Only in America can you own 50% of a gas station and have

[borlis]

a taxable income of $13,000. No, I didn't leave off any zeros. My brother in law lives in so. Cal and is part-owner of a gas station. He is also a mechanic, which is keeping him afloat. He is suicial right now and is all alone out there. He is on anti-depressants, but we are frantically trying to get him to see a psychiatrist. He has never been very close to us, but now we are keeping in touch often to try to help him. I was absolutely outraged today when he told me what his income was last year. It seems with the high gas prices, the oil company just keeps taking more. Now that prices have come down a bit it should get better I asked him. Maybe a little, but we are always behind the curve was what he told me. He said he made some bad investments and is barely getting by. $13,000! I still can't believe it. Who can live on that! BILLIONS in profits and the guys in the field are barely getting by. Is the corporate greed ever going to stop? How many lives are going to be ruined before it stops? :mad:

[babylonsister]

1. He lives in SoCal. It's really expensive to live there. And

if you thought the high gas prices would bail him out, think again. The gas stations haven't been making money, the corporations have, same as it ever was under GWB's 'plan'.
I feel bad for your bro and can't fathom living in CA on $13,000/year. Can anyone? Not in any state, I'm thinking.

[borlis]

2. I never thought the high prices would bail him out.

I just figured he would be getting more than he is getting. I don't think he ever thought he was going to be super rich, he just wanted to make a decent living and have a decent nest egg to retire on someday. He is also somehow still able to pay his mortgage, but today he told me his house needs some major repairs that he is unable to do. So even if he were to try to sell his house he might not make much money on it. And to answer your question, I think $13k a year is below the poverty level. This just sickens me.

[RoyGBiv]

4. What retailers make ...

What retailers make tends to be rather constant in terms of price per gallon sold. During periods of price increases, they tend to sell less and so make even less than normal overall.

[RoyGBiv]

3. That's actually not bad ...

Privately owned gasoline stations haven't been money-makers in decades, not since self-service took over and (necessary) regulations became so strict. The money was always in the service part of the business and is currently either in service (oil changes, etc.) or convenience store type items.

In the convenience store business, gasoline sales are known as a "draw," not a revenue stream in and of themselves. Owners of chains make enough through volume to have gasoline sales account for something, but these chains typically sell other items, either service or goods, that are the real revenue stream.

The first privately owned store that employed me brought in about $12,000 in gross commissions on gasoline sales per year, which was enough to pay for licensing, equipment maintenance, and electricity. Profits were generated by sales of convenience items, beer, and cigarettes. The owner paid herself about $20,000 a year, and I made about $12,000. After paying all other associated costs of operation, that left very little in the way of an actual profit that could be invested either back into the business or elsewhere. When new regulations took effect that required the installation of new tanks and new monitoring equipment, the owner couldn't afford it and by the terms of her contract with the gasoline supplier couldn't get them to pay to do it. So, she closed up shop.

[borlis]

5. He and his partner have been trying to sell it for about 5 years.

They have come close a few times. They have a two stall garage and do repairs. This is what is keeping them afloat. He said if it wasn't for that they'd be done. They do not have a mini mart which I think would help. He also said that emission laws change next year and that requires more new equipment.

[mike_c]

6. a couple of decades ago my brother-in-law told a similar story....

Owned a gas station beholden to a major oil company. Utterly depended on family willing to work for peanuts to keep him afloat. When will the sheep realize who is fleecing them?

[deaniac21]

9. I have a friend who owns 2 Shell stations in Little Rock. He is

making a fortune. He just joined one of the most exclusive country clubs in Arkansas. He immigrated from Jordan 8 years ago. He just bought a house in upper middle class West Little Rock, too. I suspect management skills have something to do with the ability to make it in business.

[mntleo2]

7. I Supported 3 kids On That

...and often for less. And I was taxed to the hilt for it, not only in income taxes, rental (property) taxes, sales taxes, and even toilet paper taxes. As well as in social security taxes I am now fighting to receive since I am suffering from 35 years of working crappy McJobs that has left me in much the same shape as your brother, adding that my right arm is going to soon be useless. While the gas companies, who have more than any company in freaking HISTORY has ever made, he is learning the hard lesson many of us working poor have known since we picked up a spatuala/someone else's grandmother or baby/garden tool/: Never EVER trust the rich man to do anything but feed his greed with excuses and whining about how HE should not have to pay any taxes, but we should, HE should benefit from the government, but we shouldn't.

Now who but you are realizing what is happening? Nobody seems to CARE until it happens to them or someone they love. Even here in "Progressive Land" where people are supposed to "care" so much. Yeah right. Isn't it a disgusting pity? I hurt for your brother, he and millions of others like us have been screaming for justice for years, but nobody wants to listen ~ as a matter of fact they often ridicule us. So now until the middle class gets up off their butts and start caring for more than themselves, and do something about it with us, they need to take a good look at what has been happening for YEARS to the lower class workers and realize, well they are next.

Looks like he was one of the ones who was next.

What can I say? :cry: :shrug:

Cat In Seattle

[SheilaT]

8. You've just made a strong

case for preserving Social Security. On that kind of income, you'd never have been able to put aside more than $5.00 per week. The notion that a working stiff can save/invest/make more on his/her own than through a system like SS is beyond nuts.

I take it you've applied for disability? I'm a paralegal, did an internship with an attorney who handled appeals for people who'd been denied disability, and I learned a couple of useful things: Expect to be turned down when you apply. It's almost a given. Expect to document your disability in multiple ways. It helps enormously to be over 50, as at that age there's an assumption you can't easily retrain for a new career. Especially if you've done manual labor and have limited education. If you go blind, getting disability is relatively easy. How's all that for cheerful news?

Good luck. If you apply and are denied, find an attorney in your area who handles such cases and good luck to you.

[mntleo2]

10. Thanks Shiela!

Yeah I already have been turned down once a couple months ago and I am 54. They said to schedule an appeal takes a year to get into court. In the meantime I am on TANF with my grandniece who is a year old. I wish I knew what you meant by documenting the disabilities in many ways. I have more than one disability, there are three, actually. I am in a holding pattern right now and know there are things I could be doing, but I am not sure what. I have looked up attorneys in the phone book for my area but I am not sure which one would be the best. I have a dear friend also applying and she is in worse shape than I am. She says the attorney she found won't even return her calls and only deals with things by mail. I sure wish there was a place where I could go to get some questions answered, lol.

Thanks for your response. It means a great deal to me you said something, and it is a bad place to be when your heart has been broken as well as your body from working for nothing and being taxed to the hilt.

Cat In Seattle