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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2021 8:11:46 GMT -5
As far as taxes, I am less likely to be concerned by government taking tax money from people who don't need it than I am by government giving tax money to people who don't need it. And what about when it's both? The first stimulus checks were rolled out quickly and they didn't want to waste time quibbling about who should and shouldn't get it. That made sense to me. The last two could have been fine-tuned and they weren't. If it was meant to alleviate the damages of COVID- Plenty of people whose jobs were unaffected, or who may even have been working harder and longer, but who fell under the income thresholds got them, People whose income was all or mostly pension and SS got them. For people who worked as waitresses or bartenders, the amount they got was pitiful. American Airlines had sent out furlough notices to a large number of employees and gleefully told them to tear them up when the stimulus package came through- Uncle Sugar had come to the rescue. If they were going to find a way to do business without those employees, why not deploy the funds directly to the affected employees and maybe even retrain them for other work? And if it was meant to stimulate the economy, the unaffected group seems mostly to have paid down debt and saved for a rainy day- good things but they don't stimulate the economy. And be careful about how you define "people who don't need money". Accumulate retirement savings or try to leave a legacy to your kids and someday they'll come for YOURS. And I just hate giving away nearly 25% of the money we worked 80 to 100 hours a week to earn. Hopefully others can learn and avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made. You didn't know. WE didn't know. It was always the conventional wisdom that you'd be in a lower tax bracket in retirement and for some of us it has turned out to be the opposite. Back when I was a single mother in NJ with a big mortgage and high property taxes, I was withholding for 10 exemptions and still getting tax refunds. I should have done all after-tax savings but who could have predicted this?
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Mar 12, 2021 9:03:57 GMT -5
I am a high earner running a small organization that only offers a SEP IRA; therefore a butt load of my money is being put into a post tax account. I kind of like it this way...seems like having a large post tax account might really help me in the future. It will definitely give me more flexibility.
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minnesotapaintlady
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Post by minnesotapaintlady on Mar 12, 2021 9:40:15 GMT -5
I would like to put more in Roth and after tax, but the cost to me is so high and I don't see that changing for a long time. Even if the tax brackets doubled (or tripled) in retirement I'd still be ahead taking the break now.
I've decided I'm just not going to worry about RMDs right now. It's 20 years off and so much could change by then. I don't get a pension and will just have a tiny SS check, so I'll probably want to withdraw about what they say I need to anyhow.
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tallguy
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Joined: Apr 2, 2011 19:21:59 GMT -5
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Post by tallguy on Mar 12, 2021 13:55:43 GMT -5
As far as taxes, I am less likely to be concerned by government taking tax money from people who don't need it than I am by government giving tax money to people who don't need it. And what about when it's both? The first stimulus checks were rolled out quickly and they didn't want to waste time quibbling about who should and shouldn't get it. That made sense to me. The last two could have been fine-tuned and they weren't. If it was meant to alleviate the damages of COVID- Plenty of people whose jobs were unaffected, or who may even have been working harder and longer, but who fell under the income thresholds got them, People whose income was all or mostly pension and SS got them. For people who worked as waitresses or bartenders, the amount they got was pitiful. American Airlines had sent out furlough notices to a large number of employees and gleefully told them to tear them up when the stimulus package came through- Uncle Sugar had come to the rescue. If they were going to find a way to do business without those employees, why not deploy the funds directly to the affected employees and maybe even retrain them for other work? And if it was meant to stimulate the economy, the unaffected group seems mostly to have paid down debt and saved for a rainy day- good things but they don't stimulate the economy. And be careful about how you define "people who don't need money". Accumulate retirement savings or try to leave a legacy to your kids and someday they'll come for YOURS. And I just hate giving away nearly 25% of the money we worked 80 to 100 hours a week to earn. Hopefully others can learn and avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made. You didn't know. WE didn't know. It was always the conventional wisdom that you'd be in a lower tax bracket in retirement and for some of us it has turned out to be the opposite. Back when I was a single mother in NJ with a big mortgage and high property taxes, I was withholding for 10 exemptions and still getting tax refunds. I should have done all after-tax savings but who could have predicted this? They WILL come for mine, as they should. I have more than I need, and spend less than I could. My plan currently is to limit my income for tax purposes, and I will likely pay no income tax for at least a decade unless I do another large Roth conversion this year or next. There will almost certainly be a fairly substantial amount of IRA money left. I won't pay taxes on it, but my son will. I don't think he'll mind too much, by the way. Is that fair, that it be taxed at that point? Yes. The money was not taxed on the way in. It should be taxed on the way out. I absolutely think the stimulus checks should have been targeted better, if they were going to be sent at all. Not only was the income level far higher than it should have been, but dependents should not have been included, or at least not for the full amount. I am going to deal with it by making sure I spend the money on things I would not have bought otherwise. I believe that to be the best way I can use the money as intended...to stimulate the economy. I am an actual fiscal conservative, not the "lip-service" fiscal conservative that Republicans suddenly turn into whenever there is a Democratic president. I did a college paper forty years ago on the dangers of the national debt when it was well under $1 trillion, and believe to this day that the debt will be the thing that ultimately takes down this country. Reagan, George W. Bush, and Trump all enacted large tax cuts during their presidencies. All three should have been thrown out of office for doing so. Reagan - Started the whole "trickle-down" nonsense and set the GOP on the course that tax cuts are a panacea for everything. Bush - Destroyed the best chance we had for ever paying off the debt. Trump- Again like the others exploded the deficits and debt for little true benefit. It is a fiction that tax cuts will ever pay for themselves. At best they create a small amount of growth, and return nowhere near the lost revenue. Very little of even that benefit accrues to the average person, and almost none to the lower economic classes. If tax cuts are meant to be stimulative, those are the people who would actually spend the money and stimulate the economy. The wealthy won't. Tax cuts for the wealthy do little or nothing to help the country, and push us further down the road to ruin. When even the billionaires are saying they should be paying more in taxes, it would be a good idea to listen to them.
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ajmom
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Post by ajmom on Apr 22, 2021 18:56:08 GMT -5
I think I did things a bit differently than most. I got divorced after 30 years of marriage. I had always kept track of our finances, bills due, net worth, big aind little picture, always checking. I also worked my first job in federal retirement — so was always keenly aware of benefits and pitfalls of a federal retirement.
I retired 2 years ago. My young adult kids live with me — not him — by choice, and it is going as well as can be expected in pandemic. So because of my kids — my spending hasn’t gone down in retirement, but who knew there would be a pandemic?
I’m a worrier by nature, but nothing beats only having your own spending to worry about and not having another argument about how you can’t expect to carry such heavy credit card bills, pay them in full, and still have money for the child’s tuition. I heard every excuse in the book for 30 years. Now It feels like almost cake to be able to loosen and tighten my own belt, and no more Mr Full of Sh@! and excuses to worry about. . It’s great to be on my own, and also feels good to help the kids. They both are responsible, they are also happier than they were several years ago, and it’s so nice to have them around.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2021 9:03:02 GMT -5
I think I did things a bit differently than most. I got divorced after 30 years of marriage. <snip> I’m a worrier by nature, but nothing beats only having your own spending to worry about and not having another argument about how you can’t expect to carry such heavy credit card bills, pay them in full, and still have money for the child’s tuition. I heard every excuse in the book for 30 years. Now It feels like almost cake to be able to loosen and tighten my own belt, and no more Mr Full of Sh@! and excuses to worry about. . It’s great to be on my own, and also feels good to help the kids. They both are responsible, they are also happier than they were several years ago, and it’s so nice to have them around. Congratulations- I also divorced a financial train wreck. We kept our finances separate (I knew going in that joint debt other than the mortgage or joint checking accounts would be a disaster) but I've been though it all- calls from debt collectors, judgments against him with Sheriff's Notices taped to our mail box (which I'm sure the neighbors read) and one attempt by a hospital to attach my wages for his unpaid medical bills since he was unemployed. (We were in the process of divorce, my lawyer held them off and they were paid from the Ex's share of the proceeds form the marital home.) That was 1997. Life as a single mother in a HCOL area was easier than trying to prop him up.
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ajmom
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Post by ajmom on Apr 24, 2021 16:45:11 GMT -5
I think I did things a bit differently than most. I got divorced after 30 years of marriage. <snip> I’m a worrier by nature, but nothing beats only having your own spending to worry about and not having another argument about how you can’t expect to carry such heavy credit card bills, pay them in full, and still have money for the child’s tuition. I heard every excuse in the book for 30 years. Now It feels like almost cake to be able to loosen and tighten my own belt, and no more Mr Full of Sh@! and excuses to worry about. . It’s great to be on my own, and also feels good to help the kids. They both are responsible, they are also happier than they were several years ago, and it’s so nice to have them around. Congratulations- I also divorced a financial train wreck. We kept our finances separate (I knew going in that joint debt other than the mortgage or joint checking accounts would be a disaster) but I've been though it all- calls from debt collectors, judgments against him with Sheriff's Notices taped to our mail box (which I'm sure the neighbors read) and one attempt by a hospital to attach my wages for his unpaid medical bills since he was unemployed. (We were in the process of divorce, my lawyer held them off and they were paid from the Ex's share of the proceeds form the marital home.) That was 1997. Life as a single mother in a HCOL area was easier than trying to prop him up.
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ajmom
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Post by ajmom on Apr 24, 2021 16:50:00 GMT -5
Thank You for your kind words. Sorry — I am messing up how to respond correctly! I was fortunate to not have any debt when I divorced, but it was just exhausting as ex even refused to ever check bank balances, and so I was constantly juggling accounts. And guess who get more blamed for everything? A very sad situation, and I thank you again for ur kind words, and commend you for improving your situation.
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