#9888
05/15/13
What is best e-mail?
A week or so ago was the suggestion it would be better to sign up for electron bank statements where the bank sents one an e-mail that the statement is available on the bank web site. This would avoid regular mail and e-mail statements and thus be more secure. Then saw an article elsewhere (can't find now) that said to not use web based e-mail (yahoo, etc.)
I have been using yahoo, ease of use from anywhere, now not sure is good idea. What are your ideas, or is there a blog site like yours focused on computer questions/issues?
Thanks for any ideas.
Robert, Detroit, Michigan Age: 70
A week or so ago was the suggestion it would be better to sign up for electron bank statements where the bank sents one an e-mail that the statement is available on the bank web site. This would avoid regular mail and e-mail statements and thus be more secure. Then saw an article elsewhere (can't find now) that said to not use web based e-mail (yahoo, etc.)
I have been using yahoo, ease of use from anywhere, now not sure is good idea. What are your ideas, or is there a blog site like yours focused on computer questions/issues?
Thanks for any ideas.
Robert, Detroit, Michigan Age: 70
This may be overkill but I personally avoid any banking connections online.
#9887
05/15/13
NetTalk Update
This is an update to information I shared with you in June of 2012. Approximately one yeasr ago I purchased a NetTalk VOIP device for $60.00 from Walmart (ordered on-line and picked up at store paying cash). Thus no link to me other than what I provided for the 911 required service.
Now it is time to pay for a second year of service ($30.00). I discovered that the only way is with a credit card or paypal. As a result there is now more information linking the phone number to me. Just be prepared to renew online with a tested private method to make the payment.
This proves once again Jack's wisdom to set up and test things before you need them.
Robert, Detroit, Michigan Age: 70
This is an update to information I shared with you in June of 2012. Approximately one yeasr ago I purchased a NetTalk VOIP device for $60.00 from Walmart (ordered on-line and picked up at store paying cash). Thus no link to me other than what I provided for the 911 required service.
Now it is time to pay for a second year of service ($30.00). I discovered that the only way is with a credit card or paypal. As a result there is now more information linking the phone number to me. Just be prepared to renew online with a tested private method to make the payment.
This proves once again Jack's wisdom to set up and test things before you need them.
Robert, Detroit, Michigan Age: 70
#9886
05/14/13
Re: #9873 Retirement and Travel
Instead of wasting allot of money staying in hotels and vacation rentals, why not purchase a nice used RV to travel the country in. There are plenty that are as nice or better than any hotel and you will have all your possessions with you and no need to keep packing them up and moving them every few weeks. There are endless possibilities on where you can stay with the RV since it is self contained and tracking you would be nearly impossible if you so desired. You can purchase a nice used RV for a great price.
John, Va Beach, Va Age: 40
Instead of wasting allot of money staying in hotels and vacation rentals, why not purchase a nice used RV to travel the country in. There are plenty that are as nice or better than any hotel and you will have all your possessions with you and no need to keep packing them up and moving them every few weeks. There are endless possibilities on where you can stay with the RV since it is self contained and tracking you would be nearly impossible if you so desired. You can purchase a nice used RV for a great price.
John, Va Beach, Va Age: 40
#9885
05/14/13
abandoned properties ebook
This is more of a comment but I noticed the ebook titled Double Your Money With Abandoned Properties on Amazon. I am not sure if it is an error but it is not currently mentioned anywhere on your website or blog as far as I can tell. Just thought I would bring that to your attention. Looking forward to the updated version of Invisible Money as well.
chris, rochester, NY Age: 32
This is more of a comment but I noticed the ebook titled Double Your Money With Abandoned Properties on Amazon. I am not sure if it is an error but it is not currently mentioned anywhere on your website or blog as far as I can tell. Just thought I would bring that to your attention. Looking forward to the updated version of Invisible Money as well.
chris, rochester, NY Age: 32
I will mention it to all readers on my email list, in due time.
#9883
05/14/13
Bank requiring address verification
Just thought I'd pass this along to everyone...Wood(s) Forest Bank DOES require address verification when opening an account, along with various other situations. Due to a death in the family, I've had to step-in and help tend to some unfinished business of the deceased person. There's a need to access an account set up there. The short version of this is, there's been a LOT of hassle that could have been avoided. I do NOT recommend this bank for anyone wanting privacy.
Keith, Galveston, AL Age: 41
Just thought I'd pass this along to everyone...Wood(s) Forest Bank DOES require address verification when opening an account, along with various other situations. Due to a death in the family, I've had to step-in and help tend to some unfinished business of the deceased person. There's a need to access an account set up there. The short version of this is, there's been a LOT of hassle that could have been avoided. I do NOT recommend this bank for anyone wanting privacy.
Keith, Galveston, AL Age: 41
#9881
05/13/13
Flat broke
In your ebook Flat Broke in chapter six you mention a woman working from home selling sea glass. Well there is no sea glass here in Arizona but we do have tumbleweeds by the acre and one woman started an online business selling these weeds at tuumbleweedsforsale.com and she actually make money at it! Your wisdom is correct in this book about selling something when your flat broke!
URL #1: tumbleweedsforsale.com
bud, phoenix, az Age: 40
In your ebook Flat Broke in chapter six you mention a woman working from home selling sea glass. Well there is no sea glass here in Arizona but we do have tumbleweeds by the acre and one woman started an online business selling these weeds at tuumbleweedsforsale.com and she actually make money at it! Your wisdom is correct in this book about selling something when your flat broke!
URL #1: tumbleweedsforsale.com
bud, phoenix, az Age: 40
#9880
05/12/13
Land purchase w/ NM LLC
I was planning on putting land that I will have paid for in cash in an NM LLC. The contract to purchase with payments for one year and one large balloon payment due at end of that term, is in my name. I was going to make a bank certified check in the amount of final payment. On those you can make the Check to and from whoever you want. So is it better to have title put in LLC at closing or to leave it in my name transfer it after closing? Thanks
Bryan, Candler, NC Age: 38
I was planning on putting land that I will have paid for in cash in an NM LLC. The contract to purchase with payments for one year and one large balloon payment due at end of that term, is in my name. I was going to make a bank certified check in the amount of final payment. On those you can make the Check to and from whoever you want. So is it better to have title put in LLC at closing or to leave it in my name transfer it after closing? Thanks
Bryan, Candler, NC Age: 38
Please contact Rosie via email, as she is more up to date on questions where mortgages are involved.
#9879
05/11/13
Apple deluged by police demarnds to decrypt iPhones
Another warning against smart phones.
URL #1: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57583843-38/apple-deluged-by-police-demands-to-decrypt-iphones/
Michele, Chicago, IL Age: 44
Another warning against smart phones.
URL #1: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57583843-38/apple-deluged-by-police-demands-to-decrypt-iphones/
Michele, Chicago, IL Age: 44
#9873
05/10/13
Retirement and travel
Mr. Luna: After a lifetime of hard work and saving (plus some investments that fortunately did very well), my wife and I are ready to retire. We would like to sell our home and travel around the country, staying in vacation rentals and extended-stay hotels for as long as we're able. We'll stay from two weeks to two months in any city and then move on.
We don't have any enemies or stalkers or anything like that, but we would like to protect ourselves from relatives and "old friends" who like to sponge off us. We'll still keep in touch with our son, and he knows not to tell anyone our whereabouts.
I've read "How to be Invisible" and we've already "moved" to a private mailbox address that can forward our mail anywhere.
Do you have any additional advice for full-time travelers? Is it possible, or even necessary, to book hotel rooms or vacation homes under an alias? Or would that just look suspicious when we check in and our ID/credit card name doesn't match the name we give them?
Since we won't stay long in any one place, do we need to worry about debit card or ATM records?
Thanks so much for any help you can offer.
Adam, Dayton, OH Age: 66
Mr. Luna: After a lifetime of hard work and saving (plus some investments that fortunately did very well), my wife and I are ready to retire. We would like to sell our home and travel around the country, staying in vacation rentals and extended-stay hotels for as long as we're able. We'll stay from two weeks to two months in any city and then move on.
We don't have any enemies or stalkers or anything like that, but we would like to protect ourselves from relatives and "old friends" who like to sponge off us. We'll still keep in touch with our son, and he knows not to tell anyone our whereabouts.
I've read "How to be Invisible" and we've already "moved" to a private mailbox address that can forward our mail anywhere.
Do you have any additional advice for full-time travelers? Is it possible, or even necessary, to book hotel rooms or vacation homes under an alias? Or would that just look suspicious when we check in and our ID/credit card name doesn't match the name we give them?
Since we won't stay long in any one place, do we need to worry about debit card or ATM records?
Thanks so much for any help you can offer.
Adam, Dayton, OH Age: 66
Unless a PI has been hired to keep track of you, I fail to see a problem. I suppose that if you were known to be in a small town, someone could call each motel and hotel and ask for you, but I assume that is not likely.
#9872
05/08/13
Elance or Odesk for nominees?
What do you think about finding nominees on sites like Elance or Odesk? They are reputation based systems. You can pay by an anonymous gift card. The sites take their commissions.
Jack, London, UK Age: 45
What do you think about finding nominees on sites like Elance or Odesk? They are reputation based systems. You can pay by an anonymous gift card. The sites take their commissions.
Jack, London, UK Age: 45
I would never use a nominee that I had not met personally, face to face. Even better is to use someone you've known and trusted for many years.
#9871
05/08/13
Ghost address
This is not a question, but rather useful information I have learned that I would like to pass on to others. I always had anxiety about how to find a ghost address until this really happened in my life.
When I first moved to the Bay area, where my ex-husband lived, I could not afford to live in an apartment. So I lived in the cheapest motel I could find at the time. I lived in Motel 6�¢ï¿½ï¿½s. I found out two very important things about living in Motel 6�¢ï¿½ï¿½s that would also probably apply to other motel chains as well. My husband abused me and still to this day has a compulsion to stalk me through the use of PI�¢ï¿½ï¿½s and my children to know where I live, so my privacy was extremely important to me. And to this day, thanks to being a loyal followed of the things I learned in �¢ï¿½ï¿½How to Be Invisible�¢ï¿½ï¿½, he has never been able to find me. I even remember in court his lawyer having a hissy fit before the judge saying they hired more than 1 PI and no one could find me. He told the judge no one lives without being findable. I had nothing, ... no electric bill, no phone bill, no credit card, nothing! He was so angry. But inside I was smiling. : ) Even today, I have a checking account only, but each month, I take out all the money I get from social security disability and use only cash. So I can not be tracked even by my bank statements. And if I need something sent to me, I have it sent to my PO Box. Even FedEx now delivers to the local post office for pick up if it can�¢ï¿½ï¿½t be delivered.
I digressed, but getting back to the important things I learned. The first thing I learned about living in Motel 6 is that the police every night go through the occupant list of people staying there that night to execute any warrants. I learned this the hard way when one morning, at like 4 am, SWAT was at the door of the occupant next door to me yelling for him to open the door with guns drawn. It was a very scary situation for me, and I was always very thankful I could travel with my dog, a Lhasa Apso. Motel 6 allows pets to stay in the rooms with you, and my dog was an excellent guard dog, barking only when necessary and not hesitating to aggressively protect me by biting, only if necessary. I recommend anyone in my situation to do the same and travel with a dog.
The other thing I learned is that after staying 30 days at the Motel 6, they consider it to be a rental situation. There is no lease involved and you can still pay by the day, week or month, although monthly is better since they usually give a reduced rate. Taxes are also not charged after 30 days. With this, I took a receipt of my stay to the USPS to obtain a PO Box. After 30 days, the USPS considers this to be a �¢ï¿½ï¿½permanent �¢ï¿½ï¿½ address and will issue you a PO Box. I then kept using the Motel 6 as my permanent address with the USPS even after I left Motel 6, since none of my mail ever came there.
After I obtained a PO Box, I went to the DMV and had my drivers license and vehicle registered. They also considered Motel 6 to be my �¢ï¿½ï¿½permanent�¢ï¿½ï¿½ address and the PO Box as my �¢ï¿½ï¿½mailing address�¢ï¿½ï¿½. So everything from the DMV came to my mailing address, and on my driver�¢ï¿½ï¿½s license, my address listed is my PO Box. This has been my situation since 2007 to this day. I have been asked to see my driver�¢ï¿½ï¿½s license many times, even by officers of the law, and the only information listed on it is my PO Box, no permanent address without any problems. For me, since I have actually moved from that PO Box to another, it is as good as a passport for ID situations where no one can follow up on where I actually live.
Leah, Bay Area, CA Age: 54
This is not a question, but rather useful information I have learned that I would like to pass on to others. I always had anxiety about how to find a ghost address until this really happened in my life.
When I first moved to the Bay area, where my ex-husband lived, I could not afford to live in an apartment. So I lived in the cheapest motel I could find at the time. I lived in Motel 6�¢ï¿½ï¿½s. I found out two very important things about living in Motel 6�¢ï¿½ï¿½s that would also probably apply to other motel chains as well. My husband abused me and still to this day has a compulsion to stalk me through the use of PI�¢ï¿½ï¿½s and my children to know where I live, so my privacy was extremely important to me. And to this day, thanks to being a loyal followed of the things I learned in �¢ï¿½ï¿½How to Be Invisible�¢ï¿½ï¿½, he has never been able to find me. I even remember in court his lawyer having a hissy fit before the judge saying they hired more than 1 PI and no one could find me. He told the judge no one lives without being findable. I had nothing, ... no electric bill, no phone bill, no credit card, nothing! He was so angry. But inside I was smiling. : ) Even today, I have a checking account only, but each month, I take out all the money I get from social security disability and use only cash. So I can not be tracked even by my bank statements. And if I need something sent to me, I have it sent to my PO Box. Even FedEx now delivers to the local post office for pick up if it can�¢ï¿½ï¿½t be delivered.
I digressed, but getting back to the important things I learned. The first thing I learned about living in Motel 6 is that the police every night go through the occupant list of people staying there that night to execute any warrants. I learned this the hard way when one morning, at like 4 am, SWAT was at the door of the occupant next door to me yelling for him to open the door with guns drawn. It was a very scary situation for me, and I was always very thankful I could travel with my dog, a Lhasa Apso. Motel 6 allows pets to stay in the rooms with you, and my dog was an excellent guard dog, barking only when necessary and not hesitating to aggressively protect me by biting, only if necessary. I recommend anyone in my situation to do the same and travel with a dog.
The other thing I learned is that after staying 30 days at the Motel 6, they consider it to be a rental situation. There is no lease involved and you can still pay by the day, week or month, although monthly is better since they usually give a reduced rate. Taxes are also not charged after 30 days. With this, I took a receipt of my stay to the USPS to obtain a PO Box. After 30 days, the USPS considers this to be a �¢ï¿½ï¿½permanent �¢ï¿½ï¿½ address and will issue you a PO Box. I then kept using the Motel 6 as my permanent address with the USPS even after I left Motel 6, since none of my mail ever came there.
After I obtained a PO Box, I went to the DMV and had my drivers license and vehicle registered. They also considered Motel 6 to be my �¢ï¿½ï¿½permanent�¢ï¿½ï¿½ address and the PO Box as my �¢ï¿½ï¿½mailing address�¢ï¿½ï¿½. So everything from the DMV came to my mailing address, and on my driver�¢ï¿½ï¿½s license, my address listed is my PO Box. This has been my situation since 2007 to this day. I have been asked to see my driver�¢ï¿½ï¿½s license many times, even by officers of the law, and the only information listed on it is my PO Box, no permanent address without any problems. For me, since I have actually moved from that PO Box to another, it is as good as a passport for ID situations where no one can follow up on where I actually live.
Leah, Bay Area, CA Age: 54
#9870
05/08/13
Searching for Work
I am unemployed. Would Bismarck, ND offer many viable employment opportunities for a petite, feminine lesbian who wants to keep to herself? I want to know what I'm getting into before I relocate.
Nicole, Philadelphia, PA Age: 29
I am unemployed. Would Bismarck, ND offer many viable employment opportunities for a petite, feminine lesbian who wants to keep to herself? I want to know what I'm getting into before I relocate.
Nicole, Philadelphia, PA Age: 29
This is a question only you can answer. Start checking ads on Craigslist and making calls.
#9869
05/05/13
secure email
Hey Jack, you only give email addresses as the contact information for you, Rosie, etc. but you don't support encrypted email. An unencrypted email is like a post card; it passes through many different servers and anyone with access to any of them can read the contents along the way. After delivery, it can be exposed in a lot of ways.
I recommend generating a key pair with GPG and publishing the public key on your website. That would allow people to encrypt the confidential information they send you, if they want.
Adam, San Diego, CA Age: 27
Hey Jack, you only give email addresses as the contact information for you, Rosie, etc. but you don't support encrypted email. An unencrypted email is like a post card; it passes through many different servers and anyone with access to any of them can read the contents along the way. After delivery, it can be exposed in a lot of ways.
I recommend generating a key pair with GPG and publishing the public key on your website. That would allow people to encrypt the confidential information they send you, if they want.
Adam, San Diego, CA Age: 27
I am not a fan of encryption, which may not be as secure as you think. Further, in some cases it can be a red flag. If secret information must be sent, use snail mail.
#9868
05/05/13
New Mexican LLC/Lawsuits
I wrote an anonymous book that is selling well on Amazon.com. How can I protect myself if one of my readers decides to up and sue me? Should I create an LLC, open a bank account and put all my profits into it? I was gonna do this, but read in one of your replies that you don't use LLC's for bank accounts because they don't offer privacy.
I'm totally confused and don't know what to do. It's weird to be make a lot of money and not know what to do with it. Should I just open a offshore personal account and forget an LLC all together?
Laura, Chicago, IL Age: 42
I wrote an anonymous book that is selling well on Amazon.com. How can I protect myself if one of my readers decides to up and sue me? Should I create an LLC, open a bank account and put all my profits into it? I was gonna do this, but read in one of your replies that you don't use LLC's for bank accounts because they don't offer privacy.
I'm totally confused and don't know what to do. It's weird to be make a lot of money and not know what to do with it. Should I just open a offshore personal account and forget an LLC all together?
Laura, Chicago, IL Age: 42
This is too complicated to answer here--especially as it is a public forum. It depends upon HOW anonymous you are, what disclaimers are in the book, the subject matter of the book, the way you are selling it, and more.
I am willing to help but I need details, so please contact me by email.
I am willing to help but I need details, so please contact me by email.
#9867
05/01/13
Nominee bank account and paying taxes
On whose tax returns the money deposited into the nominee bank account will show up? Yours or the nominee's?
Situation - similar to yours: selling digital products online, accepting PayPal and credit cards. Have to deposit something for living expenses, paying the bills and so on.
Maybe it's different from country to country.
Looking forward to the next edition of Invisible Money!
Jack, London, UK Age: 45
On whose tax returns the money deposited into the nominee bank account will show up? Yours or the nominee's?
Situation - similar to yours: selling digital products online, accepting PayPal and credit cards. Have to deposit something for living expenses, paying the bills and so on.
Maybe it's different from country to country.
Looking forward to the next edition of Invisible Money!
Jack, London, UK Age: 45
Done correctly, the income will appear on your tax return. You'll need the advice of a good accountant.
#9866
04/30/13
can u just hold a llc from nm without paying taxes for privacy purposes?
Can you hold a nm llc without paying taxes or engaging in business for the purpose of having propery and vehicles titled for privacy?
linda, bellaire, tx Age: over 60
Can you hold a nm llc without paying taxes or engaging in business for the purpose of having propery and vehicles titled for privacy?
linda, bellaire, tx Age: over 60
Under normal circumstances, yes. If you have any further questions about LLCs, please contact Rosie.
#9865
04/30/13
can u just hold a llc from nm without paying taxes for privacy purposes?
Thank you for your comment on my last question.
new Q1. Can you hold a nm llc without paying taxes or engaging in business for the purpose of having propery and vehicles titled for privacy?
URL #1: www. aclu.org
linda, bellaire, tx Age: over 60
Thank you for your comment on my last question.
new Q1. Can you hold a nm llc without paying taxes or engaging in business for the purpose of having propery and vehicles titled for privacy?
URL #1: www. aclu.org
linda, bellaire, tx Age: over 60
Yes. For any further questions about LLCs, please contact Rosie.
#9864
04/29/13
vehiicle titling
That "oh, so delightful" time to title a vehicle purchase has come to grace my life, once again. I'm considering the New Mexico LLC option.
It would be very helpful if someone out there might be able to share their experience of vehicle transferring in KY using a New Mexico LLC.
I'd like to know how it went & if things went smoothly.
traci, florence, KY Age: 54
That "oh, so delightful" time to title a vehicle purchase has come to grace my life, once again. I'm considering the New Mexico LLC option.
It would be very helpful if someone out there might be able to share their experience of vehicle transferring in KY using a New Mexico LLC.
I'd like to know how it went & if things went smoothly.
traci, florence, KY Age: 54
#9863
04/28/13
re: Utah Car Titling
Thanks Jack for your reply to 9716. Utah did have a titling form change in 2012 requiring "FEIN if business" where the old form said "if business use DBA", so that may be why you haven't heard of problems before in Utah.
From your reply you're not worried, but what am I supposed to put or say when the form wants a FEIN number? Sorry, my business doesn't have a Federal Employer Identification Number? I won't have one with an LLC and it seems titling with an LLC in Utah has just gotten more difficult if not impossible. Thanks.
Richard, Park City, UT Age: 33
Thanks Jack for your reply to 9716. Utah did have a titling form change in 2012 requiring "FEIN if business" where the old form said "if business use DBA", so that may be why you haven't heard of problems before in Utah.
From your reply you're not worried, but what am I supposed to put or say when the form wants a FEIN number? Sorry, my business doesn't have a Federal Employer Identification Number? I won't have one with an LLC and it seems titling with an LLC in Utah has just gotten more difficult if not impossible. Thanks.
Richard, Park City, UT Age: 33
If the form says "FEIN if business," and you are not in business, I fail to see any problem.
However, if you are using an LLC obtained from Rosie, she is the one to contact. Rosie is more up to date on the states than I am. (She is currently on vacation but will check her emails from time to time.)
However, if you are using an LLC obtained from Rosie, she is the one to contact. Rosie is more up to date on the states than I am. (She is currently on vacation but will check her emails from time to time.)
#9856
04/27/13
Starting Over
In Skip College, you mention two rules for making your way in the world. The first one was, �If you want to make money, go to where the money is circulating.� (The second one was, �Never take a partner.�)
For someone wanting to start over and embrace the principles of How To Be Invisible. Do you recommend an area of the country or industry, until I find my niche?
Steve, Manassas, Virginia Age: 40
In Skip College, you mention two rules for making your way in the world. The first one was, �If you want to make money, go to where the money is circulating.� (The second one was, �Never take a partner.�)
For someone wanting to start over and embrace the principles of How To Be Invisible. Do you recommend an area of the country or industry, until I find my niche?
Steve, Manassas, Virginia Age: 40
Yes. Bismarck, North Dakota.
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