The irrationality of how capital gains are taxed is a whole other topic of conversation. If you buy a stock for $100 and sell if for $200 two or three years later, after inflation of 10% total, you are taxed at 0%/15%/20%/23.8% of the $100 gain. But if you buy a stock for $100 and sell if for $200 thirty years later, after inflation of 100+%, you are still taxed at 0%/15%/20%/23.8% of the $100 “gain”. The former case takes a portion of your real gain in taxes. The latter case changes your real gain of zero into a real loss.