Gov. Jay Inslee gave his State of the State speech and laid out several proposals he plans to push. This includes a plan for a 7 percent capital gains tax on the sale of stocks, bonds and other assets. There are several obvious problems with this proposal but I would like to point out one that may not be recognized. Elderly on fixed incomes and baby boomers planning to retire would be adversely impacted by such a proposition.
People used to retire on pensions. This is now mostly restricted to government workers (including teachers). The majority of the public will have to depend on investments and at a time when returns are at historic lows. I believe putting this in place will lower the standard of living on those already retired and will force delay in retirement for many others (who may have already deferred retirement because of The Great Recession). This same demographic is also experiencing the brunt of the downsides of the Affordable Care Act.
Elderly Americans have few options to adapt to the many recent state and federal government decisions that negatively impact them.
Brad Jensen
Camas
