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Interest Rates are Poised to Fall: Here are Four Investment Opportunities
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... worth looking at are insurance companies, banks, real estate-related businesses and small business that had been hampered by high-rate debt. When the Fed cuts the benchmark federal funds rate, lower ...
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How to Protect Your Heirs from Strict New IRA Rules
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... of families have been affected by the law, and many more will be in the future. Stretch IRAs, also known as multigenerational IRAs, were an estate planning strategy that allowed the original owner's ...
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Higher Interest Rates Could Hammer Stocks
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... insulate the economy, Washington unleashed waves of stimulus spending, and the Federal Reserve kept interest rates low while buying up assets such as real estate loans. Whether rising prices are a temporary ...
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Rising Inflation and Interest Rates: What to Do
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... rates low indefinitely. The bottom line: You should make real estate decisions sooner rather than later. You might be able to manage the $1,185 monthly payment on a $300,000, 30-year loan at 2.5%, but ...
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Use Tax Planning to Grow Wealth Faster
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... And any accounts without named beneficiaries will wind up in probate after your death, which adds cost, time and aggravation to estate settlement. From a tax standpoint, up-to-date beneficiary designations ...
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Capital Gains Tax Hike a Possibility
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... earning capital gains above $1 million per year. Long-term capital gains — the sale proceeds from stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate and other investments that are owned for more than a year — ...
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Be Very Careful Here
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... lots of debt, and most real estate. And while some badly beaten down stocks in the airline and hospitality industries may bounce back over the long term, there is very, very little visibility into the ...
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Bond Yields Are Low – So Where Do You Find Income?
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... Airlines' holding company, which is yielding 1.7% and up nearly 4%. For something that may be completely different, income hunters might consider investing directly in real estate. Drawing on my own ...
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Should You Invest in Real Estate?
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Real estate is often peddled as a get-rich-quick investment—and that lures some people in, and it turns some others off. The truth about real estate is that, like stocks and bonds, it can be a solid ...
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What the Market Plunge Means for Investors
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... investment unless, of course, you hold it to maturity. Rising rates also dampen the value of real estate because as mortgage lenders charge higher and higher rates, fewer buyers can afford to borrow. ...
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Why Bitcoin is for Suckers
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... investors call a speculative bubble, folks. Remember the dot-com bubble? The real estate bubble? There have been bubbles for as long as humans have traded things. By 1637, Dutch traders were paying more ...
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How a Tax Failure Could Topple the Market
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... are divided about the estate tax, tax cuts for the rich, and other big questions. And they're certainly not likely to get any help from Democrats, who voted against healthcare reform as a block. If tax ...
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The Rate Increase and Your Portfolio
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... down. Here's the background: The U.S. economy has largely recovered from the real estate crash and ensuing recession. A big part of the reason is the fact that the Fed has kept rates near zero in ...
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The Best Ways to Take Required Minimum Distributions
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... to a huge bill. However, biting the bullet and doing the conversion can make sense as part of an estate-planning strategy. If the taxes you pay to convert are less than your beneficiary is likely to pay ...
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Beware of the Bond Bears
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... assets like stocks or real estate. There are many different types of bonds, each with distinct characteristics. There are investment-grade corporates and high-yield corporates. Treasuries, mortgage-backed ...
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A Checklist That Could Save You Thousands
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... dreaded 50% gift tax. The premise behind this is to lower your estate value and potentially avoid state and federal estate taxes all together. Recently, the federal estate tax exemption rose to $5.34 million ...
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Is The Market Rigged?
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... and look at it, the cost of investing in the markets is cheap. When you buy and sell real estate, you pay about 9% to agents, lawyers, insurance companies, mortgage brokers and other gatekeepers. When ...
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Beware of Retirement Benefit Pitfalls
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Many of us look forward to the freedom of retirement with great anticipation. But to have peace of mind about retirement, it's critical to do proper tax and estate planning for your retirement benefits. ...
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How to Save Your Family 101
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... apart. As you probably know, the best way to avoid these conflicts is for the owner of that property and money to create very clear estate plan explicitly spelling out his or her wishes. The problem is ...
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Think Twice About Direct Real Estate Investing
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Many of my clients are interested in investing in rental real estate. They see it as a reliable source of retirement income and believe it may be a good alternative to historically low CD and annuity rates, ...