At this time of year much is written about the benefits of tax-loss harvesting. Finding losers to sell, however, may be a particularly difficult undertaking this year given the market’s performance. Instead of tax-loss harvesting, today’s article looks at “another tax-harvesting strategy [that] looks to be better suited to this year’s buoyant market conditions: tax-gain harvesting.” Why would investors want…
The energy sector has had a rough year – and the five energy-focused closed-end funds highlighted in today’s article have gotten beaten up right along with it. For the contrarian investor, then, the author of today’s article advises that “if you think 2018 is going to be oil’s year and you want a big income stream while you wait for…
How do you compare to the average American when it comes to your household income (and household debt), charitable giving, 401(k) balance, personal savings rate, and other key financial metrics? Today’s article outlines “10 Financial Statistics of the Average American” – including the aforementioned five – so that you can find out. To see where you are financially average, above…
They correctly forecasted last decade’s financial crisis and its devastating effects on many Americans – and now they are getting nervous about another meltdown when the current bull market ends. Today’s article goes to three market skeptics – including Yale economist Robert Shiller, who warned of a “catastrophic collapse of the housing and stock markets” three years before the ’08…
If you’re close to retirement you can thank them for helping to give the return on your retirement savings a boost. But if your retirement is still a ways off, the author of today’s article warns that “you’re going to have a devil of a time getting a decent return on your retirement savings” because of them. The “them” in…
Are your savings working as hard for you as they can? Noting that “if you don’t save diligently, you are highly unlikely to amass a decent-size nest egg,” the author of today’s article proceeds to outline 10 questions to ask yourself in regards to your savings and saving practices – and identifies steps you can take to improve your savings…
Whether a major market setback is imminent or still a ways off, the author of today’s article argues that “now is a good time to gauge how your retirement portfolio would likely hold up if the markets were to slump and make needed changes before a downturn occurs” – and he proceeds to outline a 3-step process for this. Are…
Steady income, conservative growth and diversification are the key offerings of the three exchange-traded funds for retirement highlighted in today’s article. The first ETF is a defensive dividend play, the second offers the prospect of conservative growth through broad exposure to the tech and telecom industries, and the third – a real-estate investment trust ETF – offers diversification thanks to…
With a few exceptions (e.g. collectibles, life insurance), you can own pretty much anything in an individual retirement account, from real estate and precious metals to farming interests and church bonds. And with concerns that the stock market is overvalued (and rising interest rates affecting bond prices), nontraditional assets – with their juicy return potential and diversification benefits – may…
For diligent retirement savers, the author of today’s article doesn’t see investing in large-cap stocks – with their maturity and predictable cash flows – as being a bad plan. However, for the large segment of Americans who are either behind on saving for retirement (or have no retirement savings at all), he points to small-cap stocks as being “the best…