My response to this article at newjerseynewsroom.com:

Can you please site the source that says 1,500 millionaires paid no federal income tax?? The tax code would not allow this unless they had no income (which if they had no income they shouldn't be taxed)! But I sincerely doubt they wouldn't have at least capital gains income which is taxed at 15%. This is of course how Warren Buffet would pay a lower tax RATE then his secretary because he only receives income from investments. BUT when you say the plan is, "based around the simple idea that billionaires shouldn’t pay lower taxes than their secretaries." You are not telling the whole story. Billionaires are NOT paying lower taxes then they are secretaries it is just a lower RATE. The amount of dollars that Warren Buffett paid in taxes is actually significantly higher than what his secretary paid. In fact the top one percent of earners already contribute 38% of the federal tax income. (http://www.heritage.org/budgetchartbook/pdf/2011/top10-percent-income-earners.pdf)

Another element we need to consider is how this rule would increase revenue vs. how much our government spends. If you consider this chart, by crunching the numbers you see that the income by implementing the Buffet Rule doesn't really attack the source of the problem which is exuberant government spending. The spending problem is the first issue we need to address before we look at increasing taxes. If the government were a private business it would have been bankrupt by now because the amount being spent is FAR more that the amount coming in, so much so that even taxing the richest americans won't move the needle that much.

The last thing I want you to consider (especially coming from the non-profit sector) is that the top 3% of earners account for more than 66 percent of all charitable giving year after year. So be careful when you ask the government to take more from them. Sure it will ultimately give the government more but it may reduce the giving to the non-profit sector. If this were to happen it is a question of: who do you trust to do the most good, for the most people AND in the most economical way... the government or a non-profit organization?? I would rather give my hard earned money to a solid non-profit that has a great track record of helping people because I know my money is going to a good cause. With the government however I'm not so sure where my money is going and how it translates to help the people who need it.

Mega Millons... Mega Rip-off

I have already posted about Gambling and the Lottery and you should know how stupid it is to play the lottery merely because the chance of winning is far too slim. But I have a confession to make.... two weeks ago I got caught up the hype over the $640 million jackpot and purchased a couple tickets for the first and last time. Unfortunately, I didn't hit it big but are the winners really set for life? Well no, chances are they will be broke in 5 years and really they don't have to buy anything extravagant. This is because they will be taxed into oblivion by the government for almost anything they want to do with the money. I would highly suggest you read this article outlining how the winners will be taxed. To add insult, most people who win the lottery don't know about these taxes and don't have a trusted tax professionals to help them. This is a recipe for bad news.

So maybe the lucky winners aren't so lucky after all. The real winner in the mega millions is always the government and it is set up that way. So before you throw away another dollar on a ticket think long about the decision. The only real way to get rich and STAY rich is by hard work, saving, investing and giving.

--A Future Millionaire

Student Loans: Response to an article in the Daily Targum

Here is the link to the article and here is my response:

Why is it the government and financial institutions that need to take into account the student's post-educational career prospects?

I think that responsibility falls solely on the students applying for the loan. If they want to go to a liberal arts school that costs $40,000 a year to major in underwater basket weaving then they should be allowed to do it, after all I think we are in a free country.

We all know this would be an irresponsible choice for that student and they would probably be told several times to reconsider BUT in the end the decision is up to the student (and/or their parents).

Also, before receiving the loan they have to read several documents issued by the lender about how this loan is a big undertaking and needs to be paid back. After all of these warnings if they still want to proceed, fine. But then problems come to fruition once they realize how much debt they are in and start thinking in real world money terms (as opposed to mystical college money terms where all you need to get food is a swipe of the student ID).

Only then do they finally realize that they will never be able to pay off the loan. This is when they start crying and protesting that they have been cheated by "the system" when in fact there was no cheating going on whatsoever. They had their fair warning and they have to deal with it. It is not the government's responsibility to bail them out.

Unfortunately this government has set up the precedent that if you whine and cry enough then they will bail you out, but this country couldn't afford to bailout the banks and it surely can't afford a student loan bailout. The only solution I know for getting out of debt is hard work and long hours. This method is what I am implementing while I'm still in school (It won't kill you to get a job at Burger King).

And hopefully new students entering college now will wake up and see what these recent grads are going through, so that they don't make the same mistakes.

We don't need more government in our lives telling us what to do. We just need to have common sense... which unfortunately is not so common anymore.