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You should live in France, having to pay 15% of the value of your home to be allowed to move, being cash poor (which means having low flexibility) because 50% o

You should live in France, having to pay 15% of the value of your home to be allowed to move, being cash poor (which means having low flexibility) because 50% of what your company pays for you goes to mandatory social things, taxes and insurances and most of the rest goes to fixed expenses. In France the minimum wage is roughly indexed on inflation (especially if inflation isn't too high) but getting a raise when your salary is higher than this is very difficult, especially without job hopping. Your employer knows that he can risk not giving you a raise and you can't as easily risk being upset about it.

anonymousiam 2mo ago
The US isn't so different. Federal capital gains taxes will eat a minimum of 10% of the appreciated portion of your home value, and more if you're in a higher tax bracket. Many states also tax proceeds on a home sale. I've got a property that I'll be selling soon in California and I expect to pay about $400k in total taxes.
- yareally 2mo ago
  You can sell your primary residence and be exempt from capital gains taxes on the first $250,000 if you're single and $500,000 if married filing jointly. In addition to the $250,000 (or $500,000 for a couple) exemption, you can also subtract your full cost basis in the property from the sales price. Your cost basis is calculated by starting with the price you paid for the home, and then adding purchase expenses, such as closing costs, title insurance, and any settlement fees. Also, most (if not all) states do not tax your primary residence unless you go past the federal exemptions. https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/06/capitalgainhomesale.asp https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/06/capitalgainhomes...
  - anonymousiam 2mo ago
    That's good info, but unfortunately none of it applies to me because I moved out of California eight years ago and the property is not my primary residence.
- dominicrose 2mo ago
  I reckon California is increasingly democratic but at least you're talking about a tax on some good news. It's still quite taxing because you wouldn't gain any compensation if the home lost value and because a lot of the appreciated portion is probably just following inflation. The 15% I talked about is on the total value of the home, although to be fair 33+% of people avoid agency fees (about 7%) by selling directly to an individual.

anonymousiam 2mo ago

The US isn't so different. Federal capital gains taxes will eat a minimum of 10% of the appreciated portion of your home value, and more if you're in a higher tax bracket. Many states also tax proceeds on a home sale. I've got a property that I'll be selling soon in California and I expect to pay about $400k in total taxes.

yareally 2mo ago
You can sell your primary residence and be exempt from capital gains taxes on the first $250,000 if you're single and $500,000 if married filing jointly. In addition to the $250,000 (or $500,000 for a couple) exemption, you can also subtract your full cost basis in the property from the sales price. Your cost basis is calculated by starting with the price you paid for the home, and then adding purchase expenses, such as closing costs, title insurance, and any settlement fees. Also, most (if not all) states do not tax your primary residence unless you go past the federal exemptions. https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/06/capitalgainhomesale.asp https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/06/capitalgainhomes...
- anonymousiam 2mo ago
  That's good info, but unfortunately none of it applies to me because I moved out of California eight years ago and the property is not my primary residence.
dominicrose 2mo ago
I reckon California is increasingly democratic but at least you're talking about a tax on some good news. It's still quite taxing because you wouldn't gain any compensation if the home lost value and because a lot of the appreciated portion is probably just following inflation. The 15% I talked about is on the total value of the home, although to be fair 33+% of people avoid agency fees (about 7%) by selling directly to an individual.