If you’ve started taking distributions from your retirement account, you will soon receive a new form that will play a crucial role as you file your 2017 taxes. A 1099-R form is issued for all IRA distributions that are made payable to an IRA or Roth IRA account owner or beneficiary and for all IRA […]
Whoosh! Bang! Flash! Fizz! Whistle! U.S. stock markets delivered their own version of fireworks to celebrate the New Year. During the first week of 2018, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new all-time high, moving above 25,000 for the first time ever. The NASDAQ Composite and Standard & Poor’s 500 Indices also rose to […]
How good was 2017? It was so good, the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index finished in positive territory every month for the first time ever (on a total return basis), reported Barron’s. All major U.S. indices finished the year with double-digit gains. As we enter 2018, keep an eye on investor sentiment. “History has […]
One of the greatest advantages of retirement savings accounts are the opportunities for tax-deferred or tax-free growth; however, the government sets a time limit on how long these benefits can last by way of establishing required minimum distributions (RMDs). An RMD is the minimum amount that must be taken out of your retirement accounts each […]
Here we come a tax-reforming… The reconciliation of Congressional tax reform bills proceeded apace last week, and Congress is expected to vote on the measure early this week. If tax reform passes, Dubravko Lakos-Bujas, head of U.S. equity strategy with JPMorgan, thinks we may see value stocks swing back into favor. Barron’s reported: “The spread […]
“It's the hap- happiest season of all.” While holidays don’t make everyone happy, investors should be feeling festive. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is up more than 18 percent year-to-date. The Dow Jones Global ex U.S. Index is up about 21 percent year-to-date (refer to the table), and Treasury bond yields are lower than […]
If you hold both pre-tax and after-tax money in your IRA, you’ve likely heard of the pro-rata rule. It’s important to understand how this rule is calculated and how it can impact your retirement funds. In simple terms, the pro-rata rule is used to determine how much of a distribution is taxable when you have […]
What will it take to shake investors’ confidence? From the perspective of unsettling events, last week was jam-packed. North Korea claimed to have the capability to strike the United States with a nuclear missile, tax reform continued to travel a controversial path through the House and Senate, and former national security adviser Michael Flynn pled […]
There may come a point in your life where you will need to select a loved one to make significant financial decisions on your behalf. This process is by no means easy, but in the event that you are unwilling or unable to manage your own finances, having someone assigned as a power of attorney […]