$250,000 Insanity

So, I was reading my future brother-in-law's blog and it got me all fired up. The nonsense of "Joe the Plumber", "Joe Six-Pack" and I don't want to forget the original, "Joe Blow", is driving me insane.

People are confused and this is leading them to miss a very important word, INCOME. Owning a business is NOT equal to earning an income of $250,000. One is an individual's income and the other is a business's profits. They are different! People need to realize that you can own a business that earns a profit and still not have an income over $250,0000. In my profession, I have had access to payroll records for 10 years. Here is what I have actually witnessed. The multi-million dollar companies have 1 position that made over $250,000 this was the owner/President/CEO. The small businesses are fighting to earn a profit and the owner/President/CEO did not make more than $250,000. In fact, one owner's income was $125,000. He was living in downtown Chicago and putting two kids through private school and living just fine! These businesses are all larger than Joe's "hypothetical" plumbing business!

Great example, the restaurant company I worked for that was sold last year for $100 million dollars had 2 employees over $250,000 (both were owners) the 50 person management team made between $100,000 and $200,000. The remaining 2448 employees made under $100,000. For those of you that need percentages that breaks out to:
Employees over $250,000: .08% (No, not 8%, but less than 1%)
Employees over $100,000 but under $250,000: 2%
Employees under $100,000: 97.92%

My last point is one the first $250,000 they would be taxed the same. The tax only increases on the $250,001 dollar. So if you make $255,000, you would only be paying extra tax on $5,000, which is less than 2% of your total income! End rant.

Does this mean I need to change my blog to Letty Rants Rusty Loves? It just doesn't have the same ring to it!