Reinke Faces Life

This is a about a 4 minute audio clip. The steps to detect it and correct it are rather easy. But do parents do them on an annual basis? Obviously not, if that 1/10 stat is reliable.

Here’s the link:

http://www.edelmanfinancial.com/radio/november-14-2015/identity-thieves-newest-target-how-to-protect-your-kids

Identity Thieves’ Newest Target: How to Protect Your Kids

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A recent study from Carnegie Mellon found that one in 10 kids under the age of 10 has had their Social Security number compromised.

Have you checked the financial records of your young children or grandchildren? Most people don’t even consider checking their kid’s financial records because … they’re kids. But that’s exactly why thieves target them.

They know children won’t use their Social Security number for years – usually until they’re old enough to go to college or get a credit card. By then the thief has successfully opened accounts, borrowed money and made purchases without anyone noticing.

“It’s a complicated world these days, and we need to be ever vigilant and diligent to protect ourselves,” Ric Edelman said.

Listen to the full clip above to learn the steps you can take to protect your child’s identity.

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I know what I’d do every year on their birthday? Check. But then I don’t have any so it’s easy for me to say.

YMMV

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http://fff.org/explore-freedom/article/the-libertarian-angle-what-ever-happened-to-silver-coins/

HAPPENED TO SILVER COINS?
by Future of Freedom Foundation
September 15, 2015

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Good question!

What happened?

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http://ericpetersautos.com/2015/08/13/buy-gold-buy-a-used-car-instead/#comment-634721

Buy Gold? Buy A Used Car Instead!
by eric • August 13, 2015

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Gold may not have the high rate of return that the casino called Wall Street offers … to insiders. But it is a really good way to store value – and that accounts for its popularity among people who may not get rich quick but tend to avoid becoming poor.

Used cars are another great way to transmute depreciating paper money into a durable asset that – like gold – is portable and fungible (i.e., easily converted into other things of value).

The government has inadvertently created a bull market for them, too. 

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Unfortunately, I didn’t pay attention when my grandfather would fix what ever particular “$50″ wreck I was driving that week.

In the past, my strategy was to buy new on a three year loan and keep “paying” myself until it died. Eventually, I could pay cash for cars. Seemed to work for me.

Last car, with “zero down and zero interest”, my financial advisor convinced me to take the free money and leave the cash in my portfolio. I’ll drive it until the wheels fall off which means it should last about 9 years.

What I’ll do then I have no idea. What the economic climate will be I have no idea. But I’ll adapt since it’s obvious that the “only constant is change”.

For anyone who’s got some mechanical ability, old cars / trucks that you can still work on seems to be a profitabe niche.

When I drive to and from the Jersey shore, I see veritable series of “one car used car lot” (i.e., each house  along the way with one, or maybe two, used cars for sale). As the season progresses, more “projects” roll out for sale. The peak is around “back to school season” when the sports cars seem to dominate the “lots”.

The USA has become the throw away consumer economy at its own peril. Perhaps this is the renaissance?

I think this is more a reflection on the value of Federal Reserve Notes and the bad behavior that it has “trained” the shepple to engage in.

Argh!

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https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/07/tyler-durden/forget-recession/

Forget Recession: According To Caterpillar There Is A Full-Blown Global Depression
By Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
July 23, 2015

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And the cherry on top: there has now been an unprecedented 31 consecutive months of CAT retail sales declines. This compares to “only” 19 during the near systemic collapse in 2008.

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SO why is the stock market not going down?

The FED and its Zero Interest Rate.

The politicians and bureaucrats continue to borrow and spend to expand the welfare / warfare state.

Like the old war movie — i forget which — “get small in your hole”.

Bad times are coming.

Sooner or later, some very ugly chickens will come home to roost.

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http://www.thedailysheeple.com/day-of-reckoning-for-american-pensions-is-fast-approaching_072015

Day of Reckoning for American Pensions Is Fast Approaching
Joshua Krause
The Daily Sheeple
July 18th, 2015

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For decades, local and state governments in the United States have made promises to their employees that they cannot keep. They guaranteed a certain level of income to retirees at a time when America was its most prosperous, and when most people didn’t live as long as they do now. Those lucrative pensions they promised are starting to catch up to them in a big way.

Earlier this week, Moody’s cut Chicago’s credit rating to “junk,” largely due to their $20 billion pension shortfall, and they put the City of Houston on notice. Many of the major pension funds use the stock market to bolster their savings, but despite record profits on Wall Street, it doesn’t seem like any of them reached their revenue goals. California’s Public Employees Retirement System only reached a third of the annual revenue they projected, and the state’s teacher fund failed to reach their goal. Overall, Moody’s found that the 25 largest public pension funds in the US have a $2 trillion budget shortfall.

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So what will happen?

I’d look at Greece and, closer to home, the Delta Pilot’s pensions.

The Federal “Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation” does not insure plans offered by federal, state, or local governments.

So, I’d expect a severe “haircut”. Pensions, if we use the PBGC limits, would be reduced to about 57K per year.

I can imagine the riots when it happens, but happen it will. 

If I was planning on a pension for my golden years, then I meet with a fee-based register financial adviser to revise your plans. 

Argh!

Hard times ahead.

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http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-coming-era-of-pension-poverty.html

WEDNESDAY, JULY 01, 2015
The Coming Era of Pension Poverty
Assuming “growth” will fund all promised pensions and entitlements is magical thinking.

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Promises made in flush times cannot be kept in lean times. Common sense suggests that public employee pension benefits should be tied to the revenues required to pay them and the rate of low-risk returns on pension funds. If common-sense is “union bashing,” then we not only have a pension-funding problem, we have a propaganda problem.

Regardless of what was promised, what can’t be paid won’t be paid. The federal government can print money, but state and local governments cannot print money to pay soaring pension and healthcare costs. Push taxes and junk fees up enough and you will spark a taxpayer rebellion. If you doubt this, check out the origins of Prop 13 limits on property taxes in California.

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Unfunded and underfunded liabilities about in the Zero Interest Rate Environment set up by the FED.

The estimates are staggering.

And yet the corruption continues. Politicians give Gooferment Unions big ‘benefits’ and Gooferment Unions give politicians big ‘campaign contributions’. And the taxpayer is on the hook.

Argh!

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http://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/03/frank-hollenbeck/deadly-government-labs/

Five Steps to Fixing Greece’s Debt Problem
By Frank HollenbeckMises.org
March 5, 2015

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Step Five: Fix the New Drachma to Gold

Gold has many drawbacks, but gold’s primary advantage lies in the fact that it constrains current and future governments from using the printing presses to finance government expenditures. Once the tie to the euro is broken, Greece should then fix its new currency to gold. Even though Greece has no significant gold reserves, it can follow the example of Germany in 1923 when a broke Germany slowly returned to a gold standard by first fixing its money to non-gold commodities (i.e., rye bread in the German case).

By instituting true austerity and freeing the banking sector from the euro and the EU, Greece could go from being the example to avoid to the example to emulate in a relatively short period of time. With such a financial structure, Greece would benefit from long-term financial and economic stability. It would force Greece to make hard choices up front, thus avoiding later problems in the first place.

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I’d want some of them. Or any hard money currency tied to something!

As a non-enconmist, I’d assume that there would be a capital inflow with a hard money currency.

Akin to the Swiss Franc, that’s becoming a proxy for a strong fiat currency.

And, if Russia or China do it, then that is the end of the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency.

Whatever happened to the gold dinar?

Remember what happened to Saddam when he made noises about wanting to be paid in gold for his oil?

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http://www.garynorth.com/public/13421.cfm

401(k) Programs: Methadone for the Middle Class
Gary North – February 06, 2015

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Methadone is a legal drug that is taken by former heroin addicts. It eliminates the “rush” that heroin offers, but it also eliminates withdrawal symptoms. It lets heroin addicts escape the need to buy the expensive illegal drug.

Methadone is for heroin addicts who just cannot bring themselves to go cold turkey from an addictive drug that distorts their perception.

That is what a 401(k) retirement plan is for middle-class workers.

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Even a gold bug, such myself, understands the concern that the 401k may not be enough.

And, the younger the person, the more they are at risk.

Clearly SocSec isn’t enough retirement savings, especially when the Gooferment cheats on inflation, COLA, Medicare rates, and — of course — the ULTIMATE cheat making SocSec ½ taxable income!!!

A similar concern exists with 401ks and IRAs. The “rules” can be changed. And, when you think of the 18T$ “debt” and 17T$ in tax deferred savings accounts under the control of about 2100 “custodians”, it’s not hard to imagine the political mischief that could emerge. There was a “trial balloon” about “saving” “We, The Sheeple” from “market risk” by swapping the 401k/IRA money for an “enhanced social security benefit”. It died a quiet death, but bad ideas are like Dracula rising from the grave.

So while I think folks “must” participate in the 401k / IRA system, they must also realize that there is a “counter party risk” and you better have other assets.

For once I’m glad I’m old.

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http://www.granny-miller.com/survivalist-prepper-or-housewife/

Survivalist, Prepper or Housewife?
by Katherine Grossman • November 4, 2012

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The average American housewife for most of the 20th century didn’t work for wages. Food, clothing and shelter were her specialties. She knew how to cook, sew family clothing, kill and dress a chicken and get by without electricity or indoor plumbing if she had to. She had a full pantry, backyard garden, raised her own children and had plenty of time for her outside interests and community. She also didn’t have a car payment, a TV, credit card debt and managed to marry and stay married.

The average American housewife from 1920 – 1970 would today be considered a survivalist. For many of you reading this, your great-grandma was a hard-core prepper.

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I humorously shared this with all the “gals” I know.

I remember my Great Aunt Marion and her basement full of “stuff” — wrote about it in CHURCH. It was impressive.

I was told that my paternal Grandmother Reinke in Portland had a prodigious pantry, “root cellar”, and “cold storage” that was under her log cabin house and it was actually bigger than the house. This was the woman who didn’t have electricity until the 50’s and a frider until the 60’s.

I often rant on my blog that it takes “two income families” today because one person works to pay the taxes.

Not sure if we can EVER regain our lost freedoms. Not sure if we can ever get back to simpler times. But, I am sure that there will be hard times ahead.

Having a pantry and a garden might be a good hedge to have.

(Marge François is the only one I know who has the knowledge and skills to pull that off. Maybe I can induce her to move to New Hampshire and join Kelly’s Dad raising more that purple potatoes.)

Laugh.

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http://online.wsj.com/articles/lockheed-martin-to-freeze-defined-benefit-pension-1404220591

July 1, 2014 9:16 a.m. ET

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Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT -0.82% plans to freeze its defined-benefit pension plan for salaried workers and move them to a defined-contribution program starting in early 2016.

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Screw the little guys.

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http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-14/what-happens-when-america-goes-bankrupt

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‘Buddy,’ I remember thinking, ‘America isn’t going bankrupt. It already IS bankrupt.’

Just so that we don’t mince words, my dictionary defines ‘bankrupt’ as “any insolvent debtor,” i.e. a debtor whose liabilities exceeds assets.

That’s the US government, by its own admission.

As we’ve discussed before, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) publishes financial statements each year in which they list all official government assets and liabilities.

The liabilities far exceed the assets. Big time. And the hole is getting deeper each year.

At this point the government’s net worth is roughly NEGATIVE $17 trillion, about 110% of GDP. That’s textbook insolvency.

The only reason the US government is still able to service its debts is because they are borrowing money just to pay interest… and because the Federal Reserve keeps printing money to buy up US debt.

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Some very ugly chickens are coming home to roost.

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Fed Cuts Bond Buys, Sees Growth Pickup

The Federal Reserve said it would reduce its mortgage and Treasury bond buying program to $45 billion per month, while pointing to a growth pickup after a bad winter and sticking to previous guidance it has given on the outlook for short-term interest rates.

The steps were widely expected by investors before the meeting and represent a continuation of the monetary policy strategy laid out by Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen and former Chairman Ben Bernanke in the last few months.

The Fed’s move came after a report that showed the U.S. economy barely grew in the first quarter. Fed officials acknowledged the first quarter slowdown was worse than expected by saying activity “slowed sharply.” Previously they had just said activity merely slowed.

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What marketplace are they watching?

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http://dailyreckoning.com/the-art-of-central-banking/

The Art of Central Banking
by Kate Incontrera.
Posted Apr 16, 2014.

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What is the inflation rate? Now, you think that’s just quantity, right? Just add up stuff. Anybody can do that. But it’s not that easy. There are lots of things go on in deciding what to put into that basket, and if you work hard enough, you can get that number anywhere you want it.

And the feds have done a great job at that. They have redone the way they calculate the inflation rate twice in the last 30 years and – guess what? – Each time, they’ve gotten a lower number. How do you like that? What a coincidence.

Right now, we have an inflation rate of about 2 percent. If you did it the way they did it in the ‘90s, you’d have 6 percent. Okay, that’s 4 percent difference, but it’s – you know, it’s three times the rate that we’re working from. And, if you did it the way they did it during the Carter Administration, you’d have an inflation rate of almost 10 percent. That’s five times the number we’re working with.

Now, here’s the question. Each time each of these numbers was done by a group of economists, the brightest and best in the country. Now, which one of these groups was a bunch of dunderheads? One of them was! Two of them were! How come? How are you supposed to know that? Which one is right?

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The FED is the OPEC of the Big Banks.

The little guy doesn’t stand a chance.

Prior to 1913, gold was money and the discipliner of the Gooferment. After 1913, the Big Banks enabled Big Gooferment and were rewarded with a license to steal.

The part that bothers me is that the poor, the elderly, and those on fixed income are being robbed and the banisters, union “leaders”, politicians, and bureaucrats are rolling in dough.

Argh!

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Closing Remarks:
As another year grinds past, thank you for your forced patience to recover your wrongfully seized property. I wish there was some action to take, but waiting is our only option. Many thanks for your continued support. For it is only by banding together and adopting a free and independent currency that provides us with “just weights and measures” that we will be able to throw off the yoke of a manipulated monetary/tax system and generate a peaceful and prosperous society.

Thank you again for all your efforts to return America to value – one dollar at a time!

Bernard von NotHaus
Monetary Architect/Editor
Editor@LibertyDollar.org

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Don’t mess with the powers that be!

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SEC Set to Alter Stance on Money Funds
U.S. securities regulators are preparing to exempt a majority of money-market mutual funds from a central plank of rules intended to curb risks in the $2.6 trillion market, according to people familiar with the agency’s discussions.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to broaden an exemption for mom-and-pop retail investors from requirements that certain money funds abandon their signature $1 share price and float in value like other mutual funds. Supporters of a floating share price argue it would train investors to accept slight fluctuations in the value of their shares and so not panic if they fall below the $1 price.

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What it trains investors is to think about the underlying counter party risk.

Any one want gold and silver? (Like the Chinese?)

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http://www.oftwominds.com/blogfeb14/banks-obsolete2-14.html

Banks Are Obsolete: The Entire Parasitic Sector Can Be Eliminated (February 20, 2014)
What else can we do with the $1.25 trillion we’ll save by eliminating these obsolete financial middleman parasites? A lot.

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The entire notion that 100 savers put their money in a bank which then buys a mortgage with their savings and sells it as a security that supports a pyramid of derivatives is obsolete. Each saver can directly own (and sell on a transparent market) a piece of a mortgage, auto loan, business loan, etc. There is no need for a middleman banking sector at all–no skim, no concentration of risk, no opportunities for selling derivatives to unwary investors. All that goes away with the banking sector.

But what about holding deposits? We already have two institutions that could serve this role: credit unions and the post office. If those holding depositors’ cash do not issue loans, they have no source of income to defray operating expenses. The solution is obvious: charge fees for holding deposits and payor-payee transactions.

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And what about WalMart as the “bank” for the poor and middle class?

I see the politicians and bureaucrats whine about Payday Loans and Title Loans.

WalMart could be a great “bank” for the little guy!

Argh!

The Sheeple are so dumb and the Gooferment enables them!

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Fed’s 2008 Transcripts Show Struggle to Grasp Magnitude of Crisis
Two days after U.S. officials decided to let Lehman Brothers collapse in September 2008, and just before the Federal Reserve was about to unleash a torrent of new support programs to bolster a crumbling financial system, central-bank officials were still struggling to grasp the magnitude of the calamity that had hit the U.S. economy.

“I think that our policy is looking actually pretty good,” Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said of the level of interest rates at a closed-door Fed policy meeting on Sept. 16, 2008, according to transcripts of its policy meetings that were released Friday with the traditional five-year lag.

By year-end the Fed had cut interest rates to zero, announced plans to start buying private mortgage-backed securities, and set up programs to prop up money-market funds and the commercial-paper market and individual banks such as Citigroup.

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So why do we allow the banking cartel to run the nation’s money?

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http://www.deviantinvestor.com/5492/17-questions-that-deserve-answers/

17 Questions That Deserve Answers
Posted by Deviant Investor on February 11th, 2014

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The U.S. believes in paper dollars and an unbacked debt based currency. Such currency can be created with little more than a few keystrokes on a Federal Reserve computer. Would the Fed and the U.S. government sell gold into the world market to slow the inevitable weakening of the U.S. dollar? Would the Fed and the U.S. government ship (via intermediaries) substantial quantities of gold to China to prevent dumping of T-bonds and dollars? Are gold sales a “delaying action” to extend the reserve currency status of the U.S. dollar?

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Certainly, you can not trust the bankers, crony capitalists, politicians, and bureaucrats!

So what should we put out trust in?

Bullets, bandaids, and beans. 

When you have all those — nickels, silver, and gold!

My favorite test what posted in 2009.

https://reinkefaceslife.com/2009/10/09/money-pirates-chest/

And the answer is still the same — gold is better than anything else.

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