The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 gave most Americans a break on their upcoming taxes – but you don’t need legislation to cut your taxes even further with sound investment strategies that focus on tax optimization.
Here are a few ways to help yourself at Uncle Sam’s expense.
1. Shift Toward Capital
Mutual Funds
Does your IRA or 401(k) contain mostly actively managed funds or index funds? Do you know the difference between those two funds? Do you even know what’s in your IRA or 401(k) at all? If any of those three questions give you pause, it’s probably time to review your retirement account and think about whether
The recently passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) gave most Americans a break on their upcoming taxes – but you don’t need legislation to cut your taxes even further with sound investment strategies that focus on tax optimization.
Here are a few ways to help yourself at Uncle Sam’s expense.
1. Shift Toward Capital
One of the biggest mistakes many investors make is not considering the effects of taxes on their returns. Local, state and federal taxes can take a big bite out of your investment earnings.
This makes it critical to formulate strategies for minimizing the impact of taxes on your investments. Here are six strategies that can
Have you ever received one of those love letters from the IRS that says you owe them more money? Occasionally a client calls me in a panic when they receive one. Most of the letters I have seen are due to the client or the tax preparer forgetting to include the sale of a stock
Are lottery tickets a component of your retirement program? Then you sound like an extreme risk-taker when it comes to investing. Do you throw up every time you hear that the stock market dropped? Then odds are you are a conservative investor.
All kidding aside, it is wise to take time to seriously assess your
Today’s keyword for equities is “volatile.” Great Britain’s vote to leave the European Union (the “Brexit”) is just the most recent example of sharp drops followed by a relatively rapid rally. Investors are often tempted to overreact, fearing that they will lose out if they do not act immediately. For nervous investors, navigating volatile markets
There are zillions of investing strategies. Some good, some bad, and some are just…. Everybody knows why they are investing. Correct? Well, let’s invert this and ask ourselves what efficient investing can give us in return. This is where the 4 M’s can drastically improve your net worth if you or whoever manages your money
An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a hybrid of stocks and indexed mutual funds. They are purchased through brokers and traded through exchanges just as a stock would be, but they represent a basket of holdings designed to track a particular index or price. The underlying asset could be stocks, bonds, commodity contracts, real estate, precious
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are an excellent low-cost, low-dollar-entry alternative to mutual funds. With the number of ETFs available today, you can track almost any index or field that you can think of with an ETF that meets your investment goals and risk tolerance.
Potentially High-Performing ETFs for 2016 If you cannot decide what type of
A New Year typically brings hope that if things were difficult last year, they may improve this year – and if things were good last year, they’ll surely get even better! However, if you don’t plan and act appropriately, you’ll soon be lamenting 2016 and longing for a better 2017.
To get you started in
Most people today feel strongly about at least one social cause. These causes range from the environment, pollution and sustainability to drug and alcohol addiction, human rights and individuals’ religious beliefs.
Those who are especially passionate about these and other causes now have an opportunity to put their investment money where their mouth is by
Bad News From Bentonville
Last Wednesday, Walmart shook up the market with a surprising announcement regarding future earnings. The retailing empire based in Bentonville, Arkansas, stunned analysts and investors with their forecast of a 6% to 12% drop in earnings in fiscal 2017. According to Bloomberg, analysts had been expecting a gain of around 4%.
What do Silicon Valley and agriculture have in common? Not much, you may think… but agriculture and technology are becoming increasingly intertwined. Tech companies see financial opportunities in agricultural pursuits, farmers see potential cost savings and higher yields through technological improvements, and perhaps world hunger may be reduced as a result.
The tech industry is
Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) can be tricky to value, because they have the pricing characteristics of both mutual funds and stocks.
ETF’s, like mutual funds, contain a market basket of shares of different companies, and so their valuation is calculated as a Net Asset Value (NAV) which gives you the collective valuation of the underlying holdings