Mitt Romney's $102 million IRA; it takes someone special

[logic_man]

Quote from atticus:

Exactly, it's simply illogical to do so. Of course Romney's wealth is a tiny minority. Hardly an issue, but the lack of transparency will bite him in the ass come November.

Not really illogical because the growth in the assets is tax-deferred, so you can buy and sell and never pay any taxes until you withdraw assets as income. For a lot of people, though probably not Romney, there is also the benefit of withdrawing assets and being taxed on them at a lower rate than during their working years.

There's also the issue of wanting (perhaps) to have a single point of control on your long-term investments, so rather than having them in multiple accounts, a single IRA account makes sense.

 

[atticus]

Quote from logic_man:

Not really illogical because the growth in the assets is tax-deferred, so you can buy and sell and never pay any taxes until you withdraw assets as income. For a lot of people, though probably not Romney, there is also the benefit of withdrawing assets and being taxed on them at a lower rate than during their working years.

There's also the issue of wanting (perhaps) to have a single point of control on your long-term investments, so rather than having them in multiple accounts, a single IRA account makes sense.

Well that's an argument for any IRA investment, and I got that. My point is that Romney's IRA investments are likely not to the letter of IRS regs.

 

[clacy]

Quote from atticus:

Exactly, it's simply illogical to do so. Of course Romney's wealth is a tiny minority. Hardly an issue, but the lack of transparency will bite him in the ass come November.

Obama was transparent about his complete lack of private sector experience in his lifetime at a time when the US was entering into the worst private sector recession since the 30's and yet Americans still elected him.

In fact he's been very transparent for his disdain for private sector job creation all along (keystone, boeing plant, etc) and yet he's still tied with Romney for the 2012 election.

 

[Free Thinker]

Quote from logic_man:

That's just the maximum annual deductible contribution. You can put $100 million in your IRA any time you want, but you can only deduct the first $2,000 and that's only if your AGI is below a certain threshold. I doubt Romney's ever been able to deduct any of those contributions given how much his income has been over the years.

Nothing like spouting off on a topic you clearly know little about. What would the world be without that, eh?

Wait, the world would be awesome without that.

no, you cant.

wouldnt that be sweet for traders. put a few million in an ira and trade it tax free.

 

[atticus]

Quote from clacy:

Obama was transparent about his complete lack of private sector experience in his lifetime at a time when the US was entering into the worst private sector recession since the 30's and yet Americans still elected him.

In fact he's been very transparent for his disdain for private sector job creation all along (keystone, boeing plant, etc) and yet he's still tied with Romney for the 2012 election.

Ask Romney about his disdain for Dade Behring's common shareholders, and more importantly, the employees... as he took over $300MM in "dividends" out of the co. It failed a year later.

 

[atticus]

Quote from Free Thinker:

no, you cant.

wouldnt that be sweet for traders. put a few million in an ira and trade it tax free.

Roth.

 

[Free Thinker]

Quote from atticus:

Roth.

yes. you can trade it up to whatever but you cant put in a pile of money. contributions are limited.

 

[atticus]

Quote from Free Thinker:

yes. you can trade it up to whatever but you cant put in a pile of money. contributions are limited.

Yes, I see that. Romney's income would preclude Roth eligibility.

 

[logic_man]

Quote from Free Thinker:

no, you cant.

wouldnt that be sweet for traders. put a few million in an ira and trade it tax free.

It's not tax-free, it's tax-deferred and, obviously, whatever gains you make have to stay within the IRA for them to maintain that status.

"One of the most common and 100% IRS-approved ways for the active trader to avoid taxes is to trade within an IRA. Please note, I am not a CPA or Tax Advisor. These are simply a few observations from one trader to another (or would-be trader). Consult directly with your tax advisor prior to taking any action in regards to the following. All the same, this should serve as an introduction into how traders can trade tax free within an IRA structure.

Short term gains which are what are produced by active trading are taxed at your regular tax rate. Long term gains on investments held for one year or more are taxed at 20%. However, if you actively trade within your IRA, not only are ALL taxes deferred, you don't have to report any gains or losses. The reason being there is no tax effect on the gains/losses so the IRS doesn't care what happens."

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/stocks/how_to/articles/-76585.cfm

But, yes, there is a tax on "excess" contributions of 6%/year (according to irs.gov), which, if the investments are growing faster than that, is still not a deal-breaker for putting in a massive amount to take advantage of tax-deferral.

Do you guys even have IRAs?

 

[atticus]

Quote from logic_man:

It's not tax-free, it's tax-deferred and, obviously, whatever gains you make have to stay within the IRA for them to maintain that status.

"One of the most common and 100% IRS-approved ways for the active trader to avoid taxes is to trade within an IRA. Please note, I am not a CPA or Tax Advisor. These are simply a few observations from one trader to another (or would-be trader). Consult directly with your tax advisor prior to taking any action in regards to the following. All the same, this should serve as an introduction into how traders can trade tax free within an IRA structure.

Short term gains which are what are produced by active trading are taxed at your regular tax rate. Long term gains on investments held for one year or more are taxed at 20%. However, if you actively trade within your IRA, not only are ALL taxes deferred, you don't have to report any gains or losses. The reason being there is no tax effect on the gains/losses so the IRS doesn't care what happens."

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/stocks/how_to/articles/-76585.cfm

But, yes, there is a tax on "excess" contributions of 6%/year (according to irs.gov), which, if the investments are growing faster than that, is still not a deal-breaker for putting in a massive amount to take advantage of tax-deferral.

Do you guys even have IRAs?

I have an IRA (no longer contribute due to asset restrictions). It's my understanding that there are defined contribution limits.