So there are some people here wondering why some people might be a bit upset about taxing people that make over 250k / year. I am one one of the upset people and I'll try to explain a bit why even though I will fall under 250k. While my taxes are unlikely to change this year because most of my dividend investments are in a tax deferred account, my net worth took a pretty sharp stick in the eye today. Why? Because of all the examples Greg and others have mentioned. We have a huge amount of uncertainty. We don't have a plan. We don't know what taxes are going to look like for the next 4 years. We don't know how the fiscal cliff is going to be addressed. I can deal with a day down 2%. Unfortunately, there is a good chance to have lots of 2% down days with this uncertainty. And just in case you haven't connected all the dots, the Weld's of the world pull out first, and John Q Public's 401k pulls out last. So all those 401k's of people making under 250k per year lose a HUGE percentage of these market swings. And while people under 250k / year won't pay more taxes, you have a big drop in worth. And while those over 250k / year might pay a higher tax percentage of their income in taxes, the gap between these two groups tends to widen. Like Greg mentioned. Tax revenue is easy to generate when big money is moving. When its not, trouble brews and no tax plan is viable.
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