We can raise taxes without punishing wealth accumulation or attack success. Many of the extremely wealthy pay little to no tax. Many with huge equity portfolios borrow against those and never pay taxes.
I always wonder why the filthy rich hate paying taxes. They have more than they could ever spend. Cutting their taxes while cutting services for the mainstream to offset that income loss is mind boggling. Is it an ego thing? Those ‘who die with the most and biggest toys wins mentality’?
Are the current plans really that complicated? Most workers have either a 401k or 403b or 457, with maybe a TSP plan, but they do not have all these plans. When I worked i could choose a 401k, and later in life they introduced the Roth versions. That’s it. The other plans weren’t available to me. Those that were are very simple to understand. Deduct now and pay tax later. Pay tax now and not pay later. The Roth model you suggest is fine except for counting towards IRMAA. I would nix that
For me tax free income of a Roth is a minor advantage. The biggest advantage would be not counting towards IRMAA. That max increase can be a lot of money each year. My savings were greater contributing to a 401k for the tax deduction when working. My current RMD and SS (no pension), along with investment dividends are still below the IRMAA penalties. So investing in a Roth had no advantages for me. If I had a pension it would put me in the penalty area of IRMAA, and Roth distributions that counted towards that is a negative.
a spousal benefit does not increase if you wait until 70 to claim it. While the worker's own retirement benefit increases by 8% annually for each year they delay past full retirement age (up to 70), spousal benefits max out at 50% of the worker’s full-retirement-age amount
a spousal benefit does not increase if you wait until 70 to claim it. While the worker's own retirement benefit increases by 8% annually for each year they delay past full retirement age (up to 70), spousal benefits max out at 50% of the worker’s full-retirement-age amount
a spousal benefit does not increase if you wait until 70 to claim it. While the worker's own retirement benefit increases by 8% annually for each year they delay past full retirement age (up to 70), spousal benefits max out at 50% of the worker’s full-retirement-age amount
We have no pensions or annuities ( not interested in them) but our combined SS and my RMD are more than enough for us. We give each of our 4 grown kids the bulk of the RMD. We have about $1.5M in my IRA in Vanguard’s federal money market and 1/3 of it in VUSB, ultra short term bond ETF, with some also in VG’s SP500 ETF. This is more than enough for any sustained market crash. The rest of our assets are taxable and in stocks and ETF’s, which is over 70% of our portfolio. As many others said, we’ve been through many ups and downs and just ride them out.
Comments
We can raise taxes without punishing wealth accumulation or attack success. Many of the extremely wealthy pay little to no tax. Many with huge equity portfolios borrow against those and never pay taxes.
Post: Billionaires, taxes and you
Link to comment from May 30, 2026
I always wonder why the filthy rich hate paying taxes. They have more than they could ever spend. Cutting their taxes while cutting services for the mainstream to offset that income loss is mind boggling. Is it an ego thing? Those ‘who die with the most and biggest toys wins mentality’?
Post: Billionaires, taxes and you
Link to comment from May 30, 2026
Are the current plans really that complicated? Most workers have either a 401k or 403b or 457, with maybe a TSP plan, but they do not have all these plans. When I worked i could choose a 401k, and later in life they introduced the Roth versions. That’s it. The other plans weren’t available to me. Those that were are very simple to understand. Deduct now and pay tax later. Pay tax now and not pay later. The Roth model you suggest is fine except for counting towards IRMAA. I would nix that
Post: Time to scrap IRAs, 401k, 403b and all the rest
Link to comment from May 23, 2026
For me tax free income of a Roth is a minor advantage. The biggest advantage would be not counting towards IRMAA. That max increase can be a lot of money each year. My savings were greater contributing to a 401k for the tax deduction when working. My current RMD and SS (no pension), along with investment dividends are still below the IRMAA penalties. So investing in a Roth had no advantages for me. If I had a pension it would put me in the penalty area of IRMAA, and Roth distributions that counted towards that is a negative.
Post: Time to scrap IRAs, 401k, 403b and all the rest
Link to comment from May 23, 2026
Explain why you think pre tax savings are unlimited. I got large tax savings contributing to my 401k
Post: Time to scrap IRAs, 401k, 403b and all the rest
Link to comment from May 23, 2026
a spousal benefit does not increase if you wait until 70 to claim it. While the worker's own retirement benefit increases by 8% annually for each year they delay past full retirement age (up to 70), spousal benefits max out at 50% of the worker’s full-retirement-age amount
Post: Rethinking the “Right” Time for Social Security
Link to comment from April 25, 2026
a spousal benefit does not increase if you wait until 70 to claim it. While the worker's own retirement benefit increases by 8% annually for each year they delay past full retirement age (up to 70), spousal benefits max out at 50% of the worker’s full-retirement-age amount
Post: Rethinking the “Right” Time for Social Security
Link to comment from April 25, 2026
a spousal benefit does not increase if you wait until 70 to claim it. While the worker's own retirement benefit increases by 8% annually for each year they delay past full retirement age (up to 70), spousal benefits max out at 50% of the worker’s full-retirement-age amount
Post: Rethinking the “Right” Time for Social Security
Link to comment from April 25, 2026
If you both live long enough. That’s the point of this article
Post: Rethinking the “Right” Time for Social Security
Link to comment from April 25, 2026
We have no pensions or annuities ( not interested in them) but our combined SS and my RMD are more than enough for us. We give each of our 4 grown kids the bulk of the RMD. We have about $1.5M in my IRA in Vanguard’s federal money market and 1/3 of it in VUSB, ultra short term bond ETF, with some also in VG’s SP500 ETF. This is more than enough for any sustained market crash. The rest of our assets are taxable and in stocks and ETF’s, which is over 70% of our portfolio. As many others said, we’ve been through many ups and downs and just ride them out.
Post: Any concern?
Link to comment from April 4, 2026