Gold fluctuates. Take a look at: https://bullionexchanges.com/charts/gold-price. It's a safe place as you said, and if you need to protect your assets, you can do so through physical metals.
Big Tax Increases On The Way???
- Thread starter Glenn Holland
- Start date
Gold fluctuates. Take a look at: https://bullionexchanges.com/charts/gold-price. It's a safe place as you said, and if you need to protect your assets, you can do so through physical metals.
I have read a little of this proposed tax reform. My wife and I are retired and own our home. The kids are long gone with kids of their own. During the working years all we seemed to do was pay, pay and pay more. Much like the ACA the proposed tax changes really do not do much for us but they don't really hurt us either. One of our better moves was converting one large IRA to a Roth IRA, we paid the tax burden over two years and the investments have done well. We had reached a career point where income was great but we were eaten alive with taxes. Could have been worse if we lived in NY or CA I guess. Anyway, for a change the proposed tax code changes won't really impact us to any extent.
I guess for some it will be a tax increase and for others a good deal, isn't that how taxes generally work out? Winners and losers.
Ron
I guess for some it will be a tax increase and for others a good deal, isn't that how taxes generally work out? Winners and losers.
Ron
I'm not surprised that congress (more like the think tanks that work behind the scene to develop the laws that congress merely approve) is proposing major federal tax increases of some kind or another.
The federal government is spending big $$$ like a drunken sailor and running up the national debt. I suspect that some of the debt holders (like China) is demanding that the U.S. start paying down the debt and for U.S. citizens, that means cutting spending and raising revenue.
Here in California the state (and large cities) are running huge deficits and they've been using the federal government like an ATM to fund stuff like mass transit, bike lanes, low income housing, etc. it's obvious that this economic situation is totally unsustainable and something's got to give someplace.
The federal government is spending big $$$ like a drunken sailor and running up the national debt. I suspect that some of the debt holders (like China) is demanding that the U.S. start paying down the debt and for U.S. citizens, that means cutting spending and raising revenue.
Here in California the state (and large cities) are running huge deficits and they've been using the federal government like an ATM to fund stuff like mass transit, bike lanes, low income housing, etc. it's obvious that this economic situation is totally unsustainable and something's got to give someplace.
Drunken sailors are fiscally conservative compared to the politicians, as they only have their paychecks to spend.
As a young Marine hanging with drunk sailors and other Marines when we ran out of money we didn't have the luxury of just printing more so we returned to the ship or barracks.
Ron
"Spending like a well lobbied congressman" would have been a better simile than "drunken sailor"
It seems like a good investment until you see the fees - check the difference between buy and sell prices at your local dealer before you buy.
And the guy's that buy gold as a "prepper", "survival" type of wealth are just being deluded by those selling gold. In that type of situation gold will be next to worthless. It will be the knowledge to grow things, make things and repair things that are the most valuable.
But gold is so mailable, it will be easy to use as a plug (technically a 'dam') when my cast iron skillet needs to be repaired several years after the Armageddon. Wait, I took the low-cost trading option where the broker keeps the gold. Damn.
Glass composites have replaced gold for dental fillings and veneers so the price of gold may drop a bit.
DickCappels
- Joined Aug 21, 2008
- 10,180
Continued name calling is one way get attention, and not the good kind.
I went through this thread with great interest about 24 hours ago because it might turn political, but I and not see anything that crossed the line, except the name-calling which has been deleted.
I went through this thread with great interest about 24 hours ago because it might turn political, but I and not see anything that crossed the line, except the name-calling which has been deleted.
I heard on the news that the holders of the U.S. national debt (such as China) may be getting a bit anxy and urging congress to start paying down the outstanding balance.
It's akin to a mortgage company learning that a homeowner's running up a lot of debt on his credit cards and demanding he pay off the remaining balance on his loan ASAP.
From my knowledge of how governments here in California are dangerously addicted to federal funding, something's eventually gotta give and congress will levy huge tax increases.
The question is how much the middle class is going to get sacked.
It's akin to a mortgage company learning that a homeowner's running up a lot of debt on his credit cards and demanding he pay off the remaining balance on his loan ASAP.
From my knowledge of how governments here in California are dangerously addicted to federal funding, something's eventually gotta give and congress will levy huge tax increases.
The question is how much the middle class is going to get sacked.
You should educate yourself as to who owns US Debt.
And saying "you heard it on the news" won't get you far -- without a link or reference.
I hear things from my mother-in-law all day and night. If I posted them here, ya'll would think I'm nuts.
This kind of stuff can make your head swim. We borrow from China so we can buy their junk. Who wins? To some degree it's China spending money to have it end up back in their own economy. And what the heck does it mean for America to owe Americans?
Thankfully, this was all answered quite a while ago. Milton Friedman proved (and won a Nobel) that taxation and debt have the same negative impact on the economy. At the level of a company, the value of the company doesn't depend on whether its capital comes from bond holders or share holders. It's the same for a country: We are no richer by shifting between borrowing and taxation as a way to fund our spending. All that matters is the spending.
We could eliminate the income tax altogether and it wouldn't matter to the country as a whole. We'd just borrow more. Or we could do the opposite and not sell treasury bonds, and tax the <snip> out of everyone. The burden may be shifted to different segments of the population, but it wouldn't affect the economy as a whole.
Mod edit: profanity snipped
Thankfully, this was all answered quite a while ago. Milton Friedman proved (and won a Nobel) that taxation and debt have the same negative impact on the economy. At the level of a company, the value of the company doesn't depend on whether its capital comes from bond holders or share holders. It's the same for a country: We are no richer by shifting between borrowing and taxation as a way to fund our spending. All that matters is the spending.
We could eliminate the income tax altogether and it wouldn't matter to the country as a whole. We'd just borrow more. Or we could do the opposite and not sell treasury bonds, and tax the <snip> out of everyone. The burden may be shifted to different segments of the population, but it wouldn't affect the economy as a whole.
Mod edit: profanity snipped
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That's why it's necessary to use a mixed system that has multiple checks and balances to work as a sort of fail safe limiter to any one aspect of any society getting too powerful.
Capitalism has proven itself superior in raising a nation's economy and overall standards of living plus pushing the development of life changing and saving technology but it not a fix for everything.
Same with all other socio economic systems as they all have shown that using just one form of anything tends to become disastrous if left unchecked. You may not like the American form of operation but I see no other form of socio economic governance system that has came close to giving the standard of livings plus wealth of opportunity and freedoms we have.
Nobody here cares what your skin color or ancestry or anything else is if you're willing to get of your butt and work to improve your life and the lives of those around you and even if you do happen to find a place that is limiting in such a way you have the freedom to pack up and move somewhere else that better suits you.
We do not have slavery as defined by any other world standard nor do we have destitute poverty or racial and social class segregation as they are easily seen and defined by the majority of the world as well. If you're willing to work for it you can be anything you want that decent and serves a purpose and even if you don't want to be either you have the right to leave the country and go someplace where you can be just the opposite.
What we do have now is nearing two full generations people so cluelessly removed from cold harsh realities of what the vast majority of the world lives in and suffers through that they can't begin to understand and relate to just how profoundly good we have it on every unit of measure. Sure, we could have it idealistically theoretically better yet but all things considered we could andprobalay should have it far far far worse than we do.
I'm proud to be an American and proud of who and what built our nation to be what it is and I believe that everyone everywhere in the world should have the same reasons to feel the pride about their country as I do and if they dont thats not our job to lower our standards to make them feel better about theirs.
That where I have doubts about the overall gains and who will see what from the present proposals. As of now the plans are looking like they will be marginal and limited improvements that likely won't help as many as they are implied that they will. I think the concepts are a step in a more favorable direction but there's still a long road ahead to walk before we get things fixed to where the work properly.
Until the vast and wasteful government spending and budgets are brought under control and substantially reduced nothing is going to be a real true improvement or savings.
You know that once the best we had was not getting killed because of what others of our tribe did...
And that concept is still very much in play now hence the fight to keep people of certain socio poltical ideals, that have proven hugely fatal throughout history and even into present day, out of power here.
Capitalism and democracy in general may not be perfect but it's proved to be way less fatal and far more beneficial to the individual and their respective communities than certain other socio political systems.
