DAVENPORT, IA -  River Bend Foodbank Executive Director Tom Laughlin recently announced the hiring of Steve Morenz, of Rock Island, IL, as the organization's first Director of Finance and Human Resources.

"The operations of food banks across the country have changed immensely in the more than 30 years since I was hired as the first Executive Director of the River Bend Foodbank," said Laughlin.  "With increased responsibilities in all aspects of our organization, the time was right to hire someone with the skills and background necessary to not only handle accounting and finance responsibilities but also take a lead role in the hiring and support of other future employees.  Steve is that person."

Having earned a Bachelor of Arts in Finance and a Masters of Business Administration, Morenz has more than 20 years of experience in the field, first in healthcare and eldercare and then with non-profit organizations.  He was most recently the first Director of Finance for the Quad City Symphony Orchestra Association, a position he held for six years.

In 2013, the River Bend Foodbank collected, stored and redistributed nearly 8 million pounds of food to more than 300 charities which serve people in need.  These non-profits include food pantries, soup kitchens and those that manage programs that assist and low-income children and elderly.  The Foodbank serves 17 counties in Illinois and 5 in Iowa.

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Economist Says Trust Fund for Boomers Has Disappeared

 

For many baby boomers, it's comforting to believe that part of the 12.4 percent Social Security payroll tax they (or they and their employer) have been paying is going into a $2.7 trillion Social Security Trust Fund designed specifically to ensure the tidal wave of boomers now retiring will be assured their benefits.

For those already on Social Security, the taxes they pay on a portion of their benefits has also been earmarked for the fund since 1983.

Economist and former professor Allen W. Smith, however, says there is no trust fund - and a number of elected officials, including former President George W. Bush, have acknowledged that.

"To make a long story very short, we are supposed to have $2.7 trillion in Social Security surplus, all earmarked for the baby boomers' retirement, due to money generated by amendments approved in 1983," says Smith, who has researched the topic for 15 years and is author of several books, including "The Looting of Social Security" and "Ronald Reagan and the Great Social Security Heist," (www.thebiglie.net).

"But there's no money in the fund."

Where did it go? Four administrations, from Reagan to George W. Bush, spent it on myriad non-Social Security efforts.

"Obama didn't have a chance to use it - it was gone," Smith says.

The 1983 amendments approved under Reagan generated revenue by accelerating Social Security payroll tax increases, allowing a portion of benefits to be taxed, and delaying cost-of-living adjustments from June to December.

According to the Social Security Administration website:  "The surpluses are invested in (and the trust fund holds) special-issue Treasury bonds."

But what's actually sitting in the Trust Fund is non-marketable government IOUs - worthless, Smith says.

The fact has been publicly acknowledged by a 2009 Social Security trustees report;  Sen. Tom Coburn; and President George W. Bush, who in 2005 said, "There is no trust fund, just IOUs that I saw firsthand ... future generations will pay - pay for either in higher taxes or reduced benefits or cuts to other critical government programs."

Recently, Speaker of the House John Boehner offered a sobering statement on ABC's "This Week," on Oct. 6, 2013: "...Ten thousand baby boomers like me (are) retiring every single day - 70,000 this week; 3.5 million this year. And, it's not like there's money in Social Security or Medicare. The government, over the last 30 years, have spent it all."

Smith examines what needs to happen starting today.

·        Get the secret out. The total cost of paying full benefits in 2010 exceeded Social Security tax revenue by $49 billion, and the gap between revenue and costs will become larger in the coming years. "On Sept. 27, 2000, I appeared on CNN Today to discuss my book, 'The Alleged Budget Surplus, Social Security, and Voodoo Economics;' the host did not take me seriously and asked me if I was 'a voice crying in the wilderness,' " Smith says. "I'd quickly realized that he was right, with the exception of multiple statements by politicians and officials."

·        Get the AARP, NCPSSM and the media involved. The only way the government was able to pay full benefits in 2010 was to borrow billions from China, among other creditors. The public is repeatedly being told by government officials and leaders from the AARP and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare that the trust fund has enough money pay full benefits until 2033. "I have tried engaging the leaders of these organizations with my research, but my attempts have been unsuccessful," Smith says.

·        Get the baby boomers engaged in protesting once again. Boomers are no strangers to taking to the streets to express their outrage. However, "I'm beginning to think that it's going to take missed checks before the public gets raises their voices. Unfortunately, you just don't know what you have until it's gone."

About Allen W. Smith, Ph.D.: Allen W. Smith, (www.thebiglie.net), has devoted much of his adult life to battling economic illiteracy and promoting economic education. He taught economics for 30 years before retiring as professor of economics at Eastern Illinois University in 1998 to become a full-time writer. "Understanding Inflation and Unemployment," Smith's first book, became an alternate selection of Fortune Book Club when it was published in 1976. "Understanding Economics," (Random House; 1986), was used in more than 600 schools in 48 states. In recent years, Smith has focused his research and writing on government finance and Social Security. He has discussed economics and Social Security on national television, and he has been a guest on more than 100 radio talk shows. Smith holds a B.S. in Education degree from Ball State University and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from Indiana University.

CEO Shares Tips for Encouraging Productive Collaboration

In survey after survey, meetings get knocked by everyone from employees to senior executives as being among the biggest waste of work hours.

In one poll, by Office Team, 45 percent of senior executives said their firms would be more productive if they banned all meetings at least one day a week!

"The problem that often occurs - beyond the obvious, like lacking a clear agenda - is the underlying current of competition that each person brings to the table," says Berny Dohrmann, chairman and founder of CEO Space International, and author of "Redemption: The Cooperation Revolution," (www.ceospaceinternational.com).

"Competition pulls people apart; cooperation brings them together. Signs that competition is causing unproductive meetings include one or two people dominating the floor; individuals touting their achievements; people consistently failing to contribute their ideas because they fear being criticized or ridiculed."

The drive to compete is so ingrained in most of us, we often don't recognize it, Dohrmann says.

"We get it culturally. We learn it in school. It's often reinforced within our own families as we're growing up. We have to be aware of that and identify the culture we want, and then set about creating it - beginning with our meetings."

Cooperative meetings yield far better results, he says. People working together toward a goal are more efficient, more productive, and even happier. The group pulling together toward the same goal will achieve that goal far more quickly than individuals each pulling in opposite directions, Dohrmann says.

How can you turn competition into cooperation - and wasted meetings into fruitful gatherings? He offers these suggestions:

• Begin instituting culture change by rewarding cooperative behavior. When someone makes a suggestion that can help another individual or department, publicly acknowledge and praise that teamwork. Encourage inter-departmental interest, empathy and even personal bonds by allowing employees from one area to shadow employees from another. Remind everyone that when one department succeeds, everyone succeeds. Look for managers and employees who tend to be naturally cooperative and enlist them as mentors and leaders to encourage and spread the new culture.

• Identify and curb competitive behavior in meetings. Avoid discouraging the behavior with tactics that rely on public criticism, scorn or ridicule. Rather, set egalitarian standards, such as time limits for each person to speak, and stick to them. When someone strays off topic, discern whether he or she is sharing a potentially valuable idea or seeking a personal competitive advantage (i.e. by laying blame, self-promoting, etc.) before steering him back on topic.

• Participation is essential to cooperation. Require everyone to participate in meetings. Circulate the agenda in advance with the stated expectation that each attendee will come to the table prepared to address at least one item - even if it's not an item within their area of responsibility. Participation is a key component of a cooperative work group and making it the norm is often as simple as getting everyone into the habit.

About Berny Dohrmann

Berny Dohrmann is chairman and founder of CEO Space International, one of the largest support organizations for business owners. As the inventor of Super Teaching, a Title I technology that accelerates retention for public schools, he is a frequently a guest speaker to various nations, VIP conferences and television programs. As a member of the Dohrmann family, which operated the largest global resort-outfitting firm as Dohrmann Hotel Supply for several generations, he grew up with several business mentors, including Napoleon Hill, Earl Nightingale, Walt Disney, Warner Earnhardt, Bucky Fuller, Dr. Edward Deming and Jack Kennedy. He has learned from both success and adversity: Indicted for criminal contempt for a $86,000 junk bund from an investment banking firm he had sold, he fought the charge in court, but lost in 1995 and went to prison for 18 months. He has since made a documentary about the experience.

Q:        Is there a one-stop shop for frequently asked questions during tax filing season?

A: The Nobel-winning physicist Albert Einstein reportedly said, "the hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax."  That's something coming from the man whose last name is interchangeable with genius.  The Presidents' Day holiday weekend typically kicks off the busiest weeks of tax filing season leading up to the tax-filing deadline on April 15, 2014.  The IRS encourages taxpayers to visit IRS.gov as the easiest, fastest, most convenient way to get answers.  The IRS also launched a daily tax tips service that taxpayers may access for free by e-mail subscription.  Through April 15, the IRS will send daily, easy-to-read tips on frequently asked questions that affect millions of taxpayers.  The daily reminders offer insight into often-overlooked tax credits or deductions, consumer alerts, refunds, etc.  Visit IRS.gov for more information.  One of the biggest tips may be to file electronically if possible.  According to the IRS nearly 120 million taxpayers chose to file their tax returns electronically last year.  The IRS says it is the safest, fastest and easiest way to submit individual tax returns.  Since 1990, taxpayers have e-filed more than 1 billion Form 1040 series tax returns.

 

Q:        What is the Free File program and is it affiliated with the IRS?

A:        Yes.  Taxpayers who qualify for this program will find it an efficient, user-friendly tool to help them prepare, complete and e-file their 2013 federal tax returns free-of-charge.  Since 2003, the IRS has partnered with a coalition of 14 private-sector tax software providers to offer free tax prep and electronic filing options for individual taxpayers.  Those with adjusted gross incomes in 2013 of $58,000 or less may qualify to use this service.  That makes 70 percent of U.S. taxpayers eligible to take advantage of this free-of-charge, online tax preparation service.  In the last decade, 40 million taxpayers have filed their federal taxes through Free File.

 

Q:        How do eligible taxpayers access this service?

A:        First, taxpayers must have access to a computer and the Internet.  Then, go to www.IRS.gov/freefile to take a look at the brand-name software companies from which you may choose to prepare and e-file your federal tax return for free.  Once you have selected the tax software provider, you will be directed to that company's website.  From there, the company will provide step-by-step online assistance to answer tax law questions and resolve technical issues.  The participating companies offer the most commonly filed tax forms through this service.  Tax refunds may be issued within 10 days.  The online service is available in English and Spanish.  Taxpayers who are above the income limits and who do not require tax preparation assistance may access Free File's basic e-filing service.  Go to www.IRS.gov/freefile to find the Free File Fillable Forms to complete and file electronically.  All participating Free File Alliance companies are subject to privacy standards in accordance with Treasury Department regulations and may not use or disclose tax return information without consent of the taxpayer.

 

Q:        What help is available for taxpayers who don't have access to a computer?

A:        According to a recent internal watchdog report, the IRS answered only six in 10 phone calls from taxpayers seeking help in the last fiscal year.  That added up to nearly 20 million unanswered phone calls.  Taxpayers who did get through were put on hold on average 17.6 minutes.  For taxpayers below a certain income and older taxpayers who don't have access to a computer, two volunteer-based programs are available throughout local communities across the country, offering tax assistance through April 15.  The IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) Programs offer free tax help for taxpayers who qualify.  These programs offer face-to-face help with simple tax return questions.  VITA offers help to people who make $52,000 or less.  TCE gives priority assistance to people age 60 and older.  To locate a VITA site in your area, call toll-free (800) 906-9887.  To locate the nearest TCE site, call toll-free (888) 227-7669.

 

Q:        Does the IRS need more money to better serve taxpayers?

A: From my assignment on the Senate Finance Committee, which has legislative and oversight jurisdiction over the Internal Revenue Service, the IRS for years has come to Congress asking for more money to do its job.  As with any federal agency, the IRS often attributes poor performance to under-funding.  But wasteful employee conferences and a reluctance to embrace whistleblowers who expose tax fraud are examples of how the agency could and should do more with its existing resources before seeking more money.  I'll continue to look for ways to improve customer service at the IRS and ensure the agency offers the most bang for the taxpayers' buck.

 

Friday, February 14, 2014