Profoundly Selfish and Unpatriotic

[ladypatriot]

My, my...."profoundly selfish and unpatriotic." Read it and weep with shame. Or not.


Is retiring early unpatriotic? - MSN Money

[Sarah in SC]

From the article: Want to do something truly patriotic to help preserve the American way of life?
Don't retire. At least not yet.
"The argument for working longer is not just about people working to pay more taxes. It's about people working to have more income and wealth themselves, to save for their own lives and their children and grandchildren," says Yarrow

As for the 63-year-old Stein, he has no plans to retire.
"I don't ever expect to stop working," he says. "I love my work. I don't believe there is a meaningful life without work. You're not a whole person without work."

Yeah--they need to keep working so we can quit!

[Nords]

http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...rly-36884.html

[theloneranger]

So this guy thinks that the boomers will be retiring in droves?
I think not, as many have not saved sufficiently to support the lifestyle they desire by age 60, 62 or even 65

[pedorrero]

I found the article amusing too. I'm reminded of the French saying (via Bill Bonner and his "Daily Reckoning"): "When the government tells you to do something, best to do the exact opposite." Let's see, here's some examples: turn in your gold coins, register for the draft, um, ... pay all the taxes you're supposed to, er... Well, you get the idea.

-- Pedorrero, retired from age 42 until whenever it becomes illegal...

[unclemick]

15 years, you folks hear me! 15 years!

Sooo - next year when wrap up ER at age 66. Ya'll on this forum gonna thank me for my service as I wrap up my career of cheap bastardhood - suit up and go back to W--, w--- - can't even bring myself to say the word let alone thunk it - the mere thought makes want to upchuck.

I think I'll invoke the don't ask don't tell rule and go underground.

Sooo - how does one look unER while you really are?

heh heh heh -

[eridanus]

Blah blah worker crunch blah not enough workers.

If I was cynical, I'd think it was a gambit by companies to have TOO MANY workers so as to reduce labor costs.

I'll believe it when I see it.

[Happy One]

Hmmmm...unpatriotic....what do you call it when your country allows your job to be outsourced to India....and you decide to retire at age 51 instead of starting over?

(but I'm still very HAPPY!!!)

[Caroline]

Am I allowed to say "bite me" on this board?

[Dawg52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caroline Am I allowed to say "bite me" on this board?

Better yet, how about "frig um"?

[unclemick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dawg52 Better yet, how about "frig um"?

"Jeez Louise" from Dory36's forerunner to this forum has always been my favorite.

heh heh heh - never say never but I think should 'that' evil befall me I'd probably have to W while medicated for depression - you know 'mordern' medicine and all that there.

[bbbamI]

I didn't need a spoon to make me gag.....

[tomintucson]

Caroline, you made me smile!

Pedorrero, I too love Bonner and his Daily Reckoning. He's no fool.

And that's all I have to say!

Tom

[Spanky]

How about telling employers to start hiring or stop getting rid of older workers?

[RustyShackleford]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...rly-36884.html

Au contraire, I quit my full-time job (and became a part-time contractor),
in some part because I thought it WAS the patriotic thing to do.

To wit, seeing the kind of monster the government of my nation was
becoming in the world, it seemed like a good thing to reduce the amount
of money I was providing to the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld war machine
through my tax dollar.

To me, being patriotic does not mean supporting my government right
or wrong, it means supporting the ideals of our nation, as embodied in
the US Constitution etc.

Sorry to be self-righteous: I will not pretend that my primary motives
for retiring were not mostly selfish, but this side-effect certainly felt
like a good thing.

Yes, I've hijacked this thread into overtly political opinionating, but
it probably didn't belong in "FIRE and Money" in the first place ...

[free4now]

People who FIRE tend to be in high tax brackets while working, and low brackets afterwards, whereas people who work until they die tend to be in the middle brackets forever. If the government wanted to make sure FIREes "pay their share" of taxes then they should shift the tax burden more from the middle brackets to the high brackets. As things are, the guv is incentivizing ER, just like it incentivizes homeownership. You can't fault people for responsibly engaging in the behavior that is incentivized.

[donheff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by free4now People who FIRE tend to be in high tax brackets while working, and low brackets afterwards, whereas people who work until they die tend to be in the middle brackets forever. If the government wanted to make sure FIREes "pay their share" of taxes then they should shift the tax burden more from the middle brackets to the high brackets. As things are, the guv is incentivizing ER, just like it incentivizes homeownership. You can't fault people for responsibly engaging in the behavior that is incentivized.

+1. I opposed the Bush tax cuts (which were very good for me) but by the time things change back I will be in a low bracket and won't be hurt by the sensible tax policy.

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donheff +1. I opposed the Bush tax cuts (which were very good for me) but by the time things change back I will be in a low bracket and won't be hurt by the sensible tax policy.

I think a sensible spending policy is equally important. Nevertheless, they need to more or less balance out in the end, or bad shite will happen...

[CitricAcid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by free4now People who FIRE tend to be in high tax brackets while working, and low brackets afterwards, whereas people who work until they die tend to be in the middle brackets forever. If the government wanted to make sure FIREes "pay their share" of taxes then they should shift the tax burden more from the middle brackets to the high brackets. As things are, the guv is incentivizing ER, just like it incentivizes homeownership. You can't fault people for responsibly engaging in the behavior that is incentivized.

Wouldn't shifting the tax bracket toward the rich incentivize them to ER even more?

[Frugality_of_Apathy]

What ever happened to all those balanced budget amendments people were talking about in the 90's?
Why does holding the federal government to the same standard as the sate governments such an unpopular idea?