canada goose Here's where Americans built the most wealth in the last 5 years Magnify Money, Magnify Money Nov. 20, 2017, 10:48 AM Cameron Spencer / Staff / Getty Images Magnify Money analyzed IRS data from 2012-2016 to see where Americans are getting the highest returns from investments like stocks and real estate.Fort Myers, Florida made the top of the list, with $103,000 in capital gains per resident.Fort Myers is followed by San Francisco, Sarasota, New York, and Boston. Just a few years ago, in the aftermath of the Great Recession, Americans were constantly reading about how home ownership had let Americans down. There was red ink everywhere: Not only had stocks lost nearly half of their value between 2007 and 2009, but home prices had declined in virtually every real estate market in the country. That trend has long since been reversed. Last year, incomes grew an average of 4.7%. When adjusted for inflation, they have finally fully recovered to levels seen before the 2007-08 financial crisis. But even better, their investments have been paying off. Stocks, as based on broad market indexes, have more than tripled in value from their 2009 lows. And in most local markets, home prices have also since recovered. So, who’s cashing in? MagnifyMoney analyzed five years’ worth of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data— from 2012 to 2016 — to see where American taxpayers are getting the most return on their investments. In particular, we focused on capital gains: a tax on the sale of appreciated assets like real estate and stocks. For the 100 largest American metros, we looked at two facets of capital gains: How much in gains, per resident, were realized; and, to get a sense of the breadth of wealth being realized and taxed, the percentage of individuals who filed federal taxes that cited a capital gain. We ranked each metro on these metrics and weighted them evenly to create a Cashing In Score, from 0 to 100 (with 100 representing a metro that would rank first in both capital gains per resident and the percentage of returns with capital gains). Topping the list were Fort Myers, Florida; San Francisco; and Sarasota Canada Goose Jackets , also in Florida. Others in the top 10 include tech-heavy places like Seattle and Austin, Texas. 1. Fort Myers, Florida Cashing In score: 98 (Scores are rounded in this list) By far, the place with the most cashing-in was Fort Myers, on Florida’s west coast. With a relatively small population of well-off retirees, the city and surrounding area realized nearly $103,000 in capital gains per resident, easily eclipsing other American cities. Moreover, with a capital gain appearing on nearly one in four returns over the past five years, there’s been significant activity in the region. 2. San Francisco, California Cashing In score: 94 The City by the Bay is famous for both its tight real estate market as well as Silicon Valley, and the data bear this out. Even with a significantly large population, San Francisco realized more than $76,000 in capital gains per resident, many of the realized gains likely the result of selling stocks which have greatly appreciated in value. 3. Sarasota, Florida Cashing In score: 75 Sarasota has the distinction of having a higher proportion of federal tax returns with a capital gain than any other metro in the nation, including its Fort Myers neighbor to the south. The capital gains per resident, at more than $56,000, are less than those realized in Fort Myers (as well as No. 9 Miami). 4. New York, New York Cashing In score: 70 The nation’s largest metro also sports large gains: more than $60,000 in capital gains per resident over the five-year period we examined. One in five returns included some sort of capital gain. And where the average price of a home in Manhattan has now exceeded $1 million, a healthy percentage of the gains realized were from real estate sales. 5. Boston, Massachusetts Cashing In score: 63 Another metro with a hot real estate market www.outletcanadagoose.biz , Boston realized more than $48,000 of capital gains per resident from 2012-2016, while, as in New York, 20 percent of federal filings from the Boston area included some sort of capital gain. Boston is pictured. Getty Images/Bruce Bennett What is a capital gain? According to the IRS, a capital gain can arise from a sale of stock, a private business, real estate or art. In other words, it’s the money that you earn on an investment after you sell it, less the cost of the initial investment. And while these assets are taxed at differing rates, all may be subject to federal taxes, if they are sold for more than the original purchase price. Homes are still how most Americans typically accumulate wealth. Overall, 64% of American households are homeowner households, according to the most recent Census data. The median value of the primary residence of Americans still exceeds the median value of the stocks and bonds they hold outside of retirement accounts and other managed assets like annuities. And homeowners have a net worth of nearly $230,000, versus an average of about $5,000 for renters. But housing markets are still local, which may in part explain the variance among the 100 largest metropolitan areas we examined for the most capital gains realized from 2012 to 2016. The second-home factor Not all home sales will result in a capital gains tax. Currently homeowners only pay a capital gains tax on gains that exceed $250,000 ($500,000 for couples filing jointly), if it’s their primary residence. But other property — such as vacation homes and rental properties — aren’t afforded the same protections from capital gains as a primary residence. Thus, all the gains from these sales may be subject to capital gains tax, which may explain why we found that many of the cities that top our lists are in vacation spots like Florida and Lake Tahoe (considered part of Reno, Nevada by the Census Bureau). Stocks still likely result in some significant realization It’s probably not a surprise that both New York and San Francisco are near the top of the list. Not only do both have tight residential real estate markets, but both Wall Street and Silicon Valley are homes of dozens of public corporations with thousands of employees. Stocks, whether in the form of compensation given to employees or simply bought and sold on the open market, may also result in significant capital gains. Local economies still a factor Finally, local economies may also be a factor in how much in capital gains are realized. Consider two major cities in Texas: Houston and Austin. Despite being fewer than 200 miles apart, Austin ranks significantly higher than Houston on our scale. One explanation: Austin’s tech-heavy economy continues to flourish, while the energy centric economy of Houston is slogging through a period of depressed energy prices, weighing on the residential real estate market there Methodology MagnifyMoney analyzed IRS Statistics of Income data for tax returns filed January 1, 2012 — December 31, 2016, covering five years of tax filings, along with U.S. Census Bureau 2016 population data to create a ‘Cashing in score.’ The 100 largest metros in the U.S. were ranked by the percent of returns that declared capital gains, as well as the total capital gains reported per resident over the five year period. These rankings were weighted evenly to create the score for each metro, with 100 the highest possible score for a metro that ranks #1 for both metrics. Read the original article on Magnify Money. Copyright 2018. Follow Magnify Money on Twitter. SEE ALSO: I became a self-made millionaire — and it was incredibly underwhelming NOW WATCH: Everything we know about the Google Pixel 3 canada goose parka
With a relatively small population of well-off retirees
Leave a Reply