The fiscal cliff and you- MSN Money

Yeah! Least I'm upper middle now, why does it seem there is never enough and no I do not live extravagantly by any means.

 

?????

Nothing political said or posted about.

I found an article that broke down how much we will pay depending on outcome.

I found it informative and thought I would post it for others to see.

 

Hmmm. Interesting. I am Australian, so it doesn't apply to me, but I did find it interesting to note that if I was earning what I earn now in the US...I would Upper Middle Class, however, in Australia I definitely considered to be Middle Class. What that states is higher income, would probably still be considered middle income here. For Australia, I would say 150k at a minimum to be considered high income. I just think it's rather interesting.

 

I've read the rules, and I think the link is fine. Political nonsense doesn't have to come into an economic discussion.

 

Have you not watched the news lately?

 

This basically means we're losing an entire months pay....wtf? Good thing I know how to cook pinto beans...no steak either.

 

Thats cause everything in Australia costs a hose job plus 1.

Aussi and American dollars are roughly equal, but whats it cost to get a burger, fry and a coke at McD's there?

Or a case of Pepsi?

Its all relative to what the cost is of where u are at.

 

A large Big Mac meal is about $10.00 and a case of Pepsi (24 cans @ 375ml) tends to waver a bit at the major retailers: usually they're about $15, but rather often they go on special for about $10.

 

Thats what I thought.

Our dollars are the same roughly.

So McD's costs 2 times what we pay here and Pepsi is 2-3 times what it is here.

That would be $5 at McD's here and $5 on sale for the Pepsi, here or there $4 but thats getting rare. Normal price is $6-8 depending on store(I'm a cheap SOB so I stock up on it on sale always)

Yeesh, why u guys and gals down under getting hosed so bad?

Back in the day, when it was like 3/4 Aussi dollar to 1 US $ I was looking at importing a Maloo or Monaro here lol

 

Probably a million different reasons, but if I had to take a stab in the dark a lot of it is probably due to strictly enforced and reasonably high minimum wage and perhaps more taxes due to our prevelent social security and healthcare models.

In honestly, while it stings occasionally, I'm more happy than not to pay the taxes to maintain such services and wear the price hikes so workers can live a bit better.

As for the Monaro, same car was sold in the US as the Pontiac GTO. The Maloo however is pure Australia. Tows boats, horses, trailers and carries tools, goods and materials but nice enough to take to work and church and fast and brutal enough to whip around the race track (just watch it since there's not much weight over the rear wheels).

 

Why can't we talk about politics? Do people on here act like jerks when they do?

 

'Tis a rule of the boards.

Also, yes most people cannot separate fact from fiction when talking politics 

 

Yikes, I never considered myself Upper Middle Class. But that is combined with m wife's income too. Still though, if this comes to pass losing that $3500 will definately hurt. More or less losing $300 a month.

 

Doesn't seem like much does it after u pay all the bills, go to the store and eat out here or there does it?

I think in the long run your going to pay a lot more than the $3500.

The "free" health care is not quite so like people believe(cannot go further into it than that due to rules).

Ask someone from Canada to chime in about healthcare there or the Crown tax.

Is it a similar thing in Australia to Gordon?

 

There's a levy for Medicare that gets added to taxes and changes depending on what earning bracket you're in. I believe it can be rebated on your tax return if you're paying for private health insurance. I pay the levy since at the moment I don't have private health insurance, despite my wife's best efforts to convince me to get it.

 

Doesn't look that bad, I don't know what they're all making a big fuss about.

Also Australia sounds awesome, except for all the things that can kill you.

 

I'll try to avoid politics here:

Not sure what you mean by Crown tax. Sales tax? Income tax? Importation tax?

I can only speak for myself, and I've had pretty good health, and it may vary from province to province, but regarding our healthcare, I've never had any issues. You hear a lot about wait times, and I've had to wait in emergency rooms or for appointments before, but on every occasion (and from what I've heard from others), that's been for a relatively non-threatening condition. Every time I've known someone to have a more threatening situation, such as a head injury, there was no wait. I think the major issue in terms of wait times is triage, that you'll wait longer so that people with more serious issues can be dealt with first.

In terms of medication, I can't say I've had to take much in the way of exotic medication (I think the most exotic prescription I've ever had was codeine), but I've also never heard of situation where someone has been forced to take a mediacation because alternatives were too expensive. If a generic has been available (but more importantly, deemed equivalent to the brand-name version), that can get prescribed sometimes, but I've never heard of any problems in that regard, and I know of times when people have been switched to a more expensive medication because they experienced a reaction to another one. I can tell you it seems like our dispensary fees are a pittance compared to what I hear in the states, though. I don't think I've ever paid more than 25 bucks for a prescription.

In terms of care for the elderly, Canada's system is probably just as strained (or will be) as the US due to similar population demographics. I know it's something policymakers have paid attention to, knowing that the demand for resources in this regard is going to increase in the near future, and I'm pretty sure steps have been taken. There's also a growing private-run care industry in the way of long-term care options. In any case, my grandparents get good treatment, they see their doctor on a very regular basis, have access to a wide range of specialists, much of their medication is covered by prescription, and they have access to a wide range of at least partially-subsidized social services.

Any other things I can address?

 

hmmmmm

Anyone care to bust out tax returns and figure out your effective tax rate?

We don't need dollars, just what class u would be in per the chart and then what u paid in taxes in percent of income.

Curious to see how it all plays out among our countries. I work thru Mon, so I wouldn't be able to get mine up until Tues most likely.

In other regards Aernaroth, from conversations with folks I met from Canada about 6 years ago, they complained of ridiculous wait times once u got into things like knee surgeries and hip/knee replacement. He also came to the States to get some things taken care of and pay out of pocket versus waiting x months to see a Dr. up there.

Triage/emergency room doesn't count, those go who is gonna kick the bucket first everywhere lol

Long story short, anything you are "given" has to be payed for.

Best examples I can find are average taxes paid vs GDP of a country since anything else tends to be spun for whomever is making the claim.

Canada 31.1%
USA 24.0%

This can be misleading as well, because as GDP goes up(USA is number 1) you would need less to do the same....... hard comparison to get accurate I guess. Best bet for accuracy might be finding some of us in similar income range convert to US dollars and get an percentage in taxes paid.


Without being political in any sense, if Gordon, Aernaroth or myself do not have the money to make payments, we either lose what we have or are unable to make further purchases. So one has to be responsible for ones budget. No magic wands to wave.

It is odd that all powers that be do not have to live by these rules.

 

Again, not trying to take things into a political direction, but there's a big difference between how a government spends and how an individual or a household spends. It's not really accurate to compare the two.


Regarding the knee surgery thing, I recall hearing about long times for orthopedic surgeries. People in my family even recently have had to wait for them (I believe a period of several months), but again, I think it's because there's a long waiting list, though the upside was they were given the opportunity to get multiple opinions and effectively choose their doctor. I think it might be a function of the number of specialist surgeons available, as well as a function of Canada's relatively low population density (I recall the two doctors available for one family member's surgery being in two different major cities, a drive of several hours apart). Or maybe they aren't given high priority because they're considered non-life threatening conditions or elective surgery? I honestly don't know. I do know there's been a bigger push as of late on physiotherapy and preventative therapy before things get to the requiring surgery point, though.