First thing Monday morning I’m going to march into my boss’s office and demand a pay cut so that I’ll be in a lower tax bracket next year.
Of course that’s ridiculous, but isn’t it about the same as the financial community’s “Conventional Wisdom” (CW) for year-end tax planning? What about the long-term nature of investing, or the merits of that investment they felt so strongly about in July? What are their motivations, and what discipline thought up these strategies in the first place?
Clearly there are many questions that require answers, but as investors, it should be crystal clear that the object of the investment exercise is to make money… just as much as possible, quickly, legally, and within a low risk environment. The faster it comes in, the more effectively it can be compounded. Otherwise, wouldn’t the “CW” be to find as many downers as uppers so that there are no tax consequences? Wouldn’t Zero Taxable Gain Investing be the only “smart” investment strategy? A December, 2004 New York Times Money Section article actually suggested that Investment Professionals had...