January 21, 2004 8:45 AM
Bush's new national savings plan is just another clever way to shield the wealthy from taxes.
It increases the maximums that can be put into retirement amounts, maximums that the vast majority of Americans never achieve. Only 4% contribute the maximum to their IRAs, and only 5% contribute the maximum to their 401ks.
But only those that make less than a certain amount ($160,000 for married couples) can contribute to all these retirement accounts, right? Not under the President's proposal -- he would eliminate all income restrictions.
So a wealthy family of four could transfer $15,000 a year to their Retirement Savings Account and another $30,000 a year to their Lifetime Savings Account. This is on top of the $30,000 a year that family can already put in their 401k plan. All tax free! How many people do you know can sock away $75,000 every year?
But that's not enough! Not only do they make it easier for the wealthy, they also make it harder for working families by undermining their pension plans. Currently, a company has to offer their employees a pension plan or the executives are limited to contributing $6,000 a year to their own retirement account. No longer. The President's plan would nix those restrictions, removing an incentive for management to provide adequate retirement plans for their employees.
More money for the rich! Mission accomplished!
What do we want? More tax cuts for the rich! (01.21.2004)
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dhermesc:
Fuzzy math revisited.
If you (or your spouse) are involved in a company 401(k) or a 403(b)(goverment) plan you ability to contribute to a IRA is extremely limited. I believe the income limit to make contributions to both is about $60,000 (combined), You can't do both if you making over that amount, I know because I can't. What the Hell is a "Lifetime Savings Account"? Roth IRAs are available with limits a lot lower then $15,000, more like $2300 per individual with "earned income" and it is not tax deferred.
I didn't watch any of the speech (did catch some of the "rebuttles"), because I was actually in an AG Edwards class learning about this very topic.
Wed Jan 21 2004 11:47 AM
Next time you go, ask about the new proposal in your class. Bush wants to change how all this works. The Lifetime Savings Account would be a new thing. He also introduced Health Savings Accounts and Retirement Savings Accounts.
Wed Jan 21 2004 2:13 PM
Hi Jim,
"What do we want? More tax cuts for the rich!"
Yes, tax cuts for the rich actually bring more tax revenue beyond the peak in the Laffer curve. Visit the following URL for a quick overview:
http://www.vistech.net/users/rsturge/laffercu.html
Thu Jul 22 2004 6:19 AM
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