Land-value tax: Why Henry George had a point

Re:Land-value tax: Why Henry George had a point by bryanlarsen on Saturday October 24, 2015 @09:21AM (#10443505)

In the western world it's a quite common situation for retirees to own valuable property that they cannot afford to keep up and pay taxes on. They typically take out a "reverse mortgage" to handle these expenses. The bank pays them $X per month as a loan secured against the property that comes due only when the property changes owners.

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Re:Land-value tax: Why Henry George had a point by JoeAltmaier on Saturday October 24, 2015 @09:24AM (#10443511)

But that system impoverishes the elderly, and drains any legacy they might have left to their children. I see 'reverse mortgages' as a scam played on vulnerable retirees.

Far more effective for them, would be to sell the valuable property and buy something they CAN afford the taxes on. Better than bleeding them dry by a large margin.

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Re:Land-value tax: Why Henry George had a point by bryanlarsen on Saturday October 24, 2015 @12:00PM (#10443961)

What impoverishes the elderly is that silly notion of leaving a legacy to their children. Such a concept makes sense when you die at the age of 40, but it makes no sense for an 85 year old.

You're right that selling the big house and buying a small house makes sense for a lot of seniors, but taking away their ability to choose something like a reverse mortgage is just patronizing them.

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Re:Land-value tax: Why Henry George had a point by JoeAltmaier on Sunday October 25, 2015 @09:46PM (#10449242)

Nobody is taking anything; they are operating in a free market and making their best choice, which may be to sell the big house and buy a smaller one in a cheaper neighborhood. If they choose instead to impoverish themselves, and they had all the information in front of them, then ok I guess.

But I imagine nobody in their right mind would deliberately go broke when other options were available. I imagine that folks that work hard to convince them to do such things, are not working in their favor.

Patronizing them would be, deciding that a reverse mortgage is always in their best interest.

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