More Follow Up

For those who have sent me their estimates of my federal taxes to debunk the 28% claim I made in a My Two Cents last week--I wish doing my taxes was as easy as you make it sound. In order to get the proper percentage, you will need to get Form 8606 for conversion of standard IRA's and 401k's from previous employers to Roth IRA's. You will also need Schedule D for the capital gains taxes on the sale of employee stock options without holding them at least a year. And you will also need Schedule SE for income derived from self-employment. (Referees are considered "independent contractors"--not the employees of the schools where we work games--and there is no withholdings on that income.) Once you get the 18-pages that we sent in completed on your own--let me know and I'll let you know how close you were. Also factor in--we don't have kids to claim or student interest to write off--and we bought our house too early to claim the credit for that. Be sure to include what is withheld for Medicare and Social Security (Those are taxes too!) You should come up with 27.6 %

Speaking of taxes, we could see a nice break in the future if we get placement of an adopted child. The Adoption Tax Credit is just over 12-thousand dollars--going to more than 13-thousand in 2011. Thank you to Congress for extending the credit--there was serious concern it would be allowed to expire all together.

Following up on the NFL Draft, apparently Draftniks were able to get the night off of work delivering Chinese food--as ESPN's coverage beat a couple of network tv shows in the ratings Thursday night. Now there is a thought of taking the Draft on the road every year--holding it at stadiums on a rotating basis. How many people do you think would turn out for the Draft at Lambeau Field? And how many hours before the Draft would they open the parking lots for tailgating?

Toby Gerhart was apparently given accurate information by the scouts--because he is a "white running back" he was taken by the Lions in the 2nd round. Let's hope he doesn't get converted into an "H-back" or a fullback and is given a chance to be a featured tailback.

Meanwhile, Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle fell all the way to the last pick of the 6th round. Michael Wilbon sounded off on "Pardon the Interruption" last night--claiming NFL executives and coaches don't know how to handle someone who doesn't fit the "stereotypical" format of black athletes. So they get downgraded for "having too many interests". Wilbon says he will root harder for no one more than Myron Rolle from now on. I will too.