What if the money is in a pre-tax deferred comp. plan? Does that change anything? Thanks for your insight. I do think there should be some oversight of derivatives, but the way I understand it, there are sufficient laws there if they are enforced. Furthermore, the SEC was approached about Madoff several years before his scheme was outed and the whistle blower was ignored.
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Tax deferred any different? I don’t think so. I don’t see how. If they do go the route of a transaction tax, there should be some exemptions, for direct purchases of stock like IPO’s. That encourages growth. I could even endorse special tax treatment on the sale of IPO stock. (It existed at one time, I should know if it still does, but I don’t) I could see an exemption for small farmers selling stock and crops.
Oversight of derivatives? The contracts themselvess are non-regulated. Entirely. Except to the extent they are owned/traded by regulated entities like federally chartered banks, there is nobody watching.