Everyone knows what a hobby is, right? It’s something you do to relax and have fun, not something you do as an occupation. And everyone knows what a business is, too. It’s something you do to make money. So everyone should know the difference between a hobby and a business, right? Well, it turns out […]
What Do You Give the Man Who Has Everything?
Last week, New York Yankee shortstop and future Hall-of-Famer Derek Jeter played his last Major League Baseball game. He chopped a single to third in the third inning to drive in a run, then took himself out for good. That final hit brings his total to 3,465 hits, along with a .310 batting average, five […]
Taxing Situation
MTV’s Jersey Shore premiered in late 2009 and quickly became the network’s most-watched series ever. Cast members Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, Jennifer “JWoww” Farley, and their outrageous, hard-partying housemates have become New Jersey’s most famous family since The Sopranos, trying their best to put the “fun” back in “dysfunctional.” Of course, not […]
Lipstick on a Pig?
The personal finance website mint.com reports the average American woman spends $15,000 on makeup in her lifetime, including $3,770 on mascara, $2,750 on eyeshadow, and $1,780 on lipstick. Americans spent $33.3 billion on cosmetics and other beauty products in 2010 alone. (“Being a woman is easy and inexpensive,” said no one, ever.) Our friends at […]
Can We Talk?
The world of comedy lost a giant this month. Joan Rivers may have topped out at just 5’2″ and weighed 110 pounds soaking wet, but when it comes to influence, she towered above her peers. Rivers established that women can be just as funny as men and paved the way for the Sarah Silvermans and […]
People Who Live in Glass Houses
Takisha McGee works (at least for now) as a Section Manager for the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility, where their mission is to “interpret and apply the standards of practice for tax professionals in a fair and equitable manner.” Among her other duties, she travels around the country teaching IRS officials and tax preparers how […]
“Gaming the System”?
America’s biggest companies fight like tigers for surprisingly tiny advantages. Grabbing as little as a single extra percent of market share can mean millions in new revenue, especially in popular categories like soft drinks or laundry detergent. The same is true when it comes to taxes. A chief financial officer who cuts his company’s tax […]
Unnecessary Roughness
Football fans can rejoice — the NFL is finally back! On Sunday night, the New York Giants defeated their cross-state rivals from Buffalo, 17-13, in a meaningless pre-season contest. On September 4, the Packers and Rams kick off a regular season sure to be filled with beer commercials, discount double checks, and brain-numbing concussions. It […]
Holy Taxes, Batman!
On July 23, Batman turned 75! Everyone knows how the billionaire industrialist Bruce Wayne dons a bat-like costume to protect Gotham City from supervillains like The Joker, The Penguin, and The Riddler. But did you know that he’s just as resourceful when it comes to fighting The Tax Man, too? Let’s use the occasion of […]
Berkshire Giveaway
Someday, the financial wizards who run things on Wall Street will realize there’s “paper to be stacked” opening an Investor Hall of Fame. (Hey, the Rock and Roll Hall makes $40 million a year, and it’s in Cleveland.) And when they do, they’ll have to dedicate an entire wing to Warren Buffett. The so-called “Oracle […]