End of PayPal Friends and Family

[KenECoyote]

Related and it partly explains my annoyance...

Decades ago I moved into my current area and became very friendly with one of my neighbors. He invited me along for a "driving tour" of the towns around us.

Farther out, there was one very large community of similar houses that all had horrible looking run down front yards.

My neighbor was a wallpaper manufacturer and installer and said "Don't let the outside fool you... I've installed wallpaper for many of these homes and the insides are lavish. The community residents usually only deal in cash, most are on government assistance and also usually vote as a very large block."

I was incredibly disgusted, but also quite impressed. My wife often laments that we're stupid for being so honest on our taxes.

 

[Donnager]

Just another in a long list of reasons to not use PayPal.

Venmo and Zelle generate the 1099s, too.

The county and state tax goons have been trawling the flea markets for years.

All of them hate untracked transactions. I use cash for many purchases. How long will that be legal!?

Agreed.

I've seen and heard about too many Paypal scams since its inception. Every mistake tends to benefit the buyer, and usually punishes the seller, even disputes. F&F has been a near legendary source for scams/problems.

I can count the times I've bought from E-bay on one hand (pretty much only if a sites storefront appears only on Ebay), and I ONLY use Paypal if the seller has it as the only payment option, and there are zero alternative sellers.

I don't sell stuff unless the thing is worth enough money for the accounting problems to be "no big deal". I either give it away, donate it, or throw it away. Selling $601 worth of stuff (that is probably worth $2000) and dealing with a 1099 is not worth the trouble.

Reality is any business that takes credit cards already has 2.5-4% built into their pricing to account for transaction fees. Trying to peel that discount out is mostly a waste of time.

 

[cwbullet]

If I were King I would ban ex-congresspeople from lobbying or working for any company doing significant business with the government for 7 years. Then raise congressional salary but tie it to congressional approval rating. We can only dream.

And ban retire generals and admirals from taking jobs as lobbyist or with companies that depending on GOV contracts,

Can we tie the congressional salaries to passing a budget that is balanced every year?

 

[cls]

I were King...

We will all vote for you for King!! Errrr...

 

[jderimig]

Can we tie the congressional salaries to passing a budget that is balanced every year?

No that would crush congressional approval ratings. People do not like to kill Santa Claus.
A better solution is to back the dollar with something tangible instead of debt. That will fix budget issues and force people to make choices.

 

[dr wogz]

force politicians to dress up like NASCAR drivers: proudly wearing their Sponsors for all to see..

 

[cwbullet]

No that would crush congressional approval ratings. People do not like to kill Santa Claus.
A better solution is to back the dollar with something tangible instead of debt. That will fix budget issues and force people to make choices.

So you are saying print more money. That is terrible for inflation. We owe it to our kids to balance the budget.

 

[jderimig]

So you are saying print more money. That is terrible for inflation. We owe it to our kids to balance the budget.

Balancing the budget and printing money are two totally different things.

Inflation is the result when you increase the money supply faster than the production or creation of goods and services. Hence my recommendation to regulate the money supply relative to tangible commodities/goods/services. Our recent fiscal policy did just the opposite, we printed money to pay people not to produce. => Inflation.

A balanced budget should not be the goal of sound fiscal policy. A growing economy which is able to service our debt should be the goal.

 

[cwbullet]

A balanced budget should not be the goal of sound fiscal policy. A growing economy which is able to service our debt should be the goal.

I will respectfully disagree. If you took that approach with your checkbook, you would be in jail or bankrupt.

 

[KenECoyote]

So you are saying print more money. That is terrible for inflation. We owe it to our kids to balance the budget.

Actually, I believe backing the dollar with something tangible (like gold or silver, which used to be the case) is the opposite of printing money.

 

[cwbullet]

Actually, I believe backing the dollar with something tangible (like gold or silver, which used to be the case) is the opposite of printing money.

We are a far place from doing that.

 

[jderimig]

I will respectfully disagree. If you took that approach with your checkbook, you would be in jail or bankrupt.

What approach? Using debt to finance growth in excess of the cost of borrowing?

Do medical students balance their budgets during their years of education?

 

[KenECoyote]

We are a far place from doing that.

Too late really. When the dollar was taken off the gold backing guarantee, the U.S. actually restricted ownership of gold for a while (Gold Reserve Act of 1934) to ensure the plan didn't fail. Likely NEVER going back.

 

[jderimig]

Actually, I believe backing the dollar with something tangible (like gold or silver, which used to be the case) is the opposite of printing money.

Doesn't need to be backed by metal. Just limiting money supply growth to trailing 5 year average real GDP growth would be a very good first step.

 

[KenECoyote]

Doesn't need to be backed by metal. Just limiting money supply growth to trailing 5 year average real GDP growth would be a very good first step.

It's a tricky "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation.

Having the currency pegged to the country's reputation (fiat currency) allows that government the flexibility to control interest rates as well as give out money for emergencies as it sees fit (ex. Covid relief).

However, I'm no economist.

 

[jderimig]

It's a tricky "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation.

Having the currency pegged to the country's reputation (fiat currency) allows that government the flexibility to control interest rates as well as give out money for emergencies as it sees fit (ex. Covid relief).

However, I'm no economist.

Only if your currency is the global reserve currency. If not look to Argentina and Venezuela to see that doesn't work.

 

[Rob Campbell]

Only if your currency is the global reserve currency. If not look to Argentina and Venezuela to see that doesn't work.

And, the US Dollar is indirectly backed by petroleum. All sales of crude oil are denominated in USD, meaning countries purchasing petroleum on the international market must first purchase US dollars. Look at the relationship between printing money has had on the price of crude oil and gasoline.

 

[cwbullet]

What approach? Using debt to finance growth in excess of the cost of borrowing?

Do medical students balance their budgets during their years of education?

Today, spending is a huge problem. We have to reign it in. My son will never see SS. I have no issue with funding growth, but today we are 31 trillion in debt. You are not going to spend your way our of that. We have to cut.

As a Medical Student, yes, I did glance my budget and did not take massive loans. I paid for my education with time in practice. No one should go in debt 250-500K to pay for training.

 

[cwbullet]

Too late really. When the dollar was taken off the gold backing guarantee, the U.S. actually restricted ownership of gold for a while (Gold Reserve Act of 1934) to ensure the plan didn't fail. Likely NEVER going back.

Concur.

 

[Peartree]

And ban retire generals and admiralse from taking jobs as lobbyist or with companies that depending on GOV contracts,

Can we tie the congressional salaries to passing a budget that is balanced every year?

I have thought that congressional salaries ought to be pegged to the GDP, or even better to some multiple of the national average income. The formula is fixed, they can *never* vote themselves a raise, and the only way their salary can go up is if all of ours do.

 

[Peartree]

Agreed.

I've seen and heard about too many Paypal scams since its inception. Every mistake tends to benefit the buyer, and usually punishes the seller, even disputes. F&F has been a near legendary source for scams/problems.

I can count the times I've bought from E-bay on one hand (pretty much only if a sites storefront appears only on Ebay), and I ONLY use Paypal if the seller has it as the only payment option, and there are zero alternative sellers.

I don't sell stuff unless the thing is worth enough money for the accounting problems to be "no big deal". I either give it away, donate it, or throw it away. Selling $601 worth of stuff (that is probably worth $2000) and dealing with a 1099 is not worth the trouble.

Reality is any business that takes credit cards already has 2.5-4% built into their pricing to account for transaction fees. Trying to peel that discount out is mostly a waste of time.

This made me think of John Lee (who has been selling off his rocket collection one at a time in the yard sale forum), and millions like him, who are retiring, downsizing, moving, changing careers, or just changing hobbies. They finally decide to sell off a lifetime collection/accumulation, often for a loss, but the IRS will want a piece of the action because any receipts were lost decades ago.

The only option that seems to be left is the one many of us would like to avoid, and that's to leave it all to our children when we die so that estate laws can shelter the income.

 

[lakeroadster]

A balanced budget... not unlike those of us that lives within our means use, will cure nearly all issues currently being faced by our irresponsible federal government.

Too late really. When the dollar was taken off the gold backing guarantee, the U.S. actually restricted ownership of gold for a while (Gold Reserve Act of 1934) to ensure the plan didn't fail. Likely NEVER going back.

 

[cwbullet]

I have thought that congressional salaries ought to be pegged to the GDP, or even better to some multiple of the national average income. The formula is fixed, they can *never* vote themselves a raise, and the only way their salary can go up is if all of ours do.

concur - great idea.

 

[KenECoyote]

KenECoyote​

50% of Americans Have Under $500 in Emergency Savings.

I concur. so sad. $500? we need to live 6-12 months.

 

[jderimig]

Today, spending is a huge problem. We have to reign it in. My son will never see SS. I have no issue with funding growth, but today we are 31 trillion in debt. You are not going to spend your way our of that. We have to cut.

As a Medical Student, yes, I did glance my budget and did not take massive loans. I paid for my education with time in practice. No one should go in debt 250-500K to pay for training.

I AGREE! Our annual deficit is $1.4T. What are you proposing to cut from below to get to -$1.4T?

 

[cwbullet]

I AGREE! Our annual deficit is $1.4T. What are you proposing to cut from below to get to -$1.4T?
View attachment 559633

1.4T sucks. Sorry for the foul language.

 

[cerving]

Do what Jerry Brown did when CA was in a fiscal crisis, cut it down across the board with no favoritism. He should be in the Governor's Hall of Fame for pulling that off... no way that Congress could ever do that. Too much protecting MY interests... it's OK to cut somebody else's funds, though, especially if they're on the other side of the aisle.

 

[mh9162013]

Too much protecting MY interests... it's OK to cut somebody else's funds, though, especially if they're on the other side of the aisle.

And that why we'll never see fiscal responsibility from Congress unless there's a fundamental change in how our government works or society thinks (neither is likely).

 

[Sandy H.]

The American people need to pool their money together and hire lobbyists to represent them in Congress.

FYI, I put a 'wow' instead of just 'like' as that was the most logical thing I heard today. I imagine it was said tongue-in-cheek, but there's a level of brilliance. Thank you for that.

Sandy.