Performing Ourselves

“The discomfiting reality is that the average individual does not abound in the key requirements of successful investing: discipline, deferred gratification, and math. As humans, we tend not to very sapient at forecasting our economic requirements decades into the future, at setting aside income today that we will need for the years ahead, and at calculating the investment options that will provide the best mix of risk and reward to increase our savings to sustain our future lives.

How many lives might have been saved if our society had more quickly recognized the perils of speeding and drinking? Or the benefits of seatbelts, safety glass, and airbags? If investors today can – with a little driver’s education – learn the structural vulnerabilities of investing on their own and the dangers to avoid in mutual funds, we stand a much greater chance of preserving our individual financial health and the nation’s fiscal and democratic vitality in the years to come.”

William A. Birdthistle introduces the importance of understanding investment in order for individuals to better prepare for their futures and in an effort to promote our nation’s financial wellbeing in Empire of the Fund.

»empty inside« by anatol knotek

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) has had enough of the growing movement to drug test poor people who need government assistance. So on Tuesday, she’s introducing a bill that she says will make things fairer.

Her “Top 1% Accountability Act” would require anyone claiming itemized tax deductions of over $150,000 in a given year to submit a clean drug test. If a filer doesn’t submit a clean test within three months of filing, he won’t be able to take advantage of tax deductions like the mortgage interest deduction or health insurance tax breaks. Instead he would have to make use of the standard deduction.

Her office has calculated that the people impacted will be those who make at least $500,000 a year. “By drug testing those with itemized deductions over $150,000, this bill will level the playing field for drug testing people who are the recipients of social programs,” a memo on her bill notes.

In case you want it as a screenshot. (I just did one for Twitter, as it was Too Long To Tweet.)

“ After hosting local auditions, we found the talented Teioshontathe McGregor, 15, a Mohawk girl from Kahnawake, QC. She gave a compelling performance in the role of Shayna Hill, her very first time in front of the camera! “