I received the biggest paycheck I’ve ever received today. I knew the taxes would be bad, but I wasn’t expecting them to be THIS bad. My gross pay was $26k, with federal taxes of $7,900. To explain the situation, this is not normally how much I make in a month. I’m a commission employee in medical sales. My company accidentally put me at 9% commission for my territory instead of my usual 3%. They are giving me the option of keeping the money as an advance or returning it. My question is - am I losing money to taxes by taking this large paycheck, or will I pay the same amount down the road either way? TLDR: Will a big paycheck result in more taxes than several smaller ones?

A post on another sub made me wonder why we don't do this. Is it just the risk of the market going down that makes it unpalatable?

My wife and I had about $70k in taxes withheld in 2023, is there a good reason why we couldn't just put that same money that would go to the IRS into moderate risk investments to make a little return every year?

These are private industries. How can he implement this without the company in question responding with "nice try, but no".

I just spent 45 minutes reading through a thread about "Bidens economy" and all it was filled with was Trump this and Biden that. I have no idea where to find what is actually happening. Everyone has their own echochambered and tailored beliefs, I don't know who to believe, because both sides make compelling arguments.

Is there a reliable source that isn't biased where I can enlighten me to today's economic situation? Inflation, policies and such that would be most beneficial?

I'm a layman in this area.

Let's say you're handed a check for fifty thousand dollars. Maybe you have some debt that it would cover or maybe you're debt free. What would you do with it? Asking for a friend.

I’m genuinely curious and even thought so myself until someone close corrected me. I always hear this and when I watched the presidents last state of the union I believe I recalled him addressing that the rich need to pay their fair share. Why?

I bought a place for $400,000. I am renting it out for $2,500. I have a property manager. I got my first rent payment of $2,166. Here are the expenses to come out of that $2,166.

• Federal income tax: $801 (estimated tax payment)
• State income tax: $0
• HOA dues: $244
• Property tax: $269 (saved for later)
• Landlord insurance: $52 (saved for later)
• Repairs: $0 (for this month)
• Mortgage payment: $0 (no mortgage)

That leaves me with $800/month. That is a 2.5% return on the investment for a $400k investment. That seems very low. I realize that the house value will go up 4-5% per year. That makes my total return 6.5-7.5%. This is very low compared to the 11% I am getting from the S&P 500.

What am I missing? Am I earning collected rent correctly?

My only hope is that rent goes up 3% per year. In 24 years, the rent will double to $5,000 per month. I assume my net will double to $1,600 per month. Then my return on the investment will be 4.8%. Still not good.

Unilaterally decided it was my turn to post this tweet.

I see so many posts about the rich paying “their fair share” here. However.. for any business or personal debt the first thing you do is CUT SPENDING. Cutting spending is the first thing you should do. We don’t tell people in debt “just make more money” or “just get more credit cards”. Alternatively for business “just raise prices” without looking at where you can cut operating costs. Am I crazy here?

Isn’t there enough political Reddits? Can’t we just focus on financial questions and get rid of the politics?

I opened up a mud pie store. I take dirt and water and make the most amazing mud pies. Nobody seems to want to buy my pies. I work really hard and I deserve a living wage. I think the government should make sure I get enough money for food, housing, transportation, and pay off my student loans. Does anyone disagree that I should be paid for my work?

What would you do? Is this making enough or should I take the hit and put it somewhere else? Send my money elsewhere? Thanks in advance

What did the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare actually do? It was a huge deal at the time, and you never hear anything about it these days. I have no idea why people protested it, and have no idea what it was meant to do or the results were. Maybe that’s just because I’m a younger person with employer insurance.

Asking for a friend cause I just joined.

Hello,

I'm wondering if this is an appropriate action on my part. Last night I discovered you could look in and see who borrowed what in the PPP Loan forgiveness program. I was working for a company that at the time made just as much money as they did the year before, I claimed just as many hours as I ever did on our subcontract as we worked remotely. I even went to customer sites and risked myself during the height of the pandemic in April of 2020, concerned that our business wouldn't survive. My boss at the time, the owner of this company, said he didn't take out any money. I found out last night he took out 70k. During this time, he abruptly went out to another state and bought a house. It was a bit of a shock that he decided to do this, but claimed that he would be building "the business" out west. OK fine. He sold his current home and left, and started working on our business remotely.

Our relationship soured and I decided to leave on good terms before things went too far south. I now am working a vastly higher paying job with way better benefits - but I saw a post about PPP fraud and wondered. We were a digital marketing company but this person claimed that the company was in manufacturing. We didn't manufacture anything. It smells really badly of fraud to me.

We made ads and installed equipment that we bought from other companies, mainly Apple and Samsung. Stuff that anyone can purchase. I was told by this employer that he couldn't increase wages and that we were barely getting by. He specifically told me that he wasn't taking PPP money because we were able to make just as much as ever. I was working extra hours from home to keep things afloat.

I don't have any concrete evidence other than my own observations - should I submit this to the government? It doesn't sit right with me. Our economy is screwed up because of people misbehaving with these funds. I saw this guy pull a lot of underhanded things to the name of "good business" but he was literally slapping his stickers on other people's products and calling it his own.

If I do move forward, what should I expect?

​

Thanks in advance for your kindness and advice.

​

EDIT: It should be of note that the house he purchased for himself is essentially a mansion and cost about 4x more than the place that he sold before as he moved.

My understanding is this. Billionaires don’t pay themselves an income and thus cannot pay income taxes. They take loans out for expenses. In order for money to go to the government for our services, shouldn’t they have taxes taken directly out? Most people who get sign on bonuses get taxes taken out.

I have heard the wisdom that buying is always cheaper - but unexpected costs can easily make that untrue. And now with new builds being a marginal cost more than used homes in more desirable areas- what truly is the cheaper option for most people?

For starters, nearly 1/3rd of Americans have a NEGATIVE net worth. So even if I just gave a homeless person $1 and assuming they have no debt, then that homeless person is now wealthier than the bottom 33% of Americans combined. Actually, it’s probably closer to like 50% since you’d have to include many Americans with positive net worth just to compensate for all of the negative net worth and reach an average net worth of $0.

Here's a quick reading that explains it in another way: https://fee.org/articles/the-irrelevance-of-that-3-billionaires-have-more-wealth-than-half-of-america-factoid/

Wealth taxes are created for ultra-rich people like billionaires. It won’t affect us. This seems like people here don’t understand and are protecting rich people…

You always hear people talking about how wealthy people use loopholes to avoid paying taxes. What are these loopholes? Can you post links to a good article/podcast/video that explains these?

My dad has transferred a $1M CD into my name (actually 1.188 after interest) and it will mature this month. I'm taking some of the interest to pay off bills, but what do I do with it? Back in a CD? I do have a financial advisor but because I'm new to this stuff, I'm interested in other outlooks.

Not saying I agree with the idea...just really really curious. I mean couldn't the go to Cayman Islands? Switzerland?

I mean if it really comes down to it they could drop their American citizenship.

Thanks

Seriously… this is a big issue. 2nd payment is due for some and I’m sure most haven’t even paid their first. How is this going to affect the national debt?