Taxes & Accounts

The Foundations course opened the brokerage account and then said the plain truth: what happens inside it, tax-wise, is a whole topic of its own.

Start with the account that has no special powers and no special rules: the plain taxable brokerage account.

Now the first of the two big retirement flavors: the pre-tax, or 'traditional,' account.

The Roth is the traditional account's mirror image, and for many investors it's the most powerful wrapper in the whole ladder.

Here's the account almost nobody uses correctly: the Health Savings Account.

You now know every rung of the ladder.

Unit 2 is about what actually triggers a tax bill inside a taxable account, and the biggest trigger is selling something for a profit.

The Foundations course taught dividends as cash the business mails its owners.

Every capital gain is a subtraction: what you sold for, minus what you paid.

This lesson prevents a specific, expensive surprise.

Unit 3 is the strategy layer — the moves that keep more of what you earn.

Asset ALLOCATION is what you own — the mix of stocks and bonds the Portfolio course covers.

Twelve lessons of accounts and rules, and here's the graduation: taxes are the servant of your investing plan, never its master.