I am a big fan of brokerage accounts. You can buy stocks, bonds, CDs, annuities, REITs and my favorite Master Limited partnerships all without fees and can defer income for ever and harvest losses. Dividends are taxed as low as zero depending on tax bracket and your heirs get a step up in basis and do not have to empty the an account in 10 years as they would with an IRA.
I am a big fan of brokerage accounts. You can buy stocks, bonds, CDs, annuities, REITs and my favorite Master Limited partnerships all without fees and can defer income for ever and harvest losses. Dividends are taxed as low as zero depending on tax bracket and your heirs get a step up in basis and do not have to empty the an account in 10 years as they would with an IRA.
Are you really a cpa?
But when it's after tax income, the big tax hit already came in when it was initially taxed. Then a second hit comes when capital gains gets it.
Do I have to have earned income that year to contribute to a taxable brokerage account?
Nope! Good point!
Did you not mention the tax brackets for long term capital gains which are -44k (89k for MFJ) ? That’s another advantage needed to be mentioned