How much money do
people need to live? There are some people out there making over 10 million
dollars a year. Actually, according to the IRS tax year records of 2009, it was
reported that 8,274 people who filed taxes that year made more than 10 million
dollars (IRS Website). How much of that money is actually needed for these
people to live comfortably? After asking this question, I needed to know how
much it costs to live in America. I found that Manhattan was consider to be the
most expensive American city to live in and in order to live comfortably, the
source said you should make about $130,000 a year.
So what happens
with all that extra money and more importantly, do they need it? I did some of
my own calculations to see how much money could be stored up if all those who
made over $500,000 put all but this amount into one big pot at the end of the
year. I used the IRS tax records for 2009 that I got off lazymanandmoney.com
and found that if everyone were limited to $500,000 salary for one year the
country as a total would end up with an estimation of about 952 billion dollars
at the end of the year. That is an insane amount of money! If we were to put
all this money every year towards our national debt, our debt would be reduced
to zero within 16 years.
For this reason, I
believe there should be a maximum income law passed that would prevent citizens
from keeping more than $500,000 of the money they gained each year. If this
were to happen the money could potentially end our nation’s debt (within 16
years), world hunger, or poverty. Just imagine what the country could do with
952 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR!
Whoa! You are rocking the controvery here! What about capitalism? :) Interesting, Raymond.
ReplyDeleteI agree with parts of your argument. It would be really great for our country to eliminate the national debt, but I do not think there should be an income limit. Participation should be voluntary, in my opinion. I don't have any sources to prove this, but I believe that people who make that much many have worked very hard (either a lot of schooling or many, many hours logged at work)and they deserve the money they are making in return.
ReplyDeleteI do think we should focus more on getting out country out of debt!
ReplyDeleteVery true, how much money does someone need to live comfortably anywhere? Rich people should be introduced to philanthropy, not an offshore savings account.
ReplyDelete