* Dan Minette ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > (taxes paid to government over one's lifetime- cash benefits received > from government over ones lifetime)/total income over one's lifetime.
I just realized the source of the difference. We are both writing out the formula for lifetime net tax rate, but the numbers in the chart, and the idea I have in mind, is MARGINAL lifetime net tax rate. I should have labeled that chart marginal, to be clear (by the way, I copied it from Kotlikoff's book, not the website -- in the book only the website is referenced, not a specific location) When people talk about being in the 37% tax bracket, they mean that their marginal tax rate is 37%, in other words, $0.37 of every additional dollar they earn (above their current income) goes to taxes. With a non-working spouse considering working, the marginal lifetime net tax rate can be very high, since SS benefits increase very little until the newly working spouse begins to make quite a bit more money than the long-working spouse. -- Erik Reuter http://www.erikreuter.net/ _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
