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
express cleaning service Arlington Heights ..AS BUILDERS BEGIN WORK ON THE FREEDOM TOWER in New... Read More
Stock trading can be a very profitable activity. You can... Read More
Question: How does it get better when it gets worse?Last... Read More
For some "long term" would mean holding a stock position... Read More
I feel that an investment strategy in the stock market... Read More
Yesterday I received my monthly issue of MONEY magazine. This... Read More
If you've ever flipped on the television to CNN Financial... Read More
It has fallen upon the consumer to make our economy... Read More
In today's volatile and confusing stock markets everyone is searching... Read More
I have been trading for several decades and was an... Read More
The Shadow knows. Remember him? It seems a shadow has... Read More
Every Wall Street analyst, financial planner and broker will tell... Read More
The recent criminal fiasco in the mutual fund industry is... Read More
No, this is not a symbol for some Latin number.... Read More
Let's say you are interested in this one company. You... Read More
Any online investor / trader seeks an excellent off or... Read More
Success in small cap & micro cap stock trading like... Read More
A Guide to Using Stop Loss Orders Stop losses are... Read More
Carefully thinking through your goal as a trader is of... Read More
How many times have you said to yourself, "I'd like... Read More
The debate rages all over Eastern and Central Europe, in... Read More
Economists know more about how the fragments of society work... Read More
Do you have a financial planner? Does one of your... Read More
Minority Report the movie may not be far off if... Read More
Before they go over the cliff to their destruction these... Read More
tidy up service Arlington Heights ..A 'stock option' is a contract between two parties giving... Read More
Trading is a fascinating activity.There are so many layers to... Read More
Duck! No I don't mean a quack, quack. I meant... Read More
How do you make money without picking tops and bottoms?I... Read More
You remember (they show it on TV every year) the... Read More
When the stock market is going up and all your... Read More
I feel that an investment strategy in the stock market... Read More
There are red lights, green lights, blue lights and spot... Read More
I was recently interviewed for a press release through a... Read More
How many times have you said to yourself, "I'd like... Read More
Why? Because I am going to shatter your conventional wisdom... Read More
You have decided to buy some stock or mutual funds,... Read More
Because there are so many stocks that are NOT paying... Read More
There is nothing more exciting than finding an undervalued stock... Read More
During our travel down life's path we come to many... Read More
All stock trading and investing methods must deal with the... Read More
Sidney felt sick as she looked at her latest OptionsXpress... Read More
Have you been listening to the talking heads on CNBC-TV?... Read More
Alfred Winslow Jones started hedge funds in 1949. He was... Read More
What account size do I need?How much money can I... Read More
If you are serious about making and keeping money by... Read More
The Surgeon General of the United States says that smoking... Read More
Stocks breakout from properly formed bases everyday but many investors... Read More
Ever wondered what is a mutual fund? A mutual fund... Read More
Just about everything you have been told about Social Security... Read More
Stocks & Mutual Fund |