On Thursday, March 6, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order creating a U.S. Treasury Strategic Reserve for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The Crypto Reserve will consist of Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Cardana (ADA), and Ripple (XRP). For those of you who have been following us since May 8, 2018, you probably have positions in three of the five, ETH, ADA and XRP. If not, never fear, it is NOT too late to acquire at least two, possibly three of the five without breaking the Bank!
Because of President Trump’s executive order, it is quite possible that within the next several years, we may have a repeat of 2017. Had you invested $1,000 in Ripple (XRP) at the beginning of 2017, by December 31, 2017, your $1,000 was worth $360,180; $1,000 invested in Ethereum (ETH) turned into $91,620; and $1,000 invested in Bitcoin was worth $13,180 as of December 31, 2017. As of March 8, 2025, Bitcoin was trading at $86,268!
For newcomers and those who want to continue speculating, as of March 8, 2025, Cardana (ADA) was trading for less than one dollar at $0.8144 and Ripple (XRP) cost $2.34 for one coin/token… very affordable for those of you who have some excess funds for speculation. If you want to add a third crypto included in the Strategic Reserve, Solana (SOL) is a little more costly at $136.66. REMEMBER, this is NOT an investment, it is a pure speculation… only use funds that you can afford to lose.
Hopefully, within several years, you will make a Crypto fortune, take one-half and invest in DRIPs to stay financially independent for life!
DRIPs
If you don’t know what a DRIP is and how you can obtain financial freedom within 10-to-15 years, get a copy of The Best Kept Secret to Financial Freedom, Second Edition, Amazon.com: The Best Kept Secret to Financial Freedom: Second Edition: 9798307009451: Beard Jr., Robert G.: Books.
Here are just a few of the DRIPs listed in the Second Edition that are Great Businesses to Buy Now:
1) Best Buy Co Inc (BBY) - $79.41, Yield 4.83%, Paid/Raised 21yrs, 18.53% Avg. Incr.
2) Nextstar Media Group (NXST) - $177.85, Yield 4.31%, Paid/Raised 12yrs, 27.4% Avg. Incr.
3) Johnson Outdoors Inc (JOUT) - $27.20, Yield 4.89%, Paid/Raised 11yrs, 16.0% Avg. Incr.
4) The Hersey Company (HSY) - $185.06, Yield 3.04%, Paid/Raised 15yrs, 16.79% Avg. Incr.
If you or your children or grandchildren do not own The Coca-Cola Company (KO) and/or McDonald’s Corp (MCD), these are Great Businesses to Buy Now, even if the yields are less than 3%. For example, MCD has paid and raised its annual dividend for 45 years, on average 20.1% per year!
Do you want to see 33 other Great Businesses to Buy Now, then buy our book, The Best Kept Secret to Financial Freedom, Second Edition!
FINANCIAL FREEDOM
As explained in our Second Edition, you must do three things: (1) Pay Yourself First, (2) Live Below Your Means, and (3) Invest in DRIPs. You can do this on your own, without the assistance of financial planners, brokers, or money managers. As explained in the Second Edition, for every 1% you pay in management and mutual fund fees, it will cost you 10 years’ worth of retirement income.
Finance Professors Harvey Rubin and Carlos Spaht concluded in several of their studies, “the case for the long-term dividend investment strategy [DRIPs] will lead to financial independence for life. Regardless of the direction of the market, a constant and growing dividend is a never-ending income stream. . . financial independence for life can be achieved with relatively small sums of money by making quality dividend investments and being disciplined to do the same thing period after period of time.”
It does not matter if you make $25,000 a year or $1,000,000 or more per year and it does not matter if you are 18 years old or 70 years old. Parents and Grandparents, get your children and grandchildren started early . . . by 12 years old, if not earlier! In the Second Edition, there is an Appendix, “It’s Never Too Early . . . Get Your Children Started Now,” which includes step-by-step instructions.
TAX DAY RECOMMENDATIONS
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been very vocal about President Trump’s plans to abolish the IRS. He has stated that Trump’s goal is to replace the IRS with an External Revenue Service that would collect revenue from tariffs and other foreign trade-related sources. Such a move, as the Secretary emphasized, would shift the tax burden away from U.S. citizens and onto foreign entities. He also highlighted that this approach could potentially balance the budget and reduce taxes for Americans.
To date, Trump has closed over 60 IRS offices and anticipates up to 120 offices will be closed within the next several months. To date, 6,000 IRS employees have been fired. In addition, IRS agents, including members from the criminal investigation division, may be moved to the Border to help with immigration enforcement.
In the meantime, to reduce your chances of an IRS Audit, you should do the following:
1) File an extension until October 15, 2025, and wait until Friday, October 10, 2025, to mail your return, Certified Return Receipt Requested.
2) DO NOT file electronically… file a paper return because it may sit in a pile on someone’s desk for several months before it is manually inputted into the archaic IRS computer system. By the time your paper return enters the IRS system—unless something unusual stands out—they will have already selected ALL the returns they want to Audit for 2024.
If you and your tax return preparer want to understand your audit risk, get a copy of my book, How To Prepare For, Control, and Successfully Survive an IRS Audit, available through our website or directly from Amazon.com.
Unbeknownst to the average person, including most attorneys and accountants, when we file our tax returns and disclose the preponderance of information required, which has kept growing each, and every year, we are waiving our right to be secure in our papers and effects (Amendment IV) and our right not to be compelled to be a witness against ourselves (Amendment V). And, to add insult-to-injury, we must sign the return under penalties of perjury, i.e. if we make a mistake or interpret the tax law differently than the IRS, we could end up in prison for 5-years. If that mistake or misinterpretation is substantial, say 25% understatement of tax, not to mention unconscionable financial penalties under the tax code, the IRS could go after you for money laundering.
With the passage of the money laundering statutes, as part of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, tax evasion or tax fraud is considered money laundering. The maximum punishment is $500,000 or twice the amount of money laundered or NOT paid to the IRS, whichever is greater, and up to 20 years in prison for each count. For example, if you wrote five checks in a single year, or over several years (e.g., IRS could audit 3-to-7 years), you may be facing a penalty of $2,500,000 and 100 years in prison (18 USC § 1957). Furthermore, if they pursue you for money laundering—with penalties described above—they can audit you going back well over 7 years.
President Trump wants to ultimately get the IRS off the backs of Americans!
Learn why President Trump’s tax proposals are sound and why The U.S. Individual Income Tax is Incompatible with a Free Society and therefore, should be abolished. Get a copy of my new book, The Case For Trump’s Tariffs and the Elimination of the Federal Income Tax, available directly from Amazon.com, THE CASE FOR TRUMP’S TARIFFS AND THE ELIMINATION OF THE FEDERAL INCOME TAX: Beard Jr., Robert G.: 9798307013694: Amazon.com: Books.
Read carefully and share with everyone! Let’s ALL help President Trump “Make America Great Again,” save the Republic of the United States of America, and abolish the IRS!
Dum Spiro Spero—While I breathe, I hope.
Slàinte mhath,
Robert (Mike) G. Beard Jr., C.P.A., C.G.M.A., J.D.,