What's
New at EasyWayUSA.com:
A
GREAT WEBSITE
A great website - everything you wanted
to know about government at www.firstgov.gov.
It is the official US gateway to all
government information. This is an
award-winning site that you will have
trouble leaving. This is definitely
a favorite place on your computer.
*******************
CHANGES OF ADDRESS
Permanent
residents and temporary residents
to the United States must inform the
Immigration & Naturalization Service
of their change of address. This is
done on a form AR-11.
*******************
IDENTITY THEFT SCAM
Beware
of bogus “official:”forms.
There is a new identity theft scam.
Many non-citizens are being targeted.
If you receive a form entitled “Certificate
of Foreign Status…United States
Tax Withholding” and bears the
form number W-8888, beware. The form
requests personal and financial information.
If you have any questions regarding
the authenticity of any forms, contact
the Federal Trade Commission at 877-IDTHEFT.
************
AN AMERICAN
A
great e-mail we received:
"An
American
You
probably missed it in the rush of
news last week, but there was actually
a report that someone in Pakistan
had published in a newspaper an offer
of a reward to anyone who killed an
American, any American. So I just
thought I would write to let them
know what an American is, so they
would know when they found one.
An
American is English, French, Italian,
Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian
or Greek. An American may also be
Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese,
Japanese, Australian, Iranian, Asian,
Arab, Pakistani, or Afghan. An American
may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot,
Navaho, Apache, or one of the many
other tribes known as native Americans.
An
American is Christian, or he could
be Jewish, Buddhist, or Muslim. In
fact, there are more Muslims in America
than in Afghanistan. The only difference
is that in America they are free to
worship as each of them chooses. An
American is also free to believe in
no religion. For that he will answer
only to God, not to the government,
or to armed thugs claiming to speak
for the government and for God.
An
American is from the most prosperous
land in the history of the world.
The root of that prosperity can be
found in the Declaration of Independence,
which recognizes the God given right
of each man and woman to the pursuit
of happiness.
An
American is generous. Americans have
helped out just about every other
nation in the world in their time
of need. When Afghanistan was overrun
by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans
came with arms and supplies to enable
the people to win back their country.
As of the morning of September 11,
Americans had given more than any
other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.
The best products, the best books,
the best music, the best food, the
best athletes.
Americans
welcome the best, but they also welcome
the least. The national symbol of
America welcomes your tired and your
poor, the wretched refuse of your
teeming shores, the homeless, tempest
tossed. These in fact are the people
who built America. Some of them were
working in the Twin Towers in the
morning of September 11, earning a
better life for their families. I've
been told that the
people in the Towers were from at
least 30 countries, and maybe many
more, other countries, cultures, and
first languages, including those that
aided and abetted the terrorist
So
you can try to kill an American if
you must. Hitler did. So did General
Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung,
and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the
history of the world. But, in doing
so you would just be killing yourself.
Because Americans are not a particular
people from a particular place. They
are the embodiment of the human spirit
of freedom. Everyone who holds to
that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
So
look around you. You may find more
Americans in your land than you thought
were there. One day they will rise
up and overthrow the old, ignorant,
tired tyrants that trouble too many
lands. Then those lands, too, will
join the community of free and prosperous
nations. And America will welcome
them!
Pass
this around the World!
GOD BLESS OUR WONDERFUL NATION"
****************
UNDERSTANDING MUTUAL FUNDS
Load
vs. No-Load Funds
Load
Funds
There
are basically three types of loaded
funds:
A-Type
Funds.
These typically charge commission
up front at the time of the transaction.
The commission will vary per fund,
e.g., 4% or 5%.
B-Type
Funds. These
funds encourage you to stay invested
for a period of time. Accordingly,
you must pay commission when you exit
the fund. Typically, if you exit in
the first year, you will pay 5% commission,
in the second year 4%, in the third
year 3%, in the fourth year 2% and
in the fifth year 1%.
C-Type
Funds.
In these funds there is no commission
when you enter the fund or exit it,
but there is an extra percentage point
per year that you pay for administration.
In
addition to the commissions in the
three different funds, there is an
annual management fee usually referred
to as expense ratio. The expense ratio
differs from fund to fund and before
investing, one should check out the
actual expense ratio for that fund.
No-Load
Funds
The
beauty of no-load funds is that there
is no commission payable when you
buy into the mutual fund or you sell
out of the fund. However, there is
still an expense ratio (management
fee) that must be paid on an annual
basis.
*************
WHERE ARE THE JOBS?
U-haul,
the do-it-yourself moving company,
forecasts that Atlanta, Georga and
Austin, Texas will be the biggest
draws for job-related movers in 2002
followed by New York City, Las Vegas
and San Diego, according to U-haul
spokeswoman, Jennifer Flachman.
***********
STAY
TUNED!
As
EasyWayUSA.com approached launch date,
features are being constantly revived
and improved to make this *The Ultimate
Guide To Smart and Safe Living in
the USA*
A
new National Communities will be launched
soon. Contact us at info@easywayusa.com
if you are interested in being involved.
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USA
QUIZ
RATE YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE USA WITH OUR FUN QUIZ
(Scroll down for the answers
or click on "answer")
QUESTIONS
1) What does an escrow
company do? (answer)
2) How many years does
a child attend public school? (answer)
3) What is an SBA loan?
(answer)
4) Thinking of manufacturing,
importing/exporting? What is NAFTA?(answer)
5) What do Americans
call the period between Memorial day and Labor
day?(answer)
6) Does one Federal judge
in a city have the power to overrule a law that
was passed by 100% of all members of Congress
and signed by the President?
(answer)
7) What is an ARM when
financing a home purchase?(answer)
8) What are the Scholastic
Aptitude Tests and why are they important to
high school students? (answer)
9) Your Social Security
Number is a confidential number and there is
no obligation on you to divulge it to anyone.
Why would you give this number to a car salesperson?(answer)
10) Why do people in
the USA choose to go to traffic school after
a speeding offense when the court only
orders a fine?(answer)
11) Thanksgiving is the
most important family reunion holiday in the
USA. What event does this celebrate?(answer)
12) What is SCORE and
why should anyone starting a business in the
USA contact them?(answer)
13) How many T-Shirts
were manufactured in the USA in 1998?(answer)
14) Thinking of the retail
trade? What is the second busiest shopping
day in the USA?(answer)
15) What is the Annual
Percentage Rate and why is it more important
than the quoted interest rate when considering
a loan?(answer)
16) Tourists, who have
never applied for permanent residence or who
have never worked in the USA, can sometimes
be taxed on their world-wide income. (True/False)
(answer)
17) What is the difference
between an HMO and HBO? (answer)
18) English is the official
language of the United States (True/False)(answer)
19) Abraham Lincoln declared
war on the southern states in the civil war
because he wanted to free the slaves (True/False)(answer)
20) Duly registered professional
and trade associations are allowed to fix the
maximum price for a service or a product
but are not allowed to fix the minimum price
(True/False)(answer)
21. “Cutting a check
(cheque)” in American slang means:
(a)
Giving a check
(b)
An agreement to cancel a debt
(c)
Compromising a debt on a 50/50 basis
ANSWERS
1.
An escrow company is a “stakeholder”. In a
sale of a business, it exchanges the cash to
the seller and the title documents of the business
to the buyer. In a sale of a house, it exchanges
the money for the house in return for the title
to the house and arranges signature of all loan
documents.
2.
Thirteen years. The first year is known as
Kindergarten, followed by twelve grades.
3.
An SBA loan is a Small Business Administration
Loan. The Small Business Administration is
part of the Federal Government and guarantees
loans to qualifying small businesses www.sba.gov
4.
NAFTA is the North American Free Trade Agreement.
It is an agreement that breaks down many of
the barriers and tariffs of trade between Canada,
the United States, and Mexico.
5.
Memorial Day is at the end of May and Labor
Day is at the beginning of September. Americans
refer to this period as "summer."
6.
Yes. If any law is passed by any lawmaking
body that is unconstitutional, the Federal courts
can overrule it. The United States Constitution
is the highest law of the land. Accordingly,
any law that curtails a constitutional right
like freedom of religion, freedom of speech,
etc. can be overruled by a Federal judge.
The judge’s decision can be appealed through
the Federal court system up to the U.S. Supreme
Court.
7.
Adjustable Rate Mortgage. The interest and
repayments fluctuate, compared to a fixed mortgage.
There are many different types of ARM’s with
varying indexes, caps, margins, and points.
8.
Many countries in the world have a national
education system with standard tests administered
throughout the country. The education system
in the United States is not controlled by the
federal government nor the state governments
but rather by the cities and districts. Accordingly,
colleges and universities are unable to
evaluate the knowledge and ability of students
in different parts of the country or for
that matter from within the same state. The
Scholastic Aptitude Tests are privately administered
standardized tests which are taken by students
throughout the United States when seeking
entry into colleges. Their grades on these
tests will determine which colleges will
be prepared to accept them for their degree
programs.
9.
In order to obtain credit. All credit-reporting
agencies use peoples' social security numbers to
maintain credit records. The salesperson would
submit your social security number to a
credit reporting agency in order to determine
your credit worthiness and whether you would
be eligible for financing.
10.
Different states have different rules relating
to traffic school. However, by attending traffic school
you are able to remove the speeding offense
from your driving record thereby avoiding
an increase in car insurance rates. There is
a limit on how often you can attend traffic
school.
11.
The fourth Thursday in November is called Thanksgiving
Day. On Thanksgiving Americans give thanks
for the blessings they have enjoyed during the
year. It is usually a family reunion day
enjoyed with enormous dinners. Thanksgiving
was first celebrated in Plymouth, Massachusetts
in 1621. The pilgrims had immigrated to America
from England in 1620 in a quest for religious
freedom. The pilgrims were inexperienced and
poorly equipped for what lay ahead. They
suffered great losses during the first winter.
During the spring of 1621
a local Indian tribe offered the pilgrims assistance.
They taught the pilgrims hunting, fishing,
and farming. They taught the pilgrims how to
plant the indigenous corn, pumpkin, and
beans. That year the pilgrims enjoyed a successful
harvest because of the help they received from
the Indians. In 1621 Governor William Bradford
issued a proclamation establishing a day of
Thanksgiving to God. The governor also invited
the pilgrim's Indian neighbors to participate
in the Thanksgiving feast. The Indians supplied
five deer for the feast. Turkeys were hunted
for the occasion, and corn, pumpkins, and cranberries
were cooked. Today it is customary to serve
the same kinds of food that were found
on the first Thanksgiving table three hundred
and eighty years ago.
12.
SCORE is the Service Corps Of Retired Executives.
It is a branch of the Small Business Administration.
Retired executives volunteer their time to assist
business owners in techniques and strategies
for running their business. The service is
free and can be extremely helpful. See
www.score.org
13.
Over one billion.
14.
The day after Thanksgiving. That day is regarded
as the start of the holiday shopping season.
The busiest shopping day is the Saturday before
Christmas.
15.
The Annual Percentage Rate
includes all the costs for getting the loan
and provides the true interest rate of the loan.
16. True. A tourist
who is in the USA for 183 days during the year
meets the substantial presence test and will
be considered a resident for US tax purposes.
There are other combinations of time over a
period of years that could trigger resident
tax status.
17.
A Health Maintenance Organization is one of
the most popular forms of health insurance.
HBO (Home Box Office) is a cable channel.
18.
False. There is no official language in the
United States.
19. False.
Many people are under the wrong impression that
the civil war was started to emancipate the
slaves. The emancipation of the slaves was
a consequence of the civil war. The war was
declared because the Southern States wanted
to be independent and broke away from the Union.
20.
Price fixing of any nature is prohibited in
the United States.
21. (a) Give a check
to someone by cutting it from the checkbook
