I have written recently about how one cannot be afraid of trying new things and cannot rely on the same old models when what they are based on is passing you by. At the same time, though, a company probably can’t just blow up what they have always done in the interests of, say, stopping making apple juice and moving into precision machined parts.

Movie theaters are a business that is still having to battle following the COVID-19 pandemic and a couple of worker strikes that resulted in closing some of their doors (even if some for only a time) and limited the number of new releases that they could show. An industry group, though, is now in the midst of a $2.2 billion plan to help them bounce back.

I saw this in a recent CNN article that I am not going to spend time going though all its minutiae. The highlights are that it is going to try to improve the moviegoing experience and also add other entertainment options to the venues. What this breaks down to is trying to give the consumer what can’t necessarily be found elsewhere. Yes, movies are ever more accessible through screaming services, and even new ones are showing up there faster than ever, so the need to see something you are dying to watch doesn’t have to happen in a theater anymore unless you want to endure a long wait.

But is your sound system that good?

Does your TV look that good?

Can you go bowling after the movie is over?

Of course, we aren’t talking about huge novel ideas here. It is crafting an experience, though, that is different than it was before. Even if you haven’t gone to the movies in a while, if that experience suddenly feels different, maybe it will have enough of a twist to bring you back again – and ideally bring people back in greater numbers.

And just maybe this then is one of those pieces of thinking that can keep an old industry moving toward new models and renewed success. 

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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A lot of what I have written recently can make it feel like we are hurtling through new times – summer is over, the extension deadline is coming, etc. – almost as if we may be running out of time for some things. Well, let me add to that today.

For on one hand, it feels like there is plenty of time left in the year. I mean, it’s not even October yet and then Halloween doesn’t come to the end of that month, there are so many checkpoints to hit before we get to the real holiday season.  When it comes to making moves to improve your tax picture, though, time may be getting short.

For on the other hand, there are some people with the flexibility to make moves right up to the end of December that can still make a difference to their final number when it comes to filing taxes next year. For many, though, it helps to have time so that small changes can add up instead of making large sweeping moves.

So more than anything, let this serve as a reminder. If you were looking to make changes to improve your tax situation but have not yet done so, now is the time. After all, maybe you filed a return back in April, paid more to the IRS than you hoped to, planned to make some change, but then summer came, and suddenly that future financial picture was no longer at the top of mind. Now that the season is over, though …

See, time passes quickly.

And since that’s true, I will close this week with a little mental exercise. If you started this week having an extra $25 taken out of your paycheck for federal taxes, you would have contributed an extra $375 by the end of the year. This may not look like a huge number, but it’s still enough that you could feel it when cutting one check for that number, while you may never even notice that $25 each week.

Maybe you’re married, and you and your spouse can both do this. Now, you are up to $750 more paid in taxes, and it may be starting to look like something that can make a real difference.

And what if that $25 could be bumped up to $100, now we are talking $1,500 if one person does it and $3,000 if two do so.

So, if you are then one of those people who feels like there is so much time still left in the year, then sure, think that, and look how much of a difference that means you can still make. Before it’s too late.

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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I have mentioned coming out of summer here in the recent past (possibly too much even), but it doesn’t seem to be only me who thinks coming out of that season gives an opportunity to accomplish some things that may have felt too heavy before taking some time off. So, to that end – welcome to National Preparedness Month!

In many ways, this does not have much to do with the topics we normally deal with here as a business. National Preparedness Month touts itself as “the annual campaign to remind everyone that preparing for emergencies and disasters can keep them, their families, and their communities safe.” Of course, doing things to keep your finances safe and in order can play into this, and there can be a lot of overlap (with things such as identity protection) that overlap our world and this mission.

No matter where these things come into play in your world and no matter what areas they are involved in, we all have them. I think it is inevitable that we all have tasks we can do better. After all, this is talking about how to handle emergencies and disasters, which are things that we do not want to think about, so handling them often gets pushed down the road.

To that end, I want to highlight the theme that has been chosen for 2024’s National Preparedness Month – Start a Conversation. These are things that can be difficult to tackle at all and they are also topics that can’t be easily handled and dusted off in a couple minutes. Oftentimes, though, the hardest part of it can be getting going, so just starting that conversation can help move things along.

Not only will that give you the start that can be so difficult, but it also means you are no longer alone in the conversation. Depending on what you’re tackling, this could involve family, friends, coworkers, trusted advisors, or numerous others. But the key is that it just involves someone else. From that point on, you can share the burden or at least have someone to bounce ideas off as you go through the process.

And again, this may not be related to anything that we do here at TSBAS. I still think it is a great reminder regardless. But if by some chance, it does, consider this an invitation to reach out and get things moving down that road.

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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Now that we have moved into September, it seems a good time to remind extension filers that, as the calendar goes, next month is October. I know, I can hardly believe that we have already got there, too, but those six months of time you bought back in April are rapidly coming to an end.

Now this doesn’t mean that it is time to panic, but it does mean that it’s time to get a move on. As an overall reminder, the extension deadline is October 15, 2024. So yes, this does mean you still have over a month to go, but seeing as the first deadline passed about five months ago, do not think of this as still having a lot of time left.

Maybe you are in a position where you expect your tax return to largely turn out to be a wash and you won’t owe a lot of money, so it has just been pushed off as an annoying task. Well, even if that turns out to be true, wouldn’t it feel nice to get it taken care of and not have to think about it anymore?

And maybe once things are completed, it will turn out that you are getting some money back. If you end up in that situation, wouldn’t it be nice to get that money in your pocket instead of letting someone else hold onto it just because?

Then of course there is the chance that you may own some money, and there is where things really turn toward being a good idea to get this completed. For as a second reminder, getting that tax extension gave you an extra six months to file your taxes but it was not an extra six months to pay your taxes. That means that as soon as the original April 15th deadline passed, any money that was owed immediately became subject to taxes and interest. And now as more time is going by, those are possibly only accruing.

So yes, as of right now in early September, the sound of that clock may not be too loud, but that doesn’t mean that time is not still ticking.

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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