Have you bought any mutual funds this year or late last year while the market was doing its skyrocket thing? Last year it was hard to lose money. This year it has been easy.
You should be calling your mutual fund (they all have 800 numbers) to find out if and when they plan to pay their capital gains and dividends. You might say to yourself, they won't be paying anything this year because the fund is selling for less now than it did at the beginning of the year. Think again. It is very probable that the mutual fund manager took profits on many high flyers that he bought cheap last year. According to the way funds are set up those profits are taxable to holders of the mutual fund and not to the fund itself.
It is possible you bought a fund at $40 per share that is now selling at $30 per share and be hit with a 25% capital gains distribution of $10. On paper you now have a $10 per share loss and a tax bill based on the $10 per share distribution. That is adding injury to insult.
With this as a possible scenario it might be prudent to sell your fund for less than you paid for it. You should work the numbers with your accountant to see if this might reduce your tax bill. But you have to do it now. You can't wait until after the mutual fund declares its capital gains distribution. This is especially true if you have purchased any high tech or international funds during the past year. You can carry losses forward to next year to offset against profits and distributions next year.
The greatest numbers of mutual funds declare these distributions near the end of the year, usually starting in November with most of them in December. The rumors I hear are that the distributions will be early this year because of the poor performance of the majority of funds.
This applies to everyone who does not have a tax shelter of some kind such as a 401k, IRA, SEP or other similar investment vehicle.
One piece of advice I want you to heed. Don't buy any mutual funds now because they are "cheap". Wait until after they declare their capital gains and dividend distributions. You could be whacked with a big tax bill.
Al Thomas' book, "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It!" has helped thousands of people make money and keep their profits with his simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter at http://www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he's the man that Wall Street does not want you to know.
Copyright 2005
http://www.mutualfundmagic.com; 1-888-345-7870
tidy up service Glenview ..For the last few weeks we have seen the stock... Read More
Yesterday I received my monthly issue of MONEY magazine. This... Read More
After finding the price of a particular stock, usually the... Read More
If there is one term over-used when talking about making... Read More
It seems that every day I turn on the TV... Read More
For weeks, no, months we have been bombarded with nothing... Read More
When it comes to stock market trading it PAYS to... Read More
I continually hear from economists, talking heads, other market letter... Read More
If you haven't heard of the technical indicator with the... Read More
It looks like the market is ready to start up... Read More
Every Wall Street analyst, financial planner and broker will tell... Read More
Success in small cap & micro cap stock trading like... Read More
THERE'S SOMETHING TO BE SAID FOR standing firm in the... Read More
It has often been said that there is only two... Read More
I don't know what kind it is, but I saw... Read More
The stock market has not been very kind to your... Read More
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are a group of passive index... Read More
Time to look back2004 is over, now we are in... Read More
If you've ever flipped on the television to CNN Financial... Read More
If you were to find that you had some severe... Read More
As a novice trader, you'll often feel the need to... Read More
"There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action!" Johann... Read More
Carefully thinking through your goal as a trader is of... Read More
'Sector funds are too risky.' 'I doubled my money with... Read More
People are always asking me when should I sell my... Read More
full-service cleaning Mundelein ..For the year 2000 we have seen hundreds of mutual... Read More
On Friday or Saturday evening my wife gets a movie... Read More
Dollar cost averaging is one of the most popular ideas... Read More
One of the big advertising kicks today from mutual funds... Read More
When it comes to 401k's there is an overabundance of... Read More
What! Me worry?Many of you remember the cover of MAD... Read More
A PEG ratio cannot be used alone but is a... Read More
Profitable day traders recognize that momentum trading is among the... Read More
The stock market has not been very kind to your... Read More
Many people would like to diversify their portfolios to expand... Read More
The stock market can present you with a lot of... Read More
During our travel down life's path we come to many... Read More
The Shadow knows. Remember him? It seems a shadow has... Read More
Do you have a nest egg? You know, a place... Read More
If you are a baby boomer, time is not on... Read More
Its dinnertime and the phone rings. It's Joe Noname with... Read More
The trash business in its efforts to cook their books... Read More
If you don't know where you are going any road... Read More
Mutual fund investing is a lot like Thai cooking. Everyone... Read More
As the man said, "I've got some good news and... Read More
It is wonderful to be alive in the information age.... Read More
Invest in the stock market for the RIGHT reason, using... Read More
This is an extract of an article which was first... Read More
The recent criminal fiasco in the mutual fund industry is... Read More
In today's volatile and confusing stock markets everyone is searching... Read More
Stocks & Mutual Fund |