Moody’s downgrade the credit rating of the United States of America
 

Holly crap Batman, if the USA can’t have a AAA credit rating then what entity possibly can. Can’t say I’m surprised, $36 trillion in debt and pushing for another $4 trillion in additional debt limit. Actually, I’m surprised it took this long for Moody’s to finally wake up to reality, Standard and Poor’s downgraded the US debt rating about 14 years ago. This national debt thing is totally unstable and will eventually be the downfall of our once great nation. Not good for our children and grandkids : (

borrowing money at higher interest rates ... when does it stop?

5% to 10% in GOLD should help your portfolio.

The USD will weaken, which is a goal of certain economic strategies which favors the tiny mfg export sector and penalize the remaining domestic import products sector, inflation will have a higher increasing floor.. . just remember, the real rate of interest is the key. . . and the 30 year TIPS yield have a 20 plus years high. Maybe buy some european assets such as $IEUR, $EZU, $VGK which will benefit from the exchange rate trends

Lots of third world behaviors appearing in places where it should't be. . . because of cognitive dissonance in some people. .

But yea, it's all about free social security income and the DOGE mirage. .

Alrighty then....Time to buy RMB, Yen, and Euros...LOL.
I suspect China will be the financial capital of the world but not for at least 5 years.

Nickel crammers can stick their money in Europe and Asia, I would stick with our country anytime. If I go broke, I'll live off the European nickel crammers. Why not, so many have learned to live off the largess of others that I guess it would be my turn.

At a certain income level, I fully advocate no Social Security taxes. I'm seeing those living at the lower end of income levels struggling in their senior years. No SS taxes on a couple earning $75, 000. or less and on a single senior with income of $50,000. or less.

Yep. And dump your bonds, especially the ones with long durations.

According to this page and this page:

Depending on the sources of income, the levels for no taxes on SS income are something like $50,000 and $35,000. (there would still be taxes on the non-SS income but none on the SS income)

If the only income was SS then there would be no taxes (except for couples who both receive $3,000/month)

So it's close to what you would like to see.

China will only be the financial capital of the world if US investors and supporters provide the base. Invest in our country and focus on the USA with your cash, China would never win. It's all in our hands and pay down the debt.

Oh Boy.....................here comes the emotional investors.

:throwtomatoes:

Stocks are up, Bond ylds are down. Sounds good to me.

You're right and thank you for doing the research. Now they need to cut a little deeper for senior breaks. I believe there are plenty of people living in The Villages scratching to make ends meet, especially if they have been on SS wages based on wages 20 years ago. The inflation is no joke for them and even if it's not increasing anymore, very few of the newest prices and costs will change for them.

Dependant on the start date that you measure from. The art of broker jargon.

Speaking about the day of the announcement.

"Big announcement" and it was a Nothing Burger.

I expect the global financial system to collapse. In Europe, they allowed interest rates to go negative and required 70% of pension investments to be in government bonds. There have been plans made for a global reset, but the "own nothing and be happy" plan does not appeal to me.

The promise to exempt social security benefits from income taxes will turn out to be a sham with plenty of ifs, ands and buts.

It’s getting close to the point where they will have to borrow money just to be able to pay the interest on the money already borrowed. Very unsubstantial in the long run. The dollar is going down in value, long term rates are creeping up, foreign entities are selling our debt, ratings downgrades, and raising gold prices are some of the signs trouble is ahead.

Wow, with all the knowledge I surprised you’re not second Nostradamus? Please tell us more future predictions..

It has happened in the past… but we better get our debt under control and demand a Budget every year. This raising the debt ceiling every 4 months is BS, Yes your kids and grandchildren will pay the price Big Time!

Writing on the wall is in large, neon letters. Can only be missed by those with blinders on.

The House tax bill has no provision for exempting Social Security benefits from income taxes. Instead they are providing a relatively meaningless increase in the standard deduction for taxpayers over 65 with phaseout for higher income taxpayers. I don't need to be Nostradamus to know that the promise was a sham.

The marketing appeal is "waste, abuse, and fraud." In today's world, it's all about the marketing story. Depends upon whose view is judging the spend. But even if there was no cutting spend, the increased future spend is way beyond the historically "non inflationary" level of spend relative to GDP.


Call me a communist but I don’t need my SALT deduction quadrupled so we can accelerate the debt crisis.

Treasuries Up
 

The bond market is at 5.08 percent and climbing. Moody’s didn't just cause a rise in mortgage rates at over 7%. The market will react because it has no choice at those rates. Further complicating the matter is the zero chance of the Fed to cut rates anytime soon with their inflation parameters.

I think the promise has already been broken. They no longer say that Social Security benefits will be tax free.

Just tips
 

That ship may have sailed. Tips are still in the sight though.

If no tax on tips passes, I for one will be reducing my tipping percentage. Is earning tips income really so noble as opposed to earning other types of income that people earning up to $160,000/year should be entitled to up to $25,000/year in tax free tips income?

Valid Point
 

I couldn’t agree more. They want to appear like they are handing out a gift, but reality is, not many pay taxes on the tips they receive. The impact is nominal. SS recipients get thrown under the bus yet again.

You must move in some pretty important circles where the cost of food and booze is so high that the servers are getting filthy rich.

I suggest an attempt to work as a server in The Villagers to those who feel people performing those "menial" jobs shouldn't be paid adequately for their efforts. Also, inquire what the base wage is before tips. Talk about a crappy job for peanuts...

And if you know any waitress/waiter making $438.36 a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks out of the year, I'm impressed.

Is the global fiat currency Ponzi finally coming to an end?
Lots of no-bids in global treasury auctions.
The GENIOUS Act and Stablecoin can't come soon enough.

Why should a low paid waitress who gets tips be entitled to tax free income while a low paid supermarket cashier who doesn't receive tips is not? If Congress is really interested in helping the working class poor they should simply increase the standard deduction for taxpayers below a certain income threshold. I do not consider income of $160,000/year to be working class poor. Highly compensated taxpayers will find a way to game the system to convert salaries, bonuses, commissions and business income into tips. And, since thousands of IRS employees were recently fired there is very little chance of them being audited.

My guess is you probably have no idea how tips are reported. Establishments report to IRS receipts food, beverage, and tips. If receipts have -0- in tip line, a percentage is added by calculation of past records. Once employees file taxes red flags fly high for unreported tips by employees compared to reported receipts from restaurants. 20 years ago you could get away with under reporting tips. Not true today. Well it could be true if you were the owner, no staff, and cooked the books

If you personally know any wait staff in TV, you shouldn’t be surprised when they tell you tips are far less than other restaurants they were employed.
Yesterday at lunch our favorite waitperson had taken a job in Ocala along with 3 other staff members. They love their restaurant but can’t survive on lack of tips.
Her tip average last week about 10%. Our 2 person lunch bill without alcohol was $97. It’s not an inexpensive menu. I have never understood how someone can spend $50+ on a meal and leave a $5 tip on the table. Yes there are TV residents that tip appropriately, however, it’s not the norm.

Yes there are establishments with six figure waitstaff. You will find excellent chefs, above and beyond staff, with a built in % tip. Yet you will often see additional cash tip left on the table.

Agree
 

Tips were not always claimed by restaurant waiting staff anyway. Little has changed except for the extremely honest.

Please share where waiters and waitresses are making $160,000. a year in tips. Sounds like massive hyperbole to me. Do you realize many of those workers have a base wage of just over $2.00 and the rest needs to be earned in their tips? Checkers in the supermarket make a larger wage than waiters and waitresses who often have to share their tips. Supermarket work is not to be dismissed but I'll take that job over waitressing and waitering any day of the week, PARTICULARLY in The Villages.

Restaurants where wait staff earn a six figure income and very far and in between.

I believe your $2 number should be closer to $11 but your point is still valid. Florida's minimum wage, which employers must ensure tipped employees receive even if some of it is in tips, is $14 in 2025. This comes out to close to $28,000/year, a far cry from $160,000.

Depends on the state I believe. Base of $2.33 an hour in one state with a minimum of $7.25 if tips don't equal that amount. The $14./hr rate in Florida is probably because of the old, low tipping population.

You're right, I was only looking at Florida. Even then, it is more complicated than I thought but still comes down to being a far cry from $160,000.

This minimumwage.org page has some good information.

That's an awfully bright light you're shining on those "huge" server wages :a20:

It's a good thing some love serving other's their food, being the buffer between the diner and the chef for complaints and then cleaning up the mess when the diner's are finished, (bussers often need help to keep up..), being on their feet for the whole shift and running between the kitchen and tables and making sure the diners don't sneak out and stiff them on the bill. Such a great job that they should pay us, right?

Why should low income waitresses make tax free income from tips while low income supermarket cashiers have to pay taxes on all their income? Treat everyone the same. You are headed for people gaming the system. This whole no taxes on tips thing was to pander to the voters in Las Vegas in order to win Nevada's electoral votes. It is bad policy.

Yep, yep, YEP, maybe, and yep.

there's a whole lot of bad policy based upon pandering going on as we type. .

please don't raise my SALT deduction if it means that the debt crises will be accelerated!

and its more of the major pandering distraction headline than what is really buried in some of these legislation going through congress. . .

turning into a third world country

Because wait staff works much harder than scanners in a checkout line.

That happened several years ago, you're just noticing?