Scotland has voted to remain part of the United Kingdom and will hash out their tax rate changes which take effect as early as 2015. While doing a bit of research on the UK debacle, I ran across this bit o’ information about our taxes here in the U.S. that was of more interest to me personally. The IRS claims that 47% of tax returns filed in 2012 reported adjusted gross income (AGI) of less than $30,000, while only 3.6% of tax returns reported AGI of at least $200,000. There are about 300 million households, but in 2012 only 145 million tax returns were filed. Of those who filed, 64% of the returns paid federal income tax while 36% of the returns did not pay any federal income tax. So if you paid any income taxes in 2012, you are included the 31% minority of the population which did so. Thank you for keeping our government afloat (is that the right word? BTW: This is not a cry for a vote of secession).
Interestingly enough the National Association of Realtors shows that 54% of all licensed agents earn less than $50,000 per year while 7% earn more than $200,000 per year. Real estate agents are more polarized in their incomes than the national averages listed above. Realtors earn an average of $39,140 per year and it’s the 89th best job to have in the country according to US News and World report (#1 is software developer).
How is that for a smattering of useless information? Here’s what you really want to know: Thirty year FHA loans are at 3.5% and Conventional loans are at 4.25%. Fifteen year rates are way lower at 3.0% (APR will be higher, depending on the loan and down payment amounts, and amortization term–as closing costs and the presence of mortgage insurance affect each loan differently.)
