Question: We keep hearing about income inequality. Who are the 1 percent?
Answer: Technically, it is those 1.1 million U.S. households that earn an average annual income of $2.1 million, putting them at the top of America’s wealth scale, according to the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute.
The top 1 percent pay an average federal tax rate of about 33 percent, leaving an average after-tax income of $1.4 million per household after the average payment of $703,303, according to Table T15-0039, a base-line distribution of income and federal taxes that the center issued in June.
The top one-tenth of 1 percent is an even more exclusive group, comprising just 115,000 U.S. households (out of a total 171 million) that earn an average annual income of $9.4 million and pay an average federal tax rate of 35 percent, or $3.3 million, according to the Tax Policy Center. That leaves an average after-tax annual income of $6.1 million per household for this rarefied group.
More than a few “1 percenters” live in Hawaii, according to global wealth monitor Phoenix Marketing International, which ranked the state fourth in the nation for millionaires per capita in 2014. About 7 percent of the state’s population, or 32,828 households, held at least $1 million in investable assets, according to the company, lower only than Maryland, Connecticut and New Jersey, which ranked first, second and third, respectively, among the 50 states.
Investable assets include liquid resources, such as bank balances, mutual funds and stocks and bonds.
There are 545 U.S. billionaires, according to Forbes magazine, and the wealth necessary to make the magazine’s annual list of the 400 richest people in America is the most it’s been in the 34 years Forbes has been compiling the index.
It took an estimated net worth of $1.7 billion to make the 2015 list, which for the 22nd straight year was led by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, with an estimated net worth of $76 billion. Together the 400 richest U.S. residents are worth an estimated $2.34 trillion, according to the magazine.
Q: Do I have to have a teaching certificate to be a substitute? Also, how much does it pay?
A: No. Hawaii’s Department of Education “will consider anyone with a bachelor’s degree for substitute teaching positions, but first priority will be given to candidates who also complete the State-Approved Teacher Education program, a full teacher-training program that includes student teaching in a Grade K-12 setting,” according to the DOE’s website.
Daily pay rates for substitute teachers in Hawaii’s public schools range from $139.53 to $164.09, with the highest pay reserved for substitutes who hold a Hawaii teaching license or have completed a SATE program.
Applications are accepted each school year, from July 1 to March 15.
Auwe
Auwe to a group of boys for spitting on my car while it was parked at the Aiea Shopping Center at about 3:45 p.m. Thursday. I was approaching from across the parking lot with my young kids when we saw you admiring your “handiwork.” You ran off before we arrived and seemed to think it was funny. My daughter could not understand why you would spit on our car. About half of you were wearing matching Aiea High School shirts. Your thoughtlessness sets a poor example for our community and your apparent school. — Aiea resident
Mahalo
I would like to give a great big mahalo to the gentleman who found my car keys at Don Quijote on Oct. 11. After shopping, I used my remote control to open the door and trunk of my car. I put my groceries in the car and took the shopping cart to the cart station. When I got back to my car, I couldn’t find my keys. I looked everywhere. All of a sudden, I heard “beep beep, beep beep” coming from my car. A man standing near my car with keys in his hand asked if I had lost my keys. He found them in the shopping cart. I was so happy. I gave him a big hug and thanked him. I asked how he found me. He said he pressed the remote and saw the flashing lights on my car. It’s amazing that he took the initiative to go through the parking lot using the remote to find my car. I’m so sorry that I did not get his name. He made my day! — Grateful shopper
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
