[joec]

Another thing is that housing has always been propped up, encouraged to own, etc…

Where else is there a 250k/500k income tax free capital gains exclusion? A lot of my friends’ parents took advantage of this when it was first available by selling their existing home, moving, repeat every two years to diversify out of their holdings…

You also get the tax write off on mortgages and property tax.

Any others?

[joec]

Another thing is that housing has always been propped up, encouraged to own, etc…

Where else is there a 250k/500k income tax free capital gains exclusion? A lot of my friends’ parents took advantage of this when it was first available by selling their existing home, moving, repeat every two years to diversify out of their holdings…

You also get the tax write off on mortgages and property tax.

Any others?

[joec]

Another thing is that housing has always been propped up, encouraged to own, etc…

Where else is there a 250k/500k income tax free capital gains exclusion? A lot of my friends’ parents took advantage of this when it was first available by selling their existing home, moving, repeat every two years to diversify out of their holdings…

You also get the tax write off on mortgages and property tax.

Any others?

[joec]

[quote=gandalf][quote=investor]With your ideals, I agree. The problem is how to incentivise the government workers/ system. If you could make government efficient, the UAW (whom I lump together with government, which you may not agree with) would put out competitive cars wouldn’t they?[/quote]

The ideals are correct but the criticisms here are cliche and misplaced.

Government can, and frequently does, serve a useful purpose. It is not ‘inherently’ bad or wasteful. Governmental organizations are the same as any other organization, a reflection of the people involved.

Let’s be clear. Inefficiency and waste occurs all the time in the private sector. So does collusion, corruption, business failure, bubbles, panics and even market failure. Tremendous inefficiencies.

Look at our INSOLVENT private sector banking industry which, absent meaningful government regulation, gambled away massive amounts of private deposits on ludicrous financial leverage schemes and nearly destroyed our economy.

Yeah, government is the problem. Heard it before. Whatever.[/quote]

A lot of hate is directed towards the government because the government collects your tax dollars…

People don’t care if other private companies waste money or pay out big bonuses if they don’t feel they are funding that lifestyle or paying the bill…

Same reason people are annoyed with government bailing out homeowners who ATMed their house.

[joec]

[quote=gandalf][quote=investor]With your ideals, I agree. The problem is how to incentivise the government workers/ system. If you could make government efficient, the UAW (whom I lump together with government, which you may not agree with) would put out competitive cars wouldn’t they?[/quote]

The ideals are correct but the criticisms here are cliche and misplaced.

Government can, and frequently does, serve a useful purpose. It is not ‘inherently’ bad or wasteful. Governmental organizations are the same as any other organization, a reflection of the people involved.

Let’s be clear. Inefficiency and waste occurs all the time in the private sector. So does collusion, corruption, business failure, bubbles, panics and even market failure. Tremendous inefficiencies.

Look at our INSOLVENT private sector banking industry which, absent meaningful government regulation, gambled away massive amounts of private deposits on ludicrous financial leverage schemes and nearly destroyed our economy.

Yeah, government is the problem. Heard it before. Whatever.[/quote]

A lot of hate is directed towards the government because the government collects your tax dollars…

People don’t care if other private companies waste money or pay out big bonuses if they don’t feel they are funding that lifestyle or paying the bill…

Same reason people are annoyed with government bailing out homeowners who ATMed their house.

[joec]

[quote=gandalf][quote=investor]With your ideals, I agree. The problem is how to incentivise the government workers/ system. If you could make government efficient, the UAW (whom I lump together with government, which you may not agree with) would put out competitive cars wouldn’t they?[/quote]

The ideals are correct but the criticisms here are cliche and misplaced.

Government can, and frequently does, serve a useful purpose. It is not ‘inherently’ bad or wasteful. Governmental organizations are the same as any other organization, a reflection of the people involved.

Let’s be clear. Inefficiency and waste occurs all the time in the private sector. So does collusion, corruption, business failure, bubbles, panics and even market failure. Tremendous inefficiencies.

Look at our INSOLVENT private sector banking industry which, absent meaningful government regulation, gambled away massive amounts of private deposits on ludicrous financial leverage schemes and nearly destroyed our economy.

Yeah, government is the problem. Heard it before. Whatever.[/quote]

A lot of hate is directed towards the government because the government collects your tax dollars…

People don’t care if other private companies waste money or pay out big bonuses if they don’t feel they are funding that lifestyle or paying the bill…

Same reason people are annoyed with government bailing out homeowners who ATMed their house.

[joec]

[quote=gandalf][quote=investor]With your ideals, I agree. The problem is how to incentivise the government workers/ system. If you could make government efficient, the UAW (whom I lump together with government, which you may not agree with) would put out competitive cars wouldn’t they?[/quote]

The ideals are correct but the criticisms here are cliche and misplaced.

Government can, and frequently does, serve a useful purpose. It is not ‘inherently’ bad or wasteful. Governmental organizations are the same as any other organization, a reflection of the people involved.

Let’s be clear. Inefficiency and waste occurs all the time in the private sector. So does collusion, corruption, business failure, bubbles, panics and even market failure. Tremendous inefficiencies.

Look at our INSOLVENT private sector banking industry which, absent meaningful government regulation, gambled away massive amounts of private deposits on ludicrous financial leverage schemes and nearly destroyed our economy.

Yeah, government is the problem. Heard it before. Whatever.[/quote]

A lot of hate is directed towards the government because the government collects your tax dollars…

People don’t care if other private companies waste money or pay out big bonuses if they don’t feel they are funding that lifestyle or paying the bill…

Same reason people are annoyed with government bailing out homeowners who ATMed their house.

[joec]

[quote=gandalf][quote=investor]With your ideals, I agree. The problem is how to incentivise the government workers/ system. If you could make government efficient, the UAW (whom I lump together with government, which you may not agree with) would put out competitive cars wouldn’t they?[/quote]

The ideals are correct but the criticisms here are cliche and misplaced.

Government can, and frequently does, serve a useful purpose. It is not ‘inherently’ bad or wasteful. Governmental organizations are the same as any other organization, a reflection of the people involved.

Let’s be clear. Inefficiency and waste occurs all the time in the private sector. So does collusion, corruption, business failure, bubbles, panics and even market failure. Tremendous inefficiencies.

Look at our INSOLVENT private sector banking industry which, absent meaningful government regulation, gambled away massive amounts of private deposits on ludicrous financial leverage schemes and nearly destroyed our economy.

Yeah, government is the problem. Heard it before. Whatever.[/quote]

A lot of hate is directed towards the government because the government collects your tax dollars…

People don’t care if other private companies waste money or pay out big bonuses if they don’t feel they are funding that lifestyle or paying the bill…

Same reason people are annoyed with government bailing out homeowners who ATMed their house.

[joec]

[quote=jimmyle]Most, if not all, credit union ATMs are free for Credit Unions members. Just look for that Co-Op Network Triangular Sign.

I used to bank with my Credit Union and Bofa. Three months ago they want to charge me a monthly fee, I immediately told them that I want to close the account. They said they will give me a 1 year grace period for being a good customer. Once the 1 year grace period is over, I will cancel for sure if they don’t extend it.[/quote]

If I were you, I’d use the year (sooner rather than later) to cancel the account instead unless you had to have a BofA account…

From my experience, there can be nothing good with that relationship and you don’t really need BofA.

Then again, the downsides of using the local credit union is when you travel…No banks/atms in Vegas probably or other parts of the country so most folks probably keep at least 1 major bank around (Citi, BofA, Chase) I’d guess.

I’m going to look into the Schwab bank and see how that works with their free atm access.

[joec]

[quote=jimmyle]Most, if not all, credit union ATMs are free for Credit Unions members. Just look for that Co-Op Network Triangular Sign.

I used to bank with my Credit Union and Bofa. Three months ago they want to charge me a monthly fee, I immediately told them that I want to close the account. They said they will give me a 1 year grace period for being a good customer. Once the 1 year grace period is over, I will cancel for sure if they don’t extend it.[/quote]

If I were you, I’d use the year (sooner rather than later) to cancel the account instead unless you had to have a BofA account…

From my experience, there can be nothing good with that relationship and you don’t really need BofA.

Then again, the downsides of using the local credit union is when you travel…No banks/atms in Vegas probably or other parts of the country so most folks probably keep at least 1 major bank around (Citi, BofA, Chase) I’d guess.

I’m going to look into the Schwab bank and see how that works with their free atm access.

[joec]

[quote=jimmyle]Most, if not all, credit union ATMs are free for Credit Unions members. Just look for that Co-Op Network Triangular Sign.

I used to bank with my Credit Union and Bofa. Three months ago they want to charge me a monthly fee, I immediately told them that I want to close the account. They said they will give me a 1 year grace period for being a good customer. Once the 1 year grace period is over, I will cancel for sure if they don’t extend it.[/quote]

If I were you, I’d use the year (sooner rather than later) to cancel the account instead unless you had to have a BofA account…

From my experience, there can be nothing good with that relationship and you don’t really need BofA.

Then again, the downsides of using the local credit union is when you travel…No banks/atms in Vegas probably or other parts of the country so most folks probably keep at least 1 major bank around (Citi, BofA, Chase) I’d guess.

I’m going to look into the Schwab bank and see how that works with their free atm access.

[joec]

[quote=jimmyle]Most, if not all, credit union ATMs are free for Credit Unions members. Just look for that Co-Op Network Triangular Sign.

I used to bank with my Credit Union and Bofa. Three months ago they want to charge me a monthly fee, I immediately told them that I want to close the account. They said they will give me a 1 year grace period for being a good customer. Once the 1 year grace period is over, I will cancel for sure if they don’t extend it.[/quote]

If I were you, I’d use the year (sooner rather than later) to cancel the account instead unless you had to have a BofA account…

From my experience, there can be nothing good with that relationship and you don’t really need BofA.

Then again, the downsides of using the local credit union is when you travel…No banks/atms in Vegas probably or other parts of the country so most folks probably keep at least 1 major bank around (Citi, BofA, Chase) I’d guess.

I’m going to look into the Schwab bank and see how that works with their free atm access.

[joec]

[quote=jimmyle]Most, if not all, credit union ATMs are free for Credit Unions members. Just look for that Co-Op Network Triangular Sign.

I used to bank with my Credit Union and Bofa. Three months ago they want to charge me a monthly fee, I immediately told them that I want to close the account. They said they will give me a 1 year grace period for being a good customer. Once the 1 year grace period is over, I will cancel for sure if they don’t extend it.[/quote]

If I were you, I’d use the year (sooner rather than later) to cancel the account instead unless you had to have a BofA account…

From my experience, there can be nothing good with that relationship and you don’t really need BofA.

Then again, the downsides of using the local credit union is when you travel…No banks/atms in Vegas probably or other parts of the country so most folks probably keep at least 1 major bank around (Citi, BofA, Chase) I’d guess.

I’m going to look into the Schwab bank and see how that works with their free atm access.

[joec]

The problem with using incentives to improve budgeting and waste in government and the corporate world is that whatever happens, they are already rewarded either way. Think of the golden parachutes for execs and senior managers. All the ousted CEOs and top exec VPs get many times their salary if forced out. In government and city employment, you read so many articles of huge benefit packages already, they are getting rewards no matter what happens so there is no incentive to do anything at this point.

When I was in the corporate world, we also had the use it or lose it mentality (in terms of head count, budget dollars) and it’s unfortunate that companies and government can’t run like a household to actually save money.

Maybe it’s the length and term of employment nowadays. Lack of funds in the future or if the company/government collapses, at least you got yours and the future is not your problem anymore.

[joec]

The problem with using incentives to improve budgeting and waste in government and the corporate world is that whatever happens, they are already rewarded either way. Think of the golden parachutes for execs and senior managers. All the ousted CEOs and top exec VPs get many times their salary if forced out. In government and city employment, you read so many articles of huge benefit packages already, they are getting rewards no matter what happens so there is no incentive to do anything at this point.

When I was in the corporate world, we also had the use it or lose it mentality (in terms of head count, budget dollars) and it’s unfortunate that companies and government can’t run like a household to actually save money.

Maybe it’s the length and term of employment nowadays. Lack of funds in the future or if the company/government collapses, at least you got yours and the future is not your problem anymore.

[Author]

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