Your Feedback

As usual, your feedback is considerably more interesting than the original. Two examples:

A TAX-FREE WAY TO “TAKE PROFITS” — SORT OF

From Professor Dana Dlott: “You will laugh at this… it is so obvious, but I have found a way to take some profits with no tax consequences .. even in a non-retirement account! Start from the premise that I put $1000 every month into a non-tax sheltered stock mutual fund. After reading your column, I thought, ‘why not sell off $1000 of the stock and put it in my money market?’ Well, obviously this is no different from simply directing my next payment directly into the money market, bypassing the stock market entirely — except no tax liability. So readers who fit this description might consider directing their new contributions to the money market or bonds for a while as a way to ‘sell off’ stocks without paying capital gains taxes.”

G-II

From Todd J: “I really enjoyed your column about flying from DC to NYC on your friend’s G-II. My guilt restricts my pleasure a bit when someone loans me their jet — but my party spirit compensates just enough for me to be a mogul for a moment.

“My favorite solo passenger story:

“A college chum, Chuck, was called to Casa Pacifica in 1973 for an interview with Nixon. The interview got delayed; however, Chuck finally met the President and got approved to be Al Haig’s assistant. The delay, Nixon found out, meant Chuck couldn’t make my wedding rehearsal dinner on Cape Cod. Nixon’s response: ‘take Air Force One.’ And so he did, flying as the only passenger from California to Massachusetts. He made the dinner, with his pockets bulging with powder-blue matchbooks with a gold, embossed Presidential seal.

“Lord, Chuck was insufferable during dinner. Afterwards, he walked out to the end of a stone jetty and lit a cigar. Surprise, a rogue wave came along and washed him into Nantucket Sound. He returned to the ballroom of the Wianno Club, soggy and bent cigar in his mouth with his black tie still dripping — and announced that his ego had been tamed. Two days later, I got married.”

Tomorrow: “Ellen” Feedback (but just tomorrow, I promise)