| A.
R. Kakhsaz Company
an accountancy corporation
Member
American Institute of
Certified Public Accountants
International associates:
Tavana & Co.
Chartered Accountants
Toronto, Canada
Tel.416-229-2221
|
• What
would you do with $4 billion at 30-something? Larry Page, 31,
and Sergey Brin, 30, creators of Google, could be worth an estimated $4
billion or more each. Google, an Internet search engine, is used by
more than 100 million people a month. Google Inc. has been
profitable since 2001. Last year, the company generated net income
of $106 million, on revenue of $962 million. Now and upon Google's
IPO, the two founders "will become businesses in themselves,"
said a private banking executive who advises more than 100 billionaire
families. "Their life is about to get incredibly
complicated." • Pablo Picasso's 1905 portrait
"Boy With a Pipe," sold for $104.2 million in an auction at
Sotheby's, breaking the record for art set in 1990 at Christie's for
"Portrait of Dr. Gachet," a Vincent van Gogh painting which is
also a century old. The Picasso painting came from the collection of
the late John Hay Whitney, former U.S. ambassador to Britain and
editor-in-chief of the New York Herald Tribune, and his wife Betsey
Cushing Whitney who had amassed one of the world's most important art
collections. The painting cost Mr. Whitney $30,000 in 1950.
The auction of the Whitney collection was done by a secret
auction-financing mechanism called a "global reserve," which
means that Sotheby's risked its own capital. It first bought the
collection outright from the seller. It then had the discretion to
sell each piece for what was bid for it, as long as the total reached the guaranteed
amount. The sale of 34 Whitney owned artworks was expected to bring
$131 million but instead it raised $190 million for 32 of the pieces that
were sold.
• Median net worth of U.S. households
by age as of year 2000
| 75 and older |
$ 100,000 |
| 70-74 |
120,000 |
| 65-69 |
114,000 |
| 55-64 |
112,000 |
| 45-54 |
83,000 |
| 35-44 |
44,000 |
| 34 and younger |
7,000 |
Median is the point where half of the households have
more and the other half have less net worth than the median.
• For more of the Generalist, please visit our website
at ARKCPA.COM.
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• theGeneralist, a one-page monthly
publication of the accounting firm of A. R. Kakhsaz Company,
is in its ninth year of providing information, presented fairly and
accurately, from sources we can depend upon and trust.
• What's your birthday? It matters to the IRS because
numerous tax-law tests depend on your age. Generally you
become a year older on your birthday. The IRS calls this the
"birthday rule," which is really the common-sense
rule. However, the Social Security Administration starts the
clock a day earlier, using what's called the "common-law
rule." Under this interpretation, you become a year older
on the day before your birthday. Who cares? Well,
thousands of Americans born on January 1 care-deeply, as their age
at the end of each year can affect their eligibility for a variety
of tax benefits or other ramifications for the entire year, such as,
for example, the dependency exemptions, child tax credit, dependant
care credit, the adoption credit, the child tax credit, the
earned-income credit, etc. "This confirms Will Roger's
wisdom that the law is frequently a joke."
• President George W. Bush has been quoted as saying:
"A lower voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going
to the polls."
• "I can't sleep." More than 82 million
Americans, that's 40% of teens and adults, suffer from some form of
insomnia. They routinely have trouble falling asleep and
staying asleep. As we age, the quality of our sleep
deteriorates. 54% of people over 55 report insomnia once a
week or more. 51% of adult drivers admit to driving drowsy,
while 17% of them fell asleep at the wheel at least once in the past
year. Sleeplessness is costing the U.S. economy $45 billion a
year in auto accidents, healthcare and lost productivity.
• American express will start issuing its cards in China
by the end of the year.
• Woman over 40 spend 50% more time
playing online games each week than men and even beat teens in
frequency of play.
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• We see more in numbers than just numbers…
Ali R. Kakhsaz, CPA, MAcc
www.arkpca.com
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