Daily Intent

I have always been under the belief that CEOs deserve to be compensated well.  They are responsible for often thousands of people’s livelihoods.  The stress levels they bear.  The time away from their families.  The decades of experience and time they’ve put into their company.  The position isn’t for many.

However, the excess of bonuses when one has under performed dramatically.  The abuse of the average American worker.    The abuse of the American taxpayer.  Do they really need more than a $1M per year?   Shouldn’t these extra dollars be going back into the company?  Back into the community?

At $1M you can buy an extremely nice home in the most desirable places in the country.  You can buy second homes.  You can send your children to nice institutions.  You can travel the globe with the highest of amenities.

>From my experience, these men and women are like a Michael Jordan or Lebron James.  They love what they do.  They love the thrill, the competition, the challenge, the victories.  The compensation is icing on the cake; however they would still do it even without the millions. 

This isn’t a teacher’s salary we are talking about.  We aren’t debating whether we’d lose the brightest minds to other professions because a CEOs pay of $1M isn’t enough to live off of.  This is more than enough to live a GREAT life.

We must always remember, no man or woman is irreplaceable in business.  There are many great minds and great visionaries.  Microsoft is still functioning well without Bill Gates.  This isn’t to say there are better CEOs than others.  Hence, the reason this debate is difficult and multilayered.  I don’t think capping the salaries are the right solution.

Maybe just challenging our business leaders to have common sense.  To understand that they are irreplaceable.  That they should reinvest  the dollars they receive over $1M per year into their workers, their companies, their communities.  That they should play their career like a college basketball player amidst March Madness. To understand they often do great things which we do appreciate.   They do make our lives often better.  But getting paid as if they are irreplaceable seems irresponsible.

What do you think?

Be sure to get your brackets in by this Wednesday morning.  Games start that evening.

Buzzword: Intaxification
“Slang that describes the feeling of satisfaction and joy that a tax refund creates in a person. This feeling is somewhat misguided because the tax is only refunded because the person paid too much tax during the previous year.

While it may be more emotionally uplifting to receive a tax refund after tax season compared to having less tax removed from each paycheck, a tax refund, logically, is less desirable than owing tax. This means that you have given the government an interest-free loan; you paid out a little bit extra from each paycheck to the government and at the end of the next tax season, you receive the same amount back.”  Investopedia.com

I love this one as we can all relate.  Note: get your taxes done!

  Six Points to Ponder:

   1. The Federal Reserve Meeting is today and tomorrow.
   2. Markets performed fantastically last week.  The Dow up to 7258.  S&P 500 at 761 and the Nasdaq up to 1426.  Oil up slightly, $48.
   3. More than 70 AIG employees got bonuses of $1 million or more.
   4. It’s St Patrick’s Day and the Irish Premier is at the White House.
   5. Housing starts nationwide rise amidst new condo construction.
   6. March Madness.  Louisville ranked number 1 overall.   Sports guy Lucas claims, “Butler is going all the way.  Not!”

Positives:

    * The interest rates should remain unchanged.  The Fed notes are helpful to comprehending what is really going on in our markets and what is expected moving forward.  Tomorrow we’ll have further knowledge of the economic status of the USA.
    * The lower markets have allowed for cheap buys.  When the Dow goes up as it has over the last week, your shares in these companies really benefit.
    * Builders are beginning to slowly get things going again.  This data seems to be quite skewed.  Take it with a huge grain of salt.  Watch the quarterly stats.
    * The comebacks, the amazing heroics, the upsets.  All coming to the next week’s near you.

Negatives:

    * The Irish Premier is missing out on the greatest day in Ireland, honoring Guinness and Irish Shamrocks cookies.  What is he thinking?
    * AIG receiving $150Bn in government money, aka your tax payer dollars, and using part of it to pay out bonuses to people that made big and poor decisions over the last few years.  They haven’t led to the betterment of their company, thus shouldn’t be compensated for such lack of vision and doings.

Services: Getting a loan
Can anyone qualify?  You would be surprise how many people are qualifying right now.  Be the one to take action and find out where you stand with regards to homeownership.  You may be 5 years away, but this is great information for you to know.  It gives you a tangible goal to go after with a deeper knowledge of how to get there.

Local:

Catalyst - “Invest in Your Self.  Invest in Your Community”
Where: Stateside
When: Tuesday, March 24th. 6pm
Cost: $10 online.  $15 at the door
Why: All proceeds go to the non-profit  Opportunity International.  Listen to David Jay, a local very successful entrepreneur.  Expand your mind.  Support your community.  And meet others interested in the same.  This will be an excellent event.  www.catalystsb.org

Live and Be Well,

Jeff Bochsler