Investors: Avoid These 5 Common Tax Mistakes

Author: David Twibell

Source: articleage.com



For abounding investors, and even some tax professionals, allocation through the circuitous IRS rules on investment taxes can be a nightmare. Pitfalls abound, and the penalties for even simple mistakes can be severe. As April 15 rolls around, accumulate the afterward 5 accepted tax mistakes in apperception - and advice accumulate a little added money in your own pocket.
1. Declining To Annual Gains
Normally, if you advertise an investment for a profit, you owe a tax on the gain. One way to lower that tax accountability is to aswell advertise some of your accident investments. You can again use those losses to annual your gains.
Say you own two stocks. You accept a accretion of $1,000 on the aboriginal stock, and a accident of $1,000 on the second. If you advertise your acceptable stock, you will owe tax on the $1,000 gain. But if you advertise both stocks, your $1,000 accretion will be annual by your $1,000 loss. That's acceptable annual from a tax standpoint, back it agency you don't accept to pay any taxes on either position.
Sounds like a acceptable plan, right? Well, it is, but be acquainted it can get a bit complicated. Under what is frequently alleged the "wash auction rule," if you repurchase the accident banal aural 30 canicule of affairs it, you can't abstract your loss. In fact, not alone are you precluded from repurchasing the aforementioned stock, you are precluded from purchasing banal that is "substantially identical" to it - a ambiguous byword that is a connected antecedent of abashing to investors and tax professionals alike. Finally, the IRS mandates that you accept to bout abiding and concise assets and losses adjoin anniversary added first.
2. Miscalculating The Base Of Alternate Funds
Calculating assets or losses from the auction of an alone banal is adequately straightforward. Your base is artlessly the amount you paid for the shares (including commissions), and the accretion or accident is the aberration amid your base and the net accretion from the sale. However, it gets abundant added complicated if ambidextrous with alternate funds.
When artful your base afterwards affairs a alternate fund, it's simple to overlook to agency in the assets and basic assets distributions you reinvested in the fund. The IRS considers these distributions as taxable balance in the year they are made. As a result, you accept already paid taxes on them. By declining to add these distributions to your basis, you will end up advertisement a beyond accretion than you accustomed from the sale, and ultimately paying added in taxes than necessary.
There is no simple band-aid to this problem, added than befitting acceptable annal and getting active in acclimation your allotment and administration information. The added paperwork may be a headache, but it could beggarly added banknote in your wallet at tax time.
3. Declining To Use Tax-managed Funds
Most investors authority their alternate funds for the continued term. That's why they're generally afraid if they get hit with a tax bill for abbreviate appellation assets accomplished by their funds. These assets aftereffect from sales of banal captivated by a armamentarium for beneath than a year, and are anesthetized on to shareholders to address on their own allotment -- even if they never awash their alternate armamentarium shares.
Recently, added alternate funds accept been absorption on, income tax bracket, able tax-management. These funds try to not alone buy shares in acceptable companies, but aswell abbreviate the tax accountability on shareholders by captivation those shares for continued periods of time. By advance in funds geared appear "tax-managed" returns, you can access your net assets and save yourself some tax-related headaches. To be worthwhile, though, a tax-efficient armamentarium accept to accept both ingredients: acceptable investment achievement and low taxable distributions to shareholders.
4. Missing Deadlines
Keogh plans, acceptable IRAs, and Roth IRAs are abundant means to amplitude your advance dollars and accommodate for your approaching retirement. Sadly, millions of investors let these gems blooper through their fingers by declining to accomplish contributions afore the applicative IRS deadlines. For Keogh plans, the borderline is December 31. For acceptable and Roth IRA's, you accept until April 15 to accomplish contributions. Mark these dates in your agenda and accomplish those deposits on time.
5. Putting Investments In The Wrong Accounts
Most investors accept two types of investment accounts: tax-advantaged, such as an IRA or 401(k), and traditional. What abounding humans don't apprehend is that captivation the appropriate blazon of assets in anniversary annual can save them bags of dollars anniversary year in accidental taxes.
Generally, investments that aftermath lots of taxable assets or concise basic assets should be captivated in tax advantaged accounts, while investments that pay assets or aftermath abiding basic assets should be captivated in acceptable accounts. For example, let's say you own 200 shares of Duke Power, and intend to authority the shares for several years. This investment will accomplish a annual beck of allotment payments, which will be burdened at 15% or less, and a abiding basic accretion or accident already it is assuredly sold, which will aswell be burdened at 15% or less. Consequently, back these shares already accept a favorable tax treatment, there is no charge to apartment them in a tax-advantaged account.
In contrast, a lot of treasury and accumulated band funds aftermath a abiding beck of absorption income. Since, this assets does not authorize for appropriate tax analysis like dividends, you will accept to pay taxes on it at your bordering rate. Unless you are in a actual low tax bracket, captivation these funds in a tax-advantaged annual makes faculty because it allows you to adjourn these tax payments far into the future, or possibly abstain them altogether.
David Twibell is President and Chief Investment Officer of Flagship Basic Management, LLC, an investment advising close in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Flagship provides portfolio administration casework to high-net-worth individuals, corporations, and non-profit entities. For added information, amuse appointment www.flagship-capital.com.

Life insurance as an investment

Author: Tony Reed

Source: articleage.com



Term insurance provides coverage for a pre-specified period. For example, term insurance is designed to protect a mortgage or provide income for your family in case of your death. You pay the term insurance premium each month and as long as you pay the premium your policy will stay in force. Once the contract reaches maturity (usually in 10 years) you need to renew your policy at a higher price. If you die while you're paying the premium your estate gets a large sum of money.



In contrast, permanent or whole life insurance remains in force until you die. You pay the premium on a monthly basis for a pre-specified term, which can range between 10 to 20 years. A portion of your monthly payment pays the insurance and the life insurance company that provided the insurance invests the remainder. Eventually you don't pay any premiums but your estate still receives a large payment upon death.



Whole life polices have been criticized because their investment returns are low. Thus you were often advised to buy life insurance protection with a term policy and invest the difference between term and whole life payments in a separate investment vehicle, such as mutual funds, stocks, or bonds. Once you have built up a large pool of assets you don't need the insurance because the assets will provide security and stability in the event of an unexpected death.



However, there is a new, more flexible product called universal life insurance. While the life insurance company controls the savings in a whole life policy, the savings in a universal life plan are owned and controlled by the policyholder. Insurance companies offer a large variety of investment options for this savings component, including mutual funds. Thus, you have the ability to meet your life insurance needs and increase your return on investment.



The major advantage of a universal life policy is tax-advantaged growth. When you pay the policy premium, a portion of the premium pays for the insurance and a portion is invested. However, when you are ready to withdraw the money from your investment, your cost basis ( the portion not subject to tax) is higher with a universal life policy. The cost base for a universal policy is equal to the sum, income tax bracket, of all your premiums - the amount of money you have invested plus the money you have used to buy life insurance. This is very useful because increasing your cost base will ensure you pay less tax once you sell your investments within the universal life policy.



Universal life insurance provides a powerful combination of life insurance and tax-advantaged investment opportunities. Investors should realize that universal life insurance premiums work twice as hard as other premiums. They should also know that choosing the right product is an important element in the overall success of this strategy. Finally, the benefits of this strategy are magnified if you are in a higher tax bracket.