When You Get to The Top Of The Mountain, It’s Easy to Give Advice

It always bugs me when wealthy people say they want to be taxed more.  I hear it from our Governor in Illinois all the time.  Of course, he shelters most of his income and assets out of the US.  They are also in tax shelters which are based in 0% tax states.  He even ripped the toilets out of a home he bought and then reinstalled them without telling the corrupt tax assessor about it just to avoid paying some taxes.

There is a letter circulating where a bunch of billionaires want to be taxed more.  I will let you search for it.  I find stuff like that to be odious.  If they wanted to pay more tax, all they have to do is file a form and pay more tax.  I notice the billionaires who want to be taxed more that are pledging to give their money away aren’t signing it over to a government treasury to redistribute and spend.  It’s going to private foundations.  Where they still will exert some control even after they are dead.

I thought this response was dead on.  If you are feeling guilty about your wealth, a link can be found here to donate money to the US Treasury.  More detailed instructions on who to make the check out to and where to send are here. Oh, and when you move from your high tax state where you voted for the people that consistently raised your taxes try not to do it again in your new state you moved to in order to avoid those taxes.  Also, rip up your estate planning and let probate handle it.

It’s not that the wealthy shouldn’t be charitable.  If they want to, they should be.  We have a history of it in America although donations among a certain sect of individuals are down.  When you expect the government to solve every problem you have, that’s what happens.

I have seen wealthy people lose a lot of money too. Wealth is not a permanent condition.  It’s not as if you have millions of dollars and you are guaranteed to be bulletproof.  Look at all the lottery winners and pro athletes that go from riches to rags.  Spare me the “lucky” stories.  Every wealthy person I know got a little bit lucky.  But, they worked their tails off and they were open to taking a risk-or because they were working their tails off they put themselves in the right spot at the right time.  Not every wealthy person you meet was born into it.

Having a wealth tax will only cause it harder to become wealthy in the country that creates more wealth and higher standards of living than anywhere else in the entire world.  A wealth tax will eliminate competition.