WSJ: How Much Will YOUR Taxes Jump?

So The Wallstreet Journal has posted a new article with a helpful and informative graphic to show everyone just how much their taxes are going to increase under Obama's new tax system... with the assumption that no household makes under $180,000 annually.

Armed with this new information, I'm going to go ask my boss why I'm not making $230,000 annually. Then my parents about why I'm not a vaguely Asian woman.

That article was being passed around my Facebox feed for a bit, until I pointed out that the article itself insists on numerous occasions that it is discussing "affluent" families or examining higher end earners that don't reach to the top percent. But yeah, out of context that thing is pretty damning!

I like how the only family whose tax payments alone don't exceed the median household income of the US is the retired couple.

My response to any of the people in that graphic Female Doggoing about their taxes is to say "Boo-f*cking-hoo" and slap them.

My one sympathy is for retirees. Even people retiring with a large lump sum of cash, were humble people who worked to save and invest properly. Up and down, the economy has been very hard on them, for 6 months the UAW stopped benefits to everyone, even retirees. You make these late life, retirement decisions assuming a degree of consistency as far as taxes (property, capital gains), as far as the dividends paid by your pension, interest on your savings.

The last 10-15 years have been very rough on them.

As a consequence, I think most Gen X, Gen Y, Millennial, etc are not looking at a full retirement as possible in their lives.

Farscry wrote:

I like how the only family whose tax payments alone don't exceed the median household income of the US is the retired couple. :P

I like how SAD everyone looks, even the retired couple whose taxes are apparently not changing. :X

KingGorilla wrote:

As a consequence, I think most Gen X, Gen Y, Millennial, etc are not looking at a full retirement as possible in their lives.

Yup. My retirement will probably be living under an overpass and being grateful if I have a blanket.

Farscry wrote:
KingGorilla wrote:

As a consequence, I think most Gen X, Gen Y, Millennial, etc are not looking at a full retirement as possible in their lives.

Yup. My retirement will probably be living under an overpass and being grateful if I have a blanket.

I am kind of wondering, does anyone here have some sort of IRA, 401k, profit sharing from work? My wife has an option at work, but they do not match for 401k. I have a little profit sharing from my old job, like 2 grand that I should roll into something else. But are those incentives out there for non-executives anymore?

Farscry wrote:
KingGorilla wrote:

As a consequence, I think most Gen X, Gen Y, Millennial, etc are not looking at a full retirement as possible in their lives.

Yup. My retirement will probably be living under an overpass and being grateful if I have a blanket.

I basically came to that conclusion at the ripe age of 25.

I've still got a nest egg, and some kind of "retirement" plan, but I don't see formal retirement even as a remote possibility.

KingGorilla wrote:
Farscry wrote:
KingGorilla wrote:

As a consequence, I think most Gen X, Gen Y, Millennial, etc are not looking at a full retirement as possible in their lives.

Yup. My retirement will probably be living under an overpass and being grateful if I have a blanket.

I am kind of wondering, does anyone here have some sort of IRA, 401k, profit sharing from work? My wife has an option at work, but they do not match for 401k. I have a little profit sharing from my old job, like 2 grand that I should roll into something else. But are those incentives out there for non-executives anymore?

My company does with some matching for hourly employees. I started contributing last year (having started my retirement fund at 27, I suspect I will never fully retire either).

I think WSJ knows their audience.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

I think WSJ knows their audience. :lol:

IMAGE(http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14267134/images/1300319240995.gif)

Quintin_Stone wrote:

I think WSJ knows their audience. :lol:

IMAGE(http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14267134/images/1300319240995.gif)

I would like to make $250k annually so I could Female Doggo about my tax increase. I'll take that raise now....no seriously.....give it to me...now!

KingGorilla wrote:
Farscry wrote:
KingGorilla wrote:

As a consequence, I think most Gen X, Gen Y, Millennial, etc are not looking at a full retirement as possible in their lives.

Yup. My retirement will probably be living under an overpass and being grateful if I have a blanket.

I am kind of wondering, does anyone here have some sort of IRA, 401k, profit sharing from work? My wife has an option at work, but they do not match for 401k. I have a little profit sharing from my old job, like 2 grand that I should roll into something else. But are those incentives out there for non-executives anymore?

The company I work for does matching (either $0.50 or $0.75 per dollar I put in up to a certain percentage of my paycheck) into a 401k program. I enrolled in it when I started working here, assuming it was basically free money, that I'll have to pay taxes on eventually.

Demosthenes wrote:
Farscry wrote:

I like how the only family whose tax payments alone don't exceed the median household income of the US is the retired couple. :P

I like how SAD everyone looks, even the retired couple whose taxes are apparently not changing. :X

That really is the best part. Everyone looks so miserable.

KingGorilla wrote:
Farscry wrote:
KingGorilla wrote:

As a consequence, I think most Gen X, Gen Y, Millennial, etc are not looking at a full retirement as possible in their lives.

Yup. My retirement will probably be living under an overpass and being grateful if I have a blanket.

I am kind of wondering, does anyone here have some sort of IRA, 401k, profit sharing from work? My wife has an option at work, but they do not match for 401k. I have a little profit sharing from my old job, like 2 grand that I should roll into something else. But are those incentives out there for non-executives anymore?

401k at my last employr, 403b here, but same basic idea. No profit sharing (didn't have that at my last employer either).

And even with contributing fairly generously to my 401k for just shy of a decade, it really wasn't amounting to much yet, and the projections of what I could expect to earn from it in "retirement" continuing my expected contributions was pathetic, even without factoring in the inevitably inflated costs of living in the future.

There will be no retirement for me, not in the current sense of what the middle class is "supposed" to be able to do.

I'm a state employee in Arizona and we have pension system we pay into(10% per check and the state matches that 10%). My problem is that I have no intention of staying at this job until I retire, I'm just here until I can finish my long overdue bachelor's degree.

Now I could leave that money in the system until I retire but this state is run by idiots and I don't really trust them long term. I don't trust them short term either but I don't have any choice.

KingGorilla wrote:

I am kind of wondering, does anyone here have some sort of IRA, 401k, profit sharing from work? My wife has an option at work, but they do not match for 401k. I have a little profit sharing from my old job, like 2 grand that I should roll into something else. But are those incentives out there for non-executives anymore?

Yup. Union-represented Boeing engineer here with a 401K (in which the company matches 75c on the $ for the first 8% of my paycheck that I throw into it). There's also a modest pension from them too, as well as an annual profit-sharing bonus which pays out between zero and 20 extra days of pay depending on whether the company met it's fiscal targets for the year.

Separate from that, we set up an IRA for each of the wife and I which we max out each year. That came about after we hired a financial adviser for a year (which I heartily recommend to anyone worried about their financial future). For the cost of a few hundred bucks, he set us on the path to having at least something ticking away for later.

That all sounds peachy, right? Yes and no. The company is putting serious effort and pressure into eliminating the pension for new hires, which is the first step down the road to freezing pension growth for existing employers. My union is currently in the midst of contract negotiations that are not going well - a strike is looking increasingly likely as neither party is giving as much ground as the other party wants.

So, yes, I have those incentives now, but will I still have them by the time I retire? I honestly don't know.

KingGorilla wrote:

My one sympathy is for retirees. Even people retiring with a large lump sum of cash, were humble people who worked to save and invest properly. Up and down, the economy has been very hard on them, for 6 months the UAW stopped benefits to everyone, even retirees.

When did this happen? My father is a UAW retiree and he never mentioned this.

At the time of the Chrysler and GM bailout/bankruptcy there was a 6 month period where many UAW retirees saw their health benefits freeze, and pension payments too. It was dependent on the date of retirement, the UAW benefit pools are varied. The news around here was it was mostly hitting widows of deceased UAW workers.

KingGorilla wrote:

At the time of the Chrysler and GM bailout/bankruptcy there was a 6 month period where many UAW retirees saw their health benefits freeze, and pension payments too. It was dependent on the date of retirement, the UAW benefit pools are varied. The news around here was it was mostly hitting widows of deceased UAW workers.

Yeah, my grandmother got a round of that (my grandfather was an AC Delco engineer).

McIrishJihad wrote:
Farscry wrote:
KingGorilla wrote:

As a consequence, I think most Gen X, Gen Y, Millennial, etc are not looking at a full retirement as possible in their lives.

Yup. My retirement will probably be living under an overpass and being grateful if I have a blanket.

I basically came to that conclusion at the ripe age of 25.

I've still got a nest egg, and some kind of "retirement" plan, but I don't see formal retirement even as a remote possibility.

Me too, fortunately I'll probably die of cirrhosis or heart disease from too much fatty food way before then. Also, I like what I do, but I certainly don't expect there to be free money when I retire unless I marry and/or have kids.
...
Are you a redhead and want to make sure you pass down this gorgeous trait? Today's your lucky day! I adore redheads plus my father was a redhead and my facial hair is half-black, half-red. We're sure to produce some beautiful gingers. PM me for the email address I give out to women I meet online. Strawberry blondes also accepted; also jet black/raven hair; and auburn. Preferably you live within a 200 mile radius of my apartment.

RolandofGilead wrote:
McIrishJihad wrote:
Farscry wrote:
KingGorilla wrote:

As a consequence, I think most Gen X, Gen Y, Millennial, etc are not looking at a full retirement as possible in their lives.

Yup. My retirement will probably be living under an overpass and being grateful if I have a blanket.

I basically came to that conclusion at the ripe age of 25.

I've still got a nest egg, and some kind of "retirement" plan, but I don't see formal retirement even as a remote possibility.

Me too, fortunately I'll probably die of cirrhosis or heart disease from too much fatty food way before then. Also, I like what I do, but I certainly don't expect there to be free money when I retire unless I marry and/or have kids.
...
Are you a redhead and want to make sure you pass down this gorgeous trait? Today's your lucky day! I adore redheads plus my father was a redhead and my facial hair is half-black, half-red. We're sure to produce some beautiful gingers. PM me for the email address I give out to women I meet online. Strawberry blondes also accepted; also jet black/raven hair; and auburn. Preferably you live within a 200 mile radius of my apartment.

::backs away slowly::

McIrishJihad wrote:

::backs away slowly::

Dude you're a dude.
I'm a 30-year-old unmarried man, of course I'm a little baby crazy.

How did this thread end up becoming about redhead eugenics?

RolandofGilead wrote:

Are you a redhead and want to make sure you pass down this gorgeous trait? Today's your lucky day! I adore redheads plus my father was a redhead and my facial hair is half-black, half-red. We're sure to produce some beautiful gingers. PM me for the email address I give out to women I meet online. Strawberry blondes also accepted; also jet black/raven hair; and auburn. Preferably you live within a 200 mile radius of my apartment.

I found a picture of you on the internet.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/FDiRE2a.jpg)

This thread has gone everywhere I want it to so far.

kazooka wrote:

How did this thread end up becoming about redhead eugenics?

IMAGE(http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lohuilWqm11qcbk22.jpg)

KingGorilla wrote:

At the time of the Chrysler and GM bailout/bankruptcy there was a 6 month period where many UAW retirees saw their health benefits freeze, and pension payments too. It was dependent on the date of retirement, the UAW benefit pools are varied. The news around here was it was mostly hitting widows of deceased UAW workers.

Ok. In your first comment you said 'stopped', the second you said 'freeze'. Each word can mean different things.

Duoae wrote:
RolandofGilead wrote:

Are you a redhead and want to make sure you pass down this gorgeous trait? Today's your lucky day! I adore redheads plus my father was a redhead and my facial hair is half-black, half-red. We're sure to produce some beautiful gingers. PM me for the email address I give out to women I meet online. Strawberry blondes also accepted; also jet black/raven hair; and auburn. Preferably you live within a 200 mile radius of my apartment.

I found a picture of you on the internet.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/FDiRE2a.jpg)

IMAGE(http://www.mememaker.net/static/images/memes/1284725.jpg)