What can you do about taxes?

iStock_000003636571Small Hand OutThe first step toward successful investing in uncertain times is to preserve as much of your income as humanly possible. We’re talking about taxes. Love ‘em, hate ‘em, or even believe they’re unconstitutional – doesn’t matter – you’ll get in a lot of trouble if you don’t pay them. Even worse, your government taxes are going to fund programs you may not care for or might even be morally opposed to! Doesn’t matter. Pay up, buddy.

Do you like the fact your property taxes go to fund schools with a 50% failure rate? How can we be so bad at this? You’d think a blind hyena and half retarded chimpanzee could do better.

How do you stop the government from digging so deeply into your wallet? The secret to success in this area is to locate every single little legal deduction you can find and wring it for all it’s worth.

Another idea is shop online or buy used items. This is a perfectly legal way to do an end run around state sales tax. Yes, you will pay shipping and handling online but at least that money is going (theoretically) to a hard working citizen and not another eternal government program.

Some modern survivalists go so far as to set up non-profit corporations to funnel funds into causes they really care about. Think back through an average day. How many times do you contribute to the river of cash flowing into government’s hands? Plenty. When you fill up on gas, buy flowers, chow down on a super-sized #6 at McDonalds, etc. Every dollar you spend goes toward empowering your government masters.

Granted, you’re going to have to spend money some times but why not take the opportunity to lower your personal tax burden when you have the chance? And, of course, a good accountant can work wonders.

The Holistic Survival Team