Posted on 03/21/2010 2:25:14 PM PDT by kindredspirit
My husband and I have discussed ways to mitigate the punitive taxes that will be even greater next year. We have been saving like crazy and are thinking of "Going Galt" like the character in Ayn Rand's book, Atlas Shrugged. John Galt, an industrial leader, drops out of a corrupt and unjust system until it implodes. Anyone else thinking along those lines?
I may head back again to the reservation with my son in law, drag the whole family there.
I had my wife retire last year at 53. I am now semi-retired at 60. We will no longer make large incomes and pay the highest tax rate. We sold our city home and moved to our country home, which is free and clear. We have no debt. We live a much simpler and lower priced lifestyle.
We love this new way of living, no rush hour, no rat race, no stress. We worked for this possibility for 30 years, always saving, investing and living below our means. We made it in the nick of time. But we know we are lucky, only a few people have the resources available to do what we have done.
I knew this problem time was coming, and I worked hard to be ready. I thought it would come as a general result of govt overpromising and overspending, didn’t of course know that Obama would push the country into it quite this fast. We took the plunge about 2 years earlier than I intended, but it is working out and looks very sustainable.
I do that already
we do flea market,
I do work for cash
and I am a starving artist, make jewelery and sell it
Interesting link. I’ve never thought about it before, but...
Good for you, same here. It would be good to have a national network to exchange ideas ... kind of like the fish symbol used by the early Christians to find each other
barter, baby, barter
I won’t be anywhere near MILF or the other Islamic jihadists.
Let’s come up with workable plans to “go Galt”... might be worth a ‘how to’ thread ...
I’ve wanted to “go Galt” for a long time now.........sigh wish it weren’t just a dream.
“May even end up overseas.”
It is a seductive thought, but if you’re a US citizen (or resident), and if you have significant assets, your chance of escaping without being taxed is rather unlikely. Even after leaving the country, there are some things that can be taxed up to 10 (ten) years out. Same for estate taxes.
Do your research though. Your situation will be different than everyone else’s. If you want a fast citizenship (residency won’t do), consider Nevis/St. Kitts, or Dominica. Are going somewhere to retire, or work? You can retire rather comfortably in Belize without a lot of trouble (as a pensionado, or whatever furin term they use down there), but your income will still be taxed by the US. It’s a nice country though. They speak American, and the diving is good.
You may already be a potential citizen of Israel, if you are Jewish. Seems like there are other countries like Ireland and Italy that allow activation of citizenship if you’re not more than a generation of two removed from someone having citizenship in that respective country.
Some of the aforementioned countries even allow you to hold dual citizenship, but dual citizenship would not allow you to pull the plug on US citizenship, and the temporally distant possibility of removal of taxes on income and estates.
Still, if time is on your side and you’ve no problem with renouncing your US citizenship, you might consider Singapore as a possibility. The toll on that bridge runs at or a little less than a cool $1 mil US. This is not a fee, but an investment in a business, or approved government investment scheme. As I recall, you would need to be permanent resident status for a couple of years before you could apply for citizenship. What’s interesting is that some of their taxes have actually gone down over the last few years. >8-0
What a concept! Still, it is a first world country. That’s something to think about as well.
‘Course, you could just forget all of this and “hop into the trenches” with the rest of us and take the country back over the next few years. You’re not going to get a quick tax disconnection by moving away, and there is a certain visceral satisfaction in exerting political restitution and revenge on the Marxist infidels. Personally, I rather enjoy the conflict. You won’t be alone if you stick around. You clearly might be if you expatriate.
It’s understandable that everyone wants to do this painlessly and without much sacrifice. But that doesn’t get it done.
Remember what 0bama’s wife said. He’s going to move you out of your comfort zone. Well, better you move yourself out before he does it for you. Whatever sacrifice you make, whatever discomfort you face, should at least be your option. And in the end, what it does is thwart 0bama and his plans to bring “fundamental change” to America.
So do it on your terms, and don’t expect it to be easy.
And you, kindredspirit — I haven’t read the whole thread and don’t know your situation, which you may have mentioned already, but it all depends on your present situation. Your age, career, marital status, credit, health...all sorts of things factor in. However, in general...
Some of the first steps I’d recommend include, in no special order:
cut out cable tv and rely on the internet
get the kids out of public school
quit one job if your household has two
sell one car if you have two
pay off the house and the car
buy gold, silver, and lead
get a cheap cell phone that you pay less than $10/month for, and buy the minutes as needed
don’t use credit cards
learn a useful skill that will be an essential one if the country goes completely down the tubes
move to a rural area where taxes are low; you can still buy a foreclosure for a few hundred dollars, you just have to look around
Do all the above and you don’t even need a full time job. You can drive a cab or deliver pizza and get by.
The more radical types have other options but we won’t get into that! :)
I heard him on Rush the other day. Thank God for people like him who are willing to take on the federal govt. I hope he goes in snarling and barking and wins one for the people of this nation!
I got the "opportunity" to retire in '07. I took it because if you don't.....well everyone knows what happens in that situation. I'm doing okay but the time will come when I have to go back to work. My house is paid for, I have no debt and really work hard to avoid or minimize my tax hit. Don't drive when I don't have to. combine errands if I do. Go to the next county over to buy groceries (5 mile vs 11 mile to go to city.)
The feds, state and city are going to gag when they realize that my income went to almost nothing. Makes me smile!
If you want to learn about a constitutional lawyer's opinion of our government, he's is the cream of the crop of talk show hosts. (Mark Levin for AG!) At some point, our knowledge advances as we grow, Mark is our professor, and he feeds our advanced need for knowledge. Mark has worked for the Reagan administration as a top attorney, plus other creds.
Thank you Mark for all you do!
Navy here also. Swifts..delta and An Thoi..'67-'68. Take care oh Salty One.
Nam Vet
While waiting in a doctor's office I've seen Fox News Channel, and I came away unimpressed. I really can't speak to the "fair and balanced" issue since I saw so little of it, but the repetitiveness of the coverage would drive me crazy.
Good for you to have a good movie collection. I too have a small collection (maybe a 100 or so of the classics) and occasionally I might watch one or two over a month’s period.
I never attached the converter box to my TV, just a VCR and a DVD player.
My hubby, EE by trade, has something that records, like a computer, stores and can burn dvd’s, all on a dvr player. He can add memory, similar to a computer, as needed. It’s total geek heaven. It’s fabulous. The only thing is, they’re stopping production of this type of system, he believes too many are doing what we’re doing. Oh well, he’s purchased 2 more of these systems. I created a monster a couple years ago by suggesting we needed a dvr system and get rid of the the video stuff. VBG
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