Dear John: I love your column and the way you dispel so many “urban myths” about the government and the fake stats it uses all the time.
Regarding Gary Cohn, who recently quit the Trump administration, someone should constantly point out that one of the main reasons that many of these Goldman Sachs alumni do a brief stint in government after they retire from Goldman is that they are allowed to sell all their very concentrated positions in that company’s stock and do an asset allocation tax-free.
There’s no need to pay capital gains taxes, saving approximately $150 million in Mr. Cohn’s case.
Not bad after one year of work.
There is no tax until the new asset is sold. With exchange traded funds (ETFs) as the major new investment, they can he held until the person’s death and then passed on with a new step-up basis, and taxes will never be paid! F.D.
Dear F.D.: C’mon. You don’t think all these Goldman guys are going to Washington because they are good public servants?
Neither do I.
Nobody said the people at Goldman were stupid.
Dear John: In some of your columns, you mention that you are looking to hear from people who have issues that need to be addressed.
I read your article about wanting to help that computer database administrator find a job. Were you able to help him?
I’m working for a medical center in Brooklyn, but don’t know if I’ll be there much longer. I have my resume on Indeed, but I’m not getting much interest. Can you help me? Thanks. R.F.
Dear R.F.: The Trump administration and the Federal Reserve keep claiming that the country is at full employment. If that’s true (and it’s not), you should have no trouble getting whatever job(s) you want.
Send me more details and I’ll see if anyone is looking for a worker with your skills.
Yes, I managed to connect some out-of-work people with potential employers. But, as they say in the financial business, past performances are no guarantee of future results.
Dear John: Whose bone-headed idea was it to tax my Social Security payments as regular income?!
Didn’t I already pay taxes on this my whole life? It’s not right! P.C.
Dear P.C.: Ah, another happy customer.
When Social Security was new, there was no federal income tax on payments. And, I agree, that seems completely fair since we’ve already paid tax when we earned the money that went into this retirement fund.
It wasn’t until amendments were made to the Social Security Act in 1983 that portions of the benefits were taxed.
The argument for taxing benefits was that most beneficiaries end up receiving more than they put into the Social Security system. And that the portion of Social Security payments made by corporations in their employees’ names weren’t taxed.
But the real reason seems to be simpler. The government needs money. And a tax on Social Security payments is a way to raise money without making it look like taxes are being raised.
So here we are today: Most people accept the fact of tax on Social Security benefits as a way of life. Bone-headed? I think it was pretty smooth on the part of Washington.