The Wealthometer

[Walt34]

Fearing a wealth tax in the US is a Very Silly Idea. What do I believe will happen? I believe I'll have another beer...

I'll drink to that!

 

[ERhoosier]

....
Take a look at the United States Supreme Court case of Fernandez v. Wiener. The Court stated that a direct tax is a tax "which falls upon the owner merely because he is owner, regardless of his use or disposition of the property." Fernandez v. Wiener, 326 U.S. 340, 66 S. Ct. 178, 45-2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) ¶10,239 (1945)....

That decision did not specifically deal with wealth tax per se but with spousal estate taxation. In fact some have felt it suggested wealth taxation might be constitutional by specifically upholding ad valorum taxation and blurring the distinction between direct & indirect taxation. Chief Justice Stone's majority opinion stated "...the death of the insured, since it ended his control over the disposition of the proceeds, and gave his wife the present enjoyment of them, may be constitutionally made the occasion for the imposition of an indirect tax measured by the proceeds themselves."(emphasis mine) There are clearly circumstances short of death where one may lose "control over disposition" and "enjoyment" of one's assets and, presumably under this decision, expose those assets to value-related taxation.
FERNANDEZ, Collector of Internal Revenue, v. WIENER et al. | LII / Legal Information Institute

Even some conservative lawyers have recently argued that a US wealth tax is "essentially a tax on income".
Death by Wealth Tax | Hoover Institution
And there are prominent constitutional lawyers who also claim a wealth tax would be constitutional under a modern (i.e. post-slavery economy) SCOTUS interpretation of Apportionment clause(s).
Leon Friedman: Fixing the Deficit by Getting Help From the Top 1%

Why — and how — to tax the super-rich

Again- I am NOT an advocate of wealth taxes, but IMHO they are certainly not beyond the realm of possibility for the US.

 

[Options]

I wonder how accurate it is? I ended up placing in the top 4%, as a household of 1. In plugging various numbers in, it looks like $1,161,447 in NW is the bottom threshold to break into the top 3%. Even to break into the fabled top 1%, you only need to amass $2,734,475.

Does it really take that little to get into the top tiers? Almost seems too easy.

Me too. Top 4%, household of 1, and guessed myself at 80%. Makes no real difference to me, though, as I agree with Jack Bogle that I have "enough".

 

[CaliforniaMan]

Yes, but the middle class is shrinking and the entitlement class is growing. Envy is replacing aspiration and the votes will follow, I fear.
...

If I plan to start taking an entitlement called Social Security this year, does that make me part of the growing entitlement class? Just wondering.

 

[marko]

If I plan to start taking an entitlement called Social Security this year, does that make me part of the growing entitlement class? Just wondering.

Not biting on that worm! Sorry.

 

[Gumby]

Not biting on that worm! Sorry.

And that's as good a line as any on which to close this thread.