However, my two daughters have grown up and are married now. Today, as my wife and I prepare for our retirement in the next 20 years, the government is taxing the hell out of us.
That is money that we need to be investing today, so that we do not require government welfare when we get older. Unfortunately, that time is getting shorter and shorter each year.
After working for the U.S. Army (10 years active duty and 10 years as a DoD Civilian) I accepted a "lump sum" retirement payment. They then added my retirement payment to that year's income and taxed me at a higher bracket. Poof, over 40% of my retirement money vanished.
Since I had just retired, my wife and I had to sell our homes (she owned a house when we got married) and moved to another State.
That second house my wife owned, taught us a very valuable lesson about "Capitol Gains Taxes" and we learned about that the hard way.
The result of my retirement after 20 years with the U.S. Army? We owed the government $2,000 and all of my retirement money vanished.
The next year, if my retired Mother had not helped us out, we would have been homeless. As it was, we lived on starvation rations that year while I worked at a gas station.
Food Stamps and Unemployment? No way!