Gjennomsnittlig Bevegelse Regning Irs

Husrengjøringstjenester - Gjennomsnittlige prisutgifter Hva du kan forvente Med profesjonell husrengjøring, få flere detaljerte rengjøringskurser. Den gjennomsnittlige prisen for å leie en rengjøring er mellom 90 og 150. Prisene varierer avhengig av størrelsen på ditt hjem og hvilke tjenester du vil ha. Frekvens er også en faktor mange tjenesteleverandører tilbyr lavere priser for ukentlig rengjøring i forhold til månedlige eller to ganger. Tilleggskostnader gjelder ofte for: Windows Peiser Ovn Kjøleskap Høye hyller eller tak Hvis ditt hjem er utenfor leverandørens regulære serviceområde, kan de også belaste et gebyr for reise. Still spørsmål om alle disse rengjøringstjenestene, og hvordan de kommer til å komme inn i totalen din. Gjennomsnittlig husrengjøring Priser Det er ulike oppgaver du kan ha en profesjonell gjør rundt ditt hjem. For å sikre en god avtale, få tilbud fra flere tjenester, som noen kan tilby pakketilbud eller spesialpriser, avhengig av sesong og andre faktorer. Som en basislinje er gjennomsnittlige priser for vanlige tjenester som tilbys av husrengjøringsselskaper: Gjennomsnittlig timepris Hvis du ansetter en profesjonell tjeneste eller en person for å rengjøre huset ditt hver time i stedet for i kvadratfot, så ser du på forskjellige priser avhengig av noen få faktorer. Først ansetter du en person eller en tjeneste To, hvor ofte ansetter du dem for å rense huset En gang i uken Hver annen uke En gang i måneden Mens du kan beregne en gjennomsnittlig timepris, vet du godt hva du kan betale på en ukentlig eller månedlig, bare i tilfelle. Noen priser du kan se på er: 50 til 70 for en person i to timer 80 til 150 for et profesjonelt rengjøringsfirma i to timer. Merk at disse kan endres avhengig av hvor stor huset ditt er. Hvis du har en liten leilighet eller leilighet, kan det være mot nedre enden. Hvis hjemmet ditt har mange rom eller historier, kan det være i retning av den høye enden, om ikke høyere enn dette anslaget. Forskning viser at gjennomsnittlig timerengjøring for amerikanske tjenestepenger er mellom 25 og 45 per time. så hold det i bakhodet når du får anførselstegn. Husarbeidere og enkeltpersoner må imidlertid jobbe alene og kan ikke komme til så mange hus på en dag som en tjeneste, så de vil belaste over det gjennomsnittet. Hvordan boligrengjøring er fastsatt når du ansetter en profesjonell rengjøringstjeneste. De vil enten belaste deg for hver time eller kvadratmeter. Hvis du har ett rom rengjort, er det vanligvis mer kostnadseffektivt å lade opp per time. Hvis du har hele hjemmet ditt renset, vil de vanligvis belaste ved kvadratfot. Noen andre faktorer som kan påvirke hastigheten din inkluderer: Rengjøringsfrekvens Dyr i huset Flertall av overflater for rengjøring Spesialrengjøring (vinduer, møbler) Antall personer som rengjør Du kan forhandle med boligrengjøring for å oppnå en rimelig pris. Men ikke fokus så mye på penger som du ofrer tjeneste. Hvis for eksempel et selskap belaster per time og du ikke er villig til å betale for tilstrekkelig tid for å få alle oppgavene gjort, kan du være misfornøyd med sluttresultatet. Hvordan spare penger på Home Cleaning Hvis du vil spare penger på profesjonell rengjøring av hjemmet. Her er noen trinn du kan ta: Bo på Budsjett Velg et selskap som tilbyr alle tjenestene du trenger til riktig pris. Ikke få den billigste servicen du finner, eller den dyreste. Sjekk online vurderinger og snakk med tidligere klienter for å få en ide om hva du kan forvente. Du er sannsynlig å finne et rengjøringsfirma som faller innenfor budsjettet ditt. Gjør små rengjøringsoppgaver selv Hvis du ansetter en rengjøringstjeneste som kommer på ukentlig basis, kan du gjøre ting rundt huset for å kutte ned på rengjøringstiden. Gjør små oppgaver som raskt å dusting åpne overflater eller ta ut avfallet. Jo flere små jobber du gjør, desto mindre må de gjøre hver uke. Velg hva de rengjør Selv om du kan leie en profesjonell rengjøringstjeneste for å gjøre nesten alt, trenger du ikke å. Velg enkelte rom for å rengjøre dem i stedet. Velg rommene som trenger mest arbeid eller få mye fottrafikk. På den måten sparer du penger og har fortsatt et mest rent hjem. Ha Forbruksartikler Handy Du bør alltid ha rengjøringsmateriell tilgjengelig for fagpersoner. Det er ingen grunn til å betale ekstra for sine forsyninger når det er billigere å gi din egen. Som en ekstra fordel, når du trenger å rydde et rom eller rydde opp et rot, har du det du trenger for hånden. Leie et firma eller individ Det kan være betydelige forskjeller når du ansetter en person i stedet for et profesjonelt rengjøringsfirma. Disse inkluderer kostnadene for å ansette, potensielle juridiske problemer og tilgjengelighet. I begge tilfeller er det viktig å stille mange spørsmål, så du vet nøyaktig hva du får for pengene dine. Individuelle hushjelp kan tilby spesifikke tjenester utover bare rengjøring, som brett klær, matlaging måltider, barnepass og så videre. Men hvis de blir syke eller må gå på ferie, vil du ikke ha en erstatning. Det kan også være juridiske problemer, så hvis du ikke jobber med et lisensiert og bundet selskap, er det best å ta noen ekstra skritt for å beskytte deg selv: Kontakt IRS for en arbeidsgiver ID Bekreft at de kan fungere i USA Bekreft at Din forsikring dekker folk som arbeider i ditt hjem Betal ekstra kostnader - forsikring, for eksempel - hvis du betaler dem mer enn 1700 per år Rengjøringstjenester har også fordeler og ulemper. En rengjøring har et stort antall mennesker til rådighet, så det er vanligvis sikkerhetskopier tilgjengelig. De kan være grundigere fordi de kan sende et lag i stedet for et individ. Imidlertid prøver de å dekke mange boliger på en dag, så de kan ha det travelt og tilby mindre individuell service. Andre populære rengjøringstjenester I tillegg til husrengjøring er det andre typer rengjøringstjenester tilgjengelig for villaeiere. Avhengig av hvor mye arbeid du vil gi til en profesjonell, kan du potensielt spare tid på mange rengjøringsprosjekter. Her er noen populære rengjøringstjenester fagfolk håndtere. Tørkestøving Støvsuging er en flott, kortvarig løsning for å holde teppet i form. Men det trenger også periodisk dyp rengjøring for lang levetid, noe som noen ganger høres ut som en billig rengjøringsoppgave, men kan være skadelig hvis det gjøres feil. Det anbefales at du har teppet dypt rengjort hvert år til 18 måneder, avhengig av garantien og mengden fottrafikk. Du kan enten få teppet til å bli rengjort eller renset, selv om damprengjøring er den vanligste metoden. Hvis du får renseproblemer fra fagpersoner, er det noen spørsmål å spørre om: Hvor lenge har du vært i bedriften Hvordan skal jeg bli belastet for rengjøringen Hva koster du Er du sertifisert Skal jeg flytte møblene på forhånd Før rengjøringen av tepper ankommer , markere problemområder som kjæledyr, flekker og flekker med tape. Fjern alt som er skjøre hvis rengjøringsmidler trenger å flytte møbler. Tepperensing er en effektiv måte å få ut de flekker og holde garantien din i takt. Skorstenspleie For å hindre brann og karbonmonoksydforgiftning, må du rengjøre skorstenen regelmessig. Det må ha blader, rusk og kreosot fjernet før du sparker brann i peisen. Sørg for å spørre en skorstensrenser: Hvor lenge har de vært i virksomhet Hvis de har referanser fra tidligere klienter Hvis de har en ansvarspolicy i tilfelle skader, vil det være mye sot og rusk som kommer ut under en skorsteinrensing, så sørg for å spørre om matter og laken for å dekke dine møbler og gulv. Du vil være ute av rommet under denne prosessen. Hvis du har kjæledyr eller barn, vil du også ha dem ut av rommet, slik at de ikke inhalerer sot eller spre det med føttene. Siding Cleanup Din sidespor trenger regelmessig vedlikehold og omsorg, spesielt etter store uværlige vær. Sjekk for tunge flekker som rust, mugg eller smuss på overflaten. Du kan noen ganger ta av med en skrubber, mens flere sta plager kan kreve en kraftvask. Vær oppmerksom på at kraftskiver kan skade dører og vinduer. Du kan ansette en profesjonell til å betjene en spenningsvask for hvor som helst mellom 200 og 400. De må bruke en forlengelsesvegg for å komme til de høyere delene av ditt hjem. Du bør også være sikker på å lukke alle dine vinduer og dører slik at vann ikke sprenge og ødelegge interiøret. Vinduespolering Vinduene bygger mye støv, rusk og skitt. Ved å ta med en profesjonell minst to ganger i året, vil du nyte rene vinduer uten riper, striper eller merker. En rensingstjeneste vil belaste avhengig av faktorer som: Antall vinduer Utstyr kreves Spesielle forhold, som om det er flekker eller merker som krever ekstra oppmerksomhet Vinduespolere bruker noen av de samme rengjøringsmateriellene du vil bruke til å få vinduene dine til å se glitrende lyse . Dens når de har mye mineralforekomster eller fett at spesialiserte kjemikalier trengs. Hvis du vil holde vinduene i god form og redusere kostnadene, kan du regelmessig vaske vinduene med en svamp eller en myk klut. Gutter amp Tak Tak Renovering Over tid, spesielt om høsten og vinteren, samler rennene og ryggene mange blad og rusk som forhindrer dem i å drenere fuktighet fra taket. Også bestemte typer trær mdash johannesbrønner, eiker og lønner, for eksempel mdash faller mye blader på vår og sommer, som bygger opp enda mer rusk. Mens villaeiere kan risikere å klatre i en stige og fjerne ruskene selv, er dette for farlig for mange. Gutter og downspout rengjøring fagfolk kan komme inn og gjøre denne jobben uten å sette deres liv i fare, og det er ikke veldig dyrt. De kan også sjekke om eventuelle sprekker eller hull i tarmene som kan bidra til dreneringsproblemer, og installere netting over tarmene for å hindre rusk å bygge opp. Ducts amp Vents Ditt oppvarming og kjølesystem er avhengig av en rekke metallkanaler for å levere varm og kul luft inn i hjemmet ditt. Over tid kan disse kanalene bli tilstoppet med støv og rusk. Venstre ukontrollert, dette kan oppmuntre mugg, tiltrekke skadedyr og gnagere og påvirke helsen din. Kanal - og ventilasjonsrengjøring innebærer sterkt vakuumsuging for å fjerne rusk. Men ikke prøv dette med ditt vanlige husholdningsvakuum. Vakuumsystemer designet for kanalrengjøring er betydelig kraftigere og kan fjerne støv og rusk som er fanget langt ned i kanalarbeidet. Kostnaden for kanalrengjøring avhenger av størrelsen på ditt hjem. En profesjonell bør kunne gi deg et nøyaktig rengjøringskvot ved å vite størrelsen på ditt hjem og HVAC-system. Å ansette et hus rengjøring er en fin måte å ta noen daglige gjøremål av din gjøremålsliste og gi deg en stressbesparende gave. Ved å gjøre leksene dine på forhånd, vet du hva du kan forvente og hvordan du sikrer at du får det du vil ha fra tjenesten du jobber med. Når du har prøvd det, vil du oppdage at en grundig, profesjonell rengjøring av hjemmet er en investering som er verdt tiden og pengene du legger inn i den. Jeg trenger noen til å pakke bokser fra kjøkkenet, pantry og vaskerom, kontor osv. Rengjør deretter apparatene, osv. Hvor jeg skal flytte til og kanskje hjelpe med å pakke ut en dag eller så den følgende uken. Ønsker pakking gjort på 3-23 eller 3-24, 3-25 siste. Hvilken del av området betjener du jeg er for tiden i Chatham co, flytter til Effingham co. Advise please.10 Perks Congress har det du ikke må 20 oktober 2013 klokken 13:30 Etter en 16-dagers regjering avstengning, en annen runde med kick-the-can når det gjelder det amerikanske gjeldstaket, og raske debatter om fremtiden for Obamacare, det er ikke overraskende å oppdage at amerikanerne ikke tenker veldig høyt på kongressen. Jeg vet fra et personlig perspektiv Jeg er ikke så fornøyd med innsatsen hver part har satt inn de siste par årene, men tre meningsmålinger siden 2011 snakker underverk på mengden vitriol rettet mot kongressen. Kilde: White House on Flickr. Separate meningsmålinger fra New York Times. Public Policy Polling, og Gallup (gjennomført mellom 2011 og 2013 for de to sistnevnte) viser at kongressens godkjenningsvurdering kommer inn på et rekord lavt nivå mellom 9 og 11, avhengig av hvilken kilde du velger. Som senke Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) Så passivt satt det (link åpner en YouTube-video) i 2011 mens han snakket med medlemmer av kongressen om sin 9 godkjenningsvurdering, var nesten på feilmarginen for null. Disse nevnte meningsmålinger sette den inn i enda mer sammenheng ved å spørre amerikanerne hva deres mening var av kongressen i forhold til andre ugunstige ideer, mennesker og oppgaver. Ifølge resultatene er kongressen mindre gunstig betraktet av publikum enn hundepest, hemorroider, trafikkorker, kakerlakker, linjer på DMV, zombier, herpes, banker, brusselspirer, IRS, bruktbiler og Wall Street. Men av noen frelsende nåde har kongressen vært i et bedre lys enn Miley Cyrus. Selv om resultatene er forståelig nok komiske, er de også utrolig triste. Hvorfor fordi kongressen har kontroll over å sette lovene som enkeltpersoner og selskaper styres av. Som jeg diskuterte i juni, kan offentlig oppfatning være et farlig verktøy som kan ødelegge aksjemarkedssamlinger, selv om selskapene leverer solide vekstutsikter. Investors tro på kongressen er avgjørende, ettersom deres evne til å navigere i den kommende debatten om gjeldsloft i begynnelsen av februar kunne ha en dyp innvirkning på Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: DJI) og bred SampP 500 (SNPINDEX: GSPC). Selv om både Dow og SampP 500 treffer nye heltidshøyder denne uken, er regjeringens nedleggelse anslått å ha kostet USA 24 milliarder i BNP, og var ikke nærmere en langsiktig gjelds - og føderal underskuddsløsning enn vi var på denne tiden i forrige uke. En langvarig offentlig nedleggelse og gjeldsstandard vil føre til dårlige nyheter for begge store amerikanske indeksene fremover. Men hva kan være mest foruroligende ting av alle er fordelene medlemmer av kongressen får som en takk for at de serverer sitt land. Ive fremhevet utallige virksomhetsfordeler gjennom årene som selskaper gir sine ansatte, og noen involverte ublu lønnspakker, gratis treningsmedlemskap og strenge pensjonsordninger. Men det er få selskapsfordeler som sammenligner med disse 10 sammen. 1. En grunnlønn på 174 000 kroner. Det bør ganske vist være noen premie i lønn for å fastsette lover og å drive landet som valgt embetsmenn, og enkelte selskaper gir sine ansatte ublu lønnspakker, men å være medlem av kongressen, inneholder minst en årlig lønnsslipp på 174 000, som er mer enn tre ganger høyere enn gjennomsnittlig privat sektor lønn på 51 986 i 2010, ifølge Bureau of Economic Analysis. Kilde: Global X, Flickr. 2. Gratis flyplassparkering Hvor mye ville du betale for en parkeringsplass på flyplassen som var rett ved siden av terminalen du landet på til kongress, det er en stor fett null. På en gang i sin historie, lenge før Flyplassmyndigheten kontrollerte Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport og Dulles International Airport i Washington, D. C.-området, opererte den føderale regjeringen dem. Når Flyplassmyndigheten overtok i 1987, bevilgde den som en høflighet 92 kombinert plasser reservert mellom begge flyplassene for kongressmedlemmer. Med en hastighet på 22 per dag, representerer det nesten 740 000 i gjengitt inntekt årlig for Reagan National. 3. Et gratis treningsstudio på stedet for husmedlemmer Ikke bare er medlemmer av representanthuset behandlet på sitt eget eksklusive treningsstudio, men det kommer også med flatskjerm-TV, et svømmebasseng, en badstue og et rom og paddleball og basketballbaner. Dette ville ikke vært så ille, bortsett fra at kongressen holdt sitt treningsstudio åpent i løpet av alle 16 dagene av regjeringens avstengning, og satte renten på rengjørings - og vedlikeholdsavgiftene helt på skattebetalere. 4. Forsvarte innsidehandelbegrensninger Til tross for at Stop Trading på Kongresskunneloven, kanskje kjent bedre som LAGER-loven i 2012, hadde kongressen den primære opplysningskomponenten tidligere i år. Selv om det fortsatt gjør det vanskelig å foreta handler på innsiden, betyr det at de ikke trenger å offentliggjøre sine handler og potensielle innsidekunnskaper. Dens ærverdige de passerte restriksjonene, men det er vanskelig å holde dem ærlige hvis det er vanskelig å få tilgang til informasjonen. 5. Opptil 239 dager avslag Ifølge kongresskalenderen utgitt i slutten av 2012 var det 126 kongress sessjoner på dokkingstasjonen uten en enkelt fem-dagers arbeidsuke, etterlot medlemmer av kongressen med 239 dager til å arbeide utenfor kongressen. Noen ganger betyr dette at du arbeider i hjemlandet, og i andre tilfeller kan det bety en ferie. Medlemmer av kongressen får hele august måneden av, får to uker rundt påske, og werent planlegges å jobbe en enkelt helg, ifølge dette årets dokkingstasjon. Selvfølgelig kan kongressdockettet endres, og som vi så nylig som debatt om gjeldsloft, vil kongressmedlemmer faktisk jobbe helger som nødvendig. 6. Kongressen mottar helsevesenet subsidier under Obamacare Under lov om pasientvern og rimelig omsorg, bedre kjent som Obamacare, er det nødvendig for personer å ha helseforsikring eller møte en straff som øker hvert år gjennom 2016. For personer som tjener mindre enn fire ganger årlig fattigdomsnivå (ca. 46 000) eller familier som tjener mindre enn fire ganger fattigdomsnivået (nær 92 000), er de berettiget til å motta et delvis eller fullt tilskudd på sin helseforsikring gjennom Obamacares helseutveksling. Kongressen får imidlertid også en stor del av sin helseforsikring, som støttes av publikum på Obamacares helseutveksling, til tross for at det blir mer enn fire ganger fattigdomsnivået. Kilde: Skattepoeng, Flickr. 7. En bedre pensjonsordning Ifølge tall fra US Census Bureau, vil gjennomsnittlig sosial sikkerhet mottaker gå til netto 15 000 i året i fordelene mens en offentlig arbeidspensjon pensjon vil gjennomsnittlig rundt 26 000. Derimot vil et pensjonert medlem av kongressen som tjente 20 år, gjennomsnittlig 59.000 årlig pensjonsytelse. I tillegg har kongressmedlemmer (egentlig alle føderale arbeidstakere) tilgang til sparsommelsessparingsplanen, en 401 (k) - likk investeringsvogn med avgifter på bare 0,03. For å sette det inn i konteksten, noterer Bankrate at dette bare betyr 0,27 i avgifter for hver 1000 for Sparing Savings Plan, sammenlignet med gjennomsnittet 401 (k), som belaster rundt 5 i avgifter for hver 1000 Over en levetid, som kan bety tusenvis mindre i avgifter for kongressmedarbeidere sammenlignet med offentlig og privat arbeidstakere. 8. Kongressmedlemmer flyr gratis, så ikke alle flyreiser er gratis for kongressmedlemmer, men et stort flertall av flyreiser mellom deres hjemstater og Washington, D. C., er finansiert med skattebetalers penger. Hva er helt unikt er at lovgivere har gitt flyselskaper muligheten til å bestille seg på flere flyreiser uten å bli belastet flere ganger på grunn av deres meget flytende tidsplaner. 9. Dødsfordeler Skulle et medlem av kongressen bli drept mens han er på kontoret, ville den overlevende familien til det medlemmet ha rett til å motta minst ett års lønn, eller minst 174 000. I motsetning til at soldater i USA, forsvarsstyrker som forgår mens de forsvarer landet vårt i hjemlandet eller utenlands, har rett til 100.000 i militære dødsfall, samt begravelses - og begravelsesutgifter. 10. En 1,2 millioner til 3,3 millioner godtgjørelse Medlemmer av huset mottar en 900.000 årlig godtgjørelse for et personale samt et 250.000 budsjett for reise - og kontorutgifter, betalt av skattytere. Hver senator, derimot, får et budsjett nær 3,3 millioner basert på tall fra Congressional Research Service. Igjen tilbyr enkelte selskaper overdådige lønnspakker og fordeler til ansatte, så det kan være litt hyklerisk å velge kongress for dette punktet. Imidlertid er jeg ikke klar over noen virksomhet der ute der alle ansatte likevel får minst 1,2 millioner i utgifter til rådighet. Følg Fool-bidragsyter Sean Williams på CAPS under skjermnavnet TMFUltraLong. spor hver eneste plukk han gjør under skjermnavnet TrackUltraLong. og sjekk ham ut på Twitter, hvor han går av håndtaket TMFUltraLong. Prøv noen av våre Foolish nyhetsbrev tjenester gratis i 30 dager. Vi Fools ikke alle holder de samme meninger, men vi alle tror at vurderer et mangfoldig utvalg av innsikt gjør oss bedre investorer. The Motley Fool har en avsløringspolitikk. Hvor mye penger gjør de øverste inntektene som tjener, Velkommen til toppinntekterne Amerikanere er rike av verdensstandarder. Med en gjennomsnittlig inntekt per capita på 48 000, rangerer Amerika i topp 10 i verden. De andre ni inkluderer Qatar (88.300), Luxembourg (80.000), Singapore (57.230), Norge (52.230), Brunei (47.500), Hong Kong (45.000), Sveits (41.800), Nederland (40.800), Australia (39.632) og Østerrike (39 100). Dataene kommer fra IMF (2015), og Verdensbanken og CIA World Factbook samler og bekrefter tilsvarende data. Hvis du ved fødselen hadde mental evne til å velge hvor du vil leve i det meste av livet ditt, bør en av disse 10 landene trolig være på listen, takket være riktig infrastruktur som gir mulighet. Selv om du ender med å være den mest middelmådige produsenten, er du fortsatt miles foran mye av verden. Synd mange av oss kan velge hvor vi vil vokse opp og tjene oss. Som sådan er det fint å forstå hvordan vi sammenligner med resten av verden for å gi oss noe perspektiv. Hvis alle tjener 1 million i året, er en millionær isn8217t veldig spesiell lenger. Samtidig, hvis alle tjener under 20 000 i året, må inntektsnivået for fattigdom omdefineres. Alt er relativt. Let8217s lærer om hverandre8217 inntekter skal vi What The Top 1, 5, 10, 25 og 50 Make In America Basert på Internal Revenue Service8217s 2010-2014 database nedenfor, her8217s hvor mye de øverste amerikanerne gjør: SAMMENDRAG AV FEDERAL INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX DATA Basert på en tidligere 1000 undersøkelsesundersøkelse om Financial Samurai i høst 2014, er omtrent 80 av leserne i topp 25 (67 000). Godt å vite at mange av dere har det bra. Tabellen forteller også en rekke ting om likestilling eller ulikhet, nemlig at skattebetalernes topp 1 betaler 38 av alle inntektsskatter, men har bare 20 andel av det totale AGI. Videre betaler de øverste 50 av skattemyndighetene praktisk talt alle de nasjonale skatteavgiftene (97,3) mens de styrer 87,25 av det totale AGI. Denne tabellen fra IRS er kilden til det ofte politisk bantered argumentet at 47 av amerikanske inntektsinntjenere betaler null føderale inntektsskatt. Hvis du gjør en annen liten øvelse og sammenligner de 25 beste amerikansk inntektene til de 10 beste inntektslandene i verden, kan du nok en gang se hvor heldig de fleste av oss er. Hvis vi bare kunne få alle amerikanske lønn til å betale noen avgifter, ville det gå langt for å bidra til å øke budsjettet. Kongressen holder konstant nasjonens gidsler ved å bikre over om man skal kutte 10 milliarder her, 50 milliarder der. Alt vi trenger å gjøre er at de som tjener over fattigdomsgrensen, som betaler ingen føderale inntektsskatt, betaler bare 43 per måned, og vi øker 60 milliarder kroner om året, der for eksempel, Let8217s, har alle til å bidra til vårt velferd. Vi er alle sammen i dette. For de som bare sliter med å holde hodet over vann, lar let8217s dem en hjelpende hånd. Hvem er de 47 som betaler ingen føderale inntektsskatter Skattepolitikken Centre8217s Donald Marron sa at de faller inn i tre hovedgrupper: De som arbeider fattige. Den opptjente inntektsskatt og barnekreditten kan hjelpe familier som gjør 50.000 eller mer, betaler ingen skatt eller får penger tilbake. Om lag 60 av de som ikke betaler inntektsskatt, bidrar til lønnsskatt, noe som betyr at de må ha noen kilde til arbeidsinntekt. Eldre. Et økt standardfradrag for de over 65 år, og et unntak på en del av trygdpenger, betyr at mange eldre amerikanere betaler ingen inntektsskatt. Husk at de eldre har betalt sine avgifter gjennom tiår med føderal beskatning i løpet av karrieren. Lavinntekt. En familie på fire som hevder bare standardfradrag og personlige fritak, betaler ingen føderal inntektsskatt på sine første 27 000 inntekter. Som du kan se, å være fattig eller eldre, betyr det sannsynlig at du ikke betaler netto føderale inntektsskatt. Vi kommer alle til å bli gamle en dag, så let8217s gir denne gruppen et pass. De eldre betalte inn i systemet, så la dem ta vare på dem. Jeg tror ikke at noen av oss heller vil være fattige, så vi kan ikke betale noen føderale skatter, så la dem også gi dem et pass. Dette etterlater oss med en lavinntektsgruppe som kanskje har gjort noen suboptimale beslutninger som å ha barn mens de ikke er i stand til å støtte seg selv. Barn beregnes å koste alt fra 100 000 til 500 000 fra 1 til 18 år. Kanskje å ha flere barn med lav inntekt er ikke ideell. Men, hvordan nekter du lidenskap? Ingen grunn til noensinne å klage Hvis du jobber i Amerika, kan du se fra et topp og nedre perspektiv du gjør fantastisk. Hvis du er i de nederste 50 amerikanere som tjener mindre enn 33 048 i året, vet du at du kan tjene mer hvis du vil. Halvdelen av kampen beveger seg bare til et levende sted som San Francisco Bay Area, hvor milliarder dollar strømmer inn på grunn av teknologiinnovasjon. Det er ikke som du må modige det store hav for å nå Amerika. It8217 er ikke som du trenger å ri en hest i tre måneder for å komme fra New York til California. Alt du trenger å gjøre er å hoppe på en buss eller et fly for å være der handlingen er. For 20 år siden husker jeg å lage 550 i måneden på McDonald8217s for 3.65hour. Med lønn 3X høyere nå, drar I8217d i 1.650 i måneden eller 20.000 i året Heck, takk på å kjøre for Uber i 20 timer i uken deltid på 36hour og you8217ll gjøre ytterligere 2000 i måneden og være i de øverste 50 inntektsinntjenere ikke noe problem. There8217s en hel gig økonomi der ute for frilansere å tjene ekstra penger etter jobb, eller freelance full tid. Hvorfor ikke dra fordel Hvis du bare jobber 40 timer i uken eller mindre og klager på hvorfor du kan komme fremover, må du revurdere arbeidsmoral og forventninger på alvor. Hvem som helst kan gjøre det, du kan bare være vildfarende nok til å tro at you8217ll kan konkurrere når alle i verden som ønsker å komme frem, jobber 60 timer i uken og blir betalt mye mindre for å starte. Spenn litt tid på nettet, forstå global lønn fra våre største konkurrenter i Kina og India. For å opprettholde våre inntekter må vi hele tiden oppdatere våre ferdigheter. Det er nok av seks figurer jobber der ute for å ta. Du trenger bare å ha lyst, motivasjon, arbeidsmoral og utholdenhet for å komme dit. Vidste du at San Francisco-politimesteren gjør 320.000 i året? Når han går på pensjon, får han 200.000 årlig pensjon for livet. Det er ikke bare leger, advokater, venturekapitalister, bankfolk, filmstjerner og idrettsutøvere som gir sunne summere penger. Selv min venn som er en fagforening elektriker og ikke får lov til å jobbe mer enn 35 timer i uken, gjør 120.000 i året og får en pensjon på 5.000 per måned når han går på 55 år. Let8217 teller ikke 30.000 i året han gjør jobbsider med all den fritiden. Det er seks figurer i nesten hver eneste industri, inkludert non-profit industrien. Tilbake til mitt poeng hvor hvis alle tjener en million dollar i året, er ingen rik. Bor i San Francisco, føles det sikkert som de fleste er i de øverste 5 av inntektsinntektene (159 619). Jeg er sikker på at mange som bor og jobber på Manhattan, og potensielt LA og Chicago føler det samme. Levekostnadene er kostbare her ute. og det er hovedsakelig drevet av høy lønn. Kombinere to inntektsberettigede med disse beløpene, og du kan virkelig begynne å forstå hvorfor overgå hva regjeringen anser som velstående (250 000) ikke for vanskelig. Takk den rike for alltid å betale flere skatter Som økonomien fortsetter å komme seg i 2016, er det sannsynlig at de øverste 1 av inntektsinntektene vil sannsynligvis betale en enda høyere prosentandel av de samlede inntektsskattene enn deres andel av inntektene berettiger. Hvis det var rettferdig, ville topp 1 bare betale 20 av de totale inntektsskattene siden 20 er deres andel av totalinntekt. Alas, de rike betaler nesten doble hva de skylder. På baksiden, bunnen 50 som tjener 12,75 av total inntjening betaler bare 2,7 i totale skatter. Men som vi lærte over, er de fleste bunnen 50 eldre eller fattige. Bare hvordan demonstranter feilaktig samler topp 1, som lager over 380 000 med ultra rik, som lager millioner av dollar i året, er forvirrende. Sjaløtter grupperer også sammen de som tjener 30 000 i året, med den mest ugunstige ulikheten er feil. Enten du blir terrorisert av IRS eller beskyttet av nasjonen8217s militær fra atomkrig, bør du betale skatt. Hvis du kommer til å kjøre på motorveier, bør du betale skatt. Diskriminering er ikke OK, bare fordi du ikke blir diskriminert. Det er med andre ord ikke riktig å alltid gå etter en gruppe inntjenere, som allerede betaler de fleste føderale inntektsskatter, hvis du ikke betaler noen skatter eller aren8217t villig til å betale mer skatt selv Vær din egen chef hvis du vil være rik Vi er i teknologien og internettalderen nå. Hvis du virkelig ønsker ubegrenset inntjeningspotensial, kan du også være din egen sjef en dag. Det koster så lite nå, bare å starte ditt eget nettsted, slik at du kan merke deg selv på nettet, koble deg til likesinnede mennesker, finne nye jobb - og konsulentmuligheter, og muligens gjøre en sunn livsstil online. Ta en titt på dette resultatregnskapet eksempel på en venn med en enkel personlig finans blogg. Klikk på grafen for å lære hvordan du starter nettstedet ditt innen 15 minutter. Inntektsmulighetene er uendelige Jeg startet Financial Samurai i 2009 som en hobby for å gi mening om den økonomiske ødeleggelsen. To og et halvt år senere forhandlet jeg en avgang fordi jeg lagde omtrent 80.000 om året fra denne hobbyen. I dag tjener I8217m mer enn jeg gjorde som administrerende direktør på et stort finansielt firma mens jeg jobbet 90 mindre og hadde 100 mer moro. Du kan starte ditt WordPress-nettsted som dette med Bluehost for så lite som 2,95 per måned. Bluehost er optimalisert for WordPress og har god service og fart. Kom opp med et unikt og minneverdig domenenavn, finn et gratis nettsted tema, koble din hosting og you8217ll være oppe i løpet av 30 minutter. Alle skal starte noe på siden. Nøkkelen er å adoptere en overflod mentalt og bare prøve. De tingene du gjør nå, kan forandre livet ditt for alltid Her8217s min trinnvise veiledning om hvordan du starter ditt eget nettsted på mindre enn 30 minutter. Spor nettobeløpet for gratis Det andre handlingsobjektet de rike gjør, er å spore deres nettoverdi. Du kan bare virkelig optimalisere rikdommen din hvis du vet hvor alle pengene dine går. Registrer deg for personlig kapital. Web8217s 1 gratis rikdom styringsverktøy for å få et bedre håndtak på din økonomi. I8217ve been using them since 2012 and have made much wiser financial decisions since. In addition to better money oversight, run your investments through their award-winning Investment Checkup tool to see exactly how much you are paying in fees. I was paying 1,700 a year in fees I had no idea I was paying. After you link all your accounts, use their Retirement Planning calculator that pulls your real data to give you as pure an estimation of your financial future as possible using Monte Carlo simulation algorithms. Input various expense and income variables to see how you stand. Your goal should be to get to a 90 probability of achieving your goal. Try it out yourself for free. Your future is too important not to take it seriously. You don8217t want to end up old and not have enough money because there is no rewind button Is your retirement on track Check for free after linking your accounts Updated for 2017 and beyond Photo: President Obama and His Dog, Public Domain. Sam started Financial Samurai in 2009 during the depths of the financial crisis as a way to make sense of all the chaos. After 13 years of working in finance, Sam decided to retire in 2012 to utilize everything he learned in the business to help people achieve financial freedom sooner, rather than later. Sam is a big advocate of using free financial tools like Personal Capital to help people grow their net worth, track their cash flow, x-ray their portfolios for excessive fees, and plan for retirement. The more you know about your money, the better you can grow your wealth You can sign up to receive his articles via email every time they are published three times a week. Sam also sends out a private quarterly newsletter with information on where hes investing his money and more sensitive information. Subscribe To Private Newsletter Fermis Paradox says That8217s a very important point Bill Richards (not to keep continuing this thread but it provokes thinking). I read a study a couple years ago, I think it was done by an Administration or the CBO, but it found roughly 12 of money income from those under the official poverty line is NOT reported. They determined this and other findings through direct interview of a large sample, not the typical meta-data analysis of broad reported statistics. Meaning this fact will not come from IRS data for example. And it makes perfect sense as well (in case someone wants to raise the BS flag). They not only likely have jobs where this is more frequently the case (e. g. cash work, self employed or working for an individual or small business that can more easily escape reporting requirements), BUT they are motivated NOT to report themselves. By doing so they are able to obtain or maintain greater benefits from the state. You can hardly blame them, they are acting rationally (perhaps not morally). Semper Fidelis says This is absolutely true. I8217ve done bookkeeping and seen it many times. It is pretty easy to legally expense 100 of profit from a business, leaving nothing to tax. I8217ve worked for three or four small businesses that do this. It8217s really quite simple and easy to do. First, register all your vehicles as company vehicles and expense the cost of those vehicles, plus all gasoline and maintenance costs Expense all health insurance costs, co-pays, and deductibles Expense all travel and entertaining that has anything to do with your business or is done with a client or employee Expense all payroll and company retirement contributions (make sure to put the maximum in your own, so you can write off the entire 53,000 as a payroll expense, and make sure that your spouse and children are 8217employed8217 so you can contribute up to 53,000 to their plans, tax free, as well) Expense any other items that are related to your business, including newspaper subscriptions, charitable contributions or advertising, continuing education expenses, city, state or federal licenses, fees or requirements, all telephone and internet service (including personal phones and computers, if you use them to communicate with customers or vendors) Expense home office space from your m ortgage Expense any security services related to business done at home or at business location Expense customer and employee 8216gifts82178230 I8217m sure there are more, but those are the main ones. In a larger business, taking no salary whatsoever (meaning no earned income to tax) and taking instead 8216deferred gains8217 or stock options puts even 25,000,000 into the lowest capital gains tier of 15 (meaning the exact same percentage of tax is due for the twenty five million dollars as an earned income (W-2 or 1099) of less than 37,400 in 2015. They would get buried in an IRS audit. The expenses must be business related. As a bookkeeper you should turn these guys into the IRS and get the 10 finders fee. Wouldn8217t be worth it. The expenses he lists are legit, but only the portion directly related to business. Which means you have to have records of what trips were for business, what were not. But, if you want to go to Hawaii for a vacation, just make sure you attend a conference there 8211 and deduct the airfare, hotel, meals, etc. For an individual, unreimbursed business expenses aren8217t deductible until you reach a certain amount 8211 then they are only deductible after that point. If you own a business, nearly every dollar of the Hawaii trip is deductible. No minimum necessary. But, there are tax incentives against working for yourself, as well. For example, you must pay the self-employed portion of your payroll tax 8211 which would be covered by an employer. My daughter baby-sat last summer to earn money for college. She made less than 800, but had to file a Schedule C (self-employment) and pay the SE tax. She didn8217t pay Federal or State tax, but there is no minimum on the amount you earn before you have to pay SE tax. My thoughts is that if a person who is 80 years old and has 1 million dollars compared to someone who is 30 years old and has 1 million dollars has different worth. Someone who is 30 and has that much money has the most important asset in the world, TIME, to build on that wealth. An old wisdom insight is that most 80 year old people would trade their 1 million to be 30 years old again. Unless your business lost a boatload of money earlier and you have tons of deferred tax credits that are somehow still operational I can8217t see you being taxed 0 all the time. However, with 8220loopholes8221 and clever tricks to transfer wealth like real estate appreciation, life insurance, or maybe out right entering a legal greyblack area that got banks like CS in trouble you can definitely minimize your tax bill to far below the maximum 40 bracket for top earners. Its a bit harder to get below the 15 capital gains but I8217ve read you can do stuff like wait till you die to pass appreciated stock to your heirs so its gets a markup without being taxed. Since I8217m not in any way a financial advisor or estate planner I8217m sure there8217s plenty of other small things you can do that add up. For most Americans, these things are just not worth it as you8217d have to actually hire a good financial advisor estate planner (most of whom charge sizable fees and make 6 figures anually). But if I ever get rich enough and haven8217t succeeded in lobbying the UN to impose a 75 wealth tax on the world and rigorously prosecute capital flight for tax avoidance purposes, I8217m definitely taking advantage of as many of these loopholes as I can. It8217s interesting you say that Tom, because I8217m currently consulting with Personal Capital. a digital wealth manager who employee Registered Investment Advisors to help with estate planning, investing, and so forth. Their highest fee is 0.95 on assets over 100,000 a year, and goes down from there. If someone holds stock till death and extremely wealthy the fair market value of the stock is included in the estate of the deceased. Yes the family will get a step-up in the value of the stock, but could be taxed in the estate if over the giftestate tax exemption amount. Estate tax is 40 currently, so yeah there8217s that8230 Good estate planning will contribute that to a family partnership or another entity and gift the partnership interest at a discounted rate prior to estate issues arising. stock for someone 8220extremely wealthy8221 would likely be moved into an irrevocable trust along with any other assets subject to estate tax (i. e. real estatepersonal property, etc.) during their estate planning. Jonathan SCHAEFER says You BETCHA And kudos to YOU, Sir, for being honest. I can NEVER get angry at someone who USES the system the WAY it was intended. But, until the electorate is given HONEST numbers, we can NEVER realize just how much (or how LITTLE) money is actually being paid by the top 18230.or even 2. I want to see HOUSEHOLD INCOME become the measuring stick. How much did you TAKE IN this year From ALL sources. And how much did you receive in refunds The remainder is how much you actually paid. That, my friend, is the only honest picture, from which we can judge, whether people are paying their fair share of TAXES. In the END, the ONLY fair tax system is one where the household income is computed with the SAME percentage for everyone. No deductions. What a DREAM (one that will never become reality). That kind of thinking is what is saving the rich We have GOT to stop thinking they need to pay such ridiculous rates. Many pay very little actual cash. The thing that has to happen is the rate structure has got to change. That is the only way to insure everyone pays SOMETHING. If every taxable entity paid, say, 7-8, with NO deductions, the government would have more money than they could spend Flat tax rate, no deductions. If you WANT to spend your money, because you have more of it, it will help the overall economy. But no more, where people with billions, get to keep all of it because they spend it correctly. That8217s bullshit. Fermis Parados says And your 7-8 would on average be a tax break to the 1 and would be a tax increase to over 50 of people who file tax returns. Just check the IRS website before making unfounded remarks about how much people actually pay in taxes. And it is all based income, not sure what the remark above is about 8220household income8221 is. That is effectively what the tax is based on (e. g. married filing jointly). Fermis Paradox says Again Tom, I have my suspicion that Eric8217s post is not entirely accurate. Aside from that, the data FS provides is the data, from the IRS, it8217s elsewhere in many places and easy to validate if readers care too. F. eks the top 1 paid on average 280,000 in Federal income taxes while the bottom 50 paid about 400 bucks. It8217s all there. So if Eric is somehow suggesting that there is some kind of grand conspiracy out there wherein the wealthiest in our society are somehow escaping taxes (in significant numbers) and as such do not show up in the data8230 well, I wish someone would provide a little more proof (as apposed to some anecdotal example). I guess that8217s the case with conspiracies, there8217s little or no proof. A good exercise for everyone is to hang-out somewhere that successful people gather, say some bar in a very nice restaurant in a wealthy neighborhood. Then just politely ask people about themselves and how they became successful, they will be flattered. Then find a watering hole where you know people are not very 8220economically well off8221 (be careful of course). Ask the same questions, but do it ever so subtly as to not offend. Then just compare the answers. All of this is no mystery. Good tip. If more folks can be willing to open up their minds and look to see how wealthier people got to where they are, instead of just shoot them down for being lucky or whatever, I think more people will get wealthier Get a mentor, listen, ask people who8217ve been there, done that. Fermis Paradox says FS, thanks again for a well balanced and objective website on a subject (money and wealth) that can be so contentious. And much of the mystery, hysteria and misinformation about wealth creation is due to this false egalitarian ethic that permeates every aspect of our society today. Yes, everyone is entitled to equal opportunity, but that NEVER produces equal results and never will 8211 simply because individual people are in fact different from one another and that leads to different outcomes (e. g. beliefs, ambition, willingness to take risk, preferences for certain life endeavors, culture, cognitive ability and so on). All too often people make certain life decisions, take certain paths in life, engage in certain behavior, don8217t recognize they lack requisite traits, abilities, etc. all which ends up hindering their 8220success8221 or at least as they perceive it. They then blame 8220the system8221 or the successful or any number of externalities other than themselves. The reasoning goes: 8220if everybody is equal then anyone who has more must have obtained it at the expense of someone else or it is otherwise ill-gotten.8221 I agree, I here hear people say all the time the rich pay less in taxes, they use Warren Buffet as their example. I ask them to point me to the location in the tax code that the rate decreases. It does not. It never decreases. Then they state well he makes all his money on investment, and capital gains is lower, well yes, but its even with capital gains the rich pay more on capital gains. The fact is the press has done a great job of saying the rich are bad, corporations are bad. Maybe people should be upset with how the government spends the money they takes from people. Specifically, people who have a lot of investment income, long-term, reap huge benefits by only having to pay 28 Capital Gain Tax Rate, rather than the normal 35 rate. Also huge corporations can move to Ireland or other off-shore locations to enjoy tax benefits while still operating mostly in the US. Fermis Paradox says Jacob, simply check the IRS data, it belies what you say. In terms of income groups, each successive group tax payers with greater income pays a greater of their income (regardless of source) in taxes (Top 1 gt Top 5 gt Top 10, etc. in terms of income earning groups). And you are confusing marginal rates with average rates, you are comparing the top marginal income tax rate with a capital gains rate. It is more than likely for most their average tax rate is lower than the 28 you specify, that8217s all that matters, really. That8217s in the IRS data too. Moreover, stockholders own and are responsible for the company in all regards the income, the cost, the profit AND for the taxes. The corporation also pays taxes on the stockholders behalf, so the combined tax on corporate 8220profit8221 or 8220returns to capital8221 is very large in this country. And as much as you would like to believe companies run from America to incorporate, the number is quite small by comparison. Lastly, even if your argument were true, common sense suggests that even the difference you sight is so small that it in no way explains the differences in after-tax income. The top capital gain rate is around 23 percent. The capital gain rate for people in the 15 percent bracket is zero. A married couple who is living off investments can therefore take home around 75k and pay no taxes. A non married couple with head of household closer to 90 k if both have their own portfolios. If the married couple have itemized deductions and exemptions they could potentially take home close to 90k to 100k before paying any taxes. If this couple were running a business they could deduct their BMW lease payments, health care costs, and other benefits to help this couple have a break even business. Furthermore this small business can offer a 401k plan and Hsa plan to put away another 22k away tax free. This couple would be in the top 8 percent and pay no income tax. Super wealthy people won8217t pay zero income tax, but those who rely on the capital gains rate will pay a lower effective tax than many middle class families. Furthermore wealthy investors pay zero dollars on the appreciation of their assets which is arguably income in a real sense. I hope this helps with the zero tax part8230 Semper Fidelis says Eric the Viking says After working our tails off for 20 years my wife and I entered the top 1 in our early 408217s and recently at age 49 entered the the top 0.1. You would never know by looking at us that we have an eight figure net worth. We have no boats, motorcycles, or fancy cars. My car doesn8217t even have power seats. We know many other 1er8217s and I can attest that they all pay big taxes. We pay about 43 of our gross income every year in state and federal taxes. Add sales tax, FICA, medicare, and property taxes on top of that and about 50 of our income goes towards taxes. The real problem will be when wealthy couples like us step out of the work force a decade or more before normal retirement age because we are tired of working for the government 5-6 months out of the year. Serious tax reform is needed if this country is to survive another 200 years. I don8217t mind paying my 8220fair share8221 but the top marginal of 51.4 that we currently pay on much of our income is too high. It is one of the major reasons for our decision to retire in the next couple years. I retired early partly due to high taxes as well. I8217ve found that making 200,000-250,000 a year is the ideal income for maximum happiness. Income is enough to do whatever you want, and you aren8217t taxed to the point where you feel taken advantage of. Please excuse me if I don8217t feel a bit sorry for you or your 8 figure income. How much money does one actually NEED What do you do with your money Your take home is over 500k a year and you have no big material items. You either make lousy investments or like to sit on money and whine about paying taxes. I am in the same situation and don8217t spend like crazy yet enjoy life. Paying taxes over 50 is fine and def prefer to keep working and paying vs no longer bringing in 500k a year. Paul Liimatta says I8217m tired of hearing the ways to produce more revenue for the government when there8217s so much waste reported and inappropriate funding in the 100s of billions along with IRS workers who owe billions in back taxes. It8217s preposterous the effort in trying to raise any taxes before the waste is handled through a combination of law changes, policy, sending civil servants and bankers to prison for crimes that undermine our economy. All that money would probably add up to 500 billion at least, start there I worked for the IRS in data entry for awhile and I can personally attest that the wealthy are often paying less taxes. I hand entered and coded paper tax returns and was shocked how a family of 4 making 20-30k would frequently be paying less than someone making well over 100k. I can8217t say how it happened because I was younger and didn8217t really understand tax codes, but I was the one typing in the numbers and the 8220amount paid8221 by many, many wealthy taxpayers was frequently less than the poorer families. I remember distinctly my shock and outrage after I saw the pattern emerge. 8220I hand entered and coded paper tax returns and was shocked how a family of 4 making 20-30k would frequently be paying less than someone making well over 100k.8221 This is right, unless you think someone making over 100k should pay less Why are you shocked When you said rich paying less, I would assume you are saying in terms of effective tax rate, not the whole amount. The fact is the top 5 earners are contribution over 80 of tax revenue for the govt. Fermis Paradox says In reading her post, Deniece mentions she entered the 8220amount paid8221, presumably accompanying the return she hand-entered. So it is not surprising that in some cases an earner with less AGI paid more than a higher earner simply because they did not withhold appropriately. The higher earner may have a tax consultant so they can maintain proper withholding, especially considering the higher dollar penalties they may pay vis--vis the lower income earner. After all, we are debating with a data entry clerk at the IRS. Deniece: all you have to do is go to the IRS website, there you can see the 8220effective8221 or average tax rate and amounts (actual dollars) filers pay for various income brackets. BOTH the effective rates and dollars paid GO UP with increasing income bracket. Of course, there are unique cases where you can compare individual filers and this is will not hold true, partly because our tax system is so complex. But on average (which is what we are talking about) higher income equals a higher bracket AND greater tax paid. This is a tired talk show theme. Take a look at effective tax rates for all taxes combined, including state, local, sales etc. And you will find that most poor and middle class are paying a higher rate than the wealthy. Also note that this country has some of the highest measures of income and capital inequality of any wealthy country in the world and you8217ll realize the poor aren8217t doing so well and the rich are getting by just fine. I don8217t think we need to increase taxes on the poor at this point. Fermis Paradox says Tom: the tired talk show theme is exactly what you are trying to get people to believe. The fact that it is a meme, continually broadcasted by so many doesn8217t make it true. Go check the CBO website for what you are looking for (combined taxes), it8217s out there. All Fed, State and local incomes taxes are progressive or at a minimum flat. Sales and transactional taxes are what they are, those with greater income spend more or have assets that are taxed more. So even at an 8220equivalent rate8221 they are higher (and of course, in absolute dollars, higher income earners pay much, much, more). Moreover, the lower income brackets not only pay fewer taxes (if at all on a net basis) but often receive direct dollar benefits (e. g. earned income tax credits) and a whole host of non-cash benefits those paying substantial taxes are not 8220entitled8221 to. Yours is a very old and unjustified argument. Sow me where in the tax code the tax rate goes down. Fermis Paradox says That is just crazy speak Johnny Those are extraneous examples. You8217re asking us to believe that someone making close to 400K a year is poor And your definition of 8220fair8221 is essentially saying the government should somehow ensure (through law or handouts) that virtually every need and then some is met, regardless of what occupation is chosen. YES, Work harder at your minimum wage job, better yet work two minimum wage jobs, 80 hours a week, 7.25 8052, and you, slacker that you are, still will top out at 30k. Don8217t tell me that the big wage earners have opportunities that you don8217t have, and you know how they slave away at those ego-suffocating jobs. You low wage earners just need to uproot your family and move to a city with high tech jobs8230not that you have the skills or education to get any of those jobs8230.then there8217s that spendthrift government, providing benefits to veterans and healthcare to all Americans, monitoring our security, food, water, and air.. A condescending article that ignores the realities of life for many in the US 8230. At 389K a year, you still expect sympathy Nobody expect sympathy for those making 389,000. But people making 389,000 certainly don8217t deserve to get attacked and vilified. I8217d rather say thank you for paying so much in taxes that gets redistributed to others who have less. It8217s OK to try and raise taxes on others if you don8217t have to pay more yourselves. But as someone who has experienced racial discrimination before growing up in the south as a minority, I can unequivocally tell you that discrimination is NOT OK just because you aren8217t being discriminated against. How about getting the skills and education to get those jobs The internet and knowledge is essentially free now. Nobody needs to thank anyone for paying taxes: we all know the rules going in (or can look them up), and none us set our own salaries or our own tax rates (unless you8217re a politician). It8217s the nature of the beast, it8217s the law, and it8217s part of being a citizen in our great country. To feel entitled to a 8216thank you8217 when you willingly work here, knowing full well what you8217ll be taxed, is pretty obnoxious. That8217s like people taking out 100K for an out-of-state B. A. then complaining and wanting the debt forgiven. It might be even more obnoxious, since (if you8217re making 400K) your life is probably much better than the ignorant indebted student8217s. I8217m sure that student would gladly take your job and salary off your hands and pay your taxes for you. I think saying 8220thank you8221 is a cheap and easy way to show appreciation. So, I say 8220thank you8221 to as many people as possible. A little acknowledgement goes a long way, and I8217m supremely appreciative of those who support those who have less. I8217d like your opinion and others input on this question: I need to park 400k for approx 1-2 years. At which time I would then use it to purchase a house. however for that 1-2 years, i8217d like it to be working for me, but don8217t want to lose it either. I was considering putting it into PPF andor PGF. looking at the history of those ETF, they both seem relatively stable when the market fluctuates and they pay a nice dividend. so it 8220appears8221 to me they are somewhat stable and safe investment. I8217m close to retirement and have other funds invested already, and I just sold my property and will rent until i figure out where I want to live and retire.. Thoughts and Opinions Appreciate any feedback you and your readers may have. 1-2 years is an insufficient time horizon for any equity investment to guarantee you a return. Buy a t-bill or park it in a high yield savings account. The return sucks but if you can8217t afford to have under 400k in 1-2 years when you need that money than you can8217t afford to take the volatility risk. DJ an economist says This article is somehow misleading. The important point of misunderstanding is that 8220Income Split Point8221 is the dividing line of each income layers, and it does not mean average income of the layers. This article does not show the definition of this terminology and relates it to the average income of each layer. My understanding is that it is the bottom line of each layer, from which the next layer begins. The average compensation for top 1 in 2011 was 10.5 million, a lot bigger than the split point of 380 thousand something. They are compensated with stock options and other bonuses as well. Check this article in Forbes. forbessitesscottdecarlo20120404americas-highest-paid-ceos Tax burden share can have implications, but it is also misleading. Some 15 in America is now living under the poverty line. By the very definition of poverty line, it means the subsistence income that enables poor people merely keep their subsistence. Should such people pay income tax as well They may not pay income tax, but they pay the same indirect tax when they buy a Big Mac. Regards DJ an economist says I correct the mistake in my previous comment. The compensation of 10.5 million in 2011 in Forbes article was for the chief executives of top 500 companies, and so it does not mean the compensation for top 1. I don8217t know why I was confused at the time. I intended to indicate the misleading concept of the 8220Income Split Point8221, which does not mean the average but the border line of each income layer. Takk. According to that chart the average AGI of the 1 after taxes is 924,000. It is 14,956 for the bottom 50. That is AGI. The wealthy have many tools to work the A part so the I part looks lower than it is. Setting that aside, compare 924,000 per year to 15,000 per year. Who can afford to pay more in taxes from this calculation Can the poor folks struggling to get by on 924k a year, get by on say 800k a year Ask the 15kyear folks. Another perspective, it will take the 15k folks over 61 years to make the amount the 924k folks make in one year. A long lifetime of working to make what the 1 make in one year. Do the 924K folks compress the equivalent of a long lifetime of work of the 15k folks into their work year. can they flip 61 times more burgers in a year than the guy that8217s been stuck doing that for 20 years I know many white collar professionals work very hard. They also surround themselves in luxury while they do it. The the doctor entrepreneur do his 80 hours a week as a construction site laborer with a side of fast food slinging and another of pick up yard work, for a bottom 50 income. See which he finds harder to do. The fact is, our system REQUIRES a large of poor people it generates them. Wealth is made from actual work. But in our system, being wealthy means you get income and more wealth simply by having enough wealth to 8220invest8221. You don8217t earn that. That wealth is created by the lower income workers who do actual work. But it goes to those wealthy enough to 8220invest8221. It is utterly absurd to suggest, in our system, the way work is currently valued, that everyone CAN get ahead. Everyone can8217t. Only a few can. If everyone in the US had a high IQ and a PhD, there would still have to be hotel maids, burger flippers, slaughterhouse workers, farm workers, factory workers, baristas and on and on. They CAN8217T be well off in our system. Stop pretending that they can if they just work harder or smarter. What needs to happen, more than tax reform is a radical reform in understanding and appreciating the value of work. Menial labor is required for our society to function. It is required for the wealthy to be wealthy. What would be 8220FAIR8221 is the recognition of the true value of all types of work that make our society function, and the rewards of that work be more fairly distributed. When that happens, sure, let8217s talk universal flat tax. Until then, you are a horses ass to suggest it. What a great post. If everyone worked harder and get more skills, then by definition, they cannot enter the 10 or 1, but still be at the 50 level or below. Every agrees that the top earners pay more (in absolute and relative terms) than those who are poor. But flat taxes don8217t make sense in a logarithmic world. If I made 100k, and 15k goes to my flat tax, the remaining 75k is enough to have a good middle-class lifestyle. If I made 25k, then about 3800 goes to taxes. Since I8217m much closer to the margin, this 3800 means much more to me than the 15k to the 100k earner, and especially to the 1million earner who pays 150k. A progressive tax system is a fair tax system. We must strive to continually improve and simplify it. But as a tax philosophy, it is much more fair than a flat tax. On the spending side, all the rage is on small items like scientific research, government salaries, arts funding, etc. If you8217re serious about balancing budget and reducing spending, you only need to look at Social Security, MedicaidMedicare, and Defense. These items make up about 75 of our budget. Serious cuts or reforms in these items will need to be made, but in our political climate, would be impossible. US consists of 2 category of retirees. Ones protected by pension, and ones who are not. The web is full of articles on how 401K is same as pension, when it is NOT. It is high time individuals are given more choices to save, with no pension to rely on, in most of corporate world. 8211 A request from hard working middle income group, who can never be on Govt subsidies. Ppl on here are so crazy frustrating it8217s insane. How can people be so blind. 84 of taxes are paid by the top 20, which starts around 70,000 a year. Someone making 389,000yr should not be taxed at same rate of someone making 20 millyr no matter how the income is made. Corporate tax is a joke, not one investor on earth in anything says 8220let me pay my fair share.8221 I just don8217t understand what people can do with the second billion that they couldn8217t do with the first. If everyone is trying to pay as little as possible, and one group of people have unlimited resources to help them, who8217s really paying the greatest portion The richest of the rich are getting richer and richer and are so out of touch due to greed and power that someday our kid8217s kids will experience their own 8216French Revolution8217 if taxes aren8217t reformed. OHHH, just 822043 dollars a month82218230. I8217d be homeless if I had to spend that much more on taxes I8217ve worked my ass off all my life and I am struggling to survive living in San Francisco. Actually, I only WORK in SF. In reality I have to live in Oakland because you assholes have made it IMPOSSIBLE for me to live within an hour of my place of work. Assuming that I can afford anything more than my already month-to-month livelihood is moronic This is coming from a graduate of a masters program at one of your private institutions you speak of. Sorry my daddy didn8217t know any of you techies for me to earn a living wage out here8230. Wait, so I8217m an asshole because you can8217t live in San Francisco How does that work I8217ve paid over 100,000 in income taxes a YEAR that gets redistributed by the government to help society. I donate to my local SF library and volunteer for local community events. How much do you pay in taxes and what do you do I just spent 6 months putting together The Best of Financial Samurai eBook to help empower people to lead better financial lives. If you buy it, all proceeds after expenses gets donated to a charity that help keep Oakland youths off the streets and in the classroom. It8217s called Alive 038 Free. As an Oakland resident, maybe you8217d like to pitch in instead of blame others for your problems Here are some other posts you8217ll like: A Massive Generational Wealth Transfer Is Why Everybody Will Be OK 8211 But, I8217m thinking maybe not you Stocks or Real Estate: It Depends On How LUCKY You Are 8211 Are you someone who attributes other people8217s success to luck and your success to hard work If so, you8217ll love this post I am not sure that he is meaning strictly you but more aimed at the people who make comments similar to yours about how people just need to work more and move to higher income areas without taking into account that it isn8217t that simple. You may or may not have thought about the difficulty in doing such a thing even though it is good advice if someone can afford it. A large majority of jobs in places that don8217t have unions do not allow overtime forcing you to come in late or take long lunches to prevent you from getting it and even writing you up should you accrue more than an hour of it. This limits peoples possibilities to getting a second job which since most companies prevent you from working a second job in the same field can make things difficult. Combine that with the fact that most of these types of people are living paycheck to paycheck and unable to save up the money necessary for a move to a higher income area and working those area may actually cost them more in transportation expenses then what they are earning extra. This is part of the backlash that so many people with money receive because of comments that would be sound advice for someone not struggling just to get by. You hear it time and time again, work harder, work more, move to a better place, I did it why can8217t you, just go to college. The worst part is that if you compare payment between jobs a couple decades ago to jobs now the low income jobs, adjusted for inflation, pay roughly the same to within a dime or two while as you advance up the pay increases between the times steadily increase. I hear you. There is no easy solution, and everybody has a different set of circumstances to deal with. The one thing we can control is our effort. Never fail due to a lack of effort. Fail due to bad luck or circumstance, but go down fighting until the very end. Work on a side hustle, an X Factor from 4am-7am before work, and then from 8pm 8211 midnight after work. Don8217t stop trying. Life is reasonably comfortable in America (I8217m in Cambodia now where I just witnessed 4 year old kids walk miles to school in 98 degree heat after I asked the driver where they were going). The worst is REGRET for having never tried, and having never tried hard enough. Home Venture Group says I could not agree with you more. If you want it bad enough make a plan. Read more, find a mentor, work harder, side gig, find something that is scalable and GO FOR IT. The only limitations we have is in our mind. It8217s interesting how your perspective begins to change once you realize how much opportunity is out there. When I was getting through college I always considered a six figure salary as true wealth. The pinnacle of success. Once you start to grind through your career you begin to realize how many income opportunities there are. It just takes determination and diligence to realize your earning potential. Legally, i don8217t pay tax too and my earnings qualify me as the top 1 according to the article above. How Is that possible Step one 8211 give up your American citizenship and take up citizenship in countries where there is no capital gain tax. There are really nice places to live where capital gain tax is zero. Google and you8217ll find. Then set up a limited liability company to expense away all your taxable income. Engage in as many businesses or professions that generate wealth thru capital gain as you can. There are many different options to suit a wide variety of interests. You just need to do some homework That8217s it. You can be top 1 earner and legally not pay a single cent of income tax. I agree that everyone can earn the sum of money he needs or wants. But after reading a great book 8220The 8020 Principle8221 I made sure that one shouldn8217t work harder to earn more. Even more than 40 hours 8230 as noted. The main question is 8220how productive and efficient is your work8221. So we must try to answer that question and improve our daily life in all areas, including finance by following the Pareto Principle. Because I always prefer simplicity and productivity. This article is disingenuous. 8220Average8221 per capita income is an unreliable measure because it can be strongly skewed to the upside by people earning phenomenal incomes 8212 which is exactly what happens in the case of the US. Median income is a much better indication of how people are faring. By the article8217s own Income Tax figures, the median adjusted gross income was about 33K, a far cry from the 48K 8220average8221 income reported in the article. The article also conveniently forgets that there8217s a FICA tax as well that falls squarely on the shoulders of the bottom 80. Adding in the 15 Social Security and Medicare taxes, or even just the portion of it paid by employers, makes a complete sham of the 8220Average Effective Tax Rate8221 column in Individual Income Tax Table presented above. This article is misleading to the point of being dishonest. You make it sound like if you just work more you will suddenly get wealthy. I have news for you it isn8217t true. I was working three jobs, leaving the house at 7 a. m and not coming home until 11 p. m and was still only earning 24,000 per year. Granted some of that time was 8220wasted8221 on travel time between jobs, but I worked my tail off and got no where. While I watched the CEO8217s of the company waltz in and work 40 hour work weeks and get millions of dollars, doing far less actual work than I was. I decided to go to grad school, which is where I am currently but it isn8217t as simple as you make it sound. I believe Sam is unmarried and do not have kids, so working 60 hours a week doesn8217t seem like much. I know people who have families who work that hard, but that really strains the relationships. When my son was born, my work ethic changed. I spent less time at work, but tried to be more efficient. I also worked from home more frequently to offset the time I miss due to child rearing duties (my wife also works FT). The bottom line is that you should work enough to enjoy the things you value. PS! I disagree that CEOs work 40 hrswk. Most of them work 10-12 hrsday, and they are 8220on-call8221 24 hoursday, 365 daysyr. However, even the worst ones will get a nice severance packagegolden parachute when they screw up and get fired by the board. A CEO is the only job where gross incompetence can be rewarded. Your whole arguments flawed, in my eyes, due to your understanding of what is 8216fair8217. Paying 20 of taxes for taking 20 isn8217t the way taxes do or should work. If that was the case we could privatise everything. The only reason they only take 20 is because they have enough money to support themselves. The reason one supports state intervention is because we realise that the system we grow up in inherently favours those born in richer areas and at birth no one is by any means given the same opportunities. regardless of how much you want to talk about rare bottom to the top success stories, the fact is that if you come from a poor area you are far far more likely to end up in a poor earning job than if your parents had the money to pay for a private education and bring you up in a wealthy area. Those are the kids that will end up in high paid jobs, and those that grew up in poor areas will, statistically, end up in a worse situation financially. You won8217t suddenly see a year of students in an extremely poor area graduate and move on to become bankers and lawyers, just as you won8217t suddenly see a year of privately educated students turn to crime and drug dealing to support themselves. These problems aren8217t to do with work ethic and motivation, and if they are it8217s a product of the environment that these children have grown up in. Was it anyone8217s fault that they were born where they were born Is it right for us to blame someone for having poor parents and just let them deal with that situation That8217s why we tax, because we recognise the unfairness of the situation 8211 to at least try and put people on an even playing field, because currently that is not the way things are. The bigger the wealth divide the more we pull apart society. Poverty equals crime. Fact. Privileged people who don8217t have to face that reality abhor the poor and the criminal with no thought as to the social causes for the situation. It creates a class war. That8217s why I think when you say 8216fair8217 I think your wrong. Example. if there are two people in front of you, one is a millionaire and the other struggles to pay rent and buy food. You are given 100,000 dollars to share between them, who would you give it to Equality would have us split the amount evenly, but could we perhaps recognise that that amount of money means far more to the poor person It means more in that it allows him the means to support himself to a decent standard. Food for him and his children, security of knowing his family will have somewhere to sleep or that he might put his children through college. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EQUALITY AND EQUITY . 8216If everyone was a millionaire no one would be rich8217. IF EVERYONE WERE A MILLIOAIRE WE WOULD HAVE ABOLISHED POVERTY It8217s appalling to me that someone could be comfortable spending millions on arbitrary material goods while there are people struggling to stay alive, and further for you to defend that right Cheeses Priced says 8220If things were fair, the top 1 would only have to pay 20 of total income taxes since 20 is their share of total income. Alas, the rich pay almost double what they owe.8221 I disagree and would say, as a tax professional, that this extremely deceptive for many reasons: The federal income tax isn8217t the only tax. Payroll taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, import taxes, gas taxes, cigarette taxes etc8230 Some Americans may not pay federal income tax but they still pay taxes. We have graduated (progressive) tax rates for annual income because people need each marginal dollar less. The standard deduction one personal exemption is 10,300 unsurprisingly, people need their 10,000th annual dollar earned far more than their 100,000th or millionth. Everyone in the American economy is interdependent, but you wouldn8217t know it looking at corporate salaries of the .1. A full year8217s work for my CEO is allegedly worth 400 years of work of the average accountant or analyst that actually creates a supports the product that brings in the money in the first place. It8217s easy to get tunnel vision about how you personally work hard and earn your salary, and easy to forget the higher you8217re promoted and the more you earn, the more you rely on the labor of other people to even have a job in the first place. The other overlooked aspect of the economy is aggregate demand. For the economy to work, it isn8217t just about doing skilled labor to earn a salary 8211 it8217s about spending money because aggregate demand is what actually creates our jobs. As you8217ve pointed out, the bottom 90 save on average 4 of their income while the top 1 save 38. The reality is that poor people are far better job creators than the rich because they actually put the money they make back into the economy. 0 interest rates, stock buybacks8230 we don8217t have a shortage of saved money in the U. S. We need more spending by those who have the money and the moral obligation to do so, and if they won8217t, you tax them. We do tax folks who don8217t spend all of their wealth through the Estate Tax of wealth over 5.4M per individual. When you talk about CEOs making 400 years worth of work, that is the top 0.1, not the top 1. Don8217t confuse the two, as so many people seem to do. C. Jeremy De Paz says Your article is purely statistical, you obviously didn8217t grow up 8220poor8221. There are lots of reasons why people in poverty stricken areas do not advance economically. For one the education they get is usually very poor. People often don8217t get the information and guidance they need to be successful. When you8217re poor, you8217ll most likely go to a shitty public school (second rate education), live in a crime-stricken neighborhood, and you8217ll have have very few opportunities to get involved with cool programs that require money. If you8217re informed enough to know about and how to apply scholarships, you8217ll apply for those, but it8217ll already be an uphill battle for you because your education sucks and there are plenty of students from upper and middle class families applying for these scholarships too. Of course those students have a better education then you, and probably know more people who have been successful, so they8217re better suited to win these scholarships. The list goes on and on. Income inequality is not a product of people not wanting to work hard. It8217s a product of our society. I encourage you to visit a school in a poverty stricken area. See the culture, and how keeping crime out of some schools becomes a bigger focus than the education a lot of times. Have a read of this post: If the top 20 pay 84 of the federal tax that would leave only 16 of the federal tax paid by the remaining 80. Questions are, how much of the federal tax is consumed by the states to fund state and local programs Does the bottom 80 actually pay a federal tax at all if the states are consuming 16 or more of federal taxes More likely the states consume more than 16. That would mean the bottom 80 do not fund federal programs at all. Do we, bottom 80, believe we are entitled to something in which we don8217t pay for Or are we being greedy to live off the top 20 when they are paying to have our freedom protected I find it insulting to have someone tell me I don8217t pay or give enough to them when I already feed and protect them. If you want to really know you are paying an actual federal tax then 2 things you need to do. 1) Are you in the top 20 2) How much do the states consume from federal taxes to pay for its own state and city programs Problem8230 We have SO many that don8217t have the skills to do some of the jobs they are in, or just do as little work possible, and others who do the lion8217s share of the work. How do we figure out who gets paid what when some are simply lazy Who decides what medical care is 8220necessary8221, what are 8220acceptable side effects 8221 amp who is allowed to have what medical services in a socialist society Can Bernie Sanders or one of his followers tell us more details about his plan Who decides what will be covered under this medical plan What other services will be afforded to young people with babies Children Older parents that may need some help in their homes What happens should rich people leave the country What will we do with huge homes Cracker box homes How will people learn self-responsibility What do we do about abusive hierarchy in the workplace in infrastructure jobs Where will these new jobs come from without these people having a place to work What about underserved medical areas with not enough doctors in needed specialties What do we do with older Americans that can work, would like to work, yet can only work part-time How does he expect to ge t his plans through Congress What is to stop subsequent Presidents, governors, county amp city council persons from getting power hungry and turning this country into another dictatorship 8211 at the federal ampor state ampor local levels Who divides up land for people to live on How will this be implemented in terms of housing What happens when people want to live in nicer, more temperate areas vs. Deserts and colder areas Will this not stress the environment All this high and mighty 8220look at me I8217m somebody8221 capitalism will be going out the window in a few years as efficiency approaches the point where we have business owners, and a few engineer and service jobs. Leaving 90 of the population at the point where they have to make the decision between killing the rich to eat or dying. A cruel heartless world can get pretty cruel when it has to. If there8217s no help for the disadvantaged or down on their luck, they will survive using other means. Im in the top 10 of wage earners, yet I refuse to work more than 40 hours a week. I don8217t have to. I focus on quality instead of quantity. Im highly skilled and well educated. I work smarter, not harder. Im doing my part and not twiddling my thumbs. I dont expect to retire early and have no wish to. Id be bored out of my skull. Incidentally, it helps tremendously to love what you do for a living. On the other hand, in a married household with two young children and both adults working full-time jobs, its all about balancing work and home. I understand the belief that working more hours gets a hard worker the keys to the kingdom (whatever that is). But Ive learned thats a delusion, a myth. Too many people work like dogs their entire lives, and at the end of it have nothing to show for that hard work. If more money makes you happier, gives you better well-being, then great go for it. But its not true for everyone, its not a guarantee, and it certainly wasnt true for me. Ive no desire to climb the corporate ladder or play the competition game or work myself to death in the (often vain) attempt to retire early. Its exhausting and nowhere near as fulling as the time I spend with my family. Thats my choice. Thats my happy. Theres too much emphasis here on money being the savior of all things, that money equals morality, and the implication that more money is never ENOUGH money. Its a little disturbing. Thanking the rich for paying more Thats disturbing. Have you ever tried to live on less than 30,000 a year Thats tough. Less than 23,283 (the poverty line for a family of four) Thats almost impossible. Yet you think they should contribute MORE in taxes The people who pay more in taxes are the people who can AFFORD it who can actually live and still prosper while paying more. The utter ignorance here is astounding. Excellent job pretending that FICA does not exist. From what I8217ve learned and watched in my classes, the rich are highly unlikely to want to pay more for employees. In fact, in order to make more money, they8217d try to hire fewer workers 8211 give them a slightly higher wage 8211 and make them work more. So sure, they pay 8220more8221, but in the end, other people end up losing jobs or making sacrifices. I feel like this biased article is stating 8220equality8221 for the wrong group of people. Making 8220charities8221 Like what Many big corporation leaders spend a portion of their money lobbying for laws that would benefit THEIR companies, not for the people, so they can keep making more money. And at what cost Killing the environment and the lower-income. I8217m sorry, but this article is utterly delusional and disingenuous. It almost seems like it was taken off a Wall Street Journal editorial by some right-wing corporatist hack (no offense). First off, I would argue there8217s a HUGE difference between the 1 (doctor) and the 0.1 (hedge fund manager). The doctor probably ends up paying between 30-40 effective tax rate because all of hisher income is earned (through labor). In addition, the doctor actually contributes to society. Whereas the hedge fund manager has long-term capital gains taxed at 15 or lower (like Mitt8217s multi-million dollar Roth IRA). And what exactly do they do, aside from moving big numbers around from one account to another on a computer screen With the recent Panama Papers scandal, the obviousness of big companies and rich elites not paying their taxes was made clearly evident for all to see. Ironically, you can rightly argue the richest are NOT paying their fair share of taxes. Second, in a society and government which provided the infrastructure, security, and means to become successful, it8217s completely reasonable to expect the highest earners to contribute back to society in the form of higher taxes. Why should a company be able to undergo corporate inversions and restructuring in order to avoid paying US taxes, when the company, for all intents and purposes, was created and flourished in the US Talk about unfair. Speaking of paying taxes, what about the regressive tax structure we currently have in place that phases out social security tax after 100k or so (I don8217t remember the exact number at the moment) The poor and middle class are on the hook for this, and so much more. I would argue that until the bottom 50 have access to free health care, education, child care etc. that makes it possible for them to rise from poverty and become successful, they should be exempt from taxes. There8217s 168 hours in a week you do not need exactly 8hrs of sleep per night 6-8 hrs is suffcient, some people need more some need less. Anyways that gives you roughly 120hrs you can be working8230and for anyone who wants to only work 40 don8217t complain when i8217m under 30 driving a maserati, owning two business with a vacation home and retired before 40 and 100 debt free and making 6 figures doing nothing because i chose to hustle my ass off and build not one, but two business and invest in myself. You need to find a demand for something, and supply it8230 You are either helping someone else follow their dreams or working on following your own. 9-5:30 are bankers hours. In order to get ahead you have to be above average and do more then the average person8230 Thanks for sharing your thoughts Banker hours are more like 9am 8211 midnight actually, but who8217s counting. I used to get in at 5:30am and leave at 8pm all the time. Killed me. Got fat. Got sick more often. But it helped me break free at 34 due to aggressive savings and good income. Back in shape. The problem with this idea is the false notion that starting your own business is the only way to survive in an American economy. Owning a business is fantastic, so long as your business is not overburdened by BS regulations and taxes, so much so that operating a business is choked financially. Even so, there8217s also nothing wrong with manufacturing workers being satisfied with fair wages LIVING wages. Unfortunately that is something of an American past-time. Apparently the communist mentality infecting our nation is work is considered a devalue, but yet highly valued by share holders, corporate managers, and CEO8217s. If you are a worker, even with a Master8217s Degree, then you are not entitled to the 8220good life8221. This fits pretty close to Marxism where only business owners, Wall Street crooks, and lazy Zionists are entitled to a good life. There8217s an interesting article in the New York Times today on how 8220Top 18221 income varies by a factor of 10x depending on where you live8230 To be in the top 1 of incomes nationally, you need to take in a minimum of 389,436. In New York (Manhattan), you need to be making 1,425,000 annually to be in the top 1. People making 389,000 in New York are only in the top 10 for their region An extra 5 tax on the bottom 50 of wage earners, by your own numbers, would produce about 54 billion in taxes. An extra 5 tax on the top 50 of wage earners would more than eliminate the deficit. (And yes, I would be included in that, I8217m somewhere in the top 10 by your numbers.) In order for the bottom 50 to pay an addtional 5, they would need to sacrifice food and housing two weeks a year, since pretty much all of their income goes to those necessities. In order for the top 1 to pay an additional 5 a year, they wouldn8217t notice the difference. And many in the bottom 50 are already working multiple jobs, much longer than 40 hours a week in order just stay where they are. 80 hours a week at minimum wage is still in the bottom 50, again by your numbers. And of course, working that sort of schedule leaves you to tired to do much to improve your life. To say nothing of child care costs, eating out more because you don8217t have time to cook, etc. To borrow a phrase: Why do you tax the rich Because that8217s where the money is. I would agree. Everyone should have skin in the game, but expecting to erase the deficit on the backs of the poor seems pretty callous to me. Poor and working class people already pay taxes well and above the federal income tax: State taxes, property taxes, licensing fees, sales taxes, gas tax, etc8230. This includes those who pay NO federal income tax at all. While it is true that the top 10 of income earners pay over 69 of all taxes, the top 10 by wealth also control over 71 of total US wealth. So while income and wealth don8217t always correlate, the burden on the top is probably about right and should probably be even higher on the ultra-rich 8211 those with incomes over 5MM per annum. A second option is to concentrate at getting better at what you do so you can command more money per hour and work less. I have a small painting business primarily residential repaints. I worked hard at it and worked long hours for many years. I never felt I was getting ahead even though I did have a good life I just seemed to miss too much of it while I worked. I set a goal to earn the same relative amount while working far fewer hours (20 hours per week) I set about doing this by concentrating at being better and faster, raising my rates, and increasing the number of bid opportunities so I could be more picky about the jobs I took. It took me seven years but three years ago I met my goal. I work around 1000 hours per year and have an income that allows me to own two reliable vehicles a 3 bedroom one and a half bath house on 8 acres and the time to enjoy it. Hi everyone. I have a big issues with those who complain about their financial position. I8217m 29yrs old and a Financial Planning Director at a fortune 500 firm. My wife and I are in the top 10 of wage earners in this beautiful country and I was NOT handed my success. People in my generation seem to have forgot what this country allows us. Freedom and democracy (yes, more of a republic) allow you the privilege to work and fight for your dreams. Too often people think they should be handed a certain lifestyle as it8217s their right. After putting myself through community college, while working 40hrs a week, it became clear that I needed a 4yr degree to achieve the lifestyle I wanted. I didn8217t complain about the cost. I went out and obtained a student loan to cover only the cost of tuition and books. It8217s paid off now. Only had to take out around 20K. I roomed with a few other guys to save money, had two jobs totaling around 53hrs per week (I was making over 3K per month in college), took more classes per semester than the average (night classes mostly), was involved in intramural sports, was apart of a fraternity, and was dating my now wife the whole time. More importantly, went I started all of this there was a month when I had 1.87 in my checking account and 0 in my savings. My only credit card was maxed out and I was dead broke. Instead of giving up or reaching out for a hand out I put my head down and obtained that second job. I didn8217t have time to drink, smoke, watch TV, or spending money all of the crap most of us think are fixed expenses. Wake up people. Stop complaining and work for what you want. If you don8217t want a big house, early retirement, kids, traveling money, or nice cars then don8217t work hard. You get out what you put in. It8217s that simple. On what planet do Uber drivers make 36hour That8217s8230 way off. In my opinion, it is reasonable for rich people to pay more tax because they use more resources than poor people. Moreover, rich people can make money easily with stocks, capitals. Generally, working more than 40 hours per week is not a good way to become rich. The first step is to have a good financial plan, so one can have an egg in his hand. Then he can hatch this egg and wait patiently for a few hens. Lamse Horton says Some very awkward statements are being made here: 8220A poor guy can go make 30hr. with Uber8221 8211 he cannot even buy gas to get to a bus station also, I would very much like to be able to pay at the 23.27 tax rate of the average top 1 of earners. It would leave me 291,845 on which to make ends meet. Yet the lower 50 of earners only have less than 33,048 before taxes. If in the higher earners (those 25 averaging 67,280) paying 15.68 average, there was a doubling of taxes, their after tax amount would still be 46,180 or over 13,000 more than the gross of those at the 50 level. It is not the 1 that need to pay more but those 50 or below should be returned double the current withholding amount to encourage more working wage earners. Give us more information on the top 110 of earners (those 140,000 earners, or 10 of the top of the 1): How much do they earn What would be the potential tax reduction for the balance of earners if they paid 50 over 500,000 in earnings stepped up to 75 for those earning over 100,000,000 Since we are being told all this other historic information, educate everyone on the potential changes a few various scenarios could give and show that this would eliminate the US national debt. Using knowledge attached to computers could help everyone be more understanding and more unified. I graphed the income distribution data for 1967, which is within the range from 1960-67 in which we had the most balanced economy in terms of not having swung overly far toward a government induced equality. Yet it was still within the years with relatively high equality, that is, not nearly the extreme inequality we have currently. 1967 was the first year for which I could find solid data for the 1960-67 range. I also graphed the data for 2012, a year in which inequality was fairly extreme. Both sets of data were graphed on the same chart and the income represented logarithmically so that we could get salaries ranging from 1,000yr to a millionyr on the vertical scale. The horizontal scale represents percentile linearly from 0 to 100 so you can see exactly how the income distributes across the total population. The 1967 graph was significantly kinder to the lower 20 of the population than the 2012, despite being in the days before there was much reduction in the earlier intense economic and educational repression of minorities, including repression of opportunities even for well qualified minorities. I then assumed that equality is not a natural goal. We all have different levels of both ability and motivation to earn. So for me, the famed Gini Index is based on perfect equality as an ideal. In my view, this is fundamentally unnatural and therefore fundamentally misinformed. This and the assumption of zero-sum game economics is the mistake of the far left as well as Marxist thinking in many respects, although they are usually not quite the same thing. The graphs of 1967 and 2012 were both similar to the way a normal distribution would look in this graphic format, with income represented logarithmically. Both these sets of real data look essentially linear as plotted on the vertical logarithmic income scale versus horizontally linear percentiles between the 30th and 70th percentile. In this format, that translates to a straight line that multiplies income by the same factor for the same distance we move horizontally anywhere along the line representing an increasing percentage of the population with less income. So I decided to postulate an ideal distribution that was similar, but with a slope that was as much less steep than the 1967 graph as that graph was to the 2012 graph. Put another way, I hypothesized an ideal situation in which the distribution would be as much better than the 1967 as 2012 was worse. Just like a normal distribution of IQ or the length of our noses, I hypothesized that the combination of ability and motivation to earn in a homogeneous population that had no repressed minorities would also be normally distributed. I therefore made the slope of the linear section lower than 1967 by the same amount the 2012 was higher with the income distribution perfectly normal under this condition and in this format. This ideal consequently represented a true normal distribution instead of approximately normal as in the real data. All the data were modified in a manner that reproduced exactly the same distributions as the original data, but which assumed equal total income for equal populations. This is the only way to compare apples to apples. It was amazing how much better off the lower 50 in the ideal distribution was while the upper 20 hardly sacrificed a thing. There was even an inflection point at the 70th percentile at which all three graphs were at the same income. Nevertheless, the very bottom still had people who were earning less than would be necessary to live on. I assumed that this will always be so, just as there are always people with very short noses or very low IQs. We need to do something about that if we8217re going to be a gentle, compassionate society without our heads stuffed way up somewhere very unrealistic. Then I looked into the question of how much the top 30 would have to sacrifice to allow the lowest 30 to live in minimal but adequate comfort. These populations are outside the middle linear section on all three graphs This also made no assumptions about how to implement the distribution no assumptions about government or any other kind of involvement. I merely looked at income distribution with no tax assumptions or any kind of specific safety nets. The question was simply how much raw, untaxed income would the top 30 have to sacrifice to create livable conditions for all in the lowest 30. On the hypothetical ideal distribution I found that only about 7 of the average income from the top 30 would provide a 24 boost in the average income of the lowest 30. Of course, in practice it would be more sensible for these average results to be progressively distributed on both ends. Now if you8217re going from around 25Kyr to over 31Kyr, that makes a huge difference in your potential quality of life, assuming you8217re not addicted to alcohol, gambling, crack, or heroin. The difference is still greater for the extremely low incomes assuming a graduated relief scheme. If you8217re going from 100Kyr to 93Kyr, that has enormously less impact on your quality of life. This is even morally justifiable in that those on the high end of the income distribution typically use a lot more public infrastructure than those on the low end. It is only right that they pay for it accordingly. I found this to be a very interesting and informative Gedankenexperiment (i. e. thought experiment, a term first made famous by Einstein, who used Gedankenexperimenten to develop his theories of relativity, not that what I8217ve done is anything comparable in case there is anyone silly enough find the motivation to assume I think so). I have two problems with an otherwise informative article. The author declares that people shouldn8217t have so many children yet conservatives scream about providing birth control or abortions for those with low incomes. The author also states that to move up in income, the poor can simply work more hours in their regular or a part-time job, yet again, conservatives scream about the poor not spending time with their children and their lack of parenting skills. I also don8217t see the moneyed class helping to provide decent child care so the poor can improve the job status. This article simply shows the hypocrisy of the wealthy and conservatives in our society and provides an alibi for their 8220I8217ve got mine and to hell with the rest of you8221 philosophy. Don8217t give up I8217m the author of this article and here are some articles that can help you forge forward: How To Make Six Figures At Almost Any Age I don8217t mind getting torn up in the comments as I realize a lot of people are frustrated and angry about something. The comment section helps alleviate that stress. But at the end of the day, it8217s YOUR LIFE you8217ve got to take control over. After the venting is done, take action to change it if you are not happy.