We all have them. Me, I’m an aspiring billionaire. My father often told me that the first million would be hardest. He was right; the old man died without his million; and after a lifetime of work, I can confirm that the first million is indeed the hardest.
I have followed the recent votes on the Inflation Reduction Act, including the continuation of the carried interest loophole for hedge fund managers and other captains of Wall Street, closely. I don’t know about the rest of you, but all my 401K bucks are invested in the market – mutual funds almost exclusively. No torpid treasuries or bonds for me; I want the maximum return, and I have been willing to accept the attendant investment risks because my Social Security and Pension are both supported by those torpid financial instruments.
So, as I see it, most of the value of my 401K investments is capital gains. The same goes for my MRDs – minimum required distributions. So, why should my distributions be taxed as ordinary income? I think that if we are going to have a carried interest loophole, the sonofabitch needs to be big enough to drive our 401K distributions through it.
As soon as I finish this blog post, I’m writing letters to Kyrsten Sinema, John Cornyn and Ted Cancruz pleading my case for dilating the loophole so that the rest of us, wealth-challenged yet aspiring billionaires, can get a fair shake on our Wall Street based, 401K capital gains. I invite you to do the same – whether you have a 401K or not.
We need to be optimistic; just don’t hold your breath.