[quote=CA renter][quote=jstoesz]Case and point… I live on 12 acres. The land is rented out to a horse boarder who pays my landlord rent for the use of the land. She is sick of the work, early feedings, broken fences, etc. I could take over the operation and net 300-400 bucks revenue before taxes…from my excel spreadsheet anyways. It would be easy to do that stuff, cause I live here, and I like that stuff. But after my tax burden that gets cut to 200 tops. After the head aches of getting feed delivered and cobblers ( is that what horse shoe men are called?). And having to set up high school kids when we are in the mountains for the weekend, and reporting the income, and insurance if someone breaks their neck, and all the other bullshit of running your own business, I am not even tempted. Not even close. The incentives are all wrong.[/quote]
Agree that it’s not enough money, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the taxes are too high; it more likely means that even $300 isn’t enough to get you to do it (it wouldn’t for me, either), especially if you’re the one who has to deal with insurance, cobblers (yes, I think that’s what they’re called), etc.
That being said, what if you only made $1,000 in your regular (full-time) job, and struggled daily to make ends meet. Would $200 be worth it to spend 1-2 hours/day on this work? For many people, it would be more than enough.
This is my point: if it’s not worth it to you, it will probably be worth it to someone else. With the surplus labor we have, the work will get done, the only question is by whom.[/quote]
Funny you should say that, because as of now, no one is stepping up to the plate. My landlord is in the process of shutting it down. I am going to have to do some serious weedwacking next spring with no horses to eat the weeds. A waste of productive resources if you ask me.
And this isn’t an isolated instance, it’s indemic. Change the incentives, and you change the behavior. We all play the game. It’s not binary, it’s a continuum of work and payoff.
