I’ve been hearing Senator Elizabeth Warren talk about taxing unrealized capital gains for some time now. I always thought it was a bad idea until my stock portfolio took a big hit this past week.

When I say “big hit,” I have to admit it’s all relative. Anytime I lose more than $1,000 in my 401K, I cringe.

I still remember the days when I used to get my statements in the mail and would sometimes cry real tears when I saw my retirement portfolio heading downward. Fortunately, that hasn’t been the case these last several years, and I have been happy to check it out online. Until recently.

I can’t explain tariffs. I hope President Trump’s plan works because I’m not interested in losing more money. I actually want him to succeed. I wanted Joe Biden to succeed, too. I don’t care who is in the White House as much as I care about how their actions affect me and my loved ones, my friends, the poor, and disadvantaged. Basically, I want our country to do well for everybody.

I think it’s safe to say that not everyone agrees with my thinking, which is why I have my own conspiracy theory about why the markets took a big drop this past week. I’m thinking that wealthy investors who can’t stand Trump on principle sold their stocks to ensure the market would tank in response to the levying of these new tariffs. They didn’t lose any money because they acted quickly. I’m a buy and hold girl, so I was doing a lot of cringing on Thursday and Friday.

Moving on from my “conspiracy theory” that the market was driven down on purpose, I return to Senator Warren’s plan.

If she wants my money in good times then she should be willing to give it back to me in bad times. Right? Makes perfect sense to me.

If by some means in the future she is able to codify her idea, then it should surely include a provision for recording my unrealized stock market losses.

The market goes down, the government sends me a check. I’m definitely warming up to the idea.

I think my losses should be computed on a daily basis and then tabulated monthly. If my overall losses are say $5,000, even if I recoup them via gains, I should still receive reimbursement.

If in the end, if my gains outweigh my losses, at least I’ll have some money to offset the tax bill at the end of the year.

Makes no sense, you say? So much doesn’t these days. Why not another wild and wacky idea for Congress to debate endlessly and then reach no conclusion.

Think about it, Senator Warren. I’ll be looking in the mail for your check to prop up my deflated retirement fund.