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
kitchen deep cleaning Deerfield ..You read and hear a lot about hedge funds. Unfortunately,... Read More
Sidney felt sick as she looked at her latest OptionsXpress... Read More
An investor can find and research the best stock on... Read More
Do you have a nest egg? You know, a place... Read More
The stock market often closes a week in the middle... Read More
A stock market index is a statistical measure of changes... Read More
What! Me worry?Many of you remember the cover of MAD... Read More
One of the great truisms of Wall Street is "Don't... Read More
I have watched my cat play with a bag of... Read More
Well maybe that's overstating it a little, but it's certainly... Read More
The basis of diminishing return discussions surround such simple notions;... Read More
Every day I hear someone on CNBC proclaim that "this... Read More
If you are a baby boomer, time is not on... Read More
There are red lights, green lights, blue lights and spot... Read More
The recent criminal fiasco in the mutual fund industry is... Read More
How can you dispel an illusion unless you look directly... Read More
One of the basic laws of physics is that a... Read More
Let me start by saying that...Most online brokers do not... Read More
What does it mean to short a stock?This means that... Read More
Well, not really. What I mean is I don't mind... Read More
The broker told me not to sell because the mutual... Read More
Just about everything you have been told about Social Security... Read More
Whenever I see mutual fund comparisons in the trade publications... Read More
One of the main reasons many of us get into... Read More
Disclaimer: Please note that I do not necessarily purchase, own,... Read More
interior house cleaning Highland Park ..What does it mean to short a stock?This means that... Read More
If you've ever flipped on the television to CNN Financial... Read More
Profitable day traders recognize that momentum trading is among the... Read More
Mutual fund investing is a lot like Thai cooking. Everyone... Read More
Investing in long-term financial vehicles give you the most gains... Read More
The Law of Chaos is the theory of random unpredictable... Read More
When it comes to buying a stock or mutual fund... Read More
One of the main reasons many of us get into... Read More
When it comes to stock market trading it PAYS to... Read More
Wall Street has been preaching for years and years to... Read More
When it comes to mutual funds, there is a lot... Read More
How can you dispel an illusion unless you look directly... Read More
There is so much involved in developing peak performance, that... Read More
Quick, look out the window. It's raining. No, the sun's... Read More
You should ignore analysts on TV, the radio, the newspaper... Read More
Several times each month I am solicited by various market... Read More
Do you have a financial planner? Does one of your... Read More
People are always asking me when should I sell my... Read More
For weeks, no, months we have been bombarded with nothing... Read More
Alfred Winslow Jones started hedge funds in 1949. He was... Read More
I am hearing predictions by brokers, financial planners, talk show... Read More
Much like the middle child, mid-cap stocks have long struggled... Read More
We all know that emotions control every decision that an... Read More
Sometime in the third quarter of 1997, someone told me... Read More
Stocks breakout from properly formed bases everyday but many investors... Read More
Stocks & Mutual Fund |