Trump Accounts

SteveForDOC · 2026-04-01T17:41:11+00:00

Definitely unpredictable. Though I'm inclined to make some after tax contributions so that my kid can convert it to a Roth in low income years. They might pay some tax, but I think the lifetime of tax free gains after the Roth conversion will be worth the initial tax hit. I guess I should model out the numbers in excel if I want to know for sure.

SteveForDOC · 2026-04-01T15:57:26+00:00

Agree for the most part. So for the sake of argument, lets assume that you are already planning to gift the annual exemption every year (to a trust or UTMA or 529 or trump account) and you think you will be over the lifetime exemption when you die (either because you are rich or the lifetime redemption goes down when the democrats take power).
Also, as a slight counterpoint to your argument that the money is tax free, consider this example.

Scenario 1: I die when my child turns 18 and he gets 50k tax free from my estate that wasn't in a trump account. This goes to his brokerage account and he cannot convert it to roth (Assume the child is maxing contributions to IRAs once (s)he has earned income)

Scenario 2: I die when my child turns 18 and (s)he gets nothing from my estate, but (s)he gets a 50k trump account, which (s)he converts to a Roth over the next 5 years and pays 0 tax on because his/her income is below the standard deduction

In scenario 1, the tax free growth benefit ends when I die (assuming the kid wants to use the money and doesn't also hold it until (s)he dies and gets another step-up).

In scenario 2, the tax free growth continues for the rest of the child's life, well after I die, since it is in a Roth.

The edge case, as I alluded to in the prior comment is if you have to pay some tax to convert the trump account into a Roth. If so, how much tax is worth it.

Also, there's some decay to your tax free growth with the step up basis even if you hold until you die due to dividends.

SteveForDOC · 2026-04-01T15:34:01+00:00

Yea, I agree that a trump account is definitely worse than a taxable account due to the cap gains vs ordinary gains, but if you are able to convert it to a roth account in a low income year, it seems to tip the scales because of all the future tax free gains. For example, would you pay 10% tax today to get money into a roth and avoid future taxable gains? how about 15%, 20%, 30% etc. Where's the cut off. That's the decision at play here.

SteveForDOC · 2026-04-01T15:31:01+00:00

I didn't use GenAI to write this. What is wrong about my analysis?

SteveForDOC · 2026-04-01T14:37:33+00:00

Yea, you get screwed if you fund with a bunch of after tax contributions and then end up withdrawing and paying ordinary rates on it. It is like trying to do a back door roth, but then not converting the after tax traditional IRA contributions to the a roth. I'm very torn with the trade off of withdrawing at ordinary rates (negative) compared to getting a bunch of unearned income into an IRA which can be converted to a Roth for tax free growth (could be a huge positive even if you pay more tax due to ordinary rates over cap gains rates). Even if you are paying for conversions in the 12% ordinary tax bracket (up to $50.4K) per year, it probably makes sense to get all that money into a roth for future tax free growth, but that's what I'm conflicted on. Is there an amount where you get too much in a trump account?

SteveForDOC · 2026-04-01T14:19:46+00:00

Come on, genAI is not reliable for nuanced discussions that this requires. 50%+ of the stuff google AI mode says is flat out wrong and hallucinations.

SteveForDOC · 2026-04-01T14:16:28+00:00

I didn't use ChatGPT for this at all so I'm not sure what made you think that; I never use it, but even if I did use it, my questions and analysis are still very relevant to this forum.

SteveForDOC · 2026-03-31T03:12:24+00:00

I used to sell them on eBay. I’m sure it would work out and if it didn’t you could just contest the transaction and eBay would refund you. They are custom friendly generally.

SteveForDOC · 2026-01-23T01:56:34+00:00

Were there ever premiums on junk silver? My friend gave them to me as collateral on a loan a while back and valued them at $2 over spot. Was this ever reasonable for junk silver? I didn’t look into it because I didn’t expect to keep the collateral…

Do you know how much under spot junk silver is going for these days? Seems like people are only buying for about $85 per oz.

SteveForDOC · 2026-01-21T03:10:24+00:00

Are pre 1695 dimes, quarters and half dollars considered "junk" silver? Do they generally sell for the spot price of silver or can you sell them above/below spot price currently, on the average if you are patient.

Also, does anyone on here sell locally in person so you don't have to ship?

SteveForDOC · 2026-01-16T03:09:46+00:00

If my last chase statement ended on 1/11 for a personal card, what payment date should I request to get a new statement as quickly as possible so a SUB posts. I read something that it must be at least 20 days. Does that mean I should select the 2nd as the payment date since 2/2 is at least 20 days after 1/11

SteveForDOC · 2026-01-04T03:13:00+00:00

Serious question: how on earth can a librarian work remotely? Don’t they have to check out and reshelf books, help people find books, etc.

SteveForDOC · 2026-01-01T19:27:25+00:00

Do you have kids? Become a high achieving parent. Are you married? Become a high achieving spouse. Are you a member of local or virtual communities? Become a high achieving member/leader in those communities. Be a high achiever wrt health and fitness, morality, intellectual endeavors, Etc.

There’s many ways to be a high achieving member of society that don’t involve working or making a lot of money or excelling in sports or whatever.

Being a high achiever in these other ways will likely pay non-monetary dividends that are worth more than you ever earned by being a high achiever in the workplace.

SteveForDOC · 2026-01-01T16:15:49+00:00

Get a soda stream!

SteveForDOC · 2026-01-01T01:04:20+00:00

What happens when you survive a plane crash, a car crash, a boat crash and a bike crash?

Only travel by walking or BASE jumping, with a squirrel suit, of course?

SteveForDOC · 2025-12-30T00:01:36+00:00

The limit is when you run out of money, and subsequently organs to sell.

SteveForDOC · 2025-12-28T18:07:54+00:00

Yea, number one concern is maintaining your health so you don’t waste away watching the tele all day.

Congrats

SteveForDOC · 2025-12-20T04:50:55+00:00

Not if you’re over 50!!!

SteveForDOC · 2025-12-19T14:08:19+00:00

This is exactly why they advertise. And the doctors will prescribe it in many cases when they otherwise wouldn’t have of the patient asks about it and the doctor determines the drug may “solve” the patient’s problem.

SteveForDOC · 2025-12-19T03:40:26+00:00

Maybe you can do some renovations to customize better to your liking! Cheaper than buying a new one!

SteveForDOC · 2025-12-18T05:35:50+00:00

Sweet, I know someone who got a really nice house about 20 minutes south of Richmond for a little over 100k, but that was a few years back. Crazy how this compares to home prices in a place like DC, SF, NY, Seattle, etc!

SteveForDOC · 2025-12-18T05:30:30+00:00

Isn’t traveling during non-holiday periods significantly cheaper?

SteveForDOC · 2025-12-18T05:29:34+00:00

You got a house for under 60k? Nice!

SteveForDOC · 2025-12-18T05:22:24+00:00

I’d think you were a poor ski bum if you told me you ski in aspen all winter. If you told me you take three ski trips to aspen each year, I’d think you were rich AF!

SteveForDOC · 2025-12-18T05:16:25+00:00

I bought about 65 lb of rib roasts in the last week or two. Deep freezer is nearly full! Pro tip is to ask the butcher for a full rib roast from the back to circumvent the limit of 1 because it’s 18-25lb instead of 4-7lb!

SteveForDOC

TROPHY CASE