40% of your salary to taxes???

Question

Would you agree to pay 40% of your salary into taxes if it meant having free health care, and guaranteed Social Security checks (that would actually cover the cost of living) when you get to retirement age?

Answer 1

40% is a little much. Dont worry that taxpayers are not taxed enough. The 35% you get off from income tax withheld is only the overt taxes. There are many other taxes that you pay indirectly such as sales tax, energy levees, licenses, permits, lotteries, gasoline taxes, entertainment taxes, etc.
Having said that, the free health care etc is a good dangling carrot that is tempting to bite. Some countries pay all of the above plus goods and services taxes and those are sometimes very costly too. In the end, when everything is costed out, you might pay out 50% of your gross income vs the other countries paying 56 to 60%.
I hate to say this, but that is not too bad if the payback is for some of those social programs you mentioned will be put into place. Just make sure that those services are there and not just empty promises while you have already paid out your 40%

Answer 2

I don't believe in socialized health care because when I talk to people in Canada, they say the following.

1) They cannot get medical attention in a timely manner.
2) You now have the problem of people debating TAXES or HEALTH. Citizens are choosing less taxes directly cutting extremely needed benefits to health.
3) No accessibility for people to pay for health care. There have been reports of Canadians coming to America to receive "private" health care so their loved ones can receive faster service.
4) Increasing funding to current health care will produce little to no result due to severe deficiencies in the system.
5) The "best doctors in the nation" will be inundated with people going to see them. They will no longer have the notoriety and there is no point for any doctor to try harder than the other.
6) Injuries and illnesses such as the common cold, scrapes, bruises, etc. are more prevalent. Many time these go unattended even after repeated attempts to see medical care.

How’s this sound? I'll pay my 28% tax rate to the feds. My company pays (and is required by law to pay) me a health plan and I put 12% in for my retirement? (By the way, I already pay close to 40% considering sales tax, income tax, and social security tax.) I am a firm believer that the government should regulate health care via insurance because it's a system already in use today. Local governments should increase the accessibility of health care through the employers making the employers provide health care coverage for employees that work 40 hours a week (most companies voluntarily pay for health coverage at 40 hours per week) eventually weaning it down to 32 or less (depending on the rate of unemployment).

The unemployed (not the unemployable) should get TEMPORARY fully paid medical care if they get sick while unemployed. This NEEDS to be restricted to a certain number of years (such as 5 years in your lifetime). The unemployable (persons <20, full time college students after 3 months of school, disabled persons, and the elderly) should receive fully paid healthcare.

I think someone who is employable and is unemployed for >5 years (or the predetermined number) should not receive government subsidized health care.

I guess realistically, both systems have their disadvantages. Maybe when Canada gets things straight, we can start moving that way. I think Social Security is a whole different monster. Hopefully you’re young and you are saving for the time you retire.

Answer 3

I would rather pay less taxes and decide for my self what health care I wished to pay for. Retirement is the same way, let me decide for myself which is more important, saving for retirement or spending more now. If I choose wrong, let me live (or die) with the results.

Answer 4

We already do. Not just payroll taxes but sales taxes, car registration tax, etc. And no health care :( I'm for a one flat tax if it could be worked out. So I guess I would have to say Yes to your question.

Answer 5

You did not provide adequate suggestion. How a lot were your federal and state tax withholdings? Are your 401K contributions the really nontaxable deduction you had? Did you pay some thing for well being insurance? it would not count number what you pay on your student loan debt, you may really deduct the quantity of pastime you paid.

Answer 6

I wouldn't trust the government to keep their part of the bargain....for sure something would come up that they would find much more important then our health care and social security, because apparently they don't see either of those things as something we need. Then they'd try to make us feel quilty for trying to make them keep up their end of it, when all these other issues are so critical.

Answer 7

If I wanted to live in the Nordic countries such as Finland who have such at present.

Answer 8

If the government had a good enough watchdog committee, the YES.