document.write('<p><b><font class="heading">Tax Saving Strategies for Investors</font></b></p><p><font class="text"><b>How to make bet');
document.write('ter use of your investment interest expenses?</b></p><p>Deducting investment interest expenses used to be fairly strai');
document.write('ghtforward but the 1993 tax law changed all that. Prior to 1993, you could include your net capital gains from the sale ');
document.write('of investment assets in the calculation of your total net investment income. Net investment income is an important categ');
document.write('ory, since your Schedule A deduction for investment interest expense (interest you pay on debt related to investment ass');
document.write('ets) is limited to the net investment income you earn for the same tax year. With the capital gains inclusion, you were ');
document.write('able to increase other net investment income, like your interest and dividend income, and thereby increase your allowabl');
document.write('e deduction for investment interest expense. Capital gains helped to increase your investment income, which also increas');
document.write('ed your allowable investment interest deduction.</p><p>The 1993 tax law changed the rules. Now you cannot treat net ca');
document.write('pital gains as part of your investment income, to increase your investment interest expense deduction, unless you first ');
document.write('elect to treat some, or all, of your net capital gains as ordinary income.</p><p>Prior to 1997, making the election to');
document.write(' treat some, or all, of your net capital gains as ordinary income made sense (under certain circumstances). The Taxpayer');
document.write(' Relief Act of 1997 has all but killed this election. Most taxpayers find they will save more income tax in the long run');
document.write(' by carrying over the unused investment interest expense to future years rather than elect to treat net capital gains as');
document.write(' ordinary income to deduct more investment interest expense in the current year.</p><p>You may be eligible to go back ');
document.write('to previous tax years and amend your returns for better tax savings. To find out if this will work with you, call us to ');
document.write('set up an appointment today.</p><p>&nbsp;<br><b>Worthless stock? Write it off as a loss, then end up keeping it!</b></');
document.write('p><p>If you currently have some stock that has become worthless, or even nearly-worthless, you can take a capital loss');
document.write(' deduction for the year it becomes totally worthless. But of the stock still has any value at all, even a little, using ');
document.write('a tax write-off has to be done very carefully and with a little planning.</p><p>There are four basic strategies for wr');
document.write('iting off nearly worthless stock- two are used for &quot;keeping&quot; the stock and the other two are used for writing ');
document.write('off the stock and getting your tax savings sooner. Here are the two strategies for &quot;keeping&quot; the stock:</p><');
document.write('ol><li><p>Sell the stock, take a capital gain loss (long or short-term depending on how long you have had the stock), th');
document.write('en buy it back after the 30-day wait period required for tax purposes. If the price of the stock increases during that t');
document.write('ime you will have to pay for the increased value.</p></li><li><p>You can sell the stock to someone who is an unrelated');
document.write(' party (possibly a friend) then take a capital loss. You may be interested in having your friend keep the asset because ');
document.write('of any possible future increase in the value of the stock; you can buy it back after the 30 days for the same price you ');
document.write('sold it for. If the stock has increased in value, and you buy it back for the same price you sold it for, the difference');
document.write(' in value will come to you as a gift (as long as the party giving you the gift doesn\'t exceed their $11,000 yearly limit');
document.write('; it\'s $22,000 of married and filing a joint return).</p></li></ol><p>If you are interested in how this can work for y');
document.write('ou, or have questions concerning writing off stocks that you are not interested in buying back, you can call us and we\'l');
document.write('l be happy to answer your questions.</p><p>You can push the limit and actually use capital losses to profit.</p><p>Y');
document.write('ou can use proceeds from a &quot;loss sale&quot; to reduce your taxes even further by contributing any portion of the pr');
document.write('oceeds from the &quot;loss&quot; to a tax-deductible retirement account like an IRA account or an SEP or Keogh account (');
document.write('if you are self-employed).</p><p>This idea is to use tax-saving capabilities of the retirement plan to offset addition');
document.write('al economic losses. Keeping the funds in your retirement account is the drawback you take by using this strategy. Not to');
document.write(' worry, because if you are planning on reinvesting these proceeds anyway, your retirement account will have the added be');
document.write('nefit of deferring the income tax on any earnings until you begin making taxable withdrawals from the account.</p><p>K');
document.write('eeping accurate mutual fund records can help you save.</p><p>If you keep good, accurate records on your mutual funds a');
document.write('nd follow a few simple steps, you can minimize any current income tax due on the sale of mutual fund shares.</p><p>All');
document.write(' that you have to do is sell high-basis shares in the fund and identify the sale of these shares in your records. When y');
document.write('ou are making the sale, specify to the mutual fund which shares will be sold. The mutual fund then confirms the sale of ');
document.write('the specific shares (in writing, and in a reasonable amount of time).</p><p>By selling the high-basis shares, you are ');
document.write('reducing your current taxable gain. You are left holding the lower-basis shares and will pay the income tax on the large');
document.write('r gain when you sell them. But if you have to chose between saving now or later, saving now is always better.</p><p>Mi');
document.write('nimize headaches-and taxes-by limiting mutual fund check transactions. Many mutual funds offer investors the convenience');
document.write(' of writing checks out of their account. You should know that this should be used in an emergency only-not on a regular ');
document.write('basis.</p><p>At first glance, using a mutual fund as a checkbook and keeping the money in the fund you earn a higher r');
document.write('ate than an interest-bearing checking account is a good idea. But there are at least three disadvantages to using your m');
document.write('utual fund as a checkbook, and these easily outweigh the advantage of a higher current income. We\'ll be glad to answer y');
document.write('our questions concerning these transactions.</p>');