Tax the Unhealthy?

Lazy Man and Money was kind enough to ask me to contribute a guest post.  I was happy to oblige and today the post went live.  Please check out Tax the Unhealthy? (Part 1).  Be sure to read the post and check out the debate in the comments.  Check back tomorrow to see Part 2 and again later in the week for a possible rebuttal on the other side of the debate.

Welcome to those who are new to Aspire 2 Wealth.  This blog was started to chronicle my path to wealth and keep me moving forward toward my goals.  I share my detailed personal finance history and articles on the topic of personal finance.  Be sure to check out my Millionaire Rules Series, Archives, and subscribe to my RSS feed.  Thanks for stopping by.

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Clarifications & Dentist Saga

I want to start this post with a clarification of my last post. That entry ended with a goal that some people I know found preposterous; my goal of accumulating 10-15 million dollars to be satisfied. Couple people who I shared the post with reacted strongly that I was selfish or found some other way to take offense. So, I though more about my goal and I stand by it.

For those of you who did not have that reaction to what I wrote I'm probably "preaching to the choir" but I'll explain my position a little and hopefully people will back off a little. First, remember inflation. If I spend 40 years accumulating my nest egg inflation will take a massive bite out of my spending ability. Here is the math: 3% inflation, 40 years => 1.03^40 = 3.29. What that means is that I will have roughly one third the buying power when I retire. 15 million will be worth in 40 years what 5 million is worth today. Next, my assets will need to support me and my wife for decades after retirement. If I make it to my target retirement age of 62 there is a high probability I will live for 30 more years. My wife, who is a couple years younger and has a longer expected life time, will statistically last even longer. A safe withdraw rate each year would then be Annual Return - Inflation - Safety Factor to ensure the principle is never depleted. Again the math I anticipate looks like this: (7% Annual Return - 3% Inflation) * .9 = 3.6%. I expect to spend 15% of my net worth on my primary residence and every 8-10 years spend 2% on "new" cars. If I have 5 million (in 2007 $) that means a $750,000 primary residence and $100,000 for two automobiles. What remains is 83% of 5 million which generates $149,400 (before taxes, insurance, etc). While not austere it certainly isn't living the high life (Britney Spears wasteful spending). I hope that clarifies for everyone the standard of living I aspire to. And hey, if I do better I won't feel guilty for that either.

The big news for today is related to the awful topic of the dentist. Last night while casually eating dinner at home I bit down and felt a nasty crunch. Unfortunately, I've been in this boat before when I had past dental problems. See, until I was a senior in high school I'd never had even a single cavity. When I did finally get a cavity I went to a guy in the small backwater town I lived in and got a filling which as luck would have it was a botched job. I found this out a few years later when I bit into a tortilla chip and my whole tooth crumbled. I went to a new dentist (I'd moved a few times since then) and was told that the filling I got was not deep enough and my whole tooth had rotted from the inside. Yuck!

Long story short, I had to get a root canal followed by a crown on the tooth that had the bad filling and a crown on the next tooth as well because there was so much damage. There were a series of billing problems, half a dozen appointments, and a temporary crown that the dentist stuck me with for SEVERAL MONTHS. Those procedures were finally completed back in May and are part of the credit card debt I now am trying to dig out from. Now to the present, last night the crown SHATTERED in my mouth. The crown I just got back in May. The one I've only made a small dent in paying off. After talking to some people including a friend who is nearing the end of dental school, another dentist, and my sage mother and father. I am going to ask for a full refund for at least one crown and probably all of the work that this dentist incorrectly performed (based on evaluation by yet another dentist). It seems that I've literally been the victim of severe dental malpractice. I have a meeting set up for tomorrow and if that doesn't go well I'll be looking for a lawyer. Ugh!

I have never sued anyone. I don't care for people that abuse the tort system. But I'm pissed and this dentist had better make this right or I will sue the pants off of them. Wish me luck.

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