Archive View (December 2008)

I was interviewed by Neil Cavuto of Fox News and he announced that it was the most ticked off he’d seen me in the twenty years he’s been interviewing me. I’d say I was being blunt, which is typical for me, and Neil said I was painfully blunt. Well, these are painful times, and I’m not running for any political office so I can afford to be honest.   We covered the situation in New York, and the 137 proposed tax hikes by Governor Paterson. These tax hikes include non-diet soda and massages. Meantime, we’ve spent a trillion dollars in Iraq. And now more...

Find yourself in the enviable position of the sale of an asset which could trigger a capital gain event? First, be thankful you made a profit. Then, figure out a way to minimize your tax liability. The laws are there for those who are astute, to take advantage of. One such strategy is called a Deferred Sales Trust and here’s how it works. At some point before closing, you set up a trust and convey ownership of the asset to which the proceeds of your sale shall fund. This Trust will act as a tax shelter exempt from income, depreciation recapture and be protected from creditors or more...

I know it’s never safe to talk about religion and politics, but it certainly hasn’t stopped me before. Are you religious? There’s a good chance you don’t practice the same faith you were raised in. Perhaps you’ve either switched allegiances or abandoned religion altogether. When it comes to faith, nearly half of Americans have changed faiths or given up. It’s no surprise since we’re a society that’s used to change - whether in careers or where we live or in our personal lives. Religion is just one more thing we alter. Some people are saying the religious economy is like a competitive marketplace. There more...

Giving back is not only a great and time-honored holiday tradition but also a key component of success. As entrepreneurs we owe a debt to the many people that have supported us in our own endeavors....our mentors, family members, and associates. We can pay that debt by helping empower a new generation of entrepreneurs. Trump University members hail from over 50 countries around the world. From young students who dream of becoming entrepreneurs, to retirees who are launching second or even third careers. This diverse group shares one important ideal.....that entrepreneurship has the power to transform lives and elevate entire communities. So as more...

I can remember when Bernard Madoff would approach me in Palm Beach, Florida, about investing some money with him. He’d say “Why don’t you invest in my fund?” I didn’t know much about him and I’m not a fund guy so I said no. I had enough going on in my own businesses that I didn’t need to be associated or involved with his. Madoff was a frequent visitor at my Mar-a-Lago Club and he was a respected guy. I know several people who have been victims of his unscrupulous scheme and what’s happened to them is dreadful. He is without a more...

About every 10th spam email I receive these days is talking about services offering something called a “loan modification”. Since many people have no idea what that is, let me define it and then offer up tips on how it works in the real world. First of all, a loan modification as defined by the US Department of HUD website is “a permanent change in one or more of the terms of a mortgagor's loan, allows the loan to be reinstated, and results in a payment the mortgagor can afford.” The loan modification process is a direct result of banks trying to stay more...

In the current credit crunch, many investors and individuals are wondering how credit scoring works. What does it take credit qualify to borrow money at the most favorable terms? It a little known secret that now basically ALL lenders use “risk-based pricing” or “tiers” when determining what interest rate to offer. The methodology behind this is to fairly compensate lenders for the risk they are taking by lending money.  What is unclear to most everyone is how credit scoring works and I think it would be nice to have a bit more transparency from the “BUREAUS”. I have discovered that there are 5 ways a more...

While the two words are easy to say consecutively, we are finding they often do not go together in the real-life practical application. With the exposure we have had to the downfall of corporate giants like Enron, Arthur Andersen, MCI Worldcom and many others now being bailed out by the Feds, it causes me to pause and wonder if wealth creation is possible with a team of honest, hardworking people unified in an effort to take a product or service to the highest level. It seems with each new day we are faced with yet another scandalous indiscretion by either a businessperson or politician who more...

My friend Tom Barrack of Colony Capital sent me a recent article of his with the headline Today’s Debt is Equity plus A Few Suggestions to Help President-Elect Obama Ease the Pain. He bullet pointed the latest events pertaining to the economy--twenty two of them--and I realized that at any other time, just a few of these would be huge topics in themselves. It’s a good indication of how alert we need to be right now. His Cliff Notes summary: Real estate is experiencing a seismic liquidity shock as a result of a complete closure of the credit and capital markets for more...

It pays to network. I always say that if you aren’t “networking” your “not-working”. Whether it’s socially or professionally, people who network are able to stay in touch with the real world.  I know many of us get caught up in our day-to-day lives and forget to make time for our friends, family or co-workers. When we make time to meet regularly with real people, we get to hear about all sorts of perspectives about life, business and personal relationships. This is important for 3 reasons: Networking can keep your social and rapport building skills sharp. Keeping in touch with these skills is imperative in business, too. Whether more...

Jesse Maschmeyer was born in Salinas, California in 1976. Jesse played the violin as a child, and in high school he developed a love of woodworking. But in the years that followed, those passions took his life in an unexpected direction. He went to Parma, Italy to study to become a violin maker. After three years of intense study, he returned to America to practice his craft. Today, Jesse restores antique instruments for one of the most prestigious instrument shops in Boston. At the same time, he builds violins and sells them to professional musicians. A great life?  Yes. But at the same more...

We always hear so much about spouses cheating, it just becomes commonplace. But in today’s economic times, more and more couples are guilty of financial infidelity where they hide their spending from each other. A Harris Interactive survey of nearly 2,000 people in a committed relationship found that 29 percent of them admitted to lying to their partner about their spending habits. Women were a little more apt to lie than men, but it was close. That’s obviously very dangerous for the health of a relationship. Keeping secrets of any kind is damaging, of course, but financial cheating is like writing a business more...

If you are serious about investing in real estate or starting a new venture, you need to know about the many advantages of incorporating your business.  For many investors and small business owners, the benefits of forming a limited liability corporation (LLC) are significant.   Learn all the tax and business benefits of an LLC and the specific steps needed to create one...We are running a FREE Webinar on December 10, 8 p.m. EST. Learn How to Incorporate Your Business and Save Money With an LLC We will show you how to: Protect your personal assets through liability protection Deduct many business expenses such as tuition for more...

As I go about my day, I find myself hearing the gloom-and-doom media using scare tactics when it comes to addressing the real estate market.  The truth is the media is not just in the business of reporting, they are in the business of selling ad time to advertisers.  It’s no surprise that the worse the news, the more our sick little minds want to know about it.  It’s how we’re wired and THEY know it. Let’s start with a positive...I am positive that there is no such thing as “a” real estate market bust or even “a” mortgage crisis”.  It’s true more...

It's been almost five years since that first season of The Apprentice appeared on television. The first winner was a young man named Bill Rancic, who has gone on to be a best-selling author, a guest advisor on The Apprentice, a public speaker and the host of his own reality show on the A&E Network. Bill has done terrifically well since he became a celebrity after winning The Apprentice in 2004. I chose him above the other candidates because I knew he had the intelligence as well as the ability to be a combination of two things: a team player and a more...

The second half of my interview with Dominic Carter brought up some interesting points. Being a New York based television show, he asked me what I thought of Governor Patterson, the Governor of New York.  As I’ve gotten to know him, I can say he’s smart, sharp and street-wise, and I expect that he will handle the problems that this state has for him and very well. Dominic did a word-association test on me with some well-known names in New York (and nationwide for that matter), and here were some of my comments: Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City:  Michael Bloomberg more...

Being different is what has made our country great.  We have the freedom to think, believe and achieve whatever we set our minds to do.  For that reason, we should set our sights on the big dreams we have for our careers. With  “golden parachutes” failing to open for much of corporate America these days, entrepreneurship remains a growing trend.  It’s important that we keep finding ways to explore our ideas to the fullest and not dismiss them just because they may seem too grandiose.  Right now, the timing could be right for your brilliant idea and be just what your community, city, more...