IRAs 2023

IRAs

     Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs).  (IRS)

     The key to IRAs are Start saving as early as possible, and make monthly installments to get compounding effects.  Your IRA is part of the money that you’re setting aside for the future. Pay attention to the taxes on those accounts. Envision your complete portfolio: stocks, bonds, real estate, foreign markets, etc.

     IRAs make your money work for you.  IRAs allow you to make tax-deferred investments to provide financial security when you retire.

     Research different types of retirement accounts.  You can set up an IRA with a bank, or other financial institutions, life insurance company, mutual fund, or a stockbroker.

     Types of IRAs: (CNBC)

     A traditional IRA is a tax-advantaged personal savings plan where contributions may be tax deductible. You must qualify. The 2023 contribution limits are, $6,500, or $7,500 if you’re age 50 or older by the end of the year; or your taxable compensation for the year.

     A Roth IRA is a tax-advantaged personal savings plan where contributions are not deductible but qualified distributions may be tax free. The 2023 contribution limits are the same as traditional. $6,500, or $7,500 if you’re age 50 or older by the end of the year; or your taxable compensation for the year.

     A Payroll Deduction IRA plan is set up by an employer. Employees make contributions by payroll deduction to an IRA (Traditional or a Roth IRA) they establish with a financial institution.  It is probably the simplest retirement arrangement that a business can have. No plan document needs to be adopted under this arrangement. May be eligible for Savers credit. The 2023 contribution limits are, $6,500, or $7,500 if you’re age 50 or older by the end of the year; or your taxable compensation for the year.

     A SEP is a Simplified Employee Pension plan set up by an employer. Contributions are made by the employer directly to an IRA set up for each employee.  Employee is always 100% vested in (or, has ownership of) all SEP-IRA money.  Contributions an employer can make to an employee's SEP-IRA cannot exceed the lesser of 25% of the employee's compensation, or $66,000 for 2023.

     A SIMPLE IRA plan is a Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees set up by an employer. Under a SIMPLE IRA plan, employees may choose to make salary reduction contributions, and the employer makes matching or nonelective contributions.  Employer is required to contribute each year.  Contribution matching contribution up to 3% of compensation (not limited by the annual compensation limit), or
2% nonelective contribution for each eligible employee.  Inflexible contributions.

     A SARSEP - the Salary Reduction Simplified Employee Pension Plan - is a type of SEP set up by an employer before 1997 that includes a salary reduction arrangement.  An eligible employee is an individual (including a self-employed individual) that has reached age 21, worked for the employer in at least 3 of the last 5 years, and received at least $750 in compensation for 2023.

     IRAs offer investment options,  too.  Contributions  to your retirement account are deducted from your taxes.  Although, there are Deduction Limits.  Rollovers have a variety of rates.  Rates also apply to accounts when there isn't a named beneficiary.

     The individual credit offered is the Saver's Credit.  Individuals may be able to take a tax credit of up to $1,000 if they make eligible contributions to an IRA.  Criteria:  Age 18 or older,  not claimed as a dependent on another person’s return, and not a student.

     Saver's Credit amount is 50%, 20% or 10% of account contributions in the year. (Investopedia)

     IRA maximum contributions will allow the most growth in your retirement account.  Investments are smart.  Avoid losses by diversifying, watching fees closely, investing in safe assets and avoiding early withdrawals.  IRAs are FDIC insured with amount limits. Saver's Credit and contributions matching are the standout points in IRAs.

The Zombie Leaf Blower, by Swegi Gonbup, Gonbup Productions©2023, Chapter One: J-rod.

Chapter one: J-rod.

     It's break time. This is a temporary worker, day pay facility. Dudes show up, first come, first serve work. Daily. In the corner are some tables and benches. Dudes are talking. One guy chimes in, "Yeah, I know that hoe. I got this to tell y'all, though. You know J-rod, right?"

     J-rod stands for Jose Rodriguez. He was from Jalisco. Jose was a halfbreed. Mexican, and American. Mamacita was Jalisco raised. His Spanish was weak.  He always used English. J-rod was cool, though. He had heart. He always stuck to the pack no matter what. He was Las Chivas familia. He told me, him and his lil' mommy was going to have a humungous family. He used to box in Guadalajara. J-rod's from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.  

     "You said that, hoe," a listener said jokingly. 

"Stop being a lil' puto, and listen."

     At 19, he wanted to be a boxer. His goal was to win the IBA Golden Belt Series. 

     "You heard of it? Youngsters got something," the listener smiles.

     "Keep interrupting, and I'm going to slap the shit out you. Anyway." The coworker keeps telling the story.

     In training, Jose won some area boxing matches. He hadn't heard about the big leagues, though, until some dude bumped into him in front of the taqueria. J. was cool, he took the fliers and actually read them. It was a call to a gym for fighters that were interested in the IBA. Jose called, and he got to go and meet the manager. It was quick. J-rod showed up, the manager signaled to him. They were in an office behind the gym.  

     The manager slapped on a weird, homemade face protection mask. He says, "Hit me with your best shot, Chula." J-rod, being a young go getter, takes advantage. Yap! He connects twice. The manager has no words. He smiled, simply. Jose answers, "Thanks, boss."

     He became close to the manager's boy, named Guillermo. They called him G-mo. He was a member of the area boxing group called Chivas familia. J-rod did his thing. J. had potential. There's winning potential and then there's championship potential. So, Chivas familia wanted him to throw a fight. J-rod refused. You know, already breaking the rules. No sweat. He was drugged before the match, anyway. J-rod was beaten to a pulp. The referee gave him the ten count three times. The crowd was in it. They were chanting. It was a call to break him. It was all for show and bets. Jose was laying on the mat bleeding from his mouth as if he were at home, asleep, slobbering on his pillow.

     Post fight, there was always a meeting at the area bar. In Jose's honor, his manager held a TITOS VODKA shot party. Lemon, limes, cherries, oranges, and salt were all over the place. Empty 1.75 Liter bottles lined up like soldiers on the floor by the bar. There were some hotties there, too. All the fighters were there. Jose got numb and limped home. He wobbled into his house and dropped on his couch.

     J. shook awake and heard the rutcus outside. J. looked out of his window. Chivas was hanging out of the windows of a 1985 GMC Suburban K2500 Sierra Classic 4×4 350ci V8, brick red. It had been refurbished a handful of times. Guillermo hopped out first. Instead of making his way to knock on the door, he started yelling. "Come out here and ride with it, Jose!" Shouts turned to light threats.

     J-rod was almost unconscious. He couldn't sleep, or drink anymore. He might as well finish his yard work in the backyard, he reasoned. J-rod found the broom. He slung it to the side. He strapped on the backpack blower, instead. "Let's get it done."

     Las Chivas heard the leaf blower, faiintly, beginning to come alive. Guillermo led the pack to the half falling fence. They pushed in. Some climbed over.

     Jose spun around, as he was trained to, quick, on his toes. Guillermo and his squad had spilled into his backyard, quietly. G-mo spoke, chillingly, "Únete a la familia o vete. Esto es todo para ti, hermano."

     In his own yard, J. was presented with an invitation, but in a way that made him look at all the faces in his yard. A view he'd not forget. Guillermo says, "I'm not going to repeat, join us or leave?" It was an easy call, Guillermo had connections. He could make the must of whatever G-mo was stressing. It also looked like a can-of-ass-whooping soon to get opened up, on behalf of TITOS VODKA.

     Jose Rodriguez joined Chivas familia fight family that night.

     He kept training. Approximately, two weeks later, during a biweekly fight camp meeting, Guillermo, now leader of Las Chivas, elected to expand the families horizons. Literally. There were Chivas connections in Jalisco, Puebla, and Mexico City. G-mo exclaimed, "We are strong enough, Chicanos fuertes!" Guillermo, in hindsight, elected to push to Estados Unidos. "Punks pay to train. We train them. We work, but we fight harder," said Guillermo, looking solely into the eyes of those going to America to lay foundation for the family. "Jose Rodriguez is also going...," G-mo sipped from a highball glass with rocks, "...going to the States." He clapped J-rod, possessively on his v-shaped, fighter back. Then, he squared off playing, while he handed his drink to J.

     Everything between that day and those days when Jose worked as a grass cutter in Santa Rosa had blurred together. He made it to America. He didn't swim across. He was on a luxury bus, asleep, the entire way. Getting to Estados Unidos was one thing. Getting a job was another thing. Keeping a good paying job is a motherfucker.

     Jose Rodriguez is a leaf blower, or Professional Lawn Care Technician. He paid partial rent living with some coworkers. They all did some sort of light industrial work. One homey was a bartender, though, always having cash money. He'd had a few friends from Chivas familia. Him and Jose had a few, potential, fight gyms to square away with G-mo. Basically, he had to send the funds.

     On this particular one morning, J-rod had a hangover. The dancefloor smoke in the club that night before was real smoke. The morning dragged by until break. The taco truck hooked him up, and he walked into the air conditioned building. A supposed work captain was yelping, "This job is cool, nice pay."

     Jose says with a mocking tone, "The fuck is bullshit, but you'll get some scrap." His amigo smiled at him.

     The captain spoke louder, "if you can, you have to be fast, and be able to multitask. Hack whatever is assigned by the Super. Maintain the grounds of industrial, commercial, and public property. There are other installation and enhancement activities, too. You get extra compensation after any difficult activities. Interested; follow me."

     There was a shiny, new white work van with a brand new trailer hooked up to it. There were two vans. All of the equipment was amazingly immaculate. Cap' handed out all new work gear. He added, "The ride is extra long, get ready to go, now."

     They loaded up, testing the shocks on both vans.

     One of the bystanders speaks up, "How long is this punkass story, anyway? I heard this shit before. They stole all that fucking equipment, burned one of the vans. They got paid, bro!" His partner laughs and they smack hands.

     The narrator keeps telling the story, despite the haters trying to bust his balls. "Long story, short, one of the vans was unaccounted for and the other van made it back to the Temp. yard on a flatbed tow truck. That's it out there," pointing to a forklifted, burned, mound of metal. It had bags and other trash accumulated around it, already. "No lie, bro. That was like a month ago, too."

     The guy shook his head slowly as someone said loudly, "We still got fifteen minutes left." Some guy had his hat on, already.

     In the background, a leaf blower let loose. 

     Everybody got back on the job, anyway.

VPN (virtual private network)

     VPN (virtual private network)

is a technology that allows you to create a secure network tunnel between your computer and a remote server.

     Using a VPN service:

1. Sign up for a VPN service.
2. Create an account.
3. Download the app or specific software for your chosen VPN service on all of your devices.
4. Log in to the account you made when signing up for the VPN service.
5. Depending on what service you selected, you might be asked for a security key or two-step authentication code.
6. Once in the app, connect to a VPN server.
7. Once connected, run a speed test.
8. Look for a tutorial to guide you.

     When you are connected to the VPN, all of your internet traffic will be sent through the VPN server. This will hide your IP address and make it difficult for anyone to track your browsing activity. The activity is hidden through encryption.

Best of the best VPN:

1. PRIVATE INTERNET ACCESS

2. CYBERGHOST

3. TORGUARD VPN

4. NORDVPN

5. IPVANISH

6. VPN UNLIMITED SOLID

7. EXPRESS VPN

8. SURFSHARK

9. WINDSCRIBE

10. HOTSPOT SHIELD

     Secure network issues list among things in the nature of worms and viruses, account privilege abuse, insufficient defense in depth, unworthy IT management, and ransomware attack.

     IP addresses are target security breach points.  "Bill Hancock, known of Exodus Communications Inc. in Santa Clara, Calif., on filtering techniques.  We utilize several.

     Edge-router filters to block traffic from bogus addresses or SYN attacks at the edge of the network.

     Rate-limiting filters to stop incoming connection requests to protect against high volume attacks.

     Traffic-flow analysis to detect inbound connections that match known attacks or to backtrack to source for prosecution.

     Traffic and Domain Name System (DNS) redirection to redirect attacks coming at them via high speed hardware aimed at the DNS server.

     Host-based firewalls to protect against direct denial-of-service attacks by filtering out known types of attacks." (Computer world)

     A VPN is the easiest and most effective way for people to protect their internet traffic and keep their identities private online. As you connect to a secure VPN server, your internet traffic goes through an encrypted tunnel that nobody can see into, including hackers, governments, and your internet service provider.

Adapt, get secure, stay smart.