Should the Bottom 50% Pay Taxes?

Should the Bottom 50% Pay Taxes?

From Ask The Compound by The Compound

May 27, 2026 · 41 min

About this episode

The episode discusses tax implications for the bottom 50%, investment strategies, and retirement planning.

On episode 224 of Ask The Compound, Ben Carlson, Ritholtz Wealth CFO Bill Sweet and Duncan Hill discuss: whether it’s time to sell energy stocks before the next oil crash, the smartest way to rebalance risk heading into retirement, Jeff Bezos’s idea to eliminate income taxes for the bottom 50%, how taxes impact the 4% retirement rule, the best way to access Roth money for early retirement, and the tradeoff between maximizing 529 plans and making memories with your kids today. Submit your Ask The Compound questions to ⁠askthecompoundshow@gmail.com⁠! Order your copy of Ben's book, 'Risk and Reward' here: ⁠https://lnk.to/riskandrewardbook⁠ This episode is sponsored by Betterment Advisor Solutions. Visit: https://www.betterment.com/advisors to learn more! Subscribe to The Compound Newsletter for all the latest Compound content, live event announcements, find out who the next TCAF guest is, get updates on the latest merch drops, and more! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.thecompoundnews.com/subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube…

People in this episode

Host: Ben Carlson

Guests: Bill Sweet, Duncan Hill

Topics covered

  • taxes
  • retirement planning
  • investment strategies
  • energy stocks
  • 529 plans
  • Roth accounts

Keywords

  • income taxes
  • oil crash
  • 4% retirement rule
  • Roth money
  • 529 plans
  • retirement
  • investment

Sponsors

Betterment Advisor Solutions

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ritholtz Wealth

Products: Risk and Reward

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