From NJTV:
Tax reform throws NJ real estate market into period of uncertainty
The president gathered a crowd outside the White House to celebrate the new tax plan last week. Republicans cheered the new order, but across New Jersey homeowners and prospective home buyers were pulling out their calculators and calling their realtors because the cap on state and local tax deductions, now $10,000, will mean a tax increase for many homeowners, and that will have an impact on the housing market.
“Essentially, their taxes just went up,” said realtor Robin Pierce. “Because if the max is $10,000 that you’re paying with pre-tax dollars, now, if you’re paying $14,000, in order to pay that additional $4,000, you have to make maybe $5,000 or a little bit more.”
And if you pay $14,000 in real estate taxes, you’re not even in the top five New Jersey towns for taxes. Take a look. If you live in Tavistock paying $31,000, you’ve just lost $21,000.
What impact will that have on property values? No one can say exactly, yet, because real estate markets are affected by more than real estate taxes. But an analysis by Moody’s Analytics paints a dark picture. You’ll notice that New Jersey has seven of the top 10 counties in the U.S. when it comes to losers in home prices across the country. Essex County tops the list with a 10.5 percent hit.
Essex County is where Larry Stanley sells real estate. He admits it’s still too early to tell what the impact will be, but he says the effects may be marginal.
“First of all, all real estate is local. Everything that happens is on a local level — what happened in this area last week, last month, last year,” he said. “We have to look at it and say, we’re going to sell houses the same way we did before. This might cut out a couple of people who weren’t going to enter a certain community. In Essex County, the rail towns will always be hot. If there’s a train station in your town, it’s a hot market.”
Yeah, when you could write off your full $23,000 real estate tax. But now, even with what realtors call a low-inventory market, or more buyers than sellers, the tax plan has thrown the market into a period of uncertainty.
“I was at a client’s house, and he lives in Haworth, and he doesn’t even know if purchasing a property now would be the right thing with this new tax bill. Maybe he should just continue to rent,” said Pierce. “It gives me a lot of concern. Now that could be good for investors and landlords.”
Who can pass on tax increases to tenants. But if you’re a one-family homeowner thinking that you maybe want to upgrade to something a little bigger or fancier, you may want to think again.
Yes. They had a decent run. First
Posted this, but the author (and the realtor quoted) seem to lack a grasp of how the federal tax deductions work.
If you are paying $14,000 in taxes today, and the maximum deduction falls to $10,000, the tax payer doesn’t need to pay an additional $4,000 in taxes, because they already paid the $14,000 in taxes in real dollars. What they lose is the difference times their max tax rate. So, if they are in the 25% bracket, the lost $4,000 deduction was worth $1,000 in real money – and not anything like “in order to pay that additional $4,000, you have to make maybe $5,000 or a little bit more.” It also doesn’t take into account the increase in the standard deduction and reduction in federal tax rates.
Brian Klaas: Trump is not a despot but I call him a despot’s apprentice because he’s borrowing and mimicking tactics that you normally find in authoritarian states.
In each of the chapters I highlight one of the despots that he is behaving like, some are historical, some are contemporary.
So with attacking the press you have someone like Erdogan in Turkey who has abused the press, has tried to shut down outlets and when they don’t bow to him he tries to go after their wallets, which Trump has done repeatedly in threatening to revoke licenses or attacking them or calling them out publicly to be boycotted.
Then you also have with divide-and-rule, I use the example of Idi Amin in Uganda who deflected all the blame for his failures onto immigrant communities and then now you have the same thing happening in the US where it’s already somebody else’s fault but not Trump’s.
With the nepotism and various aspects of this I use the example of Uzbekistan’s dictator who hired his own daughter for a variety of different roles to be the soft face of the regime and you see this with Ivanka Trump who’s deployed to be this softer side of Trumpism.
In each of these chapters there’s an aspect of authoritarianism. America is still a democracy there’s no question about that but we have to wake up and realise that these echoes of authoritarianism, these tactics that are being brought into the United States by Trump are pushing the United States further towards Authoritarianism. And that’s the term I use, it’s “creeping authoritarianism.” Each day little by little we get used to a bit more unacceptable behaviour.
Trump has had these running feuds he attacks Mexicans, that’s how he started his campaign. He demonises migrants and Muslims and then he always has this constant feud with black athletes, right? So he’s picking fights with groups that he thinks will actually enrage his supporters and create a divisive climate in the US political system such that people will ignore his failures.
It’s deflecting blame and I think that Trump is an absolute classic case when it comes to picking on these groups that tend to be out of the political mainstream for what is “White America” and so I think this aspect of Trump is extremely damaging because even after he leaves office, his attitudes are going to persist and there’s people who love Trump who are actually going to believe that these minority groups are the cause of all these problems in America which is absolutely not true but Trump is weaponising that political anger in a way that is reminiscent of despots throughout history.
If you remember the first time you heard the term “Fake News” it probably shocked you whereas now, it’s a daily occurence. The first time he called to jail his opponent, shocking. Now almost a daily occurence. Now all of this is causing normalisation of authoritarian tactics we used to see outside of western democracies being transplanted into America and that’s going to have long term consequences beyond Trump.
With the nepotism and various aspects of this I use the example of Uzbekistan’s dictator who hired his own daughter for a variety of different roles to be the soft face of the regime and you see this with Ivanka Trump who’s deployed to be this softer side of Trumpism.
Ivanka is playing the role of defacto First Lady, because it’s clear that Melania is highly uncomfortable in the public eye. What is so unique here though, is that Ivanka isn’t willing to play the typical first lady role of passive housewife tackling a cutesy social issue, be it motivation, the fact that she’s very smart, the fact she probably isn’t a passive person in general. Michelle Obama was active in White House politics as well, and nobody criticized her for it, instead we got how elegant she was, how smart, how beautiful. Probably all these things apply to Ivanka as well. Is it the nontraditional family structure that has you upset? Where the first daughter is more powerful than the (actual)first lady, upsetting the matriarchal/patriarchal norm?
Second to all of this, Trump has run his companies as family enterprises, why is this any different?
Solid article on Bitcoin, blockchain, and all the associated hype and nonsense.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/26/ten-years-in-nobody-has-come-up-with-a-use-for-blockchain.html
Melania only has 5 staff members. Mrs. Obama had 24.
Everyone in town comes to his diner for nostalgia and homestyle cooking. And, recently, news reporters come from all over the world to puzzle over politics — because Elliott County, a blue-collar union stronghold, voted for the Democrat in each and every presidential election for its 147-year existence.
Until Donald Trump came along and promised to wind back the clock.
https://apnews.com/ee19ceb7cf0d4af4ab73c393708148bf/In-the-heart-of-Trump-Country,-his-base's-faith-is-unshaken
Then you also have with divide-and-rule, I use the example of
Idi Amin in UgandaNancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Maxine Waters who deflected all the blame forhisthe Democrat party failures ontoimmigrant communitiescollusion with Russiaand then now you have the same thing happening in the US where it’s already somebody else’s fault butnot Trump’scertainly mainly white men, especially those who are Christians and do not readily support or perform abortions.nuts. remove the strikethrough from Russia in your reading ^^^^
If you remember the first time you heard the term “Fake News” it probably shocked you whereas now, it’s a daily occurence[sic].
How quickly the MSM forgets. They coined the term, right after the election. The purpose was to persecute, and give ancillary blame for the election outcome, to all non-traditional news outlets, from the Drudge Report to Alex Jones. President-elect’s first triumph of rhetoric over the media arm of the DNC was to simply lift that convict number hang tag on a chain off of the internet and put it around CNN’s neck. I commented on this level of genius right here, over a year ago.
LOL. Remember when Pumps used to post as Lost?
Lost says:
November 18, 2016 at 11:21 am
You wish you lived in my house, too bad you can’t afford it. Esp the taxes.
The Original NJ ExPat says:
November 18, 2016 at 10:56 am
But when they have kids they’ll all come back to have a bidding war on Pumpkin’s house. After all, it’s so close to NYC that you can smell the culture. Or maybe that’s car exhaust, he lives on a busy street.
Moody’s thinks that NJ will take a big hit.
http://www.businessinsider.com/tax-reform-affect-on-home-prices-2017-12
Property taxes, or any taxes for that matter, have absolutely nothing to do with home affordability. That’s why they are never even taken into consideration, right? $1500 per month is pocket change to people in NJ, and Pumpkin probably finds that much on the ground each month just walking to his car.
This is the most beautiful woman in the world
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmxdAu6RQtM
Posted this, but the author (and the realtor quoted) seem to lack a grasp of how the federal tax deductions work.
Thus, my lifelong love with house tour guides – the same group trying to talk you into taking on the biggest financial burden of your life.
Fake news is a big problem. It’s also highly profitable so it seems likely to change.
Yesterday there was an article headline that said Melania ordered a 200 year old tree on the white house grounds to be cut down. Read down through the article and it was unanimously agreed upon by the white house arborists that the tree is unsafe and has to go. The fake news never stops.
Bingo….amazing how many people don’t understand this. I’m looking at this whole tax law and I can’t understand how it drives down real estate 10%. Someone buying a 800,000 dollar house is going to want a 10% reduction based on a 4,000 dollar increase in tax bill? Wtf? In 20 years, that’s only 80,000 dollars. Honestly, give me a break!
grim says:
December 27, 2017 at 5:25 am
Posted this, but the author (and the realtor quoted) seem to lack a grasp of how the federal tax deductions work.
If you are paying $14,000 in taxes today, and the maximum deduction falls to $10,000, the tax payer doesn’t need to pay an additional $4,000 in taxes, because they already paid the $14,000 in taxes in real dollars. What they lose is the difference times their max tax rate. So, if they are in the 25% bracket, the lost $4,000 deduction was worth $1,000 in real money – and not anything like “in order to pay that additional $4,000, you have to make maybe $5,000 or a little bit more.” It also doesn’t take into account the increase in the standard deduction and reduction in federal tax rates.
And the 800,000 won’t even see a 4,000 increase(bad example, here’s why) . With the combination of large tax bracket decreases in the last days of the bill, most will break even or make out better. You think I give a crap about my salt deduction when I’m getting a decrease by 9% in my income tax…..no, I clearly am going to make out under this tax bill.
Even top bracket gets a 2% decrease. So someone making 1 million a year will save 20,000 a year on income taxes. With the savings that come from pass through, estate, and corporate taxes, combined with 2% decrease in income taxes, these people will be fine.
Future generations paying for this plan if economic growth doesn’t pay for it. This tax plan is not being payed by current generation, so why exactly will it make homes go down 10% on avg….I call bs!!
You have to pay up for quality. New Jersey has things most of the other 56 states don’t have, like roads and indoor plumbing. I am getting mighty tired of having to carry my chamber pot 3 miles through the fields to dump it into a creek
I’d like the pumper to explain again how brilliant NJ students and teachers are and how NJ’s high taxes are worth it for the educational premium, when NJ student performance on SAT tests are thoroughly mediocre, and lagging those of many other states with lower taxes, lower paid high school teachers.
https://blog.prepscholar.com/average-sat-scores-by-state-most-recent
I’ll answer, but first…I thought you were a rational man based on your obsession with rand. So you are telling me we will get the same results with much lower pay? I have a bridge to no where for sake and it has your name on it.
As for this article, it’s bs. I don’t even know what data they are using. Plus, nj high schools provide a great ap environment. Kids graduate with lots of college credits. Try doing that in other states. I’m telling you the truth, people move to nj for its education for a reason. To say our education system is subpar is straight up bs!
No One says:
December 27, 2017 at 9:22 am
I’d like the pumper to explain again how brilliant NJ students and teachers are and how NJ’s high taxes are worth it for the educational premium, when NJ student performance on SAT tests are thoroughly mediocre, and lagging those of many other states with lower taxes, lower paid high school teachers.
https://blog.prepscholar.com/average-sat-scores-by-state-most-recent
Grim,
When I read today’s keynote article, immediately I noticed the striking lack of understanding of taxes by the author.
Probably a millennial who never itemized his/her deductions… still lives with parents in basement… gets paid $25 per article…blahh..blahh.
I deemed it fake news.
“said Melania ordered a 200 year old tree on the white house grounds to be cut down.”
I read the same article and it said that the final decision was hers. That’s not fake news that’s factual. It may be written in a way that is not flattering to her. That’s not Fake News, that’s Fox News!
“Bitcoin, blockchain, and all the associated hype and nonsense.”
An interesting article, but I have to disagree with a lot of it. Blockchain is not meant to compete with Visa/Mastercard on transaction speed. It will not replace Swift. It is not perfect and it is still fledgling.
But think of it this way. What did Facebook look like when it first started? Was it as polished as it is today. What was the point of it, when we already had email.
Microsoft Word 1.0. Clunky, but what was the point. We already had word processors.
According to this report, there were more AP classes taught in NC than in NJ. AP classes taught in NC have been rising rapidly in recent years. Same for Florida and Texas. The number of AP classes relative to number of students per state looks pretty comparable between NJ, NC, FL, and TX now. Maybe your local chauvinism is now out of date, like NJ’s credit rating from 7 years ago or Snooki’s leathered skin.
https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/research/2016/2016-Exam-Volume-by-Region.pdf
Pumps – you are not telling the truth, but that is par for the course. Where are these people who “move to nj for its education” movingfrom? Where in the world are parents sitting at a kitchen table saying, “It’s time to move to NJ for its education.” There are virtually zero true out-of-staters who move to NJ for “its education”.
Pumps – Do you actually know any parents who are from out of state who moved to NJ for this reason? Of course you don’t. Have you seen any data that indicates this?
Of course you haven’t.
My bet is you don’t have a single friend who is from out of state. Both of them never left Passaic county, just like you, and probably tolerate your rhetoric even less than we do.
I’m telling you the truth, people move to nj for its education for a reason.
The best thing you can say about NJ is it is adequate for people who don’t leave, or left and came and back.
She approved the removal based upon expert opinion. She didn’t order the removal, that’s fake news.
Fabius Maximus says:
December 27, 2017 at 9:42 am
“said Melania ordered a 200 year old tree on the white house grounds to be cut down.”
I read the same article and it said that the final decision was hers. That’s not fake news that’s factual. It may be written in a way that is not flattering to her. That’s not Fake News, that’s Fox News!
Aside from people landing jobs or escaping crime and poverty, nobody not from NJ moves to NJ.
Is anyone really surprised that NJ’s scores on standardized tests are falling? A half million plus americans have left NJ in the past decade and have been replaced by third worlders. There are consequences.
“Ivanka isn’t willing to play the typical first lady role of passive housewife tackling a cutesy social issue”
Whats funny here is you say that she is going against the matriarchal/patriarchal norms, but she and her husband both get appointed as special advisers and he got all the big jobs therefore reinforcing the stereotypes.
So what big issues is she tackling? Climate Change was shut down PDQ. Whats she left with, Childcare? Now there’s an issue that could never be defined as cutesy social!
Current temperature in Northern New Jersey 19 degrees. Good thing they morphed cocerns over “global warming” to “climate change” since even highly gullible people like fab max would have begun to question it.
Pumps – you are not telling the truth, but that is par for the course. Where are these people who “move to nj for its education” movingfrom? Where in the world are parents sitting at a kitchen table saying, “It’s time to move to NJ for its education.” There are virtually zero true out-of-staters who move to NJ for “its education”.
Not exactly true. In the past 5 years, I’ve had students who’s parents moved from Switzerland, Indonesia, Holland, China, and England. They look at NJ monthly and choose one of the top 5 districts in hopes that it will bolster their chances to get into an Ivy League school. Don’t get me wrong, it is a small # and by no means a mass migration but there are people who move to NJ for the educational system.
Moody’s analytics is wrong the journal is wrong the times etc. Anybody that says it will negatively affect prices is wrong. I think it will for a variety of reasons regardless of the last minute changes. I think the loss of the home equity loan deduction is going be a
Major negative impact on new jersey real estate prices too.
According to this report, there were more AP classes taught in NC than in NJ. AP classes taught in NC have been rising rapidly in recent years. Same for Florida and Texas. The number of AP classes relative to number of students per state looks pretty comparable between NJ, NC, FL, and TX now. Maybe your local chauvinism is now out of date, like NJ’s credit rating from 7 years ago or Snooki’s leathered skin.
Scores matter.
Btw, I work with a teacher who taught in North Carolina. She says the mason dixon line exists in school. All the Northeastern teachers there teach the AP classes and the natives teach the lower level. Same goes for the students. Transplants are the ones filling the AP.
My kids went to blue ribbon public schools. The grammar schools were good. The middle school horrible and the high school mediocre at best. We stayed on top of our kids AP classes SUPA. If you compare the SAT scores to the surrounding non blue ribbon towns which also are stinky and smelly and why would one live there the scores are comparable. The blue ribbon premium price is not worth it.
The Trumps know real estate.
If they say cut the tree down, cut it down, it’s probably dragging down the resale value of the White House.
Dirty little secret. Schools are shite without smart kids. They are led by mediocre thinkers armed with worksheets. The smart kids leave? So do your high scores.
They spend 1/2 of what you spend in NJ in CA and it shows, mostly in the form of spare looking buildings and a dearth of extea layers of supervision. Note: No one cares.
11:05 hilarioUs.
The 10K cap is not going to reduce the prices of the houses. Forget it. It’s not linear. As was pointed out in the 14k tax example above, it equates to a 1K swing in reduction. The houses are not going to fall 10%. You’re either going to buy the house or not. Taxes be damned. And it’s not because I purchased a house 2 years ago. I didn’t but with resale value in mind, I bought because I wanted what I wanted. Shall I repeat that last sentence?
Oh the joys of home ownership strike again! I just have to laugh…First water heater and now it is time to spend more money..Induction motor on my 100k BTU Trane heater unit went. Unit is about 20 yrs old, and it has a rusted flue too which could be dangerous with carbon monoxide leaking. Parts and Labor cost almost as much as brand new unit. I could do it myself but I don’t like messing with gas. Got a quote of $3,200 all in for a new RHEEM 100k BTU unit. 96% AFUE rated unit that has EcoNet remote capabilities.
They will here this afternoon to install…
I should have just went away this stay-cation week someplace warm!
nDirty little secret. Schools are shite without smart kids. They are led by mediocre thinkers armed with worksheets. The smart kids leave? So do your high scores.
Spoken like a person who doesn’t understand that there are multiple elements to a good school system.
Fast agree to disagree. You simply can’t have it all ways.
chifi et al – Anybody looking to stash cash for a year and doesn’t necessarily believe interest rates are going to the moon? I was able to buy 1.85% FDIC insured 1 year CDs today (mature 12/28/18).
Cusip 09710LCQ6 , BofI Federal Bank, San Diego
^^^^ available on Schwab, and also at Ameritrade if you know how to call up their fixed income desk and twist their arms a little.
If there’s a loss in home value, that means during the next tax assessment, property taxes will need to reflect it. Right?
And is everyone forgetting that your tax bracket has now changed? 25% goes down to 22% and 28% goes down to 24%. We can’t focus on one aspect. Even if you’re property taxes are 20K, it’s the difference of a few thousand bucks.
And what about the investment gains? Take a little off the top and pay for the difference. There’s too many ways to make up the offset. The media nags are feeding off each other to create a story.
What about the bonuses and investments companies are making with their tax breaks? Stock buy back, anyone? How about getting a part time job one night a week and on a Saturday morning? How about buying “that” care instead of “this” car? There’s way too many ways to offset a few thousand by announcing a blanket statement that houses are going to drop 10%.
When we had the HVAC replaced 1.5 years ago, I told the guy I want single speed, 80% efficiency with no wifi, no smart thermostats, etc. I want the thing to turn on when the house is too cold or too hot and that’s it.
It becomes more likely to breakdown, become obsolete, wear out when you start piling on all of the options.
And guess what….if they want to be like us, they will pay like us. They will create what they tried to flee….locusts.
I repeat, the only reason a place is cheap (low taxes/homes) is because you get absolutely nothing for your money. Saying otherwise is just rubbish. Corruption is not 100%, it can be in your imagination, but you get a lot for your money in these high cost locations. Fleeing a high cost location and to claim you get similar benefits is bs. Stop claiming the grass is greener on the other side. Economics dictate cost. If the cost is high, it’s obviously offering things the low cost does not. If you think low cost is the same as high cost, I dare you to put your money where your mouth is and move.
No One says:
December 27, 2017 at 9:54 am
According to this report, there were more AP classes taught in NC than in NJ. AP classes taught in NC have been rising rapidly in recent years. Same for Florida and Texas. The number of AP classes relative to number of students per state looks pretty comparable between NJ, NC, FL, and TX now. Maybe your local chauvinism is now out of date, like NJ’s credit rating from 7 years ago or Snooki’s leathered skin.
NJ Natural Gas will give me a $500 rebate too, unfortunately there is no other tax credits out there. I don’t plan on being in this house long enough for the furnace to need replacing again.
It’s always the same people change their views when they buy. And I own real estate as well. But my views have not changed.
See we can agree. These people are crazy if they think it will drop 10% in a hot economy.
Fast Eddie says:
December 27, 2017 at 11:31 am
The 10K cap is not going to reduce the prices of the houses. Forget it. It’s not linear. As was pointed out in the 14k tax example above, it equates to a 1K swing in reduction. The houses are not going to fall 10%. You’re either going to buy the house or not. Taxes be damned. And it’s not because I purchased a house 2 years ago. I didn’t but with resale value in mind, I bought because I wanted what I wanted. Shall I repeat that last sentence?
In 2006 my sister and her husband returned from Texas to buy a $1.6 million house in NJ with $600K down ($1 million adjustable rate mortgage indexed to LIBOR (+0.75%, IIRC), which worked out great on that front). Taxes were about $25K. My sister, with nothing to do at home except give orders to the maid, grieved her taxes and got them down a few thousand, and was successful every year doing the same, eventually getting her taxes down to $19K in 2013. At least she was finally putting her Seton Hall MBA to good use. Since then, her taxes have been going up again, but not all the way to where they had been, currently at $22K.
I think Zillow had her home value as low as $900K at some point, now up to $1.3 million, a paltry $300k below their purchase price. It’s amazing how people hang on when they have skin in the game, they were never underwater really.
If there’s a loss in home value, that means during the next tax assessment, property taxes will need to reflect it. Right?
Funny how so many nj parents send their kids to colleges in the same states that they claim have crappy education systems. Funny how the same people who claim that New Jersey s education system is superior to so many others. Yet the kids that stay local are all going to the Rutgers Montclair’s Pace Iona Fordham Manhattan WPU Villanova etc. All nice schools but none of them Ivy League or prestigious. Of course some parents will tell you some of them are like Ivy Leagues. Whatever that means.
Bingo!!
Fast Eddie says:
December 27, 2017 at 12:03 pm
I was in Harrison yesterday the development over the last 6 months has been incredible.
Isn’t it ironic that youtube is one of the seemingly very few web sites that doesn’t impose a video on you upon arrival?
I’ve owned a house in one form or another for 25 years. My thinking didn’t change. What I was in an uproar over (still am) is that I wasn’t going to pay $650,000 for fat Mary’s dump that required a gas mask and hazmat suit before entering. The Rheingold and cabbage aroma is not my idea of a clean and well-cared for home just because it’s in a certain town and certainly not because some fat, f.ucking menopausal b1tch told me it’s warranted.
You are looking at it too naively. Trust me, k-12 education drives housing prices. You seem to think colleges impact housing prices. Why does k-12 education drive housing prices and you will figure out why you are wrong.
3b says:
December 27, 2017 at 12:24 pm
Funny how so many nj parents send their kids to colleges in the same states that they claim have crappy education systems. Funny how the same people who claim that New Jersey s education system is superior to so many others. Yet the kids that stay local are all going to the Rutgers Montclair’s Pace Iona Fordham Manhattan WPU Villanova etc. All nice schools but none of them Ivy League or prestigious. Of course some parents will tell you some of them are like Ivy Leagues. Whatever that means.
And I can’t tell you how many kids go out of state for the experience. You just don’t get it.
Of course we have increasing interest rates now going forward as well but that won’t hurt prices either because the economy is hot. We also no longer have the home equity loan deduction but that won’t hurt either as people will simply cash in their stock options and pay for the addition renovation in cash.
Pumps I put three kids through school and college and you are lecturing me?? You are an idiot.
There’s a reason those crappy low cost state economies thrive on their state college economy. Nebraska without their state college would be dead. Same with places like Alabama etc…
Take these colleges away and they have absolutely no talent to hire and absolutely no place to give takentrd kids jobs/experience in their local economies.
That’s why colleges can create college towns out of the middle of nowhere. Don’t underestimate the role of education in our economies.
Send your kids wherever you like just don’t give some bs reason why like the experience crap! Once a child is out of the house they are out . Whether it’s 50 miles or 500 miles. How exactly is the experience different by going to West Virginia or Rhode Island?
And don’t lie about how you paid for it. Only to find out later that so many didnot. Their kids are paying for it. College is wonderful the experience the friendship all the rest. But the primary purpose is to get an education. Get in finish on time and start their adult lives.
What the campus offers.
Also, I was bashed for this when I stated this on the blog, but do not underestimate the social scene. You are crazy if you don’t think the majority of avg students (not nerds) going away to school base their choice on the party scene.
But it is about the experience. This experience will make you into who you are. The education is the most important factor, but don’t discount the experience factor. Why do you think the smart kid that just came to class, gets top grades, but never got involved with the experience goes nowhere in life. We are social creatures, and it’s important to develop experiences with others. Penn st is like a got damn cult. They all value and share in that experience to the point that they will hire you just because you are penn st alumni.
3b says:
December 27, 2017 at 12:40 pm
And don’t lie about how you paid for it. Only to find out later that so many didnot. Their kids are paying for it. College is wonderful the experience the friendship all the rest. But the primary purpose is to get an education. Get in finish on time and start their adult lives.
Fast so have I and I still do. With all due respect I don’t think you appreciate how the ideal of the 1950s Mayberry type suburb is disappearing.
3b,
Sussex county is Mayberry and it shows.
Northeast nj counties are pretty much all cities. Just an extension of nyc. Look at La. it’s all made up of housing like northeast nj.
here’s the thing with the tax plan, so many people in the fancy towns with the high taxes were never really able to deduct their property taxes because they were in the AMT. So on that front the 30k property tax bill was never really deductible. How it plays out with brackets and the AMT, the loss of the deductions, will the person stay in the AMT or be out of it, the higher AMT threshold, and the pass through deduction it becomes a very difficult situation to determine if the persons taxes are going up or down but the property tax deduction above 10k isn’t worth all that much to most of the high earners(the people with massive incomes lose more because they weren’t in AMT and lose a deduction off the top bracket). So the vast majority of people living in 800k-2M houses in NJ see a tax effect of probably less than 5k. The home price impact is overstated at the low end(sub 500k) most of your taxes remain deductible and above that your buyers had limited benefit from the deduction anyway.
Is this the same guy always claiming no one wants to live here in jersey?
The Original NJ ExPat says:
December 27, 2017 at 12:23 pm
In 2006 my sister and her husband returned from Texas to buy a $1.6 million house in NJ with $600K down
Chi -one up your alley.
NY post today.
Painting by Carolina Falkholt on Broome Street
What did they do to no work airport? And since when did the airport become a eating destination? And there are less bathrooms and they are super stinky.
Is that the home or the realtor?
The Rheingold and cabbage aroma
False again, and of course nobody trusts a HS dropout. Again, you have no concept of cart and horse.
Trust me, k-12 education drives housing prices.
Says the young master who grew up on a great estate in Clifton, sired by a deported drug dealer.
Sussex county is Mayberry and it shows.
Pumps – What’s the best secret college to go to to obtain secret degrees, that only require some HS and some low level post office work?
Pumps – BTW, your wife has a lot of college pictures from Boston posted, and she looks like she is having a great time. I know she went to Northeastern, what’s your alma mater again.
Or…should I say, alma grandmater?
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahhahaha!
Speaking of university education, I think I found Pumpkin’s college diploma:
http://www.diploma-degree.com/5268-The-Award-Of-Most-Retarded
(Sorry if the words on his degree hurt’s someone’s feelings)
Me – FDU
grim – William Paterson
Lib – Montclair State
Pumps – a secret place that grants secret degrees, three of them. Can you be in Skull and Bones but not go to Yale?
Pumps – the expert on edumacation.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahhahaha!
Ex – creepy
After all of his hard work, Pumpkin finally earned a postgraduate degree!
http://www.diploma-degree.com/143084-Master of Baiting Degree
Dude doesn’t even have a LinkedIn profile, so his edumacation is very, very, secret.
I didn’t tell you to go to WP.
Ex – creepy
New Years resolution #1. Don’t give detailed info so expat can’t fix me or knock on my door
Fix = dox. Lol
@shannonwatts
Donald Trump’s guide to diversity:
Haitians: Have AIDS
Nigerians: Live in huts
American Indians: Pocahontas
Black Americans: Disrespectful ingrates
Mexicans: Criminals and rapists
Muslims: Evil terrorists
Women: Treat them like shit
White supremacists: Very fine people
She politely asked me to take the pictures. I was just being a gentleman.
@KrangTNelson
it’s weird how the media seems to think that college kids are radicalized by their professors and not their six-figure college loan debt
@chrislhayes
Put another way:
Donald Trump is not a deviation from modern American conservatism, but the apotheosis of it.
incongruous
it’s weird how the media seems to think that college kids are radicalized by their professors and not their six-figure college loan debt
Still creepy. WP served me well. By my junior year, I was making $104,000, while still going to school full time. Was accepted to the cognitive sciences PhD program at UCSD, spent a summer there working in VS Ramachandran’s lab. I turned it down because I was making more money than the PhD post-docs in Pacific Beach and La Jolla. By senior year I was up to $116,000 and making more money than my professors. UCSD was a great experience though, I spent two months there. Was granted sabbatical at my job, and they paid me for going.
All said and done, I made about $250,000 while going to William Paterson full time.
Went on to do two Masters programs after that. I paid my tuition in cash for my MS and MBA degrees too.
Y’all can keep your fancy degrees, by the time I put on my fancy robe and hat for the third time, I cleared more than $500,000.
You are a worthless slacker if you graduate with debt.
If Chris Hayes is actually that smart, good on him.
@chrislhayes
Put another way:
Donald Trump is not a deviation from modern American conservatism, but the apotheosis of it.
grim – I wasn’t trying to push your buttons, I just accidentally found one.
In between, I did two MS semesters at Stevens in Hoboken. I didn’t have trouble with the coursework, but the curriculum was shit (and the commute). I already knew how to code s/390 assembler, but they still made me take x86 assembler as a course. What a worthless waste of time, the computer sciences equivalent of a class on myth and folklore. Anyhow, I quit that, because there was zero chance if a MS from Stevens increasing my income any. By that time, I was making more than those dweebs too. I did really like the class on algorithms though.
I’ll give you one back – I’ve never hit a legitimate home run, even though I played wood bat baseball into my mid 40’s. Save it for a rainy day, because it hurts.
puzzy face,
He’s going to get re-elected.
LOL!!
Once you know Assembly code, it’s just a matter of knowing the Op codes for the specific OS. I used to patch code under test so I wouldn’t have to wait days for a new load module. Find some spare memory, Jump absolute (JUA – op code 7381 on our OS), do your patch, add in the two instructions you had to take out to do your JUA, then JUA back.
Earning a degree, getting a CPA or getting a promotion would just get in the way of Pumkin’s rich social life. But he values education so very much that he’s willing to babble about it online.
Like grim, I also paid for my masters degree out of pocket while working. Definitely paid for itself many times over since then. People in that situation tend to be very motivated and demanding customers.
gary – I can’t wait for the fall elections when the GOP adds seats. I can’t imagine what the excuse will be this time except I expect California to step up it’s efforts to secede.
puzzy face,
He’s going to get re-elected.
LOL!!
I just couldn’t do it, even though it was free of cost and travel. At my first company you could earn your Masters in CS from Stevens or your MBA from FDU and it didn’t cost you a dime in tuition or travel. Classes started at 5PM right in our offices in Wayne/Totowa. All you had to do was sign up. The only sticky point was that if you didn’t get a B or better you had to pony up some serious cash. There was midpoint in each semester where we hotly debated who was going to “punt”, which meant you paid $100 or $200 to drop the course, I forget which. I think it was something like $500 if you didn’t manage a B or better. I took two CS classes, passed one, punted the second, it was just too much left brain for me when added to a 50 hour work week. MBA courses were a much better complement, but I left the company after just a couple. It was still an amazing program if you had the drive to stay with it, not a dime out of pocket. Years later I was consulting at a company for a very high rate and they(the client) offered to pay for all of my Novell certifications up front, but it was again just too much after work. Somehow, I don’t think Novell certs are much in demand these days;-)
Like grim, I also paid for my masters degree out of pocket while working. Definitely paid for itself many times over since then. People in that situation tend to be very motivated and demanding customers.
except I expect must be a confusing phrase for English Language learners.
Our tuition reimbursement disappeared pretty quickly, they cut it one year, than eliminated it the next. This was happening everywhere at the time. Talking to HR, the problem wasn’t funding the program, the problem was attempting to claw back the benefit if an employee left early. After a number of people left and it was clear the clawback was impossible, they gave up on the program as it was clear it didn’t help to retain employees.
Bets on Trump making it through his term?
With the last minute revisions,home prices in any area where they have been increasing,are not going to be affected. Places where they are decreasing, with high taxes are going to keep getting killed. Kinnelon is an example of that. Not sure why anyone would want to pay that much to live so far from NYC.
My Dad went 8 years to school at night to get his bachelor’s degree in engineering, depending (and sweating) his grades and tuition reimbursement. My parents had 3 kids and another bun almost out of the oven when my Dad graduated in 1966. Somehow I think my college experience was more fun with less pressure.
Did my MBA at night after a long day on a trading floor and with an infant at home with my wife.Uni
My oldest did his MBA at night while working full time as well.
All you guys are sharing stories of how you and/or family members achieved higher education while working full time jobs which is fabulous! It also proves that these same people are savvy enough to find the means to EASILY offset any apparent loses in tax deductions. ;)
I’m not getting an MBA. No point I already manage more and more people, most who are older than me.
My wife and I both lived at home when we went to college and worked full time all of us did that went to college at that time and it was not that long ago. Nobody went away at least in the city. And we still managed to have a great college experience as well. But we all knew it was a means to an end. If college is the high point of your life well I think that’s pretty sad. And we were all the children of immigrant children who had the equivalent of a 5th or 6th grade education. What they lacked in formal education they more than made up for in wisdom and hard work.
Fast or savvy enough not to pay the prices asked!
“You are a worthless slacker if you graduate with debt”
Agreed. Though I’m sure all of those spring and winter breaks in Panama City and Cancun that all of those debtor students took were well worth it.
Lead story headlines that I’ve seen today:
– Trump Is Running a ‘Criminal Enterprise’ and Mueller Is ‘on the Track of It,’ Says Former DNC Chair
– Thank You Trump ad was a terrible gift – dividing the country
– Ivanka vacation photo has Confederate Flag behind Kushner
– Melania demands historic tree be removed
– Trump Spends Second Day At Golf Course After Saying ‘It’s Back To Work’ During Holidays
– Gallup: Obama, Hillary Clinton remain most admired
No, there’s no media bias.
“You are a worthless slacker if you graduate with debt”
Bring back the Poor Law and Treadmill.
Salt capped at 10k home equity loans no longer deductible. Yeah I think there will be a negative impact. Would not be surprised if it impacted college prices too.
Took it out of context to state otherwise. If the jobs and economy are in place, what drives local housing pricing at the local level? Yes, quality of school systems. I stand 100% behind my statement.
The Original NJ ExPat says:
December 27, 2017 at 1:39 pm
False again, and of course nobody trusts a HS dropout. Again, you have no concept of cart and horse.
Trust me, k-12 education drives housing prices.
Do you understand how bad the income inequality is out there. Stop thinking most upper middle class or higher are living pay check to pay check.
3b says:
December 27, 2017 at 3:36 pm
Salt capped at 10k home equity loans no longer deductible. Yeah I think there will be a negative impact. Would not be surprised if it impacted college prices too.
So not so much of a deal on the heating system work anymore, once the HVAC unit was apart the evaporator coils had allot of rust on them inducing a pretty good amount of black mold. Not worth the attempt to clean as the coil corrosion via rust was too far gone. Refrigerant was the older stuff too R-22. Replacement of coil $800 and freon is $200 a pound for the old stuff. I have a whole new system now, they will come in the spring to install the new 3.5 ton condenser.
I guess I spent my Trump tax refund on the house already….
I would say stop thinking but that does not fit. So just stop.
Juice,
When it rains, it pours! Hang in there.
Doing your part to get the economy going!
3b,
Fast Eddie jumped ship a while ago, but you are still on this sinking ship praying to god that nj home prices (in places people want to live) will one day go down. Good luck, not happening anytime soon.
All these college stories played out today are impressive, esp grim. Got damn, you did well for yourself, grim. This place is filled with overachievers. I payed my way through college too and came out with zero debt. This is place where you come to listen to successful people with different ideologies debate it out. Thank you for creating such a valuable space, grim.
If only NJ schools could teach the difference between “payed” and “paid” our SAT score averages could rise again.
Pumps – my XRP coins are paying for it. Up $80 since last week.
https://coinranking.com/coin/ripple-xrp
“Doing your part to get the economy going!”
This is economic illiteracy. See “broken windows fallacy”. I’m sure Juice had something different and better in mind for his money than emergency repairs.
The Broken Window
Let us begin with the simplest illustration possible: let us, emulating Bastiat, choose a broken pane of glass.
A young hoodlum, say, heaves a brick through the window of a baker’s shop. The shopkeeper runs out furious, but the boy is gone. A crowd gathers, and begins to stare with quiet satisfaction at the gaping hole in the window and the shattered glass over the bread and pies. After a while the crowd feels the need for philosophic reflection. And several of its members are almost certain to remind each other or the baker that, after all, the misfortune has its bright side. It will make business for some glazier. As they begin to think of this they elaborate upon it. How much does a new plate glass window cost? Fifty dollars? That will be quite a sum. After all, if windows were never broken, what would happen to the glass business? Then, of course, the thing is endless. The glazier will have $50 more to spend with other merchants, and these in turn will have $50 more to spend with still other merchants, and so ad infinitum. The smashed window will go on providing money and employment in ever-widening circles. The logical conclusion from all this would be, if the crowd drew it, that the little hoodlum who threw the brick, far from being a public menace, was a public benefactor.
Now let us take another look. The crowd is at least right in its first conclusion. This little act of vandalism will in the first instance mean more business for some glazier. The glazier will be no more unhappy to learn of the incident than an undertaker to learn of a death. But the shopkeeper will be out $50 that he was planning to spend for a new suit. Because he has had to replace a window, he will have to go without the suit (or some equivalent need or luxury). Instead of having a window and $50 he now has merely a window. Or, as he was planning to buy the suit that very afternoon, instead of having both a window and a suit he must be content with the window and no suit. If we think of him as a part of the community, the community has lost a new suit that might otherwise have come into being, and is just that much poorer.
The glazier’s gain of business, in short, is merely the tailor’s loss of business. No new “employment” has been added. The people in the crowd were thinking only of two parties to the transaction, the baker and the glazier. They had forgotten the potential third party involved, the tailor. They forgot him precisely because he will not now enter the scene. They will see the new window in the next day or two. They will never see the extra suit, precisely because it will never be made. They see only what is immediately visible to the eye.
80% that is ….
Is this an explanation of why too much money in a few hands has a negative impact on the overall economy? Can’t have it both ways.
“Now let us take another look. The crowd is at least right in its first conclusion. This little act of vandalism will in the first instance mean more business for some glazier. The glazier will be no more unhappy to learn of the incident than an undertaker to learn of a death. But the shopkeeper will be out $50 that he was planning to spend for a new suit. Because he has had to replace a window, he will have to go without the suit (or some equivalent need or luxury). Instead of having a window and $50 he now has merely a window. Or, as he was planning to buy the suit that very afternoon, instead of having both a window and a suit he must be content with the window and no suit. If we think of him as a part of the community, the community has lost a new suit that might otherwise have come into being, and is just that much poorer.
The glazier’s gain of business, in short, is merely the tailor’s loss of business. No new “employment” has been added. The people in the crowd were thinking only of two parties to the transaction, the baker and the glazier. They had forgotten the potential third party involved, the tailor. They forgot him precisely because he will not now enter the scene. They will see the new window in the next day or two. They will never see the extra suit, precisely because it will never be made. They see only what is immediately visible to the eye.“
Juice,
Good stuff. 80% in a week is a beautiful thing!
Listen, juice had to replace equipment, whether you want to acknowledge it or not, he created a new need for business which we call demand. Demand plays a crucial part in the economy whether you like it or not. Salesman selling bs are still creating economic growth. How many salesman oversell and get a bonus from their company? Selling sh!t people don’t need, but wow, it’s good for the economy because it creates a need for economic activity as opposed to stagnant economic activity.
Pumps I am not praying in most respects I don’t care. I do care for the younger generations that for whatever reason or reasons decide they wish to stay here and buy in these north Jersey towns with their ok school systems. They are not all that impressive when you actually put a child threw the system you might actually realize that but I doubt it. And just fyi my son is looking to purchase a two family house in one of those smelly low brow south Bergen county towns in spite of my misgivings about new jersey. Was in contract on one but backed out due to inspection issues. My opinion remains constant house prices were in a bubble,bubble bursts fed steps in puts a floor under prices. Cleansing process delayed not stopped. Jersey used to be a great little state in many regards, that’s no longer the case. North Jersey is over priced over taxed inherently corrupt and the schools are over rated. These opinions of mine have been consistent they don’t change because my personal situation has changed.
Pumps – congratulations on not putting your mother into debt with your one semester of catch-up remedial courses at community college…or did you mean that you personally did not go into debt?
I payed my way through college too and came out with zero debt.
It’s amazing that someone who has no problem displaying himself as the fool on a daily basis, giving up numerous details about his ill-advised investment follies, and generally has not shame whatsover – yet is so embarrassed about his (lack of) education that he can’t even offer up a school where he graduated. I can see the graduation years of grim, my cousins, Pump’s siblings from Clifton High, but it doesn’t seem like Pumps himself graduated. Applying Occam’s razor, his last educational hurrah was somewhere South of Senior year.
School of hard knockskys, maybe?
Also, everyone here except Pumps seems to have very specific, specialized, detailed, and unassailable knowledge on some specific subject. Pumps relies on “Trust me”, that’s the full extent of what he knows. I think con men learn that line in second grade.
3b,
I respect you and your families work ethic. Wish more people had the same work ethic. Your son is making the right move buying his first home as a two family in the nyc metro area. It will be good long term financial move.
I wish nj could have stayed the way it used to be. I will miss it too. Whether we realize itor not, nj has already been on its way to its new transition. Higher density housing will be the norm, only the rich will get to keep their nice tree lined single family neighborhoods. Fortunately, lots of rich in nj to maintain that, but high density living will be replacing current living quarters for a lot of people in our area.
I actually know this guy, he lives just down the street:
https://news.wgbh.org/2017/12/13/politics-government/galvin-warns-collapsing-bitcoin-bubble
I can’t wait till half the people paying their 2018 property taxes get hit with AMT.
Also, all the people saying you are not middle class if you can afford to prepay is hilarious.
I think the single greatest element in a successful school is TRUST.
I am wondering if some of these liberals who despise trump are going to actually benefit from his new tax plan. Absolutely nothing about it on Facebook.
“Ex – creepy”
I had a chat with you on this topic a while back. There are a few people in here I would trust to meet in real life.
I don’t know what his issue with Pumps is. Maybe there’s a rejection or a restraining order out there in their past.
Some of the teachers my kids had were absolute morons. Perhaps that’s why they got rid of meet the teachers night a few years ago.
“By my junior year, I was making $104,000”
So we can assume that you weren’t 19 and making minimum wage at a McJob. Good for you, you are an outlier and not the norm.
It should not detract from the fact that debt during and after college for many is the only route. Should someone defer Nursing School until they can’t afford the $16K a year tuition for the 2.5 years in Community College.
This article basically summing up mine and a couple other’s position on this tax law. Look at that last sentence, I’m getting a fuc!ing 9% drop in my income taxes. I’ve said it how many times in here, i went from getting killed, to making out based on those last minute changes. Please please explain to me why housing will go down 10%. A month ago, I would agree with you, but under the new changes, you are nuts.
“Of course, your tax filing is dependent upon a lot of your decisions – your income and any investment income, but also things like whether you have a mortgage, your state and local tax payment totals, your charitable contributions, etcetera. My back of the envelope math is that some people will enjoy a big cut, a lot of people will enjoy modest but tangible cut, and a few people might hit the worst possible sequence and see a modest increase. Looking at this chart, if you’re married and your joint taxable income is between $400,000 and $416,000, your tax rate is changing from 33 percent to 35 percent. (Quick, get your taxable income down to $399,000! Your tax rate will drop to 32 percent!) If you’re married and your joint taxable income is around $300,000, great news: your tax rate is dropping from 33 percent to 24 percent!“
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/454797/amt-change-gop-tax-bill-will-help-blue-state-taxpayers
Anyone have a recommendation for a good brand of Sump Pump. Mine is just churning water and not pumping.
Prepay taxes when that money could be invested in Crypto coins.
Went in today to price a fire place. quoted me $6400 for the fireplace and installation. No plumbing, no Framing, no Tiling, no electrical.
I think that means I might as well do it myself. I will sub contract the plumbing.
I am super happy with the quality of my new Zoeller. BTW, it’s not unusual for cheap pumps to break. The diaphragm often dries up and fails prematurely. A pump used regularly will actually last longer than one used sparingly.
“So we can assume that you weren’t 19 and making minimum wage at a McJob. Good for you, you are an outlier and not the norm. ”
True. But the outliers tend to win in this world. Those, comfortable with the norm will tend to finish in the norm. There’s a reason we’ve been quite successful despite our less than prestigious degrees. Probably a lot has to do with our upbringing and emphasis on work ethic. I’ve seen way too many spoiled brats fail and piss poor immigrants succeed. The hardest working kids I witnessed were my classmates at Middlesex County College where I often took Summer Courses since I couldn’t get them at Montclair State due to their over superscription.
That must be why Pumps has lasted so long here, he likes to be used regularly….for comedy!
A pump used regularly will actually last longer than one used sparingly.
Just flipping the news. Apparently Westchester Co town residents have been flooding local town halls to pre pay or partially pre pay their 2018 property taxes.
I wonder how many people might be prepaying property taxes who don’t have to?
I have found the multi generational wealthy are actually very nice and many of them have children who were are not spoiled. This noveau rich crowd and the wanna bees in their Mc mansions on a postage stamp in bs blue ribbon schools are a whole other matter.
Di Blasio apparently has Presidential aspirations. God help us.
Going to be funny when they all start screaming about amt.
I think the single greatest element in a successful school is TRUST.
The worst element in a any school is the people who spout buzzwords.
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!
The worst element in a any school is the people who spout buzzwords.
Brrr it’s 74 degrees.
So my shopping list for Grainger is growing. We had a power cut today so it was probably the surge that took the sump pump out, so I might as well put a whole house surge protector in when I replace the sump pump.
As i’m in the box. I might as well drop in a transfer switch for a generator. I’ll run the hookup switch to the back of the house. As I’m running that I might as well set up the circuits for the Sub panel for the shed. I plan to put in at the bottom of the garden.
This is starting to add up.
Fabius
You might as well go geo thermal while you’re at it, or at least solar.
Damn, that was cold.
On a very cold night..
No One says:
December 27, 2017 at 4:06 pm
If only NJ schools could teach the difference between “payed” and “paid” our SAT score averages could rise again.
The Broken Window..
In reality, the glazier will quadruple his bill which the baker will submit to his insurance company, and they will split the extra money, so the baker can now buy an even nicer more expensive suit.
Of course, if in NJ, the baker will have to wait for and pay for the local building inspector to come to make sure the glass is the right type and clear enough for the local ordinances.
Let’s be fair, it’s not as easy today to pay off your college loans as it was in 1987, and even harder before that. A high school degree in 1980 – you could have a good paying union factory job that could easily pay for your education. Not so today.
Students at public four-year institutions paid an average of $3,190 in tuition for the 1987-1988 school year, with prices adjusted to reflect 2017 dollars. Thirty years later, that average has risen to $9,970 for the 2017-2018 school year. That’s a 213 percent increase.
The difference is stark at private schools as well. In 1988, the average tuition for a private nonprofit four-year institution was $15,160, in 2017 dollars. For the 2017-2018 school year, it’s $34,740, a 129 percent increase.
You are a worthless slacker if you graduate with debt.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/how-much-college-tuition-has-increased-from-1988-to-2018.html
The Broken Pumpkin fallacy…
Crickets…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K8E_zMLCRNg
The Great Pumpkin says:
December 27, 2017 at 4:21 pm
Is this an explanation of why too much money in a few hands has a negative impact on the overall economy? Can’t have it both ways.
Phoenix,
Graduated without debt in the 21century. Sorry, would put the year, but expat might use the information to figure out that I really did graduate from college, and I rather much have him think he is playing a fool.
Even the NY Times interactive chart says tax cuts for a typical NJ married couple both parents working. I used low ball income of a teacher and cop at $150K total with 2 kids using the standard deduction.
$3,340 tax cut
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/17/upshot/tax-calculator.html