As for the report itself, after the name, address, and number of people in the household, the rest appears to be redundant.  Strange how they ask if I am hispanic or some other race.  Is this the USA or Cuba we are talking here?  I could not find a racial category that describes me: I am not white, black, yellow, Asian, or Hawaiian.  I finally noticed a listing for Afro-American, so I wrote in Euro-American. As close as I can get.   As if they really care about us minority groups.

And all this information they could download from the files of any credit card company or financial conglomerate.

But that’s Just My Opinion.

Just wait till that real live person shows up.

I saw another good example of this on a recent trip from Central NY to the Tug Hill.  I did some running around up there, so needed to get a refill to make it back to Baldwinsville.  Not surprisingly, the mart in Barnes Corners was at $2.74.  They feed on snowmobilers, ATVers, and campers, and have a bit of a monopoly there.  I passed them up.  At Adams Center, next to Rt 81, they also were at $2.75-they cater to the unwary traveler who forgot to fill up at Watertown or the 1000 Islands.  I decided to move on down the road.

At Adams, just 4 miles further South, I found the highest price yet, $2.79.  No way I pay-still have a gallon or so left.  Finally, at Sandy Creek, I relented and pulled off and found a station-only $2.69 here.  I bought the least amount I thought would get me home.  Note that it is .10 per gallon less 20 miles down the road.  Delivery costs?

So much for that, but to my surprise, when I exited the expressway at Cicero, another 25 miles or so down the interstate, all the stations had gas for $2.49!  That is a .30 difference from Adams, or aabout 12%.  Make any sense at all?  Delivery costs?  Greed?  Supply and demand?  Who cares?  Of course there a number of retailers in Cicero, and competition of course, but I would like to know.  Wouldn’t you?

When the article did appear, it stated that it was aimed at investors with funds of $500000 or more, which eliminates most of us, but it did contain some seemingly good advice.  Those fortunate people should look for a financial advisor they like, one they can trust, one with a good track record.  (See how simple it is?)  Then,  they need to research that prospective advisor’s past investment choices, discuss with him their own retirement needs, and develop a program with him that fits those needs.  Sound advice, but it would seem to me that one would need to know more about the investment market than the advisor, in which case one would not need an advisor at all, right?  Hmmmmmm.

For the rest of us, those with remaining funds of -0- to $500000, let’s look at some requirements for choosing a financial advisor to handle our retirement funds, based on recent history and our own experience.  First, and most important, find an advisor who is not already in jail or under indictment.  Second, do some research and make sure that he has been in business more than 30 days.  Third, when discussing investment goals and retirement plans, make it clear just whose retirement you are planning: yours or his.

My own advisor (with a major “bullish” firm we shall not name, took his retirement funds shortly after 9/11 and fled to Florida.  I’m still not sure where my funds went, but they disappeared at about the same time.  Choose an advisor you can trust?  The above trusted rep was replaced by a fresh-faced recruit recently out of college, complete with a shiny new Apple computer.  My remaining retirement funds suffered, until I removed them from his company.  It also bothered me to see that company’s CEO pay himself multi-million dollar bonuses each year, while my funds dwindled.

The moral here, in my experience, is that choosing a financial advisor is much like picking a car salesman, an ebay seller, or a vacuum cleaner salesman.  The waters are mighty murky out there, especially in recent months, since all rules were removed.  Take your pick, pay your money, and take your chances.  Someone is sure to make money, and it may even be you.  But stay away from your brother-in-law and his advice.  My Daddy, on the other hand, had survived the Great Depression, and he kept his life savings in a locked metal box under his bed.  Never lost a dime.  Sound example?

Interestingly, I just heard a newsclip of President Obama speaking on Wall Street, asking those financial experts to stop stealing their investors’ funds for a while in order to let them recover.  Why not give that a try? Let the investor regain some lost confidence.   Of course they refused.

Just My Opinion.

Many of you who are facing unemployment for the first time should be aware that these unemployment checks, small as they are, are fully taxable for federal, and perhaps state, income taxes.  Yes, even though you may still be out of work come next april, even though your benefits may have run out, even though your income may have run out, your friendly IRS will still be looking for a portion of that income.  Just a little extra “kick in the teeth” for those who are already down.  If you have not had taxes withheld from your weekly checks, or set aside some money to cover these taxes, be prepared to pay.

Of course, the IRS can be understanding, and willing to arrange for installment payments or other terms, but if you no longer have an income, this could still be a problem.  Be Prepared!

Now I am not one to turn down a bargain, so, being in their area last Saturday, we stopped in at Ollie’s, along with a few thousand other folks.  Buy it quickly, people, as I predict Ollie will not be staying long.  They did stock a large variety of large and small items, displayed in no particular order.  Good prices on their beef jerky!

However, we found a small room fan at a good price, and needing one, gave it a try.  The box (all the boxes) was pretty beat up, but the fan appeared ok when we assembled it.  OK until we turned it on, when the blade detached from the shaft with a lot of loud noises.  No injuries though. Back to Ollie’s.

The Army was very cordial and helpful about the return; you almost got the feeling they were expecting us.  So long as we were there, we opted to look around a bit.  I then discovered a Remington cordless electric shaver at a bargain price-box on this one looked like new.  I owned a Remington rechargable years ago, and liked it, so I decided to try this one.  When we got home and opened the package to charge the charger, I discovered that the shaver was full of unidentified whiskers!  Hmmm.  To me, that indicates that (1) The shaver is not new, and the previous owner was unhappy with it.  (2) Perhaps the shaver does not shave.  (3) Perhaps the charger does not charge.  Back to Ollie’s again.  This will be the last trip.

Now I am not opposed to buying used items.  I have frequented garage sales and thrift shops for years.  But if your product is used, sell it as used! In all fairness, we also purchased a 4-slice toaster which appears new.  The only strange feature is that the 18-inch power cord comes out of the bottom front, but hey. Sorry, Ollie, I will not be back, and I doubt that you will be around for long.  That’s Just My Opinion.

Recently, I was fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to experience the auto insurance system, with no injuries involved.  Interesting.  My daughter’s Honda was struck and destroyed by a hit & run driver on an Albany street.  Fortunately, she was not in the car.  Also, fortunately, the kamikaze driver left his license plate among the debris, as he rushed to the hospital, and the police found him quickly and deservedly issued him a book of citations.

Strangely enough, the police would not release their accident report for 5-6 days, but once we obtained the insurance information, both our insurance company (Allstate), and the other driver’s (Progressive) were very co-operative and helpful, and, our car being totally demolished, we received a fair and just settlement in just a few days.  By that time, we had found a good replacement car, so all ended well. The system does work, albeit with much duplication of effort.

Having been heavily involved in this process, I could, and will, offer up a couple of suggestions to reduce the paperwork.  Other than the initial police report, we were required to search out online and file a complete accident report to the DMV (within 10 days),  as well as 2 written reports and a couple of verbal reports with each of the insurance companies.  Enough already with the duplication!  I cannot imagine what it would be like for a driver who suffered injuries in an accident.

Rather than making the innocent victim complete multiple accident reports to every authority involved, it would make more sense to me, in this highly technological age, for the police department involved to complete one report with all the necessary information, then file it online, with a copy to the Motor Vehicle Department, at the same time making all that information available to all insurance companies concerned.  Unlike myself, with my limited experience with accidents, a professional police report prepared by professionals would provide the DMV and insurance companies with all the required details of who, what, when, where, how, and possibly even why.  Instantly.  No fuss, no hassle.  Would it be that difficult to co-ordinate and disseminate all that information in an organized manner?

To add to the comedy, two weeks after everything was settled, we received a letter from our insurance company, informing us that they were diligently trying to find a salvage buyer for our damaged vehicle (which they never had), which should not take more than 60 to 90 days, after which they would send us prompt payment, unless, of course, we were partly at fault!  Hello?  One would think they would at least be in communication within their own organization.  And all this will surely generate another premium increase, even though Allstate incurred no more expense than the cost of a couple of stamps.  It is great to see a system in action, but it could use some work.  But that’s Just My Opinion.

Fortunately, my tech-proficient daughter was coming to visit, so I saved it for her.  She did some online research, and quickly isolated the culprit.  Seems that a while back I received an email with video attachment from a “friend”, and when I tried to play it, something called ITunes, from Apple no less, offered to download their software, which would enhance my computer’s music, video, movie, DVD experience.  I went for it.  Right!

But apparently, Apple’s programmers decided that if you had ITunes to download their movies, music, etc, (for a price, by the way), your computer had no need for those old, obsolete CD’s.  Delete.  Delete.  Delete.  Possibly there was an option box for me to uncheck during the download, but I missed it.  So, I was faced with a choice of ITunes or my CD drive.  Bye, Apple. I won’t be downloading any $.99 music, and I can play my own.  And that’s Just My Opinion.

We still enjoy Crog when we can, but now there is something even better.  Our hunting group was lucky enough to harvest a few deer last fall, and we trimmed out a hundred pounds or so of the stew meat and such and had it made into bologna.  Now I have had venison summer sausage, breakfast sausage, and such, but was never really crazy about any of them.  Ed’s Meat Market, in Indian River, which is a suburb of Croghan, came up with their own bologna recipe, which in my opinion is even better than the original.  Maybe it is the venison (considered health food by some); maybe because it was ground finer with less filler; maybe the secret ingredients – whatever, it is more like the Croghan Bologna I remember as a boy, and a real treat.  Next year, if I harvest a deer, I think I will grind everything but the loins and antlers!

And that’s Just My Opinion.

Actually our experience with Ebay selling over the past 6 years has been more fun than profit.  We are retired, enjoy playing on the internet, and got into ebay pretty much by accident.  We were having a big garage sale, and our daughter was home from college.  She asked if she could sort out a few of the t-shirts we were trying to sell for 50 cents, and first thing we knew she had taken photos and listed them on ebay, and was selling them for $10-15 each.  Hmmmm.

So with her help, we got started in ebay selling, with clothing, books, knives, and things we had around the house.  We needed a digital camera, so we looked for things we could sell to raise some money for a camera.  I had a collection of books and hunting knives, so we sold some of those.  We got into buying t-shirts, books, and jerseys at garage sales, thrift stores, library book sales, wherever.  It is fun to list an item you have paid a buck or so for and watch the bids climb to $10, 20, even higher.  We use the proceeds for our bingo fund.

There have been some remarkable successes over the years.  I had a hunting knife I bought for fifty cents at a garage sale, used it for 20 years, and sold it for $900.  We have bought shirts for $1 and sold them as high as $100.  I sold a collectible hunting book for $200, then found another copy for $2 and sold it for $325.  An old empty shotgun sell box sold for $95.  Those make it interesting.

Ebay selling is not difficult, if one follows their rules, and knows the basics of computers.  We take our own photos, upload them to our server, then use them on the auction listing.  Before listing an item, we like to research similar ones that have sold or are selling.  We never copy another seller’s listing information or photos.  Good clear pictures and a good description are very important, as well as details on shipping cost, payment methods, etc.  For example, if you tell bidders that you accept cash, ebay will cancel your auction.  Not allowed.  Paypal costs a little more, but works best for buyer and seller.

Give it a try, and have fun.

And that is Just My Opinion.