FATCA, the new rules meant to catch Americans hiding income offshore is forcing all manner of foreign financial institutions to register and report to the IRS. So your local bank in Belgium will likely decide it's not worth the hassle to deal with the forms and reporting for a US Citizen. They might not all have caught on to this, and if they don't have a parent company that does business with the US they might not bother, but certainly the laws are only going to get worse. So you granting them US Citizenship WILL make it harder for them to open a bank account, get a credit card or take out a loan. You really should consider that as well. Of course they're not going after something that will actually result in real income like carried interest for the truly well heeled. But mess with your kids' lives as collateral damage? Absolutely. I'm an American and I think it's the best place for me to live, but Belgium is sure nice to. But it'll harder to enjoy the great frites if you have the IRS spector haunting you.

My weekend place can't get Cable TV nor even DSL. Just dial up over POTS or Satellite (which I have). Verizon Wireless has great signal for my cell phone but is there a way to add FiOS? Their fiber is already running 10 feet from my property line, and their technicians know my dog by name. Any pointers would be really appreciated.

How can you be sure they're really your friends if you don't spy on them? How can you be sure they are acting in your best interest? The only hope you can have in privacy is really that either people aren't interested, or at least the people that are interested aren't powerful enough for the NSA to share information with.

I'm turning 50 this year, and I spent most of the day coding today, at a job that pays me a lot better than I could have imagined when I started oh so long ago. I've been doing basically a very similar job since 1987, albeit with a lot of managerial responsibility. The exact nature has changed phenomally as I've been working on Wall Street in a number of areas, but I've thrived. Pretty much because I really enjoy the work and have always worked hard to do what I thought my boss wanted. Over the years I've managed 13 people on two continents, then to just myself and now back to a half dozen or more. I have white hair and work almost exclusively with younger folks but they're great to work with. I've never been happier in my career. The technology constantly changes, but as long as you love what you're doing it'll work out great. If you see it as a stepping stone to other things it might be, but you have to put in a bit more effort. Best of luck to you.

There are tons of "found" cell phones sold on EBay. Will the police investigate them? Here's a good example. This guy found a Verizon Droid in a mall in California and sold it for $235. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250597638336 How hard is it to drop it off at a Verizon store and let them return it to the rightful owner? My kids have literally lost half a dozen cell phones, and I'm sure a good number have been resold. Verizon is no different than Apple. Report finding a lost phone and they wont try to get it to the owner. Much better to get them to buy a new phone. Let the crook set up a new account.