Politics

Red Leg said:
Funny story on that issue. When I started with my company, my compensation was approx 1/3 cash (salary and annual performance bonus and not anywhere near a million) and 2/3's performance oriented stocks. A third vested immediately and the remainder over the next three years creating a rolling wave of maturing stocks. What most don't realize is that those stocks are treated and realized as income and taxed as W2 wages the year they are paid - not just when they mature. That establishes the cost basis for the stock. Like most leaving the military (and with two kids in college), we did not do so with a huge amount of savings. In the early years, to address the resulting somewhat staggering tax burden to the IRS, I was having to sell stocks as short term capital gains to pay the frigging income tax while generating capital gains for the following year. It took three years to crawl out of that tax trap.
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That must have sucked! Dam. I also have found that some of the nuances of the tax code have a weird way of punishing you for making money. I am somewhat encouraged that it isn’t a phenomenon unique to north of the 49th parallel
 
Pheroze said:
That must have sucked! Dam. I also have found that some of the nuances of the tax code have a weird way of punishing you for making money. I am somewhat encouraged that it isn’t a phenomenon unique to north of the 49th parallel
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I can make no sense of Canadian tax laws , I know Nova Scotia has some of the highest tax rates in country and 15 percent sales tax on top of that. My accountant did my year end for the company in July and told me I was financially better off for my wife to quit working part time at the seniors residence she had been working at and to volunteer instead.
 
Tubby’s Canteen said:
I can make no sense of Canadian tax laws , I know Nova Scotia has some of the highest tax rates in country and 15 percent sales tax on top of that. My accountant did my year end for the company in July and told me I was financially better off for my wife to quit working part time at the seniors residence she had been working at and to volunteer instead.
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The newly enacted bits of wonder, like the Alternative Minimum Tax, have completely screwed my retirement planning. From what I can tell, all of my tax planning was for naught, and everything, capital gains and income, will be taxed at the highest marginal rate. I am consulting with folks who are much more informed than I. However, I have adjusted my retirement date to 2056 (I will be 89. My 90s look rocking!)
 
Pheroze said:
The newly enacted bits of wonder, like the Alternative Minimum Tax, have completely screwed my retirement planning. From what I can tell, all of my tax planning was for naught, and everything, capital gains and income, will be taxed at the highest marginal rate. I am consulting with folks who are much more informed than I. However, I have adjusted my retirement date to 2056 (I will be 89. My 90s look rocking!)
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If you do put some away for old age in rrsp it’ll be taxed at whatever rate is applicable when you retire and of course that has to be considered income so there goes your supplement on your pension for whatever year you withdraw it. Oh and don’t forget your forced to withdraw it a 71.

I’ll eat the taxes on the money now and invest mine in land and standing timber, I’ve never known land to go down in value and anything with timber on it I’m young enough to harvest twice in my lifetime and still have the equity in the land itself.

Hopefully you’ve got a good accountant in my experience they are worth every penny you pay them.
 
If Canada doesn’t get rid of the Liberal government you won’t be retiring unless you move to another country. If we don’t right the ship in a couple years you might be better off with your Zimbabwe dollars. Our politicians are picking a fight they can’t win, but that’s not the point of what the Davos Don is supposed to do. One world order with one currency that .001% will control, you will own nothing and you will like it.
 
TX049 said:
We're in agreement. My point is to try and understand how and why others feel differently. Especially since the negative perspective seems to be on the rise. What's most bizarre to me are the people who manage to over come barriers still holding the opinion that others can't. I don't know if it's exceptionalism, some form of survivor's guilt denialism, or the simple fact we're applying the wrong conditions on what makes a person successful and, therefore, happy. His original comment coincided with a friend ranting to me at length about the impossibility of succeeding in "today's America" without the recognition that this same friend was raised in a relatively low income household--even losing his father in high school--and is now making around a quarter million a year as a consultant. He lives in an extremely low cost of living area (his annual income is just slightly under median home price), owns a sailboat, and drives a Corvette. He's my age, never married/no kids, and he's miserable. He makes a lot of the points that Big_Easy makes and they both share a seemingly negative outlook. It's interesting to me. I don't understand why.


PC, mostly. I can type nearly as fast as I can speak after spending an inordinate amount of my youth and young adult life typing messages to friends on whatever chat platform was the flavor of the week at the time. Add in using a computer for a living and, well, this is the result.
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Yes, it is very interesting and frustrating at the same time. I wonder if it is due to a fairly severe trauma, such as the recession, or in your friend’s case, the death of his father? However, everyone experiences some setbacks or trauma and not all react the same. I lost two sisters as a child and it was hell on my parents as well. After my second sister died, my dad went off the deep end and became an alcoholic for about two years. He did get past it by checking himself into a 30-day program and has not drank a drop since and often counsels others. He was/is a very hardworking and successful person and it didn’t form or change his political views.

I think there is a mental toughness issue involved because some people don’t let trauma affect their outlook but others do. My three employees who are retired Special Forces tell me that they don’t believe in PTSD and just believe some people are mentally tougher. I don’t know the answer but it is very interesting.
 
Scott CWO said:
Why bother working? How about to start up the chain or pyramid and be successful? Help your family? Provide a safe happy environment in case you want children? If people are not smart enough to understand those things, it is not the fault of the rest of us or our responsibility to provide for able-bodied slackers.
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His argument is more the value proposition. If you own a business, some deals aren't "worth" it because the level of effort (or some other consideration not visible on a balance sheet) required to execute.
Pheroze said:
The newly enacted bits of wonder, like the Alternative Minimum Tax, have completely screwed my retirement planning. From what I can tell, all of my tax planning was for naught, and everything, capital gains and income, will be taxed at the highest marginal rate. I am consulting with folks who are much more informed than I. However, I have adjusted my retirement date to 2056 (I will be 89. My 90s look rocking!)
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This is the other half of the equation: changing rules retroactively will punish people who were playing by them. That's equally as unfair. The reason this argument is never made is it devolves into "they got theirs, I want mine. I don't care if it's fair."
Scott CWO said:
Yes, it is very interesting and frustrating at the same time. I wonder if it is due to a fairly severe trauma, such as the recession, or in your friend’s case, the death of his father? However, everyone experiences some setbacks or trauma and not all react the same. I lost two sisters as a child and it was hell on my parents as well. After my second sister died, my dad went off the deep end and became an alcoholic for about two years. He did get past it by checking himself into a 30-day program and has not drank a drop since and often counsels others. He was/is a very hardworking and successful person and it didn’t form or change his political views.

I think there is a mental toughness issue involved because some people don’t let trauma affect their outlook but others do. My three employees who are retired Special Forces tell me that they don’t believe in PTSD and just believe some people are mentally tougher. I don’t know the answer but it is very interesting.
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I genuinely wish I understood it. On the subject of PTSD and mental toughness, I know veterans who do not believe in PTSD, but I disagree and usually I find they hold the opinion because they're choosing to ignore symptoms (i.e. "he's always been easily angered") or--and far more commonly--they are identifying symptoms and failing to do a differential diagnosis (i.e. "he's just anxious"). There is also the issue of "why did he react that way, but I'm totally fine." That one is by far the most difficult and I know personally it exists. In reality, it's because no two events are experienced the same way and no single event has the same experience twice.

It's also that last bit that might be the issue about reactions to things like a recession and the difficulty to understand other people. Basically if a shared event is not actually shared, then we're left trying to understand the experience of the event unique to a person. It's worth understanding and worth understanding how they got there. Not sure on the realities or if I'm off base though. Need a psychologist to weigh in at this point.
 
TX049 said:
His argument is more the value proposition. If you own a business, some deals aren't "worth" it because the level of effort (or some other consideration not visible on a balance sheet) required to execute.

This is the other half of the equation: changing rules retroactively will punish people who were playing by them. That's equally as unfair. The reason this argument is never made is it devolves into "they got theirs, I want mine. I don't care if it's fair."

I genuinely wish I understood it. On the subject of PTSD and mental toughness, I know veterans who do not believe in PTSD, but I disagree and usually I find they hold the opinion because they're choosing to ignore symptoms (i.e. "he's always been easily angered") or--and far more commonly--they are identifying symptoms and failing to do a differential diagnosis (i.e. "he's just anxious"). There is also the issue of "why did he react that way, but I'm totally fine." That one is by far the most difficult and I know personally it exists. In reality, it's because no two events are experienced the same way and no single event has the same experience twice.

It's also that last bit that might be the issue about reactions to things like a recession and the difficulty to understand other people. Basically if a shared event is not actually shared, then we're left trying to understand the experience of the event unique to a person. It's worth understanding and worth understanding how they got there. Not sure on the realities or if I'm off base though. Need a psychologist to weigh in at this point.
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Yes, I understand balancing the value of your labor versus the compensation but that is shortsighted in terms of paying some dues to move up the chain. We are talking about entry level jobs here. You’ve got to walk before you can run.
 
So the usa spent usd 800 million on building its largest consulate in the world in irbil in iraqi kurdistan ...but less than a year later it is going to cut all funding to the peshmerga...in the last fiscal year it only amounted to usd 61 million...peanuts and money I would have thought well spent......as said it will add to the feeling that is there, that the usa isn't exactly a trustworthy ally for a lot of organisations/ countries.....another example of shooting yourself in the foot I wonder... :E Shrug:

www.bbc.com

US plans to cut off military aid to key Middle East ally, BBC told

Iraqi Kurdistan fears the Trump administration's plan will make the region more vulnerable to further attacks from Iran.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
IMG_5253.jpeg

Looks like the Zimbabwe dollar bills are worth $274.78 more than a Canadian dollar.
 
IMG_5254.jpeg

Last rant about my fellow Canadians.
Obviously education is no measure for intelligence, when education is indoctrination. Checking out the comments on Conservative sites, by Liberals, is quite astonishing. Most don’t even know how our economy works, zero clue how interconnected we are with our American neighbours. I really wish my American friends would close the border to all Canadian imports, shut off the oil and gas pipelines that have to cross the border to feed eastern Canada. Canadians need a severe wake up that Trump isn’t the enemy, but Liberal policies and regulations has created our problems.
The only way Liberal voters will understand is to cripple them financially. The Liberals like to use this tactic, freezing bank accounts of the Freedom convoy protesters as an example. The rich will Liberals will still remain but the mainstream voters will be motivated to change or starve.
Please help!
Rant over.
 
I keep reading on here about not everyone having the same opportunities to succeed in the US, how corporations are oppressive, not everyone getting paid the same, or burger flippers not being able to make ends meet, etc, etc. I can't help myself but laugh and let explain why.

My mom immigrated into the US in 1968, she applied and was given a Green Card (it was green back then), and she was also given a job, working at a radio factory somewhere in NYC. This was the trade off to get the Green Card, and she had to work at that job for a minimum of a year, and she could stay there if she wanted. Some on here may call the government taking advantage of the individual, my mom called it an opportunity. Four years later she petition for the rest of us to move into the US, and we were all given Green Cards (Legal Residency).

We lived in Jersey City in a very small two-bedroom apartment, all six of us. My parent in one small room, and the four us in another. My mom worked at a factory (what we call today a sweat shop) making coats, she would stop by the house and cook us dinner, after she would take the subway to NYC to work at night cleaning offices. She would come home around 1 AM, just to do it all over again the next day. My dad who was a CPA by trade work for a Jewish firm in NYC. Neither of them knew English but work hard and were rewarded by their hard work.

My parents never asked for anything from the government, they are too proud, they have worked hard since setting foot on this great country. About 35 years ago, they opened up their own small company, a freight forwarding business, and now my middle brother runs it. Didn't make them rich, but they both lived a comfortable life. Three of us worked with them, and my middle brother and sister basically run the business now. I chose a different path (my choice) against my mom's complaints. She wanted me to take over the business; my heart was set on to remain in the military.

My point with all this is, that if my parents who came into this great country, not knowing the language, working hard all their life, honest citizens, never broke the law, never took advantage of the system, and through sweat, and tears they were able to become successful individuals. Why can't those who were born here with the endless possibilities to be successful, bitch, moan and complain about not having any chance of success. If my parents were able to do it, anyone can do it. I'm not saying that everyone is going to be a millionaire, but the sky is the limit, this is why our great nation is called the land of opportunities. In my humble opinion, it takes hard work, honesty, determination, and the heart to be successful. Not the government to take you by the hand and guide you into your successful life. I'll say it again, personal responsibility and accountability, if you are not successful in life because you are lazy, there is no one to blame but you the individual.
 
PARA45 said:
I keep reading on here about not everyone having the same opportunities to succeed in the US, how corporations are oppressive, not everyone getting paid the same, or burger flippers not being able to make ends meet, etc, etc. I can't help myself but laugh and let explain why.

My mom immigrated into the US in 1968, she applied and was given a Green Card (it was green back then), and she was also given a job, working at a radio factory somewhere in NYC. This was the trade off to get the Green Card, and she had to work at that job for a minimum of a year, and she could stay there if she wanted. Some on here may call the government taking advantage of the individual, my mom called it an opportunity. Four years later she petition for the rest of us to move into the US, and we were all given Green Cards (Legal Residency).

We lived in Jersey City in a very small two-bedroom apartment, all six of us. My parent in one small room, and the four us in another. My mom worked at a factory (what we call today a sweat shop) making coats, she would stop by the house and cook us dinner, after she would take the subway to NYC to work at night cleaning offices. She would come home around 1 AM, just to do it all over again the next day. My dad who was a CPA by trade work for a Jewish firm in NYC. Neither of them knew English but work hard and were rewarded by their hard work.

My parents never asked for anything from the government, they are too proud, they have worked hard since setting foot on this great country. About 35 years ago, they opened up their own small company, a freight forwarding business, and now my middle brother runs it. Didn't make them rich, but they both lived a comfortable life. Three of us worked with them, and my middle brother and sister basically run the business now. I chose a different path (my choice) against my mom's complaints. She wanted me to take over the business; my heart was set on to remain in the military.

My point with all this is, that if my parents who came into this great country, not knowing the language, working hard all their life, honest citizens, never broke the law, never took advantage of the system, and through sweat, and tears they were able to become successful individuals. Why can't those who were born here with the endless possibilities to be successful, bitch, moan and complain about not having any chance of success. If my parents were able to do it, anyone can do it. I'm not saying that everyone is going to be a millionaire, but the sky is the limit, this is why our great nation is called the land of opportunities. In my humble opinion, it takes hard work, honesty, determination, and the heart to be successful. Not the government to take you by the hand and guide you into your successful life. I'll say it again, personal responsibility and accountability, if you are not successful in life because you are lazy, there is no one to blame but you the individual.
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Interesting story.

Which country did your parents originate from?..
 
From Nicaragua.
 
Boyd Brooks said:
View attachment 788967
Last rant about my fellow Canadians.
Obviously education is no measure for intelligence, when education is indoctrination. Checking out the comments on Conservative sites, by Liberals, is quite astonishing. Most don’t even know how our economy works, zero clue how interconnected we are with our American neighbours. I really wish my American friends would close the border to all Canadian imports, shut off the oil and gas pipelines that have to cross the border to feed eastern Canada. Canadians need a severe wake up that Trump isn’t the enemy, but Liberal policies and regulations has created our problems.
The only way Liberal voters will understand is to cripple them financially. The Liberals like to use this tactic, freezing bank accounts of the Freedom convoy protesters as an example. The rich will Liberals will still remain but the mainstream voters will be motivated to change or starve.
Please help!
Rant over.
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I have never voted Liberal in any election in my life. I have voted consistently Conservative with one exception for an independent who I liked.

You may not want to call Trump the enemy but he has been clearly acting in an adversarial way towards our country. He clearly cost the conservatives an election at the federal level, and one of our country's most staunch conservatives, Premier Ford has been pretty clear on where he stands on Trump's policies.

Pretty sad to see you wishing economic harm to your fellow Canadians though. If the tactic of causing financial harm is wrong when done by the Liberals, why does it become right when done by Trump? It's kind of bizarre thinking.

The invocation of the Emergency Powers Act was clearly illegal, and the Liberal Party (particularly under Justin) was a disaster, but that doesn't make Trump the shining light or helpful to our country.

Both most Liberal policies and Trump suck from a Canadian perspective. We could do with a lot less of both problems.
 
rigbymauser said:
Is all education indoctrination?..
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I think he’s suggesting that it’s not as simple as just looking at the percentage of educated people in a country but, rather, what that education consists of.

I think it’s akin to how many American high schools have recently become obsessed with graduation rates and as a consequence of lowering standards in order to achieve higher graduation rates, have also increased rates of graduates who are not able to read, write, or perform basic arithmetic at the level of a high school graduate and find themselves unprepared for colleges that have accepted them based on their high school credentials.
 
Rocked and Loaded said:
I think he’s suggesting that it’s not as simple as just looking at the percentage of educated people in a country but, rather, what that education consists of.

I think it’s akin to how many American high schools have recently become obsessed with graduation rates and as a consequence of lowering standards in order to achieve higher graduation rates, have also increased rates of graduates who are not able to read, write, or perform basic arithmetic at the level of a high school graduate and find themselves unprepared for colleges that have accepted them based on their high school credentials.
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I get the feeling he is just pissed that many educated Canadians disagree with this thoughts on things and thus he wants to denigrate their education.
 
Somehow I feel like I’m being gaslit, gaslighted (whatever). RLD is now claiming to be a through and through conservative… ya right ;)
 
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