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Again, the con job... "Trump's economy" being defined solely by the stock market. That's what he wants from you and you seem to have swallowed the hook. Most of us "normal people" only benefit from the market via our retirement accounts. It's great, I will not argue, but it is not helping us NOW - in fact, it's smoke and mirrors money that we can only hope will be there when we finally retire. You don't seem to consider this in context to "giving back" to the government NOW on a no guarantee promise that your 401k will stay where it is and continue rising towards that future date. Why do you think POTUS is so concerned with strong arming the Fed to stop any actions that don't directly feed the market? The Fed knows this can't continue.
It's the same broken financial logic that is crippling Long Island, the fact that the market has to perform at insane rates in order to cover the pension obligations to its civil workforce. Yet, you have completely bought into this logic for your personal finances - you got a "tax break" that amounted to essentially being taxed MORE and you write off that because your 401k account looks great on paper. I mean... really?
Just like the Obama economy and the Bush economy and the Clinton economy. Somehow I’ve always managed to do well and get ahead no matter whose economy I had to work with, and that’s including being a software developer during the dot com bust. Somehow I took my SUNY Farmingdale education and managed to move from the 11704 to a top 5% income, and managed to keep a good portion of it rather than give it to overpriced local services and property taxes.
Long Island has been “broken” for decades. The Republicans ran it with lower taxes but out of control services that weren’t being paid for, the Democrats came in and gave us the great Tax Shock to pay for those services instead of cutting them. At multiple points you could see Long Island was broken and through some miracle made its residents believe it was worth the money.
Again, the con job... "Trump's economy" being defined solely by the stock market. That's what he wants from you and you seem to have swallowed the hook. Most of us "normal people" only benefit from the market via our retirement accounts. It's great, I will not argue, but it is not helping us NOW - in fact, it's smoke and mirrors money that we can only hope will be there when we finally retire. You don't seem to consider this in context to "giving back" to the government NOW on a no guarantee promise that your 401k will stay where it is and continue rising towards that future date. Why do you think POTUS is so concerned with strong arming the Fed to stop any actions that don't directly feed the market? The Fed knows this can't continue.
It's the same broken financial logic that is crippling Long Island, the fact that the market has to perform at insane rates in order to cover the pension obligations to its civil workforce. Yet, you have completely bought into this logic for your personal finances - you got a "tax break" that amounted to essentially being taxed MORE and you write off that because your 401k account looks great on paper. I mean... really?
Trump's expanding economy has been a boon for my family. I love how people refer to investments as "paper" wealth. The nice thing about investments is they can be converted to "paper" money! We have $1.2m more than we had the day before Trump was elected, split between retirement and brokerage accounts (we don't invest in real estate currently). My wife and I are not old - we are tail end millennials. We own a small home (valued at $225k) and have had modest salaries until recently, and have certainly averaged well under the average Long Islanders living in their expensive homes.
If you have not benefited from our huge economic boom one only has to look in the mirror, but I do understand it's much easier to point fingers and blame others for one's failures (tends to be the mantra of a particular political party's voting bloc).
Also keep in mind there is absolutely nothing that prevents you from accessing retirement funds earlier than age 59 - it's a common misconception that you must wait. You don't - if you have enough to retire on and want to tap those funds, you can 72T it.
I can see how the cap on SALT can be defended in a vacuum. States should be on the hook to an extent for getting local taxation under control. However we dont live in a vacuum. This policy has a direct and abrupt negative impact on many people, and that is the part that I cannot defend. It was an easy way to recoup some of the fed losses from the corporate tax breaks, with the added benefit of disproportionately targeting blue states. So a real win/win for the policy makers.
And as long as states like NY and CA are the economic engines helping to pull along the country, then there should be some consideration given. NY is a net giver to the fed, not a taker, even with the unlimited SALT deduction in place.
I always find it funny when people call services "free stuff." As though we don't pay now. Hundreds of pages on here about the egregious tax burden, but there isn't enough money for anything (Dems and Repubs both guilty of this BS)?!? Maybe it's just priorities, political dysfunction and sheeple happy to be fleeced. There is a TON of money. It's just being extracted out of GDP and funneled into corporate welfare and pork (like tax cuts for the rich and a moron wall).
I’m sorry, I don’t consider “free college tuition” a service, this is not a right. I don’t mind paying for “services”, but I do mind paying for “free” healthcare or tuition for others, while I’m still paying my loans off. Big difference.
I always find it funny when people call services "free stuff." As though we don't pay now. Hundreds of pages on here about the egregious tax burden, but there isn't enough money for anything (Dems and Repubs both guilty of this BS)?!? Maybe it's just priorities, political dysfunction and sheeple happy to be fleeced. There is a TON of money. It's just being extracted out of GDP and funneled into corporate welfare and pork (like tax cuts for the rich and a moron wall).
I should have also added, I do agree with you with there being a ton of money, and both sides are guilty of egregious waste and mismanagement. Don’t spend more than you make, it’s that simple. Apparently they can’t figure that out.
I wouldn’t call being up 100k in just over two years a con job. Sure, we will have our up & downs. As far as a “crash”, we’ll.....we will have bigger issues to deal with than we did in 2008.
Considering 99% of the pension are 401k’s for us “Normal People”. I have NEVER “bought into this logic” not anyone’s “logic” but my own. I guess it’s called responsibilities. I just saved as much as I can over the last 30 years so I can continue living my “Modest “ life style. Because they been telling people for DECADES living off of just SS won’t cut it. However, the “Live for it Now” people (like you mentioned) don’t get it until it too late. Regardless of what party you side with.
It’s a matter of time before mortgage tax deductions are eliminated too. Just like CC & car loan interest use to be deductible.
Don't confuse what I'm saying with responsibility... we all need to be responsible in savings. But I know people who had their retirements (401k) wiped out 10 years ago and talking to them was depressing. They did nothing wrong and literally went from 7 digit accounts to a fraction in value almost overnight. It was "paper wealth" then just like it is now. It makes you feel good, but it is not guaranteed. What you have now is what you have now, get my meaning? Bird in the hand?
Most "normal people" are not diversifying to an extent that is meaningful and have extreme exposure to equities. It is a dangerous game to count your chickens before they hatch. BTW, I'm doing great too - but I'm tempering my excitement having seen first hand what can happen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ClarkStreetKid
Just like the Obama economy and the Bush economy and the Clinton economy. Somehow I’ve always managed to do well and get ahead no matter whose economy I had to work with, and that’s including being a software developer during the dot com bust. Somehow I took my SUNY Farmingdale education and managed to move from the 11704 to a top 5% income, and managed to keep a good portion of it rather than give it to overpriced local services and property taxes.
Long Island has been “broken” for decades. The Republicans ran it with lower taxes but out of control services that weren’t being paid for, the Democrats came in and gave us the great Tax Shock to pay for those services instead of cutting them. At multiple points you could see Long Island was broken and through some miracle made its residents believe it was worth the money.
No doubt... I'm not advocating one party or message over another. I'm just saying that using equity performance as the entire measure of the economy is not the correct metric for the typical middle class person.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pipsters
Trump's expanding economy has been a boon for my family. I love how people refer to investments as "paper" wealth. The nice thing about investments is they can be converted to "paper" money! We have $1.2m more than we had the day before Trump was elected, split between retirement and brokerage accounts (we don't invest in real estate currently). My wife and I are not old - we are tail end millennials. We own a small home (valued at $225k) and have had modest salaries until recently, and have certainly averaged well under the average Long Islanders living in their expensive homes.
If you have not benefited from our huge economic boom one only has to look in the mirror, but I do understand it's much easier to point fingers and blame others for one's failures (tends to be the mantra of a particular political party's voting bloc).
Also keep in mind there is absolutely nothing that prevents you from accessing retirement funds earlier than age 59 - it's a common misconception that you must wait. You don't - if you have enough to retire on and want to tap those funds, you can 72T it.
I do not argue this and I think it's great... good for you and your wife, honestly. But keeping it in context it pales in comparison to what happened under Clinton (no party advocacy here, just pointing out how insane the tech boom was under him). Your equity performance here is not unheard of, Trump didn't open a magic potion - you say "expanding", but I see no real evidence of expansion of the economy (besides words). All of this is happening under incredibly risky Fed policy and playing with fire in the global economy... do you really think that the economy is "healthy"? Do you really believe artificially low interest rates and easing policies (printing money) have no future consequence to the "value" of the equities and the fiat currency that backs them? How long can things go on like this without tightening? For someone with such a large piece of equities, you have to be up on how Trump is pressuring the Fed to delay tightening of policy and ticking up interest rates. Why do you think that is?
I see things getting more expensive every day, I see danger signs in the RE market, I see BS in the jobs numbers and government metrics... data that candidate Trump called FAKE under Obama, proclaiming that things like unemployment numbers were way off - but now, when he is POTUS and the numbers look good, they suddenly are a true indicator? Are we falling for the banana in the tailpipe?
Is it me? Newsday today says Nassau County one tax assessor and they're rethinking their tax assessing methodology. Suffolk county 10 tax assessors and not re-assessed (except new development) since 1954.
So Suffolk County has at least 10 individuals that have nothing to do, or little to do 'cause I'd think that much of what they do should be computerized.
This is why our taxes are so much higher than national average do nothing jobs
Is it me? Newsday today says Nassau County one tax assessor and they're rethinking their tax assessing methodology. Suffolk county 10 tax assessors and not re-assessed (except new development) since 1954.
So Suffolk County has at least 10 individuals that have nothing to do, or little to do 'cause I'd think that much of what they do should be computerized.
This is why our taxes are so much higher than national average do nothing jobs
I love how they “reassess” homes when they are on the rise. NEVER, readjust when the housing market is bad.
Exactly right about 401k Mikey, it is paper wealth until you pull the money out. It’s also why people need to also have liquid assets, maybe some commodities and other investments in case you have to cash out that 401k during a downturn in the market. But to do so people need enough money left over from their usual bills, and high taxes eat up a lot of that. SALT doesn’t put cash back in your pocket that your state and local pols take, its just money not going to the Feds. No matter how you cut it Long Islanders are being robbed blind by their own governments.
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