I saw 2 really cool tables from the Tax Foundation’s Tax Policy Blog that to put it simply…inspired me. Both provide an statistical evidence of what I have intrinsically thought was correct, and where I should go.
Statistics of Income Sources of 2008 Tax Returns
The first Table provides an insight as to what sources of income makes up a certain group’s Adjusted Gross Income. I took out a few columns from the original table, since they don’t apply to me (i.e. Pension, IRA distributions, etc.).
| AGI Group | Salaries Wages | Taxable Interest | Cap Gains Dividends | Biz Income |
| All Returns | 66.31% | 3.04% | 12.99% | 7.95% |
| 1-5k | 87.27% | 4.62% | 4.53% | 4.46% |
| 5-10k | 75.45% | 2.97% | 3.02% | 10.41% |
| 10-15k | 71.21% | 3.21% | 2.39% | 9.76% |
| 15-20k | 76.89% | 2.69% | 2.28% | 5.18% |
| 20-25k | 81.07% | 2.21% | 1.92% | 3.24% |
| 25-30k | 81.73% | 1.83% | 1.81% | 3.01% |
| 30-40k | 81.86% | 1.91% | 1.68% | 2.63% |
| 40-50k | 80.41% | 1.81% | 2.01% | 2.78% |
| 50-75k | 77.47% | 2.10% | 2.80% | 2.69% |
| 75-100k | 76.45% | 2.16% | 3.58% | 3.48% |
| 100-200k | 73.17% | 2.32% | 6.22% | 5.91% |
| 200-500k | 59.62% | 3.25% | 13.87% | 15.22% |
| 500k-1m | 47.27% | 3.77% | 22.89% | 21.62% |
| 1-1.5m | 38.90% | 4.42% | 28.38% | 24.48% |
| 1.5-2m | 35.13% | 4.55% | 32.03% | 24.85% |
| 2-5m | 31.75% | 4.80% | 37.24% | 23.08% |
| 5-10m | 26.75% | 5.23% | 46.37% | 18.98% |
| 10m+ | 16.02% | 6.47% | 62.33% | 12.57% |
I hope you see what I am seeing! As the Adjusted Gross Income increases, the wage column decreases. As people’s income (and I assume wealth but as I stated in the past even if you are making a Million, but are spending a Million = No Wealth) increases they also seem to be diversifying their income streams. This seems to click around the $200K mark.
Lesson for My Journey: Start Diversifying your Income Streams Early.
Income Sources by Age
The second table represents the different income streams by age, rather than source as above. Again, I took some of the columns off the original table.
| Age Group | Salaries Wages | Taxable Interest | Cap Gains Dividends | Biz Income |
| All Returns | 66.31% | 3.04% | 12.99% | 7.95% |
| Under 18 | 55.05% | 5.19% | 30.27% | 3.95% |
| 18-34 | 91.75% | 0.62% | 2.75% | 3.45% |
| 35-44 | 80.44% | 1.52% | 8.25% | 7.76% |
| 45-54 | 74.10% | 2.03% | 11.32% | 9.69% |
| 55-64 | 59.10% | 3.41% | 15.74% | 9.97% |
| 65+ | 17.21% | 8.80% | 29.09% | 7.47% |
As a person gets older the reliance on Salary as the overwhelming majority contributor to total income, seems to diminish.
Lesson for My Journey: Start Diversifying your Income Streams Early.
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