Mike Caruana

BREAKING: The Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing a proposal to eliminate the quarterly earnings report requirement and instead give companies the option to share results twice a year, per WSJ

The Dutch government is destroying long term compounding by introducing a 36% tax on unrealized gains. As a Dutch citizen and long term investor, I’m at a loss for words about the lack of vision behind this new tax. I normally don’t post anything politically related, but what our government is planning to do is disastrous for long term investors. This is the sad truth. Most people here start investing to protect themselves against inflation and ever rising pension ages. They’re trying to put hard earned money to work, hoping they can retire before the age of 71. And they had a real shot at that before this bill. If you started at 25 with €10,000 and contributed €1,000 every month, you could compound to €3,320,000 over 40 years. If you lived prudently, you could retire early and live off it for the rest of your life. With the new capital tax? After 40 years of compounding, you’d end up at €1,885,000. That’s a €1,435,000 difference. This tax denies generations the chance of early retirement, punishes those who take risks, and introduces severe liquidity issues for people who have been compounding successfully for years. And to what end? To fill a €2.4 billion tax hole. I’m beyond words. If you’re Dutch like me, please share this visual with fellow investors to increase awareness. Hopefully we can make our politicians understand the severity of this tax, and the breadth and depth of its destructive implications. ~ Jan