Their wealth is largely from their stocks, so to actually use it the shares would have to be sold to someone.
Billionaires don’t just have a checking account with 10+ figures in it. Most of their networth is imaginary (because they’d never get the full value of their assets if they tried to liquidate them). There’s a reason the net worth figure is preceded by “estimated”.
Their wealth is largely from their stocks, so to actually use it the shares would have to be sold to someone.
Billionaires don’t just have a checking account with 10+ figures in it. Most of their networth is imaginary (because they’d never get the full value of their assets if they tried to liquidate them). There’s a reason the net worth figure is preceded by “estimated”.
Right. Stocks and other assets are used as collateral against loans. The loans give them liquid cash, but they’re not taxed on this.
There are probably a bunch of solutions to this, but the ultra wealthy enjoy this system so changing it has well financed opposition
I definitely agree that using stocks as collateral for loans should count as realized gains.