ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Volatility tax

Okay kiddo, let's imagine you have a toy that bounces all over the place - one minute it's up high, the next minute, it's down low. That's a lot like how the stock market works - sometimes it goes up, and other times it goes down really quickly.

Now, imagine that every time you played with your bouncy toy and it bounced around a lot, you had to pay a little bit of money - let's call it a "bouncy tax." That's sort of like what the volatility tax is.

The volatility tax is a tax that governments might consider putting on investments like stocks and bonds when they go up and down a lot - this is known as "volatility." So, when the stock market is bouncing around all over the place, investors might have to pay more in taxes.

The idea behind a volatility tax is to try and discourage people from making riskier investments - kind of like how the bouncy tax might make you think twice about playing with your bouncy toy too much.

But just like with any kind of tax, there are pros and cons to a volatility tax. Some people think it could help stabilize the market and make it less risky overall, while others worry it might discourage people from investing altogether.

Overall, it's a tricky topic, and there's still a lot of debate about whether or not a volatility tax would be a good thing. But hopefully now you have a better idea of what it is!