The ugly numbers are finally in on the 2017 Trump tax rewrite | Salon.com

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The ugly numbers are finally in on the 2017 Trump tax rewrite | Salon.com

Those making $50,000 to $100,000 for example, paid just three-fourths of 1 percentage point less of their incomes to our federal government. People making $2 million to $2.5 million saw their effective tax rate fall by about three times that much.

Now let's compare two groups, those making $50,000 to $100,000 and those declaring $500,000 to $1 million. The second group averaged nine times as much income as the first group in 2018.

Under the Trump tax law, the first group's annual income taxes declined on average by $143, while the second group's tax reduction averaged $17,800. Advertisement:

Put another way, a group that made nine times as much money enjoyed about 125 times as much in income tax savings.

This disparity helps explain Trump's support among money-conscious high-income Americans. But given the tiny tax benefits for most Americans, along with cuts in government services, it is surprising Trump enjoys significant support among people making less than $200,000.

When Renting Is Smarter Than Buying

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When Renting Is Smarter Than Buying

The nagging feeling that buying is something you should do is one big reason that millennials choose to buy, says Bill Nelson, a certified financial planner and founder of Pacesetter Planning near Boston. We've also been told that buying is an investment, and renting is "just throwing money away."

Adding up the costs. Many experts recommend buying only if you expect to park yourself there for at least five to seven years. What if you like your city and current situation but also have no idea where life will take you in the next five to seven years? Sometimes, "the most you can say is 'I plan to stay in the same spot, knowing everything about my circumstances, career and family today,'" says Jeff Tucker, an economist at home-price site Zillow.com.

 

Pennsylvania Median Income

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Here is a Qauntile-colored map of the Median Household Income in Pennsylvania. Southeast Pennsylvania and to a lesser extent the suburbs of Pittsburgh are quite wealthy while most of the rest of the state is quite rural and poor. This might have been better graphed with an equal interval coloring, which would better show the differences between wealth in the suburbs. Regardless, coloring income can be difficult as there is such a great diversity in income by neighborhood.