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Quality post + discussion, thank you. Unbiased question: What’s your advice for the 50% of Americans who make less than $30k/yr? How are they supposed to affor

Quality post + discussion, thank you. Unbiased question: What’s your advice for the 50% of Americans who make less than $30k/yr? How are they supposed to afford health care + housing + transportation (let alone preparing for retirement)?

rayiner 7y ago
Get married, have kids, and move to a low cost state. The median married couple with children in Iowa makes $79,000 a year, and in Minnesota it’s $91,000. As to health care, the large majority of Americans who aren’t eligible for Medicare get their health care through their employer. Median out of pocket costs for a family with employer provided insurance are around $7,700, which is affordable on those salaries, especially since it’s pre-tax. Also, on average, Americans’ social security and 401ks cover 70% of pre-retirement income, one of the higher figures in the OECD. The real issue are the 15% or so of Americans who make much less than the median, don’t have employer provided health insurance, etc. I think there should be a strong safety net for those people, particularly subsidized or free health insurance. But we should pay for that safety net the same way every other OECD country does: through consumption taxes and income taxes where the top rates kick in around $70,000. The whole “tax the rich” thing is a distraction. The rich don’t actually make enough money to pay for all the things people want to pay for. If you want European style welfare, you have to tax the 80% of income earned by the bottom 99% more heavily. Note that even under Warren’s Medicare for All Plan, the vast majority of the cost will be paid for with middle class taxes. The wealth tax will pay for less than 10% of the extra spending. But the amount of time spent talking about wealth taxes and 70% rates on super millionaires is much more than the time spent in talking about the new payroll taxes that will actually pay for the bulk of Medicare for All.
- MuffinFlavored 7y ago
  the 1% only earns 20% of the US taxable income yearly? I didn’t know that. When you say consumption tax, do you mean a VAT? What else? What percentage VAT do you see working in America? 10%? 15%? Somebody making $200k/yr pays ~$41k/yr in federal income taxes. To be more in line with European rates, how much more should they pay? Another $20k/yr? Double?
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]

rayiner 7y ago

Get married, have kids, and move to a low cost state. The median married couple with children in Iowa makes $79,000 a year, and in Minnesota it’s $91,000. As to health care, the large majority of Americans who aren’t eligible for Medicare get their health care through their employer. Median out of pocket costs for a family with employer provided insurance are around $7,700, which is affordable on those salaries, especially since it’s pre-tax. Also, on average, Americans’ social security and 401ks cover 70% of pre-retirement income, one of the higher figures in the OECD. The real issue are the 15% or so of Americans who make much less than the median, don’t have employer provided health insurance, etc. I think there should be a strong safety net for those people, particularly subsidized or free health insurance. But we should pay for that safety net the same way every other OECD country does: through consumption taxes and income taxes where the top rates kick in around $70,000. The whole “tax the rich” thing is a distraction. The rich don’t actually make enough money to pay for all the things people want to pay for. If you want European style welfare, you have to tax the 80% of income earned by the bottom 99% more heavily. Note that even under Warren’s Medicare for All Plan, the vast majority of the cost will be paid for with middle class taxes. The wealth tax will pay for less than 10% of the extra spending. But the amount of time spent talking about wealth taxes and 70% rates on super millionaires is much more than the time spent in talking about the new payroll taxes that will actually pay for the bulk of Medicare for All.

MuffinFlavored 7y ago
the 1% only earns 20% of the US taxable income yearly? I didn’t know that. When you say consumption tax, do you mean a VAT? What else? What percentage VAT do you see working in America? 10%? 15%? Somebody making $200k/yr pays ~$41k/yr in federal income taxes. To be more in line with European rates, how much more should they pay? Another $20k/yr? Double?
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]