market crash 2013
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Protect Your Retirement with This Stock Market Crash "Insurance"
We buy insurance on our houses, our cars and even on our artwork and jewelry.
But that's not the case with our retirement savings - the money we spend our working lifetimes to amass - the money that will be our sole means of support once we stop working.
With our 401(k)s, IRAs and other socked-away savings, we're content to "let it ride."
That's a reckless and ulcer-inducing investing strategy.
And, as we'll show you in a minute, it's even riskier than most of us realize.
The thing is, it doesn't have to be that way. Investing is not the same as gambling. That's certainly not how the pros on Wall Street do it. They "insure" their savings, using special "hedging" plays that provide real insurance against a stock market sell-off.
Why shouldn't you do the same?
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Taxmaggedon 2013: These Changes Mean Less Take Home Pay For Everyone
Funding of the Social Security program has been a growing concern for years now, and new tax law changes for 2013 will target at least one portion of that problem.
Thanks to Taxmageddon 2013, your take home pay is about to shrink.
In the first three parts of our series on the tax outlook for 2013, we reviewed the impact of proposed changes on capital gains, dividend income and the treatment of certain taxes for the wealthy and small businesses.
Today, we'll look at scheduled changes in the FICA withholding structure, as well as a number of other 2013 tax law revisions that individual taxpayers need to be aware of.
FICA is short for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, the Depression-era law that imposed payroll taxes to fund America's Social Security retirement and disability programs. Withholding for the Medicare elder-health program was added in the 1960s.
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Taxmageddon 2013: These Filers Are in the Crosshairs
As Taxmageddon 2013 looms against the back drop of Election 2012 one thing is for certain: upper-income filers will take a hit in 2013 even if no new taxes are imposed, as will owners of some small businesses.
In Part One of our series on the tax outlook for 2013, we described how scheduled tax-law changes will affect capital gains - boosting taxes on long-term profits from 15% to 23.8% for some taxpayers. And, in Part Two, which ran last Thursday, we explained that dividend investors could suffer even more, with some seeing their tax bite rise from the current 15% to as much as 43.4%.
Those changes will have a major impact on individuals and couples in the highest income brackets, who will also see their marginal tax rates rise from 28% to 31%, from 33% to 36% and from 35% to 39.6%, respectively.
In addition, many of those taxpayers will see a significant reduction in the itemized deductions they can take.
Under the tax rules in effect for 2012, there's no overall limit on the number of itemized deductions you can take.
However, if the Bush cuts are allowed to expire, total allowable itemized deductions will be reduced by the lesser of 3% of adjusted gross income (AGI) above a certain threshold - expected to be about $174,450 for both individuals and couples in 2013 - or 80% of the amount of itemized deductions otherwise allowable.
I know, that's about as clear as mud, but I don't write the tax laws - which is why you should always have an accountant at least verify your calculations before filing, or actually prepare your returns in the first place.
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Stock Market Crash 2013: What the "Hindenberg Omen" Tells Us
Should you be worried about a stock market crash in 2013... or even sooner?
Certainly, there's plenty of unsettling news to worry about.
You know what I'm talking about...the persistent Eurozone debt crisis, Taxmageddon, the fiscal cliff, high unemployment. The list goes on and on.
But now, there's one more reason to fasten your seat belt.
On the heels of a sharp stock market decline on July 24, a highly accurate technical indicator called the "Hindenburg Omen" started ringing warning bells.
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