A very successful day trader who owed $50,000 on their 1999 taxes, for example, now needs to make estimated payments of $12,500 every quarter to cover himself for what he owed last year, and avoid the penalty. And what happens if he has a terrible year this year?

I've seen this a lot this year. All those day traders out there who mistakenly thought they'd be paying 20 percent, their foundation is rocked when I tell them how much they owe. I've been in the business a long time and I have to say this has been the screwiest year I've ever seen.

Once you hit that income level, you can't take as much of a write-off on your mortgage interest, your taxes or your charitable contributions. It used to be that if your adjusted gross income was more than $126,000, we'd tell you to buy a bigger house for the write-off, but not anymore.

For example, a taxpayer in the 25 percent marginal tax bracket would save $250 in taxes by making a $1,000 contribution. However, as Dan explained, although the federal government will lose $250 in tax revenue there is $1,000 going to benefit hurricane victims that the government doesn't have to spend. Put differently - the taxpayer, the federal government and the victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita all win.

We haven't seen the needs yet. Real-estate taxes are just one piece of the puzzle. There are too many outside issues. For us to come up with a percent at this point would be premature.

He's not a screamer. He leads by example and says stuff when it needs to be said. There has been no change in him lately.