>Well, you're forgetting taxes, for one. You can't directly compound a
>regular savings account, you have to take a haircut each year (unlike,
>of course, appreciation of a primary residence, which doesn't get taxed
>until the end, and currently enjoys preferential treatment: a $250k
>exclusion from capital gains every two years [Thanks, President Bill,
>I've tapped that twice so far] if you're single, $500k if you're
>married).
How much do you have to pay an accountant if you don't want to figure this stuff out on your own and you have no cousin who's a cpa?