Are tax-deferred investments invariably superior?

Author: Srivastava Suresh C   Essayyad Musa  

Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Ltd

ISSN: 0140-9174

Source: Management Research News, Vol.28, Iss.4, 2005-04, pp. : 45-60

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Abstract

Financial institutions that are marketing tax-sheltered plans claim that the implied rates of return of tax-sheltered strategies are superior to those rates of return realized from taxable plans. The purpose of our paper is to investigate that claim. To accomplish our purpose, we have developed a model to determine, under different assumptions of various tax rates, the incremental benefits and the implied rates of returns of tax-deferred investments over the taxable investments. When the model is applied, the results show that tax-deferred investments are not always superior. Consequently, investors may not have a choice but to select portfolios at the lower end of the efficient frontier.