If you have a traditional job, every time you get paid, there may be a lingering question in your mind. Somehow, the amount of this paycheck doesn’t come out to my hours times my pay. Why?

On today’s video, we’re going to dig deep into the gap between “gross income” and “net income.” What lives in the space there? Is that money stolen by the government for taxes? What is it used for? How much do I get to keep (or get back)?

Today’s Trav Talk: Where Does My Paycheck Go?

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Like the video? Please subscribe, share, or donate to let me know you want to see more big projects like this one!

PayPal: https://bit.ly/37ZNbAm

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Music: “Stomp” by Rex Banner (from artlist.io)

Sources and Links:

• State Income Tax Rates: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/taxes/state-income-tax-rates 2020
• Tax Brackets: https://taxfoundation.org/2020-tax-brackets/
• 2019 Discretionary Spending: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/56326 2019
• Mandatory Spending: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/56325
• 2019 Federal Revenues: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/56327
• General State Outlays: https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/policybasics-statetaxdollars.pdf
• Paycheck Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dApGdXs-elc
• Roth vs. Traditional Graphic: https://unboxed-analytics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/roth-vs-trad-1.png
• FDR Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08Tn5wiN0yk

Thanks for watching!

Does Your Vote Count?

The 2020 election has concluded, and it’s time for a review. Unlike 2016, the 2020 electoral vote leaned the same direction as the popular vote. Even so, there were plenty of flaws, and plenty of risk now and in the future.

In Trav Talks #4, we talk about how and why the Electoral College system is an active volcano… one that has gone off 5 times in US history, and bigger eruptions are possible if we don’t address it.

Luckily, there are some very good, practical, feasible ways that we can fix it and strengthen our union.

Relevant Links:

• nationalpopularvote.com
• fairvote.org

Like the video? Please subscribe, share, or donate to let me know you want to see more big projects like this one!

PayPal: https://bit.ly/37ZNbAm

Music: Rose Colored Glasses by Lance Conrad (from artlist.io) Thanks for watching!

It’s finally here… my biggest and most ambitious project yet. In this video, we’re going to take a look at the last 40 years of the US economy and see what we can learn about government spending, taxation, the effects of stimulus, and all of these things’ impact on economic growth and unemployment. Liked the video? Please subscribe, share, or donate to let me know you want to see more big projects like this one!

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/travislane

PayPal: https://bit.ly/37ZNbAm

Sources:

• http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=11766
• https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/gdp-growth-rate
• https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-01/51134-2020-01-historicalbudgetdata.xlsx
• https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYFSD
• https://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet
• https://www.thebalance.com/cost-of-afghanistan-war-timeline-economic-impact-4122493

“Law and Order” is a headline topic right now. But while we all want a more peaceful society, we couldn’t be more divided on how best to achieve it.

I’m concerned that some of us are actively working against our own interests. Let’s talk about it today in this new video.

References:

1) Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman Purchase here: https://amzn.to/3aogBrb

2) Household Poverty And Nonfatal Violent Victimization, 2008-2012 Erika Harrell, Ph.D., Lynn Langton, Ph.D., Bureau of Justice Statistics, Marcus Berzofsky, DrPH, Lance Couzens, Hope Smiley-McDonald, Ph.D., RTI International https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/household-poverty-and-nonfatal-violent-victimization-2008-2012

3) FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) 2017 https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2017/crime-in-the-u.s.-2017/topic-pages/robbery?fbclid=IwAR1xqA4yWpZfgPy3yJi2qNmm6JkNvuBsyuu9vX6rbY0-jfkWEnndhFzdBP4#:~:text=In%202017%2C%20the%20average%20dollar,loss%20at%20%243%2C483%20per%20offense

4) Statistical Correlations of Criminal Behavior, Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_correlations_of_criminal_behaviour?fbclid=IwAR23HwVNzfA4ecSVoY7DKoytf_BgW4nul49_IOEck0KdITi8aRhgavJtK8A

This first episode of Trav Talks was not something I had planned on doing, and especially not how I planned on starting the series. But it was an important enough subject that I had to jump in.