Originally Posted by
KurtAV
Several problems with your "speadsheet":
- People making $12/hour don't pay anywhere near 18% in income tax; many pay no federal income tax at all unless they're part of a multi-earner household (they do pay payroll tax of 7.65%);
- Median 2-earner household income in the U.S. in 2007, for this purpose a better measure than the mean hourly wage of production workers, is ~$69,000/year;
- If the median cost of car ownership is ~$6,000/year/car that's 17% of income (there are some assumptions on my part for the $6K figure but I think it's pretty close);
- Using an effective tax rate of 19%, including Social Security, car ownership is about 21% of median take home income vs. the 36% you calculated.
There are two sides to every coin.
the roughly 18% was the rough estimate of what has come out of my checks over the years -- which include Federal, SS, Medicare, State and Local taxes.
- I picked up a figure of $11.95/hr rate for 2007 for single earner income, that is where I got that. I was only looking at ballpark figures but I am fully aware income levels are highly subjective.
My main point is and has always been that cars are NOT a necessity, they are a luxury. Many people are set in their belief that you have to have a car, no matter what. And they use it as their only mode of transpotation to go two blocks down the road instead of walking.
I've never said cars aren't without purpose, I just think people abuse the privilege.