-
For the two lowest tax brackets, the tax rate in 2008 through 2010 is 0% for qualified dividends and long-term capital gains. This compares to the 15% top rate others will pay on those types of income. Single taxpayers with taxable income up to around $33,000 and married couples filing jointly with taxable...
Posted to
Retirement Watch
by
Bob Carlson
on
01-30-2009
Filed under:
Filed under: Bob Carson, Estate Planning, estates, Estate tax, tax-free gifts, taxable gifts, gifts, Carlson, Bob Carlson, income taxes, trusts, estate taxes, grandkids, grandchildren, retirement, stock, stocks, investments, portfolios
-
In This Issue: Reasons For Cautious Optimism Continue To Appear Many Promising Stocks Attract Long-Term Investors The Bottom Line This Week The stock market continued to lose ground last week as the Dow and the Nasdaq declined an additional 2.5% and 3.4% respectively. A growing number of analysts believe...
-
In This Issue: Credit Rebound Coming From Unexpected Sources Signs Of Life Are Returning To Some Real Estate Markets A Home Town Advantage With Stocks Forget The Bottom, Focus On Value Two Leading Stocks Look Especially Good Right Now The Bottom Line This Week As the inauguration of the new American...
-
Converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA has been a valuable tool to consider since the Roth was created in 1997. There are two reasons why a conversion is worth far more consideration now than in the past . First, a brief review of the basics. A Roth IRA has "back-ended tax benefits." There...
Posted to
Retirement Watch
by
Bob Carlson
on
01-09-2009
Filed under:
Filed under: Bob Carson, Estate Planning, IRA Benefits, Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, estates, Carlson, Bob Carlson, income taxes, iras, ira distributions, retirement plan, retirement, financial crisis, retirement plans, stocks, portfolios
-
In This Issue: The Economy Is Bad, But Stocks Are Priced For Worse Stocks Outshine Their Competition Behold The Halo Effect A January Bounce Seems Likely Energy And Foreign Growth Are Positives We May Be Halfway Through The Economic Downturn What Everybody Knows... The Bottom Line This Week Last week...
-
What is fair value for stocks? Are they now cheap? You can certainly make that argument by comparing valuations based on past performance. But repeat after me, "Past performance is not indicative of future returns." The investment climate of today is almost certainly going to be quite different...
-
Update Dec. 19: On Dec. 11 Congress passed legislation that suspended the required minimum distribution requirement for 2009. But it did not change the requirement for 2008. the IRS was asked by members of Congress to suspend the requirement for 2008. But on Dec. 17 it sent a letter to key members of...
Posted to
Retirement Watch
by
Bob Carlson
on
12-05-2008
Filed under:
Filed under: Bob Carson, Estate Planning, IRA Benefits, Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, Carlson, Bob Carlson, income taxes, iras, ira distributions, retirement plan, retirement, financial crisis, retirement plans, stock, stocks, stock market, investments, portfolios, market timing
-
This week we visit some very thoughtful analysis by an old friend of Outside the Box, Dr. John Hussman of the Hussman Funds ( http://www.hussmanfunds.com/index.html ). Is it 1932? Are we in a Depression? Where is the bottom? John gives us a very balanced view and actually offers some positive insight...
-
Come January, Democrats will be in charge all over Washington. They campaigned on a theme of change, and we should expect major changes. The questions are which changes and how will they affect your retirement finances? I will focus on the changes I think are most likely to occur. When evaluating the...
Posted to
Retirement Watch
by
Bob Carlson
on
11-07-2008
Filed under:
Filed under: Bob Carson, Estate Planning, IRA Benefits, Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, estates, Estate tax, taxable gifts, gifts, Carlson, Bob Carlson, wills, income taxes, iras, ira distributions, estate taxes, retirement plan, retirement, financial crisis, retirement plans, stock, stocks, stock market, investments, portfolios, market timing, market indicators
-
In This Issue: A Big Rebound May Be Close Like Kids In A Candy Store Super Stocking Stuffers These Trends Are Your Friends The Bottom Line This Week Another bear trap snapped shut last week when the 4.8% stock market gain from October 6 - 10 turned into a 5.4% loss for the Dow and an ugly 9.3% plunge...
-
.........But First, A Word From Our Sponsor.......... You get it. Your bank should be working harder for you-giving your finances the best opportunity to grow. EverBank® gets it too. And we prove it daily with: -- high yields on your deposits, even with checking accounts -- free online banking -- 24...
Posted to
Daily Pfennig
by
Chuck Butler
on
10-29-2008
Filed under:
Filed under: Currencies, China, Euro, Consumer Confidence, Interest Rates, The Fed, FOMC, Norges Bank, Home Prices, Stocks, Amero
-
The current financial crisis and market panic demonstrate why most of the investment plans for those in or near retirement are wrong. There are better ways to manage retirement money, but you will not learn about them from conventional advisors and sources. Most retirement investment plans generally...
Posted to
Retirement Watch
by
Bob Carlson
on
10-24-2008
Filed under:
Filed under: Bob Carson, Carlson, Bob Carlson, retirement plan, retirement, financial crisis, retirement plans, stock, stocks, investments, portfolios, indicators, market timing, modern portfolio theory, portfolio theory, market indicators, income investing
-
Market volatility and uncertainty spur the search for investment alternatives. Index fund investors broke even or lost money the last 10 years, depending on what the markets did in the latest volatile week. The index fund investors did worse than simply owning treasury bills or a money market fund. Investors...
Posted to
Retirement Watch
by
Bob Carlson
on
10-07-2008
Filed under:
Filed under: Bob Carson, Carlson, Bob Carlson, income taxes, financial crisis, insurance, annuities, stock, stocks, equity indexed annuities, stock market
-
.........But First, A Word From Our Sponsor.......... Concerned about stock market losses and a weakening U.S. dollar? Start feeling better today-by looking globally. At EverBank®, we make diversifying globally simple and convenient with currency CDs and money market accounts. Open one today to start...
-
IN THIS ISSUE: Recent Market Volatility Difficult To Navigate Scotia Partners, Ltd. – Our Latest Find A Leveraged Long & Short Equity Strategy, With A Twist Impressive Results In Recent Volatile Market Environment Hedge Fund-Like Strategy For Only $25,000 Introduction Over the last year or so, we...