Law & Money

How to return (wisely) to the stock market

By: Anne Kates Smith
How to return (wisely) to the stock market

How you re-enter the stock market matters, especially if you’ve taken a hiatus. Even if you’re anxious to get back in the game, you’ll want to buy into stocks gradually.

Small-cap foreign funds beat the market

By: Mark Jewell
Small-cap foreign funds beat the market

An annual scorecard of mutual fund performance is in, and it’s generating more of the negative headlines that fund managers have become accustomed to in recent years. The key finding: Two-thirds of managed U.S. stock funds failed to beat the market in 2012, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. For all their stock-picking skills, the vast majority of managers couldn’t claim an edge over low-cost index funds and exchange-traded funds that seek to match the market.

A way to higher returns at moderate risk

By:
A way to higher returns at moderate risk

Readers continue to ask how they can invest without a great deal of risk and still obtain reasonable income. I have often pointed out that investors who need income cannot expect high income from investing in Treasury bills, money-market instruments and short-term savings accounts. Such investments preserve capital but do not keep up with inflation.

Dividend investors face higher tax in 2013

By: Mark Jewell
Dividend investors face higher tax in 2013

What if one of your key sources of income were taxed at three times the rate you pay now? That’s a realistic possibility in 2013 for high-income investors who own dividend-paying stocks or mutual funds. Dividend investors earning modest income and retirees who count on quarterly payouts could face a higher rate as well. Investors have enjoyed historically low rates on investment income since 2003. But those will expire in January unless Congress and President Barack Obama reach a compromise first on taxes and government spending.

Changes coming in estate and gift taxes

By: Dave Carpenter
Changes coming in estate and gift taxes

Taxes that are largely a concern of the very rich will soon affect far more people unless Congress steps in. The impending drastic changes in the estate and gift tax laws are prompting a flurry of activity as 2013 draws near. Family members are making financial gifts, creating trusts and considering other tax-minded moves. Financial advisers, and trust and estate attorneys have been flooded with requests for assistance in the final months before the record-high exemption for both taxes is scheduled to plunge from $5.12 million to $1 million on Jan 1.

How to deal with 2013 cap gains tax hike

By: Dave Carpenter
How to deal with 2013 cap gains tax hike

The impending jump in capital gains taxes has prompted a flood of nervous calls to financial advisers in recent months. Less than a month remains until the maximum rate of 15 percent on long-term gains rises to 20 percent unless Congress extends the Bush-era tax cuts. On top of that, the healthcare reform package imposes a new 3.8 percent Medicare tax on the investment income of high-income earners. That means their capital gains tax bill will increase by more than half to 23.8 percent for single filers with incomes of more than $200,000 and couples who make over $250,000.

Some facts about the new LED light bulbs

By: Patricia Mertz Esswein
Some facts about the new LED light bulbs

They’re pricey, but they promise to shed a lot of light and cost you less over time. 1. Incandescents are dead. As manufacturers phase out traditional light bulbs that don’t meet new federal standards for efficiency, the first to go are 100-watt bulbs in 2012. The phase-out continues with 75-watt bulbs in 2013 and 60-watt and 40-watt bulbs in 2014. You could substitute halogens or compact fluorescents (CFLs), but LEDs (short for light-emitting diodes) will take you straight into the future of lighting.

The best investments when rates are low

By: Mark Jewell
The best investments when rates are low

Risk-averse investors, prepare to be disappointed a good while longer. Expect interest rates to remain low at least three more years, with investments earning very little unless you’re willing to accept plenty of risk. Money-market mutual funds are likely to continue paying barely above zero, with 10-year U.S. Treasurys yielding less than 2 percent.

RivCo educates locals on tax savings

By: Connie George
RivCo educates locals on tax savings

Riverside County’s Community Action Partnership (CAP) is seeking to educate and support local individuals and families through a program promoting special tax credits that could put more money back in taxpayers’ pockets, benefiting the local economy with greater consumer spending.

Protecting your portfolio from inflation

By: Jill Schlesinger
Protecting your portfolio from inflation

The Federal Reserve announced in September that it would engage in its third round of “quantitative easing” by purchasing $40 billion per month of mortgage-backed securities to spur economic growth and help reduce unemployment. Whether or not the plan will work is subject to debate. What is not debatable is that the Fed’s action is stirring fears of inflation.