"A bull market is like sex. It feels best just before it ends."
-BARTON BIGGS'S

At least this is true for men, I can't speak for women.  They also have something else in common, they're both highly emotional and cause people to lose their fucking minds!

-CC

If you plan to claim a deduction for your medical expenses, there are some new rules this year that may affect your tax return. Here are eight things you should know about the medical and dental expense deduction:

1. AGI threshold increase.  Starting in 2013, the amount of allowable medical expenses you must exceed before you can claim a deduction is 10 percent of your adjusted gross income. The threshold was 7.5 percent of AGI in prior years.

2. Temporary exception for age 65.  The AGI threshold is still 7.5 percent of your AGI if you or your spouse is age 65 or older. This exception will apply through Dec. 31, 2016.

3. You must itemize.  You can only claim your medical and dental expenses if you itemize deductions on your federal tax return. You can’t claim these expenses if you take the standard deduction.

4. Paid in 2013. You can include only the expenses you paid in 2013. If you paid by check, the day you mailed or delivered the check is usually considered the date of payment.

5. Costs to include.  You can include most medical or dental costs that you paid for yourself, your spouse and your dependents. Some exceptions and special rules apply. Any costs reimbursed by insurance or other sources don’t qualify for a deduction.

6. Expenses that qualify.  You can include the costs of diagnosing, treating, easing or preventing disease. The cost of insurance premiums that you pay for policies that cover medical care qualifies, as does the cost of some long-term care insurance. The cost of prescription drugs and insulin also qualify. For more examples of costs you can deduct, see IRS Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses.

7. Travel costs count.  You may be able to claim the cost of travel for medical care. This includes costs such as public transportation, ambulance service, tolls and parking fees. If you use your car, you can deduct either the actual costs or the standard mileage rate for medical travel. The rate is 24 cents per mile for 2013.

8. No double benefit.  You can’t claim a tax deduction for medical and dental expenses you paid with funds from your Health Savings Accounts or Flexible Spending Arrangements. Amounts paid with funds from those plans are usually tax-free.


-IRS Newsletter

In the rat race that we've come to know as the American Life, things have changed dramatically since the 1950's.  The Greatest Generation that went through the Great Depression and then signed up in droves to fight in WWII wanted their children to experience the abundance that they never had.  This sense of entitlement and desire for more and more has since been carried on to future generations.  

For most of human history humans may have been caught up in the desire to accumulate, but it wasn't simple material possessions it was in the form of assets or wealth.  How much land did you have?  How much cattle did you have?  How many positive cash flow businesses did you have?  The entire pursuit of these assets were of course two things, power and women.  Although I think the power issue could ultimately be linked back to women as well.  And from their ultimately to child rearing, thus spreading your wild oats to pass on your genetics.  Genghis Khan had 40 sons after all.  According to DNA record there have been 16,000,000 of his descendants over the past 800 years.  Quite impressive Mr. Khan! 

Things have changed though.  You're not arguably the greatest conquerer of all time and there were no retirement plans back then.  So change your mindset!  Instead of buying garages full of crap that you don't need and will eventually fill up a landfill.  If it makes you feel better buy for quality and not quantity.  Just make sure it's true quality.  Toyotas and Hondas actually have better quality ratings than Mercedes and BMW.

If you know for a fact that you're going to use a product for many years and decades to come, then there's nothing wrong with buying the high quality product.  Hell in the long wrong it'll probably save you money.  This applies to things like power tools, tires, appliances, beds, computers, pots/pans, yard equipment, etc.