And that’s where this story really begins… you have a complete two-part story in campaigns? Part 2: The Real Cost of Losses Jack decided to run the numbers. He understood the Rule of 72: at 7.2% annual growth rate, money doubles in 10 years. That means a dollar invested today should, in theory, turn into $2 in a decade, $4 in twenty years, and $8 in thirty years. But that’s only in a perfect world. Jack wanted to see what happens in the real world—where losses, fees, and taxes are constantly draining wealth. The Impact of Losses Jack learned a painful truth: when you lose money, it takes much more than the same percentage gain just to break even. Lose 20%, you need a 25% gain to recover. Lose 40%, you need a 67% gain to recover. Lose 50%, you need a 100% gain just to get back to even. Markets go down faster than they go up—and every time his account took a hit, the clock restarted on his financial goals. The Weight of Fees Jack discovered that even small annual fees had a massive long-term cost. A 2% annual fee on a retirement account doesn’t sound like much. But over 30 years, that fee could consume 30%–40% of his total wealth. And those fees get collected whether his account grows or not. Advisors, custodians, fund managers, and institutions all got paid first—long before
Jack ever saw a dime. The Burden of Taxes
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