One goes hmmmmmmm..he doesn’t have a solution ..well we do….

Equiz, I agree with you, it’s a darn good read, and keeps you informed about a whole planet range of issues. They are still anti-gold, though, even if less stridently than they used to be. In fact, lately they’ve been downright silent on gold! On the plus side they recently introduced a ‘Schumpeter column’, where the Austrian views of Joseph Schumpeter are applied to current events. He was a contemporary and vehement opponent of Keynes, whose views have been forgotten for about 75 years. Maybe his time has come, in which case The Economist might even start debating gold and fiat currencies.

While I’ve got you on the line, I must tell you I like the bits and pieces of Canadian news you throw into the tent. It’s a long time since we lived full time in Victoria, but it’s never far from our minds. I google Canadian news most days when we have Internet, but that just scans the surface. You’ve been adding the quirky and less noticed stuff. A bit like listening to “As it Happens” (which we do sometimes).

US Departments of Labor And Treasury Schedule Hearing On Confiscation Of Private Retirement Accounts

Liberty Coin Service
September 1, 2010
Commentary on Precious Metals Prepared for CoinUpdate.com
By Patrick A. Heller

On August 26, the US Department of Labor issued a news release (www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/2010/3bsa082610.html). It lists the agenda for the joint hearings being held with the Department of Treasury September 14-15, 2010 on what is euphemistically called “lifetime income options for retirement plans.” The hearings are being conducted by the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration.

I don’t like speaking in tabloid-style terms, but the unstated agenda of these hearings, as I understand it, is to push for the US government to eventually nationalize (confiscate) all assets in private Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and 401K plans!

The US government is desperate to get its hands on private assets to help cover soaring budget deficits and debts, and this is simply the largest and easiest piggy bank that could be seized. The Investment Company Institute estimates that at the end of 2008 that there were $3.613 trillion of assets in IRAs and $2.350 trillion of assets in 401K plans.

For more than the past ten years, I warned readers that the US government was eventually going to go after private retirement accounts. I considered that as the most important reason to avoid establishing precious metals IRAs. Very few other writers (Ron Holland being one) have picked up on this issue as early as I did. In fact, the mainstream media pretty much ignored the subject even after a House Committee held hearings on the issue in October 2008.

Obviously, an outright seizure of assets would meet stiff resistance from the public. So the confiscation will never be described as such by government officials. Expect to see terms such as “retirement income protection” thrown around. It is highly likely that such a program would be implemented in steps to help overcome public opposition.

The US government plan is to eventually take ownership of all assets in IRAs and 401K accounts and replace them with US government “Treasury Retirement Bonds.” In the October 2008 hearings, it was proposed that these bonds pay a 3% interest rate. Another major change is that, upon retirement, the individual’s retirement account would be converted into an annuity. Once the individual is deceased, the individual’s heirs would not inherit anything (similar to what happens now with Social Security “accounts”).

Among the steps that could be taken to accomplish total confiscation are to first make the conversion voluntary, then make it mandatory for only a portion of total assets. The final step would be making it 100% mandatory for 100% of all assets. One idea proposed in the October 2008 House Committee hearings (after trillions of dollars had already been lost in most assets categories) to help push this plan onto the public, was to allow the seized assets to be replaced with government bonds at a face value of a previous higher valuation date. The idea was that a private citizen, who might have lost 20-50% of his retirement asset value, would be much more willing to accept an inferior retirement asset if doing so allowed them to recoup the losses.

Obviously, brokerage companies and mutual funds strongly object to the potential loss of fees they are now receiving for private retirement plan services. The Investment Company Institute, whose member companies manage more than $11 trillion of assets for about 90 million investors, reports that 96% of surveyed households object to the US government requiring that retirement assets only be distributed as annuities. Among the scheduled speakers at the upcoming hearings are representatives from the Investment Company Institute, Fidelity Investments, Putnam Investments, Lincoln Financial, and Vanguard.

These mid-September hearings have to be evaluated in conjunction with the introduction on August 5 of S. 3760, sponsored by Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and John Kerry (D-MA) to established mandatory automatic IRAs for many workers who are not covered by company retirement programs. If enacted, employers of such workers would be required to pay 3% of compensation into these accounts, which would have the effect of increasing the assets that the US government could then seize.

As recently as my July 27 CoinUpdate column, I have continued to warn readers to avoid establishing precious metals IRAs—specifically because of this risk of confiscation. I have also long advised that the companies pushing such accounts to customers were giving their customers bad advice.

But, if you already have a precious metals IRA, what can you do now to continue to hold gold and silver as insurance against the decline in the value of other assets? I’m sorry, but I don’t have any perfect solutions.

Any legislation is likely to take time before it becomes law. Therefore, while individuals need to begin to plan how to protect themselves, there is no need for immediate knee-jerk reactions.

Among the options to consider are distributing assets from the retirement accounts and paying the respective income taxes on them. In this way, you can maintain custody of most or all of the assets (depending on where you come up with the funds to pay the taxes). However, if you are under the age of 59-1/2, you may be subject to an extra 10% excise tax for taking a premature distribution. As ugly as this option is, which could accelerate tax payments, it is perhaps the best protection against having assets turned into US Treasury debt.

Another possibility is to sell off your precious metals in a retirement account and replace this holding with gold and silver outside of any retirement account. This would preserve your precious metals position, though it would leave other assets at risk of confiscation.

For some, it may make sense to see what kind of incentive (bribe) is offered for those who voluntarily convert their assets into US Treasury debt. Because gold and silver prices have been rising for the past decade, though, there may not be any such benefit available.

If I hear of other good ideas for protecting wealth from what I expect will ultimately be outright confiscation of IRAs and 401K assets, I will pass them along. In the meantime, give serious consideration as to whether it is worth making future contributions to private retirement accounts.

Keep in mind, contemplating confiscation of private retirement assets is a sign of extreme desperation by the US government. By implication, it is a loud warning that the future value of the US dollar is almost certain to be much lower than it is today. Owning gold and silver, outside of private retirement accounts, is now a much more important wealth-protection step than ever before.

Patrick A. Heller owns Liberty Coin Service and Premier Coins & Collectibles in Lansing, Michigan and writes Liberty’s Outlook, a monthly newsletter on rare coins and precious metals subjects. Past newsletter issues can be viewed at www.libertycoinservice.com. Other commentaries are available at Numismaster (www.numismaster.com under “News & Articles). His radio show “Things You ‘Know’ That Just Aren’t So, And Important News You Need To Know” can be heard at 8:45 AM Wednesday mornings on 1320-AM WILS in Lansing (which streams live and becomes part of the audio and text archives posted at www.1320wils.com.

topics one is not exposed to in the North American media. As an example, I found this article about Mitch Daniels fascinating. The teaser was the sub-heading that asks whether Mr. Daniels might be the person to save the Republicans from themselves and provide a pragmatic alternative to Mr. Obama. Equiz.

www.economist.com/node/16846340?story_id=16846340&fsrc=rss

I want one!

(What… No Goldwolf??)

….Nice Picks …..That could be a fine Index to track….what no ECU ?

…and you still Have DROOY…?

…I bet you bought that back in the Days at GE Forum when we ALL had it

And Pelosi with Reed at the congressional helm,

How can you take any investment seriously?

On a more serious note we are doing everything we can to pipe as much information into the tent so that a reasonable person can make a better decision about how he or she wants to proceed forward.

Check out rss.goldtent.net

the links (constantly being updated on the left hand side) as well as many of the great posts here in Paradise.

And of course if the want to be really risky they could always look at the auDept mining stock choices:

auDepts’s Picks

….Yes….I really made out well with those Dinners…..for you they are a pleasant Memory…For me I am still fondling those 1 ounce silver coins…and those Nice 90% Half Dollars….at least a double since Tottsville 2

I don’t mean to be disrespcetful at all, but if I knew the what, when, and why when it comes to precious metals investing, we’d have a staff of over 100 folks here in the combined bunkers

Me, just 100% long at all times, even now at the precipous, or bottom, depending on your point of view. How about a WANKA Mr Green attempt

that Site, Blog, window, sidebar or location that caters to new Goldbugs, newbees. Pure basics, where to start, what to read, where to buy, how to buy, when to buy, what to buy and why, what not to buy and why, mistakes to avoid, who can I trust, a major list of links, and on and on. I am being asked time after time - “where do I start in order to get into Gold?”

Boy do I have a long preamble to ramble through before I dare try to answer that question.
How much time do they have to read? Do they throw up if their investment goes down 60%? Do they want to get rich next week or next year? I always seem to have more questions than answers. Deadeye

….We created an equal weighted Index of 30 of Goldtent Posters Favorite Miners…we did it because the Cretins added Barrick to the HUI even though they were Hedged to the gills….HUI looked Manipulated…..so the PIGS (P)aradise (I)ndex of (G)old and (S)ilver miners was borne…

…I was tracking it for over a year….and it was really oinking….under performing the HUI…..so we kinda lost interest….also there were some mergers and that kinda screwed it up….

…Now that we may be getting close to a Junior Run maybe we should revive it… PIGS II ….

….If someone would volunteer to track it …perhaps on a Yahoo Platform….that would be great…

…It takes a little Spreadsheet to work out the equal weighting….ie….25 stocks each starting out as 1/25th of the Index…each worth say 20 points….so the Index starts at 500…(.25 Times 20)….if a stock goes up 5% its value increases to 21 and the Index rises to 501….etc..

…I worked it out on a spreadsheet…but I forget exactly how I did it…ie a 10 cent stock and a 3 dollar stock had equal weighting…we may need a Math Genius to figure it out again

….we could have everybody pick a favorite or maybe multiple favorites and see which ones get on the Index…

….anybody up for being the PIGS Monitor…step forward

….I bet there will be a fight over whether ECU gets elected…

….I bet if Juniors really take off…our little Index would soar…and would become a template for New Lurkers and Posters (old ones too) to buy individual stocks…maybe buy the whole Index….we could help our own cause that way

…Nothing but potential…!

Of course I remember you

The juniors are doing somewhat better, and I trust the time is coming when we’ll see the PIGs fly.

I can’t remember all the stocks in our PIGs index, but it would be fun to revisit the list, see what the prices were when the index was created, and see where the prices are now. I remember at the time of its inception, our index was outperforming the HUI and XAU.

We’ll have to check with Fully on the present value of the silver coins we used to buy dinner. I think he has some pretty sizeable gains by now! Mr. Metallic and I are both well. I hope we will all be able to get together again in Tottsville or elsewhere. Good memories. Its nice to see the names of many of our posters and put faces with the names.

This is auDept, member me from Tots?

Let me look at the Pigs and see if we can’t put something together for that. Maybe a little index on the side…

I still like the “Silver” for the FGC meal, a classic…hope that you and your Bub are doing well?

What ever became of the Gold Tent PIGs index? We had compiled our own index of mining stocks. I never see anyone mention it anymore.

I have had between 40 and 70 in my  juniors/explorers PF for the last ten years.  Obviously, the last couple of years have been disappointing; however, the midtier/senior PF has offset nicely.  Now, w/o any need to brag, my junior/explorer PF has easily outperformed the rest of my investments over the past 10 years, but it has required taking profits when my emotions wanted me to keep “rolling the dice”.  The strategy has not been to throw “stuff” at the wall and hope some of it sticks.  All juniors/explorers are gambles; however, one can mitigate risk in anything…to an extent.  Most of the time, I pull the trigger on a buy only after the research is done.  I now know a lot of people in this investment sector.  That helps.  Occasionally, I will jump on a stock that has serious momo, but normally it’s a bit more process oriented.  I have pulled incredible cap gain out of the juniors, but I stopped taking profit during the middle of the decade because I didn’t need/want the cash and I absolutely did not want to pay taxes to fund “the shrub’s” war machine.  The juniors are beginning to perform.  They will make the dotcom era look like an imposter.

Last time I was down both bridges were washed out and all he had were guard chickens. Go up on the roof at sunset-beats that veranda view by a mile.

Signs in Arizona warn of smuggler dangers

Drivers advised to travel north

The federal government has posted signs along a major interstate highway in Arizona, more than 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, warning travelers the area is unsafe because of drug and alien smugglers, and a local sheriff says Mexican drug cartels now control some parts of the state.

The signs were posted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) along a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, a major east-west corridor linking Tucson and Phoenix with San Diego.

They warn travelers that they are entering an “active drug and human smuggling area” and they may encounter “armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed.” Beginning less than 50 miles south of Phoenix, the signs encourage travelers to “use public lands north of Interstate 8″ and to call 911 if they “see suspicious activity.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/31/signs-in-arizona-warn-of-smuggler-dangers/

Thank you for posting the various pictures of Belize. One reads so much about Belize here in this forum but somehow seeing some pictures just makes it all seem more real. Thanks again.

Paul Hogan vows to fight Australian tax office

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Actor Paul Hogan, star of the “Crocodile Dundee” movies, has vowed to continue fighting the Australian tax office which has barred him from leaving Australia until he pays a massive bill, saying he’s victim of a witch hunt.

Hogan, 70, was served with a departure prohibition order 10 days ago while in Australia to attend his 101-year-old mother’s funeral which has prevented him from leaving to return to Los Angeles where he lives with his wife and son.

The Australian Tax Office refused to comment on reports of seeking tax on A$38 million ($34 million) of allegedly undeclared income from Hogan, saying it cannot give details of individual taxpayers.

But the actor went public in the Australian media this week to put forward his side in his five-year row with the tax office, saying he had done nothing wrong and the tax office was on a witch hunt for a high-profile case.

“I can’t pay 10 percent of what they’re asking…. bugger ‘em!” the actor told Australian television Nine Network’s “A Current Affair” program broadcast late Tuesday.

“If I was a tax evader, which I’m not, I must be the dumbest one in the world to keep coming back here instead of fleeing to a tax haven … I know they’re absolutely desperate to nail some high-profile character with money to justify the expense to the taxpayer.”

Hogan, who was once a painter on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, is under investigation as part of Australia’s biggest probe into offshore tax evasion, Operation Wickenby.

The operation is budgeted to cost at least $300 million.

The tax office has claimed he put tens of millions of dollars in film royalties in offshore tax havens, a claim that he has denied. He has never been charged with tax evasion.

A popular Australian TV comedian, Hogan hit international fame as Mick “Crocodile” Dundee in the 1986 film “Crocodile Dundee” which went on to become Australia’s most successful film ever and won Hogan a Golden Globe for best actor.

Two sequels followed and Hogan married his Dundee co-star Linda Kozlowski which was his second marriage.

Hogan has repeatedly said that if anything he has paid too much tax in Australia.

“I’ve paid more than a wise businessman would have,” he said. “I don’t have and never had the money people think I got … and it’s none of their business,” he added.

Irish’s new guard dog!

A new resort going up on a nearby peninsula - The Pilencia Resort

The main dining area and bar at the Pilencia Resort

When Irish start to shake things up down here, bridges collapse

What the tilapia farm looks like right now!

The main two lane road to Irish’s villa

The view of the local neighborhood from the veranda of Irish’s villa

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!
Cheers
John

Another gravel pit in the works?

A house with nice flowers next to the “new” venture

The Guard shack for the tilapia farm

A house in the jungle overlooking the “new” venture

76 today BUT birdie on #17 and #18 - that takes ALL the money! 

Bentgrass greens are horrible here in Tennessee - burnt up!  Courses I am playing on currently have CHAMPION bermudagrass and they are GREAT!  Smooth as a baby’s butt! 

Cooling down for the weekend and we need it.  100% of all putts left short - don’t go in!