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Destroying the American Dream?
Monday, 29 November 2010 17:36

Every day when I'm meeting with clients, prospective clients, brokers, and other advisors, I'm constantly saying "Do the math."

Someone has "done the math" on the current state of our redistributive tax and transfer system, or what I call the welfare nanny state system of collective thievery.

When one is better off earning minimum wage than they are earning $60,000 per year, then something is terribly wrong with the system.

The incentive to obtain an education, work hard, and move up in life are destroyed when the financial incentives reward work at a fast food restaurant or big box retailer at a greater level than skilled work in a factory, skilled work in management, or skilled work in a profession that requires substantial investment and education.

Several things come to mind that I think would realign financial rewards with the effort, discipline, and results of personal productivity:

  1. Eliminate the federal minimum wage.
  2. Eliminate the Earned Income Tax Credit (and let us call it what it is - welfare).
  3. Implement a federal Fair Tax that doesn't penalize and discourage success.

I could easily list an entire book of ideas, but I wanted to post this before I'm distracted by the pile of work on my desk.

What do you think about the irrational financial rewards detailed in the image above?

What do you think we should do to fix this obvious problem?