Dear Evil Speculators,

Dear Evil Speculators,

As part of our ongoing program designed to render the US stock market completely dysfunctional, we have added an additional tax to be applied toward your investment income as part of the wildly popular Health Care Bill that we recently finagled through into law:

* Individuals earning more than $200,000 a year, or couples earning $250,000 or more, would be hit with a 3.8% surcharge on investment income to help pay for the bill.

You see, we are fully aware that in just the past decade, you have been slammed twice – 2000-2002 and 2007-2009 – with two of the most brutal bear markets in history – but we just don’t care.  We are also well apprised of the latest retirement surveys – the ones that project that the average retirement account needs to generate 20% gains each year for the next 10 years just to catch up.

These concerns do not afflict us for two reasons:

Number one, as soon-to-be-former legislators, 6 and 7 figure jobs at law firms and corporations will be forthcoming for all of us, pretty much no matter what.

Number two, rather than have Americans foot the bill for their own retirement, we figure in about 6 years or so we’ll just ram a new Bill down your throats expanding Social Security and mandating employer-paid pensions for all retirees.  Since all business owners large and small are by definition ‘Fat Cats’, what could possibly be the harm in that?

Do not think that we are unappreciative of the fact that without individual investors’ participation in markets, liquidity would slow to a trickle and the risk-taking, enterprising apparatus that built this nation would cease to be.  On the contrary, we are so appreciative of investors’ market activities that we seek to grab an even larger piece of the action in the form of this and other levies to be decided in a series of closed-door meetings at our whim and leisure.

So please, as you grumble about the latest 3.8% tax-on-success that we’ll be applying to your portfolio each year, consider that it’s all for a good cause:  Rahm will now be nicer to us.

Yours Presumptuously,

The House of Representatives
Fantasyland USA 20002

This content, which contains security-related opinions and/or information, is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in any manner as professional advice, or an endorsement of any practices, products or services. There can be no guarantees or assurances that the views expressed here will be applicable for any particular facts or circumstances, and should not be relied upon in any manner. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment.

The commentary in this “post” (including any related blog, podcasts, videos, and social media) reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints, and analyses of the Ritholtz Wealth Management employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded the views of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC. or its respective affiliates or as a description of advisory services provided by Ritholtz Wealth Management or performance returns of any Ritholtz Wealth Management Investments client.

References to any securities or digital assets, or performance data, are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others.

Wealthcast Media, an affiliate of Ritholtz Wealth Management, receives payment from various entities for advertisements in affiliated podcasts, blogs and emails. Inclusion of such advertisements does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof, or any affiliation therewith, by the Content Creator or by Ritholtz Wealth Management or any of its employees. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. For additional advertisement disclaimers see here: https://www.ritholtzwealth.com/advertising-disclaimers

Please see disclosures here.

What's been said:

Discussions found on the web
  1. minimum deposit rm1 2020 commented on Sep 12

    … [Trackback]

    […] Here you will find 9422 additional Info to that Topic: thereformedbroker.com/2010/03/22/dear-evil-speculators/ […]

  2. w88 commented on Sep 20

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More to that Topic: thereformedbroker.com/2010/03/22/dear-evil-speculators/ […]

  3. EatVerts commented on Sep 22

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More Information here to that Topic: thereformedbroker.com/2010/03/22/dear-evil-speculators/ […]

  4. thenaturalpenguin commented on Sep 24

    … [Trackback]

    […] Information on that Topic: thereformedbroker.com/2010/03/22/dear-evil-speculators/ […]

  5. buy dumps with pin commented on Oct 31

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More to that Topic: thereformedbroker.com/2010/03/22/dear-evil-speculators/ […]

  6. Online reputation specialist commented on Nov 23

    … [Trackback]

    […] There you can find 7111 more Information to that Topic: thereformedbroker.com/2010/03/22/dear-evil-speculators/ […]

  7. tangerine chequing account sign in commented on Nov 26

    … [Trackback]

    […] Here you will find 90423 more Information to that Topic: thereformedbroker.com/2010/03/22/dear-evil-speculators/ […]

  8. functional testing commented on Nov 27

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More on to that Topic: thereformedbroker.com/2010/03/22/dear-evil-speculators/ […]

  9. DevOps Strategy commented on Nov 27

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More on that Topic: thereformedbroker.com/2010/03/22/dear-evil-speculators/ […]

  10. Regression Testing commented on Dec 20

    … [Trackback]

    […] There you can find 93817 more Info on that Topic: thereformedbroker.com/2010/03/22/dear-evil-speculators/ […]

  11. 안전놀이터 commented on Dec 24

    … [Trackback]

    […] Info to that Topic: thereformedbroker.com/2010/03/22/dear-evil-speculators/ […]

  12. td easy web commented on Dec 28

    … [Trackback]

    […] Here you will find 74967 more Info to that Topic: thereformedbroker.com/2010/03/22/dear-evil-speculators/ […]

  13. rolex replica commented on Dec 29

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More on on that Topic: thereformedbroker.com/2010/03/22/dear-evil-speculators/ […]