My wife told me we need to make less money

[Schifference]

Many of you have heard me brag of my #1 in the class brilliant son. He will soon be a senior in HS. College is and should be around the corner. Say what you want but it is much better to get paid to make decisions than to carry them out.

This country is totally ass backwards. The poor don't want to make too much money because they will lose their entitlements.

Nowadays the big thing in college is financial aid. Hmm where did that come from?? American citizens are very happy to supply information about how many cheerio's are floating in xx ounces of milk.

If you make too much money your financial aid is decreased. Today we have middle class or upper middle class people trying to reduce their income so they can get the most financial aid. Don't take on a second job to pay for your kids college, lower your income. Why? because government caused the cost of college to increase so they can give you financial aid.

Poor people want to earn less and people doing fairly well want to earn less.

What is wrong with this picture??

[jbauer]

Worst decision I made in my life was to take the first semester of college off to work and be able to pay for college. I worked like a dog and at the end all it did was require me to spend what I had earned before I received grants. Had I just went to school I would have been further ahead. Still graduated in 3.5 years so it all ended up the same. Just kind of frustrating that my peers didn't have to lift a finger for the same thing.

[helmuth_hubener]

Worst decision I made in my life was to take the first semester of college off to work and be able to pay for college. I worked like a dog and at the end all it did was require me to spend what I had earned before I received grants. Had I just went to school I would have been further ahead. Still graduated in 3.5 years so it all ended up the same. Just kind of frustrating that my peers didn't have to lift a finger for the same thing.

Seriously, that's the worst decision you ever made your whole life?

[oyarde]

Seriously, that's the worst decision you ever made your whole life?

Yeah , he is doing alright .

[Acala]

I had a Canadian GF for a bit. One of the interesting things I noticed was that on the one hand she went out of her way to take advantage of every free health care program the government offered. On the other hand, she did everything she could to avoid taxation. Generalize those two perfectly rational attitudes to the entire population, extrapolate and graph the trend lines. This is one reason socialism is always doomed to fail.

[jbauer]

Seriously, that's the worst decision you ever made your whole life?

Um, yeah. Got a good job, great wife and 2 wonderful kids. What else could you ask for?

[tod evans]

My wife told me we need to make less money

Problem in expression..."We need to claim less income" is the desired outcome right?

[helmuth_hubener]

Um, yeah. Got a good job, great wife and 2 wonderful kids. What else could you ask for?

Sounds good! That decision to work just doesn't sound like all that bad a decision to me. Certainly nothing to regret, really. It didn't work out the best, but not everything will.

Your life is short on bad decisions. And that's terrific!

[thoughtomator]

I've been deliberately making less money for a number of years now. I don't want to have a dime of tax liability that can reasonably be avoided. There is no way in hell I am paying for a police state/mad Imperium.

[Christian Liberty]

I had a Canadian GF for a bit. One of the interesting things I noticed was that on the one hand she went out of her way to take advantage of every free health care program the government offered. On the other hand, she did everything she could to avoid taxation. Generalize those two perfectly rational attitudes to the entire population, extrapolate and graph the trend lines. This is one reason socialism is always doomed to fail.

Basically this means she tried to take everything she could from thieves and yet did everything she could to avoid letting the thieves take from her.

I don't per say have a problem with this. I don't know why she was doing it, but in theory I think it is fine.

[Acala]

Basically this means she tried to take everything she could from thieves and yet did everything she could to avoid letting the thieves take from her.

I don't per say have a problem with this. I don't know why she was doing it, but in theory I think it is fine.

As I said, her actions were perfectly rational under the circumstances. But they make for an unsustainable system in the aggregate. If everyone maximizes their draw out of the system and minimizes their payment into the system, the system inevitably breaks. And because people in the aggregate tend towards rational economic behavior, socialism trains people to undermine the socialist system.

[Schifference]

From what I can gather, my son can go to UCONN for 6 years on a free ride without financial aid. But I am not 100% sure. From what I have been told the top 2 kids in the senior class can get, I think it is called a presidential scholarship or something like that.
Regardless of that there is conflict in the household because MIT seems to be his #1 choice at this point and IVY League colleges have their appeal.
I am kinda in a domestic squabble over the issue.
I would think go to UCONN and get a masters. Another thing if you get financial aid, and get scholarships the aid is reduced by the amount of the scholarships. I am not really sure but why apply for scholarships if your financial aid is reduced. Same thing if they get a job. If he went to UCONN I think any scholarship he receives he gets to keep. So he could go to school and have spending money and not have to work.

[Cleaner44]

The whole college funding, financial aid thing is a horrible system. The cost are inflated. Parents are expected to pay for adult children. If the 18 adult child wants financial aid it is completely dependant upon the parents income, even if the parents are unwilling to pay for college. The federalization has really screwed up what should be a simple purchase of education.

[KCIndy]

If you make too much money your financial aid is decreased. Today we have middle class or upper middle class people trying to reduce their income so they can get the most financial aid. Don't take on a second job to pay for your kids college, lower your income. Why? because government caused the cost of college to increase so they can give you financial aid.

Poor people want to earn less and people doing fairly well want to earn less.

What is wrong with this picture??

Actually, you don't need to make less money.

You just need to make less *reportable* income.

[William Tell]

Problem in expression..."We need to claim less income" is the desired outcome right?

Exactly, tod.

[KCIndy]

Problem in expression..."We need to claim less income" is the desired outcome right?

Yeah, this! (How did I miss this post when I was reading the thread earlier?)

[heavenlyboy34]

Say what you want but it is much better to get paid to make decisions than to carry them out.

Non-sequitur. Steve Jobs was a dropout and spent much of his life getting paid to make decisions. Folks in the trades also tend to do well. (ace welders make great money and can operate a shop on the side and/or freelance if necessary) I advise anyone considering college to think about what they want to do afterward first. Going just for the sake of going is just pissing away money and time. If your desired career doesn't require a degree, don't waste your time. Contrary to popular myths, however much more you may make over a lifetime compared to a non-grad winds up a wash and in many cases a loss compared to a person who used the opportunity cost building a career and wealth instead of debt.

[heavenlyboy34]

The whole college funding, financial aid thing is a horrible system. The cost are inflated. Parents are expected to pay for adult children. If the 18 adult child wants financial aid it is completely dependant upon the parents income, even if the parents are unwilling to pay for college. The federalization has really screwed up what should be a simple purchase of education.

hmmm... Never heard of this. It certainly isn't my situation. Do people get their folks to cosign or something? I'm on the hook for ALL my loans. Signed all the papers myself, too.

[TaftFan]

So you have this problem? I thought your son would be getting a free ride.

[PaulConventionWV]

My only goal is to avoid directly working for the US government. The concept of trying to make less money is completely foreign to me, and I am proud to say I am accomplishing my goal so far as district sales manager for a newspaper. If I find a way to make more money, I will do it, and I am currently exercising several options that will allow me to do that. Some of them are even already beginning to have results, so I'm happy to say I'm a productive person.

[Schifference]

So you have this problem? I thought your son would be getting a free ride.

See post 12

[dannno]

I've been deliberately making less money for a number of years now. I don't want to have a dime of tax liability that can reasonably be avoided. There is no way in hell I am paying for a police state/mad Imperium.

What's wrong with you, John?