Seen any claims like these before?

-- "You should be sitting on an approximate 65% gain..."

-- "Gains of 2,000% or more practically overnight..."

-- "Rake in Street-stomping gains of 68%, 85%, 133%, even 768% in just 6 months..."

All of these are from a popular financial newsletter.

Now, apart from the fact that these are pretty bold claims, here's the trap - and OPPORTUNITY - that could cost or make you a fortune if you invest in something based on such claims.

You see, these "gains" are NOT necessarily the gains YOU will make...

When you invest in a particular asset, you don't simply plonk down a sum of money, sell the asset at some future point in time, and rake in the SAME percentage gain as that stated in the ads.

There are actually FOUR FACTORS that will SIGNIFICANTLY impact the ACTUAL return you receive.

They are:

1. Leverage
2. Timing
3. Transaction costs
4. Taxes

In many cases, one or all of these factors can DECREASE your actual gain.

BUT if you're smart, you can also manipulate these factors to INCREASE your actual gain.

Take taxes.

Some investments have preferential tax treatment. Which means that your actual, after-tax return may be higher on one investment than on another - even if that other investment actually increases in value by the same or greater percentage.

So, when it comes to trading and investing, it LITERALLY pays to take these four factors into account when comparing and choosing trades or investments.