Smart401k Blog

In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers over the past week:

• The much-debated healthcare bill passed a crucial first milestone in the Senate
• Citadel Broadcasting filed for protection under Chapter 11 bankruptcy
• Moody’s downgraded Greece‘s sovereign debt rating to A2
• The U.S. housing market continues to experience severe headwinds

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Last year I wrote about two topics that received extra attention from our members, capital gains and tax loss harvesting. Because we are coming to the end of the year I thought it would be a good idea to reiterate how you can use capital gains and tax loss harvesting in your favor at tax time.

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Regular readers of the blog will know that I have a three-year-old son.  As we prepare for Christmas, I recently learned about one of the greatest tools a parent can have – making sure my child knows the difference between naughty and nice as it relates to Santa’s willingness to bring him presents.  Every time I remind him that only ‘nice children get presents’ he quickly reverts to his usual well-mannered behavior.

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In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers over the past week:

• Wells Fargo joined Citigroup in bidding farewell to the TARP program
• Abu Dhabi lent $10 billion to Dubai World to help it avoid default
• President Obama gave U.S. bankers an earful
• Former Fed Chairman Allan Greenspan said he sees a coming boost in hiring

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Several weeks ago, our Senior Investment Advisor, Kevin Jaegers, wrote an article about how recent economic conditions have caused parents and children to pull together to meet college costs (read it here). Much of the article was based on a study by Fidelity Investments, which discovered that an increasing number of parents are saving for their children’s education.  With so many parents wanting to provide tuition assistance to their children, I thought it would be helpful to take a deeper look into the pros and cons of one of the more popular college savings vehicles, the 529 plan.

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In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers over the past week:

• Compensation continues to be a battleground at AIG
• Mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto signed a joint venture agreement for iron ore in Western Australia
• Estimates of losses from the U.S. banking bailout were cut
• Moody’s suggested that the triple-A ratings for the U.S. and U.K. could be at risk

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In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers over the past week:

• The United Arab Emirates took steps to ease concerns over the debt issues in Dubai
• Spending during the post-holiday Black Friday increased 0.5% from a year ago
• India’s third quarter growth outpaced expectations
• General Motors ousted its CEO, Fritz Henderson

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Recently, I had a friend over to watch some football.  Seeing as KU was down considerably, conversation moved away from football to what was going on in our lives.  I was surprised to hear that my friend, who goes by Bear (he’s big and burly like a bear), was looking into buying a home and taking advantage of the First-time home buyer tax credit.  I knew about the program, but he brought up that the new stipulations passed recently, which I didn’t know about.  I assumed the extension passed a couple weeks ago was just that – an extension, but in fact a few of the rules were changed.  As he explained to me, since I bought my house within the last five years, I was eligible for the credit.  I wasn’t 100% sure if Bear was right, so I did some research and found out that even those who currently own a home could be eligible for a tax credit called the Move-up/Repeat Home Buyer Tax Credit but it wasn’t exactly how Bear explained it to me. 

Here is what I found out and what you need to know if you’re thinking of buying a home in the next 6 months:

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