• No Check For U!

    "Uh, we didn't get one... A new tax law in 2006 forced me to sell stock options in 2007. Wahhhhhh I made too much money, but the reality is I sold the stock to pay off the 45K in home equity loans that I borrowed for such things as braces, medical insurance deductibles, heating and cooling, a trip to see Santa. Things my paycheck doesn't cover any more."

    John, 41, Computer Programmer
    Sparta, NJ

    4th Jun 2008 in Recreation & Events | Discuss (4) |

Comments

  • Bummer. I know the feeling though. They do the same thing with the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit if you earn anything from your stock. Too bad when you lose your ass they don't rebate you.

    Posted by: Karen Townsend Jun 5th, 07:16

  • OK. so we're supposed to feel sorry for you because to support your over spending you took out a home equity loan to pay for all manner of stuff you couldn't really afford and then you had to sell stock to pay off that home equity loan.

    Unfortunately, I suspect there are far too many people in the US who are in this boat. Instead of learning to live within their means they borrowed money out of their house not thinking about it having to be paid back. And now... now the piper wants to be paid.

    Posted by: skeptictank Jun 5th, 16:19

  • Dude. You're using home-equity loans to pay for trips, "heating and cooling" and braces? America is going down the shitter fast. Houses are not ATM machines! WTF are people thinking??? After the housing bubble collapses, we'll see another collapse--when spending stops due to people being maxxed out on credit cards and tapped out on home-equity loans. This country needs a frickin miracle. What a mess.

    Posted by: Jennifer Jun 8th, 23:36

  • Nobody is supposed to feel sorry for me. MY point was it took me years to amass the debt and I was working it down and I was going to sell the stock at a certain point, pay off my Home Equity loan and have some left over, which I did.

    The catch is I was FORCED to sell the stock in 2007 by a new tax law, aimed at people like myself who have unrealized gains that the government wants them to realize so they can pay taxes on that gain.

    I would not have sold in 2007, I would have continued to speculate and my income for 2007 would have entitled me to a stimulus check.

    I wouldn't call my spending overspending, I live comfortably but I don't go to extremes. My children attend public school, my wife works and goes to college and I work from home. I keep my house warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I have friends over and entertain or go out to dinner when the mood strikes.

    I've worked hard to get where I am, paid for my college education, I don't expect anything from anyone and I probably pump more money into the US economy then 75-85% of the people out there. So if anybody deserves to get something back it is ME!

    I have paid taxes every year since I was 15, since then I have paid over 300K in taxes, double the cost of my first home. This year alone I paid $38,978!

    Posted by: Me Jun 10th, 11:38

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