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Re:Being Poor (2005) by WalterBright on Saturday May 22, 2021 @05:47AM (#27245038)
On the other hand, mortgage interest is often the cheapest way to borrow money. A savvy wealthier homeowner may very deliberately minimize paying back the mortgage in order to invest the borrowed funds elsewhere.

Mortgage interest is also tax-deductible, while personal loan interest is not. This makes the mortgage the last debt to pay off, not the first.

Re:Being Poor (2005) by lotsofpulp on Saturday May 22, 2021 @06:53AM (#27245318)
> Mortgage interest is also tax-deductible, while personal loan interest is not

This does not affect 80%+ people, who are better off with standard deductions since 2017 tax cuts and jobs act.

In 2018, 87% did not itemize.

https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-tax-stats-at-a-...

Re:Being Poor (2005) by dragonwriter on Saturday May 22, 2021 @03:26PM (#27249554)
> This does not affect 80%+ people, who are better off with standard deductions

This ignores the indisputable fact that if personal loan interest were deductible, fewer would be better off with the standard deduction.

I mean, if you eliminate all specific deductions, everyone will be better off with the standard deduction no matter how small it is. That doesn’t mean no one is impacted by the elimination of specific deductions, in fact, it means the opposite.

Re:Being Poor (2005) by lotsofpulp on Saturday May 22, 2021 @05:58PM (#27250635)
I erroneously included the part about personal loans in what I quoted from WalterBright. I just intended to point out very few people benefit from mortgage interest tax deductions nowadays.
Re:Being Poor (2005) by WalterBright on Saturday May 22, 2021 @03:23PM (#27249542)
80% were better off with Trump tax cuts? I had no idea! I should stop watching CNN :-)

In any case, this doesn't change that wealthy people are likely not in a hurry to pay off their cheapest debt.

Re:Being Poor (2005) by lotsofpulp on Saturday May 22, 2021 @05:57PM (#27250622)
Sorry, I was not supposed to include the part from your reply about personal loans. I was just pointing out that the mortgage interest deduction is effectively useless for 87% of people.
Re:Being Poor (2005) by dragonwriter on Saturday May 22, 2021 @03:30PM (#27249588)
> 80% were better off with Trump tax cuts?

No, 80% percent are better off with the standard deduction than itemizing given the Trump tax changes (which include increases, like limiting the SALT deduction, as well as cuts.)

Re:Being Poor (2005) by WalterBright on Saturday May 22, 2021 @04:09PM (#27249875)
The standard deduction was nearly doubled, as well as the 15% tax rate was cut to 12%. It's hard to see how lower income people would be paying more.
Re:Being Poor (2005) by dragonwriter on Saturday May 22, 2021 @04:20PM (#27249939)
> It's hard to see how lower income people would be paying more.

One might almost imagine that there is a reason that no one at all has said “lower income people are paying more” in this discussion.

But have fun beating that strawman.

Re:Being Poor (2005) by WalterBright on Saturday May 22, 2021 @06:20PM (#27250788)
Except you decided to argue with me when I said they were better off under the Trump tax cuts.