Comment by turk73 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by turk73 | Hacker News Reader

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So, let me get this straight: I'm supposed to spend half my life getting educated so I can go out and make good money only to then have it confiscated? How about no.

I didn't even start making anything until age 30, actually 31, because I graduated with my PhD then it was a massive recession and I basically sat around in my underwear for almost a year watching the world burn down on CNBC (2003). I got on my feet in 2004, but it wasn't until 2005 that I made anything decent as far as income.

Fast forward to 2019, I'm in the 7 figure net worth range and on target for retirement.

WTF and I supposed to do? I'm now considered "rich" after having lived most of my life as a poor sucker without two pennies to rub together. I'm totally serious. I grew up very blue collar, lower middle class, and busted my ass to get where I am.

I will never make $500K a year, not ever.

Fuck your taxes.

ETA: Not sure why you're downvoting me. Do some of you not live in any sort of reality about how difficult it is to make money in the US?

"I will never make $500K a year, not ever."

Why are you complaining about something that won't affect you then?

Maybe because he doesn't want to see people who are like him but with better luck (i.e. those who don't graduate into a recession) not get economically shot in the kneecaps. Just because he didn't take full advantage of it (because luck) doesn't mean he wants to see the path closed to everyone else.

Where to start

1) "Better luck" doesn't begin to describe making $500k/year. That's just extraordinarily wealthy and well into the top 1% in the US. It is even well into the top 10% in Manhattan and San Francisco.

2.) The last recession was over a decade ago.

3.) If 57% marginal rate is "shot in the kneecaps" in someone's mind, then there is a real problem of perspective.

4.) Decreasing wealth inequality levels the playing field for people not born into extraordinary wealth (see William Singer)

it's 57% _on the amount made over 500K/1M/whatever_ to boot, so you're really talking about nominal taxation effects until you're like 4x whatever the income limit is on this mythical "new top bracket"

7 figures is a lot, but it's not really uncommon. Credit Suisse estimates there are 17 million millionaires in the US. I think you may be under-estimating how wealthy the people around you are. I know I used to think it was unbelievable that people could earn well into the six figures as individual contributors, until I found out how much some of my friends were earning.

holding a million dollars is way different than earning a million dollars in a given year. the number of people who earn 500K/1M in a given calendar year is a much, much smaller subset.

Oh definitely, my general comment is mostly that there are a lot of wealthy people everywhere in the US who don't seem wealthy. In the media, there's a lot of focus on how the average American is in debt or can't save, but those all make is seem like it's exceptional to be able to save or earn 6 figures when it's not.

Dude, this isn't aimed at you.

It's aimed at wealthy people. People who have so much money that they write the rules against not only you and the rest of the 99% of suckers in the world, but also for the rich, who make up 1.5% of the world. The rich laugh at us suckers, but actual wealthy people -- the .5% -- squash them like bugs when they try to skirt the rules as well.

See Bernie Madoff, the college cheating folks, etc. Rich people are just as screwed when they try to beat the wealthy.

They're the reason you can't make money and that you've been programmed to think you're the target of this.

Oh and those taxes you complain about? You likely went to public schools built on eminent domain land and drove on publicly funded roads or used public transit. Taxes pay for that. All of it. If we taxed actual wealthy people -- those with connections and inherited wealth -- these conversations would be way easier and you probably wouldn't have had to work so hard to enjoy those privileges or freak out at articles like this.

I guess it sucks being 'a poor sucker'. Social security can make that suck a lot less. Taxes can pay for that. It won't help you anymore, but I don't want to live in a world where everyone cares just about themselves.

You're argument is literally, fuck you I got mine. It's not very effective or constructive and that doesn't even get into the obvious contradiction of poor and lower middle class.

charitably there is an angle to this that has some validity -- increases to the top tax rate should probably be paired with wealth recapture through inheritance taxation to ensure that you don't just build a gigantic firewall for existing millionaires who already made their money.

but i 100% agree with you :D

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