Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - Reconsidering the wisdom of home ownership

solarguy · 09-16-2011, 02:35 PM

I'm one of those evil self employed "rich" people. My wife works full time too.

We don't look rich.

I certainly don't feel rich.

We live on a budget.

We drive older cars.

I make my own biodiesel to run my car, truck, heat my house, heat my shop.

I use each razor blades for a month, and then resharpen and use for another two weeks.

We buy clothes at goodwill.

I cut my own hair.

By the time I pay all my taxes (big ones, little ones, hidden ones and secret ones), they take more than half of everything I make. That's using a good accountant and paying everything on time. If you mess up, or get behind, the interest and penalties add on pretty fast.

We are penalized because we paid our house off. I got penalized because my income was too high, so I couldn't claim my student loans as a deduction. I think currently we get penalized because I married my wife, not just live-in.

We are "making it" fine, and have a plan to retire with dignity, but, given my/our lifestyle, and how hard we work, we ought to be stinking rich.

And too bad my son will have a big chunk of it lost to taxes when I die. Many family farms and ranches are lost every generation now, because when dad dies, the kids can't pay the taxes and have to sell it.

Sort of the beginning of the federal income tax was to pay for WWI, and it was graduated from 1% up to $10K, up to 6% for rich folks. It was pitched as temporary, "just to pay for the war effort".

Funny, never went away, and went up fast. At one point FDR want to raise the marginal tax rate on rich folks to 100%. The stafff had to explain it to him why it wouldn't work, that they would just stop working, since they would receive no money.

This all comes from grotesque amounts of government spending, at historically unprecedented levels. Unsustainable levels really.

And after all the charade of the debt ceiling fiasco and multiple trillion dollar "cuts", somehow the federal budget still is going up every year for the forseeable future.

Neither party seems interested in spending less than they take in.

Private schools routinely educate kids at substantially less cost per student, with better teacher/kid ratios, and produce kids that routinely score better than pub-ed kids on any standardized test you care to mention:

http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/article/1908

The whole public education thing is tragic and sad and wasteful, not just for the money either.

Whatever is happening in Greece now, that's what's going to happen here in the second half of 2013. Mark it on your calendars.

Good luck.

troy

09-16-2011, 02:35 PM	#42 (permalink)
solarguy EcoModding Apprentice Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: up north Posts: 196 Thanks: 4 Thanked 34 Times in 26 Posts	Every time the money moves, the gubbmint gets a piece, somehow I'm one of those evil self employed "rich" people. My wife works full time too. We don't look rich. I certainly don't feel rich. We live on a budget. We drive older cars. I make my own biodiesel to run my car, truck, heat my house, heat my shop. I use each razor blades for a month, and then resharpen and use for another two weeks. We buy clothes at goodwill. I cut my own hair. By the time I pay all my taxes (big ones, little ones, hidden ones and secret ones), they take more than half of everything I make. That's using a good accountant and paying everything on time. If you mess up, or get behind, the interest and penalties add on pretty fast. We are penalized because we paid our house off. I got penalized because my income was too high, so I couldn't claim my student loans as a deduction. I think currently we get penalized because I married my wife, not just live-in. We are "making it" fine, and have a plan to retire with dignity, but, given my/our lifestyle, and how hard we work, we ought to be stinking rich. And too bad my son will have a big chunk of it lost to taxes when I die. Many family farms and ranches are lost every generation now, because when dad dies, the kids can't pay the taxes and have to sell it. Sort of the beginning of the federal income tax was to pay for WWI, and it was graduated from 1% up to $10K, up to 6% for rich folks. It was pitched as temporary, "just to pay for the war effort". Funny, never went away, and went up fast. At one point FDR want to raise the marginal tax rate on rich folks to 100%. The stafff had to explain it to him why it wouldn't work, that they would just stop working, since they would receive no money. This all comes from grotesque amounts of government spending, at historically unprecedented levels. Unsustainable levels really. And after all the charade of the debt ceiling fiasco and multiple trillion dollar "cuts", somehow the federal budget still is going up every year for the forseeable future. Neither party seems interested in spending less than they take in. Private schools routinely educate kids at substantially less cost per student, with better teacher/kid ratios, and produce kids that routinely score better than pub-ed kids on any standardized test you care to mention: http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/article/1908 The whole public education thing is tragic and sad and wasteful, not just for the money either. Whatever is happening in Greece now, that's what's going to happen here in the second half of 2013. Mark it on your calendars. Good luck. troy __________________ 2004 VW TDI PD on bio want to build 150 mpg diesel streamliner. Last edited by solarguy; 09-16-2011 at 02:47 PM..