To provide balance, please adjust the data shown by % taxes paid by income quintile to get to a net income. And why use this type of chart that includes "income from assets"? Do we want to negatively perceive people who saved, watched their budget and spent carefully, invested wisely, and put aside resources for a rainy day or a more comfortable retirement? Very few people are born into wealth. Many more do improve their financial future while too many make poor life decisions that harms their financial security.
@ 11:03...yes, show adjustment based on taxes. Oops, those people in the bottom don't pay taxes and most actually get paid at tax time (earned income tax credit). meanwhile, in the top 20%, we pay a marginal rate of near 40%.
The chart doesn't include corporate welfare paid to the high earners. And, education does not always correlate to earnings -- there is a hugh element of luck. Consider Paul Walker worth $25 million. Consider Lebron James going from HS to his millions. Then consider top salaries for school teachers. Who produces more value for America as a whole? And, a person who has never earned enough to save money simply won't be able to rely on 401K etc -- not everyone is in the lower %s due to poor decisions. We need teachers, firefighters, farmers, factory workers, and society should not sneer at them just because they don't make high pay checks.
i'd like to see a similar chart, correlating sources of income to educational level.
ReplyDeleteIn short, get an education.
To provide balance, please adjust the data shown by % taxes paid by income quintile to get to a net income. And why use this type of chart that includes "income from assets"? Do we want to negatively perceive people who saved, watched their budget and spent carefully, invested wisely, and put aside resources for a rainy day or a more comfortable retirement? Very few people are born into wealth. Many more do improve their financial future while too many make poor life decisions that harms their financial security.
ReplyDelete@ 11:03...yes, show adjustment based on taxes. Oops, those people in the bottom don't pay taxes and most actually get paid at tax time (earned income tax credit). meanwhile, in the top 20%, we pay a marginal rate of near 40%.
ReplyDeleteNote that the top two percentiles receive significant income from government employee pensions.
ReplyDeleteThe chart doesn't include corporate welfare paid to the high earners. And, education does not always correlate to earnings -- there is a hugh element of luck. Consider Paul Walker worth $25 million. Consider Lebron James going from HS to his millions. Then consider top salaries for school teachers. Who produces more value for America as a whole? And, a person who has never earned enough to save money simply won't be able to rely on 401K etc -- not everyone is in the lower %s due to poor decisions. We need teachers, firefighters, farmers, factory workers, and society should not sneer at them just because they don't make high pay checks.
ReplyDelete