42% of US millionaires say they're not rich

Honestly I'd like to see us start building underground more, always wanted to live in an undercity. ;)

Seriously, I really want to live in an undercity. Or a 40k-esque hive.(And be LE there..)

I sometimes wonder at the space we waste on graveyards.

I'm a skeptical squirrel

According to Grain's link, making $30,000 annually means I'm in the top 3.17% richest people in the world.

Well, that's pretty surprising, but I still can't maintain any decent standard of living with that in this country.

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!

The problem comes when the government gives them tax cuts and pays for it by cutting programs for people that actually need them. On the other hand, grain does have a point about perspective. (That said, cost of living in America is way higher than it is in a lot of other places).

Especially California, I marvel at the cost of living for buying a house or renting an apartment in the midwest. Makes me want to move to Indiana.

Doesn't Wyoming have the lowest rent on average in the US? Then again, isn't that also the only state with a decreasing population? Still, while the US doe have higher costs for living there, the jobs, on average, do pay out more than most countries.

The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.

Still, that list really does need to be adjusted for cost of living. Although I doubt they will, given that it's intended to shock people into donating to the poor.

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!

...shocked me. I'm in the top 0.83 percent. Good Lord.

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.

When we say millionaire, do we mean people who possess that money in land (such as farmers) and are unable to get much out of it?

Except for 4/1/2011. That day lingers in my memory like...metaphor here...I should go.

Best to take the rich list site with a grain of salt (plus, ow my eyes, that background). The data is at least eleven years out of date, meaning that it fails to account for global inflation across the board, uses averages for several countries at a time, and may not have an accurate population count.

Still, feel free to donate to those who need food (because they need it), but don't forget, the entire world does not run on a single uniform economy.

Good question, it's never answered and there's no source link on the news site, so... take it with another pinch of salt.

edited 17th Mar '11 2:04:01 PM by Usht

The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.

It said investable assets, so I don't think farms count.

The problem with that investable assets can be defined in different ways, which is why manner documents surveying this stuff makes sure to define lots of the vocab somewhere in it. Investable assets can count anywhere from just what you have in the bank to all non-dollar materials you own to quite literally everything you own.

edited 17th Mar '11 2:11:09 PM by Usht

The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.

^^ They do when it comes to estate taxes. A wheat farm that barely turns in a profit of 20,000 dollars in any given year might be taxed for millions of dollars when the landowner dies.

There's a big big reason why Republicans and a lot of independents call the estate tax the anti-farmer tax.

"Allah may guide their bullets, but Jesus helps those who aim down the sights."

If millionaires means all people with more than 1 million dollars, then I'm not suprised a lot of them don't feel rich. A million si a lot of money, but not that much. A millionaire like that can afford a nice house and a new car, but it's still a regular house, just somewhat bigger than yours and in a nice spot, and it's just a regular car, just one of a fancy brand. Compared to people living in giant mansions with private jets and limousines, it doesn't seem all that fancy or glamorous. Altho I admit that my perception might be a bit scewered since my father is that kind of millionaire (I think. No idea if he actually has over a million, since I think it's not very polite to ask him that, but he does have more money than average).

Tom, do you have proof? I've heard that accusation made over and over, yet never have I seen any proof that this actually happens.

@Linhasxoc: The tax codes are fairly clear about this. Small business owners' heirs can be hit pretty hard by this, especially those that have illiquid assets with high pricetags but a low profit. It's one of the things that has made for farm consolidation and the rise of big agribusiness. Not the only one, of course: the fact that farmers' kids don't necessarily want to be farmers is another one.

Advance planning can lessen the impact, but not everyone does it and not everyone dies when they expect to.

A brighter future for a darker age.

My grandmother's collected assets are above a million, and I wouldn't call her rich. Certainly upper class, but I don't know that she's rich.

Now, MULTI-millionaires, yeah.

Anyway Tom, that just proves that private farming is a thing of the past; the American farmer has been dead for generations. All our food is made by megacorps now.

edited 17th Mar '11 5:08:38 PM by TheyCallMeTomu

^ The majority of farming businesses are growers collectives and farmers markets.

Many of those collectives do have contracts with big name companies like Dole and Del Monte, but the big companies do not run and own the farms. (10 minutes along any stretch of farmland highway in the country quickly disproves that thought.)

"Allah may guide their bullets, but Jesus helps those who aim down the sights."

"The majority of farming businesses are growers collectives and farmers markets."

What about output?

"Had Mother Nature been a real parent, she would have been in jail for child abuse and murder." -Nick Bostrom

That's them. They control the output (within legal subsidies and whatnot) under their associations.

For example grape (and by extension wine) production in California, nearly all output is by grower's associations.

edited 17th Mar '11 5:32:41 PM by MajorTom

"Allah may guide their bullets, but Jesus helps those who aim down the sights."

Morven's nailed it. My parents have jumped through all the hoops they can with regards to inheritance (and taken in toto, its quite a sum but most of it is tied up in property and solid assets) and my mother recently remarked to me that if she and my dad were to die tomorrow, I'd see about a third of my share. The rest would go to taxes, fees, and other parasitic entities.

While I can respect the emotions of the OP, the real-world situation is far more complicated.

edited 17th Mar '11 10:11:23 PM by drunkscriblerian

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

[1]

This might explain things.

"Had Mother Nature been a real parent, she would have been in jail for child abuse and murder." -Nick Bostrom

"Morven's nailed it. My parents have jumped through all the hoops they can with regards to inheritance (and taken in toto, its quite a sum but most of it is tied up in property and solid assets) and my mother recently remarked to me that if she and my dad were to die tomorrow, I'd see about a third of my share. The rest would go to taxes, fees, and other parasitic entities.

While I can respect the emotions of the OP, the real-world situation is far more complicated."

Go without the police, military, or welfare state. See how long you last until someone else bashes your head in with a rock because those 'parasites' aren't in place.

Also the inheritance tax is essential for stopping increased losses of class mobility, and to stimulate the economy. Were I to say inherit one of my parents houses, I could make £25k just renting. And could never work a day in my life, whilst enjoying a pretty comfortable lifestyle. Having a sizeable chunk of the proffesional/middle classes doing this isn't the best for society as a whole.

"When you cut your finger, I do not bleed." Response of a man who lived on the outskirts of a concentration camp.

Screw that noise. The last thing I want to leave my kid is a disincentive to work.

Have any of you ever met the children of the obscenely wealthy? Rockefeller-type family heirs? I have. They're the most depressing kids I've ever met. Bored to tears. They get into all sorts of crazy stuff - drug abuse, risk taking, street racing, Randian objectivism - just to keep themselves occupied.

Think about it. No summer job to earn up and buy a car, because daddy will buy ten for you. No appreciation for what parents can give you that isn't material because what they give you that is material literally drowns out everything else. Never having to learn to clean your room or do your dishes thanks to house service staff. There's a level of inherited wealth that, frankly, counts as child abuse.

Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.

^ My heart bleeds for them, it really does.