Skip to content
Andrew Tobias
Andrew Tobias

Money and Other Subjects

  • Home
  • Books
  • Videos
  • Bio
  • Archives
  • Links
  • Me-Mail
Andrew Tobias
Andrew Tobias

Money and Other Subjects

The Soul of Capitalism

October 3, 2007March 8, 2017

But first . . .

SKINNY ON YOUR ZIP

Ralph: ‘Click here.’

☞ Granted, it’s based on the 2000 census. (Remember 2000? Peace? Prosperity? Budget surpluses as far as the eye could see?) But it’s still makes for an interesting few minutes.

TAX CALCS ON YOUR DRIP

I praised dividend reinvestment plans for the small investor. One of you wrote, in effect, ‘sure – but what a nightmare at tax time, when you sell.’

Michael Joblin: ‘There’s no nightmare at all if you enter each reinvestment transaction, when it occurs, in a home accounting system such as Quicken or Microsoft Money.’

Kim Ness: ‘Yes, keeping track of DRIPS can be a headache – but using EXCEL or another spreadsheet software program makes it a piece of cake. An hour or two each year inputting the dividend purchases is all that is needed to figure out the cost basis for a stock.’

Michael Young: ‘Many (I’d guess most) brokerages produce a cost-of-shares-sold statement for you. It will be an average cost, which is what you should declare unless you identified specific shares to your broker when you sold. You could probably get your broker to provide a report of all of the individual costs if you ask. Of course, if you change brokers and you sell specific bits and pieces, you could have a problem.’

☞ So it depends on your definition of nightmare. Happily, none of this is an issue inside a tax-deferred retirement account. So at least there, you need not give it a second thought.

And now . . .

A TRANSCRIPT NOT TO SKIP

Better still, watch, as Bill Moyers interviews Jack Bogle. (‘It’s just gotten totally out of hand,’ says the author of The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism. ‘My estimate is that the financial sector takes $560 billion a year out of society. Five hundred and sixty billion.’) They are two of the world’s most thoughtful people, and well worth the time.

Post navigation

← Your Commitment
Optimism →

Quote of the Day

"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?"

David Sarnoff's associates on his advocacy of radio in the 1920s

Subscribe

 Advice

The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need

"So full of tips and angles that only a booby or a billionaire could not benefit." -- The New York Times

Help

MYM Emergency?

Too Much Junk?

Tax Questions?

Ask Less

Recent Posts

  • "PAPERS PLEASE" -- Trump's Very Own Gigantic Police Force

    July 9, 2025
  • 5 Links And A Joke Walk Into A Bar

    July 8, 2025
  • There WAS No Cherry Tree

    July 7, 2025
  • "The Most Popular Bill Ever Signed In The History Of Our Country"

    July 6, 2025
  • Unbelievably Bad -- Literally

    July 4, 2025
  • Repeal The Steal

    July 2, 2025
  • Our Record-High Stock Market

    June 30, 2025
  • Stuffing The Goose

    June 30, 2025
  • Yes! (Plus A Bonus)

    June 29, 2025
  • How Does THAT Make You Feel . . .

    June 27, 2025
Andrew Tobias Books
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
©2025 Andrew Tobias - All Rights Reserved | Website: Whirled Pixels | Author Photo: Tony Adams