Tag Archives: Congress
Congress Might Increase the Dividend Tax from 15% to 43.4%
You read that correctly. It is possible that you might have to part with a staggering 43.4% of your personal dividend income beginning on 2013 because Congress continues to spend money it doesn’t have to pay for services the American people don’t want. This is one of the reasons that, as we discussed a few minutes ago, Wall Street is having a dividend party. Companies are distributing cash while they can. The whole thing is asinine. Who would risk a recovery by allowing one of the biggest tax increases in American history to happen?
To learn more about how the math works, and how big your bill might be, read Dividend Tax Rates Might Increase from 15% to 43.4% on January 1st, 2013.
Congress Might Increase the Dividend Tax from 15% to 43.4% originally appeared on About.com Investing for Beginners on Monday, April 30th, 2012 at 05:27:25.
After STOCK: Four Financial Perks Still Enjoyed by Congress
Congress has made a half-hearted attempt to crack down on its own insider trading brought to the public’s attention last November by a 60 Minutes report (also see Congressional Insider Trading: Story Finally Sticks) and Peter Schweizer’s book Throw Them All Out. Both sources pointed out that high-ranking members of Congress traded shares of Citigroup (C) Goldman Sachs (GS) Bank of America (BAC) Apple (AAPL) and other companies’ stocks when receiving news about the coming financial crisis in 2008. Congress quickly introduced the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act or STOCK Act in the same month to respond to
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57 Members of Congress own This 6% Yielding Stock
The venerable TV investigative journalism program 60 Minutes recently blew the lid off a story we've been tracking for months. And you absolutely won't believe it when you hear about it.
Congress can trade on insider information — and it's 100% legal.
Here's an excerpt from the 60 Minutes Report:
"In mid September 2008, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average still above 10,000, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke were holding closed-door briefings with congressional leaders, and privately warning them that a global financial meltdown could occur within a few days. One of those attending was Alabama Representative Spencer Bachus, then the ranking Republican member on the House Financial Services Committee and now its chairman.
"While Congressman Bachus was publicly trying to keep the economy from cratering, he was privately betting that it would, buying option funds that would go up in value if the market went down. He would make a variety of trades and profited at a time when most Americans were losing their shirts."
Congress’ Favorite Dividend Stock
Nearly 60 members of Congress hold a stake in this stock, which yields a solid 5.9%.
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5 Financial Perks of Congress You Won’t Believe Are Legal
While their approval rating may be at some of the lowest levels ever, it's financially a good time to be a member of Congress.
Lawmakers' $ 174,000 annual salary is more than three times the average American's median income ($ 49,909), and the retirement and health benefits are generous — members are fully vested after only five years of service and eligible for pension at age 50.
[And they're getting rich from their positions, too: The 5 Wealthiest Members of Congress]
But the perks don't stop there. In fact, some of them are considered borderline criminal.
Political Perk #1: Congress Nearly Gets Away With Insider Trading Every Day
Making trades based on non-public information is very illegal. Insider trading convictions come with severe fines (up to $ 5 million for each "willful" violation) and possible jail time.
Unless you're a member of Congress. There's absolutely nothing in the Securities and Exchange Commission Act that prevents lawmakers and federal employees from profiting on inside information they learn just doing their jobs.
