A Smart System for Thinning Junk Mail; Smart Thoughts on Roth IRA Conversions September 8, 2004February 27, 2017 AH STAND CORRECTED! Brad: ‘You write of Zell Miller: ‘And then, a little later, he challenged CNBC’s Chris Matthews to a duel.’ Wrong. He said he wished he lived in a time when he COULD challenge Matthews to a duel.’ ☞ You are absolutely right. A SMART SYSTEM FOR JUNK MAIL Alec T. Whittaker: ‘I have no middle initial. When I buy anything or respond in a way that suggests my name might become public, I add an initial. ‘T’ for Tobias means that any mail I get from you (if you had my address) goes straight into the trash and I’m not in danger of junking something important.’ WE COULDA BEEN SMARTER Mark Phariss: ‘Bush’s principal argument for re-election is his war on terrorism, but in fact that’s one of the principal reasons he should NOT be re-elected. Leading up to 9/11, Bush downgraded his terrorism czar to a sub-cabinet level position and ignored intelligence reports informing him that Osama bin Laden wanted to attack in the US. After 9/11, he didn’t go in for the kill at Tora Bora, allowing Osama bin Laden to escape. He pursued a war in Iraq that had nothing to do with 9/11, diverting our attention from the war on terrorism and Osama bin Laden, as Bush’s father’s own national security adviser said it would, inflaming the Muslim world, and creating thousands of new terrorists. His evident disdain for other nations’ views, both before and after 9/11, has made it more difficult for us to get international support in our war on terrorism. ‘Simply saying Bush ‘misled’ us into a war with Iraq – though true – does not connect the dots on why that UNDERMINES our war on terrorism.’ ☞ And let’s not forget that he opposed creation of a Homeland Security department for nine months . . . opposed creation of the 9/11 Commission . . . and has extremely close ties to the Saudis, who may not be the great allies we would like to think they are. Dana Dlott: ‘The G.O.P’s position, as far as I can tell, is that if a Democrat had been president in 1941 we would have lost WWII. It’s a good thing Kerry voted against the B-1 bomber. Costing more than $200 million per copy, this dog crashes repeatedly and has been so useless that since it was put in service 20 years ago it has done nothing worth note. The B-1 has been a disaster. It isn’t stealthy, its electronic warfare systems don’t work correctly, and its support costs are astronomical. The Serbs – no one’s idea of world-class adversaries – managed to shoot decoys of them nine times, forcing changes in attack plans. The Air Force would rather fly 50 year old B-52 junkers than this clunker. ‘John Kerry votes for a bill. The Republicans say, Hmmm, this is something the Democrats support, let’s load it up with a bunch of pork amendments and crazy right-wing rhetoric and have another vote. Then Kerry votes against the ridiculous amended bill. This isn’t flip flopping, this is being smart.’ SMART THOUGHTS ON ROTH IRA CONVERSIONS Many of you know that the estimable Less Antman, whose asterisk blinks eternally at upper left on this page (‘Ask Less’), is a wonderfully smart and witty financial advisor. The latest issue of his newsletter begins: One of my favorite uses of the Roth IRA is to turn a year or two of low income into an opportunity to save enormous amounts of income tax (and possibly estate tax) [by converting some or all of a regular retirement into a Roth IRA]. To read the whole thing and, doubtless, learn a good deal about retirement accounts, click here. To sign up for his (free) newsletter, click here.