When Ross Perot ran for the presidency in 1992, a pillar of his campaign was tax reform. Federal tax rules, he pointed out, had grown to more than 80,000 pages. His proposal: Start over and replace everything with a simple flat tax. Perot’s campaign for tax reform didn’t make much progress, but [...]
ETFs: The most frequently asked question
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are popular, but their structure is complex. That can make them difficult to understand. The question I hear most frequently is: Are ETFs more tax-efficient than traditional mutual funds? The evidence suggests they are. One recent study, for example, found that ETFs [...]
Emily’s story
Earlier this week, I received an anguished call from an investor—let’s call her Emily. Emily’s accountant was finishing up her tax return and was surprised to see a $113,000 capital gain. The explanation turned out to be just as surprising. The issue stemmed from a well-intentioned move by the [...]
Five numbers to beware of
Last week, I described investing as a task that can be maddening. It’s not just investing, though. Many other questions in personal finance can also drive us crazy. Why is that? One reason is that often the stakes are high. Mistakes can be costly. A second reason is that all data, by definition, [...]
Jane’s story
I'd like to start with a seemingly simple question: Suppose you'd purchased an investment for $19,000 and later sold it for $287,000. Would there be a gain or a loss? If you answered that there would be a gain, I would agree with you. Specifically, it appears the gain would be $268,000. But what if [...]
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