You are viewing an archive of articles by Flexo. Luke Landes, also known as Flexo, is the founder of Consumerism Commentary. He has been blogging and writing for the internet since 1995 and has been building online communities since 1991. Find out more about him and follow Flexo on Twitter. View Flexo's Google Profile.

Flexo

The Over-Marketization of Social Behavior

by Flexo

Do you reward your children with money for performing well in school? Do you use the promise of an allowance to ancourage appropriate behavior in the family? These are big issues, because they take appropriate behavior and can turn the incentive to financial gain. Children growing up believing that financial gain is the reward for ... Continue reading this article…

9 comments Read the full article →

Your B of A Satire Website Targets Bank of America

by Flexo

The Rainforest Action Network is an environmental non-violent activist organization, working to influence corporations to consider the environment during the course of business. They’ve had Bank of America in their sights in the past, bringing attention to the way the bank puts profits ahead of the health of the communities in which it exists. The ... Continue reading this article…

4 comments Read the full article →

Sprint in $300 Million Tax Fraud Lawsuit

by Flexo

In order to offer better prices to customers, Sprint has allegedly under-collected and underpaid New York State sales taxes by $100 million. If the Attorney General’s allegations are true, Sprint could end up owing the state government as much as $300 million or more due to underpayment penalties. Sprint is denying the charges, claiming they’ve ... Continue reading this article…

4 comments Read the full article →

IRS Looking For Your Offshore Bank Accounts

by Flexo

The more money you have, the more likely you are to cheat on your taxes. The rich have more opportunities to try to hide assets and income from the Internal Revenue Service, particularly through offshore bank accounts. In the United States, banks are required to report income earned by their customers on savings and investments. ... Continue reading this article…

7 comments Read the full article →

How to File a Free Income Tax Extension

by Flexo

I finally provided my tax details to my accountant yesterday. As I expected, there won’t be enough time to work out the details before today’s tax filing deadline, so I’ll be filing extensions. In years past, when I filed for myself and my taxes were simpler, I usually waited until the last day. My procrastination ... Continue reading this article…

12 comments Read the full article →

Aurora Bank’s Deposits to Be Acquired By New York Community Bank

by Flexo

Last year, I opened a money market account with Aurora Bank, a division of Lehman Brothers. If it seemed like an odd thing to do, it probably was. Lehman Brothers had filed for bankruptcy in 2008, yet in 2011, they were promoting their online retail bank and looking for new customers. Not wanting to associate ... Continue reading this article…

0 comments Read the full article →

Podcast 156: Financial Intelligence

by Flexo

Today on the Consumerism Commentary Podcast, Jay Frosting speaks to Joe Knight, co-author of Financial Intelligence: An Illustrated Guide to Knowing What the Numbers Really Mean. They discuss why and how employees in non-financial roles should learn to read financial statements, largely because accounting relies on a lot of educated guesses and biases. Consumerism Commentary ... Continue reading this article…

0 comments Read the full article →

Buffett: Buying Houses Better Than Buying Stocks

by Flexo

On CNBC a few weeks ago, Warren Buffett told the television-viewing audience, among other things, that he would purchase a couple hundred thousand single-family homes right now, if it were practical to do so. That seems like a ringing endorsement of buying residential real estate for its value as an investment. If the buyer also ... Continue reading this article…

16 comments Read the full article →

Most Wealthy Individuals Earned, Not Inherited, Their Wealth

by Flexo

When I first read The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko, it didn’t inspire me. It’s not that I disagreed with the authors, but I found the book uninteresting. It was one of the first financial books I read after beginning Consumerism Commentary, and it came highly recommended from readers here and ... Continue reading this article…

19 comments Read the full article →

Podcast 155: The Work Revolution

by Flexo

Today on the Consumerism Commentary Podcast, Jay Frosting talks with Julie Clow, author of The Work Revolution. They talk about differing energy cycles, ditching time cards & meetings, and measuring impact instead of employee activities. Consumerism Commentary Podcast The Work Revolution: S06E25 / 155 Download – RSS – iTunes Table of contents [00:00] Introduction from ... Continue reading this article…

0 comments Read the full article →