The Path From Occupy Wall Street To Easy Street
Have you begun to question the American Dream? There is a lot of anger throughout the country these days.
People who played by the rules are now finding they have fallen behind on the race towards retirement, let alone prosperity.
Occupy Wall Street has been birthed from the resentment and anxiety millions of Americans are feeling.
If you read the last statistics, you saw that since 1980 the richest 1% has seen an increase of 275% of income.
Compared to the middle income raise of 40% and the lower 20th percentile rising just 18%.
This income disparity has caused lots of politicians to point fingers and regular people angry and bewildered.
If you are not in the top 1% there is a way to use this data to change the way you view yourself and even help get you closer to the top income earners in America.
The first thing you are going to have to do is ignore your impulse to get angry.
That is a natural reaction I understand.
By avoiding getting angry, there are opportunities all around you to make a new career, a new lifestyle, a new purpose.
Let's look at how the rules have changed and what that means to you and me.
Taxes Became The Enemy When Ronald Reagan shocked the world by being elected in November of 1981, he had become a full fledged proponent of lowering taxes, especially on the top income earners.
What some don't know that Reagan had previously been a staunch Democrat and campaigned against most of the policies he would eventually become famous for championing.
That history really does not matter though.
What does matter is what Reagan did to the top marginal rates.
Reagan inherited a top marginal rate of 70%, he reduced it during his administration to 50%.
His last year in office Reagan was able to get that reduced down to 38.
5% in 1987.
The theory was that reducing taxes on the rich would trickle down to everyone as they had more money to spend and invest.
After all it was the rich who were thought to be smarter handlers of money.
Smarter than government, the poor, and even the middle class.
But our economy and lifestyle had been built on those high taxes.
Our schools educated our children to work in that environment.
Our workers knew the rules of advancement and loyalty to a company as well.
After the Great Depression top marginal rates were jacked up to pay for the vast social programs enacted.
Rates were typically between 70% to even as much as 91%.
So what did this mean for the average person? Those high taxes made it possible for the great middle class expansion.
All those government programs meant less money regular people had to pay out of pocket.
National parks were virtually free to go and see, highways made it cheap and easy to get to where you wanted, and school was affordable to send your children.
That increased available capital, but what really fueled the economy were the high wages, benefits, and pensions people got from their jobs.
The high tax rates kicked in based on today's dollars at income earned over $3.
2 million dollars.
So for any income a CEO or business owner made above that was subject to get taxed at those higher amounts.
Of course there were ways to 'get around' paying, but that rate set the marker for income levels.
As a result those owners and executives invested the extra profits into their companies.
Building new locations, making improvements, and paying the workers larger salaries.
Pensions, benefits, and health care was funded due to the profits filtering back into the workers.
It also allowed households to be able to live on one income.
Thus, the stay at home moms arose as a norm.
even the soap opera industry owes its existence to taxing the rich.
This counters the belief that the government actually confiscates capital and redistributes to the poor.
It did not lead to redistribution of wealth as much as it led to manipulation of where wealth flowed.
Private persons were basically forced to make a decision; have the government tax and collect the extra money or put it back into your company where ever they decided.
The latter was more popular and we got a rising middle class because of it.
The Capital Gains Loophole Another tax policy Reagan put in place was the reduction of capital gains tax.
Reagan got it cut down from 39% to 20%.
So it became popular for executive compensation to be in the form of stock options that were taxed at a lower rate than regular income.
This was not a surprise though.
Paying executives in stock options was encouraged.
The belief was that it would make CEO's and top executives act more like business owners and seek to improve profits in their companies.
What happened instead was that companies sought ways to increase their stock price in total disregard for anything else.
After tapping our productivity from workers, they sought ways to reduce expenses.
This has led to overseas outsourcing, layoffs, reduction in wages, etc.
All things that could make sure the company would show more profits and drive up the wealth of the stock owners who now paid a lower rate than ever.
So What Can You Do About It? You can march in protest, get angry, or give-up if you do not like the new reality of business and wealth in America.
I would urge you to take this knowledge and take a different path.
You now see you are never going to have that American Dream of the past generation.
Those days are gone forever.
Even if the tax code is restored to higher rates, they will never be the likes we saw before.
The lobbyists are too strong and our politicians too weak to resist their money and influence.
No, working for a living, putting money in your 401k, and living like a spinster, will not get you rich or even comfortable in this new environment.
You are going to have to take control and start becoming the CEO on your own.
Because the corporate ladder has largely been cut how do you do this? You have to start your own business, plain and simple.
To take advantage of the rules as they are now written, working for another person is not just low paying it is outright foolishness.
As soon as a company sees they can make more money for themselves without you, you will be out the door.
It can happen to any of us at any time.
That means you better start building your own business today not tomorrow.
In the past that would be difficult, because you would have to quit your job, find a space to rent, pay for a couple of employees, and inventory to start selling.
Now though the internet allows anyone with a laptop the ability to come home and get engaged in selling commerce to the entire world in minutes.
You can research a market, test to see if there is interest in a product or service, and get a website to attract customers in under a week.
All while keeping a regular job until you make your escape.
You really have no choice, unless you already are part of the top 1%.
Our government is too broken at this point to change the culture.
Companies are too fat and happy to change either.
During the recent recession, large companies are flush with cash reserves they are just sitting on.
Executive compensation continues to rise despite the down turn.
Instead of picketing about this, you need to profit from it.
There are still people spending money, it just has been going to less places.
While other people are complaining, you should be making your mark.
The only excuse you have for not making money now is that you are too depressed.
That is fine with me.
That means one fewer competitors I have to face.
People who played by the rules are now finding they have fallen behind on the race towards retirement, let alone prosperity.
Occupy Wall Street has been birthed from the resentment and anxiety millions of Americans are feeling.
If you read the last statistics, you saw that since 1980 the richest 1% has seen an increase of 275% of income.
Compared to the middle income raise of 40% and the lower 20th percentile rising just 18%.
This income disparity has caused lots of politicians to point fingers and regular people angry and bewildered.
If you are not in the top 1% there is a way to use this data to change the way you view yourself and even help get you closer to the top income earners in America.
The first thing you are going to have to do is ignore your impulse to get angry.
That is a natural reaction I understand.
By avoiding getting angry, there are opportunities all around you to make a new career, a new lifestyle, a new purpose.
Let's look at how the rules have changed and what that means to you and me.
Taxes Became The Enemy When Ronald Reagan shocked the world by being elected in November of 1981, he had become a full fledged proponent of lowering taxes, especially on the top income earners.
What some don't know that Reagan had previously been a staunch Democrat and campaigned against most of the policies he would eventually become famous for championing.
That history really does not matter though.
What does matter is what Reagan did to the top marginal rates.
Reagan inherited a top marginal rate of 70%, he reduced it during his administration to 50%.
His last year in office Reagan was able to get that reduced down to 38.
5% in 1987.
The theory was that reducing taxes on the rich would trickle down to everyone as they had more money to spend and invest.
After all it was the rich who were thought to be smarter handlers of money.
Smarter than government, the poor, and even the middle class.
But our economy and lifestyle had been built on those high taxes.
Our schools educated our children to work in that environment.
Our workers knew the rules of advancement and loyalty to a company as well.
After the Great Depression top marginal rates were jacked up to pay for the vast social programs enacted.
Rates were typically between 70% to even as much as 91%.
So what did this mean for the average person? Those high taxes made it possible for the great middle class expansion.
All those government programs meant less money regular people had to pay out of pocket.
National parks were virtually free to go and see, highways made it cheap and easy to get to where you wanted, and school was affordable to send your children.
That increased available capital, but what really fueled the economy were the high wages, benefits, and pensions people got from their jobs.
The high tax rates kicked in based on today's dollars at income earned over $3.
2 million dollars.
So for any income a CEO or business owner made above that was subject to get taxed at those higher amounts.
Of course there were ways to 'get around' paying, but that rate set the marker for income levels.
As a result those owners and executives invested the extra profits into their companies.
Building new locations, making improvements, and paying the workers larger salaries.
Pensions, benefits, and health care was funded due to the profits filtering back into the workers.
It also allowed households to be able to live on one income.
Thus, the stay at home moms arose as a norm.
even the soap opera industry owes its existence to taxing the rich.
This counters the belief that the government actually confiscates capital and redistributes to the poor.
It did not lead to redistribution of wealth as much as it led to manipulation of where wealth flowed.
Private persons were basically forced to make a decision; have the government tax and collect the extra money or put it back into your company where ever they decided.
The latter was more popular and we got a rising middle class because of it.
The Capital Gains Loophole Another tax policy Reagan put in place was the reduction of capital gains tax.
Reagan got it cut down from 39% to 20%.
So it became popular for executive compensation to be in the form of stock options that were taxed at a lower rate than regular income.
This was not a surprise though.
Paying executives in stock options was encouraged.
The belief was that it would make CEO's and top executives act more like business owners and seek to improve profits in their companies.
What happened instead was that companies sought ways to increase their stock price in total disregard for anything else.
After tapping our productivity from workers, they sought ways to reduce expenses.
This has led to overseas outsourcing, layoffs, reduction in wages, etc.
All things that could make sure the company would show more profits and drive up the wealth of the stock owners who now paid a lower rate than ever.
So What Can You Do About It? You can march in protest, get angry, or give-up if you do not like the new reality of business and wealth in America.
I would urge you to take this knowledge and take a different path.
You now see you are never going to have that American Dream of the past generation.
Those days are gone forever.
Even if the tax code is restored to higher rates, they will never be the likes we saw before.
The lobbyists are too strong and our politicians too weak to resist their money and influence.
No, working for a living, putting money in your 401k, and living like a spinster, will not get you rich or even comfortable in this new environment.
You are going to have to take control and start becoming the CEO on your own.
Because the corporate ladder has largely been cut how do you do this? You have to start your own business, plain and simple.
To take advantage of the rules as they are now written, working for another person is not just low paying it is outright foolishness.
As soon as a company sees they can make more money for themselves without you, you will be out the door.
It can happen to any of us at any time.
That means you better start building your own business today not tomorrow.
In the past that would be difficult, because you would have to quit your job, find a space to rent, pay for a couple of employees, and inventory to start selling.
Now though the internet allows anyone with a laptop the ability to come home and get engaged in selling commerce to the entire world in minutes.
You can research a market, test to see if there is interest in a product or service, and get a website to attract customers in under a week.
All while keeping a regular job until you make your escape.
You really have no choice, unless you already are part of the top 1%.
Our government is too broken at this point to change the culture.
Companies are too fat and happy to change either.
During the recent recession, large companies are flush with cash reserves they are just sitting on.
Executive compensation continues to rise despite the down turn.
Instead of picketing about this, you need to profit from it.
There are still people spending money, it just has been going to less places.
While other people are complaining, you should be making your mark.
The only excuse you have for not making money now is that you are too depressed.
That is fine with me.
That means one fewer competitors I have to face.
