Chapter 114 Tax Lawyer and Accountant

Carter's family embarked on their journey home, which, by Chinese standards, was akin to returning to the city on the first day of the Lunar New Year. There was a somewhat bitter taste of being tied to work.

After crossing the states of Mississippi and Alabama, the Carter family arrived in Douglas on December 26th.

Upon returning home, Carter was promptly kicked out by Jenny. In her words, he had to get to work as soon as he came back, turning potential profits into certainties. Even if they couldn't profit, they shouldn't incur too much loss.

This left Carter feeling somewhat helpless. Although the market had opened today, there was no rush like this! And the gold market was doing well; holding onto it could still yield profits.

Carter had discussed this with Jenny on the way, but she simply wouldn't listen. Instead, she insisted that they prepare in advance, even if they didn't sell now. But what could he prepare? The futures contracts were all in Kidder's account, not in Douglas.

Unable to persuade Jenny, Carter left home and wandered around Douglas. From their house on 12th Street to near the western edge of town on 37th Street, Carter, after some thought, abandoned the idea of visiting the Kazim family and returned to the bank. After closing the door, he went to the office on the second floor and lay back, recalling the sights and sounds of his journey.

Despite the aimless wandering, Carter did gain some insights, truly becoming an American version of a "gai liu zi" (stroller). While wandering, especially passing various shops, Carter paid attention to the consumption patterns of the people of Douglas. The Christmas season in America was similar to China's New Year's season, a typical peak consumption period.

Under normal circumstances, the turnover of general stores in December would increase by at least fifty percent compared to November, and even double compared to October.

However, Carter found that people's consumption this year was significantly lower than in previous years. Although the number of customers in supermarkets and stores hadn't decreased, there was a noticeable decline in per capita consumption, especially among children.

For example, chocolates and other small snacks were being purchased one piece at a time. Bulk or gift-boxed chocolates were hardly being touched.

Carter always believed that the purchasing power of children in snacks could better reflect the true consumption level of a place. After all, for adults, basic necessities like food and drink were essential, and gifts like cigarettes and alcohol were indispensable in social interactions. Only the money children spent on snacks, which was surplus, represented their real purchasing power.

Adults with higher incomes naturally gave more pocket money to children. At least during this festive season, they would give children more pocket money to let them enjoy the holiday. Only when the economy was bad, and there was little money left after meeting basic needs, would adults be strict with children and cut back on their snack spending.

However, for Carter at the moment, discovering this point added to his worries but didn't serve any substantial purpose. Time passed, and it was the last day of 1979.

As 1979 came to a close, the rise in gold prices finally caught the attention of many savvy investors. Perhaps inspired and influenced by the skyrocketing price of silver: "If you can't buy silver, just buy gold. It's still guaranteed to appreciate!"

After the market reopened on the 26th, the trading volume of gold surged significantly. Both spot and futures trading volumes showed a very noticeable increase compared to pre-holiday trading.

By the first trading day of 1980, January 2nd, the price of gold had reached a high of $634. The increase in the price per ounce compared to when Carter bought it was exactly $100.

"Carter, have you decided to sell?"

"I'm not sure."

With the earlier example of selling silver, Carter was genuinely hesitant now. He could sense the danger behind this price increase, but human greed made it difficult for him to make a decision.

Most of the increased trading volume was on the buy side, with very few sell orders. If he were to sell the contract now, it would be effortless, even in this bull market. With increasing trading volume on his side, as long as he didn't sell everything at once, he might even push the price up a bit more and make a bit more money.

But the same question arose: the current trading situation and the price of gold were like little demons flying around Carter's mind, chanting:

"Don't sell! Don't sell! It can still go up! Look at this market. Selling now would be foolish, wouldn't it? Do you want to end up like with silver, watching others feast while you drink soup?!"

At this point, another voice emerged from Carter's mind, like an angel:

"It's enough! It's okay! By selling now, you can already recover more than $20 million, pay off debts, and after deducting fees, you'll still have about $17 million left. What more do you want?!"

Then the little demon said again:

"Have you forgotten about taxes?"

"If you're not sure, wait a bit longer! Wait another day. Also, you can consider hiring a dedicated accountant or tax advisor now, and a tax lawyer. Don't be stingy about this money. You must hire good ones. No, you can't afford top-notch ones yet. Find accounting and law firms to serve you. With their help, you can save a lot of money!"

"You're right; I won't hesitate in this regard. Do you have any recommendations?"

When Carter discussed tax law issues with Goodman earlier, he learned a piece of information. That is, the number of tax lawyers in the United States is almost more than all the lawyers in China combined. And among the top ten law firms in the future United States rankings, nine of them have tax law business, with tax law being the core business and ace in the hole for the top three firms.

For wealthy Americans, having an accountant, financial tax advisor, and tax lawyer is essential! In a word, these are the double whips under the hands of wealthy Americans.

When he didn't have much money before, he could still be honest and pay taxes properly, as the amount wasn't significant. But seeing that just this investment income was about to surpass $20 million, or currently only $17 million, paying taxes honestly again made Carter's heart ache.

Compared to the high tax rates stipulated in U.S. tax law, it wouldn't hurt to spend some money hiring lawyers and accountants. Moreover, compared to hiring two full-time "idlers" himself, cooperating with law firms and accounting firms to provide services would only cost a bit more in one-time fees, which was still more cost-effective.

"Of course, as for tax lawyers, I recommend Clavis, Sven, and Moore, established in 1819. Besides tax law, they're also extremely proficient in serving general enterprises, and of course, they're not weak in the banking industry either. Additionally, they excel at handling mergers and acquisitions between companies and bankruptcy restructuring. If you reach a cooperation agreement with them in advance, it will be convenient for you for a long time in the future. Overall, until you have the strength to hire top-notch professionals for you, they are the most cost-effective choice."

Listening to Julian's words and thinking about the imminent rise in fund interest rates and the impending bankruptcy of many small banks, Carter nodded in agreement. When it came time to swallow up those banks, indeed, he would need a law firm proficient in handling mergers and acquisitions to help. As for bankruptcy restructuring... let's not go there, that's disgusting.

"As for accounting, there's not much to say. PriceWaterhouse, CoopersLybrand, Deloitte, KPMG, and our indigenous Arthur Young in New York. Choose one from these five."

These names may contain factual inaccuracies.