TOP DRAWER INK NEWSLETTER

 

Here's the latest issue of Top Drawer Ink, the newsletter written by author HL Carpenter that's chock full of humor and common sense information.

Share the fun! You may re-distribute Top Drawer Ink as long as the entire newsletter is left intact. Please respect our copyrights.

Top Drawer Ink is self-syndicated. Send reprint, licensing, syndication or other inquiries to editor -at- TopDrawerInkCorp.com.

***

September 5, 2009
Volume 7, Number 17
ISSN 1554-6330

In this issue:

1. Carpenter Country
2. Top Drawer Article
3. Top Drawer Tips
4. Top Drawer Satire

***

CARPENTER COUNTRY
What's Happening in Our Neck of the Human Experience

 

In Carpenter Country, this has been the summer of home repairs. It started with a new kitchen floor and ended with shelf paper.

In between there was the shutter, the back storm door, the deck, the sliding door and the kitchen sink with faucet.

The shutter popped off the house when the short one let the back door slam. A simple repair job, right ... except Home Fix-it had to special order the color.

By the time the factory-fresh trim-up was attached to the house, the back storm door had cracked. A somewhat bigger job, but thanks to the able repairman the task was manageable.

No sooner had the storm door been installed and the guy with the tools hugged for his effort, then the short one stepped out to the deck and a board gave way.

“What the heck,” the repairman said. “Should be a simple patch job.” He removed the broken two by four only to find - yup, you guessed it - every plank needed to be replaced.

Two weeks and much hammering later, the short one looked out on a renovated deck. But by now the glass in the sliding door had clouded over.

The repairman was getting cranky. On the other hand, the manager at Home Fix-it started smiling as soon as she saw him drive up.

Luckily, the slider took only a day to set in place. Another job well done, the short one thought ...

... just before she noticed the kitchen faucet was leaking.

(Like Pauline tied to the railroad tracks, this part of the saga ends with: To Be Continued. The short one hopes you’ll tune in for Part Two: The Shelf Paper Repair Job – to be featured in the next issue of Top Drawer Ink.)

***

TOP DRAWER ARTICLE

Offshore Bank Account Glossary
by
HL Carpenter

 

You’ve probably read the media coverage about the recent agreements between the US government and foreign countries concerning Americans with offshore bank accounts.

If you’re following the unfolding details and are unfamiliar with the lingo, here’s a short glossary.

Read the entire article here

***

TOP DRAWER TIPS
Topics and Tidbits

 

Tip: Under current US federal tax law, as a US citizen or resident you’re required to report all financial accounts in a foreign country if the total value of the accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. A willful failure to report a foreign account can result in a penalty of up to 50% of the amount in the account at the time of the violation.

Glossary Term: Foreign Financial Account. Generally any account in which the assets are held in a commingled fund and the account owner holds an equity interest in the fund is considered a foreign financial account. The definition can include bank, securities, or other financial accounts in a foreign country, including mutual funds.

Financial Horoscope: There’s no amnesty from poor results generated by basing investment decisions on fluctuations in the stock market. Fortunately, when your financial strategy is grounded in sound principles you don’t need a pardon from anyone.

***

TOP DRAWER SATIRE

The Washington Conflict
by
HL Carpenter

 

Americans are losing patience with the war. In a recent poll, nine of ten Americans agreed the country should abandon the bitter conflict currently raging in Washington DC.

Read the rest here