If I asked you today, where does a big portion of your paycheck go to besides taxes, you could easily tell me, otherwise see last week's post Do you understand your taxes? Most likely, your answer ranges from mortgage to car payment and cell phone. But do you know where the big portion of your taxes goes?
When we pay taxes, we hand over large portions of our annual income in chunks bigger than most. This money is used to pay everything from roads, public programs, military, etc.
The $3.95 trillion in taxes in 2016 was spent as follow:
The above are average numbers; many of them, like Defense, have decreased below 5%. Ultimately, though, the numbers add up to 100%. If you want to increase spending in one area, you must sacrifice another.
Now, when you hear any politician talking about increasing or decreasing the budget of any program, you know something else will be affected in turn.
Alex Lopez O'Bryan
Sonoman Investments