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I'm not saying it doesn't take work for most to initially "get" rich, what i'm saying is, that once you are rich it doesn't take any effort to get richer. It's just the snowball effect, the magic of compounding interest!
Haven't you heard the quote "The first million is hard, the second millions inevitable". If you have lots of money, it will grow, and grow and grow. With no effort on your part. THAT is the easy money I was contrasting with the hard earned money of working people, in regards to tax rates.
And by the way, I don't even want to be rich, so I wouldn't consider myself jealous. I'm completely serious, I couldn't really care less about the "good" life, nothing can beat life's simple pleasures. Actually, I'd have to consider myself rich right now, compared to most of the worlds population and the generations of the past.
But honestly, do you think that if a lottery winner who wins 13 million after taxes invests their winnings at 6% is now "earning" $780,000 a year in interest? I just don't think interest should be viewed as earnings the same way that a hard working drywall hangers paycheck is.
First of all, lottery winners are a vanishingly thin portion of the population. Even so, you'd be surprised how many lottery winners end up dead broke. You know why? Because managing assets is not automatic like you seem to think it is. Managing wealth requires essentially the same skill set as accumulating it. There are plenty of people losing their shirts as we speak that wish it were true that "once you are rich it doesn't take any effort to get richer." Only those who know nothing about managing wealth believe that.
Regardless of how you feel about taxes and what is fair compensation, the sad fact in our country is that the gap between rich and poor has grown tremendously and social mobility (ability to move up the ladder) isn't what is used to be. All this has been going on while politicians and economists tell us that American workers are the most productive in the world (so why not pay them what they're worth?).
This all tells us that the system isn't working for everyone. So is it any wonder so many people support change?
Money is not created by lotteries but more of it is brought out to the lottery. The full intent is the people who win are not already rich because they don't understand odds. The ones that do win will spend it all because they obviously already couldn't figure out how to be rich. Few examples differ. The expected outcome is a big pool of money goes to one person who all the sudden becomes rich and starts buying like no tomorrow.
No one said anything about being "taxed to equality". But you have to admit, when the average worker is barely able to keep their head above water, and it's the superrich getting the tax cuts, there's something seriously out of whack.
Also, I wasn't talking about those who merely "make more than you", i'm talking about the superrich, the royalty class. I wouldn't necessarily support raising taxes on those earning incomes under $400,000. It wouldn't be wise to discourage high achievement (neurosurgeons etc). I'd consider half a million a pretty good estimate to as high as one human alone can actually earn in a year through their own hard work. The president of the U.S makes $400,000.
The president makes $400,000 in salary. And also receives countless millions of fringe benefits, tax free. So I'm not sure that's the benchmark you really mean to use.
The way to get rich in this country is to start your own business. It's next to impossible to get truly rich through your labor alone. If you're a janitor, cleaning office buildings by yourself will only get you so far, one person can only do so much. The way to get rich is to start getting others to work for you! Pay them a wage and profit off every building they clean. Expand. Eventually, you will get to the point where you have 10 janitors working for you, and you will no longer have to do any cleaning yourself! Manage and grow the business for a few years, and then sell to a competitor for a nice cash out. You are now rich. If you are smart, you are now aggressively investing. Buy an office building to lease out (you don't have to deal with it, just hire a management company to handle the details). Give control of your money to the right people, and it will now grow on it's own. You've reached critical mass. Congratulations, you worked hard and smart and played the game well. and you've earned a nice big house and the car you've always wanted.
Well, you've certainly got it all figured out. What are you waiting for?
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