I've had no problems explaining other leftist follies to him, but explaining taxes to a 10-year-old? Do any of you know how to approach taxes with a 10-year-old?
Tell him this:
“They’re all crooks. Don’t pay attention to what politicians say. Pay attention to what they do.”
Put 10 skittles in front of him. Tell them they are his reward for being a good boy. Then take 5 of them and say Kamala insists you give those 5 to the kid who cheats off his test paper.
I would tell him that the billionaires pay most of the taxes now in the country. To ask them to pay more is not fair despite how much money they make.
If they pay more taxes, they may have to find a way to let go some of those employees that just got that nice tax cut.
Start taking his stuff away. Give him some chores to earn it back, than take 30-40 % again
Rich people hire people. Poor people don’t hire anybody.
There aren’t enough billionaires in the world with enough money to run the government for more than a few hours. If you tax them more, you will get less money as they go away.
Does the kid get an allowance?
Take a portion of it when explaining taxes to him.
I used to start tax conversations with my children on my belief in the purpose of the tax system. I believe that taxes should be used to fund government; defense, national parks, etc.
Other people believe that taxes should be used to alter behavior—electric car credits, home ownership, having children (all things you can get deductions for) or long term investment in businesses (capital gains taxes.)
I told them that I thought I knew what to do with my money that was best for me and my family. I do not need the government “inventing” me to do what THEY want.
A fundamental understanding of what taxes are, who pays them, and what they are used for is much more important than discussing whether Elon Musk pays enough taxes.
It is also a good opportunity to shift the perspective to how the government spends their money; and whether or not that is good for us.
“Trump was going to give tax cuts …”
Start with the basics. Government doesnt give tax cuts. They take/steal not give.
Put it in terms a child can understand. Ask him to imagine some bully wanting to take his stuff and give it someone else etc.
I appreciate this, you all. Please keep the suggestions rolling in. I think these things can cover the next few years of development.
...unless they're baseball fans. In that case use baseball stats to communicate the concepts.
For example this year Aaron Judge had 180 hits, 58 homers and a batting average of .322, making him a "high earner."
Compare him to catcher Austin Wells who had 81 hits, 13 homers and a .229 batting average, making him kind of "middle class."
Just use those stats and present them as though they were earnings in dollars. Show him what it would mean for Judge to have to give up 30% of his home runs vs. Wells giving up 30% of his, etc.
Some kids at school work hard to get A’s, but the teacher thinks that’s not fair to the kids who don’t even try and get F’s. She takes away points from the A students and gives them to the ones who don’t work so everyone gets C’s.
The F students don’t work harder because, they got C’s.
The A students stop working hard because their hard work got no recognition or reward. Everyone in that group of students loses out.
Show him the video of Trump at McDonald’s, and tell him that Trump is going to give him french fries and his favorite milk shake.
I explained it to my son and he promptly fired his first grade teacher.
So one of your problems is taxes, but the other problem is propaganda from those commercials.
When Trump gave tax breaks to the rich fat cats, he ALSO gave tax breaks to the little guys.
The fat cats got money, so they were able to keep people employed, instead of letting them go. The little guys got to keep their jobs AND benefited from the tax cuts Trump gave them also. It’s called win-win, and Trump is VERY MUCH into win-win decisions.
Sounds like he watches to much tv.
He should be out squirrel hunting.
Even before they started school my kids wondered why Daddy always had to go to work. I explained to them that Daddy had to make money in order to buy noodles (their favorite food was mac 'n cheese) and school busses.
By the age of ten we would be having discussions about how a baker adds value to his ingredients by baking bread and about how he can use his profits to invest in production improvements that benefit both his customers and himself.
As a wise person once noted; In the Soviet Union people waited in line to buy bread, while in the U.S. bread is lined up waiting for buyers.
My nephew explained to his daughter, whose teachers told students taxes were good.
I don’t know exactly what he did but, IIRC, it had to do with taking bites out of her sandwiches. She learned about taxes in about 5 minutes.
Speaking of kids mine asked me about sources for the economic data the govt puts out and lies about. Anybody have reliable sources for such?