Taxes on rich hurt economy

Tax facts

Tax fairness

But today I’m not writing, I’m quoting. From the 2nd most influential book of all time (behind the Bible):

Public welfare’ is the welfare of those who do not earn it; those who do, are entitled to no welfare.

and

…through all the generations of political extortion, it was not the looting bureaucrats who had taken the blame, but the chained industrialists, not the men who peddled legal flavors, but the men who were forced to buy them; and through all those generations of crusades against corruption, the remedy had always been, not the liberating of the victims, but the granting of wider powers for extortion to the extortionists. The only guilt of the victims, he thought, had been that they accepted it as guilt.

and

…the man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it.

and

If enjoyment is a value, why is it moral when experienced by others, but immoral when experienced by you?… Why is it immoral for you to desire, but moral for others to do so? Why is it immoral to produce a value and keep it, but moral to give it away?”

 

Think about the last question, in regards to the rich being taxed and the government giving it away.

Happy tax day.

PS If today (or Monday this year) is just another normal day for you, thank a rich person.

It is at landonswan.tumblr.com. It is linked to on the right as “Fund Yourself”.

The twitter is @fundyourself

Landonswan.com (and my twitter @landonswan) will remain mainly personal with a touch of politics / business thoughts.

The desire and ability to hurdle ignorance.

Let me illustrate my point:

If there are 100 people across America with what they believe to be a good business idea right now:
All 100 will think how great their new invention/idea is
All 100 will also think about how much money they could make if it took off
(20 will stop there)
Remaining 80 will consider the initial requirements to actually doing the business
They will also discover that they don’t know something critical in the process
(40 will quit)
Remaining 40 will do some research to find out how to overcome that first hurdle
They will also realize that the first hurdle is pretty tough
(30 will quit, riddled with excuses)
Remaining 10 will use spare time, spare money and hard work to overcome that hurdle
They will also come to the second hurdle, one that is massively larger and more intimidating than the first
(8 will quit, already tired from the first hurdle, unwilling to try a more difficult one)
2 will pass the 2nd hurdle of ignorance
Both of these two entrepreneurs will take their idea as far as it takes. One will discover his idea isn’t that good and will hang it up. The other will find his idea is a winner and will win. In my book, both are entrepreneurs. I’d back them both in their next venture (given that I like the idea).

Out of 100 people, 1 is successful but another is capable. So 2 are able to hurdle ignorance.

Overcoming ignorance really isn’t that difficult. I’m often very surprised by how easily the unknown triumps over what appears to be a valiant entrepreneurial contender. It really breaks down into simple mindset:

In business, heck–in life, we often come to barriers. We want to do something but we don’t know exactly how. Or we know the steps, but we don’t know how to do each step. I call those hurdles of ignorance. Most people shy away and admit defeat. They don’t know how to do it, and that’s that. Some people accept that they don’t know it all and they sit down and figure out how to do it. That person will be succesful.

When I was 20 and starting our first business with my brother. I had no idea how to make a website. It was a giant hurdle. But I was motivated, so I learned. I’m by no means a coding expert now, but I ended up writing the front and back end of a multi-million dollar website. I decided to learn how.

Andy didn’t know anything about online marketing or getting good rankings on yahoo and google, but in a few years he was mastering SEO and had our site at the top of the natural (free) results of yahoo and google for keywords that cost others $5 a click to buy. He didn’t know how to do it, but he learned. He decided to learn how.

When we were struggling and needed sales, I decided I had better get some phone sales going. I had NO idea how to sell on the phone, but I learned how. I read books, I practiced and I did it. Our sales doubled in a month, then doubled again. I decided to learn how.

In 2005 Andy didn’t know anything about venture capital and selling businesses. He knew it was important for us so he educated himself. He learned all he could. He was the reason we sold our first business, got funding for our second and sold our second. He decided to learn how.

My friend Pat had a sucky job managing paper delivery guys. He wanted to be a professional poker player. He didn’t know how to be one, but he learned. He read books, practiced and diligently gathered stats and self-evaluated. Now he lives in Vegas and makes a hell of a living playing poker as his ‘job’. He decided to learn how.

Deciding to learn how is what makes an entrepreneur. When it is something you are very interested in, it is easy. The challenge comes when it is not easy, not fun and there are many excuses for not learning it. THAT is the moment that defines an entrepreneur–when you either decide to sprint full speed and hurdle the ignorance or get distracted, use excuses and revert to average.

Next time you have an idea that seems just a little too big, start simple. Write down all the steps you think there are to going from start to finish. Which do you not know? If its all of them, that’s fine.

On day one, find out what it takes to learn how to do step 1. Day two, step two, etc.

Before you expect (probably a few hours into day one when you realize this isn’t that difficult) you will suddenly see all the steps in a new light. They aren’t huge obstacles, they are just the next thing you have to learn to do.

Decide to learn how.
Do it.
Win.

Here’s what I think:

It is wrong that one group of people pay a different income tax rate (or any other tax rate) than another group. Above the poverty line, we should all pay the same. Right now, even with the Bush cuts, the highest earners pay a income tax percentage 2-3 times that of the average American.

So if Joe makes 10x what Bill makes, instead of paying 10x in taxes, he pays 20-30x in income taxes.

In a land where equality if the goal, I fail to see how this is fair or justified.

I also don’t understand how it is constitutional, given section 8:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

“but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;”

(fyi “impost” is an old-time word for tax)
The tax laws are so complex that some can point out how one group pays less than another in one category and that group can point out how they pay too much in a different category. As long as congress can take advantage of the populus’ ignorance and turn us against each other and allow the people to vote for [candidates who promise] tax cuts for themselves and tax raises for what they believe to be the bad guys, we’ll continue this illogical debate indefinitely…”

In my 10 years working with my brother Andy, I’ve taken on many many projects myself. Usually I work in solitude, hammering away with extreme vigor in insane spurts of 10, 15 even 20 hour shifts. This goes on for days or weeks and when I’m finished, I believe 100% that I have created the absolute best masterpeice of entrepreneurial magic ever. Ever.

Then I proudly unveil it to Andy, who is very impressed at first. After a few minutes of use it happens. Every time.

“What if here we did this instead?”
“Why doesn’t this have a call to action?”
“This part may be confusing to 1st time users, needs some usability tweaks.”
“Ooooo! I’ve got it, let’s add a do-hickey here to _______.”

• At first I’m offended, insulted. How could he attack my masterpiece?

• Then as I begin to step back, I see SOME merit in his silly ideas.

• Then after a day or so and a little sleep I realize that dammit, he’s right on all accounts.

And so I begin to make the adjustments and I’ll be damned if the masterpiece was slowly becoming a MASTERPIECE.

And once again, I learn the lesson. I rock, ya. Hell, I’m brilliant. But by myself, I sorta suck. I need someone to look at my work from the outside, with fresh eyes and give honest intelligent criticism. I’m lucky that my go-to guy for that job is Andy Swan, who is no internet entrepreneur slouch himself.

Maybe you’re not lucky enough to have team Swan in your corner. But you need to find someone, the best person(s) you can, to critique your work. Don’t pick your mother. Make sure you select someone who can honestly tell you when you suck. Cause I have bad news for you–without outside eyes looking in giving that honest constructive criticism, you do suck. With it, you can dominate.

1. The top producers pay 35% federal income tax. (source)
2. The top producers pay between 0 and 11% state income tax (source)
3. The top producers pay up to 4% in city taxes (NYC) (source)
4. Top producers pay between 35 – 50% income tax, depending on where they live. (sources above)
5. The median income family pays 4.6% in income tax. (source)
6. 62% of Americans think their tax rate is fair. (source)
7. The top 1% of producers pay 40% of our taxes as a country. (source)
8. The bottom 50% pay less than 3% of our taxes as a country. (source)

Someone please tell me how this is fair. Please tell me why a flat tax isn’t the most fair option.

When you rob Peter to pay Paul (or 10 Pauls), you’re sure to get Paul’s vote. (credit @andyswan)

What you earn is TheIRS’

Atlas will shrug.

We all have good ideas for products, services or businesses. Ideas are a dime a dozen, as my brother points out.  The difference between someone with an idea and someone becoming successful because of that idea is usually ‘just doing it’. In all the entrepreneurs I know, there is one constant attribute–we all have the ability to do something tomorrow that we have NO idea how to do today.

Think about it–we all currently share the lack of knowledge of how to say, take an idea for a widget, get it created, mass manufactured, and sold. But some people don’t stop with just the idea. They decide ‘I’m going to figure out how to do this’ and they do it.

It is the ability to learn how to do something and the will to execute it that seperates Joe Schmoe with an idea from Joe Millionare with a successful business.

Here are some tips on how to accomplish this:

1. Write down what you want to do
2. Break it down into as many small steps as you can and make a list.
3. Start on the first step. Figure out how to do it by:
   1. Spend an entire day on google trying to figure out how to do it. Odds are the answer is out there.
   2. Ask someone who has done it before. If you don’t know anyone, make a new friend. Find them online on their blog or go to a trade show (Don’t know where the trade shows are for your potential industry? see step 3-1). Generally speaking people will want to help you, and you’ll be building a solid contact for the future.
4. Every day, read #1 before you start your day. Say to yourself, “Today I am going to move closer to this goal.” Then attack the next item on your list.

Use this method in business and in daily life and before too long you’ll be an expert on what you previously had no idea about and you’ll be armed with a powerful mindset where ignorance is no longer a colossal wall, rather merely the first step toward success.

Help them first, ask for nothing in return.

It’s true! If you want to make solid relationships and build on those relationships, you have to start with the other guy. Listen to him, give him your ideas for his business (for free) and work zero angles for yourself. Be honest and sincere. Help him and I promise he’ll end up helping you 90% of the time.

Stop being so damn selfish. Its not all about you. Its about how you can help others. Help them succeed and they’ll want to help you succeed. Win-win is better than win-lose. Start with making HIM a winner, your win will follow.

Here’s the basics:

First of all, you must be a thinkorswim client to take advantage of this feature. And you should be anyway, as they are the #1 broker, hands down.

Once inside thinkorswim, anytime you place a trade you can check a box that says “share on mytrade”. You can also put in a note about why you like the trade. Then when you send the trade for execution it is shared on mytrade’s thinkshare system.

Then anyone can view it, see the details (a more detailed ‘trade page’ is in the works) and even copy the trade.

With one click, the trade is copied, and with another it is pasted into the thinkorswim trade queue. There you can edit/analyze/execute the trade.

We just launched thinkshare yesterday and its a hit. We already have a ton of improvements lined up and in the works.  But please please let us know what other features you’d like to see.

Here’s a screenshot of all three functions: share, copy and paste…

Click here for our official release notes on thinkshare

Here is a overview of my positions.