Fake It ‘Til You Make It
Allan Rolnick, CPA Here in America, we’re world champs at “fake it ‘til you make it.” Just look at Anna Delvey (Inventing Anna), Representative George Santos (if that’s really his name), Elizabeth Holmes (scheduled to report to prison by April 27), or Sam Bankman-Fried (cooling his heels under house arrest while he waits to get […]
I Won’t Go, Go, Go
Allan Rolnick, CPA When you were young, mom said, “It’s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye.” But now the rules are different. Now, it’s all fun and games until somebody winds up in rehab, as many actors’ and actresses’ lives are upended by various addictions and vices. As one famous singer said, […]
Monopoly Money
Allan Rolnick, CPA In 1935, Americans were mired in the depths of the Great Depression. Gross domestic product had shrunk from $103.6 billion in 1929 to $73.3 billion. Unemployment stood at a horrendous 20.1%. Even the suicide rate was higher during those dark years. And on February 6th of that year, the Parker Brothers company […]
Quelle Horreur!
Allan Rolnick, CPA Considering how much Americans think about retirement, it’s sometimes hard to realize what a new concept that phase of life really is. It wasn’t too long ago that you worked right up until you died. Or, if you were lucky, you took good care of your kids at the beginning of their […]
Attaboy, Clarence!
Allan Rolnick, CPA In the 1946 movie, It’s A Wonderful Life, Jimmy Stewart plays banker George Bailey, who uses his honeymoon savings to keep his family building and loan afloat after a bank run. Years later, Bailey’s despair over a missing $8,000 drives him to cash in his life insurance, although the story doesn’t end […]
House Poor
Allan Rolnick, CPA This tax season, Americans are grumbling over the usual government forms, bureaucratic red tape, and looming deadlines. But it’s worth stepping back to realize the IRS isn’t responsible for the mess. That fault lies with Congress, where lawmakers spend their days conferring with their constituents, debating weighty issues, marking up legislation, and […]
Tax-Free Bear?
Allan Rolnick, CPA Movie fans can have a tough time finding something new in today’s sea of reboots and sequels. But this weekend, moviegoers were treated to something really different – a truly original comedy-horror destined for B-movie legend that snorted up $23.1 million in its opening weekend. Cocaine Bear asks us to imagine what […]
Tiny Violins
Allan Rolnick, CPA Along time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi warned a young Luke Skywalker that he would “never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy” than the Mos Eisley Spaceport. ObiWan was wrong, of course. That place is Washington, DC, for obvious reasons. However, the […]
The Ol’ Sticky Ricky
Allan Rolnick, CPA The Zen philosopher Basho once said, “A flute without holes is not a flute. And a doughnut without a hole is a Danish.” Even today, Basho’s wisdom serves to remind us that appearances can be deceiving. Things are not always as they seem. And you can’t judge a book by its cover. […]
Strange Coincidences
Allan Rolnick, CPA Right now, crypto scammer Sam Bankman-Fried, the Millennial Bernie Madoff, is wearing an ankle bracelet and cooling his heels in his parents’ $4 million house on Stanford University’s leafy campus. People who know a thing or two about crypto are divided on whether his fall marks a temporary reset for the market […]