Originally Posted by
Scoop
I personally think 401K wealth in the future will be too irresistible for politicians to keep their hands off of. It will probably start out like a 1% annual fee on accounts over 5 million or something that the average voter does not see affecting them and then will conditionally adjust downward. Where and how far it goes is anyone's guess. Is this a valid reason not to invest in tax differed accounts? No - we have to operate within the "system" as it is now - I am just pointing out a concern that I have.
Agreed. There is just too much money sitting there to ignore.
The income tax itself was unconstitutional. In pitching the tough ammendment process to allow it, the people were sold on the lie that it was just a tax on a tiny percent of uber high earners and the vast majority of people would never pay it.
The first iteration topped out at a 7% rate and even that was only for dollars earned over the 11 Million per year (in today's dollars) mark.
They absolutely will sell the public on this by doing exactly what you suggest, then "progressively" and rapidly expand it, plus overlapping means testing, taxing unrealized gains, a "wealth tax" and all the rest. And 51% of the electorate simply will not care that "milliionaires" are finally being made to "pay their fair share".