<p>BCEagle: I saw the UK article. 2/3rds of Britons millionaires ‘disappeared’ when a 50% tax was put in place. They either left or got their remuneration in other ways. Some French millionaires are leaving also since France levied a 75% tax rate. I think they headed for Belgium with lower rates.</p>
<p>I would like to see the UK article where 2/3 of millionaires left the country or disappeared. I would also like to see where Buffett wants inheritance tax rates to be 55 percent.</p>
<p>dstark, very few organizations put their money to work as competently as the Gates Foundation does. I would rather allow that foundation to manage wealthy individuals money after their death than throw it into the giant inefficient suckhole that is the government, getting very little return for their investment. Even if you and I have to pay more.</p>
<p>Now other charities, foundations, families…not so much. This one is incredibly competent and truly does important work.</p>
<p>Well, busdriver11, I don’t want to pay more. And you are going to pay more.</p>
<p>I am aware of the Gates Foundation. I am glad it exists. </p>
<p>Doct is right.
“If charities had worked so well in the past, SS and medicare would never have existed.”</p>
<p>I’ve been to two libraries with computers donated by the Gates Foundation. One was in a mountainous region of North Carolina (fairly poor town) and the other is the city where my kids go/went to school.</p>
<p>There’s a documentary related to one aspect of the city. If you ever wanted to know what the life of a crack addict is like, here’s a video.</p>
<p>[Watch</a> High On Crack Street: Lost Lives In Lowell Feature Film Online Free - Crackle](<a href=“http://www.crackle.com/c/High_On_Crack_Street_Lost_Lives_In_Lowell/High_On_Crack_Street_Lost_Lives_In_Lowell/2485746?c=US]Watch”>http://www.crackle.com/c/High_On_Crack_Street_Lost_Lives_In_Lowell/High_On_Crack_Street_Lost_Lives_In_Lowell/2485746?c=US)</p>
<p>I’d also suggest reading an annual report of The Gates Foundation - you’ll get a much better understanding of what it is and what it does and does not.</p>
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<p>Not really. I don’t think you understand. But that’s enough.</p>
<p>I’m not certain what this discussion is about anymore. I think a lot of folks here think that with cuts in various programs, their taxes won’t go up. It ain’t gonna happen folks - no matter who is in power. Your taxes are going up now and 10 years from now they’ll go up even more not matter what. Demographic trends will necessitate it. There will be more and more senior citizens who can’t save enough money to live. Most senior citizens never could save enough money to live on - not now and not 50 years ago. Then they either died, lived in poverty or had nice pensions that pretty much don’t exist anymore. get over it.</p>
<p>Doct, I am liking your posts. :)</p>
<p>The thing I find most comical are 38 year olds thinking that somehow they are so financially astute that they’re going to save a ton of money, make money in the market to fund their retirement (LOL) or not have any financial crises, that somehow they’re going to be different than retirees today. I think a lot of people need to grow up.</p>
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<p>There are retirees that have done very well in the markets in their 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s, saved a ton of money and made a ton more to fund their retirements.</p>
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<p>Do you have to be financially astute to save 35% of your income? There are many that do that without a lot of general financial awareness - they were just trained to do that from their parents. My sister-in-law had a salary in the $20K-$30K range while she worked but has a net worth of $750K to $1M. She’s not particularly good in the stock market but she does have one particular investment area that she’s very good in.</p>
<p>Financial crisis? Sure, they come along. Do you have the savings to meet a financial crisis though? If you spent a ton of money or, worse, borrowed a lot of money for an asset that gets lost, stolen or destroyed (stocks, bonds, real estate, cars, boats, jewelry), can you easily recover? Well, if you live a pretty frugal lifestyle, it may not bother you much or at all.</p>
<p>The retirees of today? Some do well and some don’t. I think that will be true in 20, 30 and 500 years from now.</p>
<p>Based on the data which I’m sure you’re well aware of - most are not doing particularly well. The amount that near retirees have saved is not near where it needs to be and it is nonsense to believe that going forward that human nature is going to change and somehow the next generation is going to be any different than preceding generations.</p>
<p>“The thing I find most comical are 38 year olds thinking that somehow they are so financially astute that they’re going to save a ton of money, make money in the market to fund their retirement (LOL) or not have any financial crises, that somehow they’re going to be different than retirees today.”</p>
<p>I take exception to your blanket assertion that people don’t actually execute on their plans.</p>
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<p>Are those people in the group that you were talking about? Those 38-year-olds that think that they will save, invest well, and retire comfortably? I know an awful lot of people that are doing just that.</p>
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<p>Are these the folks that saved like mad in their 20s and 30s and 40s and 50s? Say, 35% of their income? Or did they spend it all on consumption? If you had saved 35% from your 20s, you’d have had to have been pretty bad at investing to lose it all.</p>
<p>BCEagle is right on…the problem is that the vast majority of Americans do not save enough of what they make. They live beyond their means…when their income rise, they immediately feel the need to move to a bigger house, buy a better car, ect.</p>
<p>Doct, I agree with you again. </p>
<p>Some people are just delusional, but the delusions keep them going. </p>
<p>If people don’t feel the future is bright, mental health issues can develop. </p>
<p>The arguments that we are having today are the same arguments prior generations had. People don’t change.</p>
<p>I was just reading recently that people’s IQ scores have been rising over the decades. I think it is 3 points a year. Great. People are getting smarter. Except, it turns out people are studying iq type tests more and more and the rise in IQ really means that studying for IQ tests raises scores.</p>
<p>The savings for people in their 30’s, 40’s, 50’s etc are pathetic as you know. They aren’t going to save enough. And on top of the poor savings rate, the standard of living is going lower.</p>
<p>You know, I am not this pessimistic in real life. Really. I feel pretty good. :)</p>
<p>I do hope that this thread gets back to tax stuff as in the 2012 tax return. I’ve put it down for now but want to get back to working on it this weekend (last weekend was upgrading to Windows 8).</p>
<p>That said, it’s pretty funny what some companies are doing ahead of tax rates going up. Costo is going to borrow $3 billion to pay a special dividend of $7 (!) before the end of this year. Basically they are pulling in two years of income to beat the higher tax rates! Unfortunately, for those looking to get into Costco, their stock went up $6 on the announcement.</p>
<p>[Companies</a> Shelling Out Billions to Beat the ‘Fiscal Cliff’ US Business News Blog - CNBC](<a href=“http://www.cnbc.com/id/49993082]Companies”>Companies Shelling Out Billions to Beat the 'Fiscal Cliff')</p>
<p>I’m wondering if this could be a catalyst for a bull market into the end of the year.</p>
<p>Human nature doesn’t change folks</p>
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<p>Mental Health issues will develop with flu pandemics. Whether the future is bright or not.</p>
<p>Mental Health issues are more likely to come with stress. And stress can come in good times and bad. In good times, one may be making a ton of money with working huge hours and trigger mental health problems. Those that are likely to develop mental health problems probably have a genetic predisposition towards it, perhaps something like maternal influenza infection, and various other factors such as living in urban areas - that gets triggered resulting in an episode.</p>
<p>At least that’s what the research says.</p>
<p>I’m talking about the serious stuff.</p>
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<p>Cool.</p>
<p>So why does Singapore have a savings rate of 50% whereas the US doesn’t?</p>
<p>Are they born that way? Is saving human nature? Is spending human nature? Or have they changed it?</p>
<p>I don’t know why we always go to extremes to make our cases. I am sure there are ways to reduce social security without putting everyone on the street. When we filed our SS benefits, we were told that had we come sooner, we would have received a lot more since our kid was under 18. I think it amounts to 100K or more that we “lost” I didn’t know “seniors” get child support. Seniors live longer taxing the system and they have kids late in their life and SS pays. If you had kid as young as 37, you’d be entitled to child support. It seems to me there’s more than enough room to limit the benefit. It is rather disingenuous to suggest anyone advocating cut in SS is heartless.</p>
<p>^edit - not quite 100K somewhat less.</p>