So, I end up taking home 65% of what I earned. For everything else. Not great, but not terrible either I suppose.
About a year later he decided he didn't really like most of those people and stopped doing it. Just walked away from it all together. On one hand I was really proud of him, because as you said before, so many of these influencers are just horrible human beings. Entitled bastards who do very little and expect everything. And it's nice to know my kids not going to be one of them.
On the other hand, I can't help but shake my head a little because he could have basically paid for his college by putting in pretty minimal effort and even had some money left over to start building up his savings for adulthood. Oh well, what can you do?
Wish I could jiggle my bouncy bits for $$$. I have a lot more bouncy bits these days too! 
robio said:On the influencer topic that brought you to your question, I did have a funny story to share. A couple years ago my son had a tick tock account where he was getting influencer numbers. He's a real good looking kid, and he and my wife would do stuff together and they had tens of thousands of followers. 2 years ago we had to get a PO box for him because people wanted to just start sending him stuff and for Christmas in 2020 he got about $1,000 worth of gifts from "fans" or whatever you want to call these people.
About a year later he decided he didn't really like most of those people and stopped doing it. Just walked away from it all together. On one hand I was really proud of him, because as you said before, so many of these influencers are just horrible human beings. Entitled bastards who do very little and expect everything. And it's nice to know my kids not going to be one of them.
On the other hand, I can't help but shake my head a little because he could have basically paid for his college by putting in pretty minimal effort and even had some money left over to start building up his savings for adulthood. Oh well, what can you do?
I can't think of a situation that proves you raised your son well than that one. That said tell your damn son to get on there and take the free money! America baby! Lol. But for real, it shows maturity to not become a self centered asshole when you enter that realm.
Supreme is totally right, I can't stand that entire world. I do follow a few internet "influencers" for some nerd shows and movies. All good people who are positive, don't take themselves seriously and don't fall into the entire red pill aspect of things. So those I am fine with, I just like to get their break down on shows and shit. Outside of that I don't do the social media thing. Tik Tok I hardly use, and I find some of the clips of music that are being used to be inappropriate, like some song about "sucking dick and fucking" and it's a young girl doing a booty dance... and that's it. There is nothing else to it and it gets repeated by many others. So weird. I guess I'm an old man shocked at the youths of the day lol.
Ravenprose said:Wish I could jiggle my bouncy bits for $$$. I have a lot more bouncy bits these days too!
Jiggle away!
My tax situation is pretty much the same as Rob's. It's frustrating knowing how shit our healthcare is here in the States.
travo said:My tax situation is pretty much the same as Rob's. It's frustrating knowing how shit our healthcare is here in the States.
If it makes you feel any better, our government seems pretty incompetent at putting all that money to good use. Our roads are often in bad condition, hospitals can't seem to make a profit, and our education system is constantly being restructured and realigned, the only constant being the dwindling results of our children.
Most of us here are lucky enough to live in countries where taxes don't fund nice things, debt and bonds do; tax is used in these places primarily as a way to redistribute wealth.*
*That said, tax is sometimes used to pay off debt, so indirectly it helps pay for nice things to some degree, but whether that is significant or not is up for debate among economists.
There's an article in the news today about a woman who took part in temptation island and then became an 'influencer' (read: onlyfans model). Apparently she gave an interview in which she said she had stopped paying taxes because 'she found it to be unfair that she was losing half of her income' so she stopped with correctly filling in her tax forms. Apparently, she's also considering moving to Dubai 'so she'll never have to pay tax again'.
Hearing the word 'influencer' these days induces my vommit reflex even more than 'microtransaction' did back in the day. Anyhow, the pure audacity, arrogance and ignorance of this girl is what roils me the most. We live in a nation where taxes cover nearly all risks, but she thinks that jiggling her bouncy bits online is such hard work that she shouldn't pay them? I hope she moves to Dubai, gets a big fat fine from the tax department, gets kids and gets confornted with actual, non-subsidised hospital bills, not something lethal, but at least something that'll be very expensive to treat. Perhaps then she'll understand what taxes are for.
For those of you willing to share, how much taxes do you pay on your income?
I have to add 21% VAT to all invoices I send to my clients, and pay about 40% in various taxes. Then, when I buy something that isn't a professional expense, there's 21% VAT on that too. Basically, for every €121 I 'earn', I pay €61 in various taxes. Of the €60 that is still left to me, another €10 or so will go to the government when I actually buy something with 21% VAT included. When we apply maths to this, this means that for everything I make, 59% goes to the government one way or the other.