65 % of americans not preparing for retirement.
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This is why tax rates were 90 % for the wealthiest Americans at one time. To prevent them from buying up the whole country eventually. The most brazen,naked lie in tax policy is the paltry rate on capitol gains and dividends. The people pushing this will say its to protect mom and pop who have few shares of stock and pension funds but in reality they are easily protected with a low income exemption. Its really to protect Bill Gates and people in his income bracket. And yes the top 1% HAVE bought up most of america already. This is the reason Mitt Romney has a 14% tax rate on his $250 million a year. And even after that was exposed,nothing changed.
Where would you set the income exemption? Would you change it for San Francisco vs po-dunk, state of your choosing? They would have radically different minimum costs to live.
sportbikerider78
Minister of Fire
The solution to income distributions is not more taxes. It is less taxes.
More money for the rich does not mean less money for everyone else. This is bad economics. There is no fixed amount of revenue or income generation. Wealth is created every day. There is no 1 pot of money and everyone has to fight for a share.
Rich people have effectively low tax rates because they have investments like rental properties, businesses and others (giving some away) that reduce their effective tax rate. You can take advantage of those just like a rich person. I'm looking at a rental properties to do exactly the same thing. It is smart tax avoidance and perfectly legal.
The rich start big businesses. I work for a rich guy and I'm super glad he is rich. He is generous to us employees and does his best to make us as wealthy as possible. He is probably in a 2%'er. He is not some super bad guy, he is a hard working American that deserves every dollar he made.
This victimization of the rich as if they are 'putting it to the little guy' is laughable.
The corporate tax breaks he just got under the new tax plan are getting reinvested back into the business in the form of hiring new people and building a new building! That's awesome!
When rich people put their money away in a bank and save it, it naturally reduces the interest rate for the rest of us. The bank now has more money to loan out to everyone. This is a good thing. This spurs capital investment and drives the economy forward because capital is cheap.
As little guys, what we should be united in fighting against is why $100k today is worth very little 30 years from now. It is absurd that our money loses its value like it does. That is the single biggest thing that hurts saving. If we can agree on one thing, let's agree on keeping the hard earned money we work for.
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A major drag on prosperity is health care costs. They are typically running twice inflation. Our small company shares the costs they pay for health care with us and the reality is that much of our potential raises are eaten up by increasing health care costs. The benefits haven't stayed the same either, more co pays and deductibles. The bummer is typical health care costs are inversely proportional to income, lower income folks tend to have higher average costs then higher income.
I have a High Deductible Health Care plan with a Health Savings Account, I use the HSA as an investment vehicle so I write checks for any medical expenses other than a few routine items (physicals and shots)and the other stuff adds up. I hope the Berkshire Hathaway link up with other major companies to come up with better system works out. Its ridiculous how much money goes into the hands of the middlemen in the US. Both Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger have had comments on this in the past year.
A plug for a HSA, unlike the old medical spending accounts where you had to spend it or loose it, a HSA just rolls this years leftover money into next year. The trade off is you need to be in High Deductible Health care plan to be in one. Our firm allows us to switch plans every year so some folks save up medical expenses that can be planned for every other year and switch between a lower deductible standard plan and a high deductible plan every other year. That way they can contribute to an HSA every other year. Contributions are pretax money that is deductible like an IRA off each years taxes but as long as the money is spent on some fairly broadly defined medical costs, its tax free coming out and not subject to mandatory RMDs. Pretty much the ideal long term investment. A lot of companies push using "their" designated provider to hold the account but the law is you can pick any firm you chose. I use HSA Adminstrators (healthsavings.com) as I can access a small family of no load Vanguard funds and the plan management expenses are quite low. Compared to my companies standard option the annual fees area about 1/4 the amount and the fund choices are far better as the company plans are front or back loaded funds. The bummer I and the company can only put so much a year, $3,450 for singles plus $1000 catch up as I am over 50, but I make darn sure that between my company contribution and my contribution that I max it out early every year.
I have a High Deductible Health Care plan with a Health Savings Account, I use the HSA as an investment vehicle so I write checks for any medical expenses other than a few routine items (physicals and shots)and the other stuff adds up. I hope the Berkshire Hathaway link up with other major companies to come up with better system works out. Its ridiculous how much money goes into the hands of the middlemen in the US. Both Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger have had comments on this in the past year.
A plug for a HSA, unlike the old medical spending accounts where you had to spend it or loose it, a HSA just rolls this years leftover money into next year. The trade off is you need to be in High Deductible Health care plan to be in one. Our firm allows us to switch plans every year so some folks save up medical expenses that can be planned for every other year and switch between a lower deductible standard plan and a high deductible plan every other year. That way they can contribute to an HSA every other year. Contributions are pretax money that is deductible like an IRA off each years taxes but as long as the money is spent on some fairly broadly defined medical costs, its tax free coming out and not subject to mandatory RMDs. Pretty much the ideal long term investment. A lot of companies push using "their" designated provider to hold the account but the law is you can pick any firm you chose. I use HSA Adminstrators (healthsavings.com) as I can access a small family of no load Vanguard funds and the plan management expenses are quite low. Compared to my companies standard option the annual fees area about 1/4 the amount and the fund choices are far better as the company plans are front or back loaded funds. The bummer I and the company can only put so much a year, $3,450 for singles plus $1000 catch up as I am over 50, but I make darn sure that between my company contribution and my contribution that I max it out early every year.
sportbikerider78
Minister of Fire
No one can explain how the rich making less makes others earn more. Anything closer to socialism sure isn't the answer. That just makes everyone earn less and keep less.
My views somewhat changed on this recently.
In my 20s I worked non stop basically when I woke up to when I went to bed. Literally didnt have enough time to spend the money I made. I saved a lot and through luck investing amassed considerable wealth. My wife sais it was good investing I usually think of it as successful gambling. I used to think everyone should be saving money for retirement and tomorrow. I do like old stuff though I drove my high school car until I was in my 30s it became a status symbol for me much like a new car would to someone. I still have flannel shirts I wear my wife usually sais the 90s called and they want their shirt back.
Recently I hurt my back I got whooping cough for about 5 weeks I coughed miserably. Tore several disks in my back very painful. Its been close to 8 months now I can now to simple tasks without being in considerable pain. Ill go some place now and see someone who is overweight and all I say to myself is I bet their back doesnt hurt as bad as mine. What good did taking care of myself all those years do? Hint most the time I think nothing! My point is if I had to do it over again maybe it would have been better to party like a mad man and spend lots of money I think I would have enjoyed it more rather then saving for tomorrow and taking care of myself. You never know what tomorrow brings.
Why save when your going to die early? Another view.
I think medical advances have made it very difficult to save for retirement. This sounds crude. But you can keep a person alive long past there contribution towards society. This killed pensions. My father collected a pension for 28 years. My mother still collects it. They have collected more money then he earned at this point. Thats not sustainable.
In my 20s I worked non stop basically when I woke up to when I went to bed. Literally didnt have enough time to spend the money I made. I saved a lot and through luck investing amassed considerable wealth. My wife sais it was good investing I usually think of it as successful gambling. I used to think everyone should be saving money for retirement and tomorrow. I do like old stuff though I drove my high school car until I was in my 30s it became a status symbol for me much like a new car would to someone. I still have flannel shirts I wear my wife usually sais the 90s called and they want their shirt back.
Recently I hurt my back I got whooping cough for about 5 weeks I coughed miserably. Tore several disks in my back very painful. Its been close to 8 months now I can now to simple tasks without being in considerable pain. Ill go some place now and see someone who is overweight and all I say to myself is I bet their back doesnt hurt as bad as mine. What good did taking care of myself all those years do? Hint most the time I think nothing! My point is if I had to do it over again maybe it would have been better to party like a mad man and spend lots of money I think I would have enjoyed it more rather then saving for tomorrow and taking care of myself. You never know what tomorrow brings.
Why save when your going to die early? Another view.
I think medical advances have made it very difficult to save for retirement. This sounds crude. But you can keep a person alive long past there contribution towards society. This killed pensions. My father collected a pension for 28 years. My mother still collects it. They have collected more money then he earned at this point. Thats not sustainable.
Im not anti-rich at all,but i fail to see why a Billionaire gets a 14% tax rate and millions out there busting their a$$ for peanuts pay a higher rate. Is that even remotely fair to the rest of us. The usual line is "to spur investment" is BS to the tenth power. So why dont we lower the rates on labor to spur labor. Which is why the deck will always be stacked against the masses. Even Warren Buffet agrees with me on this one ,or i agree with him,either or.
In doing the math i find that i will collect everything i paid in not including any interest in about 3 years. So yea, SS is woefully under funded. Perhaps when the entire economy collapses due to the National debt and we are all forced to live within our means and what we actually produce, not off borrowing for decades they will come up with a more sustainable plan or not. Until then its all about spreading around(borrowed) freebies to get reelected. None of its sustainable ,not health care,not the Debt,or deficit spending,unfunded pensions,welfare state ect.
Iv had rental properties my whole life. Not much money to be made there. But it still doesnt answer the question why does money you earn while sleeping(dividends,capital gains ect) carry a much smaller tax rate than money you bust your butt for. Should your local policeman,teacher,fireman ect pay a higher tax rate than a billionaire hedge fund manager. The reason is they are buying politicians to put the fix in for them.
FYI, the long term capital gains rates and dividends do go from 15% to 20% for those earning over $479,000 effective 2018.
So you'd be in favor of a flat tax on all income regardless of the source? That would make filing taxes really easy.
Jan Pijpelink
Minister of Fire
That is what I experienced when living in Singapore. For everybody 9% income tax. No Social Security, does not exist there. Tax form is 2 pages. Time to fill out: 5 minutes.
Personally I would like to explore doing away with income tax and adding a federal sales tax. that would do away with exemptions. EVERYONE buys things, those with more money spend more than than people with less money.
As for the health care industry, I feel that should be 100% non profit. Health insurance CEOs & board members have no business making million dollar incomes at OUR expense! Make them justify their rates.
As for the health care industry, I feel that should be 100% non profit. Health insurance CEOs & board members have no business making million dollar incomes at OUR expense! Make them justify their rates.
Jan Pijpelink
Minister of Fire
I am original from The Netherlands. Federal Sales Tax is there 21% and the highest income tax bracket 62%; it's not working well. Federal Sales Tax alone is not working unless it is above 50%. Agree on your health care statement.
Jan Pijpelink
Minister of Fire
Not only here. In The Netherlands and other European nations they had the system of a basic package for everybody and a fixed price. That has changed now. It became so expensive, that 30% cannot afford it anymore and are without any coverage.
sportbikerider78
Minister of Fire
No they haven't. Costs and care aren't great in many countries.
When you pass laws like Obamacare that say everyone has to have insurance for a silly amount of care they don't need, the demand goes up and so does the price.
Many doctors are starting monthly membership practices and don't take insurance at all. Come as much as you like...same fee applies.
There is a hospital in Wisconsin that doesn't take insurance for surgeries. Costs are way down, quality of care is way up. People pay out of pocket for things like a bypass surgery.
Medical facilities of all types have become overwhelmed with burdensome paperwork from insurance companies and other bureaucracy. It drives the costs way up for us. When that is stripped away, they can reduce paperpushers/admin and get back to caring for patients.
sportbikerider78
Minister of Fire
I'm all for a flat tax. I think that makes a ton of sense.
Buffet is pretty far away from a free market proponent. He, like many others, has made a killing with exclusive buying rights (shady deals with Fanny Mae) to foreclosed homes. He made an absolute fortune off of people losing their homes.
sportbikerider78
Minister of Fire
I save a big part of my salary...so do lots of Americans, even though lots don't. Don't we benefit from this with our investments?
If there is a single income teacher, firefighter, cop in the 14% bracket, they are don't something wrong with their taxes. That might be the bracket they fall in before deductions, but not total effective rate. BTW, state cops in NY make great money. Many over $100k. They do really well with OT.
By the way its not just the US many European countries have a problem that they have negative prop
He and a lot of other folks made a fortune on foreclosed homes, they didn't foreclose on them they just bought them when no one else wanted them as there was glut in the market. Berkshire and others may have made a fortune picking up the remains but they didn't cause the crisis. That lies squarely on the banks getting creative in lending money to folks who really didn't qualify to buy a home helped along by politicians that told freddy and fannie to reduce standards down low. Berkshire was just following the "Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful" theory. He is not the only one, Baron Rothschild, an 18th-century British nobleman and member of the Rothschild banking family, is credited with saying that "the time to buy is when there's blood in the streets." That's contrarian investment.
I think we all do this on occasion at a far lower level. We find a deal on craigslist and it turns out that the seller needed to sell something to raise cash to pay off bills. We aren't responsible for why the seller owes the money, we are there to get a deal. I am not forcing the seller to sell, I am a willing buyer and they need to be willing seller or I go home.
I waited way to long to buy Berkshire B stocks and wish I had bought more.
He and a lot of other folks made a fortune on foreclosed homes, they didn't foreclose on them they just bought them when no one else wanted them as there was glut in the market. Berkshire and others may have made a fortune picking up the remains but they didn't cause the crisis. That lies squarely on the banks getting creative in lending money to folks who really didn't qualify to buy a home helped along by politicians that told freddy and fannie to reduce standards down low. Berkshire was just following the "Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful" theory. He is not the only one, Baron Rothschild, an 18th-century British nobleman and member of the Rothschild banking family, is credited with saying that "the time to buy is when there's blood in the streets." That's contrarian investment.
I think we all do this on occasion at a far lower level. We find a deal on craigslist and it turns out that the seller needed to sell something to raise cash to pay off bills. We aren't responsible for why the seller owes the money, we are there to get a deal. I am not forcing the seller to sell, I am a willing buyer and they need to be willing seller or I go home.
I waited way to long to buy Berkshire B stocks and wish I had bought more.
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Its simple ,earned and unearned income should be taxed at the same rate. Like i said why should someone pay 39% if they get a W-2 form or 15%(now20%) if they get a brokerage statement. All the Super rich people dont get W-2s(wages ,Salary) . Trillions getting taxed at 20% while those making peanuts in comparison get taxed up to 39% .How is that even remotely fair. IMO
sportbikerider78
Minister of Fire
After the housing crisis of 2008'ish time frame, through Fanney Mae, HUD and Freddie Mac the US government (aka the US taxpayer) was left holding tons of foreclosed properties. They were auctioned off at incredible prices to just a few private investors and you and I were not able to buy those homes.
This was all just on the heels of $750B TARP payout to banks back in 2008....so the banks could not fail.
So the same banking institutions (Goldman Sachs, JPMorganChase, Citigroup) who helped caused this sub-prime lending mess, who got a huge bailout, are now entitled to buy out at a super discount, bulk foreclosed homes.
I will always advocate for free market and free enterprise capitalism. This is crony capitalism at its finest, enabled by Congress, the federal reserve, and huge corrupt banking institutions to favor their rich buddies. Rich guy socialism.
In 2011 there was a partial audit (Government Accountability Office) of the federal reserve that revealed they paid out more than $16T (yes, that's a T) to financial institution and corporations through the world. The biggest recipient was Citigroup with $2.5T....next runner up was Morgan Stanley. This is the biggest transfer of wealth ever recorded, that I know of, and few even know it happened.
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And the handfull of people in the 1% who have amassed 99% of this countries wealth largely due to paying 15% tax rate are also among the group able to scoop up property at fire sale prices after the people who paid on them for 30 years are evicted. Its painfully obvious the system is skewed to the super rich. I more fair system would make a whole lot of millionaires and not just few billionaires.