Last year I bought a closed-end, exchange traded fund that invests in emerging market debt. (Morgan's Stanley's EDD.) The fund pays a quarterly dividend. My year end statement indicates the dividends for the second and third quarters of 2009 were "return of capital." I understand how return of...

I have a traditional IRA with $33K in it. Of that, $23K is from a rollover from an old 401k and $10K is from non-deductible contributions. I made those non-deductible contributions with the intention of converting them to a Roth IRA in 2010. However, in order to do that, I must also convert the...

I traded an ETF in 2009 and received a K-1 Form 1065. The gain on those shares was also reported through my brokerage statement (which I downloaded into turbotax directly from the brokerage site). So, do I need to go in and delete that specific sale from Schedule D after entering the K-1...

Thought this might be interesting and germane, something to define and plan or set goals for: the American dream. There are two views posted below, to satisfy the politically minded, and many other articles available from each of these two...

I have been considering, idly, possibilities of early retirement after another decade or so, purely for entertainment reasons of course, for a hypothetical guy at 48 or so who has several (say 3-4) millions of $$$. My big concern was, how would such get health insurance that he could afford...

The Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 provided for special, lower tax rates for certain income brackets for long term capital gains and qualified dividends, through tax year 2010. Has there been talk of extending this beyond 2010? (At least last I heard the lower tax rates on...

On 2010-02-21 20:19:21 -0800, "Mark Freeland" said: This is all predicated on the fact that with FDIC insurance, there is no risk of loss, just risk of being frozen. But there is still the risk that FDIC will fail. That risk may be small, but then who would have believed...

On Feb 21, 10:19*pm, "Mark Freeland" wrote: This is all predicated on the fact that with FDIC insurance, there is no risk of loss, just risk of being frozen. Yes, and in addition, it's not likely that the funds would all be needed immediately. -- Ron

A bank pays out airlines miles based on your balance per month. I want the miles , but my parents have the money. Could we setup a joint account with their money and me getting the miles? What are the tax consequences of this? My understanding is airline miles are not taxable. Also I can NOT be...

From wikipedia it says " Another difference is that 457 plan participant cannot make designated Roth contributions as participants in appropriately amended 401(k) and 403(b) plans can. " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/457_plan I am not sure if that means you can not have both Roth IRA and 457?

I have 12k in a roth ira and 12k in a traditional IRA. I am no longer eligible to contribue to roth since my income is over 150k/year. So I just contribue after tax dollars to the traditional ira. Is there a way to merge my roth ira into the traditional ira? It is such a nuisance to have to keep...

An FYI... Fido has done away with their whole Bronze/Silver/Gold structure. All stock trades are $7.95. All options trades are $7.95 plus $0.75/contract. Also, the following iShares ETFs now trade commission-free: IWF IWB IWD IWO IWM IWN IWV IVW IVV IVE IJK IJH IJJ IJT IJR IJS ACWI EFA...

I recently retired at age 63 and 9 months. I'm a fairly moderate income person - in the past, my nominal federal income tax rate has run about 10%, but should be a bit lower in the future. The state where I live has a moderate income tax rate. When I turn 65 in 2011, I will be able to receive a...

What follows is my understanding of estate taxation. Since this is not my "first line" of business, I would appreciate corrections. Based on the current rules, there is no federal estate tax for decedents passing in 2010. There may be, however, a capital gains tax. Previously,...

I just made a largish extra principal payment on my home mortgage. My normal payments are due on the first of the month. The bank allocated the payment as 1. Advance payment of the Mar 1 amt due with principal and interest breakdown as it would have been at that date. 2. Balance applied to...

I think I do reasonably well with my own finances... until now... I just did turbo tax for 2009 taxes. In 2008 I received a $1800 refund In 2009 it shows me owning $2600+. That is a $4400 swing in taxes... can anyone tell me if the stimulus plans could account for such a big swing in taxes from...

Interesting to see how Greenspan answers this. http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/05/news/economy/greenspan.fortune/index.htm?hpt=Sbin

Kaye Thomas makes his case: http://www.fairmark.com/rothira/10012001-roth-conversion-benefit.htm (I have no connection w/Fairmark other than following it at least ten years, now.) -- Rich Carreiro

Misc.invest.financial-plan is a *moderated* newsgroup, meaning moderators review posts to assure compliance with the newsgroup's guidelines. In general you can expect that any well-tempered post dealing with general financial planning will be posted. Further: 1. Posters should trim posts to...

Have some cash I have to do something with, this is a Fidelity no load Municipal fund? Modest return. Good-Bad. If you have the time? You also have a really great forum here, love reading all the opinions and insight. Thanks