January 30, 2015

SP Finishes Negative For January: Is That A Crash Indicator?

Jan 30 2015

The SP500 stock index went down 1.3% today to 1,995 points, closing out January with a 3% loss for the month. January is an important indicator because annual bonus money is used to buy stocks then and so as January goes, so goes the year. This year will have scary debt negotiations with Greece which will probably result in more stimulus from the ECB to Greece which will cheer the stock market but it won’t be enough to break the now developing bear market in stocks. Once the thrill of a new ECB Greek stimulus package becomes yesterday’s boring old… Read More

Forget to Take Your RMD?

Jan 30 2015

In case you forgot to take your required minimum distribution (RMD) for 2014 there’s still hope in order to avoid the 50% (yes, that’s FIFTY percent) penalty of the amount not withdrawn. If you missed taking the RMD for 2014 here’s what you can do. According to the IRS the penalty may be waived if you can establish that it was due to reasonable error that you didn’t take the RMD and that reasonable steps are being taken to remedy the error. That is, take the 2014 RMD right away (or as soon as you can let your custodian know)… Read More

Archive - January 30, 2015