A 16 year old should absolutely make $31K

[hfojvt]

171. the calculators are just somebody's guess

this living wage calculator http://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/20103

tells me that I cannot live at my current wage, to say nothing of what I made last year. It has a living wage at $21,000 a year for one person. Officially my AGI was $14,636.33 for last year. I suppose the $3,504.50 that I spent on health insurance could also be part of my income, although officially it is pre-tax. That would put me at $18,100 still $3,000 below a living wage.

Does that mean I am dead?

I may not have saved any money last year. I got slammed with medical bills and car repairs. Something like $5,000 all told. But I put $6,500 in a Roth IRA last year and already put $6,500 in for this year. Got no public assistance either, unless you count the EIC of $15 that I will get, if I ever get my taxes done. I get a retirement savings credit of $1,000 which knocks my federal taxes down to zero. I don't consider either of those to be a subsidy.

I was not making any money for myself, how could I have had employees? I was making at least $3,000 a year less than their living wage in 1997 too. I could have lived on less too, although I did not have the luxuries that I do today. I had one dog, instead of three. I had no high speed internet, no genealogy service, didn't belong to a service club, didn't make donations to DU.

This year I am getting an Obamacare subsidy of perhaps $3,600, but I consider that to be part of my pay rather than a subsidy. Even if they increased my pay by $3 an hour, I would probably still get some subsidy. In fact, since I am no longer getting the insurance from work, my taxable income will be about $4,000 higher this year than last.