CUBE2U2,

1. First of all, you should know that there really is no Motley Fool Staff to speak of. Most of the people on this board are simply interested in taxes and related issues. A few are CPAs, many are tax preparers, and some (like me) are well-informed (mostly) and well-intentioned (mostly) amateurs. Tax groupies, if you will. (Ok, truth-in-lending time: a few of the regular posters, e.g. the amazing TMFPmarti, are associated with The Motley Fool in some mysterious, otherworldly way.)

2. Re your taking a previous answer personally, you really shouldn't. The issue was your wanting to avoid capital gains tax, as much as possible, on what looked to be a fairly large transaction. You'd be positively amazed at how many people come to this board and say, "I'm looking at a capital gain of $100,000, but I don't want to pay any taxes. What can I do?" Frequently, the answer is, "Nothing. Pay the taxes, and be glad that you have a nice capital gain." That's more or less what happened in your case.

Lorenzo