Investment Archives - 2009 Taxes to 2024 Taxes

Tax Carnival Ecstasy – January 22, 2013

Welcome to the January 22, 2013 edition of tax carnival ecstasy. In this edition we start off with an article from Bill Smith on the IRS delay in tax filing acceptance until the end of January, a delay caused by the late tax law changes passed by congress. There is also an article from John Schmoll who looks at 4 Helpful Free Investment Tools that you can use. Hope you like all the articles, tweet our carnival on Twitter, share with your friends, bookmark and come back next time.

Brian McKay presents Mortgage Debt Cancellation Relief Extended Until December 31, 2013 posted at Bank CD Rates, Mortgage Rates, Savings Rates, Banking Reviews, saying, “Homeowners facing a foreclosure, a short sale or reduced loan principal by their lender after December 31, 2012, faced owing taxes on any mortgage debt that was forgiven by the mortgage lien holder. Home owners had rushed to complete short sales or debt reduction before the end of the 2013 because it looked like the fiscal cliff tax issues wouldn’t be worked out in Washington.”

swapnil presents Share Market: Tax Structure in India posted at Share Market.

filing

Bill Smith presents Free Tax Filing for 2011 Taxes posted at 2011 Tax, saying, “Each year, thousands of taxpayers fail to file their federal income taxes. Some individuals willingly forgo this action while others run into special circumstances.”

Bill Smith presents Processing of Tax Returns to Begin on January 30 posted at 2012 Tax – Free Tax Filing Options, saying, “Earlier this week, the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that electronic filing of tax payments for the year 2013 will commence on January 30.”

retirement

John Schmoll presents 4 Helpful Free Investment Tools posted at Frugal Rules, saying, “Investing in the stock market can be a challenge for the seasoned investor, much less a newbie investor. By using some free investment tools you can make more informed investment decisions that will benefit your portfolio.”

taxes

Bill Smith presents Eliminating State Income Taxes Could Spur Economic Growth posted at 2012 Taxes – Free Tax Filing Options, saying, “While Washington continues to struggle with attempts at major changes to the federal tax system, individual states have no such problem.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of tax carnival ecstasy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Options for Investing for Your Retirement

Many people get nervous when it comes to thinking about retirement investing. It can be a very confusing process with complicated terms and options available. However, it is vitally important to save for your future. The earlier you start the better when it comes to saving for retirement. The successful investors are the ones who consistently put money away no matter what the markets are doing. To reach your financial retirement goals there are a couple of options available to most people.

401(k)

If you work for an employer who offers a 401(k), or similar plan, it is quite easy to save for retirement. Whether or not you use the 401(k) at your job depends on a couple of factors. Many of these accounts are set up by commissioned salespeople who talk employers into using their plans. These plans often have much higher costs than if you invested on your own. Also, many 401(k) plans are very limited in the choice of funds you can invest in. You must compare your 401(k) with other investment options in order to determine whether or not is the right choice for you. However, if your company offers a match to the dollars you invest then it is wise to at least invest up to the percentage that your company matches no matter what the choices are in the 401(k). The reason is because the match that the company provides creates an automatic return on your investment.

Traditional IRA

If your company does not offer a 401(k) or you do not qualify for it than there is always a traditional IRA. Much like a 401(k), an IRA allows you to deduct the money invested in the taxes you pay. This allows you to put more money to work in your retirement account and you pay taxes later on when you take the money out in retirement. You could easily set up an IRA online with many different companies. You can set up automatic deductions from a checking account or savings which helps make investing for retirement quick and painless.

Roth IRA

Another form of the IRA is the Roth. It is identical to a traditional IRA with one big exception. You do not receive a tax credit for the money invested in the Roth. In return, since you are to pay taxes on your investment money, you never have to pay taxes on the money you withdraw in retirement. The best IRA plans are the ones who feature low-cost investing such as Vanguard.

There are many different financial calculators online which can help determine whether a traditional or a Roth IRA is the best choice for you. There are even calculators which allow you to compare a 401(k) with investing in an IRA.

When is borrowing from your 401K account a good idea? (2011tax.org)
Using Your 401k to Start a Business (2009tax.org)

Fee Based Investing Versus Traditional Investing

Today many people have become very skeptical about the current market and economy when it comes to saving for retirement. In fact the market seems to have become very volatile over the last few years and some are wondering what they could do to protect themselves today. While you can’t control what the market is going to do you can control where you invest your money and the fees that you pay and in this article we’re going to see which is better fee based investing or traditional investing.

The Traditional Way To Invest

For most people we invest our money in mutual funds. However, most mutual funds will contain as many as three main fees that could cost you a lot over the years. The first fee is the sales charge fee. This fee can run as much as 5% to 6% of every dollar you invest into the account. So if you invest $1000 and have a 5.5% sales charge you will end up paying around $55 in fees upfront.

The second fee that you will have to pay is an annual fee to maintain the account. The money from this fee will go to pay the fund manager, and make trades within the fund itself. Typical fees will range from as little as 0.19% to as high as 1.48%.

Finally, the last fee you may have to pay is a 12b-1 fee. This fee is a junk fee that goes to pay for advertising cost in most cases; however my suggestion is to stay away from these companies that charge this fee.

Fee Based Investing

Mutual funds can still be a good investment option but the problem with them is once you’ve set up the account and invested your money you won’t typically hear much from the representative after that. In fact most of them will enter the witness protection program never to be seen or heard from again because they’ve made their money and moved on.

So you might be wondering what is the best way to go then? The answer is investment advisers. An investment advisor is different because they are fee based and charge a flat fee up front. This fee typically runs around 2% annually. So if you have $10,000 in your account you could pay $200 over the course of a year’s time. On top of that the investment adviser has a vested interest in your account to earn more, because if when you earn more they will earn more as well.

Where To Get Started

So now that we know the difference between traditional investing and fee based investing you might be wondering where should I get started? One of the best IRA companies that does fee based investing is Foxhall Capital. This company deals within a global market place and believes that their is always a bull market somewhere in the world, and as a result they are always striving to keep you there.

So what are your thoughts, is fee based investing better or is it better to stick with the traditional method such as mutual funds?

Stock Carnival Ecstasy – October 4, 2011 (fastswings.blogspot.com)
Passive and Active Investing (fastswings.com)

Be Ready For Retirement & Plan Your Pension Now

In your early twenties it is hard to imagine that day when you can stop working for good. However, pensions have been big news recently and regardless of your age you should think about what kind of financial situation you want to be in come retirement.

How to go about setting up a pension

Setting up a pension will require some research as there are many different types of pension options. You should look at whether your company has a pension and also investigate pension schemes offered by outside agencies. In addition, don’t be afraid to go to a financial advisor for advice on which pension options would best suit you. Finally, think about investments if you are young. Buying property to let can be just as effective over a long period as paying additional pension contributions.

Why is it important?

As you grow older, you will inevitably reach an age where your health will prevent you from working. When you are no longer able to work you will need an income and this is where pensions come into play. They can provide you with income security during retirement and allow you to continue living a comfortable life. Having an adequate pension pot will be essential. Pensions also benefit the economy in that they allow people to continue contributing by purchasing products.

Workplace pensions

Many employers now offer a workplace pension that is open to all employees (sometimes after a specific period of working there). There are a number of different types of pension that they might offer, so you might want to research which one will provide you with the best deal. Possible pension schemes include: defined benefit schemes which can be calculated on your final salary or an average of what you have earned over your entire career. Alternatively, they could offer defined contribution schemes, such as money purchase schemes, group personal pension plans and group stakeholder pension schemes.

Private pensions

There is also the option of private pensions which can be purchased from insurance companies, investment organisations and banks. Policy holders contribute money, it is invested by these companies and a fund is built up. When you reach an agreed age, you are able withdraw a certain percentage of the fund and invest the rest. The outcome of these pensions schemes depend on the amount invested, how well investments perform etc.

How much you should be saving

You should start thinking about how much money you are going to need (remember you may have paid off borrowings by this time). There are a number of questions you will need to ask yourself in order to give yourself a rough idea of how much money will need to save. For example, when are you hoping to retire? How much have you already saved? How much do you want to have during retirement? What benefits are you going to receive through social security? There are some useful pension calculators available on the internet which can help you calculate this. When you have decided on plan you will need to stick to it!

Rising retirement ages

Retirement ages obviously depend on where you live, but it is true that in most countries the retirement ages are going up, up, up! Due to the fact that most people will be working way past previous retirement ages, it is important that you have your pension plans in place.

What you could face if you don’t have a pension

Facing old age without any savings is a grim prospect. The likelihood is that you will have to work longer, or if ill health prevents it, have to endure a worse quality of life. Without a pension you could face poverty in old age, so having a plan is vital.

Hannah Wilkie has experience in the field of retirement planning and likes to get her clients to start saving early. If putting money into a pension plan is too inflexible at this point in time then she recommends you search around for the best ISA rates so you get the best returns on your money but you are also less tempted to spend it than if it was in a regular savings account.

The Retired players declare independence from the NFLPA. (fryingpansports.com)
6 Questions to Ask Yourself Prior to Making an Investment (fastswings.com)

Where To Get An IRA That Carries No Fees

Do you want to invest your money in an IRA but don’t want to get hit up with the high fees that they often carry? This seems to be the problem with most people who are investing their money for retirement. In fact some people have no clue as to how much they are paying in fees or what a good fee is. So in this article I’m going to show just exactly what you need to do see how much your paying on your retirement and were to find the cheaper rates at.

First you’ll want to see how big of a sales charge the mutual fund company is charging. A typical sales charge for an IRA retirement investment will run anywhere from 4.5% to as high as 6%. This means every dollar you put into your account 6% will be be paid out to the representative. However their are companies that do charge 0% and at the end of this article I will show you just which company does this.

The next fee that is typically found in an IRA account is an annual fee. An annual fee is charged to help maintain the fund. Typical fees run around 1% to 1.20% but some companies will charge as low as 0.23% which is a lot cheaper than most companies.

Finally, the last fee some companies will charge is a 12b-1 fee. This fee is typically referred to as a junk fee. This fee usually covers advertising cost for the company which is passed on to consumers. However not every company charges this fee in fact I recommend that you stay away from these fees altogether.

In the end it’s easy to see that a no fee IRA is one of the best ways to go when it comes to retirement. So who should you invest your money with when it comes to an IRA? I suggest Vanguard because they carry no sales charge, no 12b-1 fees, and a very low annual fee around 0.30%.

Traditional IRA or A Roth IRA You Decide (2011tax.org)

The Best Place To Get An IRA With No Fee

Do you want to invest your money for retirement but don’t want to get hit up with the high fees? This is why I suggest Lending Club because they have one of the be no fee IRA programs around, and in this article I’m going to show you three simple reason why it’s better to go with Lending Club over other investment programs.

First off, by going with Lending Club you are not investing money in the traditional sense like you do with mutual funds, stocks, and bonds. Instead with Lending Club you are investing your money and lending it out to others who are being charged and interest rate. In fact this method is very similar to how banks earn money but with Lending Club they are managing all of your loans for you.

Secondly, with Lending Club you won’t face the volatility like you do with mutual funds. Mutual funds go up and down everyday from the constant buying and selling of stocks. However with Lending Club you are their is no constant volatility, instead you can invest your money and know that it won’t be bouncing all over the place. In fact I even believe Lending Club can be recession proof since over 40% of the borrowers are using the money to pay off credit card debt.

Finally the last reason you should choose Lending Clubs No Fee IRA program is because they don’t charge any fee to invest. With a typical mutual fund they will charge an initial sales charge which can run around 5% to 6% and they also charge an annual fee that will usually be around 1% to 1.20%. When you compare a mutual fund that invest $5000 in it with the fees I’ve mentioned Lending Club will earn nearly $30,000 more over 30 years than the mutual fund.

In the end a no fee IRA or Roth IRA are the best way to save for your retirement. In fact the best Roth IRA advice I can give you is to avoid the high cost fees and you will earn far more for your retirement than anywhere else.

Different Roth IRA Distribution Rules (2009taxes.org)
Knowing Where to Find the Best Rates for Your IRA (2011tax.org)

filing

retirement

taxes

Related articles

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The Traditional Way To Invest

Fee Based Investing

Where To Get Started

Related articles

How to go about setting up a pension

Why is it important?

Workplace pensions

Private pensions

How much you should be saving

Rising retirement ages

What you could face if you don’t have a pension

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Related articles

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