99% vs 53%?

I am in the 53% of Americans that paid income taxes, but I cannot agree with those that identify themselves as 53%-ers.

What those 53%-ers that bash the 99%-ers don’t realize is that they are in the same boat. See this for more details.

If I were to post on the 53%-ers page, I would tell them all that they are missing the point, that they are intellectually deficient, myopic, and just plain fucking oblivious. They lack empathy, sympathy, and humanity. They work against their own self-interests. Not only can I not respect them one bit (beyond respecting that they have the same First Amendment rights to free speech that I do), I actually have an active disdain for them.

I would probably not post on the 99%-er page though; many of them have had a rougher time of things than I have, so posting would seem almost disingenuous.

They should all drink a fifth and chill out.

Wow… I just went and read some of those stories. Talk about frustrating!

I don’t know where I fit in that scheme of things. I moved out of the US in 1988 and never had plans to move back. Really glad these days I did that.

Oh, cry me a river! Those people don’t know what privation IS!

Question: What is the definition of a 1%er now?

I’d write my goal has always been to have zero debt and to save enough so when bad things happen I have a cushion. Even now, when I have a nice big cushion, I still dislike wasting money, or paying for something I can live without. Somewhat ironic I credit having nice things and money in the bank to focusing on long term financial goals, and treating money as a way to gain independence and freedom, and not as a way to gain material items. If I am a 1%er, it is because when I wasn’t I didn’t spend my money foolishly. I would guess I am for sure in the top 5%, not sure.

@JLeslie

Good for you! I would recommend that you convert most of your cash ( savings, etc ) into gold. It’s a much safer haven.

@CaptainHarley I’ll have to think about that. You mean literally gold, not just buying stock in gold, right?

Last I heard, the annual income cutoff for 1%ers was somewhere between 200 and 500K per year. If you’re in that group, I wouldn’t put my money in gold. I think gold has hit its peak, for one thing. For another, I don’t think people are going to be buying much any more.

I’m in the 99% (who aren’t in the 1%) and I am in the 53% who pay more in taxes than they take back in services… at least, until I get old enough for Medicare and Social Security. I would like to get all these 53%ers to show me their balance when they are 80, should they be lucky enough to grow that old.

I am every percent in the book, on something. Depends what you measure. I’m not sure what this all means, but it is beginning to seem like nonsense.

@JLeslie That isn’t even close. There are quite a few amongst the 99% who have that sort of security. But can you bend a Congress-thing’s ear and make your whim into a law that affects us all? How many lives are affected by your financial decisions?

@wundayatta And thus is the problem with speculation. Some people predict a bursting bubble, some think things will rise in vale forever, and when the first group is correct, we lose $65 trillion of wealth that never existed except in the imaginations of investors.

@CaptainHarley I would put it into well-preserved food, medical supplies, and ammunition. You can’t eat gold, cash won’t fight of infection or set a broken bone, and it’s just better to buy those things directly before demand pushes prices up instead of waiting until it’s a seller’s market. Remember when it took a wheelbarrow full of cash to buy a loaf of bread? I think having a wheelbarrow full of retort-packed bread is better ;)

@JLeslie

The physical metal, not just gold certificates. Silver is going to be a good bet too.

@jerv

That’s exactly what I’ve been doing. We have a 185-gallon water tank separate from the incoming water system, over a year’s supply of dehydrated food for two people, a comprehensive medical and surgical kit, a “bug-out” bag ( which we’re slowly building up ), pistols and rifles with lots of ammunition, quality hot and cold weather clothing, and I’m negotiating for a propane-powered electric generator as an alternate energy source from the main grid. : ))

is it just me, or do these emergency, apocalyptic preparations sound paranoid and crazy?

@cazzie I was thinking the same exact thing…

@cazzie @uberbatman That’s nothing but “continuity bias” speaking. The only certain thing is change. If you prepare for the worst, the worst thing that can happen is that you will have spent some money on needless preparation. But if things actually DO come apart, you stand a much better chance of surviving if you have made adequate preparations. I think the additional cost is worth it. Besides, most of the stuff we’ve bought can still be useful, even if things don’t fall apart. : )

I guess I lack in both imagination and resources for such ‘preparation making’.

I’ve been preparing for certain evenualities for about three years now. I don’t have a great deal of money to spare either, which is why it’s taken me this long. I feel like I owe it to my wife to take as great care of her as possible.

BTW… one of the best things you can do which involves the least amount of money is to ally yourself with a good, cohesive group that can serve as a support group for you.

Hmmm… I guess I’m really out of luck then, but I think, where I live, things are a bit less likely to go to hell in a hand basket. Then again, perhaps I’m just not paranoid enough.

LOL! Well, I don’t consider myself to be paranoid either, just… cautious! : D

We are all part of the 100% of humans who live on the Earth and we should just stop arguing and make nice.

Someone was arguing??

@CaptainHarley There’s always some sort of arguement going on in the world. It could be a small debate over what someone is wearing in my house to a revolution in Libya.

So the comment wasn’t directed at those involved in the discussion we were having above? Kinda… random, don’t ya think? : )

@CaptainHarley True, sorry for the confusion.
But I am quite random for reference if we ever meet again.

I am in the 99% most years, every so often bouncing up into the 1% during a great year, but I would be at the bottom of the 1% and it seems to me 1% would not cap out at $500k. How can the top 1% have an upper limit? So that 1% if I am right has a huge financial diversity in there. I also am typically in the 53% I guess who pay the most percent taxes possible or very close, with a few years in there where I had losses or tax write-offs that kept my taxes down.

Soory, @JLeslie. Thought maybe I gave the wrong impression. The lower part of the 11% is somewhere between 200K and 500K, I think. There is no top.

@CaptainHarley I am iffy on propane generators simply because you can’t rely on a supply of propane. I know some people that have comparably-priced solar setups, and others that do with wind.

@JLeslie A while back, I posted something about how even the bottom half of the 1% are paupers compared to the top 0.5%; I will see if I can find it again….

Oh, there’s another tumblr with someone adding snarky comments to 53% posters’ stuff…

http://actuallyyourethe47percent.tumblr.com/

I don’t understand what people are trying to prove, other than that lots of people work really hard, and some have shittier situations than others. Is it a lack of “luck” or bad choices that lead people to their financial fate? I guess it’s sort of funny to watch people argue about it and compare laundry lists of problems. Funny/sad.

The only percentages in my life that really define me are these: 85% Kick Ass, 15% Crippling Self-doubt.

@wundayatta No problem. Still, it would be an amazingly wide income band. $500k to the top 400 who make over $200million a year. If it is $500k that is way out of my league. When did they start using 1%? It used to be top 2% always cited.

@jerv

Thank you. Duly noted! : ))

@JLeslie The income and wealth distributions have become even more skewed and uneven just in the last few years.