Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Matthew Kane

Best Place in the world to live?

Recommended Posts

I am at about 20% tax rate.

Out of interest, could you add up all you'd spend on health Insurance, pension, education at your countries top university, job security policy (or whatever equivalent you have), life assurance, fire service, local taxes, medication, road tolls, pest control, museums, parks, ect. And then tell me what percentage of your wage that comes to. That'd be a much better comparison...

 

Regards,

Ró.


Rónán O Cadhain.

sig_FSLBetaTester.jpg

Share this post


Link to post

Oh look, a sheep...

 

 

LOL.....We've got a few of those too.

 

But here is the big question. Does your McDonald's serve a Lamb Burger???

 

7475770.jpg


Matthew Kane

 

Share this post


Link to post

I pay for my own life insurance, healthcare and my college education was paid by the GI Bill as a result of my military service. I don’t mind paying taxes as long as they are used for our national defense, roads, fire fighters etc.

 

I have never sat around complaining about how unfair it is that neighbors won't pay for my life expenses. In a society you can either choose to spend your hard earned money as you see fit or you can give a majority of it to the politicians so that they can spend it for you. I know what I prefer.

Share this post


Link to post

It's not exactly apples to apples, but there are comparable points.

 

When you refer to "job security policy" what do you mean? I've never heard of such a thing. Is this insurance in case of the loss of employment?

 

On the state and municipality level we are paying for health Insurance, disability and unemployment insurance, fire service, road tolls, pest control, museums, parks, a discounted tuition at a state university, etc. This would already be accounted for in the approximately 20% tax rate for someone at my income level. When I was just getting started out of school, my effective taxes were quite a bit lower thanks to all the credits. The Federal pension (Social Security) is also accounted for in this figure.

 

A good term life insurance policy that would protect my family and all my assets would probably amount to a 3% "tax" for someone earning minimum wage. It is acquired though an insurance firm and is not a state/federal benefit. Life insurance is rather inexpensive if you get it when young.

 

A state college tuition would amount to 50% of a minimum wage, but significant tax credits are given at low income levels. If I were to send my son to a top university, now we'd be looking at an easy $50,000/yr. A middle of the road might be $20,000/yr and that would still exceed a minimum wage income.

 

Very generally speaking, we are allowed a fixed amount of untaxed income to allocate to our private retirement savings not exceeding $10,000 per year (pre-tax). Every dollar allocated for retirement savings lowers the taxable dollars by the same amount. Anything extra is saved after being taxed. Assuming you take advantage of this, you can "tax" yourself to save for your retirement and defer taxes to whatever you draw in the future. Many employers match their employee contributions to their savings as part of their employment benefits. These savings can be invested in the market at one's discretion or managed by a professional for a fee.

 

As a mentioned state health insurance exists and is paid for in the above taxes, but a decent family health insurance plan partially paid for by my employer is about a 3% "tax". If I had to pay for it at full cost, it would likely amount to 12%!! I haven't explored this, but I know that you can get tax credit if you pay the full cost of your own insurance.

 

So if I take my effective rate of 18% and tack on

~.05% for private life insurance

13% (private retirement savings)

7% (state tax free savings plan for college for 17 years for a top university)

~2% of the value of your rent (assume it is built into the rate) or property for municipal services

 

The "comparable rate" might amount to around 40% while I have children and around 33% without. If I choose not to save anything for my retirement and plan to live off the state pension, then my rate is closer to 27%.

Not saving for college and hoping for grants/scholarships or just taking out loans will further drop the rate down to ~20%, but you wouldn't bother with this if you don't have children.

 

I would say that the taxes aren't magically any lower, it's just that we get a little more flexibility with how we choose to allocate the funds. I do prefer this, but it is very costly if you neglect to plan ahead.

 

P.S. I am not a tax or investment professional, but I do like to plan my finances for my future. :P

Share this post


Link to post

Social Security is a government program created by the "New Deal" initiative to provide a retirement pension. It is barkrupt and I may not get a dime from the many thousands of dollars I have invested in it. Now tell me if the government is the best administrator of your funds? If the government denies me the money I paid because it is bankrupted then ask me if I prefer more government programs or less. The private sector gives me a better return in my investment. While you keep your trust in government I rather trust the private sector which has a better track record.

Share this post


Link to post

Now tell me if the government is the best administrator of your funds? If the government denies me the money I paid because it is bankrupted then ask me if I prefer more government programs or less. The private sector gives me a better return in my investment. While you keep your trust in government I rather trust the private sector which has a better track record.

 

It depends on what government you are talking about. For some countries there Retirement Pension programs are very lucrative. I remember the Canadian Pension Plan putting in a bid to purchase Auckland International Airport not long ago as they are swimming in cash. This is true for some other countries as well (Norway comes to mind).

 

In New Zealand we have a Retirment program that is a Public/Private program and you have the choice to opt out, if you opt in it comes out of your paycheque, You can choose where to invest those funds and the government has a plan to match your payments. I pay into this program and it has done well for me so far.

 

Fortunately for me I will get to retire with the Canadian and New Zealand pension plans as I have paid into both of them at this point.


Matthew Kane

 

Share this post


Link to post

I wrote a whole long reply on what it all was but then the internet hick-uped and I lost it all. Here is the quick version of it.

 

Working in Washington State (No Income taxes, only Federal):

FBO doing Line Service and Flight Instruction: 8%

Working for two months on the wife's family ranch during harvest: 2% (I only made $8,000 hence the low percentage.)

My business where I flew the King Air and more instructing and reviews: (37% Bulk of income was here)

 

After business and education deductions (Still doing some college work), effective tax rate was: 24%

 

I paid for my own health insurance which was $120 a month did not cover much dental besides cleanings and no vision plan. Things I paid out of pocket for:

 

Surgery: ~$3,000 for a branchial cleft cyst

Drugs for surgery: ~$25

Eye checkup was $99

Contacts :( ~$120

 

We'll see in a few months what this year entails with only having one job, and a first year FO at a small airline at that. I think I will be getting lots of money back and I don't have to pay for health insurance :lol:

 

As for pictures here are a few from around the year of the places I live now:

 

My wife and I on a hike through the forest on Oahu with the H3 behind us:

 

 

Another hike we did. This is taken from the Pillbox lookouts on the Northeast side of Oahu:

 

 

My old baby :( :

 

 

Me in the combine getting some real work done!:

 

Share this post


Link to post

And Germany has to pay for the irresponsible countries such like Greece?

 

Carefull!

 

The situation in Greece is not as simple as you make it out!

Calling the country irresponsible is quite offensive!

Share this post


Link to post

I just checked my pay stub so in New Zealand 14.5% is deducted for Income Tax. This is the only deduction that they take.

 

I do pay into the KiwiSaver retirement so that is an additional 2% (and the government makes payments into this account as well). This one is optional and I can increase it or drop out of it all together.

 

Sales Tax is 15% GST when you purchase goods and services.

 

I do find New Zealand to be less taxes compared to when I lived in USA or Canada in the past. One of the biggest differences is less government and more efficient government. We have only a Federal and Municipal level of Government to pay for as their are no States or Provinces here. Having one less level of government is beneficial. The Municipalities have less powers here compared to other countries as the Federal government takes on most of the government services.

 

For example New Zealand Police Service and New Zealand Fire Service are a Federal Service and not handled by the Municipalities. This amounts to significant savings compared to the North American approach (State and Municipal funding for these services)


Matthew Kane

 

Share this post


Link to post

New Zealand doesn't spend 600 billion dollars on defense every year like the US. So when you add defense spending and entitlement programs, we're talking about some serious money.

 

In regards to Greece, I do not consider it offensive when you call a country that spends more money than what it receives irresponsible. The USA is irresponsible when it doesn't balance its budget and keeps borrowing from China. We are irresponsible when we overuse our personal credit cards and declare backruptcy. I was referring to the Greek government mismanagement not the people.

 

In short, I believe in a smaller and smarter government. Entittlements tend to do more harm than good. The U.S. has spent 13 trillion dollars on poverty since President LBJ declared war on poverty. The poverty rate remains unchanged.

Share this post


Link to post

I was referring to the Greek government mismanagement not the people

 

On this point, I agree 100%.

Governments, can/will "destroy" a country through mismanagement.

Share this post


Link to post

And Germany has to pay for the irresponsible countries such like Greece?

 

Don’t forget, Greece makes German cars affordable and that was actually the deal. Historically Greece has had difficulties. Everyone (ie Germany) was well aware. Greece helps German exports by keeping the euro down. The problem is now Greece has no control of their currency when they really need it. A new drachma won't be worth a lot and it shouldn't be like before. This goes back to German reunification, and it’s not evil just an error in hindsight.

Share this post


Link to post

New Zealand doesn't spend 600 billion dollars on defense every year like the US. So when you add defense spending and entitlement programs, we're talking about some serious money.

 

For defence spending you have to look at what a nation spends per capita.

 

US Spends 600 billion on defence out of 314 million people, or $1910 per person per year

 

New Zealand spends 3.06 billion out of 4.4 million people, or $695 per person per year.

 

New Zealanders pay lower taxes then in the USA so their is less of a tax base to work with. The $695 per person is going to better use as their is less waste in the budget and bigger bang for your buck.

 

New Zealand is not a member of NATO so no obligation there other then the current Afghanistan mission. Also no fighter jets in New Zealand so if it was to purchase F-35's the budget would increase significantly, no plans for that one and I support that. Money is better spent on other things here.

 

No one wants to blow us off the planet and we are a nuclear free nation.

 

In New Zealand our police don't even carry guns....Imagine that :Thinking:


Matthew Kane

 

Share this post


Link to post

Using google's numbers I get $2112 per capita...man woman and child.

The number of income taxpayers is less than half the population, so higher still.

Share this post


Link to post

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  
  • Tom Allensworth,
    Founder of AVSIM Online


  • Flight Simulation's Premier Resource!

    AVSIM is a free service to the flight simulation community. AVSIM is staffed completely by volunteers and all funds donated to AVSIM go directly back to supporting the community. Your donation here helps to pay our bandwidth costs, emergency funding, and other general costs that crop up from time to time. Thank you for your support!

    Click here for more information and to see all donations year to date.
×
×
  • Create New...