President Biden has drawn a pretty clear-cut line at the amount of money he believes makes someone rich. In numerous speeches, he’s said that those making $400,000 or more should pay a higher tax rate because “they can afford to pay a little more.”
Biden has proposed a tax increase on high-income earners to help pay for the social spending the country has done to offset economic problems caused by the pandemic.
In a joint interview with Vice President Harris, Biden said, “I will raise taxes for anybody making over $400,000,” and anyone making less than that would face “no new taxes.”
A breakdown by CNBC found that for the most part, Biden has been honest about his plan, and the only people who make less than $400,000 a year who would see a hike in their taxes are those who had a windfall event that put them over the threshold.
It’s worth noting that Biden’s idea of who is wealthy is a bit different than the man he served under as vice president. When Barack Obama was president he sought to raise taxes on the wealthy who he saw as those making $250,000 or more.
On the surface level, $400,00 does seem like a lot of money in comparison to the average American. Those making $400,000 and above represent the top 1.8% of taxpayers, earning about 25% of the nation’s income.
Some people make the point that $400,000 isn’t that much money for someone who lives in an expensive area such as Manhattan or San Francisco. However, the average household income in Manhattan is $138,000 so you’re doing pretty well if you’re making $400,000 or more.
That is assuming that you’re not wasting your money living extravagantly.
Twitter user Chief Resistance Officer asked his 30,000-plus Twitter followers if making $400,000 a year is considered “rich” and he got some thoughtful responses. The overwhelming opinion seems to be that if you make that much you are probably rich. If you’re making $400,000 or more and living paycheck-to-paycheck, you’re probably being irresponsible with your money.
Yes, $400k is rich.
If you don’t think making $400k a year makes you rich, you’re probably woefully out of touch.
It’s pretty easy to blow $400k a year if you live extravagantly in a big city.
On $400k a year, you’re probably rich, but not wealthy.
Some say that it matters where you live.
It’s all about how you manage your money.
WARNING TRUTH BOMBS AHEAD.
So what did we learn? The original poster says that $400K makes you “rich” but not “wealthy.”
in the end, it’s not what you make, but what you keep. There are a lot of people who can’t make ends meet making six figures and others who can do a lot with very little. It seems that the difference between both people is a sense of gratitude. Those who are grateful for what they have seemed to take better care of their money because they appreciate it. Whereas those who don’t appreciate what they have feel compelled to spend and spend until they think they’ll reach some mythical point of material happiness.
So, in the end, to be grateful is to be rich.
Oh yes, and be sure to tax the wealthy, whoever they may be.