Mutual Fund Year-End Distributions If you check the per share price on your mutual funds in December you may discover a significant drop in share price due to capital gain and/or dividend distribution typically paid out in December by the majority of mutual funds. Mutual funds and Exchange Traded Funds typically distribute capital gains in [...]
Browsing Posts published in December, 2011
Advantages of a Life Annuity Life annuities also commonly referred as immediate or payout annuities typically guarantee income for life and have several additional benefits. They provide money and protection for people who live longer than the average individual. Another advantage is the fact that they provide larger cash flow than other fixed investments [...]
Is a Reverse Mortgage a Good Deal? Before we look at whether a reverse mortgage is a good deal, first let define it. They operate much like a home equity loan and are limited to individuals that are at least 62 years old. Unlike a typical home equity loan, a reverse mortgage does not [...]
Understanding the VIX High market volatility does not mean always that a market is bottoming out; it does indicate that the markets are experiencing duress. The Market Volatility Index also referred to as the VIX can be used as a trading tool by offering opportunities in short-term hedging and speculation. However this tool was [...]
Banking Tips To start, I am not a fan of the banking industry. They try their best to rip off their customers every chance they get. This isn’t anything new, but it does seem to be getting worse. They expect their depositors to foot the bill for their irresponsible and incompetent management of money. The [...]
Year-end Tax Saving Strategies As the year drawn near the end it is a good time to review your investment portfolio and possibly make a few changes. Take Tax Loses on your Investments Tax-loss sales is the method of selling investments that have lost value in order to offset any capital gains you realized [...]
In a Turbulent Market Cool Heads Prevail It always makes sense to stay focused on your long term goals and not what you are reading and hearing from so call financial experts and commentators. Most blue chip stocks over the past five years have netted no gains and even perhaps a slight loss if [...]
Commodity Mutual Funds As alternative to normal investments in stock or bonds you could consider investing in a commodity mutual fund. It used to be that an investor could achieve a non correlated portion of their portfolio by investing in gold, other precious metals, international companies or funds. Today it’s quite different as we are [...]
SEO Software – Traffic Travis Version 4 (free version) If you are in “internet marketing” or have a web presence then SEO (search engine optimization) is essential to assist in driving traffic to your website. You can spend hundreds of dollars to acquire a SEO software product, however there is an excellent software product [...]
Reasons to consider ETF’s Exchange Traded Funds have grown in popularity over the past several years; factors that have attracted investors are cost effective market exposure compared to active managed mutual funds in addition to index funds. Many ETF’s carry low management fees often much less than mutual & index funds. However keep in mind [...]
