The middle class. Marketers target it. Politicians champion it. Economists talk about it. Most of us consider ourselves part of it.

Yet, when I’ve asked for a clear definition, I have not found anybody yet that really can tell me what “middle class” is.

I recently posted on Twitter that $90,000 was a middle-class household income and that it would take a nest egg of $3 million to generate that income in retirement.

A couple of my colleagues responded that my figures were way too high and accused me of being out of touch. As a lifelong South Dakotan, I’m used to being seen as “out of touch,” but the idea that $90,000 was beyond a middle-class income intrigued me.

I figured a few minutes with Google would point me to a definition of “middle class.” Continue Reading »

“The Feds Want Your Retirement Accounts.” This was the headline of a February 22 post on the American Thinker blog recently forwarded to me by a reader. Normally I hit delete on articles warning of some type of impending financial doom. I read this one, since Argentina confiscated its citizens’ retirement accounts shortly before I first visited there in 2009.

According to the article, in 2007 a professor of economic policy from the New School for Social Research, Theresa Ghilarducci, wrote a paper calling for the US government to eliminate private retirement accounts. She suggested confiscating the assets in those accounts and replacing them with a “Guaranteed Retirement Account” (GRA) guaranteeing a return of 3%, which is essentially another program like Social Security.

This is basically what Argentina did one year later.

Continue Reading »

South Dakotans have a long-established money script that “we are a poor state.” Everyone in the state knows it, and we’ve always had the facts to prove it. We’ve grown accustomed to being at the lower rungs of almost any financial measurement.

I’m a third-generation South Dakotan. I’ve watched most of my classmates move out of state to take jobs that paid several times what a similar job paid in South Dakota. Staying here meant you would probably never earn much or achieve much, and those who did typically framed it as a “lifestyle” decision.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the poorhouse. The average per capita income of South Dakotans rose from 36th in the nation in 2000 to 13th in 2011. Our 2011 average of $44,217, up from $27,865 in 2001, was 6% higher than the national average.

Continue Reading »

US investors and fans of the St. Louis Rams have something in common. Both have seen their home teams fall from prominence to mediocrity in the past ten years. In 2000 the Rams won the Super Bowl, but in 2011 they ended the season tied for the worst record in the league. The US ranked as the world’s third freest economy in 2000, but by 2010 had fallen to number 18.

How do investors allocate their funds in a country that’s in economic decline? Much like an ardent fan of the Rams who is also an astute gambler. You cheer for your team to win, but you place your bets on the stronger opponents.

It’s critical today to take a global approach to investing. Continue Reading »

Owning a home is part of the American Dream. Financial experts tell us owning a car is better than leasing. And who would think of not owning the clothes you wear? The concept of “that’s mine” runs so deep it’s probably hardwired into our brains. To prove it, just try to take a toy away from a two-year-old.

On the other hand, the control of an asset is often more valuable than ownership. If you could lease a new $25,000 car for one dollar a month for 10 years, do you really care if you don’t own it? Absolutely not.

Or take a middle-aged tenant with a lifetime lease on a property subject to rent controls who pays rent at a tenth of current market rates. Who has the more value from that asset, the tenant or the owner? Clearly, the tenant has a valuable leasehold interest that in some cases could be worth more than the ownership interest.

If we can have regular access to something, whether it’s using a beach house through a home swap, sharing power tools, or renting a trailer to haul a piano, we don’t need to own it. Often, we’re financially ahead not to own it.

Continue Reading »

With all the talk about tax rates and the fiscal cliff, hardly anyone has mentioned what is probably the most effective and least understood tax in the federal arsenal: inflation.

Wait a minute. Isn’t it confusing to call inflation a tax?

It is. That confusion is exactly why inflation is the ultimate stealth tax.

One of the few deficit-reducing measures that has the support of both parties and President Obama is a change in the way the government measures inflation. Our lawmakers have agreed on another in a series of adjustments to the way they calculate the consumer price index (CPI). The proposed changes will understate the future CPI even more than the current formula already does.

Continue Reading »

So the economic train is speeding faster and faster, and the edge of the fiscal cliff is getting closer and closer, and the passengers are starting to scream. Meanwhile, the guys in the cab of the engine are arguing about whether to hit the brakes or blow the whistle.

What’s the best thing for an investor to do? Nothing.

Based on my emails this week from clients and readers of my column, there seems to be widespread concern among investors that we’re on the verge of panic and the markets are about to head south.

It reminds me of the good old days, back in the fall of 2008, when the markets were dropping 900 points a day. I’m sensing that the fear among investors about going over the fiscal cliff is similar to the fear of four years ago. The only difference is that the markets aren’t falling today.

Continue Reading »

What’s the difference between a millionaire and a billionaire?

Three zeroes and a comma.

No, this isn’t a bad joke. It takes one thousand millions to make one billion. That’s a huge difference.

Over the past couple of years, especially during the presidential election, one of the hot-button issues has been whether the wealthy are paying “their fair share” in taxes. A great deal of the media coverage and political rhetoric, from President Obama on down, has lumped “millionaires and billionaires” together.

That makes as much sense as putting a housecat and a tiger into the same cage and saying they’re just the same.

Continue Reading »

Whether you’re pleased or disappointed with the outcome of the Presidential election, the question to ask now is, “What does this mean to me?” It’s an especially important question if you own a business or are investing for retirement.

If you have wealth, the implications are not good. Keeping the current tax code would take some type of lame duck session compromise in Congress, which Speaker Boehner has said is improbable. It’s wise to expect a reversion to the old tax code on January 1, 2013, which means higher taxes on income, capital gains, and dividends.

Even if Congress revises the tax code, the changes will probably not include lowering taxes for “the rich.” This is the first Presidential election I remember where both candidates promised not to taxes on “the rich,” defined by the current administration as individuals with an adjusted gross income of over $200,000 and couples with $250,000.

Continue Reading »

The United States has experienced a “remarkable plunge in economic freedom” over the past ten years. This is the conclusion of the 2012 Economic Freedom of the World Annual Report, by Gwartney, Lawson, and Hall.

The report measures the degree to which a country supports the cornerstones of economic freedom, defined as personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and the security of privately owned property. It surveys forty-two variables used to construct an index that measures 144 countries in five areas of economic freedom: the size of government, property rights, sound money, freedom to trade, and regulation.

For 20 years, from 1980 to 2000, the U.S. usually ranked as the third freest economy in the world behind Hong Kong and Singapore. By 2005 the U.S. fell to eighth, and by 2010 it was ranked 18th. Continue Reading »