Subject: Re: Latest from Howard Marks
We see so many people desperately resort to 1031 exchanges when they sell real estate to avoid the capital gains taxes, and they often end up in substandard investments that cause future losses that exceed those taxes had they been paid.

Amen to that. We live in an area where real estate appreciation has made many of our friends quite well to do. We sold it all once, and just gutted up and paid an enormous tax bill that year. It freed up cash for a series of investments (BRK being one of them) which worked out very well. Meanwhile, we have friends who are rolling in net worth, but are miserable dealing with rental properties during what should be their "golden years". They rolled over real estate with 1031s, and now the accumulated depreciation coupled with the appreciation leaves them with a potential tax bill they can't stomach (even though they could and should just pay it). The tax tail is totally wagging the dog.