|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All of this is to say, trading individual stocks in a retirement account means you can trade as much as you want, make the commission charges almost a nonissue, and not have to give a thought to paying short-term capital gains. In 1999, most of my trades were made in a Keogh account. Of course, I can still lose money. And, unlike a taxable account, I cannot write off losses against gains at any time. But this is a small consideration compared to not having to worry about capital gains. So, if I want to sell CMGI after a 60 percent gain in two weeks, I don't have to worry about paying the government a big chunk of my gain. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
It won't be long before I am able to trade for free, not worry about paying any taxes on gains, and am using free sophisticated trading software to earn those gains. And this will be possible for ever-increasing numbers of online investors who also have a self-directed retirement account. Perhaps, like me, they will also have a separate taxable account, where they will have to be more considerate of short-term taxable gains. But in order to do it, longer-term investors have to borrow some of the thinking of traders. So let's move to Chapter 10 and see how we can do that. |
|
|
|
|
|