Friday Reading: Financial Repression
I Savings Bonds And Financial Repression by Michael at Long-Term Returns
"Buy those I Savings Bonds while you can." I agree! I’m getting ready to buy another round in January.
***
Earning income in a low-yield environment by Steve Utkus at Vanguard Blog
Bonds and bond mutual funds are not the only options available to individual investors. After I started exploring advantages available to individual investors, I keep finding opportunities that are much better than traditional bonds and bond mutual funds, especially for investors with a portfolio of modest size.
You don’t have to take higher risk in long-term corporate or high-yield bonds in order to earn a good yield. I Bonds, EE Bonds, Mango Prepaid, BBVA savings, paying down mortgage are all great options. I have a few more of these options coming in future posts.
***
PenFed CD Rate Changes – New Top 2- and 3-Year CD Rates by Ken Tumin at DepositAccounts.com
We have 3-year FDIC insured CD paying a higher yield than bonds in Vanguard’s Total Bond Market Fund. That’s another advantage available only to individual investors.
***
Paying Down Debt: Often the Best Investment by David Grabiner at Forbes
I agree.
***
Fiscal Cliff Investment and Tax Planning by Mike Piper at Oblivious Investor
If you can manage to get into the 10% or 15% tax bracket, remember to realize some capital gains at 0% tax rate. This is the last year to do so. Don’t miss it!
***
An Unexpected Result From Roth Conversion – Increased Medicare Premiums by Jim Blankenship at Getting Your Financial Ducks In A Row
My guess is that we will see more and more of means testing like this. It’s a good idea to convert traditional IRA to Roth after you retire, in low tax years. Just do it gradually and not trip up means testing.
***
Maximize the Tax Benefit of Charitable Giving, Donate Appreciated Assets by Michael at Financial Ramblings
Donating appreciated assets is also a good way to improve tax efficiency. Sell bonds in tax deferred accounts to replenish the donated stocks. Use cash to buy fixed income investments that pay more than bonds.
Blog Carnival
Tax Carnival #109: Tax Stocking Stuffers hosted by Kay Bell at Don’t Mess With Taxes included guest post How to Build a Time Machine With IRAs – Part 1.
2.2% Rewards Card $444 Bonus
Earn 2.2% toward travel on all purchases with Barclaycard Arrival World MasterCard. No caps and no foreign transaction fees. 40,000 bonus points if you make $1,000 or more in purchases in the first 90 days. $89 annual fee waived in the first year (40,000 bonus miles pay for 5 more years after that). Learn More
Software picked, likely related posts:
Comments
Tell me what you're thinking, but please don't spam. See comments moderation policy.
Buy My Book
Connect
Follow @TheFinanceBuff
