Hey Reader,

The US tax code contains over 70,000 pages of rules, exceptions, deductions, and credits.

Almost none of it was written with the average American in mind.

It was written to reward three specific behaviors — and if you are not deliberately doing at least one of them, you are on the wrong side of a system you are participating in every single day.

Here is what the tax code actually rewards.

Reward 1 — Saving for Retirement

The government wants Americans to fund their own retirement rather than depend entirely on Social Security. So it built powerful incentives into the tax code for people who do exactly that.

Every dollar you contribute to a traditional 401k or IRA reduces your taxable income right now. Every dollar inside a Roth account grows completely tax-free for the rest of your life. Every dollar inside an HSA receives the triple tax advantage that no other account in America can match.

The reward for saving is straightforward: you pay significantly less in taxes today while building wealth that compounds largely outside the reach of the IRS.

Reward 2 — Investing

The tax code taxes earned income — your salary, your wages, your W-2 income — at the highest rates available. Up to 37 percent at the top federal bracket, plus 7.65 percent in FICA taxes on top of that.

It taxes investment income at significantly lower rates. Long-term capital gains are taxed at 0, 15, or 20 percent depending on your total income — with no FICA tax whatsoever applied to them.

The reward for investing is that every dollar that shifts from earned income to investment income gets taxed at a lower rate. This is not a loophole. It is a deliberate policy choice written directly into the tax code — and it has been there for decades.

Reward 3 — Planning Ahead

The most expensive thing you can do with your taxes is think about them only in April.

By the time you sit down with your accountant or open your tax software, almost every meaningful option has already expired. The 401k contribution deadline passed on December 31st. The HSA contribution window closed. The tax-loss harvesting opportunity disappeared with the calendar year.

The reward for planning ahead is access to every legal strategy available to you — not just the ones that survived your delay.

Where does this leave you?

Whether you are a W-2 employee still building your career or approaching retirement after decades of consistent work — the tax code offers the same fundamental deal to every American.

Play by the rules it actually rewards and keep significantly more of what you earn.

Most people never take that deal. Not because they cannot. Because nobody sat down and explained it to them in plain English without trying to sell them something expensive afterward.

That is exactly what The Compound View exists to do — every single week, completely free.

Starting next week we move from principles to execution. Specific strategies, real numbers, and exact steps — built for W-2 employees and retirees who are ready to stop leaving money on the table.

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Talk soon,

Grant
The Compound View