I sometimes think that we’ve gotten too comfortable in the United States. As long as we can go to the mall, drive our big SUVs, eat good food, download our favorite music from iTunes, pay our big credit card bills and all the other cushy trappings of the American way of life, we can simply ignore the rhinoceros head in the corner.
In recent weeks, there have been a series of articles and commentaries which have taken a hard look at economic reality in this country. They have also provided a basis for why NOW more than ever it’s time to consider creating your own privatized banking system. We’ve divided it into a three-part series so you’ll have time to think about what each author is saying and how it applies to YOU. Here’s reason #3.
Reason 3: The Super Rich Are Already Using Privatized Banking To Hide Money In Plain Sight
The idea for privatized banking has been around for a long time. And the people who created our financial system and our tax code set these up in their favor. So much for the average American trying to achieve the American Dream.
An April 7, 2016 opinion column in MarketWatch lays out exactly how the super rich use the financial system, the tax code and the fundamentals of privatized banking to stay super rich. They hide their money in plain sight within a system that’s tilted in their favor.
In a nutshell: Working stiffs are actually taxed, proportionately, much more heavily than the super-rich.
Income is taxed, but wealth isn’t. Someone earning $50,000 a year must pay payroll, state and federal taxes. Someone with $10 billion in assets needn’t pay any taxes at all. Indeed, many of the super-rich successfully tap into their wealth tax-free by just borrowing against it.
… The rich can shelter fortunes by making “charitable donations” to their own foundations.
… When it comes time to die, the super-wealthy have ways and means of making sure their kids don’t have to pay too much tax on the vast amounts they inherit. These include the creative use of estate and gift tax exemptions, life insurance [emphasis added] and limited liability corporations. The top rate of estate tax is theoretically 40%, but in reality the children of the super-rich can pay a fraction of that.
The article goes on to say that when you explain this to the average person, they don’t believe it. They think that the rich pay into Social Security, pay payroll taxes and state and federal income taxes.
It is the belief that the ‘system’ is fair and equitable that keeps the average person stuck.
We play by the rules; the super rich don’t – they have their own rules. And their rules were crafted decades ago by the super wealthy folks of the 1920s and ‘30s who dreamed up the Federal Reserve, the Tax Code, Social Security and all the early government-sponsored ‘retirement’ plans.
As the MarketWatch opinion authors say:
A country’s laws express its values. Our tax laws place people who work for a living at the bottom of the pile — and those who inherit money at the top.
We invite you to read these three mainstream articles for yourself, and then think about whose rules for financial security you really want to play by. If there was ever a time for you to consider moving your money into a privatized banking system – these three articles clearly point you in the right direction: the time in NOW!
For more information on privatized banking and how you can start playing by a different set of financial rules, contact Julie Ann Hepburn at National Private Client Group today.
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