How much do you think we can squeeze out of people with a HHI of $50,000? Especially when people are complaining about how tough it is with $250,000?

So if both me and my spouse work, our AGI is about $380K. If I SAH, our AGI would be around $187K. Maybe I should SAH and stop incredibly overpaying our taxes.

Yes, actually I think the IRS should take account of cost of living.

But check this out:

"In 2008, the top 1 percent of tax returns paid 38.0 percent of all federal individual income taxes and earned 20.0 percent of adjusted gross income." So the top 1% are already paying way more than their share of taxes, even considering their disproportionate share of the income.

But those are the rich slobs who earn over $390K AGI, who clearly deserve to pay more. Lets get down closer to the $250K wage slaves we have been discussing:

The top 5% (AGI over $159K) "earned 34.7 percent of the nation's adjusted gross income, but paid approximately 58.7 percent of federal individual income taxes."

Again, the upper income brackets are overpaying their share by a significant margin. The other 95% of people in this country are shouldering only slightly more than 41% of the tax burden.

Quotes are from this report: http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/250.html

Honey badger don't care. Honey badger don't give a shit.

We do not "look" rich, but we are rich. How do I know? We both max out our 401(k)s and nondeductible traditional IRAs, plus save another $7200 per year for college. That's just over $50,000 per calendar year in savings. Also, we can pay for dental work out of pocket in the same month we put the downpayment on a new kitchen table.

We both still need to work for a living, but we have no debt other than our mortgage, give a lot to charity and spend $3,000 on one vacation annually.

Anonymous wrote:Why do you think the following two points support the "rich" theory and not the "not rich" theory?

1. $250K is worth less in DC than Texas; and
2. "you are still in the top 3% of income earners in this country"

The point is that being in the top 3% means less here than it does in Texas. So someone who lives here or NY should not be paying more in taxes based on their raw income than someone with similar disposable income but a smaller salary in Texas.

the IRS does not give a crap where you live. should they? maybe, but you STILL choose to live here even knowing how expensive it is and how much less disposable income you would have.

If they picked $500K, we'd have people whining about $500K not being "rich." The government has to find a point on the income scale that makes sense for tax brackets.

If you really want the IRS to consider location in its tax rates, then start a movement. But I'm really tired of listening to people whine and moan when there are people out there without income coming in, who have no retirement savings and who wonder where their next meal is coming from. Get a little perspective - complaining that taxes impact your (universal your, as I don't know YOU personally say this) ability to pay for a nanny and private school makes you look foolish.

Anonymous wrote:"rich" is a term that doesn't have any real meaning because everyone has their own definition."

Well yes, I am rich because I have a beautiful wife and two kids that I adore. But not because I make $300K per year, that's for damn sure.

No darlin, that makes you lucky.

"rich" is a term that doesn't have any real meaning because everyone has their own definition."

Well yes, I am rich because I have a beautiful wife and two kids that I adore. But not because I make $300K per year, that's for damn sure.

Why do you think the following two points support the "rich" theory and not the "not rich" theory?

1. $250K is worth less in DC than Texas; and
2. "you are still in the top 3% of income earners in this country"

The point is that being in the top 3% means less here than it does in Texas. So someone who lives here or NY should not be paying more in taxes based on their raw income than someone with similar disposable income but a smaller salary in Texas.

Anonymous wrote:Nobody is saying that $250K is poor, or that it doesn't afford a lot of flexibility. Just that it's not rich.

I made $18K at my first job out of college and my salary didn't beat my age until I earned $27K when I was 24. I recall a time when an extra $10K would have made a real difference in my quality of life. I have a lot more flexibility now, with no debts other than student loans and the mortgage, and I can do things like have my car serviced regularly, save for retirement and kids' college, take a vacation, or take a $5K hit for a new air conditioner if necessary. But those things hardly describe "wealth" or being "rich."

What people don't seem to understand is that for a family of four, $250K is like taking Motrin every day. It helps with the minor aches and pains and even some tough headaches, but it doesn't get you high.

because you live in DC. what is your mortgage payment? what do you pay your nanny/childcare/school? These things are more expensive here. $250K in TX would get you a VERY nice life. We all make tradeoffs for living here. We make half that "magic number" - we will never live in a "top school" district. We may have to cut out retirement savings to afford a second child. We don't have a ton of savings. Such is life. At least we have food on the table, a roof over our heads and aren't mooching off our families to survive.

Cost of living sucks, no doubt. But you are still in the top 3% of income earners in this country.

Anonymous wrote:Nobody is saying that $250K is poor, or that it doesn't afford a lot of flexibility. Just that it's not rich.

I made $18K at my first job out of college and my salary didn't beat my age until I earned $27K when I was 24. I recall a time when an extra $10K would have made a real difference in my quality of life. I have a lot more flexibility now, with no debts other than student loans and the mortgage, and I can do things like have my car serviced regularly, save for retirement and kids' college, take a vacation, or take a $5K hit for a new air conditioner if necessary. But those things hardly describe "wealth" or being "rich."

What people don't seem to understand is that for a family of four, $250K is like taking Motrin every day. It helps with the minor aches and pains and even some tough headaches, but it doesn't get you high.

Oh, good grief. Let's face it, folks, "rich" is a term that doesn't have any real meaning because everyone has their own definition. "Rich" doesn't necessarily mean that Robin Leach is coming to your house to put you on TV so we can oooh and aaaaah at your 12 swimming pools and fleet of yachts. Whether or not you "feel" like you're "rich" is completely irrelevant. You are affluent. You are in the top 3% of wage earners. You are not, as the original poster claims, "down and out."

Why is that so hard to understand?

Anonymous wrote:To say $250K a year anywhere is rich is ridiculous. It's upper middle class salary, not wealth, not rich. DH and I make this now living in DC. With private school tuition plus nanny plus mortgage and insurances plus healthcare there isn't much left.

Ditch the nanny and the private school. Neither are an actual necessity. There are good public schools and good daycares, so please, don't bitch and moan about the 60k thousands you are spending on them.
We make about $120k and are in no way struggling. In the past three years we have invested one years worth of salary and have 40k in the bank. We own our own home which we didn't even have a down payment for and don't have trust funds or any help from anyone. We also don't have a nanny and have a good public school. I have thought about private school but I would send my kids to to local Catholic school where the tuition is just over $5,000 and there is a discount for the second child.

Nobody is saying that $250K is poor, or that it doesn't afford a lot of flexibility. Just that it's not rich.

I made $18K at my first job out of college and my salary didn't beat my age until I earned $27K when I was 24. I recall a time when an extra $10K would have made a real difference in my quality of life. I have a lot more flexibility now, with no debts other than student loans and the mortgage, and I can do things like have my car serviced regularly, save for retirement and kids' college, take a vacation, or take a $5K hit for a new air conditioner if necessary. But those things hardly describe "wealth" or being "rich."

What people don't seem to understand is that for a family of four, $250K is like taking Motrin every day. It helps with the minor aches and pains and even some tough headaches, but it doesn't get you high.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Down and Out"? Hardly. The hypothetical couple described in the article was in the red AFTER saving for college for their kids, saving for retirements, and living a "middle of the road" lifestyle. It's not like they are standing in soup kitchen lines on 250K.

So not fair. If they've got enough money to pay for college and save for retirement, I think they should pay higher taxes and help my six kids go to college and have health insurance. I never graduated from high school and only earn a tenth that much.

No one said that there was anything wrong with earning a high income, most of us on here do. But it is rich, higher taxes or not. Your post makes me sick.

What about it makes you sick? People with that much money should pay more taxes so the rest of us can have more.

Nope. We EARNED our big salaries. You didn't.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Down and Out"? Hardly. The hypothetical couple described in the article was in the red AFTER saving for college for their kids, saving for retirements, and living a "middle of the road" lifestyle. It's not like they are standing in soup kitchen lines on 250K.

So not fair. If they've got enough money to pay for college and save for retirement, I think they should pay higher taxes and help my six kids go to college and have health insurance. I never graduated from high school and only earn a tenth that much.

Why should my taxes increase just because you are undereducated and overreproduced? You made two very bad choices there.