"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." – Leonardo da Vinci Brace yourself, because this blog post could hurt a little. Let me start here: I’m writing this on Monday morning (Halloween), and the Occupy Wall Street folks are … Read More
Northridge Accountant Reports On: “Living In a Material World”
“Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough.” -Charles Dudley Warner There was a recent “Freakonomics” podcast about the folly of prediction. Fascinating stuff — and (predictably) one of the most valuable conclusions? The experts are usually wrong. When you study how experts make opinions and, more importantly, the characteristics of those who make GOOD predictions, … Read More
Northridge Accountant Asks: “I’m Not Lying–Are You?”
“Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.” – William Feather Now that “extension season” has all been about wrapped up, we’re able to breathe a little easier around here at Team Paredes. And one of the things we’ll be focusing on, next, is how to maximize YOUR tax savings for 2011. We’re … Read More
Northridge Accountant Defines: “Common Sense Identity Protection”
"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful … that’s what matters to me." – Steve Jobs (1955-2011) Enough has been written, by now, of Steve Jobs, that my two cents seems a bit stale. But I would like to say this: Steve Jobs made the … Read More
Deadlines and Mistakes
“The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.” -Socrates I’m continuing my (well-received — thank you!) series on hidden financial mistakes this week. But first a few reminders for you: 1) “Extension friends” (that means the ones who filed for one in April, or earlier): we’re coming down to the wire … Read More
Northridge Accountant Reports: “Financial Mistakes Hardly Anyone Talks About”
"The men who succeed are the efficient few. They are the few who have the ambition and will power to develop themselves." – Robert Burton In the course of our daily work around here, we not only work with numbers a LOT … but we also get a regular course on how people (our clients, mostly) *think* about those numbers. … Read More
“A Tax Hike For You?” Northridge Accountant Advises
"Fresh activity is the only means of overcoming adversity." – Goethe Monday morning, we all woke up to a new deficit-reduction plan from the White House: raise taxes. (Story here: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-obama-deficit-20110918,0,2819262.story ) I’m not here to beat anyone’s political head on the wall, so I’ll restrict my comments to a few key points — for YOU: 1) It’s not a … Read More
Northridge Accountant Writes On: “The Fashionable Trend Towards Renting (Not Buying)”
“There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow.” – O.S. Marden Earthquakes, hurricanes, and … homeownership? Well, the first two have left us in a mixture of annoyance, grief (there has been real tragedy in the wake of Irene, I must say), and a growing cynicism over crisis … Read More
Northridge Tax Professional’s: “Back-of-the-Napkin Financial Principles Even *I* Use”
"The game of life is not so much in holding a good hand as playing a poor hand well." – H. T. Leslie Meeting with clients this past week (and the week before) has been a blast. No — really! And yes, I know, I should get out more. The reason we enjoy doing this (especially this time of year), … Read More
Re: Guarding Against Your Own Private Downgrade
"No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change." – Barbara de Angelis Last week, we were all reeling a little from the S&P downgrade and all of the other chaos flying around the "body politic" (and economic, to boot). After … Read More