Bad With Money 2018: When I die, bury me in the blockchain.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Bad With Money 2018: When I die, bury me in the blockchain.

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Hyrax Attack!: Jan 13, 2009; We demand to be taken seriously

nikosoft posted:

I want to buy a lottery ticket, but I don't even know how. Do I have to pick out numbers or do they come on the ticket? What do I ask for? Help me BWM!

If I win the plan is to buy the Washington Redskins and rename them the Washington Nikos after my cat.

You�d have to win two or three lotteries to buy an NFL team. The Washington Football team is valued at $3.1 billion.

# ¿ Oct 23, 2018 05:54

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 14:49

Hyrax Attack!: Jan 13, 2009; We demand to be taken seriously

On the subject of thinking it a good idea to mess with the IRS:

quote:

The owner of a Kirkland interior design business was recently convicted of 25 counts for a nearly 20-year scheme to avoid paying more than $560,000 in income taxes.

Daniel Nix, 58, will face his sentencing hearing on Nov. 9 following a four-day trial and a day of jury deliberation that found him guilty of 13 counts of tax evasion, 11 counts of providing fictitious financial obligations and one count of corrupt interference with the administration of the Internal Revenue Code.

quote:

�Nix enjoyed a lavish lifestyle with the proceeds of his crime,� Hayes wrote in a press release. �He owns a Kirkland home assessed for more than $1 million. He bought and owned at least 16 luxury vehicles over the years, including a Porsche, a Jaguar, a BMW, a Ford F-150, multiple Mercedes-Benz, Harley Davidsons, and other imported motorcycles.�

Tax evasion is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Presentation of fictitious financial instruments is punishable by up to 25 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Attempts to interfere with the administration of the tax code is punishable by up to three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

quote:

Nix operated Dannix Design, a medical office interior design firm. According to the release, Nix refused to pay taxes on $3.9 million in gross income and $1.9 million in net profit as early as 1998 and from 2000-13. Nix hid his income and assets by setting up shell companies, filing bankruptcy claims and filing false claims against the government.

Additionally, Nix transferred assets into sham religious entities that he had set up between 2010 and 2013, frustrating IRS efforts to put liens on his assets, according to the indictments.

In February 2013, Nix sent 11 fake money orders to the IRS, totaling more than $1 million, in an attempt to fake his tax obligations.

Did he think the IRS wouldn't try to cash the money orders? Why would he keep sending them? I like the use of sham religious entities, always a classic.

quote:

Hayes added in a press release that Nix, on several occasions, harassed IRS and Department of Revenue agents, filing fraudulent liens against them. He also called other unrelated individuals who were subject to IRS liens and falsely claimed the liens filed by the government were invalid.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).

He harassed IRS employees? I doubt this will ever end for him, even after he gets out.

His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 9th, gonna have to check how hard they land on him.

http://www.kirklandreporter.com/news/kirkland-man-convicted-for-20-year-tax-evasion-scheme/

# ¿ Nov 2, 2018 20:04

Hyrax Attack!: Jan 13, 2009; We demand to be taken seriously

Buying a mega-yacht is BWM because of poor resale value and low steel content for scrap.

quote:

Customers bought nearly 300 superyachts so far this year through mid-October, up from a total of 249 vessels for all of 2017... The combined retail value of superyachts sold last year was 2.6 billion euros ($2.9 billion), a 21 percent increase from 2016, according to the Superyacht Intelligence Agency.

That�s a dramatic turnaround for an industry that saw orders plunge as much as 90 percent and prices cut in half following the 2008 financial crisis. Those were dark days in the superyacht world. Even if would-be buyers had the wherewithal to spend upward of $100 million on a fully staffed boat with a helipad, infinity pool and leather floors, such extravagant displays of wealth were out of step with the uncertain times. After the crisis, the number of shipyards building superyachts dropped by half as the pool of buyers also shrank.

Bloomberg isn't afraid to use the term "dark days in the superyacht world" to describe the impact of the 2008 recession.

quote:

At the end of their life cycles, commercial ships can be sold for scrap and recycled. Superyachts don�t have much steel in their hulls, so the scrap value is negligible.

�In the superyacht market, there�s not much precedent of what happens at the end of life,� said Sam Tucker, head of superyachts at VesselsValue. Ships can keep circulating in the secondhand market for years. VesselsValue�s database tracks 6,245 superyachts with a total value of $77.3 billion, the oldest of which dates to 1880. At an advanced age, Tucker said, depreciation curves fail to accurately reflect the market and a yacht may be valued more like a classic car.

A boat�s age can exacerbate a superyacht�s already-onerous operating costs. Between crew salaries, fuel, dockage and maintenance fees, shipowners can expect to pay the equivalent of 10 percent of a superyacht�s value every year in upkeep. And unlike most billionaire trophy assets, superyachts are neither practical (like corporate jets, which outnumber superyachts more than two to one) nor sound investments. In fact, you�re almost guaranteed to lose money on resale.

�It is extremely rare to see a vessel appreciate,� Tucker said. The 57-meter yacht Lady Sara had an asking price of $43.9 million when it went up for sale in 2015. It came to market again in September with an asking price of $36 million.

Hi, I'm Sam Tucker, head of superyachts.

quote:

Finishings and special features on these vessels include personal submarines, bomb-proof windows, seaplanes and concert halls. British finance billionaire Joe Lewis uses his 98-meter yacht, Aviva, as a place to display his $70 million Francis Bacon painting.

Wikipedia says Paul Allen's yacht has two submarines.

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-superyachts/?srnd=premium

# ¿ Nov 2, 2018 23:12

Hyrax Attack!: Jan 13, 2009; We demand to be taken seriously

Amazon Flex: hoping drivers don�t know math

We start by meeting a dystopia resident:

quote:

After finishing up his day job at a charter school, Sherwin Karunungan heads to a nondescript warehouse in San Francisco that serves as a shipment hub for Amazon.com. In a windowless breakroom, Karunungan presses a single button on his phone, over and over, to request a gig through Amazon Flex.

quote:

Because workers rely on their own vehicle, pay for their own gas and tolls, and sometimes need to return to the warehouse at the end of the day, a Flex job can feel a bit like playing the slots. And because they�re required to make the deliveries in a narrow window of time, Karunungan jumps up from his chair and hurries to retrieve his orders and load them into his car.

quote:

On Nov. 1 Amazon raised the minimum wage for all U.S. employees to $15 an hour, a move that was seen as a response to political pressures. The company said it�s also giving raises to every operations and customer-service employee in hourly jobs, including part time and temps. Flex workers are not eligible because they�re contractors.

Amazon advertises an hourly rate of $18 to $25 for Flex. But interviews with Flex drivers and research by financial analysts at Bernstein indicate the net pay is much less when accounting for essential, on-the-job expenses. Actual earnings are $5 or $11 an hour, depending on what a worker chooses to deduct, Bernstein found. The calculation assumes a driver makes tips and records certain work-related costs, such as fuel and tolls.

quote:

Package runs are timed, and workers are kicked off the system for missing delivery windows, which creates an incentive to run red lights, double-park and go over the speed limit, drivers say. After an assignment, Flex workers are sometimes required to bring goods they were unable to deliver back to the warehouse. The trip is unpaid and can take an hour or more but is necessary to stay in good standing with the company.

quote:

The study says that within a four-hour block, workers can expect to spend more than an hour going back and forth to the warehouse picking up boxes or returning undelivered ones. This contrasts with other on-demand contract work like ride-hailing, where drivers start and stop the clock anytime and from practically anywhere.

When factoring in this unpaid time with Amazon Flex, as well as the full gamut of expenses associated with the job, including vehicle depreciation, insurance, maintenance, mobile phone fees, fuel and tolls, net earnings can approach $5 an hour on average, Bernstein says. Only deducting for gas, tolls, and half their insurance and maintenance costs, hourly pay works out to $11, the study says.

quote:

Stephen Anthony left his job as a data specialist for T-Mobile in Renton for Amazon Flex because it allows him to spend more time with his daughter. He drops her off at his in-laws� house on the way to the warehouse and works fewer hours than before. The financial costs of the work aren�t a major concern for him right now.

�I think I�ll figure all that stuff out when I do my taxes,� Anthony says. �It definitely seems like you�re making more than you are. But if I really just concentrate on it and budget, then I�m sure it will all work out in the end. I hope.�

quote:

Jodi Lynn Reeves signed up for Amazon Flex in Kansas City, Missouri, after she left her job at a company that collects coins from laundromats and struggled to find steady employment. She says she�d get a buzz when the money from Amazon would appear in her checking account every few days.

�Through Amazon, I felt so blessed,� she says. �More than the money, I loved seeing the sunsets while I was driving. I lost weight lifting all those heavy packages and getting my steps in looking for the doors.�

But after two months, Lynn Reeves realized she was earning just $5.50 an hour driving long distances and paying tolls to deliver packages in her Ford Expedition, which gets about 13 miles per gallon. She estimates her fuel and tolls cost $50 for a four-hour shift and pushed her net income well below the U.S. minimum wage for employees, which is $7.25.

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/drivers-for-amazon-flex-can-wind-up-earning-less-than-they-realize/

# ¿ Nov 11, 2018 17:55

Hyrax Attack!: Jan 13, 2009; We demand to be taken seriously

AndrewP posted:

lmao

hey she could find five bucks a month pretty easy by canceling his Chapo subscription

Friend with small business had an idea from Chapo to only work enough to pay his costs with no profit, until his wife (who works much harder at a stressful job) got upset and reminded him they have a baby and would like a house someday.

# ¿ Nov 24, 2018 20:31

Hyrax Attack!: Jan 13, 2009; We demand to be taken seriously

OctaviusBeaver posted:

The amount of time people spend on your website affect your search engine ranking. So it's probably a mix of

1. Padding the recipe so it takes longer to read
2. The ones that take longer to read get bumped up in the rankings so those are the ones you click on

Oh man yeah. Anything from Pinterest (don�t judge) requires scrolling past walls of long screeds and family photos. Just let me get to print mode you monsters.

I do really like the All Recipes app. Easy to save and search, and the top upvoted comments have great recommendations.

# ¿ Nov 25, 2018 18:31

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 14:49

Hyrax Attack!: Jan 13, 2009; We demand to be taken seriously

Tiffany has an Everyday Objects collection, including:
-Sterling Silver Tin Can for $1,000
-Paperclip for $1,500
-$35,000 watering can

This is like how Marie Antoinette would dress as a peasant for the fun of it.

https://m.tiffany.com/jewelry/decorative-accents/everyday-objects-sterling-silver-and-copper-watering-can-62119985?trackpdp=rv

I like how they have a �sustainability� section on their website

# ¿ Dec 19, 2018 20:27

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Bad With Money 2018: When I die, bury me in the blockchain.

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