Carnegie argued that handing large fortunes to the next generation wasted money, as it was unlikely that descendants would match the exceptional abilities that had created the wealth into which they were born. He also surmised that dynasties harm heirs by robbing their lives of purpose and meaning.
He practiced what he preached and was still actively giving in 1911 after he had already given away 90 percent of his wealth to causes he cared passionately about, especially libraries. As a pioneer of the kind of large-scale American philanthropy now practiced by the likes of Bill Gates and George Soros, he espoused a philosophy that many of today’s billionaires who want to leave their mark through good works are still following.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 509 points Monday following a report that large global banks were involved in transactions flagged as possible money laundering.
And hopes for another relief measure from Congress flagged as lawmakers focused on the fight over a Supreme Court nomination following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Apparently its unusual and actually frowned upon to ask the bank to set a much lower credit card limit than you are allowed because it negatively effects your credit score. But I don’t really care if my credit score is trash – I don’t have any plans to borrow money any time in the future and I worry more about fraud then some idiotic number.
Roth IRAs versus Traditional IRAs and Living in New York 🗽
When I first started saving for retirement, outside of my state pension about ten years ago, I opened a Roth IRA and started to maximize it. I was fairly young, and my income was lower as I was not as far along on my career path. When you are younger, and you have 30 plus years for your investments to grow, it seemed like an appropriate way to save. The idear is pay payroll taxes now, pay zero state or federal taxes when you withdraw upon retirement with the Roth.
In most recent years my mind has changed, more into the camp of the traditional IRA. For one, I found myself taking an extended leave from state service, and with so went the more lucrative retirement program and deferred compensation, which you can’t contribute to as a non-state worker. With the state, I did the traditional IRA option with deferred comp and continued to maximize my Roth IRA on the side. My other employer offers a 401K, which I’ve been maximizing, but it’s maximum contribution rate is smaller then the state’s deferred comp plan, so to avoid my taxes going up significantly, I switched over to a traditional IRA option. I already get hit every year from investment income, even if it’s reinvested. Traditional IRAs, let you deduct all contributions immediately, lowering your taxable income but you have to pay taxes when you take money out as you retire.
Part of what made me change my mind from the Roth to the Traditional was I don’t plan to live in New York the whole rest of my life. While New York allows a decent standard deduction on something like $17k when you take retirement income, many other states don’t tax retirement income at all. It’s hard to know how much money I’ll need in retirement at my off-grid property, but even in low property-tax states, there are always expenses for a hobby farm — be it equipment, fuel, vehicles, livestock, feed, minerals, and groceries. Stuff gets used up, has to be replaced. Stuff you spend money on becomes poop, scrap metal or fire in the burn barrel. Tractors and implements are mad expensive. That’s life. But saving on taxes today, means I can invest more today, plus I am spending less money to subsidize the wasteful and abusive New York State government.
The COVID-19 pandemic could swipe roughly $200 billion from state coffers by June of next year, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute's State and Local Finance Initiative.
Record-high unemployment has wreaked havoc on personal income taxes and sales taxes, two of the biggest sources of revenue for states. Hawaii's and Nevada's tourism industries have crashed, and states like Alaska, Oklahoma and Wyoming have been hit by the collapse of oil markets. From March through May of this year, 34 states experienced at least a 20% drop in revenue compared with the same period last year, according to data provided to NPR by the State and Local Finance Initiative.
The government said Thursday the U.S. economy shrank at a shocking 33% annual rate in the April-June quarter. This is by far America's worst quarterly plunge ever, caused by the government's reckless response to the viral outbreak, which threw tens of millions out of work and sent unemployment surging to 14.7%.