Dear John:
I’m a longtime reader of your paper and your column, and I’m a fan.
But after all these years, I do have a question: Have you ever offered an upbeat economic forecast?
After all, bad things and good things happen in the economy.
I’m 47 and healthy — why do I feel like if you were my doctor you would say, “You’re dying. I give you 45 years at best”? E.G.
Dear E.G.: In which year would you have preferred the “upbeat economic forecast”?
1999 — when I said the stock market was in a bubble (and it was)?
Or 2003, ’04, ’05, or ’06 — when I and my sources spotted the borrowing problems and predicted there would be hell to pay? An economist named Walter J. Williams and I even predicted what was going to happen and offered a solution (the one I wrote about last week) in 2005 in the Milken Quarterly Report.
Maybe I should have been optimistic in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 or 2012, when everybody else was predicting that the economy was on the verge of improving, would soon boom, or would at least fix itself — and other variations of Happy Days Are Here Again — but, of course, it didn’t.
Believe me, I want the economy to improve. I live in this economy, too. I have kids who need a future.
But journalists lying to people about what our politicians are doing is what got us into this pickle. So how does my lying (and being wrong while doing it) help the situation? My job isn’t to join the chorus and sing praises where praises aren’t deserved.
But still, you made a great analogy.
Do you really think any economist — the “doctor” in your example — would tell the US that its economy is healthy right now? No, he wouldn’t.
And if you were sick and didn’t know it, would you like your doctor to keep it from you? I just happened to have spotted the economic problems first, and I didn’t keep my mouth shut.
And, more important, I actually have a course of treatment that I think will work.
But that was a good question. Thanks for writing.
Dear John: I received some shares of Sears Canada from a spinoff. The company paid a special dividend Dec. 31, and it withheld Canadian tax. Since I don’t have any other Canadian income, could I get a refund? Is so, what is the procedure to do so? R.H.
Dear R.H.: I contacted Sears Canada for you, and the company spokesman suggested you call your broker — or any broker and ask about the tax.
Sears says the stock’s transfer agent retains the tax. You should be able to get the money back.
Dear John: I have a 30-year mortgage, which is up in 2033. My rate is 5.9 percent.
My bank, Chase, has a rate-reduction program.
It will give me a new rate of 4.125 annual percent and lower my mortgage payments by $204 a month for 30 years.
There is no cost for this new rate at closing or otherwise.
I am 73 years old, and my wife is 71. Should I take this?
E.L.
Dear E.L.: If there’s nothing else you aren’t telling me, take it. In fact, take it fast.
Even if there are hidden fees, see how long it would take to pay them off at a savings of $204 a month.
At your age, the length of the mortgage shouldn’t really matter.
Take the extra $204 a month, grab some nice dinners, and enjoy yourself.
Send your questions to Dear John, The NY Post, 1211 Ave. of the Americas, NY, NY 10036, or john.crudele@nypost.com