Hasta La Gadget!

Lexus has taken the wraps off of the 2016 RX, its all-new update to the best-selling luxury SUV. Revealed at the New York International Auto Show today, the new car pushes Lexus’ distinctive design language, with a huge, angular grille, “floating roof”, and more aggressive stance. Inside, meanwhile, there’s a greater focus on safety and infotainment, with Lexus pushing down … Continue reading

Powers is the first series to come from Sony PlayStation’s original programming push, a partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment, and it’s not rated “E” for everyone. With comic books as its source material, the racy superhero cop drama from crea…

As Tax Day approaches, homeland Americans scurry to file their annual tax filing obligations. But for an estimated 7.6 million Americans working and living overseas, they have an obligation to not only pay taxes in their respective countries where they live; they need to pay the piper in homeland America as well, via the requirements under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA),

FATCA has opened the portal to serious consequences for citizen based taxation.

FATCA targets US citizens living and working overseas and holds foreign financial institutions (FFI) responsible for reporting accounts to the IRS for taxation. The FFIs, in attempts to avoid costly reporting are closing and refusing American overseas’ local bank accounts, retirement accounts, mortgages, etc.

Under very specific circumstances, there is an earned income exclusion of $99,200 but this doesn’t mean tax free as that money is taxed in the Americans overseas’ country of residence.

Who can argue with a process to catch tax shelters in the proverbial Swiss bank account? Not many, but this includes a world-wide dragnet that snags innocents resulting in little known serious consequences for hard working Americans and their families living and working overseas.

Mark Mazur, the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for tax policy, said the government’s new enforcement was intended to help make sure all taxpayers pay what they owe “regardless of where they live.”

But “What they owe”, how they can invest, and do their banking is the resounding question.

The U.S. is the only industrialized country that taxes its citizens on their world-wide income, no matter where they live And FATCA has been referred to as a range of: protection from tax shelters, a net to catch people who don’t want to report their income, all the way to pure fascism.

It is hard to fathom walking in the shoes of an American abroad experiencing the effects of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Friends from social media have shared stories of serious difficulties handling their finances and investments and “divorce overseas style” with quite literal gut-wrenching effects.

There is bitter resentment of new U.S. tax laws but lasting affection for their homeland. This includes many American veterans that are renouncing their citizenship because they cannot conduct their financial business any longer; bank accounts, retirement accounts closing, mortgages rescinded and denied. And no American veteran should ever consider renouncing American citizenship due to invasive tax and reporting obligations.

Mrs. P living in Germany, an American overseas from a family job transfer now widowed, lives daily in fear of FATCA calling it “cruel, immoral, and unjust”. She is a proud member of the Daughters of the Mayflower and has family in the US. While she has always paid her taxes, Mrs. P, while proud of being an American, broken hearted she feels that America has betrayed her. She is afraid to travel home and wants to renounce her American citizenship but cannot afford the significant fee of $2,350. (422 percent increase from the previous year) She is asking family contributions to her renunciation fund for birthdays and Christmas gifts.

Ms. M from Austria has been tax compliant for many years but now has been notified by her bank that she could no longer put money into her mutual funds account, negatively affecting her ability to invest for retirement.

Mr. B, an American Marine has painfully decided to say “good bye” to the US and renounce citizenship. Protecting his family and their finances resulted in this difficult decision.

Army veteran “G”, stayed in Europe. He and his non-American in-laws have a business that American tax laws require an accounting. The cost for tax preparation is prohibitive at thousands per year. He feels like he is treated like a tax-evading criminal. He is preparing to renounce.

Mrs. C is a United States Air Force veteran that is tearfully considering renouncing her US citizenship due to fear of capital gains taxes to the U.S. where that tax doesn’t exist in her country of residence. She cannot invest in retirement accounts. She is hoping for some relief for Americans overseas before making her final decision but claims that FATCA will not take away who she is – an American veteran.

In fact, American renunciation is up 221 percent in 2013 to be exact (according to the Federal Register).

Americans are “divorcing” their homeland and their spouses to protect their mortgages, family investments, bank accounts, and extreme tax preparations costs in the thousands of dollars annually.

In an attempt to repeal some provisions of FATCA, on March 4, 2015, Senator Rand Paul (R) Kentucky, introduced Senate Bill S66, a bill that amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to withholding requirements for payments to foreign financial institutions, reporting for foreign financial assets, penalties for undisclosed foreign financial assets, and excessive penalties for failure to file.

Looking in the proverbial eyes of my cyber American overseas friends, it is easy to empathize with the difficulty of their new, broad range of tax obligations, reporting, banking, expenses, and gut-wrenching decisions.

Current committee work is being performed in the Senate to review FATCA. Contact your Congressional representatives with personal experiences and concerns.

Lauren Thierry founded Independence Day Clothing to address safety and dressing issues for the special needs population, only to have focus groups tell her everybody wants stuff that’s easy to wear.

As a ballerina growing up, her wardrobe was dominated by stretchy leotards and satin costumes with secret stretch panels that keep Sugar Plum Fairies from popping out of their tutus. That served as ID’s inspiration for performance wear fabrics.

A TV news anchor for over a decade, Lauren left her job at CNN to care for her autistic son, Liam. Her documentary, Autism Every Day, was described as “the shot heard ’round the world for autism” when it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. Shooting the film, she saw that wandering was a major issue for autism families. And the simple act of getting dressed was a grueling obstacle course of “fronts and backs,” “insides and outs,” zippers, buttons and tags. Independence Day/ID Clothing was started to address those challenges.

She is an American Express Passion Project winner for 2013.

How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?
I was perfectly fine pursuing my career dream in TV journalism for CNN Financial News. It’s what I set my sights on as an undergraduate English major at Sarah Lawrence, and as a grad student at Columbia Journalism School. I’d paid my dues, working in the small markets. It was an arduous, though linear career flow. Taking a 3-month maternity leave was the closest thing I’d had to a vacation since college.

I went back to work after my son Liam was born, put in the early — then late night hours, and expected my husband and I to easily, competently, raise our kid around a crazy work schedule. Nothing special there.

Then when my son was 2, he was diagnosed with autism. We got the diagnoses at 9am on a Thursday. At 11am, I was back on the air. Only on the subway home 8 hours later did it hit me: Things were gonna change. Not just the dreams of him going playing football and dating a cheerleader. Those dreams would have to be the first go. But the dream of what passes for a normal life. My son’s life — and Jim’s and my life — were never going to be normal again.

When wasn’t on the air, i was back at my desk at CNN. Furtive phone calls to doctors. Educators. Physical therapists. Occupational therapists. And one lady who told she could cure my son by “feeling his vibrations” and then chanting accordingly. For $5,000.

There were tears cried in CNN toilet stalls. And then it was time to go back on the air. CNN being a 24-news channel, there were plenty of days where anchor hold down the fort for 5-6 hours, pausing only for bathroom breaks.

Something was gonna have to give. So I left my job as a CNN Financial news anchor to take care of my son and advocate for autism causes. I shot a documentary, “Autism Every Day,” which premiered at Sundance. Shooting that doc, I spent 24 hours in the homes of 8 “autism families.” I saw that, like my son, these kids learned by the fundamentals of dressing. But due to simple design obstacles like “fronts and backs,” there was a wide margin for error. That was my first “focus group” on the dressing issue, all down on film.

How has your previous employment experience aided your position as President of Independence Day Clothing?
TV news is touted as glamorous, but it’s a gritty business. But it teaches you not to “lose it” when times get tough. It teaches you to never let ’em see you sweat. Or cry. Someone is always watching.

Covering financial news is largely unscripted; you can’t be a deer in the headlights, just reading off prompter. You get data and digest it on the fly. Attention to detail. Precision. Constantly changing. No margin for error.

What have the highlights and challenges been during your time as President of Independence Day Clothing?
Highlights: Seeing kids try on my clothes and get free in 30 seconds when it used to take them 30 minutes.

Challenges: Hearing potential investors say, “I don’t know anything about special needs so how should I know if this helps?”

Tell us about any new projects that you are working on.
More clothing going into production! Fisherman’s sweaters. Socks that have no heel, no toe seam, so that putting them on will be foolproof. Unisex boyfriend shorts that’ll be the most comfortable, reversible underwear ever!

What advice can you offer women who are seeking to start their own business?
Surround yourself with people smarter than you; always be grateful to those who share their expertise with you. Be a little bit humble and little bit out there. Take rejection gracefully. Take direction gracefully as well. But don’t go against your gut.

How do you maintain a work/life balance?
I keep my office at home — in my dining room, actually. So when my kids come home I greet them at the door. It also lets them see what I’m working on, so that mom’s work is not a mystery to them. After all, my 3 kids are what inspired me: Liam, because of his autism, and my twins, Luke who 2 years ago, as we were walking to school one day in 2012 said, “Mom, Liam looks like a homeless person.” In his baggy sweats and T-shirt on backwards, indeed he did. Made me realize that they were embarrassed. ID clothes are for the dignity not just of those with special needs, but those around them. Oh — and I let them model for my catalogs.

What do you think is the biggest issue for women in the workplace?
Being taken seriously in the venture capital community. The numbers show very clearly those men still control the bulk of the VC cash.

Time and again, I came out with the hard numbers the hard evidence and a plug for the dignity of those we’re trying to help. But it didn’t move the needle.

Probably no accident that the majority of my investors are women from outside the VC space.

How has mentorship made a difference in your professional and personal life?
Joan Fallon, president of Curemark is the best mentor I’ve ever had. One of a handful of women running a biotech firm. Her neurological drugs spend years in pipelines and clinical trials. And she never gives up. Never gets antsy. Every time I get antsy about something, I remember that Joan takes the long view, and so should I. She just sticks to her game plan, clears every hurdle, and the investment community now has her back.

Joan “has my back.” I sat in her office 2 years ago and she hacked up my business plan. Neither one of us could be called a “fashionista,” but she was full of common sense about my line (“Your rugby shirt needs to fall lower to cover up the faux fly. Longtail it!”) And she had me redo my traunches. Then poof – more money came in.

Most importantly she has said, “Just go do your thing. Call me when you need to come up for air.”

Since my staff is small, I’m already a micro-manager. So I appreciate a mentor who chooses NOT to micro-manage me. It’s good to know she’s there, and that with me; she’s “paying it forward.”

Which other female leaders do you admire and why?
Sara Blakely of Spanx: Blakely launched Spanx by the seat of her pants, literally. Like me, with my samples in the trunk of my car, Sara Blakely inspires me to just keep driving, keep taking that meeting. And to hope for a parking space — my sample case is heavy!

What do you want to personally and professionally accomplish in the next year?
My professional goals this next year are:
1) Sell out the beta launch line.
2) Put at least 3 more designs out there (underwear, socks, fisherman’s sweater, etc).
3) Keep searching for the most cutting edge, precise, accurate and small GPS devices
4) Getting all this stuff into the hands of the families who need them.
5) Make a difference.

My personal goals in the next year are:
1) Plan a group home setting for my son with autism, Liam. He won’t be 21 and “out of the house” for 4 years, but I have to logistically — and emotionally — prepare for that eventuality.

2) Sit through my son Jamie’s tennis matches without looking at my iPhone once.

3) Sit through my son Luke’s lacrosse games without looking at my iPhone once.

We’ve all heard the jokes.

There’s the film studies major who walks dogs, the philosophy degree holder who hands out flyers, the French literature graduate who works as a barista– and they all live back at home with their parents and, for some reason, in the family basement. That, according to popular mythology, is what a college degree gets you.

During the historically difficult times that we have experienced, there was some biting truth to these depictions. Stagnating job growth weighed heavily on recent college graduates. It opened up a host of high-profile conversations as to whether a college degree is worth the tremendous investment. Yet if these dark times revealed anything to us, it was not only how tough this particular recession was, but also the necessity and importance of a four-year degree.

Those who graduated at the height of the financial crises in 2008, were on a promising track four years later. Among the 85 percent who were fully employed, they enjoyed an average annualized salary of $52,000 according to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. By the end of 2014, their unemployment rate was down to 3.4 percent as compared with 10 percent for those with a high school degree or less.

The truth is that, as the numbers show, the value of a four-year college degree has never been greater. This is particularly true for graduates in comparison to their peers who have lower levels of education. The message is clear: Those who have the opportunity to earn a four-year degree must seize it.

According to a 2013 study by the Pew Research Center, the difference in median annual earnings between millennial high school and college graduates stands at $17,500. In 1965, when a high school graduate could be assured a well paying blue-collar job, the difference was only $7,500. The difference in earnings, also referred to as the “college premium,” will only grow as graduates move up the professional ladder. Over a lifetime, according to the Federal Reserve Board of San Francisco, a college graduate can expect to earn around $800,000 more on average than if they never went beyond high school.

Even the value of a college education is worth more to a graduate in 2013 than to his equivalent in 1965. According to the same study, for those aged 25-32 with a college degree, the median annual earnings in 2012 dollars increased from $38,833 in 1965 to $45,500 in 2013. That’s roughly 17 percent or almost a $7,000 increase. We all know college costs a lot, but the truth is that you cannot afford to skip it.

The globalized job market is hyper-competitive, and a four-year degree is increasingly a base requirement that’s necessary just to get your foot in the door for an interview. Millennials recognize this reality since a third of them hold at least a bachelor’s degree. This makes them the best-educated generation in history.

Unfortunately, there are recent efforts to denigrate the four-year degree because the rate of return on the investment is supposedly not as high as previously. However, if you consider that a college graduate will have three to four decades in a career, the average cumulative debt of $31,200 from attending a private four-year college seems less burdensome and still makes for a worthy investment.

Setting aside the monetary argument, perhaps a more worthy measurement of a four-year college degree is the reported self-satisfaction that degree holders express about their employment. Eighty-six percent of millennial college graduates view their current employment as a career or a “stepping stone to a career.” In contrast, 57 percent of millennial high school graduates feel that way. Furthermore, high school graduates are three times more likely to describe their employment as “just a job to get by.” You cannot quantify the sense of purpose and fulfillment an individual gets from the meaningful employment that a college degree provides.

Best of all, a college education enriches not only the person who receives it, but society overall. We must never forget that an informed citizenry of the kind provided by our colleges and universities is critical to a democratic society. As we witness parts of the world engulfed by flames fed by intolerance and tyrannical thought, it should comfort us to know that every year institutions across our country turn out graduates who are exposed to ideals such as civility, rational discourse and pluralism of ideas.

The truth is that the debate over whether college is worth the cost was never a serious conversation for parents and students. They overwhelmingly agree: 83 percent of adults with a bachelor’s degree are convinced that college paid off and another eight percent believe it will pay off in the future even if it has not already.

Even if they never read Benjamin Franklin’s The Way to Wealth during their college days, they intuitively understand what he meant when he wrote, “An investment in knowledge always pays the best dividends.”