Not that I'm complaining, as I wouldn't object to being in that category sooner or later, myself.
Wonderful. IMO, confident people and well adjusted people feel that way. I think many more people desire to maintain a system that allows them to become rich than there are who are jealous and resentful of the rich.
As far as the tax, I think the rich have so many legal ways to avoid taxes today that the "tax the rich" mantras or empty political rhetoric. However, one of the main benefits of being rich is being able to spend. The rich buy expensive stuff, they buy more of it, and they buy more often than the rest of us. The rich will pay much more tax than the rest of us but they will do it by choice. That means their fair share of the SS and medicare burden is the same for them as for the rest of us, never ending.
Invested money has to go to work to make investing it a wise and profitable thing. That has to eventually come out the other end as taxable purchases and activity.
Dear Mind-numbed Robot,
Some rich folks don't pay much in taxes at all because they got rich from building up their own business into something world-class, and their primary wealth is in their business. Think "Bill Gates." He only incurs any significant tax when he decides to sell a chunk of stock so that he can buy something.
However, even there, although he's spent a fair amount of money on regular "stuff," most of the money he's cashed in from Microsoft, he's used to invest in other businesses. Without a capital gains tax, Mr. Gates would pay nearly no taxes at all, compared to his wealth.
On the other hand, many very rich folks didn't get rich the same way as Mr. Gates. Many very rich folks have diversified portfolios, from which they receive dividend and interest income, and capital gains. These are taxed.
Although rich folks spend more than poor folks, or even middle class folks, the very rich who have diversified, income-producing portfolios, spend a lot less of their income than middle class or poor folks. More money, much smaller percentage of income.
Thus, where income is now generally subject to tax, and thus, these folks pay whether they buy a new Lexus or 1,000 shares of IBM, under the NRST, these folks will pay much less in taxes than they are paying now. Much, much less.
As well, a significant portion of their retail purchases ("used" estates, like Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago, "used" art, "used" antiques, etc.) will be untaxed, as well.
Now, it's true, when the multi-multi-millionaire buys the $40 million estate in the Hamptons, or wherever, he's likely to add $5 million in "touching up." And on that, he'll be taxed, about $1.5 million.
But previously, the entire $45 million would be purchased with income that had been through the tax system, and generated a lot more than $1.5 million, or about 3% of the income used.
I've checked with my CPA. Although the very rich (at least $1 million or more in annual investment income) do things to minimize their income and cap gains taxes, they nonetheless currently pay a substantial portion of their income and cap gains, in federal taxes. Lots more than 3%.
The bottom line is that the very rich pay the disproportionate share of income and capital gains taxes in the US, and they pay a similar percentage to middle class folks.
However, with the NRST, since most of their income will be channeled into re-investment, and a large part of the rest into "used" stuff, they're effective tax rate will fall well into single digits.
Cool by me, as a side effect. That's where I plan to be in 10 years, anyway.
But someone's gonna have to pay the taxes the rich aren't then paying.
It's a zero sum game.
sitetest