The old joke goes that nothing is certain except for death and taxes. But in reality, the United States didn’t even have a permanent federal income tax until Christmas Day, 1913, which means we have spent more years as a country without a federal income tax than with one. Over the years, taxation became more and more complicated as the government sought more ways to raise revenue while citizens looked for ways to pay less in taxes. This led to what we have today which is an often difficult to follow maze of tax codes representing a desire for more revenue pitted against tax-reducing incentives to encourage people to behave financially in ways that put less burden on the government overall (such as retirement savings and health care savings).

In this episode, we’re talking about taxes. We’ll discuss how the progressive tax system works, key moments in US tax history that drove some of the tax code provisions that are key to modern tax planning, and considerations around Roth investments, your off-desk Robinhood account, and how the current tax landscape compares to the past.

Of course, we can’t predict the future  and this discussion isn’t tax advice. We definitely recommend you connect with a tax advisor for help with your tax questions and financial situation.