Are you planning to make a donation to a charity this year? If so, you may be able to take a deduction for it on your 2012 tax return. Here are the top 10 things the IRS wants every taxpayer to know before deducting charitable donations. 1. Charitable contributions must be made to qualified organizations…
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A recent article by Jason Zweig in the Wall Street Journal, based on an analysis of data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances by Sherman Hanna of Ohio State University, noted that 25% of U.S. households currently use a financial planner, up from 21% in the late 1990s. The bad news is that…
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That’s right! Buying high and selling low! Sound backwards? You may be surprised to discover that’s actually what most retail investors do. The chart below from the Leuthold Group, an institutional research firm, compares the timing of inflows and outflows to/from US equity mutual funds to the price of the S&P 500. Since most retail…
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Most investors know that investing in stocks is riskier than investing in bonds. And those who are exceptionally risk-averse tend to keep their money in CDs or money market funds. For safety in retirement, especially in the wake of the 2008 recession, more and more retirees have additionally been putting their money into annuities, which…
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When we talk to our clients and others in the community about their retirement goals and plans, they often ask, “How much money will I need to accumulate before I retire in order to be able to live the lifestyle I’d like?” While this is an important question, more specifically what they’d really like to…
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401(k)s can be a great way to save for retirement. But how do you know how good your company’s plan is? How would you go about measuring it? And, once you find out, what can you do about it? On the measurement side, there is now a website, BrightScope.com, that rates 401(k) plans based on…
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