How to minimize taxes on your Social Security income

Are you Social Security checks taxed? Absolutely! But wait a minute…how do you fund Social Security? Payroll taxes right? We pay 6.2% of payroll taxes into the system.

Social Security originated in the Roosevelt administration as a reaction to the Great Depression of the 1930’s as 50% of senior citizens were at the poverty level. The New Deal could create all the “shovel ready” projects possible but back in those days seniors were jazzercizing or eating fat free almond milk with their bran flakes so the health of our seniors of the 30’s wasn’t like it is now.

Originally the payroll taxes enacted through the Federal Insurance Contribution Act of 1939 or FICA as we know it today were much lower– around 4% but have been increased over time. The Reagan administration made portions of Social Security payments taxable and the current rates were created during the Clinton reign in 1993.

Below shows how your Social Security check is taxed:

If your income is low enough then you won’t pay any federal income tax on your benefit. But is that really something to shoot for? What if you income is high enough that you are required to pay the aforementioned taxes? Here’s some ideas to get a lower profile by changing your income to potentially not pay as much. Please note that Social Security calls this “provisional income” so tax free municipal bonds are NOT exempt: that income is counted in to your total income. Ever wonder why you have to write in your muni bond income on line 2 on a 1040? You don’t bring it over to the totals to the right do you? The IRS just wants to know as it effects how your Social Security pay is taxed.

One way is to build assets in a Roth IRA named for William Roth (Rep Del) who didn’t even get re-elected despite giving us this great savings vehicle. Roth IRA’s are funded with after tax money and are tax free forever. So Roth IRA income doesn’t count when taxing your Soc Sec check.
Another way to potentially change your income is the strategy of taking distributions out of your traditional IRA BEFORE you apply for Social Security benefits. You can use this income to live on and get the coveted delayed credits on your benefit when you take it the max age of 70. Then your Social Security benefit would be your main source of income.
Live somewhere that doesn’t tax your benefit. There are 13 states that tax your benefit- West Virginia, Colorado, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Utah, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, New Mexico, Missouri, Montana and Nebraska. Some states of course have NO income tax namely Alaska, Nevada, Florida, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. New Hampshire and Tennessee do tax dividends and interest to some degree so they can claim borderline admission to this group.
Also a method of changing your income to not pay as much income tax on your benefit is to use an annuity’s exclusion ratio. The exclusion ratio is a way to figure out what portion of the annuity income is excluded from tax. For example– if you are a 65 yr old man, your life expectancy according to the IRS and the census tables is 20 yrs. You invest $100,000 of taxable assets in an annuity. If you divide 20 by 12 you get 240 months. Divide the $100,000 by 240 and you get around $417.67 per month. This amount would not be taxable as it is looked at as a return of principal. However, were you do the aforementioned the actual payment from the insurance company would be $562 per month for the rest of your lifetime. The taxable portion would be $145. The exclusion ratio is determined by dividing the $417.62 by the $562 which equals a 74% exclusion ratio. Furthermore if the 65 yr old died before the 20 yr period is over then a beneficiary would get the payment stream. Eventually after the 20 yr period the “principal payments” would be all paid out and the whole amount would become taxable.
Similar to the above idea you can invest 25% of your retirement assets– maximum $125,000 — in an annuity that will pay you an income at a later date — 85 years old at the latest. The compelling reason for this is the Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract or QLAC’s is the amount invested is not figured into your required minimum distribution as required by IRS to spend down your retirement assets so they can recover all the income tax they let you defer while saving in retirement plans. As a result you have a lower RMD, thus lowering your taxable income and potentially the taxes you pay on your Social Security payments. For example, a 65 yr old has $500K in an IRA and is in a 30% tax bracket. If he invests the max $125,000 in a QLAC which will give him around $37, 673 at age 85 but lowers his taxes as his RMD would be smaller.
If you’re getting income you don’t need then gift it to a charity. These write-offs still exist.
If you’re getting interest income on a bond, stock or CD that you don’t spend then consider a deferred annuity where all the interest stays in the contract. If something comes up and you need some of the cash, you will pay taxes on withdrawals unless you use the 4th idea in this article with regard to the exclusion ratio.
Like the aforementioned if you are realizing interest or even dividend income that you are not using and don’t plan but want to leave this asset to your heirs then consider life insurance. Even if your health is not the greatest, there are ways to do this. It shelters the interest income and leaves a tax free legacy to your family or a cause you feel strongly about. The census tables have changed the rates to your benefit as people are living longer making these types of contracts richer than they were just 10 years ago.

Just a few ideas among friends. Always consult your tax person, CPA, etc to really find out what the actual numbers would look like for you. Realistically the personal finance algebra on these ideas are that tough but it’s always better to get a 2nd or 3rd opinion. Call or email me– I’m happy to help. So long til next time.

September 2, 2019 0

What 3 major congressional gaffs create the shortfalls in Social Security we have now or why Jordache jeans and Jimmy Carter ruined my life

The 1970’s were an interesting decade. Richard Nixon, OPEC, Disco, Jordache jeans, Jimmy Carter and of course the massive legislation that effected everyone’s retirement. The ERISA Act of 1974 which protected defined benefit plans, the invention of IRA’s and the changes to Social Security are great examples about how society at large felt about retirement and what their lifestyle would look like when the paychecks from earned income stop. The Carter administration’s plague of stagflation and high prices on goods and services–especially Jordache jeans– actually helped fix mistakes made by Congress but I don’t want to give away the happy ending.

Particularly overreaching were the increases to the Social Security payments that people were to receive and the cost of living adjustments that Congress passed during this time in question. In June of 1972 Congress overwhelming passed increases and up grades to the program because of a false confidence created by some short term surpluses.

1) Firstly- under the “Social Security Amendment of 1972” approved 20% across the board for 27.8 million people, jacking benefit checks up significantly. In October of 1972 Congress decided to lay out 5 billion to increase benefits for widows and dependents as well as raising the claim checks for lower income people who haven’t paid in for more than 30 years.

2) The second strike was the cost of living idea to combat the ravages of inflation on beneficiaries checks was included in the same bill to be phased in by 1975. A great idea if it had been done correctly! Benefits would be increased based on the Consumer Protection Index if the number was 3% or higher. Also around this time someone got the algebra wrong and it resulted in a major technical gaff in the formula that was used and benefits were bumped up double what they should have been. This formulaic boo-boo is very important to our story.

Suddenly the short term surpluses were fading fast.

In the early years of getting Social Security become the fixture that it is today, it was politically popular for legislation to be suggested in most election years–even years. This past action certainly favored the re-election of some politicians but has potentially had a disasterous effect on the program as we know it now.

Not only did the double indexing inflation whoopsie of 1972 and incumbents raising benefits for votes take the program down, we also had Jimmy Carter double digit inflation and exploding interest rates. Carter was woefully unpopular with the press and the rest of Congress so when high interest rates, huge inflation, high unemployment and slow economic growth, it really set the tone for his administration. Productivity growth dropped to 1% compared to the go-go 1960’s 3.2% number. We all learned a new word: stagflation. You guessed it– Stagflation is the third event that contributed to today’s shortfalls.

3) Stagflation is when there’s high price inflation for goods and services and high interest rates. If there’s high interest rates then the cost of money or borrowing money is expensive then usually prices will drop as there’s not enough capital being borrowed, not enough big ticket items that require borrowing being bought and not enough economic and business activity. If the prices don’t come done as a reaction to the inactivity or less buying of goods and services, things get stagnant and immobile– an economic constipation that effects many industries and millions of people. Because if stagflation, high rates, and high prices are prevalent, businesses get a little uncertain about budgeting, planning, and hiring. This uncertainty leads to corporations and people being stagnant too–not buying things unless they have to or putting off building that big soap production plant in Pittsburg that would have provided 5000 jobs. Those 5000 people would’ve had money in their pockets to buy cars, homes, furniture, college tuitions, or a new pair of Jordache jeans that were so coveted back in those times. Which also means the guy who owns the auto dealership, real estate agents, and local retail stores don’t benefit from consumers having spendable income.

As the title of this article refers, Jordache jeans were touted as very high end, sexy jeans in the late 1970’s. They were designed and invented by a four Israeli brothers who patterned them after some European styles. The suggestive commercials back then and the fact that some of the best looking girls at my school wore them is etched into my psyche and has damaged my self esteem almost irreparably. They were really pretty which made them completely unapproachable already but then add in the price of these designer pants inflated by concurrent economic trends and any chance of a skinny, bespectacled 13 year old boy with a bad haircut wearing a wrinkled shirt from the hamper had no shot at even hello. Not sure I’ve ever recovered fully.

Back to stagflation–Remember the error in the COLA formula which double indexed the inflation increases back in 1972? What do you think happened when inflation numbers were in the teens? Big increases in Social Security payments which further took down the surpluses of the 50’s and 60’s! It was quickly becoming a financial apocalypse for the program as the increases were not sustainable. Jimmy Carter to the rescue! In 1977 Pres Carter and Congress corrected the gaff in the COLA formula and tried to fix the shortfalls by raising the payroll taxes from 2% to 6.15%. Carter said these fixes would make the system sound until 2030. Not so as history tells us but that’s a story for another day.

Will Social Security need more amendments in the future? Probably. Almost absolutely. Let’s hope we learn from the errors of the past. My tormented memories of being rejected(OK I was too intimidated and I never did anything) of upper classman girls wearing designer jeans laughing at me-or so I thought– have been overcome with the wisdom of age. Or so I hope.

August 16, 2019 0

How will workplace automation effect the employee’s retirement?

It’s all around us, isn’t it? Machines are taking the place of humans from the most menial repetitive tasks to the most dangerous, it seems machines are replacing us quicker than ever. Computers do taxes, payroll, fly planes and cars. Robots run by their machine brother computers manufacture everything from hot dogs, mining, underwater jobs at depths to deadly for human beings, even fairly invasive surgery. How many of us have lost a job to a machine? Its happening at a rate that can jeopardize our retirement lives. If you lose a job in your peak earning years to a robot, it could be impactful to your retirement savings; but this is nothing new. Our forefathers faced similar plights throughout time.

What happened the first time someone brought in the horse to pull a log across a meadow or a plow through a field to plant crops in Stone Age times? He had to learn another skill. He had to understand this animal in essence this new machine that just took his job. He had to learn how to control it, maintain it and the extra bonus–how to get it to propagate.

What about when someone found a way to put 2 circular discs on a travois making it a wagon? Now a 10 year old child could pull a load that formerly was dragged along by a full grown man who had the strength to do it. Now it would take less effort and power so a child could or an elderly person. Now the full grown adult had to learn how to maybe make wheels, or mount them or implement them in other tasks like grinding flour instead of using a blunt instrument to pound wheat into powder. The printing press, water pump, etc all made people change their way of doing things.

Then comes the industrial revolution with all of the manufacturing wisdom of the ages and once again you had to learn a new skill. If you were producing cloth and clothes the old fashioned way with a loom or processing it by hand suddenly it was a brave new world. Maybe you could learn how to maintain the machine, or build them or sell them. The entrepreneurs who started these large mills in the UK and New England as a lure to change from the agrarian economy to an industrial one, offered the common uneducated folk a chance to not became old and broken physically from manual labor or the dangers of fishing in the ocean in open boats. Urbanization–piles of historical books about this 19th century phenomenon wherein everyone left the countryside and crammed into the cities because that’s where the jobs were- made London the biggest city in the world throughout the 1800’s or at least the one with the fastest growth.

In terms of retirement the industrial revolution helped the common uneducated person immensely as it allowed them to get into a pension if they lived long enough. It also allowed them to eventually get into labor unions and benefit from collective bargaining agreements which gave them the 5 day work week, health insurance, pensions and a break room. It allowed the living standards of thousands of regular unskilled laborers to grow. However uneducated as they may have been they had to come out of the grain fields and learn a new skill. Could the success of implementing robotics into manufacturing in this modern world be history just repeating itself? There’s evidence to suggest it is.

What if you can’t or won’t learn new skills? Some say the older worker of today may be less inclined to learn how computer assisted tasks like CAD-CAM. My client Bob was and still is an outstanding illustrator but when CAD-CAM(computer aided drafting) came along, he kind of resigned himself to retirement because of the intimidation of trying to pick up this way of doing his job. He was truly gifted when he had a pencil and a ruler in his hands but “those damn machines” compromised what made him great. All throughout history, the older highly skilled person was replaced directly or indirectly by the machine especially in manufacturing.

Even animals are not exempt from the effect of machines on their reality. The automobile and locomotive made the horse obsolete and only something the wealthy own nowadays. Even the usefulness of dogs and cats in working environments as we have different ways of herding sheep and catching mice. Dogs can still sniff out drugs, weapons and some police work but the widespread job market of yesteryear for our 4 footed friends has faded decades ago.

The effect of machines in the workplace certainly can be impactful on that senior employee who wanted just another couple of years to pad his 401k account. The younger worker even as young as 50 has already seen their job/role probably change a few times in the last decade or so and could be more comfortable than the senior employee. The mobility of 401K and 403B plans with rule changes in the past 20 years underscores that narrative.

However gentle reader, experts say it takes at least 10 years for such changes to really be implemented so there’s no need to hit the panic button just yet. You may even be able to ramp up your retirement savings before the machines take over. Maybe you remember when calculators that would do the simplest of math were the size of a phone book– mid 1970’s maybe? It took a while for such a useful device to become the size of a credit card….maybe 1994? So there’s still time.

August 3, 2019 0

Do Blue collar workers retire sooner than white collar?

A lot of experts say that’s too simplistic and they’re probably right.

People work with their hands or depend on their body to make their living are commonly thought to retire much earlier than folks who may sit in an office and push paper or punch the keys of a computer. Maybe 40 years ago, this was more prevalent. Landscapers, those who are in the building trades, or to quote Roger Daltrey – those who get theirs backs into their living. Working longer can help build up one’s retirement nest egg but if advancing age declines one’s skills or energy then there may not be as much time as one may need.

Swinging a hammer, twisting a wrench or having to load boxes onto a truck may not be something you can do every day until you’re 70. So it’s completely logical to think that blue collar jobs are not for the older person. My client George was an auto mechanic for years but prolonged exposure to oil and grease has recently caused him to have painful skin rashes. Even if he wears long sleeves and gloves there still a level of discomfort. His ability to continue in his chosen profession has been compromised. Now he’s at the tech school showing teens and 20 somethings his craft. Without the teaching job–something he truly does enjoy– maybe George’s ability to further fund his retirement would be compromised.

However not all white collar jobs can be undemanding to the human body. A dentist or a surgeon leaning over people and using the fine motor skills to hold a dental instrument or a scalpel might not so easily done effectively at age 63 or 68. As spectacular of a machine as the human body is, it is not meant to last forever. These limits can impact your ability to save for retirement and build retirement assets.

Even a trial lawyer who experiences the stress of trying cases or a judge who carries the weight of second guessing their own rulings on changing people’s lives and the lives of their families. The emotional torture of wondering if you did the right thing can last a long time. Guilt of feeling differently about it after the fact can wear you down psychologically. Stress can be hard on anyone in any job like a police officer or fire fighter; compound the physical aspect of the aforementioned professions and the shelf life of a career in either can be challenging.

What do they say now? Sitting is the new smoking? What if your job at the GE plant was to put pieces of metal into a tool and die machine and the quota was 400 per day? That’s a lot of sitting at that machine to perform that task every day for years. Maybe you’re too tired to go to the gym or walk afterwards or there’s familial obligations you need to be present for. All that sitting can’t be healthy.

My client Tim has worked in construction for decades. Painting houses, framing and hanging sheet rock as well as masonary, he says “my body is broken” or “I can’t keep this up much longer”. HIs success in construction could be limited by his physical breakdown. My advice to him has been the following- if you feel as though you haven’t saved enough for retirement, then maybe your next job should be with an entity like the state or the federal gov’t which would provide you with a pension. Just put in 5 years into such a job and they are obligated to pay you. The perfect world would be to work for a corporation that provides a pension and a 401K. Then your Social Security check won’t be effected by the Windfall/Pension offset rule of 1984 which can chop down the value of your Soc Sec check– a topic for another day.

It doesn’t matter how tough you are, the body and mind have a finite life no matter what job you work at. I’m not discounting the person doing the blue collar work; I’ve done plenty myself. I painted houses, worked in restaurants, dug ditches through hard pan semi frozen dirt, chopped wood and trees, and crawled underneath 30 year old mobile homes to fix water pipes. The wear and tear is very real! But so is the repetitive motion of some white collar jobs or the threat of infection etc in the medical/hospital industry. My client Lorraine who is an outstanding nurse has never really recovered from Mercers disease and some of the other hazards of nursing.

My client Louis worked with asbestos for years after WWII. He died with 40% lung capacity– of course smoking unfiltered Luckys didn’t help. An insurance agent in the 1970’s used make collections on life insurance premiums including cash until one was robbed and killed in NYC. Then most insurance companies switched over to electronic transfer out of your checking account. Physical wear and tear isn’t the only thing that are hazards of our jobs. I had to climb a 60 foot ladder as a house painter to scrape and prime a peak of a roof of a 200 year old colonial– I was fearing for life and limb the whole time. Any job that involves the ocean–fishing, oil drilling, construction or shipping carries life threatening risks as well.

All of these things can impact your ability to save for retirement. However having an open mind for a change in careers or being open to other training can help if things didn’t turn out quite the way we planned. My client Phil and Alice were college professors in the greater Boston area for years. They were heavily involved in community theatre–acting, writing, scene design etc. They retired a little modestly but moved out to California to a “theatre” college community. They sold the house at a huge profit and bought something smaller out west– invested the rest. They got jobs doing their hobby and something they loved to supplement their retirement. They’re deliriously happy and will continue to work into their 70’s. Maybe you have a similar hobby.

That’s it for now. More to come.

July 20, 2019 0

Three Social Security Misconceptions that could derail your Retirement

There are some old wives tales(no offense if you are an old wife) about Social Security that even now into the information age are still thought of as good ideas. Great thought and preparation needs to go into your retirement and Social Security which as a national average could equal 40% of your income in your golden years can be a significant part of that process. The following are some Soc Sec myths that are still pervasive.

I can live on my Social Security with no other sources of income.

I suppose it depends on where you live. If its Mahattan or San Francisco, its unlikely you can pull that off even with little to no debt. Maybe parts of the Midwest and Florida(no offense if you live there now) which are much cheaper than the aforementioned. As a national average Social Security could be around 40% of your income so while important there’s still the other 60% that’s got to come from somewhere. So saving for retirement is always important. The earlier you start the better. However if you are a person that feels as tough you haven’t saved enough, maybe a future job for you would be one with a pension benefit. Of course there’s probably a better chance of a pterodactyl landing in your driveway. Companies like Johnson and Johnson, Coke, Exxon and lot of the stodgy old utilities still offer a pension benefit. The onus to pay you is on the company; you don’t have to worry about a stock portfolio going up and down or bonds coming due.

You should file for benefits as early as possible.

It depends…sorry for the pat answer. Maybe this will help. Its basically like handicapping your longevity. Are your parents still alive? If so who do you take after? Do you or did you ever smoke? Steak and eggs for breakfast? Half a bottle of bourbon nightly?

If you take it early at 62 and your monthly check is $1,650 and live past 77 yrs old you probably picked the wrong one. If you die before 77 then you cumulative benefits would have been around $316K and that would’ve been the right one. You would have received the MOST totaled up from age 62 to your demise at 77. Living past 77, your totals would be higher if you had waited.

If you file at age 66 and your check is $2,220 per month and you die before 81 years old, you picked the right one. You would have received all totaled $422K. If you live past 81, you’ve picked the wrong one and you should have filed at 70. At age 70, your monthly benefit would have been $2,904 monthly, adding up to $453K total. Dying before 81 would have netted you the most cash in the shortest time. Living past age 81 and claiming at 70 would have gotten you 31K more.

What if I filed early and invest the monthly check?

So you would lose the benefit of the higher checks at later years and you want to roll the dice on the Wall Street casino? What if you just saved money out of your paycheck over time in a 401K? Years of dollar cost averaging is a great strategy. This makes me think of the old method(not really that old. First written about in 1993) of taking 4% out of your portfolio for income regardless of what the market does. Over time and using back testing, this method can make your money last a long time all while taking an income check. However if a lot of calamities are put together– Richard Nixon, OPEC, dotcom become the dot bomb, China tariffs and trade wars the sequence of your withdrawals could be lethal to your nest egg.

You pull out 4% and it drops 20%. The next year you pull 4% and it drops another 14%. The next year you pull 4% and the market drops another 8%. Lots of withdrawals and lots of bad performance can deplete your portfolio quickly.

Bonus: File for benefits before it goes bankrupt

Because the trust funds are funded by payroll taxes and are invested in treasuries notes, its unlikely it will go completely bankrupt. Spikes in interest rates have caused it to make a profit– 21 billion in 2018. With $897 billion coming in taxes and $776 billion going out, all the cash completely being depleted is probably not going to happen. But think of this, what would happen if John or Joan Q. Public wraps their whole financial life around that monthly check and suddenly a letter from the Social Security Admin shows up saying that their checks will be reduced down to 76 cents on the dollar(previously projected). Wouldn’t there be massive hue and cry? When people feel like they’ve been short changed, they probably would sue the gov’t, right? This would be the largest class action lawsuit EVER!! On the other hand, what did a lot of the people in Congress do for a job before they were elected? Attorney usually. They understand a massive lawsuit could happen so hopefully there will be a bailout or a solution coming soon.

On what right could someone feel that entitled to sue the US government over their benefits checks being cut or stopped? The conversation could go like this–“I’ve paid into the plan and you sent me a statement with what I may receive. Its not my fault that you have mismanaged the payroll taxes you received from me to the point that now my benefit has been slashed. The onus to make the payments back to me is on you Mr. Social Security Trust fund manager!” Its easy to see how this could happen.

July 10, 2019 0

Social Security: What are the risks of an older/younger spouse?

If there’s a significant differences in ages between you and your spouse(Alan Greenspan and Andrea Mitchell come to mind- he is 19 years her senior) there may be some things you should know. Hopefully you find the following useful.

Consider This…

Retirement planning advice for married couples tends to assume two things: You are pretty close to each other in age, and the husband has always been the primary bread-winner. But in this age of late marriages, divorce, and second marriages, what if there’s a much younger spouse? Large age gaps between spouses requires planning. Here are some things to consider:

Expect to work longer. You may have to stay employed past the typical retirement age in order to build up a larger pot of savings. If, for example, your spouse is 55 and you die, your nest egg may have to fund your spouse for 40 years.

Plan to spend less. If you are a typical retired couple, conventional wisdom says that you can spend 4 percent of your savings in the first year and give yourself a raise for inflation in each subsequent year. But with a much younger spouse, you may have to consider dropping your withdrawal rate to around 3 percent.

Reduce withdrawals. At 70 ½ , you have to start taking money out of an IRA. If your spouse is more than 10 years younger, you can reduce the required withdrawals – and stretch your savings – by using the IRS’s joint life expectancy table to calculate the amounts.

Mind the insurance gap. If the older spouse carries the couple’s health insurance and switches to Medicare at 65, the younger spouse will need to buy an individual health policy.

Adjust your Social Security. Spouses with big age differences should generally approach Social Security as if they were single, says Bill Reichenstein of SocialSecuritySolutions.com. If you have health issues and don’t expect a long life, take Social Security at 62. Otherwise, wait until 70.

Consider life insurance. If you haven’t saved enough, look into a 20-year term life insurance policy to cover your spouse’s future needs. You can get it even at 65 if your health is good.

Plan your pension. If you’ll get a company pension, don’t take the lump sum payment when you retire unless your spouse is already well provided for. Instead, take the maximum joint and survivor option. It will continue to pay your surviving spouse for life.

Be mindful that the younger spouse might find his or her career interrupted and savings slashed due to the needs of an aging spouse for medical and personal care. It’s something you need to account for in your planning – and all the more reason to manage your spending and savings.

If you have further questions, please reply or comment and I will contact you. At North Shore Retirement, we offer retirement planning services including help with Social Security. If you’ve paid into the system for any amount of years, you absolutely need to take your benefit in the best way possible for you based on income needs, your health, and your family. We can help you figure out the optimal method–you’ve got to get this right! You only get one shot at this! Contact me or my office and we can get you on the right track!

This information has been prepared by Lakes Publishing, LLC. The information provided is educational in nature and is not intended to be construed as, legal, tax or investment advice and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party. Specific federal and state laws relevant to a particular situation may affect the applicability, accuracy or completeness of this information. Material presented is believed to be from reliable sources, but its accuracy is not guaranteed. If additional information is needed, the reader is advised to seek professional services. ty52 \lsd

July 8, 2019 0

Were all the signers of the Declaration of Independence nice people?

Jeff Dragon

In this day and age of clarity and transparency all aided by the internet’s many search engines, how would our founding forefathers measure up to the scrutiny of a background check, search for criminal records, credit checks, what they’ve posted on Facebook, what adult websites they frequent or using the wrong email server? I just watched a Democratic candidate president debate in which former VP Joe Biden was vilified for associating himself with past congress members with racial tendencies. John Adams defended in court the British Regulars that opened fire on a crowd in event called the Boston Massacre. All of the soldiers walked except 2 and they were branded on the thumb as first time offenders of British law as a reduced sentence from the death penalty. Seems similar…Adams was a prickly sort and didn’t have a lot of friends.

His cousin Sam Adams was a political firebrand but…

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July 7, 2019 0

Were all the signers of the Declaration of Independence nice people?

His cousin Sam Adams was a political firebrand but couldn’t make a buck to save his life. Some one kindly donated a suit from him to wear to Philadelphia for the Declaration signing as he was not a man of means. There are persistent rumors that Sam Adams used his “bully boys” — young men fond of rum– to incite the Massacre that night. Rumor has it he gave them cash to buy drinks on the promise to harass the occupying soldiers with insults, errant snowballs, etc. One may call him very goal oriented and a leader. Nice guy? Americans may think so– rest of the world maybe not so much.

Lesser known Dr. Josiah Bartlett from NH had established himself as a thoughtful physician and politician. He was a colonel in the militia, later governor and supreme court justice for NH. He was the second signer of the Declaration and had a hand in drafting some of the other documents. Nice guy? Even after being elected governor, people would still come up to him and say “got this rash on my leg Doc. What do you think of it?” No doubt a good guy. Am I biased as I am from the Granite State? Maybe..

Carter Braxton was born wealthy, married money, owned plantations and slaves and ships etc. Nice guy as a slave owner…I think not. He lent a l ot of his own money to the cause, sold ammo to try to profit from the war, bought privateers to make a little $$ back but the war really took him down financially. The British destroyed some of his plantations, seized some of his property. In contrast, 2 of his grandsons fought against the slave trade legislatively. He invested heavily in the war effort and really got nothing for it. Braxton died broke in 1797. Nice guy…probably not but the Americans probably would’ve been hard pressed to find a guy who bet with his wallet so hard.

Gordon Carroll was Irish catholic raised by Jesuits and further educated abroad. Total gentleman planter from Maryland, he wrote anonymously in the local paper support the rebellion. He was the last signer to pass away. Nice person? He did own slaves but in 1800 he was the president of the leading anti slavery group that had the agenda of shipping all the slaves back to Africa. As a gentleman farmer he used slave labor but diversified his business holdings to banking, land, canals and other endeavors so his need for slaves probably diminished as he made a living on the aforementioned industries.

Was the next signer Samuel Chase a good egg? Not if you ask Thomas Jefferson who tried with all his power to impeach Chase as an associate justice to the Supreme Court. Chase was a federalist to the core and made decisions based on his doctrine which made every Jeffersonian democrat want to wave their Jeffersonian wand and purge Chase from the court. They failed but really as history goes that’s probably the biggest black mark as a nice person against Judge Chase.

The next 2 signers were awesome people! Abraham Clark of NJ and George Clymer by all accounts neither owned slaves and actually fought for the rights of everyone. Clark was an atty for poor people and Clymer worked hard for the common soldier in the Revolution even went to Valley Forge in the winter of 1777 with supplies etc. Clark had 2 sons in the continental army who were captured, beaten, and tortured. Clark tried to get them better treatment. The British said if he renounced signing the Declaration and the patriot cause they would spare their lives. He refused; both sons survived the war. Clymer worked to reform the penal system and abolish the death penalty after the war along with other humanitarian efforts to provide schools for people of color. Both very nice people!

William Ellery was another wonderful guy. Helping to found Brown University, he also worked hard legislatively to abolish slavery as a judge on the Supreme Court of Rhode Island. Nice fella.

That’s all for now. There’s more to come

July 7, 2019 1

Fourth of July Traditions

As we descend upon the birthday of America, let us ponder some of the traditions of this national holiday.

Why do we shoot off fireworks? Fireworks go back centuries and were used to celebrate occasions and holidays before the War of Independence. John Adams wrote to his wife that the holiday should be celebrated with “illuminations”. It should be noted by “succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be solemnized(nice verb) with pomp and parade, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward and forever more.” For a guy who wasn’t well liked in his day, he can be praised for suggesting such a wonderful party– in George Washington issued double rations of rum in 1778– as a method of recognizing the birth of our country. Both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on July 4th, 1826 also the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Calvin Coolidge is the only chief exec born on the fourth.

July 4th was named a federal holiday in 1941 but many states recognized the day as a holiday way before that–Massachusetts in 1781 just before the victory at Yorktown. in 1870 it was made an unpaid holiday by the federal govt. Bonfires were used to celebrate the holiday, a tradition first widely done in New England with local towns competing to see who could creat the largest–the record unofficially held by Salem 40 tiers of wooden barrels stacked high. Must have been quite a sight and extraordinarily dangerous.

56 of our founding forefathers signed it but not all at the same time. Thomas McKean was the last to sign in January of 1777. Ben Franklin was the oldest to sign, Jefferson and Adams were the only presidents. On June 11th, the “Committee of Five” were appointed to put the document together which without email and project management software to share the duties among them must have been a daunting task. Adams, Jefferson, Franklin were on it. Roger Sherman of Connecticut who is the only man to sign all of the founding docs of the US — the Declaration, the Constitution, Articles of Confederation and the Continental Association and Robert Livingston who’s later claim to fame was negotiating the Louisiana Purchase. They knocked it out in less than a month. No Microsoft word or photo copiers…must have been difficult.

Before you know it, the 4th of July was being celebrated all over. Politicians began to use the day to speechify in public and we all love the “4th of July” bargains at the auto dealerships, dept stores, and appliance sales. Why not? Most of your customers have the day off–come on down and save some money!

July 3, 2019 0

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July 3, 2019 0