On Thursday, January 25, 2024 at 7:26:29 PM UTC-5, -hh wrote:
> On Thursday, January 25, 2024 at 4:49:37 PM UTC-5, Thomas E. wrote:
> > On Friday, January 19, 2024 at 9:08:52 PM UTC-5, -hh wrote:
> > > On Friday, January 19, 2024 at 6:23:50 PM UTC-5, Thomas E. wrote:
> > > > On Thursday, January 18, 2024 at 2:46:07 PM UTC-5, Alan wrote:
> > > > > On 2024-01-18 07:36, Thomas E. wrote:
> > > > > > On Monday, January 15, 2024 at 10:50:38 PM UTC-5, Alan wrote:
> > > > > >> On 2024-01-15 19:48, Thomas E. wrote:
> > > > > >>> On Monday, January 8, 2024 at 9:35:35 PM UTC-5, Alan wrote:
> > > > > >>>> On 2024-01-08 14:43, Thomas E. wrote:
> > > > > >>>>> On Monday, January 8, 2024 at 11:31:12 AM UTC-5, Alan wrote:
> > > > > >>>>>> On 2024-01-08 05:05, Thomas E. wrote:
> > > > > >>>>>>> At age ~61 has Alan finally given up on his bakerMEDIA site, and business? The lame excuse for a website, bakermedia.ca, is unreachable. Linkedin says he claims to have a full-time job, working for a Toronto-based financial consulting company. The company site shows him as an employee. RIP bakermedia.ca. You won't be missed.
> > > > > >>>>>> Just curious, dick:
> > > > > >>>>>>
> > > > > >>>>>> Do you check my website and my LinkedIn page (the one you called my
> > > > > >>>>>> "company website) every day...
> > > > > >>>>>>
> > > > > >>>>>> ...or just once a week?
> > > > > >>>>>>
> > > > > >>>>>> :-)
> > > > > >>>>> Maybe every month or two, at the most. Of course, you deflected, dodged the question, so typical of you, dickhead.
> > > > > >>>> Wow.
> > > > > >>>>
> > > > > >>>> You admit to regularly stalking me...
> > > > > >>>>
> > > > > >>>> ...and you don't think you deserve to be called a "dick".
> > > > > >>>
> > > > > >>> Not stalking, exposing your lies. Your only defense is to attempt to discredit the source of truth.
> > > > > >> "Maybe every month or two" you look at my website...
> > > > > >>
> > > > > >> ...and goodness knows what else...
> > > > > >>
> > > > > >> ...and you don't think that's creepy, dick?
> > > > > >>
> > > > > >> I haven't lied.
> > > > > >>
> > > > > >> Sorry.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > You lie by omission all the time. You simply cannot answer a straightforward question if the answer contradicts the false image you have created of yourself.
> > > > > Not wanting to answer a question posed by a stalking DICK isn't "lying
> > > > > by omission...
> > > > >
> > > > > ...Dick.
> > > > Oh, but yes it is a lie. Your lie is that you are/were supporting yourself as an independent consultant.
> > > Got cite? Or is that merely your assumption?
> > > > You have been a full-time employee of a Toronto firm for some time now.
> > > So? Times have changed since the 1970s: generations after yours don’t stick
> > > to just one or afew companies for their entire working career: it’s now common
> > > to change every ~5 years.
> > > > Your independent consultancy failed to support you so you became an employee,
> > > > or at least you claim full-time employment.
> > > Speculation, plus no proof that it was ever exclusively full time.
> > > > The bakerMedia site was disappeared. Can't afford the url renewal fee?
> > > Hasn’t the Farmecon LLC website has disappeared too?
> > > Ouch. Projecting your own “can’t afford it?” paradigm onto yourself.
> > > > You claim to be an elite FF driver at the local track, but your record does not support that claim.
> > > “Elite”? Really? Let’s see the cite.
> > >
> > > Plus this isn’t the only time that you’ve gotten jealous & petty when you can’t be the
> > > sole center of attention, especially for when it’s someone who has some skill clearly
> > > better than you: you should go fly for 30 minutes on just 15 minutes of fuel to show
> > > readers that you’re halfway good at at least one thing. /s
> > > > You have a selfie photo of yourself on your employer's site that in no way resembles
> > > > your current appearance on LinkedIn.
> > > So?
> > > Is there a condition of employment that requires image synchronization that’s being violated?
> > > FYI, the professional headshots a stalker may find of me are also out of date.
> > > > Another lie. In fact when I pointed out that the company photo resembled the unflattering
> > > > LinkedIn version you changed it to what makes you appear healthier and without scraggly
> > > > facial hair. Which is the real you?
> > >
> > > Because we all know that a random picture on the Internet is profoundly important! /s
> > >
> >
> > The FarmEcon site disappeared because I shuttered the business over 2 years ago
> So? You could have left the reports up, and just said you’re no longer actively consulting.
> > Search for FarmEcon.com in Google. Takes you to https://www.hugedomains..com/domain_profile.cfm?d=farmecon.com where I have the URL for sale. Will I ever get that advertised price? Likely not, but
> > per WHOIS I own it for a few more years, until 2027. It's assigned to the GoDaddy URL sales site until expiration.
> You’re asking $8K! GoDaddy’s appraisal tool says that it’s worth just $1555:
>
> < https://www.godaddy.com/domain-value-appraisal/appraisal/?domainToCheck=Farmecon.com>
> > Then try a bakermedia.ca search.
> GoDaddy says $948 for that domain..basically two thirds as much as your domain:
> not as “bad off” as you’re trying to imply.
>
> > ... On WHOIS it shows a 2032 URL expiration date. ..
> >
> > On LinkedIn …
>
> Stalking by Tommy.
> > The deletion of the company site and a full-time job all suggest that bakerMEDIA is defunct, or nearly so.
> That wasn’t the question. The question was if it ever was represented as full time.
>
> > Actually, 2018 was a very interesting year for Alan…
>
> Even more stalking by Tommy.
> > If his consulting practice had been lucrative why is he not still not doing that full-time?
> Don’t know, don’t care, because it’s none of my business. But I do know that a lot
> of people are seeking a better work-life balance than what old Boomers tolerated.
> > My consulting was, in contrast, very rewarding personally and financially.
> Because you got travel boondoggles? /s
> > I worked it actively from 2003 to 2022, and even collected my last income in 2023.
> > Net income, IRS basis, was about $1.3 million before 401K contributions.. As you
> > know, some expenses become deductible just because you are running a business
> > from home, so this is lower than actual.
> SS & Medicare is 15.3%, but only half of that is unique to self-employment to be
> comparable to a regular job. Plus write-offs for laptops, office, etc and it’s a 10%
> variance or so in total. Another are business travel costs, which of course are usually
> customer-approval specific, but not a big money suck…unless one wants it to be.
> Plus wasn’t there also a corporate donation to a local theater for tickets too, eh?
> The write-off game is very much just that for some folks.
> > Since I also had pension and SSI income I'll admit I did not solicit many projects.
> > They were referrals for the most part.
> You were nevertheless still hustling for work for more than decade beyond normal
> retirement age. That shows that you weren’t anywhere near ‘comfortable’ without it.
> > Simply Google "thomas elam farmecon" for a small sample of my non-confidential
> > projects that made it into the public domain.
> Despite how you still own the domain and could have just left those papers up?
> > Why go to all this trouble? Alan has repeatedly called me the "lying little shit" and
> > a liar in general. I am neither. My body of work for numerous clients …
>
> …is not representative of the crap that you regularly tried to pull here. As such, your
> consultant work is irrelevant and not a defense for your poor behavior here.
>
> -hh

Yes, I was not comfortable at all with where I was in early 2003. I did some teaching and started consulting. I was offered a 6-figure job with AVMA out of Chicago, but did not want to move there. The consulting grew organically to the point where I could not meet classes and travel to see clients. Consulting won, and within 15 years or so I had built up a sizable net worth and income stream. I took the site down just to make sure no one would see it and call me anyway. All my clients have my contact info and know how to get in touch if they need something from a past project. That happens occasionally. 95% of the work I did was not on the site anyway.

The work was rewarding because it helped people solve problems. I took about 5 or 6 international consulting trips. The wife went on 4 international trips, Canada, Germany, France, and Austria. That was less than 5% of the work. She did go on some short U.S. trips. Yes I enjoyed the travel, she did too, so what? All the work was done right here in my office. The trips were for client-requested meetings to present results.

You got the 10% number about right. My gross margin over business deductions was about 90%. The Social Security contributions added to my eventual benefits. I get within a few dollars of the maximum for age claiming at 66.

There were no charitable donations taken on my LLC Form C. Those all were on the Schedule D at the time, now are QCD adjustments to income take out of IRA RMD funds. The matching came from my ex-employer, not my LLC.

I was not hustling for work. I cannot remember soliciting for anything except one project. Someone in a meeting asked if anyone knew how to do X. I volunteered and got the assignment. The rest were all people who approached me with requests. I turned down a few that I knew were beyond my capabilities.

My behavior here is intended to defend myself against Alan Baker's assaults on my character. And you are the person who falsely claimed to have had an FAA friend in London who could look at my flight logs and make a judgement on their accuracy! That is reprehensible! You also criticize disguised as personal finance advice while not having complete knowledge of a person's strategy, goals and investment portfolio. Look in the mirror yourself.