Diligent savers are admirable. Even more admirable: Retirees who transform themselves from great savers to happy spenders.
YOUR INVESTMENT holdings might include an asset that’s dropped in value since you bought it. Still, you have great hopes for the investment: While you’d like to sell and get the tax loss, you really hate to part with your old friend. Should you instead sell it to your spouse or your child?
You can usually claim losses on investments when you sell them. But IRS code section 267 generally disallows deductions for losses on sales to certain family members and other related parties.
FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT said on Aug. 14, 1935, that the new Social Security program would provide “some measure of protection to the average citizen… against poverty-ridden old age.”
Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works and chair of the Strengthen Social Security coalition, opined this year that “after a lifetime of work Americans should have enough guaranteed Social Security to maintain their standard of living.”
Make no mistake: There’s a vast gap between Roosevelt’s notion of protecting against poverty and Altman’s goal of guaranteeing one’s standard of living.
PABLO PICASSO was one of the most influential, prolific and financially successful artists of the 20th century. Yet, if you had visited his studio at the peak of his career, you might have guessed otherwise: It was a mess and his work schedule was, at best, leisurely.
On a normal day, Picasso would stay in bed all morning and only get to work around 2 p.m. When he did work, according to a biographer,
A YEAR AGO, I was worried about the stock market. Today, I’m concerned about the job market.
In December 2017, I penned an article entitled Best Investment 2018, which turned out to be surprisingly prescient. That wasn’t really my goal. At the time, I was simply pondering rich stock market valuations, tiny bond yields and the new tax law, with its higher standard deduction and limits on itemized deductions. Putting it all together, it struck me that paying down debt—even mortgage debt—seemed like an awfully smart move.
I BEGAN WORKING for my father at age 12. He and his brothers run a sign manufacturing business that was co-founded in 1947 by my grandfather. The first few years, I cleaned pickup trucks, swept floors and took out the trash. When I got my driver’s license in high school, I started running errands for the business—better known as a gopher. As a finance major in college, I was able to work my way into the office,
U.S. HOME PRICES climbed 4.3% a year over the 40 years through October 2018, according to Freddie Mac. That isn’t much above the 3.4% inflation rate. On top of the 4.3%, homeowners would have collected rent or imputed rent.
DO CHILDREN BRING happiness? As someone who has invested heavily in small people over the years—I have two children and two stepchildren—I want to believe the answer is “yes.” But the evidence suggests otherwise.
This, I realize, is a touchy subject, so let me offer a few crucial caveats before you fire off that fiery email. The studies cited here offer conclusions based on broad averages. Your experience could be entirely different. Moreover, it may be that children give special meaning to our lives,
NO. 39: IN INEFFICIENT markets, winners are easier to find—and harder to profit from. You’re more likely to find mispriced shares among microcap stocks and in emerging markets. A big reason: the high cost of trading. Indeed, because active management is so costly in these inefficient markets, indexing can be an especially smart strategy.
MAKE QUALIFIED charitable distributions. Over age 70½ and planning to give to charity? Consider donating directly from your retirement account. You won’t get a tax deduction. But you also won’t owe taxes on the distribution, which will likely mean a smaller tax bill and lower Medicare premiums, plus the sum donated counts toward your required minimum distribution.
LAND VS. DWELLING. As you ponder potential real-estate returns, it helps to distinguish the dwelling from the land underneath. You can be fairly confident the land will appreciate over time. By contrast, the dwelling will deteriorate, requiring maintenance and occasional upgrades. The dwelling, however, also provides you with shelter—the key reason to own a home.
HumbleDollar is edited by Jonathan Clements, author of From Here to Financial Happiness.
YOUR INVESTMENT holdings might include an asset that’s dropped in value since you bought it. Still, you have great hopes for the investment: While you’d like to sell and get the tax loss, you really hate to part with your old friend. Should you instead sell it to your spouse or your child?
You can usually claim losses on investments when you sell them. But IRS code section 267 generally disallows deductions for losses on sales to certain family members and other related parties.
FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT said on Aug. 14, 1935, that the new Social Security program would provide “some measure of protection to the average citizen… against poverty-ridden old age.”
Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works and chair of the Strengthen Social Security coalition, opined this year that “after a lifetime of work Americans should have enough guaranteed Social Security to maintain their standard of living.”
Make no mistake: There’s a vast gap between Roosevelt’s notion of protecting against poverty and Altman’s goal of guaranteeing one’s standard of living.
PABLO PICASSO was one of the most influential, prolific and financially successful artists of the 20th century. Yet, if you had visited his studio at the peak of his career, you might have guessed otherwise: It was a mess and his work schedule was, at best, leisurely.
On a normal day, Picasso would stay in bed all morning and only get to work around 2 p.m. When he did work, according to a biographer,
A YEAR AGO, I was worried about the stock market. Today, I’m concerned about the job market.
In December 2017, I penned an article entitled Best Investment 2018, which turned out to be surprisingly prescient. That wasn’t really my goal. At the time, I was simply pondering rich stock market valuations, tiny bond yields and the new tax law, with its higher standard deduction and limits on itemized deductions. Putting it all together, it struck me that paying down debt—even mortgage debt—seemed like an awfully smart move.
I BEGAN WORKING for my father at age 12. He and his brothers run a sign manufacturing business that was co-founded in 1947 by my grandfather. The first few years, I cleaned pickup trucks, swept floors and took out the trash. When I got my driver’s license in high school, I started running errands for the business—better known as a gopher. As a finance major in college, I was able to work my way into the office,
U.S. HOME PRICES climbed 4.3% a year over the 40 years through October 2018, according to Freddie Mac. That isn’t much above the 3.4% inflation rate. On top of the 4.3%, homeowners would have collected rent or imputed rent.
MAKE QUALIFIED charitable distributions. Over age 70½ and planning to give to charity? Consider donating directly from your retirement account. You won’t get a tax deduction. But you also won’t owe taxes on the distribution, which will likely mean a smaller tax bill and lower Medicare premiums, plus the sum donated counts toward your required minimum distribution.
NO. 39: IN INEFFICIENT markets, winners are easier to find—and harder to profit from. You’re more likely to find mispriced shares among microcap stocks and in emerging markets. A big reason: the high cost of trading. Indeed, because active management is so costly in these inefficient markets, indexing can be an especially smart strategy.
LAND VS. DWELLING. As you ponder potential real-estate returns, it helps to distinguish the dwelling from the land underneath. You can be fairly confident the land will appreciate over time. By contrast, the dwelling will deteriorate, requiring maintenance and occasional upgrades. The dwelling, however, also provides you with shelter—the key reason to own a home.
DO CHILDREN BRING happiness? As someone who has invested heavily in small people over the years—I have two children and two stepchildren—I want to believe the answer is “yes.” But the evidence suggests otherwise.
This, I realize, is a touchy subject, so let me offer a few crucial caveats before you fire off that fiery email. The studies cited here offer conclusions based on broad averages. Your experience could be entirely different. Moreover, it may be that children give special meaning to our lives,
HumbleDollar is edited by Jonathan Clements, author of From Here to Financial Happiness.