I think for many using Steem(it), the understanding that one is managing an asset, or in some ways has become their own banker eludes them. Not surprising, as many focus all their energy on working for money to pay their bills and have remained essentially ignorant in the way money works either for or against them. I would recommend that everyone read the work of Robert Kiyosaki, author of the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad. One of his quotes that really sheds light on the helplessness many feel when it comes to their finances is

> Most people never study the subject [of money]. They go to work, get their paycheck, balance their checkbooks, and that’s it. On top of that, they wonder why they have money problems. Few realize that it’s their lack of financial education that is the problem.

Without making this post about him, as he wrote his own wisdom you can read, I wish to share a couple more points that he makes. 

* Your house and car are not assets. A house can be an asset, but what determines an asset from a liability is one produces wealth for you, the other takes wealth from you. 

* Taxes target workers the hardest. If you are dependent on a paycheck, you pay the government first. If you are a business, you pay the government last.

Focusing on the taxes issue, for those who will be paying, the government has made it clear that they consider it at asset (in the US). As I mentioned in a [previous post](https://steemit.com/steem/@practicalthought/a-day-with-the-tax-man), I paid taxes for last year on the Steem I earned. However, that is not the end of the taxes unfortunately. The greedy government also wants taxes when one cashes out. In this form of taxation, it is either a capital gain or loss. For myself, it will be a capital gain as I love the saying you never lost anything unless you go to cash out. 

Understanding the difference between the two is going to be very important as we move ahead in the next year or so. The difference in tax liability huge between a short term and long term capital gain.

* If you hold for under 1 year, it is considered a short term capital gain and the tax rate is 50%. 

* If you hold longer than 1 year, it shifts to a long term capital gain and the tax rate is now 20%.

A huge difference, and will illustrate here. Suppose you cashed out 10,000.00 USD in profits. This is what your tax liability would be:

* Short term = 5,000.00

* Long term = 2,000.00

As you can see, it is crucial to maximizing your profits to structure any cash outs you may do at some point into being a long term capital gain. Knowing this, it would serve you well to start keeping records meticulously. You an do this with a simple notebook, jogging down your wallet numbers at the end of each day, or use a spreadsheet as I do. If you are unfamiliar with how to use a spreadsheet, here is a brief explainer video that should be enough to get you going.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WIyXgBeha0

If you would feel more comfortable being taught, one of our very own witnesses here, @paulag has been teaching it for many years. Her website is http://theexcelclub.com/ and you can also find her posting free tutorials here on the chain as well under her @theexcelclub account here. 

Using the video above to focus on how I am keeping track, what I do is use column A (the first row going down) for my dates. Each row down recording the flow of days. In column B going down, I record the end of day balance in my SP (this could require extra columns if you don't power everything up as I do and need to track Steem and SBD). You can use as many columns as you need for your activities here, to ensure you are tracking everything. 

Using my method, one can know on a daily basis what the total amount of Steem is being received, as well as the date it is received. There are easier ways to utilize the spreadsheets of course, using auto sums, but I don't mind using my calculator down the road. :) Where these records come into play for your tax planning down the road is you will know exactly when each Steem you hold will transition from a short term to long term taxable event. I will share one more example of this, only complicating it even more now as I use purchased Steem along with earned Steem.

On August 6th, my 18 months anniversary will be here. One year ago from that date, I held 255.807 Steem and had bought 153.561 of that. All of it however is now a long term capital gain tax. Supposing Steem is 1.00 each at that time for simplicity sake, I earned 102.246 Steem that I had held for a year. or, 102.25 USD. 20% of that would mean on that portion cashed out I would owe 20.45. Had I cashed it out the day before, I would have owed 51.13 of it. See the difference?

Now as to the 153.561 I had bought, I would be able to claim a loss on it as I paid more than 1.00 each for those, lol. Enough to actually offset that 20.45 I am guessing, but that is neither here nor there as I'm not looking so short term, just using my real life situation as an example. Now suppose that instead of Steem being 1.00 at that time, it is worth 4.00. For what I bought, you would subtract the 2+ dollars each I paid for it and then I would owe 20% instead of 50% on the profit. So suppose it was 2.00 even I paid, that makes each Steem taxable on the 2.00 profit each on what I had bought, after subtracting my cost. So on that 307.12 profit

20% on that would be = 61.42 owed leaving me with 245.70 after the long term capital gains liability.

50% on that would be = 153.56 owed leaving 153.56 after the short term capital gains liability.

Now obviously these amounts are small, but if you keep at this and invest with time these are going to be large numbers. Especially if Steem explodes in value in the coming years and is worth 10.00 or 100.00 or 250.00 each. 

Now is the time to get in front of this to protect your valuable assets from the greed of the government. Don't let ignorance of their system take resources you have a way of keeping. 

A video by Kiyosaki on his rules for success.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVfBdFs4_S8

Observations from the video.

Number 4, his rule is an acronym called focus. This principle applies here on Steemit.

Number 5, buy the panic, sell the run.

Pay attention to number 7 on taxes and working hard.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you found this article helpful in your journey to keep the wealth you are acquiring.