[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by flynscot

and the wonderful State and Federal tax man.

You're still living in a country considered by many as a tax paradise....

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by Biorin

I know, hence the question. But he said he misspoke.

I was actually responding to John's comment, which I probably misunderstood.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by BLuRRYM3

Move to Florida. Income tax free state.

I did a transfer here from California, with the same salary. When I got my first paycheck, the difference was insane. First thing I said was "Holy Sh**! I'm going to buy an M3!"

And that's how I joined this forum.

You do realize these people are paying 50% of their income to live here:



Now STFU before the rest of them find out and move down here also.

[Lups]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

You do realize these people are paying 50% of their income to live here:



Now STFU before the rest of them find out and move down here also.

Fuck off.

[BLuRRYM3]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

You do realize these people are paying 50% of their income to live here:



Now STFU before the rest of them find out and move down here also.

Lol. Understood.

[FL335]

Democrats....that is all.

They are either broke or rich....they don't care. Take money from the hard working and give it the the losers of this country. There is is no argument.

It's unbelievable to me that half of the people in the US don't PAY taxes. It's the biggest screw job, ever.

[tc328]

Originally Posted by FL335

Democrats....that is all.

They are either broke or rich....they don't care. Take money from the hard working and give it the the losers of this country. There is is no argument.

It's unbelievable to me that half of the people in the US don't PAY taxes. It's the biggest screw job, ever.

Not only do they not pay taxes...they get free meals, housing, medical.

The fuked up shit is some of these food stampers drive better cars than we do...Da Faq Merica??!!

[fazman]

Originally Posted by flynscot

Sticker shock! Was going over the budget the other day and realized that 43% of my income is gone before I pay a living bill, i.e. rent, mortgage, car expenses, electricity bill, etc.
Amazing how much is gone when you are just paying for the responsible things: Life, Health, and Dental insurance, Retirement fund and 401K (separate), and the wonderful State and Federal tax man.
Just didn't realize it till the numbers showed it.

The great thing about this country is, if you do you due dilligence... you can cut that tax bill down significantly. Its all in how you do your accounting. Don't work harder... work smarter.

[fazman]

Originally Posted by BLuRRYM3

Move to Florida. Income tax free state.

I did a transfer here from California, with the same salary. When I got my first paycheck, the difference was insane. First thing I said was "Holy Sh**! I'm going to buy an M3!"

And that's how I joined this forum.

Yea but you also have to live in America's trash can I would only move to Florida to avoid car inspections at registration AND to do RothIra conversions on the cheap. but live in nicer places like SoCal.

[bbbbmw]

Originally Posted by fazman

The great thing about this country is, if you do you due dilligence... you can cut that tax bill down significantly. Its all in how you do your accounting. Don't work harder... work smarter.

I used to do this, but there are virtually no deductions left. Or, I'm just not bright enough to find them - which may be - no IS - the case

[flynscot]

Originally Posted by fazman

The great thing about this country is, if you do you due dilligence... you can cut that tax bill down significantly. Its all in how you do your accounting. Don't work harder... work smarter.

I am all ears if you have a way to reduce my tax burden while maintaining my disposable income.
In other words I am not interested in opening a business and then letting it fail just for the tax write offs.

[PoorLurker]

Originally Posted by flynscot

I am all ears if you have a way to reduce my tax burden while maintaining my disposable income.
In other words I am not interested in opening a business and then letting it fail just for the tax write offs.

So you mean, in a legal and completely ethical way?

Originally Posted by John 070

1. And you guys can't deduct your mortgage interest,
2. which is why we have 3 car garages,
3. earn less than you,
4. owe more,
5. while you live in a tiny 2800 sq ft home
6. that you'll pay off by the time you're 35.

Some of these are confusing as it seemed like you wanted to purely show how he loses
1) He loses
2) He loses
3) We lose
4) We lose
5) 2,800 sq. ft? Tiny? Reminds me of this time I was talking to this guy about his water front Newport Beach summer house with slip and he told me how small it was multiple times. I just sat there thinking, "it's still bigger than my house."
6) He wins because he gets to pay off a house at 35. (But with interest rates barely above average inflation, he may want to leverage his money differently)

[BLuRRYM3]

Originally Posted by fazman

Yea but you also have to live in America's trash can I would only move to Florida to avoid car inspections at registration AND to do RothIra conversions on the cheap. but live in nicer places like SoCal.

Dude, you must have not been to the Tampa/St Pete area.

I've spent my whole life in SoCal. I've lived in some of the most popular/trendiest neighborhood there: Newport Beach, Irvine, Anaheim hills, downtown San Diego, and Eagle Rock. Before moving here, I had the mindset that California took the cake and was the best place to live in the world.

But I was wrong. . . St. Pete is beautiful, has miles of white sand beaches. Downtown St. Pete, is one of the cleanest and nicest downtown districts I've ever seen. (If you're familiar with San Diego: it's like is if downtown, seaport village, and balboa park had a baby). Ocean water is actually blue and warm. I really can't say I downgraded at all.

I sometimes I forget that i actually forget that I'm not in California anymore. Feels just like home.

[BayMoWe335]

Taxes are actually much worse than people realize. Factor in other taxes like property tax, sales tax, and registration fees, etc and you'll be crying.

401k, don't worry as much...that is your money that, at least until the government changes the law and steals that too, you can watch grow tax free.

People want to cry about not earning good returns, but you'll do fine for the long term invested in stocks. If you're not in stocks, you're going to get killed by taxes and inflation.

[BayMoWe335]

Originally Posted by fazman

The great thing about this country is, if you do you due dilligence... you can cut that tax bill down significantly. Its all in how you do your accounting. Don't work harder... work smarter.

While true that there are ways to reduce taxes, he spoke about life, health, and dental insurance....costs that are not related to taxes.

If you think you can just do "due diligence" and somehow your taxes are reasonable, you are not considering all factors or you're cheating on your taxes. You Can reduce SOME ways, but your all in tax situation will still be pretty shit, all things considered.

Ways to reduce:
Max 401k
Real Estate deduction
Charitable Contributions
Mortgage interest (you're still paying a lot to loan the money, not a great way to save)
Kids (cost money, not worth write off)
Biz expenses
Other Write-offs (limited if done legally)

Taxes you can't avoid:
Property Tax ($15k/yr on a basic $500,000 house)
Sales tax is around 8.5%, a tax many forget.
State Taxes
Federal tax
Medicare
Social Security (another stupid tax)
All kind of city and local taxes (cell phone bill, water, trash pickup, recycle, etc)

Medical insurance is so screwed up because of how the rates are calculated...on prices no one ever pays for these procedures.

Add it all up and I see what OP is saying. This doesn't even count expenses like life insurance, car, home, and property insurance and the ridiculous cost of medical insurance.

[BayMoWe335]

Originally Posted by fazman

Yea but you also have to live in America's trash can I would only move to Florida to avoid car inspections at registration AND to do RothIra conversions on the cheap. but live in nicer places like SoCal.

California blows unless you're a multimillionaire.

[BayMoWe335]

Originally Posted by bbbbmw

I used to do this, but there are virtually no deductions left. Or, I'm just not bright enough to find them - which may be - no IS - the case

Exactly. There is only so much you can do.

[PoorLurker]

It is interesting that you get taxed on money you earn and then again when you spend that money.

$100 earned
$70 in the bank. (assuming 30% tax rate)
But you cannot buy a $70 item because they will tax you on that item.
So basically, you can buy a $64 item after making $100.

I would venture to guess that many people new to the workforce don't realize this when they go to make purchases.

BLuRRYM3 Does St. Petersburg have some good authentic Chinese food? Or at least some


Does FL have the opportunity to do this with this view?


How does the weather compare? bugs?

mountain biking with hills & variety of ethnic food. Those are my two main concerns

I am pretty easy going and could move anywhere, but I have a hard time with change at first. Then, I become

[Nkc]

What is this tax thing you speak of?

[bbbbmw]

Originally Posted by BayMoWe335

While true that there are ways to reduce taxes, he spoke about life, health, and dental insurance....costs that are not related to taxes.

If you think you can just do "due diligence" and somehow your taxes are reasonable, you are not considering all factors or you're cheating on your taxes. You Can reduce SOME ways, but your all in tax situation will still be pretty shit, all things considered.

Ways to reduce:
Max 401k
Real Estate deduction
Charitable Contributions
Mortgage interest (you're still paying a lot to loan the money, not a great way to save)
Kids (cost money, not worth write off)
Biz expenses
Other Write-offs (limited if done legally)

Taxes you can't avoid:
Property Tax ($15k/yr on a basic $500,000 house)
Sales tax is around 8.5%, a tax many forget.
State Taxes
Federal tax
Medicare
Social Security (another stupid tax)
All kind of city and local taxes (cell phone bill, water, trash pickup, recycle, etc)

Medical insurance is so screwed up because of how the rates are calculated...on prices no one ever pays for these procedures.

Add it all up and I see what OP is saying. This doesn't even count expenses like life insurance, car, home, and property insurance and the ridiculous cost of medical insurance.

Other than maxing out your 401k, all of the rest of the deductions you mention are phased out when you get over about $150k/yr. if you haven't seen the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) you might want to look it up - it sucks when you get hit with that, after planning all year long to take mortgage interest, property tax, charitable contributions, etc. And business expenses are only what's over 7.5% of your gross income, IIRC.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by BayMoWe335

While true that there are ways to reduce taxes, he spoke about life, health, and dental insurance....costs that are not related to taxes.

If you think you can just do "due diligence" and somehow your taxes are reasonable, you are not considering all factors or you're cheating on your taxes. You Can reduce SOME ways, but your all in tax situation will still be pretty shit, all things considered.

Ways to reduce:
Max 401k
Real Estate deduction
Charitable Contributions
Mortgage interest (you're still paying a lot to loan the money, not a great way to save)
Kids (cost money, not worth write off)
Biz expenses
Other Write-offs (limited if done legally)

Taxes you can't avoid:
Property Tax ($15k/yr on a basic $500,000 house)
Sales tax is around 8.5%, a tax many forget.
State Taxes
Federal tax
Medicare
Social Security (another stupid tax)
All kind of city and local taxes (cell phone bill, water, trash pickup, recycle, etc)

Medical insurance is so screwed up because of how the rates are calculated...on prices no one ever pays for these procedures.

Add it all up and I see what OP is saying. This doesn't even count expenses like life insurance, car, home, and property insurance and the ridiculous cost of medical insurance.

I agree with much of what you say, it's rather interesting that people joke (I think) that having a kid benefits financially. My calculations say that for a kid starting college in the fall of 2032, IF (and it's a big IF) you want to be able to pay for it all without aid (if your income is over 250k today that isn't a bad assumption), you need to save $1,600/mo. from the hospital ride home, through age 22. Not many people I know do that (a few are because they know it to be reality). I know a dude who makes major buckage--he drives a Honda Accord. He has 2 girls in Vanderbilt, one going into Notre Dame, and a son in HS. that's brokesville because he said he promised all of them they will not owe a penny upon graduation from college.

Medical insurance, thanks to the HRA is now like car insurance. You pay a lot, and get little in return, and eventually, you accept it. My son saw a pediatric urologist for 15 min. this mo. I know it cost $189 because I paid it. Last year, it would have been $40. Ten years ago, it would have been $10.

[NickyC]

No inflation folks, now get back to your debt slave lives while the banks continue ripping you off.

As well, make sure you go see Star Wars for the 7th time and not The Big Short.