[quote=ucodegen]I would rather have it than not. Too many problems when you don’t have it.

I have a lot of my portfolio in long term holdings, which mean selling it will kill me in taxes.

The more interesting question in all of this is how do the brokerages then make money if the transaction costs are zero?[/quote]

Long term gains in taxable account are the perfect way to retire early. I’ve got it all calculated out. Sell 25K ordinary income and 80K long term per year has an effective tax rate of 0 fed and 3.09 CA! Problem though is I don’t think I can sell it all off before my 401K RMD hits. I think brokerage make money on some market maker fees. But it is getting really hard to get money from the brokerages for depositing money. I don’t think they are doing well without commisions.