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I have a home business model which generates sufficient income in the presence of reasonable liviing space the 400 sq ft i have mentioned. Having to keep and pay for my inventory in storage is crippling me.
This alternet article shows us that we need to make some serious changes in this country. I for one believe that it is high time to tax the wealthy with a wealth tax.
Yeah, lots of really stupid people think that way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spinoza 1454
... There is no reason in the world that Americans should be living like gypsy's in their retirement years. This is truly an outrage.
Ah, yes, a Liberal. A Liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow Man, which debt he proposes to repay with your money.
Let's compare me with a hypothetical peer of mine (a composite of several competent, rational people I know): someone who went to the same college & grad school as I did, worked for the same companies for the same wages. Let’s say my peer’s name is John.
John is a spender.
Over the past 30 years, he's purchased new luxury and sports cars every year even though the cars lose tens of thousands of dollars of value just driving off the car lot. Why? He prefers new cars every year and is willing to pay for it.
John spends tens of thousands of dollars each year "enjoying life" by taking ski vacations, Disney World vacations, Las Vegas vacations, NYC vacations, cruises, and the like. Christmas? Lavish gifts for everyone.
John's children always have the latest expensive Nike shoes such as the $295 LeBron 11 Elite "Maison LeBron" and expensive trendy clothing such as $1000 Roberto Cavalli and Gucci jeans, and a bottomless wallet of spending money. After all, money grows on trees, right?
John only purchase expensive prestige clothing and haute couture such as Versace, Chanel, and the like, upgrading their wardrobe every season on an ongoing basis.
Every year John upgrades to the latest flat screen TVs for every room, upgrades his home electronics and the like, with the most expensive cable TV & satellite TV packages.
Every year John's wife redecorates heir house with new furniture, plumbing fixtures, nick-nacks and the like
John's wife gets $600 haircuts every month
John's kids go to very expensive private schools -- $29,000 per year for kindergarten up to $40,00 per year for high school (see for example The Harker School: Tuition and Financial Aid)
John & his family eat out constantly at expensive Celebrity-Chef restaurants, spending over $100 per person per meal, and of course, what fine dining experience would be complete without a nice $300 bottle of wine?
John used his house as an ATM machine via home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) to support his consumption
John has well over $100K in credit card debt
John has zero net savings
John never put a penny into the company 401K
John is constantly balancing which payments he will make (for example, not paying the electric bill until it the utility is on the verge of turning off service)
etc
Perhaps you know someone like John.
Let's compare John to me. I'm a saver. Perhaps you know someone like me.
I drive a 20 year old car. I purchased it as a 3 year old vehicle. I maintain it myself. I could have gotten rid of it during the stupid "cash for clunkers" program, but did not because this car is fine for our needs.
My vacations for the most part have been "staycations" that don't cost money
We clip coupons religiously, only purchasing necessities & only when they are on sale.
We only shop for clothing at off-price discounters on the clearance rack, never spending more than $9 on a piece of clothing.
We have no luxury goods with the exception of a few things that show up at Big Lots or its like.
We have no cable TV bill; OTA programming is fine, as is our single TV we were given off of http://www.freecycle.org
We don't purchase books or magazines or newspapers - that's what the public library is for.
No smart phone, no tablet, no e-reader.
Computer? whatever is availabe on FreeCycle
We have 30 year old furniture
We never eat out if we can eat more cheaply at home
My wife cuts my hair
The kids wear hand-me-downs only. They are clean. They are not worn-out. They are fine; just hand-me-downs.
We have no credit card debt.
... and every paycheck I religiously invest in both qualified & non-qualified retirement accounts, and save, save, save, putting every available nickel into Vanguard ETFs with good diversification.
Clearly, our personal choices over 30 years have resulted in different wealth.
The total total value of John's real assets (real estate, vehicles, etc) is $350,000.
The total value of John’s financial assets (Savings, Checking, 401ks, stocks, bonds etc) is $0.
John’s Debt: (mortgages, car loans, credit card): $450,000
Yes, John’s net worth is negative. He is not wealthy, as he has not accumulated wealth during his lifetime.
After 30 years of saving & investing & delayed gratificaion, my wealth, as reported by website calculators, places me at the 99th percentile. I'm a one percenter because of the size of my TD Ameritrade & Vanguard accounts.
Our personal choices over the past 30 years have resulted in this wealth disparity.
* Tell me again why income redistribution is a good thing?
* Tell me again why it is good policy to take some of my assets accumulated through 30 years of saving pennies to give to John so he can have a more comfortable retirement?
* Tell me again why it would be good policy to "soak the rich" (e.g., me) to give to those who never saved for the future?
Most importantly, tell me again why the wealth inequality that results from my saving over a lifetime is a "problem" that needs to be solved?
Do you understand Economics? Zoning artificially inflates the price of the roof over my head.
We agree. Governmental regulation of prices & supply makes things worse. This is true in the market for housing; it is also true in the market for labor and cars and electricity and clothing and consumer electronics.
Governmental regulation of the marketplace is wrong.
This alternet article shows us that we need to make some serious changes in this country. I for one believe that it is high time to tax the wealthy with a wealth tax. We should also raise payroll tax cap on Social Security. There is no reason in the world that Americans should be living like gypsy's in their retirement years. This is truly an outrage.
Shocking Picture of What Life Will Look Like When You Can't Afford to Retire
Harper's Magazine! Really?
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