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Welcome to the end of the week and another edition of Happy Hour! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy your end of the week roundup of all things interesting in the land of money.
There’s a fine line between making the news and reporting it. The role business news plays or should play gets questioned often. Who does it cater to, really? Continue Reading…
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The IRS has different tax forms for every type of income imaginable. With investing, that can quickly get complicated and lead to mistakes. At the very least, you should have a basic idea of what the tax forms do and which forms to expect each year. That alone will give you a better picture of your tax costs, allowing you to build a more tax efficient portfolio.
Investment income comes in three forms: earned interest, dividends, and capital gains. Each is taxed differently. Earned interest is regular income subject to federal income tax while dividends and capital gains has its own tax rates.
You’ll get separate tax forms for each income type. But there’s a good chance you’ll get multiple forms for each investment too. For instance, TD Ameritrade sends me a consolidated 1099 every year for the stocks and ETFs I own, which is just a 1099-INT, 1099-DIV, and 1099-B rolled into one big statement. Below are the more common tax forms you’ll receive for investment income. Continue Reading…
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Dividends are the big reason investors turn to real estate investment trusts or REITs. What many people don’t know is that those dividends are not taxed like normal dividend stocks. Thanks to an overly confusing tax code, owning REITs can get complicated. Understanding the REIT taxation rules could save you from a big charge when it’s time to file your taxes.
Real estate investment trusts were established to allow small investors access to large income producing real estate assets, much like how mutual funds provide access to stocks. In doing so, REITs were giving a special tax designation used to cut their corporate taxes.
In return for the corporate tax benefits, REITs must pay out 90% of their taxable income to shareholders in the form of dividends. While the REIT tax code simplifies things from a corporate perspective, this is where it gets confusing for shareholders. Continue Reading…
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Welcome to the end of the week and another edition of Happy Hour! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy your end of the week roundup of all things interesting in the land of money.
The State of Union address always provides a unique perspective into the political thought process. You get to see the attempted appeasement of the social classes as the President lays out his thoughts for change on the year. This year’s address was no different. Topics ranged from education to higher wages. One that struck a chord in the retirement area was the MyRA. Continue Reading…
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The headlines are full of market anomalies this time of year. In December it’s the Santa Claus Rally. January it’s the ever original January Effect. After this weekend you’ll see the Super Bowl Indicator. Then comes Sell in May. It’s a seasonal thing, offering a break from the back and forth between stock market corrections and bubble headlines we’ve seen more of these past five years.
…So goes the year.
This is another anomaly. The theory goes that if the market is up in January, it’ll be higher at the end of the year. But a down January, could bring about a rough year. It makes for fun headlines, but I’m not making investment decisions based on who wins the Super Bowl or what happens in January. I’ll stick to valuation, thank you. Continue Reading…
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Welcome to the end of the week and another edition of Happy Hour! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy your end of the week roundup of all things interesting in the land of money.
The single biggest office pool event just got more interesting. I’m not talking about the Superbowl. Though, that’s probably a close second. No, it’s March Madness. And it’s all thanks to Warren Buffett. Continue Reading…