if I can submit applications and deduct the fee as a “research” expense?
Blindjust [87], thanks. Looking at these now. The NJ plan looks like it’s not worth it. There are better state plans available, eg Michigan’s. Apparently there is some in-state $1,500 scholarship available if you sign up for the NJ one, but it doesn’t seem worth the extra fees.
Canada is pretty tough on immigration from the US. A friend who recently married a Canadian has been waiting quite a while to move there. You still must apply and obtain permanent residence, then wait wait wait before moving there. They are spending allot of time traveling between Canada and the US to be together.
If you have any kind of arrest record (do not need to be convicted) they will make it extremely difficult to enter Canada. On my last trip up there for a Bachelor Party we were pulled in for additional questioning at the border. I heard the Canadian customs official read off a bunch of peoples arrest records (nobody I was with) and tell them that was why they aren’t allowed to enter and sent them packing.
92.
Nom,
Thanks. Did you actually go ahead with the application or are you still in the planning stage?
Goon, I’m in Maryland’s plan, no complaints. I’m sure Chi will chime in with more info.
Goon – I’m pretty sure we are in Nevada’s plan. When Stu did the research 5 years ago, he thought NJ’s plan was pretty worthless.
Nom – Do we get extra points on the Canadian Residency app for being hockey fans?
Nom [94],
Look further afield, buddy. Anschluss is coming.
Goonsquad – If you work in NY. NY’s 529 allows a credit of up to $5K of your NY taxes dollar for dollar & is handled by Vanguard (including a Inlfation Bond option). Otherwise Fidelity has multiple states.
re # 96 – Speaking of Canada, did anyone read that GAO report on Border Security. Seems lots of Aircraft enter US airspace unchallenged from Canada.I find it amazing that we do not even secure our airspace never mind the land crossings.
They have also been seizing lots of cash crossing the border in the other direction.
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11177.pdf
Have it your way the end is nigh……
DETROIT – Detroit police say a 20-year-old Burger King employee who was arguing with a customer punched the 67-year-old man, who fell and later died.
Police spokeswoman Yvette Walker says the older man was reportedly causing a disturbance Thursday afternoon at the restaurant on the city’s east side, tried to hit the employee and the employee swung back. WJBK-TV reports police say the punch may have caused the elderly man to choke on his dentures.
The man died at a hospital. Walker says an autopsy will determine cause of death. Police say the employee was being held Friday and information would be submitted to prosecutors for review.
Burger King spokeswoman Denise Wilson said Friday that company officials were aware of the incident and the franchise owner was cooperating with police.
I don’t believe in saving for college, my parents never saved a nickle for school and I had to pay rent to live at home starting the day I turned 18, buy my own clothes, and pay 1/5 of all utilities. Kids today need to man up, Regan and Clinton did not become President riding on mom’s coat strings. In fact the majority of my relatives did not pay for their kids education. The lowest educational level obtained in my family and of every first cousin on both sides of my family is a Masters Degree, with at least 50% with PhDs, Law degrees etc. Today only having a college degree is like winning the special Olympics, it may seem like a big accomplishment until you go home and realize you are still retarded.
Shore Guy says:
December 10, 2010 at 10:58 am
“I have a 4 month old”
The crap shoot is trying to figure out what will hold value, let alone gain value, over the next 18 years. Good luck with THAT. Over a period 1/4 that length I have no fricking idea. I do know that when we looked at 529 plans we were not impressed by many of them and underwhelmed by the tax savings. I don’t know if that was because of the tax laws in general or because of our particular income/tax level.
Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce special orders do upset us
WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has been admitted to a hospital where he will undergo minor surgery to deal with a kidney stone.
Treasury spokesman Steve Adamske said Geithner began experiencing severe pain from a kidney stone during the night and was admitted to George Washington University hospital Friday morning.
Adamske said that Geithner will have what he called a “minor surgical procedure” performed Friday afternoon and expects to be back at work on Monday.
Poor Timmy.
JJ
So you have no plans on helping your children?
A&P Bankruptcy going to affect Upper Montclair as well. Looks like no frills food will be coming to the ladies who lunch in January. Oh, the horror!
A&P To File Bankruptcy? Montclair Store May Undergo Name Change
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. is expected to file for bankruptcy in the next few days to restructure debt, news agencies reported Friday.
The Montvale, New Jersey-based grocer operates an A&P store on Valley Road in Montclair.
Although corporate officials say they don’t plan to close that store, they say it’s possible that a name change could occur.
For example, the store could re-open in January under the name Food Basics.
A&P operates about 400 locations across the country under its namesake banner as well as under other names including Food Basics, Super Fresh, and Food Emporium. In 2007, the company purchased the Pathmark supermarket chain for $678 million.
Township Council member Rich Murnick said Friday he has indeed heard the “rumblings” that change is afoot at the A&P.
“I believe there won’t be an interruption in service though … however we are expecting perhaps a name change in January,” he said.
Stores under the name Food Basics are generally known as no-frills outlets offering more discounted food items.
In October, the grocery giant reported sales of $1.9 billion for the quarter ending September 11, representing a 7.1 pecent decline. The company reported a near doubling in its net loss to $153.7 million during the same period.
The Great American Tea Co. began as a store on Vesey Street in lower Manhattan, selling coffee, tea and spices and dispatching salesmen in horse-drawn carriages through New England, the Midwest and South, according to the company’s Web site. The grocer renamed itself The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. in 1869.
http://montclair.patch.com/articles/ap-to-file-bankruptcy-montclair-store-may-undergo-name-change
Goon: Morningstar published a 529 document about a month ago….let me track it down. I am almost sure I linked it here at that time…..
Several items:
#1 NJ is worthless so don’t worry.
#2 Fidelity’s plans are also garbage despite what you might think.
#3 If you are looking for index funds, then it is pretty straightforward.
#4 If you want investments, then Morningstar pretty much gives you one choice, with which I agree. You happen to need a broker though….and no I am not being self-serving by holding this opinion.
I will search and get back.
JJ – besides pole dancing and dealing drugs how is a kid going to earn $20k for state school or $40k + plus for private school each year? College tuition has increased something like 400% since 1982 and 300% of that increase was in the last decade.
Back in the 1980s to pay for school I landscaped, parked cars, delivered pizza, tutored, shoveled snow, worked in a supermarket and wore cheap K-mart clothes and drove a 14 year old beater that I paid for insured and fixed by visting various junk yards around the tri state area to scrounge for cheap parts.
My cousin the who has four daughters and one son has three in SUNY schools right now $20k each per year. He is trying to work 100+ hours a week (union worker in the city) to keep up the payments for their tuition, and last time I saw him he looked like he was due for a stroke.
If you can find any kids today capable of earning at least 40k a year legally and attend school fulltime then they deserve some applause.
If you want to invest in College America, please contact me……
use chicagofinance at yahoo.com
67.chicagofinance says:
November 2, 2010 at 1:35 pm
529 plans
http://news.morningstar.com/pdfs/morningstar.529.industry.survey.11.1.10.pdf
If you want to spare yourself the details, you can skip to page 46-48 for the rankings……
[97] AG
Haven’t pulled the trigger on the app yet. An 1,800 check is tough to write.
Was just on the corner of Penn. Ave and 17th Street when a new Escalade stopped in front of me and Red Ed Schultz of MSNBC popped out. I was on the phone and said aloud “hey, Comrade Ed just got out of an SUV here” and I am sure he heard me.
Morningstar 2010 Best 529 College Savings Plans:
http://www.thesunsfinancialdiary.com/personal-finance/2010-best-529-college-savings-plans/
Mikeinwaiting
here is Veto/Neanderthals updated chart
http://www.scribd.com/full/44717891?access_key=key-1od159ogih58qac5vdx2
“Today only having a college degree is like winning the special Olympics, it may seem like a big accomplishment until you go home and realize you are still retarded.”
JJ,
Classic.
“Was just on the corner of Penn. Ave and 17th Street when a new Escalade stopped in front of me and Red Ed Schultz of MSNBC popped out”
Grrr. Kill a Commie for Mommie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d0TOvo3CF8
Juice – ROTC scholarship. Brother received full boat to BU. Of course, he had to spend 4 years in the AF and his active duty was delayed 1 year.
Misspoke on this one….T. Rowe Price is just fine.
Remember…..T. Rowe Price – friend…..Vanguard/Fidelity – wolf in sheep’s clothing
110.chicagofinance says:
December 10, 2010 at 11:59 am
#4 If you want investments, then Morningstar pretty much gives you one choice, with which I agree. You happen to need a broker though….and no I am not being self-serving by holding this opinion.
You know what this country needs now?
Amnesty for $100m illegals. Current Dream Act is even worse than I thought. Media is presenting it as a way to reward those few college grads who are illegals. In fact, the law is carefully drafted to cover every se(x)ual predator, gang member, and drug dealer (and their families members and relatives) if they have took couple of classes in community college or got high school equivalence. And not to be too harsh, these requirements can be waived it they would cause harm to the families. Only somebody who served very long prison sentence is not qualified (but apparently waiver is possible even then).
It would probably make sense for all those legal visa holders who have difficulties getting green card to become illegals and then get the preferential treatment. I expect boom in the area of creative immigration attorneys (who are able to “find” the missing documents showing that the applicant did indeed come to US illegally and committed crime – in this case it would be beneficial).
Up Up and away. I love the Dolores mine. Thanks Mexico.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=MFN
NJ Gator – note that every ShopRite sucks. Grocery stores in NJ in general, sans Wegmans are third world.
We’ll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgment of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song
I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
And I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again
Don’t get fooled again
BWAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA LMAO
Anyone take a look at the federal budget lately? You could cut the department of defense by 50% and barely make a dent in the problem. The problem is entitlements!!!
This is going to be one heck of a political soap opera, all the way down. Argentina here we come!!!!
Link
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-10/americans-in-poll-say-cut-deficit-with-entitlements-secured-as-rich-pay-up.html
home (67)-
I think they sell ham baskets at Stew Leonard’s.
a nice budget chart
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/02/01/us/budget.html
I wonder how many people have considered what happens to unemployment levels when you cut the department of defense by 50%? I;m not sating we shouldn’t but it isn’t a consequence free action.
There is no free lunch.
goon (70)-
529s blow. And when it’s time for college, they will count against you & your kid for financial aid.
MMMMMMMM ham basket:
http://www.lovelandgiftbaskets.com/honey-baked-ham-gift-basket-p-246.html
chi (104)-
Have it your way, mf’er. Side orders of your own dentures cost extra.
DETROIT – Detroit police say a 20-year-old Burger King employee who was arguing with a customer punched the 67-year-old man, who fell and later died.
confused (107)-
If the anaesthesiologist can kill Eraserhead, I propose he get the Congressional Medal of Honor.
While Timmay is sedated for his surgery, does the Hamburglar become the acting Treasury Secretary?
Moose. I call this the idiot trap.
Mortgage rates go to 12%. Home prices stay stubbornly high because of 17% inflation. Renting bubble sitters get served lease renewal rate increases of 40%. Gold markets buckles down to 2002 levels.
Mr and ms howmuchamonth laugh as your nest egg disapears and their overpriced house price gets pushed higher. They take out home equity to payoff cc debt then send you$ 5 for happy meal.
I’m for anything that renders Moose a bitter renter for life.
“Mortgage rates go to 12%. Home prices stay stubbornly high because of 17% inflation. Renting bubble sitters get served lease renewal rate increases of 40%. Gold markets buckles down to 2002 levels.”
Veto,
17% inflation and Gold in the 300’s? Whatever you’re smoking, please pass it along.
Too bad that we’re gonna go from our present situation straight to 17,000% inflation.
Mr. Want Number 123 One of my all time favorites from the Who!
Don’t forget that during this 30 yr economic boom families allocated max 30% of income to housing because keeping up with jones’ ain’t cheap. They have to go to ruth chris once per month, lease bmw, giants season tix, $10k per year on child sports. But in event of collapse or depression amount spent on housing may not change much in$ terms. But the new% allocation will be 30% to taxes, 20% to food, 50% on housing.
So yes you might get depression mixed with overpriced house. Then wife divorce you for bubble sitting with nothing to show for it and not even ruth chris anymore.
JJ [106];
“Well, the world need ditch diggers, too.” – Judge Smails
“Don’t forget that during this 30 yr economic boom families allocated max 30% of income to housing because keeping up with jones’ ain’t cheap”
Veto,
Why try to keep up with the Jones’? They’re spinning in reverse.
135 problem is bc u get stuck in 70s mentality when we had inflation as result of productive factory output and other reasons that don’t exist today. Now inflation threat is result of paper printing fiat abuse and there is no way to know for sure if gold will react to that kind of inflation the same way, especially with all the big banks capable of manipulating price. This time around gold could crash with demand. People buying gld for many different reasons, not just inflation hedge and those reasons will continue to change with the economic environment.
Veto,
Don’t forget during this 30 year economic boom we have had an unprecedented bull market in bonds, starting with Tall Paul. The Prime rate hit 20% in 1980. Compare then to now; two opposite ends of the spectrum. Tick, Tick, Tick.
Thanks all for the input on 529s.
ChiFi, what’s wrong w/ Vanguard if I just want to do an index fund?
Clot, my understanding is that only some colleges count your 529 against your for financial aid. I don’t know what percent or which colleges though. Haven’t got that far yet.
Doyle/Gator, thanks for your suggestions. I’ll keep researching and report back.
It’s tough to keep up with conversations here if you can’t stay glued to the screen. I don’t know how you all do it.
Veto [141],
It’s not about inflation (at least for me), it’s confidence.
Veto,
If all the big banks are short how can there be a bubble?
Looks like plenty of jets tickets going for half of face value….
http://www.stubhub.com/new-york-jets-tickets/jets-vs-dolphins-new-meadowlands-stadium-957271/
And that’s two days before game time not like six hours before…..
17% inflation results in 40% increase in rent? Uh OK?
Nice Pics from the London Riots.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/12/london_tuition_fee_protest.html
131.Lamar Asperger says:
December 10, 2010 at 1:07 pm
confused (107)-
If the anaesthesiologist can kill Eraserhead, I propose he get the Congressional Medal of Honor
The common people are told to drink water and suck it up when they have a kidney stone. Timmy gets surgery? All Pigs is equal, except some Pigs are more equal then others.
Under the Bus Obama!
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-filibuster-is-in-its-4th-hour-and-its-a-catastrophe-for-obama-2010-12
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal budget deficit rose to $150.4 billion last month, the largest November imbalance on record. And the government’s deficits are set to climb higher if Congress passes a tax-cut plan estimated to cost $855 billion over two years.
Going to be a heavy downpour during game and Jets are coming off a huge loss. I had four tickets to the game, sold a pair a few weeks ago and sold my parking pass to game.
I am going to the game on Sunday via train, no traffic due to flooding and there will be no tailgating anyhow. I rather drink in Penn Station till three’ish an grab the train.
It has been a terrible Jets season for going to games, so far this is 7th home game, Ravens had huge T-storm, Vikings Huge T-Storm, Dolphins huge rain storm predicted, Texans half the stadium left with two minutes to go and missed the win plus got cold in second. Then we had a Thanksgiving and Holloween game. Only the pats game was a non holiday one pm sunday game in nice weather that was a big win.
dan says:
December 10, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Looks like plenty of jets tickets going for half of face value….
http://www.stubhub.com/new-york-jets-tickets/jets-vs-dolphins-new-meadowlands-stadium-957271/
CUNY community colleges are only like 3k a year. I took a class at BMCC after work and most kids had full time jobs, took two classes a night after work and one or two on Saturday, Heck Queens College a good four year school has night classes and Saturday and Sunday classes and are like 4k a year. Pretty much waitress or bartend you can cover 4k a year and have a ton of money left over.
Baruch is a great school for accounting and you can get a joint BS in Accounting/MBA in Finance, five year degree for 20K in total, plus Baruch sets up the summer internships for you that pay like 5K. Problem is kids want to go away and party at state schools and parents between dorms, food and fact kid can’t work a part time job year round end up paying the 20K for something that only costs 4k.
Juice Box says:
December 10, 2010 at 12:00 pm
JJ – besides pole dancing and dealing drugs how is a kid going to earn $20k for state school or $40k + plus for private school each year? College tuition has increased something like 400% since 1982 and 300% of that increase was in the last decade.
Back in the 1980s to pay for school I landscaped, parked cars, delivered pizza, tutored, shoveled snow, worked in a supermarket and wore cheap K-mart clothes and drove a 14 year old beater that I paid for insured and fixed by visting various junk yards around the tri state area to scrounge for cheap parts.
My cousin the who has four daughters and one son has three in SUNY schools right now $20k each per year. He is trying to work 100+ hours a week (union worker in the city) to keep up the payments for their tuition, and last time I saw him he looked like he was due for a stroke.
If you can find any kids today capable of earning at least 40k a year legally and attend school fulltime then they deserve some applause.
Why not, the past results have been stellar.
“NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Friday it would purchase about $105 billion in Treasury bonds in the coming month as part of its plan to pump money into the economy. The debt will be bought almost daily, over 18 operations starting on Monday and through mid-January. Analysts had expected the Fed to say it would buy about $105 billion over the next month, including reinvestments of cash from maturing mortgage -related debt holdings. After the announcement, the broader bond market remained under pressure. Yields on 10-year notes /quotes/comstock/31*!ust10y (UST10Y 3.28, +0.07, +2.15%) , which move inversely to prices, rose 6 basis points to 3.27%.”
JJ – CUNY is 7k per year in-state and $675 a credit out of state, as a bonus you get to go to school with all of the “undocumented” students. When is the last time you hired someone from a CUNY school?
Dan 148 under that scenario unemployment goes to 25% and everyone defaults on mcmansions in droves flooding rental market where supply is short. So you re right 40% increase on rent is low. Would be more like 50%.
Movie to go with all of the gloom.
http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/movies/10company.html
Rut Ro. I gahter the show trial of the Somali pirates in NYC wasn’t televised in Africa?
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The European Union anti-piracy force says pirates have hijacked a U.S.-operated ship with 23 crewmembers aboard.
The EU Naval Force said the MV Panama was attacked Friday just east of the Tanzania-Mozambique border, making it one of the most southerly attacks Somali pirates have pulled off.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-12-10-somali-pirates_N.htm
BMCC is $1,650 per semester. That is $3,300 per year. Cause of tax credit for colleges and small amount of tuition a Dad could write the whole amount off on taxes bringing costs down to around 2.5k a year.
Tuition
Effective SPRING 2011, tuition and fees per semester are as follows:
Full Time
12-18 credits/
equated credits Part-Time
1. Residents of New York City who are:
a. Matriculated Students $ 1650.00 per semester $ 140.00 per credit
b. Non-Matriculated Students $ 190.00 per credit $ 190.00 per credit
2. Non-Residents of New York City who are:
a. Residents of New York State with B-81 on file $1650.00 per semester $ 140.00 per credit
160
and when is the last time you hired someone from one of those schools?
Classic JJ, never let the facts get in the way of a good story. I don’t buy it for one second that you aren’t going to help your kids through school.
If you don’t, be prepared to have them living with you until 28-30 years old. Unless you are a truly souless and would watch your kids live in squalor while you clip 8% coupons and sit 1st row at the Jets games, you are a gigantic liar.
143.goonsquad says:
December 10, 2010 at 1:53 pm
ChiFi, what’s wrong w/ Vanguard if I just want to do an index fund?
Goon: I have a different opinion about indexing. Regardless, use Vanguard for indexing ONLY…..do not give that brand any halo other than it is cheap. Also, bear in mind that there is the issue of management. Part of the reason the American Funds rate so high is due to fiduciary duty to stakeholders…. 1970=1990=2010=2030….you aren’t just betting on today. You also need to know where you will be when you child is ready to use the money. Vanguard is cheap, but you are going to have to keep an eye on them.
Clot, my understanding is that only some colleges count your 529 against your for financial aid. I don’t know what percent or which colleges though. Haven’t got that far yet.
Goon (or any else): If you are so uncertain about the financial aid issue, then have the account owner be someone other than either parent. Wait until the child is setting up for the last year of college and you lock-in the final numbers with the bursar, then disburse all the proceeds. Net result is no impact on financial aid.
162. Student loans?
A little taste of Leather never hurt any kid. I most likely will pay for my kids college. I just am not saving for it. Actually, speaking of saving for college, with long term muni’s about to get really spanked in next few weeks for various reasons, good opportunity to buy some really beaten down zero coupon munis with a 6-7% YTM that mature in years you have tuition payments. Wait till max fear and jump in.
homeboken says:
December 10, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Classic JJ, never let the facts get in the way of a good story. I don’t buy it for one second that you aren’t going to help your kids through school.
If you don’t, be prepared to have them living with you until 28-30 years old. Unless you are a truly souless and would watch your kids live in squalor while you clip 8% coupons and sit 1st row at the Jets games, you are a gigantic liar.
Better than sitting in first row is standing in first row and watching domino effect of guy in row two standing, then row three standing, then row four standing. Like a weird wave.
homeboken says:
December 10, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Classic JJ, never let the facts get in the way of a good story. I don’t buy it for one second that you aren’t going to help your kids through school.
If you don’t, be prepared to have them living with you until 28-30 years old. Unless you are a truly souless and would watch your kids live in squalor while you clip 8% coupons and sit 1st row at the Jets games, you are a gigantic liar.
I will miss the oppotunity to show Lil Gator actual, real live arrests en route to the airport…
Wow, We Don’t Have to Go Through Irvington to Get to the Airport
This isn’t a big deal for our SOMA neighbors, but it’s quite welcome news for those of us who live north of the I-78/Garden State Parkway interchange. The NJDOT has announced that a brand new ramp connecting the Garden State southbound lanes with I-78 East opens today. That means no more trips through Irvington to get to the airport.
From the NJDOT:
The new flyover ramp for the first time allows GSP southbound motorists to directly access destinations to the east along New Jersey’s bustling I-78 corridor, such as Newark Liberty International Airport. Until now, motorists have been forced to exit onto I-78 westbound and use local exits as U-turns to double back onto I-78 eastbound – a maneuver that has resulted in significant delays and traffic congestion during busy travel times.
Completed on budget and almost nine months ahead of schedule, the new ramp is the second major milestone to be reached in the ongoing, $149 million project to improve traffic flow around the interchange of the two superhighways located in Hillside and Union Townships, Union County and Irvington Township, Essex County.
The NJDOT says 6,500 motorists will benefit from the new ramp daily. Frequent flyers, what will you do with that extra 10 minutes? And do you think the cab companies will give us a discount?
http://www.baristanet.com/2010/12/wow-we-dont-have-to-go-through-irvington-to-get-to-the-airport/
Louis: [approaching the New York Commodities Exchange]” Think big, think positive, never show any sign of weakness. Always go for the throat. Buy low, sell high. Fear? That’s the other guy’s problem. Nothing you have ever experienced will prepare you for the absolute carnage you are about to witness. Super Bowl, World Series – they don’t know what pressure is. In this building, it’s either kill or be killed. You make no friends in the pits and you take no prisoners. One minute you’re up half a million in soybeans and the next, boom, your kids don’t go to college and they’ve repossessed your Bentley. Are you with me?”
On the farmland assessment…does the whole property, including the house, qualify for the farmland assessment? Or, only the portion of the land that qualifies as a farm? If the latter is true, then most “gentleman farmers” probably still have a pretty high tax bill.
As far as depriving the town of money, most property taxes go to pay for local services. A family with a large piece of land does not put any more burden on the town than a family with a small piece of land (i.e. children in school, need for police and fire protection, garbage removal etc.). It would thus seem fair to tax “excess land” at a lower rate (after paying the “normal rate” for your house and yard). While the farmland assessment is a shady way to accomplish this, in the end, it’s not really all that “unfair”.
The tax collected on the “farmland” portion of the property is pure profit for the town; all income with almost no added cost of services.
Is Professor David howling?
Is it possible that JJ is Professor David?
Joyce,
Have your 16 year old get a job at a restaurant you visit frequently as a bus boy. 2 years later he makes waiter. Works 4 dinners and pulls in $800 per week cash as a waiter or bartender. (40k). That will pay for Stern after the usual tuition discount mechanism. Make him pay $100 per week rent while he’s home this way he has an incentive to move. Clip coupons with everything he gives you and then use his money to match his first DP 3 yrs. after he’s married.
Saying its much harder now is true but because its harder that’s exactly the reason we need to make them struggle early so that they can emerge succesful later.
Buy them a 14 year old car at 15 yr old and have them work on it weekends to get it ready for when they get their license. teach them to go to junk yards and buy parts. Let them drive early and get into “controlled” trouble.
force them to start saving with their HS jobs. Force them to open an Ameritrade account with their b day and gift money at 13. When you come home and they’re sitting there playing Wii or watching non sense on TV. Tell them that they need to get a job at 14 and pay $50 rent this month.
Helping and protecting them and chasing them with breast milk until 25 is teh equivalent of holding them back and not allowing them to succeed.
Anybody watching Bernie Sanders piss away O’s chances for a second term right now?
chi (163)-
I’ve heard some planners advocate for having the grandparents open the 529s, then empty them to pay for the kid’s final year in school. No penalty.
Even if everyone involved could stomach the idea of doing the above, the last thing I’d want to be in the current Ponzi that masquerades as a stock market is to be a retail mark (er, investor), indexing to anything other than a benchmark of certain and total doom.
Doubt I could tie a 529 to this:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=PSLV
Renting 169- Property taxes in NJ are not set up to have people cover their share of services that they consume. They are an ad valorem tax and are supposed to be based on the market value of the property. Everyone should pay their fair share of the town’s expenses based on the percentage of the property you own in the town. Giving people a farmland break increases the amount of money all the other taxpayers in town have to pay.
Now one might see the public value in preserving real working farms. But forking over additional funds to subsidize a wealthy person’s fake Christmas Tree Farm? I’m sorry, but I already pay enough in taxes.
I had a POS car in college and had it for awhile registered in Florida in someone else’s name, no insurance or inspection required in Florida, one day on way home from work I am so tired I scrap against some business man’s BMW at a light at nine am, jumps out, to get my information, sees no stickers on windshield and no front plate on a car worth like $200 bucks. Goes to me this I bet this thing has no insurance, I say sorry to tell you that is correct. Guy just gets in car and drives off.
Funniest thing we used to do, now this is funny, register a car at someone else’s address. Did if a few times in school. Just pick a place where car insurance is low pick a name out of phone book. I had a 1969 Plymouth once registered in an Estate in Southhampton, cop pulled me over once and goes your car insurance, license and registration all have different addresses, with a straight face tell him is it against the law to own three homes, guy was so dumbfunded did not even say then way are you driving a 22 year old plymouth with a dent. Always wondered what would have happened in a major crash. I still wonder is some mexican has a $100 car registered in my name and address. Stupid DMV has a box to check is your mailing address different than your home address so you would never know.
Or, only the portion of the land that qualifies as a farm?
Only the qualifying portion.
It would thus seem fair to tax “excess land” at a lower rate (after paying the “normal rate” for your house and yard). While the farmland assessment is a shady way to accomplish this, in the end, it’s not really all that “unfair”.
Maybe so, but that isn’t the point. Fix farmland assessment first, stop the abuse, and then try to pass new legislation allowing for lower property tax rates on “excess land”.
Farmland Assessment and Green Acres are simply the Rethuglicans’ two pet programs for greasing their friends and allies.
I can show you three unbuildable swamps in my part of the world whose “development rights” were purchased from their well-connected Rethug owners for massive sums of taxpayer money.
One of those swamps has an owner named Schley. Talk amongst yourselves.
Speaking of DMV, I went last night to get my license renewed. I was done in 10 minutes; record breaking time. Has the NJ 6 point system sent the illegals scurrying or am I the last one left to turn out the lights?
re # 172 – “chasing them with breast milk until 25”
A Realtor friend tells me all the time about parents who go to look at apartments and condos with their adult children pushing 25 years old and sometimes engaged. Generation Y the handhold generation with $200k degrees in international studies and sociology and a double minor in nonprofit administration and African studies.
JJ,
Thats what I’m talking about. Figuring out a way to game DMV is a prerequisite in reading an earnings report and/or performing a simple M&A.
I spent 12 years pursuing African Studies and I learned a lot.
“$200k degrees in international studies and sociology and a double minor in nonprofit administration and African studies.”
Juice,
Probably as valuable as my economics degree. The damn school brainwashed me; taught me about free market capitalism. I’m bugging them for a tuition refund. Thankfully, Mary Ann’s was around the corner. (Nom, you’re up)
I spent 12 years pursuing African Studies and I learned a lot.
JJ,
Latin American major. Learned everything I need to know.
#184 JJ
i thought you would have majored in Womens Studies with a minor in hospitality?
What gaming, gifting cars, changing addresses on registration to get into snooty town parks or save on insurance. All within the rules.
make money says:
December 10, 2010 at 4:39 pm
JJ,
Thats what I’m talking about. Figuring out a way to game DMV is a prerequisite in reading an earnings report and/or performing a simple M&A.
174.Lamar Asperger says:
December 10, 2010 at 4:22 pm
chi (163)- Even if everyone involved could stomach the idea of doing the above……
clot: You are kidding, yes? College and university administrators -and the major donors- are some of the lowest forms of life out there. To hear the sewage that comes out of their mouths that passes for their “opinions” is ulcer inducing…..fck them and the sticker prices on their wares……
70: Goon,
Pay attn. to the fees. But then, you’re from NJ and are assumedly used to being prone.
182.
Juice,
They are the product of helicopter parents. The parents of 25 year olds actually accompany the man child to their first job interview. They are special because the public indoctrination system told them so. They got trophies for being the fattest kid running the slowest mile. They got a trophy because their tits were bigger than their Moms.
Im with JJ on raising a kid hard and poor. They have to be thirsty for success. I wouldnt hesistate throwing some money towards education but only until my kids back is against the wall. That being said I will be sending my kid to parochial scholl simply because I couldnt live with myself if I subjected my own kid to the teachings of a bunch of communist, no nothing losers which are present in most public schools.
BFF!
191. Moronic. Once your kid gets out of parochial school they’ll be a malleable moron complete with their own dogma. And remember whatever DNA you managed to scrape together will still haunt your ‘special little kid’.
BFF !
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — One bank failure in Pennsylvania and one in Michigan brought the year’s tally of failures to 151, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Friday. Regulators closed Paramount Bank of Farmington Hills, Mich., and Earthstar Bank of Southampton, Pa. Level One Bank of Farmington Hills, Mich., will take over Paramount’s $252.7 million in assets and $213.6 million in deposits; and Polonia Bank of Huntingdon Valley, Pa. will take over Earthstar’s $112.6 million in assets and $104.5 million in deposits. The total cost to the FDIC deposit insurance fund is $113.1 million.
Link for #194
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/two-bank-failures-bring-years-tally-to-151-2010-12-10
Some of these parenting tactics are horrible. Children need love and nurturing not a miserably cheap father treating child as if its great depression or WWI. You think that your hard line will help build character but instead kid turns 18, learns that you are sick in the head and never wants to talk to you again.
193.
Whats the matter Essex?
Sticking up for your wife while you suck off the tit of NJ taxpayers? Tell me something. Why should I pay property taxes for a service that is not only worthless but also dangerous.
Interesting point 0f view
Ron Paul Vigorously Defends WikiLeaks
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/features/view/feature/Ron-Paul-Vigorously-Defends-WikiLeaks-2734/
197. No. It’s like you have absorbed some lingo, but your logic is so flawed it’s embarrassing. I don’t care where your kid attends school. Just don’t pretend you are making some au currant political statement.
Cat is Kettle?
Pat=PTM
So, let me get this straight: it’s a great time to buy because interest rates are still at historic lows and prices are now very affordable (cough….). Well, this what the unicorn sunshine sales people tell us. So, if I buy that $500,000 house at 4.675% today and want to sell it 3 or 4 years from now when a 30 yr. fixed is at 7.25%, I’ll get at least $500,000 for the house, right? (sarcasm off…)
I also was doing the intelligence evasion.
Dear Potential Buyers,
Let me know when the light bulb goes on.
#39 AG
I tried (albeit badly) to explain to Nom, the difficulty opening an account overseas is not down to the fact you have a US passport. If you want an account with a reputable bank, you need to jump through hoops, no matter where you come from.
I think Wegmans gets trumped by Fairway. I’m not tribe, but I heart them.
Corzine should get credit for the improvements at the DMV. There where some sll but radical changes.
Licences work off to one side and a fast track lane for dealers. The six points are prescreened before you get on the main queue so the people on the main counter get a complete set of paperwork to work on.
“197. No. It’s like you have absorbed some lingo, but your logic is so flawed it’s embarrassing. I don’t care where your kid attends school. Just don’t pretend you are making some au currant political statement.”
Answer me this. Why should I pay for your kids to attend school. Should I make it clearer? I dont want my kids to attend school with losers and Im willing to fork over big bucks to prevent it.
Chi
Sign of the apocolypse
Cory Booker on CNN “Governor Christie is a friend”
Maybe 11/11/11 may be the rapture after all and not just Nigel Tufnell day.
For Essex, Shore and NJEscappe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll7rWiY5obI
big bucks? some cut rate so. jerzy cathlick akademy? Baahaaaaaaaaa.
204,
I simply wanted to do it as a contingency plan. If things got ugly fast I wanted to be able to transfer funds quickly and now is the time to set that up. Like you say, its not as easy as it used to be. It may be over the top but I think Nom has the right idea. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
I think just about everyone would agree that its coming down its just a matter of how soon and at what cost. It certainly would suck to absorb the cost even though you know ahead of time what is necessary to avoid it. I’d love to have Nom just spend the 1800 and give us a play by play. I would be willing to pay for the knowledge.
and gawd bless tiny tim
210.
Essex,
You eventually are going to have to realize that some of us are not willing to accept the level of suck that you are. You are a product of government. The ideology of, ” If I suck enough, everyone else has to suck as bad otherwise its unfair.”
You disgust me.
213. You are unAmerican in my eyes.
215.
Lol. I have a cabinet full of guns. Tell me again how I am unAmerican.
Hilarious. Frightened man with his arsenal.
I have to wonder if the internet crowd tries to be completely over the top hilarious.
I grew up in small town southern America. I still have 90% of my friends from that era — most of the people I have met in the northeast are some of the dumbest, most arrogant, out of shape, assholes I have ever had the misfortune of breathing air with.
Re: Wegmans
I was talking with one of the managers of the Ocean Township Wegmans. He said their business model expects a store to be profitable in 7 years. The Ocean Twnshp. store was profitable in less than 4 years. BTW the new Wegman’s liquor attached to the store in Ocean Twnshp. is blowing away all the local liquor stores as far as prices and inventory.
AG,
When we lived in Australia we had to show our passports and residency visas to open a bank account over there, along with a letter of employment from my wife’s employer. Although we might have needed that letter to get a credit card in Australia. We also had to file a form every year with our US tax return if we ever had 10k US in the account, even if it was for only one day.
Did I mention that the only reason I spend any time at all here is because of that Big Pharma niche. Once that evaporates I will get the **** out of here faster than you can say….which exit???
“I grew up in small town southern America. I still have 90% of my friends from that era — most of the people I have met in the northeast are some of the dumbest, most arrogant, out of shape, assholes I have ever had the misfortune of breathing air with.”
Instead of assimiliating to America like the Irish, Italians, and the Jews you brought your Communist BS with you. Suck of the state loser. You cant stand on your own two feet.
#219 NJCoast,
If you like lagers, pick up some James Boags Lager from Tasmania next time you shop at Wegmans liquor store. It was one of my favorite beers over there. I also liked Victoria Bitters (VB), but I have never seen that over here.
Dude, you keep digging with your inept and misguided missives.
The state (Prussia) took everything my ancestors had and they started again with nothing. Put two kids through college. One through the first MBA program at Wharton. Hard work and success on one’s own merits are ingrained in my soul. You on the other hand are just confused. Misguided. Anti-‘whatever’. And chronically unhappy. Why not just get it over with a suck the business end of one of those firearms. Do it! You’ll feel soooo much better.
Essex, you grow up in Uruguay or something? That could splain A LOT.
I know another dude from there who thinks his crap smells better than Jesus’.
Can’t you read? Sunbelt. *later*
224.
Essex,
I simply believe in the Bill of Rights. Yet you call me unAmerican and give me historical mumbo jumbo about Prussia and how I should feel bad about your heritage. Let me give you a history lesson. No one gives a flying f about your heritage. You are in America now. You are pushing on a string with your collectivist thought. Its going to bite you in the ass I promise you that.
#203 Fast Eddie – come chat with me on Yahoo…it’s been a while…..
Thanks for the Wegman’s beer tips Safe. Although I’m a Grey Goose martini gal myself. We just returned from dinner at our Beach Club restaurant open all year ( Mr. C’s at Allenhurst). They had a lighted 15 ft Xmas tree on the beach…. very cool.
#203 Fast Eddie – come chat with me on Yahoo…it’s been a while…
ag (191)-
Agreed. I tell my son all the time to be hungry and hustle, whether it’s school or on the pitch. He has heard me say “don’t study/play soccer” like a suburban white kid” so many times his eyes just glaze over when I start to go there.
I told him the other day he has to get used to working harder in school and going for the two-footed tackle in his games because he’ll soon be paying off another generation’s massive accrued debt. That got his attention.
veets (196)-
So if we’re not in a depression right now, what the hell do you call it? Any kid from decent parents with a reasonable level of internally-generated self esteem either knows he’s loved or is well on his way to developing a coping mechanism for difficult family situations. Kids are a lot smarter, more adaptable and resilient than anyone gives them credit for. The thing that the last generation or so of helicopter parenting has stripped from kids is development of toughness and drive: two qualities that are rapidly rising in value these days.
“Some of these parenting tactics are horrible. Children need love and nurturing not a miserably cheap father treating child as if its great depression or WWI.”
gluteus (206)-
Corzine should be working at the DMV.
BTW, wifey ran into Carla at the Dunkin’ in Clinton on Wednesday. Told me that Carla looks like a shrew that’s been hit by a water cannon.
“Corzine should get credit for the improvements at the DMV.”
gluteus (208)-
I think what he means to say is that he’s been glued into a years-long, no-exit circle jerk with Christie, Zuckerberg and Oprah.
“Cory Booker on CNN “Governor Christie is a friend”
Lamar,
When your kid get pulled off the soccer field and is asked by his coach, “You’ve only been in 2 minutes and have made the hardest tackles on the field.” Then you know you are in the right place. That is at least what I want my kids to be.
Toss Tiny Tim in the goddam woodchipper and get on with it.
ag (235)-
My kid is indeed fortunate that his coach is a guy who expects that kind of play all the time. He strikes a nice balance between encouraging him to play like a gentleman and whipping him into a mouth-foaming frenzy of bad intent.
227. I honor the memory of my grandparents. My upbringing was pure American midwest/mid south. The shit that passes for macho out here would get you six feet in the ground where I come from. You are really nothing. You know it. I know. So let’s stop kidding ourselves. Nothing. You. Are. Nothing. That sinking feeling? It’s your self esteem.
Scared shitless is no way to go through life fellas.
Goofy Bastards.
bff friday.
SAS
(just back from Kampala)
Indiana is a sh!thole of righteous hick-pricks……no wonder you hate it here…..go stick a guitar bridge up your ass…..seriously Indiana is nothing: not the midwest; not south; not nice; stupid people = sterilize the state so it peters out…..
Essex says:
December 10, 2010 at 9:37 pm
227. I honor the memory of my grandparents. My upbringing was pure American midwest/mid south. The shit that passes for macho out here would get you six feet in the ground where I come from. You are really nothing. You know it. I know. So let’s stop kidding ourselves. Nothing. You. Are. Nothing. That sinking feeling? It’s your self esteem.
Geez, if I wanted to hear this much impotent argument, I would have stayed in DC.
[184] BC
Where did you drop more money?
[204] fabius
I got it, but it is not really relevant. BTW, Shulman was quite proud of the QI program and other crossborder currency barriers that IRS is erecting. I did ask him why CI division would not give nonprosecution assurances to taxpayers that used the voluntary disclosure program, and he mumbled something about drug money. That was crap; the guidance as clear on that point, and some folks who weren’t in ill-gotten gain got prosecuted anyway. I thought it was a cop out answer.
All,
For those that have legitimate beefs with how IRS handles things, I now have a direct line into IRS’ Taxpayer Advocate service.
This is serious. I can raise issues and assure that they will get heard. There is an entire function for this purpose and the Advocate service is actually beefing up its abililty to take IRS to task for f’ing up.
And yes, I do plan to raise the late expatriate report as an issue. In retrospect, I should have asked the Commissioner in the open meeting, but I guess I just didn’t have the stones, considering I was invited.
[214][AG]
If you are willing to pay for the knowledge, why would I do a play by play?
BTW, I found that the tax geeks at this week’s meetings did not think my theories nearly as wingnuttish as some of you do.
Nom,
I found a way to get VB in the US. Unfortunately you need to pick it up in person at Ghiradelli Square in San Fran.
http://www.cellar360.com/vbclub
245.
Nom, dont get cocky. Im not that desperate. Theres a saying in medicine. If ou dont operate you are a pussy.
242. Is there any comment that you can make that does not include a homosexual reference? Indiana? Wtf? Keep up stupid.
Have to think about the tuition thing for my kid. On the one hand, I would like to see him stand on his own. On the other hand, once kids make a little bit of money, they begin to get distracted from the goal. I have friends that paid for everything if the kids followed certain paths. They made it clear that they would not be on the hook for an $80k women’s study degree.
As much as I want to be a hard ass, I want to make sure that the kid starts ouut well. Kids lost in their early 20s are often still lost in their 30s.
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