Thinking of tapping the equity in your home to do a renovation, buy a second home, or consolidate debt? Before you decide which borrowing option is right for you, it’s important to understand the main differences between the two options. Home Equity Loan Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) Fixed interest rate for the […]
Nobody likes to pay taxes. That’s why investors naturally are interested in earning tax-free income. Municipal bond issues are a very popular way to earn tax-free income and, if income is reinvested, achieve tax-free compounding of returns. Municipal bonds (also known as “munis”) are fixed-income investments that can provide higher after-tax returns than similar taxable […]
Dividend-paying stocks provide investors with tangible returns on a regular basis regardless of market conditions. This can benefit a range of investment styles and management strategies — from completely passive indexing to active buy-and-hold selection to aggressive trading and arbitrage. Passive Dividend Portfolios In 2014, a portfolio composed of all stocks in the S&P 500 […]
The disadvantages, if any, may stem from the financial trade-offs that a mortgage holder needs to make when paying off the mortgage. Paying it off typically requires a cash outlay equal to the amount of the principal. If the principal is sizeable, this payment could potentially jeopardize a middle-income family’s ability to save for retirement, […]
First the bad news: The cost of a college education has skyrocketed, increasing at a rates well above the general inflation rate in recent years. Now the good news: Your options for setting aside college money in tax-efficient investment accounts have increased as well. For example, in 2001 Congress enhanced 529 plans and Coverdell Education Savings […]
Global market volatility ramped up last summer as worries about the tenuous state of the Chinese economy shook virtually all major financial benchmarks, indicating once again how interrelated the world’s economies and investment markets have become. Widespread uncertainty has not only heightened anxiety among investors, it was also a likely contributor to the Federal Reserve’s […]
Estate planning can be a minefield of potential missteps, some of which could have far-reaching consequences. Many of the poor choices individuals make when planning for their own future or passing assets to their families are caused by “one-size-fits-all” planning strategies or well-intended advice from family or friends. Following are some common and potentially costly […]
Community school boards use standardized tests to gauge how their students perform in relation to national averages. On an even more basic level, your local weather forecasters can check the accuracy of their predictions by measuring temperatures and rainfall. As a mutual fund investor, you also have tools available to gauge the performance of your […]
For mutual fund investors, earnings come from two sources: fund distributions — dividends or capital gains — and the sale of fund shares.1 Income from these sources may be taxable. Fund companies typically send year-end statements to shareholders that summarize the information used to report investment gains or losses to the IRS. Here’s a look […]
Running into financial troubles isn’t the only reason that some closely held businesses fail to succeed. Their untimely demise may result from the lack of a formal plan providing for the orderly succession of management and ownership of the business. Such a plan frequently incorporates a buy-sell agreement as the tool for ensuring that the […]
