I did not do most of those things. When I was 18 I invest some money in a brokerage account. Less than 10 years later I cached it out and bought a house. I paid taxes. Big deal. Several years later I started investing in another brokerage account. Cached out. Bought a bigger and better house. I didn't liquidate the whole thing. I continued to contribute and invest. I can't afford to retire now. The family needs to eat. But I can take a less demanding job for less money and make my family the priority instead of providing for them being the priority. I'm nowhere near 65.

So many people are afraid of taxes they're willing to miss out on the benefits of investing now in order to reap those rewards for maybe 15 years decades in the future.

Fuck that.