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Fixing Our Nation's Recession By Paying It Forward

Updated on February 27, 2013

Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You...

Those famous words by President John F. Kennedy JR could never be more true than they are today. We still remember his words, but how many of us truly take them to heart in our daily lives? Yes, we expect our country to watch over us and to take care of us when we are in need. We expect our nation's leaders to manage our country's finances responsibly, and to keep us out of financial trouble. We expect our country to maintain its financial stature in the world in order for us to continue thriving as the world's leading super-power, so that we are secure in our happiness and freedoms. However, when do we put our expectations aside, and place some of our own efforts into helping the country?

Our nation has banded together in some of our most trying times, both as a nation, and as a member of the human race. We fought two World Wars in defense of our nation and in the defense of the other nations of the world facing tyranny. We banded together during the great depression, with neighbors helping neighbors, rising out of the ashes to find enormous levels of prosperity. So, in the face of financial crisis in our country, and in other countries across the globe, where do we see the same level of effort, that we saw during our previous national crisis, to help our country to pull itself out of the dark depths and into the light?

The answers to our country's financial woes are diverse and complex for our nation's leaders. They have many ways of making an impact and must use the correct financial mechanisms in order to help the economy, pay down national debt, and to raise the value of the dollar in a world market. There are arguments about how we should achieve these goals, and there are growing concerns over our nation monetizing its debt which may potentially bring about hyper-inflation. However, for us citizens, perhaps the answer to help our great country is very simple.

How Paying It Forward Can Help Our Nation...

So, what you you do? "What can I do about it?" seems to be the most common question that Americans ask about the current financial crisis that our nation is in. Americans feel powerless in the ability to make a difference in our nation's debt. What they don't realize is that they impact the wealth of our nation each and every election, and every time that they complain about the amount of taxes that they pay. Yes, every American citizen works hard for their money. Yes, we ALL want to pay fewer taxes. We want our hard-earned dollars to go towards our retirement and life goals for ourselves. However, if you could help to absolve our nation's debt, could you bit the bullet and take a tax increase for a short period of time?

Companies often offer their employees pay-cut options during financial crisis in order to avoid any layoffs from occurring. It is an attempt to save the whole by having everyone sacrifice a little. It only works on a large scale however, if a large percentage of the people are willing to make the sacrifice. If only a small population of the company took the pay cuts, it would most likely not be enough saved capital to make a difference and the layoffs would still occur.

What if we could do the same as a nation, but without having our representatives actually raise our taxes? "That's impossible!", you say. But, perhaps it is possible. Each and every married American has the option of choosing to have their taxes taken out at the married rate, or at the single rate. The married rate obviously removes fewer taxes from your paycheck, because it accounts for you and your spouse filing jointly and getting the small break that you get for being married. When you do this, depending upon what tax bracket you fall into, it may not account for enough taxes for your combined incomes and you end up owing the government at the end of the year. Man, does it feel depressing having to send that check out!

However, if you file as married, but opt to have your taxes removed at the single higher rate, taxes are removed from your paycheck as if you were still single. This single rate is higher than the married rate, resulting in more taxes being removed from your paycheck. This also results in, depending upon your annual deductions, the government owning you money at the end of the year, instead of you owning them. Hence, you are essentially providing the government a 0% interest loan.

If enough married Americans decided to make this small sacrifice, and the government knew that we were banding together to do it, then they would be able to invest our "loans" in order to earn interest from them. They would allow the money to compound interest all year, and then would be able to use the earned interest to pay down our national debt. We would get our tax refund at the beginning of the following year, and would be able to do whatever we wished to do with it. If you want to pay down debt, you pay down debt. If you want to treat yourselves, then treat yourselves to something special. If you want to save the money, then save it. Or, do a combination of any two options, or even all three options.

Tax Related Resources on Amazon

Understanding your taxes is essential to understanding whether or not you can afford to adjust your taxes from married, to married at the single rate. You must understand how much more will be removed, and what that leaves you with each month on the bottom-line. Then, and only then, will you see if you can survive with your monthly expenses after making this change.

What Do You Do Next?

Once you have analyzed your finances to see if you can afford to make the income tax change of married, to married at the single rate, and you have made the change to your income taxes, what's next? The answer is simple: Let your voice be heard! Send a letter to ALL of your state representatives to let them know what you've done, and why. Tell them that you are part of a growing initiative to repair the damage done to our nation's finances, and that you are telling them so that they can begin the process of planning for our nation's elevated income taxes.

If our representatives, and the President of the United States, are not made aware of our sacrifice, then they will not be able to plan accordingly. They must know who is making the sacrifice, and how much extra money is being paid into income taxes. Then, and only then, will they be able to know how much money they will be able to invest towards our nation's future. They must know that it is our intent for them to use this extra money for this purpose, and for this purpose alone.

When our voices are many, and they roar over the sound of our representatives own voices, they will see that this plan has merit and will react accordingly. They will be able to even plan advanced methodologies of utilizing the interest earned from investing our "loans" to the federal government so that they keep a percentage of that earned interest invested, so that it compounds upon itself each and every year. All in all, we would be making headway in the effort to pay down our nation's debt WITHOUT MAKING A SINGLE BUDGET CUT!!!

Taxing The Wealthy - Should we tax the wealthy more?

Should we tax the wealthiest Americans more?

How This Change In Your Lifestyle Will Help You

The goal for this Pay it Forward change is to help our government to pay down its national debt. However, this unselfish act can also help you as well! The unseen benefit to you making this life-style change, is that you are now operating at a much leaner budget than you did before. Most likely, in the process of you making this change fit to you budget, you looked for cost savings in a lot of your monthly expenses. This means that you are living off of less cash income per month, than you were before you made the change.

"How does THAT help me?", you ask. Well, once we have managed to assist our law-makers with paying down our nation's debt with our 0% interest loans, you will most likely want to alter you status to Married at the single rate, to Married again. So, your budget is operating much leaner, but your cash flow will increase each month, allowing you to save more money each month than you did prior to making this change.

You would have accomplished the very thing that most Americans claim to be impossible, solve your own budget issues. My wife and I have both been declaring Married at the single rate for years now. We have proven that it can be done, and own a nice home, and two very nice automobiles. We have a beautiful daughter, and send her to one of the best day-care with one of the best early childhood education programs around. We do all of this with our smaller budget. We have learned to live on it, and then treat ourselves and pay down debt when we get our tax return the following year. If we can do it, you can do it.

Eventually, my wife and I will change our declaration, and will live on our full available budget. And, at the time when our nation's debt is eliminated, I will gladly send my check in to the IRS the following year. However, until I have done my part to help our nation recover itself to its former glory, I will stand by my tight budget, and continue to provide my 0% interest loan to the United States of America. Please, leave a comment or some feedback in regards to what you and your family has done to help out.

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