Capital gains and qualified dividends do not affect your marginal tax rate. Your federal income tax due is calculated on the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet—Line 44 on page 43 of instructions for Form 1040. Taxes due on Capital Gains and those for other income are calculated separately at their own rates and added together. Your marginal tax rate is determined only by that other income excluding capital gains.
Good information and advice. I love capital gains and qualified dividends. They're not taxed too harshly, and it feels good to gain them throughout the year.
Look for Obama to raise those taxes if he possibly can. He apparently even wants to limit the amount we can keep in tax-advantaged accounts - not the contribution limits, but the actual amounts those contributions can become through smart investing.
