Re: Should someone who earns $1 billion a year be taxed more than someone who makes $
Monthly Expenses | Guerrilla | Standard of living | Notes |
food | $440 | $450 | 450 sounds reasonable if you make all your meals at home and buy in bulk. |
childcare | $0 | $200 | $10/day * 20 days a month |
medical | $100 | $200 | for a family of 2 or more, its at LEAST $200 a month for complete coverage. I pay $282 for myself and wife from a company with outstanding benefits. I don't know how you only pay $100/month for 3-4 people. |
mortgage | $470 | $800 | Low end rental rates are about $800 for 2-3 bedroom. Purchasing a home today even with low interest rates still puts you above $800/month not including insurance, PMI, repairs, etc (150k house, 5.5% rate, 30 years). So i think at LEAST $800 is a more reasonable number for the average American. |
transport | $71 | $318 | $50 to fill tank and fill 2.5 times per month = $150
Registration = $60/12month=$5/month. Car insurance minimum coverage $1/day → $30/month
Car payments = $5000 vehicle with 5 year loan at 0% APR = $83/month
Assume about $50/month for repairs/oil change/maintenance/tires/etc |
other | | $60 | Other: toiletries, clothes, shoes, phone, tv/internet |
utils | | $200 | electricity, gas, trash/sewer, water, prop taxes, home owners/renters insurance |
| | | |
Monthly total | $1,081 | $2,228 | |
Yearly total | $12,970 | $26,736 | |
These are just basic necessities.
My mortgage payment includes Principle, Interest, Taxes and Insurance.
The rental prices around here are not $800 a month, not anywhere close.
My townhouse, before I bought this house, was in a nice neighborhood and I paid $625 for it, that was high for my area.
This is literally one of the best times in history to purchase a home, $800 a month is not the gold standard.
My phone is $50 a month, I use a cell instead of a wired line, much more economical.
Tv and internet is $50-60 a month.
Electricity fluctuates but averages to around $150 or so.
The cost of living here is lower than the area you are quoting as average.
If I'm the Queen of England.... you get the picture.
I think you highly over estimate that state of affairs in the US. As indicated by your own spending, you have a significant advantage many others do not with extremely small rent, medical insurance, etc. As the analysis shows, the 25k/year income can only sustain the most basic needs of an American family and that is with no extra money left over whatsoever! These are just basic necessities,
I am completely aware of how much it costs to live.
If you live in an area where you find it to costly to make ends meet, it may be time to move to an area where you can.
That's just basic common sense.
What type of rate and return are you anticipating exactly?
CPI has been about 2-3% inflation per year.
Stock market returns for last 100 years is about 9-10% per year.
Calculate compound interest
Lets assume you work and save from the time you are 25 to a 70 (45 years)
Assume a yield of 7%. And monthly contribution of $200.
You will have $760,000 in saving for retirement. How many years of living does that provide you if there is no SS or other benefits?
Lets calculate on the very high side:
Lets assume you work and save from the time you are 20 to a 75 (55 years)
Assume a whooping yield of 9%!!! And monthly contribution of $200.
You will have $3,700,000 in saving for retirement. How many years of living does that provide you if there is no SS or other benefits?
So looks like if you can save +$200 a month you will probably be OK.... if you start early.
Whoa, who said anything about having no SS or "other benefits?"
Members of a society both reaps rewards and share the burden of consequences. Everyone is responsible for their fair share, rich or poor.
Rich people already pay taxes.
How does that have anything to with your LUCK being:
1 born intelligent
2 in this country
3 in this time period
4 without cerebral palsy
5 without downs syndrome
6 not orphaned before the age of five
It's all about your response to bad circumstances.
Make the better choice and you can lessen those negative effects.
Just as Sam said, you attempt to claim credit for the above things when you had no hand in their outcome whatsoever!
The vast majority of people are born without serious physical disabilities, not orphaned at 5 and most Americans (since this is a topic about taxation in America) are born in America.
Some of those distinctions are ridiculous and shouldn't have been included.
How did you personally ensure that you were:
1 born intelligent
2 born in this country
3 born in this time period
4 able to avoid cerebral palsy, cancer, etc
5 born without downs syndrome
6 not orphaned before the age of five
According to you happenstance and chance (luck) had nothing to do with it!:roll: No one is trying to take credit where credit its deserved. But its astounding arrogant to take credit where none is earned. And the above things ( among many many many more things) you did not earn!
Luck and chance are two different things.
Luck is based on some quasi religious belief in mystical forces.
Chance is randomness in the universe.
I'm not taking credit for any of those, but your likely to find, as I pointed out with that chart, that most people have problems with money because they handle money like idiots.
These programs are not creating any incentive for people to have personal financial soundness.