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The large share of the tax burden has falling on middle class people who have few options when it comes to tax avoidance.
it all depends how you define middle class .
as the ny times said in their study :
There is no single, formal definition of class status in this country.
Statisticians and demographers all use slightly different methods to divvy up the great American whole
into quintiles and median ranges. Complicating things, most people like to think of themselves as middle
class. It feels good, after all, and more egalitarian than proclaiming yourself to be rich or poor. A $70,000
annual income is middle class for a family of four, according to the median response in a recent Pew
Research Center survey, and yet people at a wide range of income levels, including those making less than $30,000 and more than $100,000 a year, said they, too, belonged to the middle.
By one measure, in cities like Houston or Phoenix — places considered by statisticians to be more typical of average United States incomes than New York — a solidly middle-class life can be had for wages that fall between $33,000 and $100,000 a year.
By the same formula — measuring by who sits in the middle of the income spectrum — Manhattan’s middle class exists somewhere between $45,000 and $134,000.
But if you are defining middle class by lifestyle, to accommodate the cost of living in Manhattan, that salary would have to fall between $80,000 and $235,000. This means someone making $70,000 a year in other parts of the country would need to make $166,000 in Manhattan to enjoy the same purchasing power.
Using the rule of thumb that buyers should expect to spend two and a half times their annual salary on a home purchase, the properties in Manhattan that could be said to be middle class would run between $200,000 and $588,000.
On the low end, the pickings are slim. The least expensive properties are mostly uptown, in neighborhoods like Yorkville, Washington Heights and Inwood. The most pleasing options in this range, however, are one-bedroom apartments not designed for children or families.
It is not surprising, then, that a family of four with an annual income of $68,700 or less qualifies to apply for the New York City Housing Authority’s public housing.
400,000 boomers and millenials on long island in an aarp survey said their retirement plan is to sell their nice expensive ny homes , move to cheapsville and live like kings .
but for those who can stay here ny is awesome for retirement . we thought about leaving but everything we would want is right here .
we had a home in the poconos we were going to retire to .
but once we thought about the fact there was no public transportation if we couldn't drive , few specialists , few hospitals , little to do all winter , no where to work for anything but low wages if you wanted to , 1/2 of nyc housing stock is rent stabilized , etc etc , we realized we already live in one of the the best places .
been retired since july and every day here is filled doing something else . yeah it is costly but if you can do it worth every penny . besides this is where our kids and grand kids are making it priceless .
ny has some nice perks too.
for all purpose most of us will have no inheritance taxes , social security is not taxed , the first 20k in pension is not taxed , federal and local pensions are not taxed regardless of amounts . real estate taxes in the 5 boroughs are low .
Last edited by mathjak107; 03-22-2016 at 05:07 AM..
i always found certain things a little skewed because of it , especially in retirement .
you can have millions , live off cash and get a aca subsidy or not get your social security taxed .
there are income restrictions on staying rent stabilized in nyc but not on assets .
i am glad they do not look at assets but you have to wonder about some of the things they do and what they base it on
Retirees have worked their whole lives and many have only their retirement income, have health issues, etc. to deal with. They cannot start over if they lose their money, this is it for them. It is unfortunate that some want to tap into that, the money has already been earned and taxed. This is not "skewed", they are old and many have saved their whole lives, even savings interest is taxed. Capital gains were outrageous when my parents sold their small business to finally retire in poor health, it devastated them financially. How many times can you tax someone...
whether you get a 50k pension or generate a 50k income off your own investments it is all money or a proxy for money you earned over a life time .
the 50k pension will get your social security taxed . the retiree drawing off 50k from savings set a side as cash will not get their ss taxed . that is other then getting the pension money taxed or the money you are drawing off from savings .
kind of skewed .
the 50k pension will effect an aca subsidy . the 50k income on your own will not if it is cash set a side even though that was income once too .
anyone retiring and planning on having their portfolio last has a safe withdrawal rate they can take . pre retirement you can set a side say 2 years of withdrawals as cash . then you can get the perks .
Last edited by mathjak107; 03-22-2016 at 08:42 AM..
don't forget our tax system is based on your fair share is whatever you are smart enough to figure out you have to pay legally . tax savvy folks are smarter and their fair share can be less because they take an interest in tax planning .
in fact the less you have the more critical good tax planning can be . getting your social security taxed because you planned badly would be a shame .
if i knew decades ago what i know about retirement tax planning today i would have been in far better tax shape . there is so much linked to retirement income today that will end up costing you that you better get this right . especially if every dollar you have is critical .
don't forget our tax system is based on your fair share is whatever you are smart enough to figure out you have to pay legally . tax savvy folks are smarter and their fair share can be less because they take an interest in tax planning .
in fact the less you have the more critical good tax planning can be . getting your social security taxed because you planned badly would be a shame .
if i knew decades ago what i know about retirement tax planning today i would have been in far better tax shape . there is so much linked to retirement income today that will end up costing you that you better get this right . especially if every dollar you have is critical .
The information is all out there, however, things may change by the time many of us retire.
Welfare and other benefits recipients also can plan, working just enough hours to gain maximum benefits, etc. ACA has brought this about as well, with some planning to earn just the right amount for full subsidy. As long as you have these systems in place, people can use them to achieve the best result for themselves.
Anyone who is making $665,000 per year is going to be in the millionaire category in short order. If they're not paying taxes, or putting their money in savings, then they must be conspicuously spending. And that's OK when some people who work just as many hours a day can't afford food and others can't send their kids to college?
It never ceases to amaze me when people who are NOT top earners are so worried when the richest among us are asked to pay a fairer share of taxes. Do they actually think that they WILL be rich some day and want the system still to be game-able when they get there?
Do they belong to a Love Your Local Millionaire club? Did you feel sorry for Bernie Madoff watching him fleece the rich?
No one has ever been able to explain to me why so many voters in the last presidential election thought it was OK that Mitt Romney was paying a far smaller share of his income in taxes than his secretary was. AND probably hiding a lot of his income in overseas accounts.
Now here we are again. Millionaires willing to pay more and some poorer people saying, "Oh, why? We'll pick up the slack."
So you're only allowed to care about other people or the injustice done to them if you ARE them or could be them one day?
That's completely outrageous and perhaps of questionable morality.
Anyone who is making $665,000 per year is going to be in the millionaire category in short order. If they're not paying taxes, or putting their money in savings, then they must be conspicuously spending. And that's OK when some people who work just as many hours a day can't afford food and others can't send their kids to college?
It never ceases to amaze me when people who are NOT top earners are so worried when the richest among us are asked to pay a fairer share of taxes. Do they actually think that they WILL be rich some day and want the system still to be game-able when they get there?
Do they belong to a Love Your Local Millionaire club? Did you feel sorry for Bernie Madoff watching him fleece the rich?
No one has ever been able to explain to me why so many voters in the last presidential election thought it was OK that Mitt Romney was paying a far smaller share of his income in taxes than his secretary was. AND probably hiding a lot of his income in overseas accounts.
Now here we are again. Millionaires willing to pay more and some poorer people saying, "Oh, why? We'll pick up the slack."
There is nothing "fair" about it. Those with money are asked to support those without.
But it cannot go on indefinitely as the number of poor increase.
50% of all babies born in the US are born under medicaid.
There's a breaking point where people say enough already.
There is nothing "fair" about it. Those with money are asked to support those without.
But it cannot go on indefinitely as the number of poor increase.
50% of all babies born in the US are born under medicaid.
There's a breaking point where people say enough already.
Not only that, but the money being taken in taxes is being squandered and wasted and sometimes outright lost.
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