A person doesn't realize how fortunate we are

[RetiredHappy]

Financially, I am very fortunate as my parents always made sure that we had good and tasty food growing up. My parents paid for my university education and I got my first job as an analyst programmer straight out from university and I was paid for work every single day of my life until I retired at 53, without a gap as I had a total of 4 employers and also as an owner of our business as my last job. I have never been poor nor felt poor. Environmentally, my upbringing was not great and we went through tremendous family trauma in our adulthood. I would give up most of my wealth to change all that as I am still living with survivor's guilt. Money isn't everything.

 

[Mulligan]

Yesterday I got a phone call, person was asking me to talk to my State Representative to say that we should "Tax the rich to fund for a pay increase to some group".

I told her I couldn't do that right now.

I felt like telling her, tell the Governor to not subsidize the football team building a new stadium to hold more people so they can make more ticket sales, and reduce our property taxes instead.

Its funny how the term “rich” is a very flexible word. The “rich” is always someone else, not me. Case in point me and my two best friends. One thinks I am “rich” because I have a lot more cash investments than he has. Yet he has millions in land worth well more than my modest portfolio. But in his eyes the land “doesnt count” because he is never selling it and keeping it in the family. Ive given up arguing he is wrong. The other buddy thinks I should pick up the tab because I have more money than he does, but his house is worth 3-4x what my modest house is worth. Yet he thinks that doesnt count either, ha….And btw, I am definitely not rich either!

 

[COcheesehead]

After I retired and had a very part time job at a winery, I saw the pettiness of jealousy first hand. Little comments from people “who had to work” vs me doing it for fun. Comments about my car, my house. Why I shouldn’t have the better shift hours because “I didn’t need the money”. The worst offender was a woman married to a doctor. Go figure.
Jealousy of better off people runs rampant and is the cause of some of the strife we see today though most will never admit to it. Eat the rich is alive and well.

 

[Dtail]

Credit card debt is something we never had. Always paid it off each month, just used it as a convenience over writing checks. But DW worked at a local bank and saw so many people come in to buy a house and had to literally cut up their CC's.

Same here, plus for the rewards.

 

[MRG]

My depression era parents, were from a place that as a child I thought was Hell. Mine fires had burned under the town and the roads were on fire. New areas were evacuated as it spread. The whole place stunk of burning coal.

We were hungry after we got married. For a decade we struggled. I eventually went to night school after working a full day.

Megacorp hired me straight out of school as a mainframe assembly developer and I was very appreciative. Oh the challenges! I ended up working with a guy who also had a different start to life and we both wanted to make a lot of money.

What we lacked in formal education we made up in dedication. Others might have had more education, but they left at 5. We were there for many hours, taking software apart and doing things others said was impossible. It paid off as I was able to retire at 56.

 

[Dtail]

After I retired and had a very part time job at a winery, I saw the pettiness of jealousy first hand. Little comments from people “who had to work” vs me doing it for fun. Comments about my car, my house. Why I shouldn’t have the better shift hours because “I didn’t need the money”.
Jealousy of better off people runs rampant and is the cause of some of the strife we see today though most will never admit to it. Eat the rich is alive and well.

Jealousy of course is a huge factor in the keeping up with the Joneses too.
It is probably more rampant than in the past, due to social media.
I supported a trader when I was 23 y.o. who already was earning 5m a year in his 20's back in the 1980's. I learned then there will always be folks better off than me and I accepted it fully.

 

[ls99]

I do most certainly realize how lucky I am. Still alive, kicking dancing, have enough $, do what I want whenever I choose to.

 

[TheWizard]

Its funny how the term “rich” is a very flexible word. The “rich” is always someone else, not me. Case in point me and my two best friends. One thinks I am “rich” because I have a lot more cash investments than he has. Yet he has millions in land worth well more than my modest portfolio. But in his eyes the land “doesnt count” because he is never selling it and keeping it in the family. Ive given up arguing he is wrong. The other buddy thinks I should pick up the tab because I have more money than he does, but his house is worth 3-4x what my modest house is worth. Yet he thinks that doesnt count either, ha….And btw, I am definitely not rich either!

The boundary for "rich" starts with people who have at least 50% higher NW than I do, per person...

 

[Pointby2]

This forum has a lot of very wealthy retirees and sometimes it makes me question if we really have "enough", even though I know we do. Every calculator, every article I have read about average NW of retirees of various ages. We're doing great.

There is a FB group "Retiring on a Budget". Go read their comments. There are a lot of people struggling with retirement costs, squeaking by on SS only or maybe a couple hundred thousand in savings. Poor health and limited money for health insurance.

Gives some perspective.

 

[Car-Guy]

Back to my original point, (and I really hope I'm wrong) how long before new taxes and inflation erodes our "wealth" insulation to the point where we also become among those struggling? Five, ten, fifteen, twenty years?

I can remember back when $30k was considered "executive pay". Gotta find ways to avoid the "won the game" complacency trap!

Well in my case, to answer that question, I really don't think that's going to happen in 5 to 10 years. And I'm just as sure in 15 to 20 years, I really won't care.

 

[GrayHare]

I consider myself fortunate to not have been born when a dinosaur or saber-toothed tiger could have eaten me.

 

[athena53]

Credit card debt is something we never had. Always paid it off each month, just used it as a convenience over writing checks. But DW worked at a local bank and saw so many people come in to buy a house and had to literally cut up their CC's.

Mom's tactic for major purchases was "90 days, same as cash". The local high-end furniture store offered it and after we moved into a newer, bigger house our living and dining room were empty except for a few card tables and chairs till she could buy the quality she wanted without incurring interest. And I know Mom. She would have made darn sure that check got there before the 90-day deadline.

On "the rich": how come the people who are vilifying us are real friendly to us when they're running a capital campaign?

 

[marko]

I think everyone should have inflation hedges.

Of course, my posit is an academic one. In reality, most of us here should be able to weather a doubling of taxes and prices as noted by the OP and a few other posts.

 

[pacergal]

Oh my goodness, I am blessed every day and feel so fortunate to be here on earth.
DH and I are living a much higher level than we ever thought we would, yearly income higher than it ever was while working, with our pension and ss. Thankful for parents who taught LBYM and for Dad who walked me through investing and "stay the course", paying more tax means you earned more money--not bad. Dad grumbled when he had to pay the tax man, but also mentioned how thankful he was that he had the means to do it and live the life he and Mom had. He earned the majority of his investments his last 15 years of work. We did not grow up with much extra at the time.
Fortunate to be able to help our kids now, when they need it, and hopefully will have some left over when we are gone.
I am thankful I have my family close, see my siblings every week. Yearly we have family gatherings and see all my nieces/nephews and grands. And every few years, all of our cousins still gather to visit in the mid west.

Blessed and thankful every friggin day.

 

[Koolau]

I didn't get the government I voted for.

The aggregate got what they voted for.

You still have feet. You can still vote with them.

 

[Souschef]

We are blessed, having saved enough for our retirement. We recently moved to a seaside apartment, selling our home in a +55 MHP.
SS and our small pensions are enough to cover our rent and some expenses.

 

[Koolau]

Just bought gas a couple of hours ago. Paid $3.89. Last gas I bought was $5.30. Nice!

 

[old medic]

Mom's tactic for major purchases was "90 days, same as cash".

We rebuilt our house using this approach. 0% interest X amount of time.

 

[Midpack]

Keep in mind that tax rates are up to us. If enough of us think taxes are too high, WE can effect affect a change when we finally say "enough is enough." It's not easy, but it is quite simple.

I wish it was simple.

When WE get as organized as special interests, corporations and wealthy donors we might be able to affect a change. Until then we get candidates pre chosen for us in primaries (where most WE's don't bother to vote), who tell us what we want to hear to get elected and then vote for what big donors asked for. Then when the general election comes around, the die is already cast. When was the last time you had the opportunity to vote for someone you really believed would really affect change? Seems like is usually the lesser of two evils. They tell us they tried, but blame the lack of results on all the other politicians.

And continuing the cynical theme - WE want lower taxes, but WE don't want any reduction in services, in fact WE usually want more services. Most voters never bother to actually look at where revenues come from or where the money is spent...

WE get what we deserve.

 

[Koolau]

I wish it was simple.

When WE get as organized as special interests, corporations and wealthy donors we might be able to affect a change. Until then we get candidates pre chosen for us in primaries (where most WE's don't bother to vote), who tell us what we want to hear to get elected and then vote for what big donors asked for. Then when the general election comes around, the die is already cast. When was the last time you had the opportunity to vote for someone you really believed would really affect change? Seems like is usually the lesser of two evils. They tell us they tried, but blame the lack of results on all the other politicians.

And continuing the cynical theme - WE want lower taxes, but WE don't want any reduction in services, in fact WE usually want more services. Most voters never bother to actually look at where revenues come from or where the money is spent...

WE get what we deserve.

Totally agree that we get what we deserve.

By the way

The verb "effect" means to bring about or cause something to happen.

 

[badatmath]

I'm not much for social media but I often see posts from adult kids wondering what to do when they find their ill and disabled parent needs nursing home care they can't pay for . . . and then I flip the page to this board and see you all wondering how to gift your kids money and so on. It is quite a contrast.

 

[Retiired]

You're spot on, Street.

But there's is a certain percentage out there who would never consider working three jobs to "stay ahead of the game" like you did.

Sure, there's always the unfortunate, bad luck, under paid, good people who are in hard times, but sadly, that's been the case since we crawled out of the cave. "The poor will always be with you" (Jesus)

But here's what's worrying me: how long before we, the fortunate become impacted? I can see a time soon where taxes will be much higher (my town just voted a 10% property tax override), there's talk about increasing the state income tax, how long before the "millionaire's surtaxes" drop down to $250k?, and the subtle drumbeat of "not paying their fair-share" drops down to our level? (I've been hit with that one personally not long ago)

Taxes aside, I worry about much higher inflation. We're seeing manageably higher prices at the pump now, but someday we could end up with $25 for a loaf of bread. Wages might keep up, but those on fixed incomes would have to make hard choices. And that becomes a death-spiral as the government increases assistance programs for more and more people which somebody has to pay for.

Is NYC and Seattle an anomaly or a trend? I don't know but will we be wise to tap the brakes on charitable giving and gifting in order to build up a reserve? We're comfortable now, but for how long?

Disclaimer: I'm generally grumpy and aggressive before I've had my morning coffee. May walk back this post by noon.

the "millionaire's surtaxes" doesn't need to drop down to $250k. Inflation will come to meet it and everyone will soon be a worthless "millionaire". I only wish this was a ha-ha joke.

 

[athena53]

I'm not much for social media but I often see posts from adult kids wondering what to do when they find their ill and disabled parent needs nursing home care they can't pay for . . . and then I flip the page to this board and see you all wondering how to gift your kids money and so on. It is quite a contrast.

I see two kinds of headlines on sites such as ms.com: "Baby boomers didn't save enough money and are straining the resources of their adult children" and "Baby boomers are hoarding piles of money". Ummm, those piles of money will come in handy if we need long-term care.

 

[MichaelB]

<mod note> Come on, folks, there already was a warning earlier in this thread. Please keep politics and elections out of the discussion.

 

[TheWizard]

the "millionaire's surtaxes" doesn't need to drop down to $250k. Inflation will come to meet it and everyone will soon be a worthless "millionaire". I only wish this was a ha-ha joke.

This ties in to my occasional assertion that "millionaire" is increasingly referring to someone with an annual income at that level, not merely investable assets at that level.
Not everyone agrees with me...