The AI vice-prez office pool - Page 6

What table in that document were you looking at? I know that there has been significant capital losses since the beginning of the year, enough so that it gets mentioned on the show "High Net Worth" how people are cutting back - I owned shares in Coach inc until I heard that the luxury brands were getting hit hard by rich people cutting back on buying stuff.

From wikipedia, it looks like there are 9.3 million millionaires in the US, out of 305 million people, so the $1 million mark would be the 97th percentile, which would still leave most of the top 5% with less wealth than they need to live entirely off of investment income.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millionaires#United_States

If your tax estimates for Obama are accurate, then he is going to have a heck of a time balancing the budget without cutting spending.

A million in a good account would supply enough interest to beat the median income.

Not for long, as fixed income rates are lower than inflation right now. You get 2.5% after taxes, and lose 5% in inflation. And, anyway, it wouldn't - the average income is $50K, and you would only earn $40.4K with 10 year treasuries.

Not bad for each million.

Here in Japan we don't get 2% interest.... more like 0.01%, so there aren't any rich people here getting richer that way. They tend to move overseas when they retire. Money likes money, I guess.

It's from 2004 so I did say that it was perhaps out of date.


Well hell yes given that anyone with only 1M personal wealth likely has a very large percentage stuck in real estate. But what does the ability to live off investment income have to do with this?

Also at what standard of living? If I had a $1M in the market and were single I think I could manage at a very conservative 2-3% withdrawal rate. Then I'd fly somewhere really cheap but really beautiful and do something I liked and could make a little cash on the side.


Neither candidate balances the budget. McCain runs a higher deficit since his tax breaks are greater so I don't see any real advantage to either on a fiscal policy perspective with McCain taking the "worse of two evils" title.

If we tax the rich enough here, it will encourage people to leave also. Capital flows to the places where the best return can be found, rich people move when the taxman becomes painful enough.

Low interest rates are not the reason people are leaving Japan, as they could move their assets off shore and still live there. Japan has a top marginal rate of 50% including municipal and prefecture tax, which is the reason people are leaving. Japan is a ticking economic time bomb, with 200% of GDP in government debt, an aging population, negative population growth, and severe immigration policies. Japan now is the US in 10 years, unless we get a lot more libertarian in our government taxation and spending.

class warfare doesn't work except for , politicians like to have one group fight another, i want to be rich, i don't want to be poor, or just "making it".....i want the the american dream for me and my children = work hard, sacrifice get ahead save money grow and provide for your family will get you "rich"
taxes are just smoke and mirrors for politicians gain your money and power at your expense
taxes take from the private sector which for the most part efficiently uses them to a wasteful bloated govt....
show me high tax rates and i will show you stagnation in business and stagnant personal spirit and capital flight...many don't want to understand this, but we have one of the highest corporate tax rates, that is one of many govt policies that drive business out of the US.
oh and i never got a job from a "poor" person.

as far as tax breaks for the "middle" class on the backs of business and "rich" where do the jobs come from?....government?, if business doesn't have the money they don't hire...i was fired from only one job in my life, and it was because the food service could save 90% of the payroll by utilizing a government program, the manager couldn't afford me and my friend and we were fired, not that we didn't work our butts off, but because of a "government program", the end result were several were "fired" gee that's a good stimulus plan.....from then on, i realized that government was for itself, uses people to gain more power and "feels" good, but many are left at the curb.

i want the rich to spend, i want business to flourish, i want to work....work hard and benefit from that effort....i will support the candidate that makes it easier for a business to hire me and my children ...and makes it easier for me and my family to flourish