27-04-2023, 10:32 AM
(This post was last modified: 27-04-2023, 10:35 AM by Oh_hunnihunni.)
Life isn't fair.
I had the choice a few decades back of accepting an ACC payout in a lump sum rather than as a weekly thing. I took the lump thinking I could pay off the mortgage and be independent of that particular government entity. It was a very tempting thought. So I did, and paid out a huge wad of it to IRD because they classed it as income earned in one year and hit me with the top tax bracket.
I still swing between retrospectively thinking it a stupid decision or a wise one. The financial penalty was rough, but getting out from under ACC and all that baggage - that was such a huge relief.
Life isn't fair, but then - not everything is about money.
America. Land of the free...
Which reminds me of a bit of the latest episode of Succession where a character was ripping into the welfare state system that most civilised nations have but America doesn't. The episode was worth it for that tiny piece alone...
I had the choice a few decades back of accepting an ACC payout in a lump sum rather than as a weekly thing. I took the lump thinking I could pay off the mortgage and be independent of that particular government entity. It was a very tempting thought. So I did, and paid out a huge wad of it to IRD because they classed it as income earned in one year and hit me with the top tax bracket.
I still swing between retrospectively thinking it a stupid decision or a wise one. The financial penalty was rough, but getting out from under ACC and all that baggage - that was such a huge relief.
Life isn't fair, but then - not everything is about money.
(27-04-2023, 10:25 AM)Olive Wrote:(27-04-2023, 10:14 AM)dken31 Wrote: Are we all greedy for wanting to be able to choose what we do with as much of our money as possible?
Yes, you are. And it is foolish to ignore the social contract by which we all expect the state to pay for education, health care, police, welfare, transport infrastructure etc, and in return we pay taxes. Would you really like to live in a society without these things?
America. Land of the free...
Which reminds me of a bit of the latest episode of Succession where a character was ripping into the welfare state system that most civilised nations have but America doesn't. The episode was worth it for that tiny piece alone...