RE: Death and Taxes 2025

As a teenager, I worked with a Lady who was 80 years old, helping her around the house as she was in a wheelchair. She was pretty cool, and very bright. She had her funeral all played out, but wouldn't tell me about what it was, but always chuckled when we talked about it in our conversations about death. When the funeral started, I knew why - she had picked Vivaldi's "Spring" as opening. That wasn't all, she also had recorded one of her favorite poems with her own voice. I almost laughed out loud, but was able to restrain myself. Nobody else seemed to have found it ironic, which was very "her". Maybe nobody had had conversations about death with her, besides the inheritance.

On taxes: I only pay 2% of income tax plus 15% VAT on non-basic-need-goods. So I will never complain. My brother pays around 42% income and 19% VAT in Germany. I use that as a reference and try to put 40% of my income away for all the benefits that he has (health care etc.) and I don't.