How do the not-so-grassroot live?

EvanB wrote:

mazdeuce wrote:

logdog wrote: If I had a bunch of money, you know what I would do? 2 chicks at the same time.

Not all women are into money.

The type of chicks that would double up on a dude like me are.

Bahahahaha!

"Well, what about you now? What would you do?"

"Besides two chicks at the same time?"

"Well, yeah."

"Nothing."

"Nothing, huh?"

"I would relax... I would sit on my ass all day... I would do nothing."

"Well, you don't need a million dollars to do nothing, man. Take a look at my cousin: he's broke, don't do sh#t."

Datsun1500 wrote:

Xceler8x wrote:

HiTempguy wrote: Every single post you have ever made makes so much more sense now. Anywho, continuing on...

Fo Realz.

I can't figure out if you both mean that in a good or bad way..... My point is, most people are just people. Making more or less than others does not make you better or worse than them, and if you think it does, it's a lousy way to live. I worry about my kids, just like the guy down the street does. I do what I can to make my wife happy, just like the guy down the street does. The fact that he lives in a bigger house, or drives a nicer car, doesn't make him that much different. I know poor shiny happy people, I know rich shiny happy people. I know poor people that are cool, I know rich people that are cool. Rich people die young, poor people die young, Steve Jobs had a bunch of $$, how'd that work out for him?

I understand your point of view a bit better now. That's all I meant by that. Sorry if I came off like a dick.

Btw - I completely agree with you above. 100%.

EvanB wrote:

mazdeuce wrote:

logdog wrote: If I had a bunch of money, you know what I would do? 2 chicks at the same time.

Not all women are into money.

The type of chicks that would double up on a dude like me are.

And.....end scene

Xceler8x wrote: You brought up the tax break thing. The rich pay less taxes than poorer folks. In a country based on a belief in equality that seems unfair to most. Even if they used the savings to build a summer camp or clinic. Those are noble ways to spend money but the tax thing is unfair. At a minimum they should pay the same taxes on their income as folks who earn less.

You know, I always hear this, but I'd like to see an article/data/etc. on it. Some of the very rich have ways to shelter money, but I find it hard to believe they pay less taxes than poorer folks. A lot of wealthy people pay a E36 M3load in taxes.

logdog wrote: If I had a bunch of money, you know what I would do? 2 chicks at the same time.

Why would you want to disappoint two women at the same time.

Where ever I fall in the spectrum, and its on the higher side, its just money. Money buys opportunity not stuff. For some that's a opportunity to show off, for me it the fact that I am not beholden to anyone. Stick my middle finger in the air and tell my bosses where to stick it if they did something unethical. (Which they don't, I honestly love them even when they are pills.)

The problem for me at least with money is when it is not earned respectfully and with actual work. The guys I work with my be 0.1%'s but man they remember scrubbing toilets or what ever crap job they had moving up. If they are nicer to the guys below them then above then I will have their backs, other way around and your going to have trouble. Honestly that is how life should be.

logdog wrote: If I had a bunch of money, you know what I would do? 2 chicks at the same time.

you don't need a million dollars to do that

alfadriver wrote:

mtn wrote: I remember when the Ipad2 came out, my friend asked him if he was going to get it. The guy told him something that was really a very depressing thought to me: "I don't know... I have no wants in the world, if I want something I can just go buy it. I don't need it." That is an awful thought to me. To not want for anything, to be able to attain anything. I want to try to get there, but I'm not sure that I want to actually get there.

It seems as if there's something I'm missing there. You want to get to the point where there's not a lot of need- that what you need is right there. But your client sees the iPad as what it is- a luxury. That's a more valuable lesson- there's a HUGE difference between want and a need. Most electronic devices are far more want than need. Heck, most of what we have is more want than need. IMHO, a key to accumulating wealth is seeing that borderline, and particularly understanding the value of want.

My point is that he is beyond seeing it as a luxury. It is just a thing to him. It isn't "Is this a want, or is this a need?", it is "is it worth the effort to go to Best Buy or order it offline?"

I guess that is why the guy is such an avid golfer. He is trying to chase something, the course record--and that is something that is unattainable.

ProDarwin wrote:

Xceler8x wrote: You brought up the tax break thing. The rich pay less taxes than poorer folks. In a country based on a belief in equality that seems unfair to most. Even if they used the savings to build a summer camp or clinic. Those are noble ways to spend money but the tax thing is unfair. At a minimum they should pay the same taxes on their income as folks who earn less.

You know, I always hear this, but I'd like to see an article/data/etc. on it. Some of the very rich have ways to shelter money, but I find it hard to believe they pay less taxes than poorer folks. A lot of wealthy people pay a E36 M3load in taxes.

Not inspired to actually go digging. The argument isn't about federal income tax. Wealthier people generally pay a higher percentage of federal income tax. It's all the other taxes that add up: sales, property (even if you are renting, you're covering that property tax), social security, other payroll taxes. The less money you make, the greater proportion goes to those things.

Where the point of who is actually paying a greater proportion of their actual income to those things is... I have no idea.

Beer Baron wrote:

ProDarwin wrote:

Xceler8x wrote: You brought up the tax break thing. The rich pay less taxes than poorer folks. In a country based on a belief in equality that seems unfair to most. Even if they used the savings to build a summer camp or clinic. Those are noble ways to spend money but the tax thing is unfair. At a minimum they should pay the same taxes on their income as folks who earn less.

You know, I always hear this, but I'd like to see an article/data/etc. on it. Some of the very rich have ways to shelter money, but I find it hard to believe they pay less taxes than poorer folks. A lot of wealthy people pay a E36 M3load in taxes.

Not inspired to actually go digging. The argument isn't about federal income tax. Wealthier people generally pay a higher percentage of federal income tax. It's all the other taxes that add up: sales, property (even if you are renting, you're covering that property tax), social security, other payroll taxes. The less money you make, the greater proportion goes to those things. Where the point of who is actually paying a greater proportion of their actual income to those things is... I have no idea.

Even if they are paying 40% of $10k, are they really paying more than 39.6% of $2 million? I mean I get that percentage wise, it has to be tough. But is the guy with the $500k tax bill who is phased out of different credits/deductions really consuming that much more resources than the person with less income? I agree that higher incomes should pay more than others because other wise the system would just not work but those guys pay A LOT in taxes. Exact paraphrase of a client waiting to find out about his $400k tax bill : "it's like I'm waiting at the doctors office only I don't know where he's going to stick it or how many fingers they are going to use"

Enyar wrote: Even if they are paying 40% of $10k, are they really paying more than 39.6% of $2 million? I mean I get that percentage wise, it has to be tough. But is the guy with the $500k tax bill who is phased out of different credits/deductions really consuming that much more resources than the person with less income? I agree that higher incomes should pay more than others because other wise the system would just not work but those guys pay A LOT in taxes. Exact paraphrase of a client waiting to find out about his $400k tax bill : "it's like I'm waiting at the doctors office only I don't know where he's going to stick it or how many fingers they are going to use"

Don't know. All I do know is that when I've talked to people complaining about their tax burden, I've never really felt that bad for them. It's generally, "I'll have to decide whether to hire builders to renovate my office, or to overhaul and repaint my airplane. After taxes, I probably won't have enough money to do both." ...especially since that airplane is a "business expense" and they get to write off the operating costs for it.(Not making this example up.)

To twist a Louis C.K. quote around a bit, "I'm not saying that [wealthy] people don't have a right to complain. It's just that [poor] people are allowed to complain more."

bearmtnmartin wrote: I never will figure out why two people need fourteen thousand square feet, or seven thousand square feet EACH for a house.

If I was building an expensive house, for the same money I would MUCH rather have a 3,000 sq ft house that cost $1000/sq ft than a 12,000 sq ft house that cost $250 / sq ft.

In reply to Duke: 1000 a sq/ft!?!?!?

You can get a whole single wide for that!

wearymicrobe wrote:

logdog wrote: If I had a bunch of money, you know what I would do? 2 chicks at the same time.

Why would you want to disappoint two women at the same time.

Bahahahaha!

ProDarwin wrote:

Xceler8x wrote: You brought up the tax break thing. The rich pay less taxes than poorer folks. In a country based on a belief in equality that seems unfair to most. Even if they used the savings to build a summer camp or clinic. Those are noble ways to spend money but the tax thing is unfair. At a minimum they should pay the same taxes on their income as folks who earn less.

You know, I always hear this, but I'd like to see an article/data/etc. on it. Some of the very rich have ways to shelter money, but I find it hard to believe they pay less taxes than poorer folks. A lot of wealthy people pay a E36 M3load in taxes.

There's a lot of google data out there on the topic. Plenty of quotes from Warren Buffet as well. You may also want to investigate "carried interest" tax breaks.

Here's another interesting link from Slate.com about rich folks talking about being taxed more.

In reply to Xceler8x:

There are good tax breaks for us poorer folk too - start a business. Seriously.

I learned that from a former business lawyer/now college professor. Incorporate, make a few bucks doing whatever you decide to do, take all the write-offs for everything you can, and when the 5-years of allowable losses are up reincorporate as something else. Although our accountant told me that you don't necessarily have to worry about the 5-year thing, YMMV.

We've had years where we've not had any tax liability at all, after all the business expenses. Zero, zilch, nada.

JThw8 wrote:

bearmtnmartin wrote: I work on those houses all the time. I never will figure out why two people need fourteen thousand square feet, or seven thousand square feet EACH for a house. You could go days without ever bumping into another family member. The jobs are sometimes fun though because when you are richer than god you put your monster house in some pretty weird places.

I think you answered your own question :)

DeadSkunk wrote: The bottom end of the 1%ers is about $340,000 annually. Now, that would be really nice to be earning but it's not the kind of number that most people associate with the really rich. I worked with people that made that kind of money and most of them thought of themselves as middle class, which I would argue. A couple of them conceded that they "were probably upper middle class". I think it's just a case of we want more than whatever we already have too often naively thinking we'll be happier.

I think much of it depends on where you live $340k wouldn't go far in Manhattan for instance. Heck in many parts of NJ the cost of living would kill $340k pretty quick. I make a good living (not $340k good) but with the cost of living around here I am often broke anyway. I could move south and make 1/2 my pay but have a better lifestyle due to cost of living (and if I find a job in the area I want I'll do that eventually)

My father just bought a house here outside of Atlantic City. Split level, 50 years old, 1400 square feet. Paid $155,000 for it. Came with a decent yard, no garage, stone driveway, and only two homes from a major state highway (that you really cannot hear)

mad_machine wrote: My father just bought a house here outside of Atlantic City. Split level, 50 years old, 1400 square feet. Paid $155,000 for it. Came with a decent yard, no garage, stone driveway, and only two homes from a major state highway (that you really cannot hear)

You know damn well that the NJ he's referring to is not represented by anything near Atlantic City.

PHeller wrote: I like to think of 1% in two categories. First category: worked for their fortune. Made it big. Do they live in excess? Yes, but at least they remember cleaning toilets back in highschool. These are the folks that will throw a party for their friends of all incomes and not worry about their guests bringing something. You want dinner? They'll pay. Try this beer, its expensive but who cares. Want to split a room in a vacation home with us? No problems. They hate taxes and government as much as the next guy but they believe anyone should have equal opportunity to get to the top (even if taxes and government helped them.) Second category: kids of the first category. berkeleyers. Disclaimer: I have good friends in both categories.

I delivered pizza for a number of years... when going to this guys house it was always a crapshoot... if you got the trophy wife who never worked a day in her life you would be lucky to get a buck, if you got the kid every penny went back to the kid and into their pocket... if it was the dad though you where in great luck with a nice tip, often times with a few seconds talking about his time delivering while in college.

on the other hand if I went to deliver to the the "trailer trash" I was almost always guaranteed a few bucks in my pocket...

oldsaw wrote:

mad_machine wrote: My father just bought a house here outside of Atlantic City. Split level, 50 years old, 1400 square feet. Paid $155,000 for it. Came with a decent yard, no garage, stone driveway, and only two homes from a major state highway (that you really cannot hear)

You know damn well that the NJ he's referring to is not represented by anything near Atlantic City.

Yep, NJ varies, that's why I said "parts of NJ" My sister in law just bought a place 15 minutes from us, very tidy little 1200 sq ft 2/1 for $120k But it's also right behind the Popeyes chicken in town. You can find houses in all price ranges in NJ, just depends on where you want to live :)

Where I work in Central NJ, $150K wouldn't buy a trailer... If there were any...

I drive past a house for sale: 1 br, 1 bath, 2.5 acres (half of which is a flood plane, although the house itself is well above). $9000/yr taxes. $190k.

Personally, I think they're smoking crack. Currently it's a rental owned by the property acoss the street (also for sale: 4br on 18 acres, $800k, $18k/yr taxes).

This is why I drive 50 miles to work each day...