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Vancouver Off-Topic / Current EventsThe off-topic forum for Vancouver, funnies, non-auto centered discussions, WORK SAFE. While the rules are more relaxed here, there are still rules. Please refer to sticky thread in this forum.
If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true; to be skeptical of those in authority, then we're up for grabs..
-Carl Sagan
What the US needs to do is re-adopt their pre-wwII isolationist policies, and stop trying to buy and force influence around the world so they can tell themselves they're number 1; In reality all they've done is make themselves the most hated country world wide and hopelessly bankrupted themselves.
this and they need to start taxing the rich and wealthy
What the US needs to do is re-adopt their pre-wwII isolationist policies, and stop trying to buy and force influence around the world so they can tell themselves they're number 1; In reality all they've done is make themselves the most hated country world wide and hopelessly bankrupted themselves.
Unfortunately, America is too addicted to cheap, disposable goods, made by 3rd world workers.
Good time to buy some stocks ? Posted via RS Mobile
If you look at the prices across the board, there are sooo many bargains right now but no one knows if this is the bottom thus the risk is extremely high, wait for a sustained rally to buy
Goes to show how worthless an education is today. You can do an entirely course work Masters or MBA, so really its just more schooling for more money to pigeon hole yourself into fewer job opportunities.
Goes to show how worthless an education is today. You can do an entirely course work Masters or MBA, so really its just more schooling for more money to pigeon hole yourself into fewer job opportunities.
Wasn't my point. He really couldn't get a job anywhere in the world with half the degrees he has? And from what it seemed like, he had these degrees from like 20 years ago. sonunds like poor time/money management.
Education is useful if it's relevant to the field of work.
Too many people choose a post secondary field of study without realizing what they actually want to DO when they graduate.
I fell victim to this problem a little bit my first round of post sec, but was able to find a relevant job. Then when I went back again in an entirely new field I knew exactly where I wanted to work and practically had the job lined up 1/2 way through my school term.
Do you think that trades jobs will be plentiful forever??? There's a point where trades will be saturated too. I think we're already hitting that point.
Education is useful if it's relevant to the field of work.
Too many people choose a post secondary field of study without realizing what they actually want to DO when they graduate.
Do you think that trades jobs will be plentiful forever??? There's a point where trades will be saturated too. I think we're already hitting that point.
ya, saturated with complete idiots. an actual GOOD trades worker will have a job for life.
this and they need to start taxing the rich and wealthy
Cut spending on stupid programs and only spend on programs that provide better long term positive returns (ie. Education)
Warren Buffett today:
Quote:
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is calling on his "mega-rich" friends to pay more in taxes, saying they've been protected too long from the government.
"My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress," Buffett wrote in an op-ed piece in the New York Times. "It's time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice."
Buffett said investment managers like himself can classify their income as carried interest, meaning they only pay a 15 per cent tax rate.
"These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places," he wrote.
He said the mega-rich pay income taxes at a rate of 15 per cent on most of their earnings but pay practically nothing in payroll taxes. But he said the middle class pay somewhere in between 15 per cent and 25 per cent and also pay heavy payroll taxes.
Buffett said tax rates should be raised for those making more than $1 million and an additional increase for those who make $10 million or more.
"Most wouldn’t mind being told to pay more in taxes as well, particularly when so many of their fellow citizens are truly suffering," Buffett said.
OUR leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched.
While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.
These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.
Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.
If you make money with money, as some of my super-rich friends do, your percentage may be a bit lower than mine. But if you earn money from a job, your percentage will surely exceed mine — most likely by a lot.
To understand why, you need to examine the sources of government revenue. Last year about 80 percent of these revenues came from personal income taxes and payroll taxes. The mega-rich pay income taxes at a rate of 15 percent on most of their earnings but pay practically nothing in payroll taxes. It’s a different story for the middle class: typically, they fall into the 15 percent and 25 percent income tax brackets, and then are hit with heavy payroll taxes to boot.
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, tax rates for the rich were far higher, and my percentage rate was in the middle of the pack. According to a theory I sometimes hear, I should have thrown a fit and refused to invest because of the elevated tax rates on capital gains and dividends.
I didn’t refuse, nor did others. I have worked with investors for 60 years and I have yet to see anyone — not even when capital gains rates were 39.9 percent in 1976-77 — shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain. People invest to make money, and potential taxes have never scared them off. And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation, I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation.
Since 1992, the I.R.S. has compiled data from the returns of the 400 Americans reporting the largest income. In 1992, the top 400 had aggregate taxable income of $16.9 billion and paid federal taxes of 29.2 percent on that sum. In 2008, the aggregate income of the highest 400 had soared to $90.9 billion — a staggering $227.4 million on average — but the rate paid had fallen to 21.5 percent.
The taxes I refer to here include only federal income tax, but you can be sure that any payroll tax for the 400 was inconsequential compared to income. In fact, 88 of the 400 in 2008 reported no wages at all, though every one of them reported capital gains. Some of my brethren may shun work but they all like to invest. (I can relate to that.)
I know well many of the mega-rich and, by and large, they are very decent people. They love America and appreciate the opportunity this country has given them. Many have joined the Giving Pledge, promising to give most of their wealth to philanthropy. Most wouldn’t mind being told to pay more in taxes as well, particularly when so many of their fellow citizens are truly suffering.
Twelve members of Congress will soon take on the crucial job of rearranging our country’s finances. They’ve been instructed to devise a plan that reduces the 10-year deficit by at least $1.5 trillion. It’s vital, however, that they achieve far more than that. Americans are rapidly losing faith in the ability of Congress to deal with our country’s fiscal problems. Only action that is immediate, real and very substantial will prevent that doubt from morphing into hopelessness. That feeling can create its own reality.
Job one for the 12 is to pare down some future promises that even a rich America can’t fulfill. Big money must be saved here. The 12 should then turn to the issue of revenues. I would leave rates for 99.7 percent of taxpayers unchanged and continue the current 2-percentage-point reduction in the employee contribution to the payroll tax. This cut helps the poor and the middle class, who need every break they can get.
But for those making more than $1 million — there were 236,883 such households in 2009 — I would raise rates immediately on taxable income in excess of $1 million, including, of course, dividends and capital gains. And for those who make $10 million or more — there were 8,274 in 2009 — I would suggest an additional increase in rate.
My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.
Warren E. Buffett is the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway.
how about when you see dozens of people with bachelors and masters degree's working at call centers?
there just simply arent that many jobs available for high education fields,
your better off going into a trade imo
Quote:
Originally Posted by Great68
Education is useful if it's relevant to the field of work.
Too many people choose a post secondary field of study without realizing what they actually want to DO when they graduate.
I fell victim to this problem a little bit my first round of post sec, but was able to find a relevant job. Then when I went back again in an entirely new field I knew exactly where I wanted to work and practically had the job lined up 1/2 way through my school term.
I think great68 pretty much hit the nail on the head with that observation. those University graduates you see in call centres often don't have much ambition or just coasted through University without thinking of what they were going to do with themselves and their lives once they graduate. if they had a clear idea while in post-secondary, they would have definitely spoken to a counselor or taken courses that would aid them in their desired career/educational paths.
this leads into trades. people say training in trades get you a job, because you know exactly what you want to do. you go to school and you are taught the skill sets to do that job so you are ready when you jump into the work force. granted, you still need some drive and ambition (not to mention the right aptitude towards that trade) to land yourself a decent job in that field.
Wasn't my point. He really couldn't get a job anywhere in the world with half the degrees he has? And from what it seemed like, he had these degrees from like 20 years ago. sonunds like poor time/money management.
You specialize in a certain area and you're caught with your pants down when the economy moves onto something else. It happens to many ppl who are older.
As for money mgmt, you watch the vid? He explains where his money went.
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