31% Of Americans Have No Retirement Savings At All (retiree, friends, attractive)
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Unfortunately we are paying for both. Education and prison cost have skyrocketed and there is much being said about the school to
Prison pipeline . That rhetoric has gotten old and worked thirty years ago and now we have time to look for validation of.
Exactly. The "more money for schools will prevent them from being in prison" argument is weak, at best. Even liberal folks are admitting more money is not going to solve most of the problems:
Your observations are good to know about NC, and not what I've heard from those I know who live there. Their observations were echoed by Tuborg's statements about moving to NC where the taxes don't go as much for social safety net programs. Based on your statements, they seem to be misinformed, though we in the North have heard quite a bit about the new conservatism swing in NC that does not seem to bode well for the poor.
"How can one be governor of the state with the second-highest percentage of hungry babies and never mention it? What does it take to be deemed important?"....
"And the sins don’t stop with silence. The governor and General Assembly, in 2013, launched a war against poor people unlike anything seen in our modern history. There’s no need to rehash its particulars in depth here – hundreds of thousands swept from Medicaid expansion; the steepest cuts to a state unemployment compensation program since they were created in the 1930s; the grim abolition of the earned income tax credit, requiring 929,000 low-income Tar Heels to pay more to the tax man; the headlong rush to become the first state to cut off welfare benefits during the government shutdown. Meanwhile, the wealthiest North Carolinians were treated to colossal tax breaks in a bold redistribution from the long-jeopardized poor to the richest among us – folks who already secure greater portions of our wealth and income than has occurred in a century...."
ETA: I'm not tying to single out NC; this is the case in at least some other states too, according to what is reported.
All this hyperbole - "war on babies" etc. Sorry. Not going there, NEG. The media has seemed to completely LOSE SIGHT that we can't balance the state budget and still keep the handouts rolling. Also, The News/Observer is a solidly DEM newspaper and as biased as it gets.
I have no clue what they are talking about in re: to "colossal tax breaks" unless they are referring to corporations - but I have seen no tax breaks. SO I have no clue what that cryptical reference is about.
That editorial is disgraceful b/c it is a political piece of BS.
There are some things that could be changed in this state, including that I think there should be no taxes on food.
BTW - the only starving babies we have would be those whose crackhead mommas have taken the food stamps and WIC money and traded it in for 50 cents on the dollar so they can buy their next hit.
I would say a whole lot more about "you in the North" and your opinions that seem to imply that only you guys are capable of taking the "higher moral ground" but I won't.
Last edited by brokensky; 08-11-2014 at 07:31 PM..
We put away (into retirement accounts) around 30% of gross pre-tax income. That does not include the amounts spent on paying down the mortgage or eliminating student loans. I'm planning to be able to retire by 40. Currently I'm on pace for around 45, but our savings are picking up steam as I picked up another job while working on the Master's degree. (Not having kids frees me up to spend more time accomplishing long term financial planning goals)
Exactly. And more people are waking up to the reality that consumerism is a ball and chain and that "retirement" and old age are not necessarily synonymous.
The math has already been worked out. Someone with a 50% after tax savings rate can be financially independent in 17 years. A good chunk of the top 20% earners could be financially independent in their 40s or earlier if they really wanted to be. But very few are.
I found some recent stats that show those who are in the 90th to 99th percentile in terms of earnings (excluding the top 1%) still only have a 12% savings rate. I think that's pathetic. Heck I'm nowhere near that and my savings rate is more than double that.
The higher taxes in Mass. are as well due to top-heavy city and town administration with overly high salaries (we won't mention pensions) for their actual function. Most people in this state know this.
Right. And this is why people get mad at having to pay said taxes. Yet when they say it out loud or vote accordingly (including voting with their feet when outnumbered), they are called every name in the book "mean", "greedy", "not-compassionate", "selfish", etc.
What was possible for you is not going to be possible for many. Can you not see the rampant price inflation of college, health insurance, food, and housing?
It all boils down to the fact that some people will always believe, through their actions and attitudes, that they can overcome difficult circumstances. Since life has no guarantees despite our best efforts, there are those like you who will always point this fact out, and by extension, who believe there are too many forces "out there" that prevent people from being in control of their lives and that maybe we shouldn't even try. Yours is a generally shytty and depressing outlook on life, IMO....but this debate will never end.
I think those that have stolen this countries economic vitality should be the one's that pay the freight. The banks, large corporations, insurance companies, and the Federal Reserve.
Not the people.
In general, I agree. But it still comes back to the same thing...people have to move out of their comfort zones, make their lives uncomfortable to change things. Our current institutions are corrupt and are not going to magically right themselves (including merely voting the "other" party into office....we're far beyond that). If the founders of America had your attitude, we would still be an enslaved colony of England's.
Last edited by mysticaltyger; 08-11-2014 at 08:02 PM..
There is another reason why one might find themselves locked in to a minimum wage all their life. That is spending their valuable time arguing with people on online forums about why the system is broken and people can't get ahead with none of the blame on them.
Yes, I would file that under the "psychological/emotional" categories.
Heh, I might add the "war on babies" starts with the people who are having them. Even liberal folks (a la Isabell Sawhill of the liberal leaning Brookings Institution) are coming 'round to the idea that our 41% out of wedlock birth rate is not good for children.
....A wealth of research strongly suggests that marriage is good for children.Those who live with their biological parents do better in school and are less likely to get pregnant or arrested. They have lower rates of suicide, achieve higher levels of education and earn more as adults. Meanwhile, children who spend time in single-parent families are more likely to misbehave, get sick, drop out of high school and be unemployed.
Heh, I might add the "war on babies" starts with the people who are having them. Even liberal folks (a la Isabell Sawhill of the liberal leaning Brookings Institution) are coming 'round to the idea that our 41% out of wedlock birth rate is not good for children.
....A wealth of research strongly suggests that marriage is good for children.Those who live with their biological parents do better in school and are less likely to get pregnant or arrested. They have lower rates of suicide, achieve higher levels of education and earn more as adults. Meanwhile, children who spend time in single-parent families are more likely to misbehave, get sick, drop out of high school and be unemployed.
It isn't good for children and that is the first big concern, overall, of course.
But it isn't good for state budgets, either. Start with Medicaid picking up the hospital tab and then there is WIC, child care vouchers, food stamps, and let's not forget . . . in my part of the world . . . taxpayers are paying for a "head start" type program (preschool) that begins at age 4, plus vouchers for after school care, etc.
In my state, it becomes a Senior Issue for many grandparents who end up either solely or partially raising out-of-wedlock children, when one or both parents end up in prison. We also have a problem with Senior housing being overtaken by deadbeat adult kids who, illegally, move in on the grandmother and cause problems with tenants.
In NC - 232,968 children under age 18 live in homes their grandparents (and possibly other relatives). That is over 10% of the children in the state (2010 Census). 45% have NO PARENT living in the household. 23% of these families live in poverty. 52% are white; 40% are black.
Most of us do NOT consider that we might end up raising our grandchildren, but for more than 10% of the seniors in my state, that situation is very much a reality.
Last edited by brokensky; 08-11-2014 at 08:48 PM..
It isn't good for children and that is the first big concern, overall, of course.
But it isn't good for state budgets, either. Start with Medicaid picking up the hospital tab and then there is WIC, child care vouchers, food stamps, and let's not forget . . . in my part of the world . . . taxpayers are paying for a "head start" type program (preschool) that begins at age 4, plus vouchers for after school care, etc.
In my state, it becomes a Senior Issue for many grandparents who end up either solely or partially raising out-of-wedlock children, when one or both parents end up in prison. We also have a problem with Senior housing being overtaken by deadbeat adult kids who, illegally, move in on the grandmother and cause problems with tenants.
In NC - 232,968 children under age 18 live in homes their grandparents (and possibly other relatives). That is over 10% of the children in the state (2010 Census). 45% have NO PARENT living in the household. 23% of these families live in poverty. 52% are white; 40% are black.
And that is why we can't afford to expand Medicaid and to offer a higher level of services. We don't have a large enough affluent population to provide the tax base. Heck much of the affluent tax base came here in part because of lower taxes overall. Without affluent transplants how much worse would it be? Can you imagine what Charlotte and the Triangle would be like without transplants from those wonderful states that provide a wealth of services for their citizens?
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