I guess I have to take both of your words, because frankly I can't relate :)…I don't think I meant to say rich people pay NO taxes. I just felt talking to advisors and whatnot that the conversations usually resulted in "sorry, your assets and current employment predicament being on a w-2, though a sizeable w-2 doesn't allow me to play with much to avoid taxes, unlike client XYZ which does most of their business in RE and recognizes very little income"
I suppose my advisor(s) was b.s.ing me. For the record, I do know what getting hit with AMT is about, because I've been hit pretty much every year for the past couple of years, both married and single…Though I i really don't feel rich. Though the ironic part is the larger the mortgage interest deduction on my primary, the less AMT I would have ended up paying (not that much, a few thousand), even with the itemized deduction phase out.
I just thought executives had access to things like deferred compensation plans, zero interest loans from companies, etc that somehow allowed them to skew income, etc though I'm not an accountant or really smart enough to know.
And by no means do I think rich people should get hit with a bigger tax. Quite contrary, I believe for better or worse that most people who are rich probably got there through some merit, and do keep the rest of the economy going. I'm just peeved the government keeps classify me and my family as rich when we aren't. I hate government that acts like robin hood. Pelosi, with all due respect, scares thecrap out of me.
Anyway, end vent. Time to get off my lazy union -ss.
