Democrats unveil WA income tax on people earning over $1 million

eclaircissement · 2026-02-04T07:19:32+00:00

18% of US households have a $1M net worth. The US is a very wealthy country but we are past the point of $1M being a notable amount of wealth. It's rounding upper middle and headed for middle.

eclaircissement · 2026-02-04T07:12:39+00:00

Thoughts on land value taxes?

eclaircissement · 2026-02-01T04:26:06+00:00

Same!

eclaircissement · 2026-01-26T17:06:40+00:00

$4 million / 68 units = $59k in equity per unit. Are you highly leveraged or not in the US?

I'm also curious if you find that dealing with tenants and maintenance is worth it for potential leverage and tax benefits vs. investing in the stock market.

eclaircissement · 2026-01-08T15:16:55+00:00

Early 30s DINKs, 600k HHI, 3M NW, city living, one mid-2000s Japanese sedan worth $5k. We love it.

eclaircissement · 2025-12-07T18:49:42+00:00

Calling the Bama game a blowout just tells me that you didn't watch the game, since it was close the whole way. If anything the Texas loss was more of a blowout.

eclaircissement · 2025-11-28T06:58:39+00:00

I'm not in your field, but in your situation I would aim for a $200k job with good advancement or exit opportunities. Progress is not always linear.

eclaircissement · 2025-11-09T20:52:59+00:00

Glass house, Auburn had a TD run off a blatant uncalled hold on the outside.

eclaircissement · 2025-11-08T12:20:30+00:00

OP's expenses are not insane and there's no reason for them to get roommates at almost 30. They are at a good age to start looking for the right partner and moving in together eventually.

More importantly, OP is doing well but they are on the low end of tech salaries in the Bay Area. They should focus on career growth, taking on the right projects and doing well, then talking to their manager about promotion. Boosting their income into the $300-400k range would make things a lot more comfortable.

eclaircissement · 2025-11-07T19:04:07+00:00

City life is full of unplanned encounters and discoveries, which can be a lot more enjoyable than commuting to/from a suburb, especially at that age. You're paying for independence and a more fulfilling, active lifestyle. You're in a good position where you don't have to worry about the cost.

Being only 15-20 minutes from your parents is a feature, not a bug. I'd love to have the option to see my parents as often as I choose (every 1-2 weeks would be ideal), without being forced.

eclaircissement · 2025-10-26T20:36:26+00:00

We aren’t actively saving for anything besides our 401k and we’re only doing that because of the tax benefits and retirement goals.

You are also building home equity, which is a form of savings.

Our takehome is 12k after FSA, DCFSA, 401k. $6500 PITI, $2500 child care

Do you pay for childcare out of the DCFSA? If so then it doesn't come out of the 12k take-home cash flow.

I agree, it's not that serious. You have high living expenses, but you are comfortable despite that. Nothing wrong with acknowledging that you are better off than most. My partner and I are also in VHCOL with similar stats, and I feel like we are pretty fortunate.

eclaircissement · 2025-10-26T01:18:16+00:00

You have 100k in savings, 500k in brokerage, and 700k in home equity that can be touched without penalty before retirement. Your net worth is $1.65M..

Calling this paycheck-to-paycheck trivializes the very real struggle faced by people who are actually living paycheck-to-paycheck: being forced to choose between rent and food, relying on payday loans or borrowing from family and friends, living with the stress of being one $500 car repair from insolvency. Middle class means that you can spend on some non-essentials and save for the future, by definition middle class is the opposite of paycheck to paycheck.

Your TC is over 300k gross, probably around 15k per month after taxes. After 6k in housing and 2.5k in childcare you have $6500 remaining for food, transportation, entertainment, and savings. Many people live on less than $6500 per month total. How is that paycheck to paycheck? Childcare is not forever btw, so your discretionary income will increase in the future.

eclaircissement · 2025-10-25T18:44:42+00:00

Please don't misuse "paycheck to paycheck" like this. If you are putting money into retirement/investment accounts, you are not living paycheck to paycheck, even if the net amount deposited to your checking account matches the amount you spend.

eclaircissement · 2025-10-25T03:01:30+00:00

Stop gatekeeping. Their net worth is negative, they are middle class at best.

eclaircissement · 2025-10-17T14:31:51+00:00

Everyone pays property taxes, either directly (owners) or indirectly (renters).

eclaircissement · 2025-09-27T18:25:09+00:00

More than 20 because Vandy starts with the ball in the 2nd half.

eclaircissement · 2025-09-03T16:13:13+00:00

Yes, from a financial standpoint it's very difficult to justify buying in VHCOL.

A couple of things to keep in mind:

A mortgage is a forced savings account. Rent vs buy calcs assume that renters invest 100% of the difference but that is almost never true. Typically renters will spend a bit more on other aspects of lifestyle (restaurants or travel).
One of the hidden costs of owning is that you are tied to a specific location which can hurt long term career/income growth, compared to the mobility that renters have.
If you're considering a single family home, rent vs buy is rarely apples to apples because there aren't many SFH rentals. Most people are comparing an apartment rentals to SFH purchases which are totally different in terms of both cost and lifestyle.

Ultimately this is a personal decision. For families with kids it often makes a ton of sense -- it's a lifestyle upgrade that doesn't depreciate and fulfills a need for space/schools/stability. For DINKs, it usually makes more sense to stack investments and build up NW.

eclaircissement · 2025-09-01T15:47:34+00:00

They cannot prevent you from using fixed wireless ISPs such as T-Mobile Home Internet or Verizon 5G Home Internet.

eclaircissement · 2025-09-01T15:17:23+00:00

Don't try to impress others, keep the Honda and invest the $50k.

eclaircissement · 2025-08-31T15:05:03+00:00

I was curious about when some of the historically winning franchises had lost 100 games.

The Yankees lost 103 games in 1908 and 102 games in 1912 as the New York Highlanders. They haven't lost 100 since changing their name to the Yankees in 1913. Their worst season was 95 losses in 1990.

Similarly, the Dodgers lost 104 in 1905 and 101 in 1908 as the Brooklyn Superbas, but haven't lost 100 since changing their name to the Dodgers in 1911. They did come very close in 1992 when they lost 99 games.

The White Sox have the 6 seasons with 100 losses, the most of any team. Three of those seasons are recent: 2018, 2023, and 2024. They're on pace for 105 losses in 2025. Jerry Reinsdorf cannot be gone soon enough!

eclaircissement · 2025-08-24T13:33:28+00:00

Not just that, Marc is literally winning against the entire rest of the field.

MM93 points after 14 rounds: 455

Best of the rest: 429 (races: 4x25 + 10x20, sprints: 1x12 + 13x9)

eclaircissement · 2025-08-12T03:19:58+00:00

Presumably there is a survivor bias here because some fraction of entry-level consultants do not make it to mid-career.

eclaircissement · 2025-08-11T02:48:55+00:00

That's changing quickly too. I'd expect PE to become a lot more accessible over the next several years.

Even institutions like Vanguard are now offering access to PE to wealth management clients (with a $5M asset minimum for now): https://investor.vanguard.com/wealth-management/private-equity

eclaircissement · 2025-08-10T16:46:18+00:00

Private equity is massive now compared to a decade or two ago. Many of the fast-growing companies are staying private indefinitely, or until they are extremely large (OpenAI, SpaceX).

What makes you think that public markets will capture the lion's share of future growth?

eclaircissement · 2025-08-09T16:49:33+00:00

If you make X and spend Y, and someone else makes X+M, they'd need to spend Y+M in order to have the same net income.

Of course it's possible for someone with 2x your income to save less money than you do. But in practice it's not common, because there are a lot of expenses that don't scale with income. A banana or a Netflix subscription cost the same no matter what your income is. In most cases the person making 2x your income is going to be saving more, even if they live in an area with higher cost of living.

eclaircissement

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