House paid for? Car paid for?

[tigerbob]

I own my home and truck. No credit card debt and Dougar's right; if you haven't got the cash, don't buy it.

Disagree. There is such a thing as good debt.

The challenge is not getting yourself into a position where you take on debt to finance debt.

 

[boedicca]

Cars are paid for as is the motor home, but the house (8 bedroom with large back yard and spa) still has a 198,000 mortgage on it at 4.375%. That is enough to keep my income taxes low. Sort of a win win situation if they raise the property taxes, they can take the house from the bank for nonpayment of taxes if everything goes to hell.

As I have been warning people, government can try to take everything from you in the future. Don't discount the possibility of your water and sewage bill rising to astronomical levels. After they do that, they raise the property tax to astronomical levels. They do that to take the house away from you to add to the government wealth. Sheet like that happened during the Great Depression and it could happen again.

Yep - it's why we're keeping most of our savings in liquid instruments. At least CA has Prop 13, although the pols make constant noise about overturning it.

 

[boedicca]

It would not surprise me if one day the enlightened running the country decide that if one's house is paid for, the owner has to pony up in taxes the amount that others are paying to make payments on their house so everyone is "paying the fair share". Thos etaxes would be earmarked to help edgakashun, but would somehow end up in the general fund and be used to remodel the offices of Senators of the majority party.

This "fair share" BS is a little annoying.

Until everyone who works is paying at least something in income tax, "fair share" means nothing.

Fair Share is an Orwellian term meaning if you earn or have saved more than others, they have the right to have the government "spread it around".

The government is close to maxing out on the ability to tax income - too many layers of federal, state, and local fingers in the pie. The move will be to tax assets. States already tax homes via property taxes. I expect the Feds will put more taxes on Savings and Investment income (and eventually a property type tax on principle). The Medicare tax on investment income is the first step.

 

[Samson]

It would not surprise me if one day the enlightened running the country decide that if one's house is paid for, the owner has to pony up in taxes the amount that others are paying to make payments on their house so everyone is "paying the fair share". Thos etaxes would be earmarked to help edgakashun, but would somehow end up in the general fund and be used to remodel the offices of Senators of the majority party.

This "fair share" BS is a little annoying.

Until everyone who works is paying at least something in income tax, "fair share" means nothing.

Fair Share is an Orwellian term meaning if you earn or have saved more than others, they have the right to have the government "spread it around".

The government is close to maxing out on the ability to tax income - too many layers of federal, state, and local fingers in the pie. The move will be to tax assets. States already tax homes via property taxes. I expect the Feds will put more taxes on Savings and Investment income (and eventually a property type tax on principle). The Medicare tax on investment income is the first step.

Boedicca has read "Animal Farm."

Her Seventh Commandment Is: "All Animals are NOT Equal"

 

[RodISHI]

We have our house and cars paid for. What we don't have paid off is our daughters two day stay in the hospital. And you mention taxes going up--our taxes went up when our daughter, who is an uninsured contract worker for AT&T, got sick.

I'm sorry PeterS I don't understand what kind of tax you would have to pay for your working daughter's being sick. Could you expound on that?

My daughter is contract labor at AT&T. AT&T is one of those companies that is sniveling about loosing billions because they are going to be required to cover all employees...like my daughter. I am paying the tax AT&T is sniveling about. And here's the question: who receives the benefit from the productivity produced by my daughter when healthy. To whose advantage is it to insure that she is healthy? And here is another question: which is easier to plan for-taxes or unexpected medical expenses?

So it what you are saying is that your daughter is working on a contract basis and does not or did not buy herself insurance so you stepped in to take care of that for her?

She got sick and did not have insurance so you have paid or are paying those bills?

You seem to be calling that a tax but that is not a tax. Contract labors must always decide for themselves if that contract is worth doing. Apparently you made a choice to help pay your daughter's hospital bills? That is not a tax it is a choice.

Ten years ago we gave our daughter a house free and clear to insure she and the grands always had a place to live. Just a small little house that was big enough for her and her children. That was a choice not a tax. She made a choice to sell that house and buy another house that has extremely high payments. Recently she went to the hospital for surgery and she had most of that covered by insurance. She works for a small business. What she did not have was a means to keep those large payments made on their house. She made choices. We all make choices. (note; the surgery she had to have could have been prevented in years past. Personal choices)

Scenario. If the daughter had chose to stay and live in the small house that was paid for when she got sick and needed surgery she could have applied for medical help through the state. No one here in Iowa is denied medical treatment, not one. One may have to drive to the State Of Iowa University but they are not denied adequate medical treatment.

In years past Rod's mom had lung cancer. She had just went to work for me a few months previously in Eastern Idaho. It was recommended that she go to the University Of Utah. She did. In a few short weeks they did surgery. She did not have insurance and she was not denied treatment. After care, she had choices. She could stay in Utah and be treated there or go back to Idaho and be treated there. I offered to pay her expenses if she would stay in Utah as the treatment would have been the best there (I was just starting out in the business so we were by no means rich but we did have our home paid for and we had very few taxes). She opted not to as she did not want us spending our money on her. She went back to Idaho. The radiation tech burn her to a crisp. Fried her internal organs and she would never be able to recover from that. She died a few years later. She was never denied medical treatment even though she did not have insurance. My question would be what was she exposed to that caused the cancer? She worked in a sewing factory for twenty years. She was exposed to dyes and textile dust.

One of Rod's sisters died from lung cancer a few years ago. She also worked at that same sewing factory for several years. Many of the women around here worked at that sewing factory and many here that worked there have had and died of lung cancer.

To answer your question. Planning for taxes is near impossible when you do not make enough to pay the bills, buy adequate groceries and every little need in life every month as it is. If one cannot adequately pay the bills they have health is a secondary consideration.

Look, I know you think you can scare me with your 'taxes are coming, taxes are coming' but you don't. Health is something we all have to have. It is a must and anyone who thinks they aren't being taxed out the ass for it now is a complete idiot! We will never get control of this mess if we embrace status-quo. Doing nothing is no longer an option. You have a much greater chance of loosing your house to unexpected medical expenses then taxes that you know are coming and can plan for. So plan! That's how you do it. That's how I paid for my house. That's how I paid for my cars. And that is how I am going to pay my fucking taxes...if there is anything left after I pay my daughters medical expenses...

I agree with you taxes are already here. They are already an extreme burden for many of the people and government just keeps growing itself to apply more burden to the taxpayer.

It used to make me sick to see how much I was required as an employer to take out of my employees paychecks to give to the government so the government could disperse it to large entities that knew how to work the system.

It is not that our government does not already tax the shit out of the people. It does! Then it gives that money to bankers, large chemical companies, corporate farmers who assisted in raiding small family farms, corporates who have been raiding small business enterprises. The government is assisting every other scammer who knows the ropes that can file for a tax exempt grant to pay for and support their profitable scams and their bullshit projects off the backs of the people.

Your taxed heavily so corporations and others can pollute the land and then taxed so the water company can maintain that polluted water source. Your taxed so companies like Wells Fargo and others can build massive complexes to honor themselves in the cities. Your taxed in order to subsidize everyone that wants to can get a government back loan in order to subsidize the banks that skim their share off the top. Your taxed so every government employee can have a retirement fund that can be bloated and be skimmed by a banker some where at some point. Now it appears that you think we should all agree that we should all be taxed in order to subsidize the treatment for the sicknesses that have been increased through the mismanagement of our in environment and resources from many of these same companies that helped strip taxpayer money in subsidies so they could grow bigger and more powerful. Big pharma, GE, Monsanto, DOW and many others are pleased that they have people like you in their corner to help push their agendas off on everyone.

Your assumption that if great medical expenses happened we would lose the home we currently live in is totally bogus. We do have a bankruptcy system for when such things do happen. In bankruptcy one does not lose their homestead or home even that may have a mortgage if they are paying that mortgage. Nor does a person lose their car because the bankruptcy does allow you to drive to work. You may have to sell the toys.

 

[Samson]

Big pharma, GE, Monsanto, DOW and many others are pleased that they have people like you in their corner to help push their agendas off on everyone.

Your assumption that if great medical expenses happened we would lose the home we currently live in is totally bogus. We do have a bankruptcy system for when such things do happen. In bankruptcy one does not lose their homestead or home even that may have a mortgage if they are paying that mortgage. Nor does a person lose their car because the bankruptcy does allow you to drive to work. You may have to sell the toys.

Long way around to sayin' it, but I read it all, and agree:

Big Tools support Bigger Government.

 

[RodISHI]

Big pharma, GE, Monsanto, DOW and many others are pleased that they have people like you in their corner to help push their agendas off on everyone.

Your assumption that if great medical expenses happened we would lose the home we currently live in is totally bogus. We do have a bankruptcy system for when such things do happen. In bankruptcy one does not lose their homestead or home even that may have a mortgage if they are paying that mortgage. Nor does a person lose their car because the bankruptcy does allow you to drive to work. You may have to sell the toys.

Long way around to sayin' it, but I read it all, and agree:

Big Tools support Bigger Government.

Of course they do as it is profitable for them to do so.

 

[Samson]

Big pharma, GE, Monsanto, DOW and many others are pleased that they have people like you in their corner to help push their agendas off on everyone.

Your assumption that if great medical expenses happened we would lose the home we currently live in is totally bogus. We do have a bankruptcy system for when such things do happen. In bankruptcy one does not lose their homestead or home even that may have a mortgage if they are paying that mortgage. Nor does a person lose their car because the bankruptcy does allow you to drive to work. You may have to sell the toys.

Long way around to sayin' it, but I read it all, and agree:

Big Tools support Bigger Government.

Of course they do as it is profitable for them to do so.

No, by "Big Tools," I mean partisan sheeple, not Tool Manufacturers.