“You won’t live under my roof unless you cut your hair.” What happens when your 15-year-old takes you up on the offer? Each year in the U.S. one in seven teenagers between the ages of 10 and 18 run away, according to the National Runaway Switchboard (NRS). Currently, between one and three million teenagers are living on the streets in the U.S. Continue reading “Teen Runaways”
Category: Adam Goldfein Show
Retirement is a New Fad
The first precursor to modern retirement occurred in 1883 Germany when Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck announced that he would pay a pension to any non-working German over the age of 65. During this time, in America around 76 % of those 65 and over participated in the labor force. The rate was down to 43.5% in 1940, after Franklin D. Roosevelt invented Social Security. Now it stands under 17.5% Continue reading “Retirement is a New Fad”
Redefining Retirement
Between the financial crisis, taking care of your kids, taking care of your parents, home equity losses and the increased cost of health care, retirement has changed in America. The picture has changed from lobster dinners to peanut butter and jelly. The reality is that this isn’t a temporary cutback; people are faced with a complete lifestyle change which will follow them into retirement years. Continue reading “Redefining Retirement”
Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall: Rebuilding your nest egg
Meltdown was the term used to describe the 2008 financial disaster. Now your retirement picture feels like a full on Chernobyl. You were only ten/five/one year from retirement and now retirement seems like a pipe dream. Will you have to keep working the rest of your life? Will you have to take major cuts in your lifestyle? Not only has your portfolio taken a beating, but your house value crashed and you can’t sell it if you wanted to. What do you do? Continue reading “Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall: Rebuilding your nest egg”
Reincarnation
There have been approximately 107,602,707,791 people born in the history of the earth, according to estimates by the Population Reference Bureau. Are all these lives independent, or have a few souls accounted for several lifetimes? If you have ever felt that this isn’t your first ride on the Merry-Go-Round, it is possible that you have been reincarnated and have past lives. Continue reading “Reincarnation”
The Sixth Sense
Some people claim to see what cannot be seen. Palm readers, tarot cards and crystal balls; these are all the images conjured when you think of psychics. Outside of the stereotypes, however, there actually is substantial evidence supporting certain psychic phenomenon. Even the U.S. government attests to its reality. Continue reading “The Sixth Sense”
Rewarding Failure
In a business, a hard working successful employee is rewarded. Take the example of sales. If an employee makes a large sum of money for the company, they will be rewarded with bonuses and raises. They will receive part of the money they earned back. If an employee makes no sales, they will be fired. This system benefits both the employee and the business, as it aligns their interests and makes them work together toward a common goal. Continue reading “Rewarding Failure”
Punishing Success
Imagine a scenario. Your child has worked hard their whole academic career, and they’ve gotten a full ride scholarship to a top 10 University. You’ve saved up for their college, so now you have a relatively large sum of money to use as you see fit. Do you, beaming with pride, reward your child by buying them a car? Or do you take the money, and buy a car for your other child who dropped out of college and is living in your basement? After all, the successful child doesn’t really need it as much; they will do just fine in life. You can even take it a step further. You can ask the successful child to send home part of their paycheck after college to help support their less ambitious brother. Continue reading “Punishing Success”
A Novel Idea: Rewarding Success and the Incentive Tax
If your employer offered a bonus for increasing your sales over the month, would you work harder? Incentives have a powerful effect on effort and productivity. People tend to try and do what is in their best interest, and nowhere is this phenomenon more pronounced than the realm of economics. The very concept of work relies on a value for effort system. The harder you work, the more difficult your skill, the greater your product, the more you are compensated. Whether it manifest in the form of hourly wages (the longer you work the more you make) or the form of high paid professions (the harder your skill is to master, the more you make) this value system is paramount to all economic systems. As this truth is applied to a system of taxation and governance, unexpected consequences often arise. Continue reading “A Novel Idea: Rewarding Success and the Incentive Tax”
What Are My Property Taxes Paying For?
The Fulton County Board of Commissioners rejected raising the county property tax millage from 10.281 to 10.791 (a .51 increase or 5%) on Wednesday and instead opted keep millage constant. The decision came despite declining tax digest values, caused by increased homestead exemptions and declining property values. The change could have raised $17 million for the County General Fund, according to the Fulton County Government. Property tax revenues account for around 80% of General Fund Revenue in Fulton. Continue reading “What Are My Property Taxes Paying For?”
Ronin Pen 