Month: August 2015
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New report on Sandy devastation to NJ fishing-related businesses
A new report published this month by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Marine Fisheries Service shows the devastating impact of Sandy on New Jersey’s fishing-related businesses. I’ve been speaking and writing about the accounting aspects of this topic for almost three years now based on…
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Tips for small business dealing with the new credit card rules
On October 1 2015 an important change occurs that tips the balance or risk in the payment system that places almost all small business owners at greater financial risk. There are three simple steps that small businesses can take to protect themselves and reduce this new payment risk. In the past credit card companies were responsible for…
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S corporation vs. single member LLC
This issue comes up again and again in my tax practice: why do business owners and professionals establish S corporations when a single member LLC will suffice? Let professionals continue to set up one owner S corps. Single member LLCs offer the same legal protection but are considered “disregarded entities” for tax purposes. An LLC is…
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Small business owners say that the economic recovery is slowing down
The Wall Street Journal reports that “the portion of small businesses reporting that the U.S. economy was improving fell to its lowest level since the government shutdown of 2013”. I suspect that the primary driver is the perception of a coming interest rate increase. This poll was apparently taken before the China stock market drop…
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Stock market crash in a nutshell
Over the past 60 days investors around the world have pulled more than $6 billion in investments from worldwide emerging markets. This caused worldwide stock prices to drop by about 10%. Much of this money has been reinvested in U.S. Treasury bonds. U.S. stocks have dropped about 4% so far as a side effect. The…
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Now is the time to review financial plans
In the event of stock market panic, read this: Many of my recent articles and blog comments about financial planning surround the concept that a financial wake-up call and a reality check are very badly needed by individuals and small business owners today. Recent news about the unhealthy global stock market makes it clear that many others share these…
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Edge appears to have a bright future
I last blogged about browser issues in March. The basis point was that no single browser can do it all for me. Since then Microsoft Edge has made its way through beta testing and several updates and now appears to tip the scales for me. I don’t mean to rewrite any of the good reviews already published (like…
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Acronis backup poised for a comeback?
Acronis was once considered to be at the top of the backup services for retail PC customers. Then the products and the issues they were designed to address became too complicated. (See the screenshot below as an example of how it became ridiculously difficult for an average retail customer to use the product. Any product…
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Why do I have to reveal my income when buying medical insurance?
Some people ask why the online health insurance marketplace requires personal information like household income and number of people in the household just to get a price for medical insurance. It is a legitimate question and appears to be a growing concern among affluent online shoppers. After all, no other consumer product requires this information just to…
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What is the best time of day to post on social media?
For a business person like me who uses social media regularly and blogs daily, when is the best time of day to post a blog? What about a Facebook post or a Tweet? I conclude this is a simple question without a simple answer. The published articles on this topic, including the graph below, suggest…