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
limo prices to midway Crystal Lake west of Randal .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareEvery day on CNBC-TV they show a 200-day moving average... Read More
There are many important things you need to know to... Read More
Many people would like to diversify their portfolios to expand... Read More
Its dinnertime and the phone rings. It's Joe Noname with... Read More
The Surgeon General of the United States says that smoking... Read More
All stock trading and investing methods must deal with the... Read More
Over the past few months, several investment professionals have brought... Read More
Question: How does it get better when it gets worse?Last... Read More
It takes a total mental commitment to the task. It... Read More
Inverted interest rates? What's that? Who cares? Even if you... Read More
Look back over the years and try to remember how... Read More
One of the most believed bits of conventional wisdom from... Read More
Every publicly traded company is required by the SEC(Securities and... Read More
I have watched my cat play with a bag of... Read More
Stocks breakout from properly formed bases everyday but many investors... Read More
If you have not back tested your trading system, you... Read More
How is it possible that trash Companies are posting less... Read More
One of the basic laws of physics states that a... Read More
This is an extract of an article which was first... Read More
Every successful trader has a winning system. There are of... Read More
Among the largest forces that affect stock prices are inflation,... Read More
What account size do I need?How much money can I... Read More
How do you invest? What do you really pay? At... Read More
Sometime in the third quarter of 1997, someone told me... Read More
To begin, you might look at playing the stock market... Read More
taxi o'hare Auburn ..I am sure that if you have a brokerage account... Read More
One of the most believed bits of conventional wisdom from... Read More
You remember (they show it on TV every year) the... Read More
The ABC's of Stock Trading SuccessStock trading success...why is it... Read More
One of the great "secrets" of successful people is discipline... Read More
Never lose money in the stock market again. Yeah, I... Read More
One of the great "secrets" of successful people is discipline... Read More
Ever wondered what is a mutual fund? A mutual fund... Read More
If you don't know where you are going any road... Read More
On November 17 I bought 7 different mutual funds and... Read More
Just 30 years ago the stock market was a shadow... Read More
Day trading is all about making buy and sell decisions.... Read More
The stock market has been going up for more than... Read More
Intervention. Now don't let that big word scare you. The... Read More
You have decided to buy some stock or mutual funds,... Read More
It is commonly reported that the stock market averages about... 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
As an investor you will want to check out any... Read More
During the day I watch CNBC-TV, the stock market channel.... Read More
If you were to find that you had some severe... Read More
Stock trading can be a very profitable activity. You can... Read More
For the last few weeks we have seen the stock... Read More
I often play a little game with myself when I... Read More
If you have been watching the stock market at all... Read More
Stocks & Mutual Fund |