these are my thoughts- get it now, pay the taxes and get it out of the system so they can't take it from you later
This is exactly what our non-US-citizen counterparts are doing, because they are not taxed on global income. So they simply move to a friendlier locale and trade from there. Getting out for those of us with US citizenship is a whole other ball of wax as previously mentioned. You need to go buy your citizenship and likely wait out a residency grace period, and then pay Uncle Sam a 30% exit tax on money you have already been taxed to death on. My personal number is 7 mil liquid in todays dollars before the numbers start to jive for my family and I to consider all the problems and consequences of exiting . I'm not there yet. Each person is different of course. You have to take a hard look at the opportunity costs though. When that 35% is costing you 500K a year in tax, that to me is starting to get out of hand. Consider 10 year returns with no tax, and it is a real tear jerker. You almost can't afford not to leave. At a certain point, the numbers don't work to stay here from a economic perspective.
I don't quite understand. Exit tax. 30%. A tax on what? On all your asset? How about if I give all my money to my friends/relatives... what's there left to tax?
Never take any tax advice at face value from an internet forum. Find a CPA who can produce current professional trading clients in your field - using a professional without relevant applied experience in the art is worse than doing it yourself. You will always have to pay some entity tax. Even if you're an oligarch.
1) Yes, provided that the taxable account isn't too large with respect to the retirement account. 2) Yes, mostly. 3) If you can do "260" in each account, fantastic.
Another option is to set up a company and trade in its name. Clearly, there are a number of conditions that need to be satisfied for a company to be a separate entity for tax and liability purposes. The company has to have a "business", not just be an investment vehicle unless it's registered as one. It may have to have other investors besides you, hire people etc... Also the company will be liable for corporate taxes but a) these tend to be lower than personal taxes; b) you can choose where the company "lives" Tell this to people who pay 50% marginal tax rate in the UK - supposedly another financial center. You are forgetting the miracle of compounded interest. Rememeber, the 23% you pay now you can't reinvest and earn further interest. Imagine you invest $100 and earn meager 10% per year. Then after 10 years you will earn $110 as interest if you pay 23% per year and 123% if you pay 23% only once at the end of the 10-year period. Doesn't sound like much, does it? Now if your earn 20% per year it will be $400 vs $319.
It is on everything. http://hodgen.com/the-usa-now-has-an-exit-tax/ If you are willing to give all of your money to friends/family, then you just need them to be non-US citizens and then you don't need to expatriate, just trade under their account(s). Of course... funny things happen with money. I know a guy who tried this and his own immediate family (brother, parents) out of the country stole the money (we're talking 100's of thousands of dollars) and he has no recourse.
Make sure you consult a professional before taking such measures. Again assuming you are a US Citizen - If you have control of the foreign corporation (i.e. majority owner), then the IRS will treat it just like it was you personally doing the trading and it gets messy fast. If you are a minority holder, there are still tax implications based on your ownership. Again messy. At least UK citizens have the choice to leave for a tax haven where they will not be taxed on their trading profits just because they are a UK passport holder.
You guys don't realise how lucky you are with your tax system. In my country you are taxed 55% on your income. Oh, we have a 21% sales tax too. There are other multiple taxes on everything you can imagine too. I just found out that in Brussels they even have an extra yearly tax for every computer monitor you own. the USA is an extremely low taxed country.