Having grown up in Texas and gone to college in Utah, I never had to deal with Personal Property Tax until moving to Missouri. And I must say that I’m not a fan of the tax at all (not that I like any tax really). Here’s a quick rundown of how it works:

How It Works

By March 1st you have to return a Personal Property Declaration on which is listed any type of personal property that is deemed taxable. Here in Missouri this includes any vehicles, boats, recreational vehicles, and probably some other things that I’m not aware of. You have to declare anything of this type that you owned on January 1st of that year. You are then taxed at some percentage based on a third of the appraised value. That’s the basic gist of it.

Why I Dislike It

1. First of all, you’re charged an entire year’s worth of taxes based on what you owned on January 31st. I raised this question since I’ll be leaving the state to go back to school in late summer. I was told that there was no pro-ration and that you would owe the entire tax even if you only lived in the state for one day if that day was January 1st. It just seems absurd to me.

2. This tax doesn’t seem to be in place of something else. As you probably know, there are some states who have a sales tax and some who don’t. Some states have property taxes and others don’t (or are at least minimal). Some states have an income tax, and others do not. Well, not only does Missouri have all of these, it also has this personal property tax. You pay sales taxes when you buy a car here, and then you’re subsequently taxed every year thereafter just for owning it. Again, it’s simply absurd.

3. I can sort of understand property taxes on real estate. Real estate generally appreciates over time and as the saying goes concerning land, they aren’t making any more of it. The Personal Property Tax, on the other hand is a tax on items that generally depreciate and they can make any number of them. Unfortunately you have to pay both in Missouri.

These are some of the reasons that I dislike the Personal Property Tax. I’m sure I could think of more if I wanted to dwell on the subject (which I don’t). I’m also sure that there are other absurdities in the tax system in other states. What are some issues that you have with some of the taxes where you’re from?

Oftentimes in the financial arena you’ll run into people who think they’ve really got things figured out. They have very strong opinions about how finances should be handled and they know the best way to tackle debt, build an emergency fund, and invest for the best gains. They can quote you the current interest rates and tell you the differences between the various retirement plans as well as many of the associated facts. But what makes someone an authority on the subject or at least worth listening to?

A Few Options

You could go talk to a Certified Financial Planner who will help you plan out your finances and structure some sort of investment routine. It’s interesting to note, however, that this financial planner is working a normal 9 to 5 job just like you albeit providing financial services instead of whatever it is you do. Is this the person that you want to rely on for sound financial advice? Possibly, but I’m not to say.

You could also read many of the blogs out there that discuss personal finance and the many related topics. Most of the time you don’t really know who these people are, and many of them openly display an average, or even negative, net worth. Most of these blogs are a way for someone to track their own financial progress and learn what they can along the way, and they’ll usually be the first to tell you that they aren’t there to provide official financial and investment advice.

You could also go to the library and check out any number of books on the subject. Just because someone has published a book, however, doesn’t necessarily make them an authority on the subject. You don’t need to look any further than Suze Orman, David Bach, and Robert Kiyosaki to not only see conflicting advice, but controversy among bloggers about what they have to say. Are these the people you want to look to for financial advice then?

My Thoughts and Concerns

I’m not trying to tear anyone down with this post, but many people have the question of where to go to get good advice about their finances. And I am mostly concerned with the people that think they have everything figured out and who say that their way is the best way to handle your finances. The reason I’m concerned about these type of people is because I have never met anyone who knows everything there is to know about personal finance, business, and investing. In fact, most of the highly successful people that I’ve heard of, met, or know personally are extremely aware of how much they still don’t know. The more they learn, the more they realize they need to learn. They are usually willing, however, to share their personal experiences and what has worked for them in an effort to guide someone in the right direction rather than showing/telling someone exactly how things should be done.

As for this blog, I try to share things that I’ve learned through my own experience as well as through the experience of others. For the time being I’ve chosen not to display a net worth or any other personal specifics mostly out of a concern/desire for privacy. I do hope that you find the information valuable, but it’s by no means the be all and end all since I’m continually learning as well. I also enjoy comments and counter viewpoints because I think there’s much to be learned that way.

Ultimately though, you are responsible for the state of your finances. As you’ve probably heard before, no one cares as much about your money as you do. Try to learn as much as you can yourself about how to handle your money. You might do this by talking with a financial planner or by reading various financial blogs and websites, hopefully this one at least. In the end, you have to decide who is worth listening to and who’s advice you’re going to take, I just caution you against those who think they’ve already got everything figured out.

I had the news on in the background while I was doing some other things, and I heard multiple reports about how the cost of this or that is going up. The price of a barrel of oil has hit another all-time high which could cause the price of gasoline to go up as well. I also heard about the price of wheat going up because more fields are being used to plant corn instead, which is being used for alternative fuels. Many other things seem to be going up as well, how much should we all be worried?

My Take On Things

I personally am not all too concerned about the reports that I hear about price increases and the like. One reason for this is that I’m not walking a tight-rope with my finances. I have built-in buffers (which I’ve talked about before) in the way I handle my finances that a little increase here and there isn’t going to leave me in dire straights. I’ve chosen to live an affordable lifestyle that’s well within my means which takes a lot of pressure off.

The other reason I don’t stress about all the doom and gloom in the financial media is because I choose not to worry about things that I can’t control, and I focus on the things that I do have control over. As an example, I can’t really do much about the price I will pay for a gallon of gas the next time I fill up. I can, however, choose to drive less, combine errands, carpool with friends, drive an economical vehicle, etc. I’ll also take another example. As I’ve mentioned, the price of wheat is going up along with dairy products and some other things. I could choose to worry myself about the increase in bread and pasta prices over which I have no control. I could also choose to eat more rice, beans, potatoes, oats, and much more where the prices haven’t really changed all that much.

What It Boils Down To

For me, it goes back to what I remember reading in a book by Stephen Covey where he talks about the circle of influence. There are things that we have control over, and there are other things which we have no control over. It is our job to focus on the things that we can influence and not to worry about that which we can’t. I’m not trying to be flippant about the subject, but I could stand to hear a little less reactionary complaining and see a little more proactivity.

What are your thoughts on this? Let me know if you disagree.

I apologize for not having a post up bright and early this morning. I’ve really been trying to make sure that I’ve got something new everyday, except on the weekends where I do my Weekend Editions. Unfortunately, I’ve been a little busy lately didn’t have one ready. However, you can be sure there is plenty to come.

I thought I would explain a little about the site for those of you that are new to it (welcome Shoemoney readers by the way). As the title of the blog suggests, I write about pretty much any and everything financial. You can look in the sidebar to find a list of topics, but anything is fair game. I’ll cover investing, savings, business and entrepreneurship, debt, financial blunders and much more.

But it’s not just about what I want to talk about. I enjoy answering readers questions and looking at opposing viewpoints, because you probably won’t always agree with me. If you’ve got something to say, I invite you say it. There will also be a few sponsored post from time to time, and if these bother you just ignore them (seriously, it’s not too hard to scroll past them). They do help to keep the site up and going though.

Also, as I’ve mentioned before, if you’d like a spot in the Blog List and in an upcoming post, let me know in a comment and I’ll check out your site cause I’m always looking.

Oftentimes when people are struggling financially it affects them emotionally as well. They will often refer to themselves as being poor, or have that label applied by others. While you may view this as a discussion of semantics, I think there is value in the distinction.

Dictionary.com defines poor as the following:

1. having little or no money, goods, or other means of support
2. Law. dependent upon charity or public support

When viewed in light of this definition, there aren’t really that many people that can consider themselves truly poor. If you’re in debt and are struggling to pay your bills, it doesn’t really make you poor. There are still things that you have to be grateful for, such as a job that allows you to support yourself and all of your possessions even though you may not view them as plentiful.

Broke on the other hand means that you’re “lacking funds”. This is usually more of a temporary situation or something that can more easily be overcome. You may be broke until you get your next paycheck, but that doesn’t mean that you’re necessarily poor.

The reason I’m going into this is because of those among us who actually are “poor”. There are those who are unable to support themselves and are definitely less fortunate than most of the rest of us. Instead of falsely lumping ourselves in this category with them, we ought to take some time to count the many blessings and privledges that we do in fact enjoy. And especially at this time of year, it would be a nice gesture to help someone in need who may “actually” fall into the poor category.

Being the Day After Thanksgiving, I thought I would list a few things that I’m thankful for (be they significant or not). This list is also in no particular order.

• My wife and everything she does for me
• Tony Romo to Terrell Owens.
• The opportunity to go back to school to pursue further goals.
• All of you readers, those who link to me and all of those who subscribe to this blog.
• The Sourdough Jack from Jack in the Box. This sandwich is really tasty.
• My current job and all that it allows me to do. I’ll also add the people that I work with who make it more enjoyable.
• Friends and Family for making everything worth it.

As a bonus to this post, I will now add a list of things that I am not thankful for.

• Brett Favre and the “big five”
• The price of gas - I understand I have to pay them, but I don’t have to like it.
• Fatheads - I can’t really think of a tackier decorating scheme.
• Taxes and unnecessary/careless government spending.

I’ve heard a lot of talk about the large income gap between your average worker and a company’s top executives. There are many different opinions on the subject, and I’m not going to debate the issue here. I did however read an article that espouses an opinion that I’d never heard before.

In the article, “An Embarrassment of Riches”, Howard Gardener believes that we’ve lost sight of what it means to be rich enough. Unfortunately our society seems to make the assumption that the most accurate measure of success is how much money you have accumulated. It is also sometimes hard to believe that people can be happy without all of the glamour and well to do that we see in the media.

His proposed solution is some form of an income cap. He says that for starters no single person should be allowed to take home annually more than 100 times as much as the average worker. That would put the cap at $4 million if the average wage is $40,000. He also says that no one should be allowed to accumulate an estate worth more than 50 times the allowed annual income. That would put the amount at $200 million.

Now I know there would be many people out there who would think that this is a great idea. They can’t even imagine making that much money, so why should anyone else? People could however make the false connection that limiting someone else’s income would somehow increase their own. Instead of adopting this entitlement attitude believing that something should be taken away from others and given to me, I would rather look to self-sufficiency.

Regardless of your thoughts on the issue, it’s an interesting viewpoint. That being said, let us know what you have to say about it. Would you be in favor of it?