Maserati wrote:
You create the appearance that you do, by artificially restricting your responses to situations that suit your convenience.
I will assume that you KNOW that IRA's are more restrictive than a simple brokerage account...
You seem to assume a certain structure in life--that is, the individual acting in his or her personal capacity. There are many other ways to structure one's affairs that can have significant tax advantages both for oneself, and notably, for one's descendants. There is nothing "magical" about a legacy trust in a particular jurisdiction enabling the avoidance or very-long-term deferral of, for instance, US federal estate tax. There is also nothing magical about structures in countries other than the USA, which structures afford significant tax advantages.
10% or 20% with respect to its current buying power. Say inflation causes it. Remember, however, that my question was directed not to you, but to Flagpole.
no, i restrict my responses to the things i know something about. i know significantly more than you do about the US tax regime, the international rules in particular and also the rules for retirement accounts. that is why my responses are mostly focused on those items. i want to correct the misinformation that you have posted.
it is true that IRAs are more restrictive than investing outside of an IRA. but the restrictions have no impact on the vast, vast, vast majority of people, including the very wealthy. remember again that mitt romney has at least some of his bain capital limited partnership interests in an IRA. what would you want to invest in that you can't in an IRA? real estate is probably the most common example, but that's more because of the tax deductions for depreciation and interest, and the availability of tax deferred/free exchanges.
as for the estate tax planning with trusts, again, you're right that some planning is available. i thought we were talking about income taxes. if we're talking about income taxes, using offshore trusts or corporations won't (legally) reduce your US tax burden.
and if you want my answer, then i'd say that the US listed equities would increase in nominal value to reflect the inflation. the dramatic economic displacement caused by such inflation would of course cause the stock prices to drop, but the inflation would directly cause an increase in the nominal prices. similarly, international stocks would go up in dollar terms to reflect the declining USD, but then those stocks would go down in value because the largest economy in the world has collapsed. in other words, you're back to your survival scenario.