Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Focusing on high dividend payers, however, helps ensure investors will have to pay taxes on their investments year in and year out, even if they reinvest the distributions, she noted. “Focusing on total return without reaching for dividends gives you more control over your tax bill; that provides the opportunity to realize gains in years when the investor has less income or realized losses,” Benz said. Benz listed several other securities that may best be avoided in taxable accounts: Taxable Bonds and Bond Funds “Generally speaking, bonds will tend to be less tax-efficient than stocks,” she wrote. Because most of the returns are income, they’re taxed at the ordinary income tax rate, which is higher than the capital gains and dividend tax rates that apply to gains from most stock holdings, she explained. High-yield bond funds and funds holding Treasury inflation-protected securities are especially poor fits for taxable accounts, Benz noted. High-tax-bracket investors who want to keep bonds in taxable accounts for short-term needs might consider municipal bond funds and municipal money market funds, she suggested. Multi-Asset Funds Multi-asset funds, such as target-date and balanced funds, generally are better held in tax-sheltered accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s, Benz wrote. They...

6. Failing to deliver. You want to be a person of your word. They have many people competing for their friendship and business. If you promise to send something or call, they will remember if you do not follow through. They assume people who can’t keep their obligations in their personal life conduct their business life the same way. Approach: Every time you commit to doing something, stop and write it down. Sending yourself a text or email works too. Credit: ArchMen/Adobe Stock

A former broker who served as a financial counselor with the U.S. Army and was a major in the U.S. Army Reserve, has been indicted by the Justice Department for allegedly defrauding two dozen Gold Star families, according to Philip R. Sellinger, U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, and court documents. In addition, the firm he most recently worked with has been expelled by the Financial Industry Regulatory authority for violations of Regulation Best Interest. Caz Craffy (aka “Carz Craffey”) of Colts Neck, New Jersey, was charged with six counts of wire fraud and one count each of securities fraud, making false statements in a loan application, committing acts furthering a personal financial interest, and making false statements to a federal agency. According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, from May 2018 to November 2022, Craffy obtained nearly $10 million from Gold Star families to invest in accounts he managed in his private capacity. Once in control of their money, Craffy repeatedly executed trades, often without the family’s authorization. For Craffy, 41, the unauthorized trades resulted in high commissions. During the timeframe of the alleged scheme, the accounts of the Gold Star families lost roughly $3.6...

What You Need to Know The Uniform Law Commission approved the UFIPA model in 2018. California has become the seventh state to enact the model. Banking groups and groups representing trust and estate lawyers have supported UFIPA adoption. California has adopted a new law that could affect any estate planning arrangements in the state, or any other client arrangement in the state that involves the use of investments held inside a trust. Gov. Gavin Newsom last week signed SB 522, the Uniform Fiduciary Income and Principal Act  (UFIPA) bill. The Uniform Law Commission, the body that developed the UFIPA model, says it will give trustees more flexibility to shift between income and principal when managing the payouts to trust beneficiaries. The act also makes it easier for trustees to convert a traditional trust into a unitrust, which can give trustees more help with using a “total return investing” strategy, or effort to maximize growth in asset value as well as income, according to an analysis by Ronald Aucutt, a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Council. California is the highest-population state in the country, with 39 million residents. It has now become the seventh state to enact...