JohnH

Yeah, and tell they should quit using QuickBooks until they invest in some instruction to learn how it works...

I don't see how it could be a career change. Being a surgeon isn't a profession - it's a specialty within the general medical doctor profession. In this case it's even more granular. He's already a surgeon and now he wants to get certification in the sub-specialty of Orthopedic Surgeon. Any licensed physician can hold himself/herself out as practicing any specialty if they choose to do so, without even completing any additional training. They go through the special training & internships for the purpose of obtaining board certification, not for the purpose of meeting any basic requirements of their profession. (At least, that's the way I've always understood it - I'd welcome being corrected if I'm wrong).

We could use him here in Charlotte as well.

I think you'd be safe in treating this as improving skills in his profession rather than becoming qualified for a new profession. His profession is "physician", although his specialty may be changing.

I'll add a personal comment or two. My father received very good treatment at a VA hospital for many years, and I'd probably go to one if I needed to. But I'd prefer a private hospital and I'd prefer to at least have a choice. Yes, you will hear stories about all sorts of isolated incidents at private hospitals, but a systemic problem like the one described in this article would drive a private chain out of business. Not so with government operated institutions because as the bureaucracy grows larger there's no market accountability. There's lots of smoke & fire, but at the end of the day the bureaucrats mainly shuffle paper while actually doing very little in terms of concrete action. >>> The strong reaction came as the agency's inspector general reported that fewer than half of VA facilities selected for surprise inspections last month had proper training and guidelines in place. That was months after the VA launched a nationwide safety campaign over the discovery of errors at facilities in Georgia, Florida and Tennessee that could have exposed veterans to HIV and other infections. John Daigh, VA's assistant inspector general who led the review, said the findings "troubled me greatly." "We think there are systemic issues," Daigh said. <<< Of course there are systemic issues and they "troubled" the IG greatly, but nothing was actually done about the problem. And this problem was identified in 2003. How long does it take to teach people which valve to open & close, especially when the other end of the scope is firmly inserted in someone's body? Do you want someone doing a colonoscopy on you when there's a 57 percent change the staff cannot be shown to have been properly trained in SOP's? >>> In surprise inspections at 42 VA medical centers on May 13 and 14, investigators found that only 43 percent had standard operating procedures in place and could show they properly trained their staffs for using their equipment. <<< One other point. Walk into any VA hospital and count the number of doctors & other skilled medical personnel for whom English is a second language. Anyone care to comment on that fact?

I agree with jainen, provided you don't think you need to worry about HIV, hepatitis, etc when getting simple endoscopic procedures such as colonoscopies. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/194/story/783113.html

I like that!

I'd guess that your guess is correct. :)

The course of action would depend partly upon the current situation. Is the employer still in business or has he folded? Was this some sort of temporary setback that he reacted to in an inappropriate & illegal manner, or was it a continuous & ongoing practice? How long did the client work for the employer, and how much money is involved? Does he still work for this person? Were there other employees or was this something that only affected one person? The answers to these and some related questions might have a huge impact on what he does next.

Just curious if any of you had read the book yet, and what your initial reaction might be. For me, training myself to ALWAYS think in terms of outcomes was critical. 1) Does it make sense that Next Action thinking can always keep you in control? 2) Does backing off and "Looking at the Whole Game" make it possible to avoid operating in a reactive mode?

They need to re-check their organizational minutes. (If they don't have organizational minutes they need to get busy drawing some up) If they never issued stock, then the corporation never was perfected. But consider this - when they filed the 2553 to obtain S-corp status, they had to state the number of shares owned by each shareholder and when the shares were issued.

I think the common ownership rules will force all the entities to be treated as a single entity for purposes of determining whether benefits discriminate in favor of the owner. Of course, if the personal banker can come up with some cites to justify his/her position, then...

I agree on the reason for the Bill of Rights. So how's that working out for us?

I think it highlights the wisdom of "buy term & invest the difference." When insurance companies try to fool people into mixing insurance and investment objectives, they aren't doing anyone any favors (except the company & agent, of course). I keep asking my agent (on those rare occasions when he talks to me), that if insurance which builds cash value is such a good deal, why don't they offer it on cars & houses? The answer is obvious - auto insurance and homeowners insurance is a rational purchase based on cost vs benefit, whereas life insurance carries an emotional component that lures people into making irrational buying decisions.

I don't equate "rich" with any given level of income. To me, rich is defined by assets vs liabilities rather than the number of dollars someone earns in a particular year. Many people have incomes which would enable them to become rich, but they squander the money on homes, cars, and toys they really can't afford. They over-extend themselves, buying stuff just because the sales manager showed them how they can squeeze the payment into their current income. I've seen others become very well-off (rich) on fairly modest incomes because they were willing to make whatever sacrifices were necessary to live within their means. I like the definition used by a radio personality who discusses finance on the weekends - Bob Brinker. Bob constantly talks about reaching "critical mass", which is his definition is accumulating enough income-producing assets to support whatever lifestyle you think you have a right and the ability to enjoy. Anyone who isn't arranging their affairs to work toward that goal isn't rich in the present - and the sad fact is they will have no hope of becoming rich unless they change their spending & consumption habits. As for the tax issue, my answer won't exactly respond to the original question, but in my mind it would answer it. I think all tax deductions for "lifestyle" spending should be eliminated. No tax deduction for home mortgage interest, property taxes, contributions, etc. No exemption for dependents. I'd make medical insurance 100% deductible for everyone and all non-elective medical expenses 100% deductible. Provided the tax rates were lowered to compensate for the offset in deductions, we would then be in a position to allow people to make rational decisions about how much they spend for housing, how many children they have, and all those other lifestyle decisions without getting confused about the "after-tax" costs, which in many cases is just an illusion anyhow. Getting some of the smoke & mirrors out of the tax system would make it much easier to understand.

I'm glad to help out. Believe me, if you really get into GTD and grasp David Allen's philosophy, it will absolutely change your work habits. And aside from the increase in income via increased productivity, it will definitely relieve a huge amount of stress. Catherine, if I had 600 emails in my inbox, it would seem like 600 little voices all yelling at the same time "Finish me, Finish me!" With 7 or 8 thousand, I'm sure my head would explode. Here's a brief discussion about mastering inbox management from a GTD coach - it isn't complete, but it's a great primer on getting the inbox to empty & keeping it there on a day-to-day basis. http://www.davidco.com/coaches_corner/Kell.../article81.html

If you are serious about making huge strides in your productivity, look into "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. I discovered his methods for mastering workflow about 5 years ago and haven't looked back. As far as I'm concerned, nobody out there even comes close to the GTD approach. I discoverd GTD when I read an article by James Fallows in Atlantic Monthly in 2004. Here's the link: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200407/fallows2 I' ve always admired James Fallows' intellect, so if GTD held some special sway for him then I decided it was worth investigating. The article made so much sense to me that I went out & bought the book the next day. About half-way through the book I immediately bought a CD series and spent the next couple of weeks listening to David explain GTD in more detail. I still play all or part of one of the CD's every now & then as a reminder or to review something important. This particular CD set isn't available any more, but I sometimes see it on ebay. GTD deals with the unrecognized stress we encounter in life which saps our energy and causes us to spin our wheels. The biggest barrier to productivity is our mind - it can't remember but it can't forget, so we have a tendency to allow all our unfulfilled commitments to keep us in a constant state of anxiety. These "open loops" are nothing but distractions from the task at hand - just thinking about them interferes with our ability to accomplish as much as we otherwise could. GTD suggests techniques to develop a safe, trusted method which allows us to "constructively forget", enabling our mind to temporarily lay aside future commitments so we can REALLY focus on the task at hand. David's ideas on email management are priceless (it's hard to describe the feeling when you see an empty in-box). GTD is simple, common-sensical, and it works. Conditioning your mind to make a good "Next Action" choice every time you encounter something new is priceless, and once it becomes a part of your work life it's hard to imagine doing things any other way. http://www.davidco.com/

Taxbilly: Welcome back, and very sorry to hear about your mom.

The poll will have to be very specific, particularly with respect to where the levator is located. The results may be considerably different depending upon whether or not the elevator is in an IRS building.

I think they are the same thing - just depends on your state. Here's a prety good discussion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_contract

Marilyn: Good to hear everything worked out OK. At least now you're prepared if it happens again. Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend, and it is important for us remember all those military heroes who sacrificed in the past and continue to do so every day. We owe all of them a debt that can never be fully repaid.

Thanks. I hadn't noticed that.

They will probably get a bill with an NSF penalty & maybe some interest added (but I'm not really sure about the interest). I think they will get credit for the payment whenever good funds are remitted. Haven't seen one like this in a long time, but I'm pretty sure the bounced check won't invalidate the extension, since technically no payment is even required for the extension to be valid.

Sounds like your friend learned the most important thing about United Way. It's mainly an enterprise about business politics with secondary charitable purposes.

I agree with jainen. IRS told him to concentrate on the prior years because they don't like old stuff lying around and like all bill collectors they know that the older something gets, the harder it becomes to collect. They don't mention that the client essentially doubles up on penalties by doing it this way. Of course, he may just be telling you what pops into his mind (unless you heard the conversation yourself). I've found that people who talk with the IRS themselves often have very selective memories. The best cash management technique would be to get compliant on the current year and try for a payment plan for all the old liablities. In the long run, he will pay less in penalties (although the interest will be roughly the same), and he can get in the habit of paying on time. The problem with this approach is that if he habitually pays only when the wolf is at the door, then an organized approach like this won't do him any good either. So you have to decide at some point if any solution will work for him. Money he pays to Holmes could be much better spent paying down his tax liability and paying you to help him get compliant. The advice to form an LLC or a corp won't help him very much form a tax standpoint. There may be lots of general business liability issues that make it desirable, but if he just chronically delays paying his taxes, then another entity will just give him more opportunity to conveniently get "confused". This type of situation could cause him to dig an even deeper hole and expose himself to an overlapping set of penalties if he does things in exactly the wrong way.