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Comment by marginalia_nu | Hacker News Reader

Income tax isn't going to solve this, and I think it's unfortunate Europe tends to very myopically focus on income differences. Progressive income tax does little other than to widen the gap between wage slaves and the rich.

The wealthiest don't have an absurdly high income, they own enough assets to live off dividends and wealth appreciation, which typically gets taxed 20-30%. If they even have an income to be taxed, it's basically symbolic.

This is where the real inequality exists, and it's unfortunately not part of the discussion at all. Instead wagies with slightly higher than average income get portrayed as 18th century mustache twisting top-hat capitalist factory owners.

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agree with everything you said. I absolutely despise the income tax. You literally have no path to wealth in Europe by being an employee, in fact if you are a top performer as an employee you are most likely carrying a huge load of the rest of society on your back.

Meanwhile wealth gets taxed much lower (when it gets taxed at all)

I cannot picture having a path to wealth as an employee. I mean I'm struggling to even conceptualize this. Do you have actual expectations to get on this path? Or maybe we define differently "wealth"... You can definitely have a fine life as an employee (although that gets eroded too, inequality growing everywhere and former middle class gets pushed down), but to be wealthy that was always another category altogether.

There is a viable path from (upper?)-middle class to early retirement that is built mostly out of hardcore discipline, willingness to delay gratification, and some luck. The idea is to live well below your means, be "frugal", and pound every spare dollar into tax advantaged retirement accounts (first) then your own aggressive growth equities. Get a bonus? The whole thing goes to your brokerage, have a stock plan at work? Max it. Since this mild form of FIRE may take 30+ years, you should invest aggressively in equities (risk decreases with longer time horizon) and possibly buy some rental properties along the way. IMO this gives the best probability (though no guarantee) of retiring financially independent before age 60.

Its possible in the US. The whole FIRE movement.

I'm not in that movement and also not in the US, but is that movement anything more than some tech bros and a couple of life coaches? I mean, is it statistically significant?

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