The words “blowhard” and “Budget Director who lied through his teeth” also come to mind. I didn’t find one truthful statement in this. Then again I gave up in disgust about eight paragraphs in.
Anyone who was a high budget official who claims that Special Treasuries are just “phony IOUs” and that the official accounting used by the Trustees for seven decades is equally phony is a damned liar who shouldn’t be trusted to point the way to the Men’s Room.
Oh and I missed a noun and a adjective: “obsequious toady”.
This story on the NYT site covers the turmoil when a small Seattle credit card processing firm announced a plan to raise all employee wages to $70K/yearly.
“This story on the NYT site covers the turmoil when a small Seattle credit card processing firm announced a plan to raise all employee wages to $70K/yearly.”
His belief that $70,000/yr. has to be valid only for Seattle. In many places this is a very good living and in some places you couldn’t get out of the ghetto with that salary. The problem this guy made was, he didn’t create a big enough pay gap between his most experienced and talented employees. Of course, they are going to ask for more pay at some point. This is why, I’m convinced that performance based pay is the most efficient for any company, and any company that tries to implement this philosophy will only be able to keep the most under-performing and least talented that are available. Equality of outcomes is not possible if human nature is allowed to be part of the equation.
“You can call me The Dude, Duder, El duderino if your not into the whole brevity thing.”
Except that neither ‘talent’ or ‘experience’ correlates tightly with pay rate in most organizations. Instead pay rate is tied as a first order to position in the hierarchy. There are probably a few enterprises where a 20 year senior mechanic with nearly irreplaceable skills is drawing down more compensation than a new hire assistant operations manager with a freshly minted MEng in Industrial Engineering who never actually had seen a shop floor before. But mostly the most mediocre ‘suit’ gets paid more than the most talented ‘floor’ operative.
I read the story and a lot of the departures seemed to be folks whose personal worth was tied up with their compensation and were butt hurt that people reporting to them were being paid the same. It wasn’t like anybody but the owner actually took a pay cut.
And shee-ite, there is no place in this country that you can’t “get out of the ghetto” on $70k. You might have to commute from Daly City to downtown SF or from New Jersey to Manhattan but despite the whines of people who insist that $250k is barely middle class in NYC that is four times the median pay of a City police patrolman.
Well I would agree that for the majority of the service based economy, payment based on time of service instead of performance would work, strictly based on the idea that middle managers will clean up the messes and consistently hire/fire to fill the gaps. Whether or not you could maintain managers that are paid the same as the people they manage, I don’t believe is even possible, unless you can find really naïve people with management skills.
I would also agree that $70,000/year is a great salary for the overwhelming majority of the country.
If you wanted to “dip your toe” into the equality of outcomes genre, the most effective way has to be to pay everybody the bare possible minimum allowed by law or by cost of living, and then pay bonuses across the board based on overall company performance. This would cause the employees to police themselves, and weak links would be quickly exposed and eliminated.
Webb – Yes you can get by in NYC on $250k. My son and daughter (married with children) live in the city.
If you hit $250k you max out on the Fed tax at 39.9%. On top of that is 12% for the state and the City. Then there is withholding that takes another 7%. All In (adjusted for the cap) the tax on $250k is north of 50%.
Then there is the need for some savings. Most in this 250k bracket are doing some 401k thing. All a big portion of that salary goes out the door goes out the door.
Then there is the cost. Day care for a minor costs $1,000 PER WEEK!. Schools from the first grade up START AT $25k a year. If you want a 2 bdrm in a decent neighborhood in Manhattan, good luck. You can’t afford it. In Brooklyn, Queens a 2brm with 1,100 squ feet will cost $4k a month.
Put it together. The take home falls to 10k a month. Rent and two kids cost 8k a month. Utilities, phone, food and transportation have to be paid with 2k a month that is left. And in NYC everything cost much more.
NYC and SF are tough towns to live in.
PS don’t suggest people live in Jersey. The commutation will kill you, and taxes are very high there. The NYC cops live in Putnam county or way est on Long Island. They can’t afford to live where they work.
Krasting talk about First World Problems. More like 1% of First World.
I didn’t go to private schools. 95% of the people in this country or more have no dream of paying $1000 a week for child care. That represents the entire income of a median income household in this country. And not everyone gets to live in Pacific Heights, on Rittenhouse Square, in Brentwood, or in “a decent neighborhood” in Manhattan.
Look I know it costs a lot of money to have a comfortable life in NYC. What chaps my butt is that all of those people who insist that they are just scraping by on $250,000 think bus drivers and cops and teachers making $60k a year just have things too fat and that it is beyond crazy to expect the people who serve your coffee to make $15 an hour after a couple years of phase in. My God that is at full time ALMOST $30k a year? I would note that all of those service people need a place to live as well and most probably can’t begin to even afford the train trip out to Putnam County or way out on LI. But you and yours don’t seem to shed a tear for THEIR plight. Nope you got to scrape together $25k to send the 10 year old to school and $50k to care for the 5 year old. Oh and PAY TAXES!!!!
But I feel your pain. Apparently $250k a year in NYC is not even enough to join a decent Wine Club. Boo hoo, hoo, Poor Little Rich Boy.
For New York County (Manhattan), that figure was $69,659.
The housing prices are ridiculous, so people don’t live there if they can avoid it, so the median income for Westchester was $82k, Putnam $95k, and Dutchess $72.5k. Nassua and Suffolk are similar.
Only when you get out to Columbia does it get back to normal.
“All In (adjusted for the cap) the tax on $250k is north of 50%.”
Well, let’s look at that. Social Security taxes top out at $117k. If both incomes top that, we’re talking $17,900, plus another $232 in Medicare tax on the remaining $16k (1.45%). So a total of $18,133 in FICA.
Assuming a standard deduction of $12,400 and four exemptions ($15,800), that gets the AGI down to $221,800.
It depends on what parts of those boros you’re looking in. Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg, Park Slope are out of sight, though I wouldn’t pay 10
cents to live in Williamsburg. In Queens Long Island City has found new desirability and is very expensive and under huge development. New apt. buildings going up like mushrooms in a damp forest. Astoria is close behind.
It all depends upon the subway system and the connections to Manhattan. Williamsburg is one short hop to Union Square in Manhattan. Brooklyn Heights has long been the place for the hoi poloi who want to be out of Manhattan at night. Always expensive. Long Island City also a short subway ride to “the city.” Like they say, location, location, location. BTW, there’s nothing cheap anymore in any boro of NYC. Staten Island may be affordable, but then you’re almost in New Jersey. Eastern Queens is still affordable and popular with immigrants.
Southern Queens is very much ghetto still except along the shore.
Former budget director, David Stockman goes on a Social Security rant.
Even I don’t agree with all of what DS says. Relying on the High Cost is no more relevant that relying on the low cost scenario.
That said, he does make a case about the projections used in the 2015 report. The word “Sandbag” comes to mind.
http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/the-2015-untrustworthies-report-why-social-security-could-be-bankrupt-in-12-years/
The words “blowhard” and “Budget Director who lied through his teeth” also come to mind. I didn’t find one truthful statement in this. Then again I gave up in disgust about eight paragraphs in.
Anyone who was a high budget official who claims that Special Treasuries are just “phony IOUs” and that the official accounting used by the Trustees for seven decades is equally phony is a damned liar who shouldn’t be trusted to point the way to the Men’s Room.
Oh and I missed a noun and a adjective: “obsequious toady”.
@BK– Hmmm. Re DS, the words “trickle down” and “fraudulent practices as an investment advisor/broker” come to mind. Just sayin’. NancyO
“Willful ignorance”……
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Attack-on-Truth/230631/
“epistemic vigilance” is required.
from Barry Ritholtz The Big Picture.
This story on the NYT site covers the turmoil when a small Seattle credit card processing firm announced a plan to raise all employee wages to $70K/yearly.
“Let no good deed go unpunished” indeed…
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/business/a-company-copes-with-backlash-against-the-raise-that-roared.html?_r=0
Sorry, forgot the link (blush).
“This story on the NYT site covers the turmoil when a small Seattle credit card processing firm announced a plan to raise all employee wages to $70K/yearly.”
His belief that $70,000/yr. has to be valid only for Seattle. In many places this is a very good living and in some places you couldn’t get out of the ghetto with that salary. The problem this guy made was, he didn’t create a big enough pay gap between his most experienced and talented employees. Of course, they are going to ask for more pay at some point. This is why, I’m convinced that performance based pay is the most efficient for any company, and any company that tries to implement this philosophy will only be able to keep the most under-performing and least talented that are available. Equality of outcomes is not possible if human nature is allowed to be part of the equation.
“You can call me The Dude, Duder, El duderino if your not into the whole brevity thing.”
Except that neither ‘talent’ or ‘experience’ correlates tightly with pay rate in most organizations. Instead pay rate is tied as a first order to position in the hierarchy. There are probably a few enterprises where a 20 year senior mechanic with nearly irreplaceable skills is drawing down more compensation than a new hire assistant operations manager with a freshly minted MEng in Industrial Engineering who never actually had seen a shop floor before. But mostly the most mediocre ‘suit’ gets paid more than the most talented ‘floor’ operative.
I read the story and a lot of the departures seemed to be folks whose personal worth was tied up with their compensation and were butt hurt that people reporting to them were being paid the same. It wasn’t like anybody but the owner actually took a pay cut.
And shee-ite, there is no place in this country that you can’t “get out of the ghetto” on $70k. You might have to commute from Daly City to downtown SF or from New Jersey to Manhattan but despite the whines of people who insist that $250k is barely middle class in NYC that is four times the median pay of a City police patrolman.
Well I would agree that for the majority of the service based economy, payment based on time of service instead of performance would work, strictly based on the idea that middle managers will clean up the messes and consistently hire/fire to fill the gaps. Whether or not you could maintain managers that are paid the same as the people they manage, I don’t believe is even possible, unless you can find really naïve people with management skills.
I would also agree that $70,000/year is a great salary for the overwhelming majority of the country.
If you wanted to “dip your toe” into the equality of outcomes genre, the most effective way has to be to pay everybody the bare possible minimum allowed by law or by cost of living, and then pay bonuses across the board based on overall company performance. This would cause the employees to police themselves, and weak links would be quickly exposed and eliminated.
Your modern GOP: http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/texas-news/2015/08/01/attorney-general-ken-paxton-to-be-indicted-monday/30989247/
Don’t trust them with money!
Webb – Yes you can get by in NYC on $250k. My son and daughter (married with children) live in the city.
If you hit $250k you max out on the Fed tax at 39.9%. On top of that is 12% for the state and the City. Then there is withholding that takes another 7%. All In (adjusted for the cap) the tax on $250k is north of 50%.
Then there is the need for some savings. Most in this 250k bracket are doing some 401k thing. All a big portion of that salary goes out the door goes out the door.
Then there is the cost. Day care for a minor costs $1,000 PER WEEK!. Schools from the first grade up START AT $25k a year. If you want a 2 bdrm in a decent neighborhood in Manhattan, good luck. You can’t afford it. In Brooklyn, Queens a 2brm with 1,100 squ feet will cost $4k a month.
Put it together. The take home falls to 10k a month. Rent and two kids cost 8k a month. Utilities, phone, food and transportation have to be paid with 2k a month that is left. And in NYC everything cost much more.
NYC and SF are tough towns to live in.
PS don’t suggest people live in Jersey. The commutation will kill you, and taxes are very high there. The NYC cops live in Putnam county or way est on Long Island. They can’t afford to live where they work.
Krasting talk about First World Problems. More like 1% of First World.
I didn’t go to private schools. 95% of the people in this country or more have no dream of paying $1000 a week for child care. That represents the entire income of a median income household in this country. And not everyone gets to live in Pacific Heights, on Rittenhouse Square, in Brentwood, or in “a decent neighborhood” in Manhattan.
Look I know it costs a lot of money to have a comfortable life in NYC. What chaps my butt is that all of those people who insist that they are just scraping by on $250,000 think bus drivers and cops and teachers making $60k a year just have things too fat and that it is beyond crazy to expect the people who serve your coffee to make $15 an hour after a couple years of phase in. My God that is at full time ALMOST $30k a year? I would note that all of those service people need a place to live as well and most probably can’t begin to even afford the train trip out to Putnam County or way out on LI. But you and yours don’t seem to shed a tear for THEIR plight. Nope you got to scrape together $25k to send the 10 year old to school and $50k to care for the 5 year old. Oh and PAY TAXES!!!!
But I feel your pain. Apparently $250k a year in NYC is not even enough to join a decent Wine Club. Boo hoo, hoo, Poor Little Rich Boy.
According to the U.S. Census, the median household income in Queens was $57k for 2009-2013, vs. $58k for the State of New York.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/36081.html
For New York County (Manhattan), that figure was $69,659.
The housing prices are ridiculous, so people don’t live there if they can avoid it, so the median income for Westchester was $82k, Putnam $95k, and Dutchess $72.5k. Nassua and Suffolk are similar.
Only when you get out to Columbia does it get back to normal.
“If you hit $250k you max out on the Fed tax at 39.9%.”
For married filing jointly, that hits at $457,601.
Even the 35% rate does not hit until your AGI goes over $405,100.
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/tax-brackets.aspx
“All In (adjusted for the cap) the tax on $250k is north of 50%.”
Well, let’s look at that. Social Security taxes top out at $117k. If both incomes top that, we’re talking $17,900, plus another $232 in Medicare tax on the remaining $16k (1.45%). So a total of $18,133 in FICA.
Assuming a standard deduction of $12,400 and four exemptions ($15,800), that gets the AGI down to $221,800.
$18,150 @ 10% = $1,815.00
$55,650 @ 15% = $8,347.50
$75,050 @ 25% = $18,762.00
$72,950 @ 28% = $20,426.00
Total federal income tax: $49,350.
12% tax for State and City: $30,000
FICA taxes: $18,133
Total take-home pay: $152,517 per year, or $12,710 per month.
Average tax rate: 39%
Not quite reaching that 50% mark, but it’s still pretty bad.
“In Brooklyn, Queens a 2brm with 1,100 squ feet will cost $4k a month.”
Zillow seems to think that goes for around $2.5-3k:
http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/Queens-New-York-NY/house,townhouse_type/2102779614_zpid/270915_rid/40.783758,-73.73384,40.734738,-73.828597_rect/13_zm/?view=map
It depends on what parts of those boros you’re looking in. Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg, Park Slope are out of sight, though I wouldn’t pay 10
cents to live in Williamsburg. In Queens Long Island City has found new desirability and is very expensive and under huge development. New apt. buildings going up like mushrooms in a damp forest. Astoria is close behind.
It all depends upon the subway system and the connections to Manhattan. Williamsburg is one short hop to Union Square in Manhattan. Brooklyn Heights has long been the place for the hoi poloi who want to be out of Manhattan at night. Always expensive. Long Island City also a short subway ride to “the city.” Like they say, location, location, location. BTW, there’s nothing cheap anymore in any boro of NYC. Staten Island may be affordable, but then you’re almost in New Jersey. Eastern Queens is still affordable and popular with immigrants.
Southern Queens is very much ghetto still except along the shore.
Well, the DC suburbs aren’t much better.