Universal Basic Income recipients might lose other benefits
To receive UBI, citizens would have to choose between the $1,000 or any existing welfare benefits--potentially including Social Security, disability insurance, food stamps, and housing assistance. It's unclear whether Yang's UBI would be worth that
trade-off for many low-income families. Yang's press secretary could not provide a "full list of programs.but health care is definitely not considered part of someone's current benefits when talking about the Freedom Dividend."
Source: Mother Jones magazine on 2020 Democratic primary
, Apr 23, 2019
It's very hard to save for retirement years from now, and accounts seem very complex. Yet the earlier you start, the better off you'll be. We need to help Americans simplify their financial lives by making retirement savings self-activating.
It's a lot easier to save money if it's automatically being done for you.
Problems to be solved:
People want to do more to save for retirement but don't know how.
Saving immediately is hard, but defining a time in the future to automatically start and increase that saving is much easier
As President, I will...
Create a tax-free investment vehicle into which people can opt to
automatically have a portion of their income directed, and allow them to define automatic increases to their contribution (either based on increases to their reported income, or at regular intervals)
Lifelong assured income would not be funded by payroll taxes; given that its purpose is to supplement labor income, it can't be financed by further taxing it. One potential revenue source is a national value-added tax (VAT). Yang has proposed funding a
$1,000-a-month Freedom Dividend with a 10 percent VAT. Like any consumption tax, a VAT is regressive if it stands by itself but becomes progressive if all its revenue is recycled equally.
Source: The Nation magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls
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