Month: August 2016
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My cyclical role as a health care adviser
Over the past 29 years I’ve talked with thousands of small business owners and self-employed professionals about their health care plans; how to regain control, manage expenses and protect yourself. I expected that ACA might put me out of business in that adviser niche and some writers and the BBB said that area of professional…
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Where does electricity come from?
With electricity being such an important part of our daily lives, I am surprised how many people do not know where it comes from. The #1 source of electricity in the U.S. is coal. Natural gas obtained through fracking is expected to be the #1 source within the next 25 years. Here in Pennsylvania, the largest…
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Contemporaneous travel log required
Accountants have generally not done a good job communicating the legal concept of “contemporaneous log”; a term legally required under tax law to take a mileage reimbursement or deduction for business travel on a personally owned automobile. Programs like MileIQ do a great job but I still think that a taxpayer needs to understand the underlying…
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Small business equity crowdfunding video
A good introductory video explaining small business equity crowdfunding by NextGen Crowdfunding. (At least, IMO, it is as good as a video that consists solely of a lawyer and a business guy in blue blazers sitting talking to each other can be). The 10 minute conversation recorded last fall covers many important points including a short…
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North American Life View: a first glance
I’m excited to review a revolutionary way for individuals to purchase cheap regular term life insurance that does not involve the obstacles or gimmicks that we have come to expect. It’s quite simple really, mostly just a leap forward in the insurance industry’s level of technology deployment to deliver what consumers demand. This blog post is…
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Evaluating the risks and rewards of small business crowdfunding
I’m now loosely tracking 17 activity different US-based small business crowdfunding portals. This excludes all the portals intended for personal or charitable crowdfunding that would bring the total to 31. The number of investment options continues to grow and the field continues to grow more complicated. The risk to investors remains high and grows in…
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Big news in consumer life insurance
It’s funny how life works sometimes. Earlier today I put put out a blog post on the topic of business networking vs. paid referral services that said “…my primary source of revenue over the entire span of my working career as an independent accountant has been paid reviews or endorsements of some type…I do not do…
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The problem with BNI
Five reasons why lead exchange groups won’t work for me Last month I was invited as an observer to a local meeting of Business Networks International (BNI). The accountant who invited me is a great person and an impressive professional. The meeting and individual members made a strong positive impression on me. The individuals I met were…
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So you’ve been asked to be a board member
So you’ve been asked to serve on the board of a nonprofit organization. What do you need to know? You want to learn enough about the organization to do a good job as a director. You should also understand that there is potential legal liability for serving as a board member. Since nonprofit organizations do not…
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Simple advice to avoid IRS scams
Hardly a week goes by when I don’t read about people falling victim of a new tax scam. Scammers are growing more numerous, more aggressive and more sophisticated. Most of these scams involve telephone calls or emails pretending to be from the IRS. Ordinary business and individual taxpayers should be aware of the following: IRS…