At what point is it not worth working?

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My wife has a cake business she started 3 yrs ago. She is building the business and things are getting better, but she shows a loss at the end of the year.

I work 3 jobs. The first job is 40/hrs per week and has retirement and other benefits. The second job is 15 hrs per week (sometimes less) and pays 65% of job one. To make ends meet I work a 3rd job, averaging about 15 hrs per week. The third job grosses me about $5500 per yr.

I Plan on asking the tax man to calculate what my refund would be if I didnt have the third source of income. Not working the third job, I would have weekends free. Figuring if the increase in my refund was equal to half of what I make working, I am wasting my time working to get ahead.

People wonder why I choose to work so much. I was always taught that you work to get by. If that means working a third job, you work a third job. The tough part is that if our tax system penalizes those that work
to get ahead and rewards those that choose not to work, why fight the system? Tired of being penalized for trying to better myself and take care of my family.
 
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I'd take the experience and look for ONE job that pays the bills and then some and has good hours plus the benefits. No point in working yourself to death. Plus you'll probably be able to get extra money and actually enjoy it with the spare time.
 
The other end of the deal is that you don't have to earn what you don't send. That took me a while to work out. Early in my life a figured out how to save money by never financing anything except a house. I have never had a car payment or a credit card payment. In other words the difficult task is to figure out how to live on what you make right now, not next month.
 
Johnnydc, your link didnt work.

Debt free is definitely the way to be. First rule of thumb, stop the bleeding.

I like living where I choose to live. My Children were born here and have spent their entire lives here. Great schools, good friends, no serious crime, gun friendly (bonus!).

The trade off is there are not a lot of good paying jobs. Most everyone i know that is willing to work, works two jobs. Its the sacrifice I am wiling to make so that my children can live in a safe place.
Its just sad that I can be potentially better off by working two jobs than I can by working three jobs because of our tax system. That doesnt even factor in any additional benefits that I may be eligible for.
 
Originally Posted By: otis24
Johnnydc, your link didnt work.

Debt free is definitely the way to be. First rule of thumb, stop the bleeding.

I like living where I choose to live. My Children were born here and have spent their entire lives here. Great schools, good friends, no serious crime, gun friendly (bonus!).

The trade off is there are not a lot of good paying jobs. Most everyone i know that is willing to work, works two jobs. Its the sacrifice I am wiling to make so that my children can live in a safe place.
Its just sad that I can be potentially better off by working two jobs than I can by working three jobs because of our tax system. That doesnt even factor in any additional benefits that I may be eligible for.


Sorry didn't work. In a nut shell, It's an article about how the folks that don't want to work and sit on their [censored] how they manipulate the system in their favor. Basically you and I have to work our buts off and have the wives work just to make ends meet. While these low life losers suck off the system and in some cases make as much or more income per year than the average working family.
 
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Originally Posted By: otis24
Johnnydc, your link didnt work.

Debt free is definitely the way to be. First rule of thumb, stop the bleeding.

I like living where I choose to live. My Children were born here and have spent their entire lives here. Great schools, good friends, no serious crime, gun friendly (bonus!).

The trade off is there are not a lot of good paying jobs. Most everyone i know that is willing to work, works two jobs. Its the sacrifice I am wiling to make so that my children can live in a safe place.
Its just sad that I can be potentially better off by working two jobs than I can by working three jobs because of our tax system. That doesnt even factor in any additional benefits that I may be eligible for.


Or stated differently, its sad that I am probably WORSE off working three jobs than if I only chose to work two.
 
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Otis24, when I was working a lot of OT, I found I was too busy to do my car & house maintenance & repairs myself, meaning I wasn't that much farther ahead. Sometimes it's better to control spending than to have more money coming in. Plus, they can't tax what you're not earning (income tax) or spending (consumption taxes).
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
The other end of the deal is that you don't have to earn what you don't send. That took me a while to work out. Early in my life a figured out how to save money by never financing anything except a house. I have never had a car payment or a credit card payment. In other words the difficult task is to figure out how to live on what you make right now, not next month.
This is how I live also. Out of the 41 vehicles I have owned in my life I financed one of them. I do have a CC that I only use for certain transactions but I never carry a balance. I am in the process of buying another home now and will have a mortgage again but am planning on paying that off early.
i used to work 72 hours a week. Now I work 40 hours.
 
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Unfortunately working middle class America is getting smaller and having trouble keeping their heads above water.

And the freeloaders get the red carpet treatment....
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Unfortunately working middle class America is getting smaller and having trouble keeping their heads above water.

Then the freeloaders get the red carpet treatment.

That's what bothers me so much. If you really are unable to work due to a legit injury that's one thing, But if your wanting a handout so you can stay home all day and play video games or party I have a problem with that...
 
Originally Posted By: otis24
Its just sad that I can be potentially better off by working two jobs than I can by working three jobs because of our tax system.


What part of our tax system are you referring to? That doesn't make any sense...
 
I like your approach to this. When I was a junior engineer, I had the opportunity to work overtime. But I was curious about the tax implications. So I figured my taxes with regular salary, then again with the extra money. I discovered that not only was the extra money taxed, but it would bump up my tax rate, so all the other money was taxed a bit more. I only got to keep $55 of every $100 extra I'd make. I had a lot going on with my social life, and I was doing okay, so I decided against working overtime.
 
If your wife's business hasn't turned a profit in 3 years, then it's time to move on. Right now it's nothing more than a hobby, and I suspect a fairly expensive one. Dumping the business means that she can contribute to the family coffers; even a minimum wage job in a convenience store is better than a continuously failing business. That should bring in enough extra capital to allow you to reduce your workload to 2 jobs rather than 3.
 
Originally Posted By: Kestas
I discovered that not only was the extra money taxed, but it would bump up my tax rate, so all the other money was taxed a bit more.


No. That's not how it works. Only the incremental income is taxed at the higher rate.
 
Originally Posted By: Kestas
I only got to keep $55 of every $100 extra I'd make.


A junior engineer position put you in the top tax bracket? Why don't I believe it?


I see my friends busting their tails and pinching penneys to transfer as much wealth as possible to their snot nose kids. What a way to live.

Why does the op need a "tax man" ? Taxes aren't rocket science. Just look in the tax tables. As mentioned a few posts above the rates are progressive as you earn more. The rate on the money up to that point doesn't change. Step 1 to put more money in your pocket. Fire the tax man and learn how to do your taxes.
 
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I would sat the tax rates. I used to work three jobs and didn't realize for about two years the the job pushed me into the next higher tax bracket. After quitting the third job the next year I got a 2k refund versus paying in 600.00. And it freed up most of my Sundays. I was getting about 38.00 out of each 100.00 from the third job.
 
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