Thompson Equity & Asset Management

What Motivates Us.

2010-11-11T05:02:00.000-08:00

Bar Stool Economics

2010-11-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100 If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay $1.

The sixth would pay $3.

The seventh would pay $7.

The eighth would pay $12.

The ninth would pay $18.

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).

The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

Sometimes the best ideas come from the people close to the problem.

2010-11-02T05:24:00.000-07:00

Have you found that some people's ego is too big and they think they know it all and fail to take good advice from anyone. The best management advice I ever got was from my uncle who was a VP of steel company. He would spend his first hour of every day talking to the workers on the factory floor. He always asked the same question "What can I do to make your job easier " If he got a idea he would implement it and test and measure results and had a reward system for the ideas that worked. This was in the 1960's long before union - management team work was a popular idea. The people closest to the problem often have the best ideas how to fix them if the leaders are humble enough to hear them

Cool New Invention

2010-07-18T04:33:00.000-07:00

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Mentor Value

2010-06-08T04:49:00.001-07:00

What Is a Mentor Good For?
June 4th, 2010

It was Socrates
who mentored Plato,
who mentored Aristotle,
who mentored Alexander the Great.

Do you have a mentor in your life? Not yet?

If you study successful people you fill find that typically they have one thing in common – a MENTOR.They understood the importance of having a mentor, a business coach, someone with more experience, someone who is already in a position in life that youdesire to be in the future.

Here is what a good mentor good for:

1. To define direction of your business

2. To choose right tools for developing your business

3. To predict the problems you are not aware of

4 To help avoinding many mistakes on your way to success

5. To get moral support in the time of weakness

6. To get honest feedback

A mentor will help you prevent mistakes that you can't avoid starting on your own. So don't reinvent the wheel, you will fail trying to figure out everything on your own. A mentor is not a friend, he will tell what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.

I know it's not an easy task to find a mentor you admire, trust and want to follow. But it's not impossible! Just tune your consciousness and unconsciousness on getting one and I'm sure you will meet him/her.

If you already have a mentor, please share your experience!

Business Coach Fort Wayne Indiana

2010-06-08T04:49:00.000-07:00

Business Coach Fort Wayne Indiana

Discussion: SCORE Association | LinkedIn

2010-03-25T05:58:00.000-07:00

Discussion: SCORE Association LinkedIn: "The only thing I see as a negative with franchising is that sometimes people may have a special talent or skill or have a better way to do things but are not using them because the must conform to a system, so they are not working to their personal strengths. The sysem should allow for good ideas to flow from the bottom up and become part of the system. Use each team member's strenght to improve the system and everyone's performance"

Commitment

2010-02-28T17:24:00.000-08:00

As I watch the closing ceremony of the Olympics, one word comes to mind and that word is commitment. In athletics as is business I believe it is the key to success. Millions participate in sports and business but only the truly committed succeed. Too many of us will try and quit because we do not commit to finish the race. The other key thing that I notice is they all have family and friends that believe in their mission to succeed. Many people will quit because of a defeat early in their career because there is not someone to pick them up and dust them off and put them back on the horse. You also need a team of people around you to take care of the details so you can focus on what your good at. It starts with a good coach to help you hone your skills and build a team of people around to help you win. If your business or sport is a hobby to earn extra income or for recreation that is great. If your business or sport is your livelihood don’t treat it like a hobby, If you have a dream, get committed, find a coach, build a team, listen to those who support your mission and forget anyone that says you can’t.

Learn more click here!

Test - Measure -Adjust

2010-02-24T08:33:00.000-08:00

Most business fail because they don't have systems to test and measure their performance and make adjustments. If you watch the Olympics to will see all of the competitors have a few things in common. They all have a coach, they all have systems and they measure and adjust to improve their performance. Are you doing the same in your business? We have a tool to do exactly that called a SWOT Analysis.

SWOT
Strength - Weakness- Opportunity -Threat

A SWOT Business Analysis is a tool to help you determine your Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats

Our SWOT Business Analysis consists of 150 questions in 10 categories
Mission & Code of Honor

Leadership & Training

Accounting & Cash Flow

Technology- Systems- Communication

Legal

ProductMarketing

SalesCustomer Service & Quality

Bottom Line
Learn more @
www.thompsonassetmanagement.com

Business Coach Fort Wayne Indiana

2010-02-17T14:04:00.000-08:00

Business Coach Fort Wayne Indiana: "Where You Are and
Where You Want To Be"

Ameritrade Business Exchange, Inc.

2010-02-17T07:41:00.000-08:00

Bartering on the web great idea!Ameritrade Business Exchange, Inc.

SEO Not Working For You?

2010-02-17T05:41:00.000-08:00

If your paying to much on pay per click and your SEO efforts are not getting the results you need. Click Here Now!
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Wealth Building Tax Secrets - MasteryTV Video - Create Wealth. Have Fun. Help Others.

2009-07-11T03:24:00.001-07:00

Wealth Building Tax Secrets - MasteryTV Video - Create Wealth. Have Fun. Help Others.

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RichDad

2009-05-29T04:18:00.000-07:00

Direct Marketing + Energy = Massive Passive Income

2009-05-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

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2009-01-16T07:50:00.000-08:00

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Help Fund Your Favorite Charity With A Travel Website

2008-04-10T11:58:00.001-07:00

Set up your favorite charity with a state of the art travel website. Your charity receives a royalty equal to 60% of the normal travel commission. Go to http://www.charityvacations.net/ to see a sample website, a slide show presentation and a quick time video with more information.
Call Brad Thompson 260-402-5546.

Carry Water Or Dig A Well

2007-12-10T11:42:00.000-08:00

We have been taught to get a good education and get a good job working to build someone eles's business. The problem is this you only get paid when you work or produce sales, and the business owner decides what your time is worth. This is like an Ethiopian woman who carries an empty jar on her head and walks to a river and returns with a jar full of water which is gone the next day. This is the way most people live working for someone else, living from pay check to pay check.
If at the end of her trip each day she would spend 1 hour digging a well she will eventually hit water and will not have to make the trip every day for her water and she can sell water to others in her village. She has built an asset to produce income she does not have to work for.
She has built a business.

Mind Your Own Business

2007-12-10T08:45:00.001-08:00

One of the lessons I learned later on in life is that you are responsible for you. It is not your government, or your employer that controls your life style, income and retirement but it is you! Where you are in life is a result of decisions you made in the past and where you will be in the future will be affected by decisions you make today.
I worked for a steel company from the time I was 18 until I was 43. I started there as a laborer shoveling steel chips, setting up machines and moving material. I ran several different machines the first year I worked there and was promoted into management at the age of 19. I was lucky enough to hold various management positions and became a part owner in the company at age 35 because of a Employee Stock Ownership Plan. I did not like some of the decisions our upper management was making and had the opportunity to take an early retirement with 25 years service at the age of 43. I cashed in my stock with the company and invested it along with the money I had invested in my 401-k and I had my medical benefits paid as part of my retirement package plus a small pension. Three years after I retired, our company went into bankruptcy. I lost the medical benefits and my pension was taken over by Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. I was one of the few lucky ones that got out with a pension and my stock money.
The company was purchased out of bankruptcy and the 350 people that worked there lost their stock, their jobs, their pensions and their medical benefits. The new company hired back about 70 of them as new employees with no seniority or benefits from the old company even if they had 45 years of service.

Lessons learned
(1) You can spend a lifetime working for a company with a good pension plan and loose it all because of a few bad management decisions. So build your own business and learn by your own mistakes. Don't be at the mercy of someone else's bad judgement.
(2) Don't rely on your government for retirement. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation according to their balance sheet will payout 22.8 billion more than it will take in this year and more companies are going bankrupt every day. By the way if you read your latest Social Security Statement, it says the trust fund will be exhausted by 2040 if changes are not made. Congress has known about this problem for at least 10 years and done nothing to fix it.
(3) Our Tax System is set up to benefit business's not employees.
Employees get paid then the government takes the taxes out and you get what is left to spend.
Business get paid then spend money (on tax deductable business expenses) and are taxed on whats left.
(3) Potential tax deductions depending on you business: Computers, auto expense, mileage, office, office supplies, cell phones, land line phone and fax service, high speed internet service, advertising including on your clothes, business travel, education seminars and meals when doing business . See a tax advisor to see what deductions apply to you.