More News & Analysis
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Why Mutual Funds Are Getting Cheaper to Own
As the mutual fund industry continues to recover from its lows during the recession, investors are benefitting not only from better returns, but also lower costs. According to new research from the Investment Company Institute (ICI), average expense ratios for a host of mutual fund categories decreased in 2012. Among the biggest winners in 2012, at least from a cost perspective, were investors in target-date funds. The average target-date investor had an expense ratio of 0.58 percent in 2012, down from 0.61 percent in 2011.
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How a Tax-Refund Windfall Can Hurt Your Finances
What could be wrong about getting a $3,000 check in the mail? It's great news if you're like most Americans who have been strapped for cash. The average refund is just under that amount, surveys say. But millions of people use their refund in a way that virtually assures they'll have less cash in the future than they might have had—and for some, the money can be misspent and become a negative.
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Don't Miss the Big Change in Portfolio Rebalancing
The term "rebalance" makes investing sound as simple as having your tires rotated or your alignment checked. And the basic concept is exactly that straightforward. But with interest rates stuck at historic lows, investing experts say it's become harder to keep allocations in proper balance, and that it may become even more challenging to work with traditional "equity versus fixed income" formulae as rates go higher.
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What to Do When Your Mutual Fund Gets Sold
Investors in 17 HighMark Capital Management mutual funds will be seeing a new name on their prospectuses. Under a recently cemented deal, Nationwide Financial will acquire the funds, which have roughly $3.6 billion in assets under management. For investors, fund acquisitions raise a number of potential issues. In particular, analysts typically recommend that investors in funds affected by acquisitions keep their eyes open for changes, most notably in the following categories:
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IRS High-Tech Tools Track Your Digital Footprints
The Internal Revenue Service is collecting a lot more than taxes this year—it's also acquiring a huge volume of personal information on taxpayers' digital activities, from eBay auctions to Facebook posts and, for the first time ever, credit card and e-payment transaction records, as it expands its search for tax cheats to places it's never gone before.
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Goldman Sachs for President? Why One Shareholder Wants the Company to Run for Office
Although the 2016 election is still more than three years away, asset manager John Harrington can't help but think the name "President Sachs" has a certain ring to it. Goldman Sachs, that is. Harrington, president of the California-based Harrington Investments, submitted a shareholder proposal to Goldman seeking to have the company explore the possibility of running for elected office. You heard that right: Harrington wants Goldman Sachs—the company itself, not its individual officers—to appear on ballots in state and federal elections.
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