Making the Most of Your Charitable Giving | Adviser Investments

Making the Most of Your Charitable Giving

Charitable giving and tax strategy go hand-in-hand. This special report tells you how to make the most of your charitable giving.

Special Report: Making the Most of Your Charitable Giving

’Tis the season and at Adviser Investments we think charitable giving and a personalized tax strategy go hand-in-hand. In our newest Special Report, Making the Most of Your Charitable Giving, we explore five strategies we’ve helped clients use over the years to build their charitable legacies.

After you read this exclusive report, give us a call if you’d like to discuss how to create a tax-aware plan for your philanthropic efforts!

Special Report: Year-End Portfolio Checklist

When the days get shorter, it also means time is running out to make year-end tax-saving moves.

While it can be difficult to focus on tax preparation during the hectic holiday season, it’s a good time to take steps that can pay dividends next year and beyond.

This exclusive checklist provides straightforward, proactive tips for investors of every stripe. Taking the time to fine-tune your portfolio now may help prevent bigger headaches and tax bills come April.

Topics include:

  • Considerations on rebalancing your portfolio
  • Harvesting tax losses to offset investment gains
  • Maximizing tax-deferred growth
  • Guidelines for charitable donations

It’s never too soon to become a more-informed investor with this free, no-obligation year-end portfolio checklist!

Medicare Made Simple Podcast

If you’ve ever asked yourself, “What do I need to know about Medicare?” the latest episode of The Adviser You Can Talk To Podcast is just for you. “Medicare Made Simple” features Vice President–Wealth Manager Brad Sharp and Financial Planners Victor Colella and Andrew Busa. The trio gives a plainspoken overview of Medicare and the considerations that go into making key decisions about your health care coverage. Click here to listen to “Medicare Made Simple.” We’ve also created a Medicare companion reference guide that may come in handy.

To keep up with every new episode of The Adviser You Can Talk To Podcast, we encourage you to subscribe today. Fill out this form and you’ll receive notification whenever a new  investment podcast is released. Happy listening!

Whens Your Portfolio All Clear of Distribution Season? Vanguard and Fidelity Calendar Details

While it may not be as much fun as holiday shopping, we’re in the midst of another annual tradition investors should prepare for: Distribution season.

As they do every year, most mutual funds will pay out any accumulated income or capital gains in December. These distributions, when made by funds held outside of a tax-advantaged retirement account, are taxable in the year they are received. Meaning income or capital gains you get this year have to be included in your 2018 return when Uncle Sam comes for his cut in April 2019.

Thinking about buying shares in mutual funds before year-end? Check when the funds you’re planning to invest will be paying their 2018 distributions—failing to research this can be a costly, avoidable mistake. If you buy shares of a fund prior to its “ex-dividend” date (the date on which the fund’s price is reduced by the amount of the dividend or capital gain), you’ll be responsible for taxes on distributions on those shares even though you didn’t own the shares when that income was “earned.”

Buying shares just before the ex-dividend date is often referred to as “buying the distribution,” and it’s something we generally avoid for our clients. Note: Any shares you own on the fund’s “record date” will be eligible for distributions. We’d also point out that exchange-traded funds (ETFs) distribute on a different schedule, with the ex-dividend date typically falling two business days before the record date.

To help you avoid buying the distribution on your Vanguard and Fidelity funds and know when it’s safe to resume purchases, below you’ll find a list of those that are scheduled to pay out income and/or capital gains before year-end. Funds that do not appear on this the list have already paid out their distributions or are not expected to make any this year, though this information is subject to change (as are the distribution dates).

Payouts usually come one day after the ex-dividend date, and are then reinvested, deposited into investors’ accounts or sent out as a check, depending on the standing instructions to the fund company.

So, in sum, to avoid the IRS taking a bigger bite out of your earnings come tax time, the investment rule of thumb when making year-end decisions: Wait until after the record date to buy a fund (or additional shares in a fund) for taxable accounts.

Record Date: 12/13          Ex-Dividend Date: 12/14
Fidelity Funds: 500 Index, Emerging Markets Discovery, Europe, Event Driven Opportunities, Export and Multinational, Extended Market Index, Flex 500 Index, Flex Intrinsic Opportunities, Global Equity Income, Large Cap Stock, Leveraged Company Stock, Magellan, Mid Cap Index, Pacific Basin, Real Estate Income, Real Estate Index, Real Estate Investment Portfolio, SAI International Index, SAI International Minimum Volatility Index, SAI U.S. Minimum Volatility Index, SAI U.S. Momentum Index, SAI U.S. Quality Index, Select Air Transportation, Select Automotive, Select Banking, Select Biotechnology, Select Brokerage and Investment Management, Select Chemicals, Select Communications Equipment, Select Computers, Select Construction and Housing, Select Consumer Discretionary, Select Consumer Finance, Select Consumer Staples, Select Defense and Aerospace, Select Energy, Select Environmental and Alternative Energy, Select Financial Services, Select Health Care, Select Health Care Services, Select Industrials, Select Insurance, Select IT Services, Select Leisure, Select Materials, Select Medical Technology and Devices, Select Multimedia, Select Pharmaceuticals, Select Retailing, Select Semiconductors, Select Software and IT Services, Select Technology, Select Telecommunications, Select Transportation, Select Utilities, Select Wireless, Small Cap Discovery, Small Cap Growth, Small Cap Index, Small Cap Stock, Small Cap Value, Telecom and Utilities, Total Market Index, Trend, ZERO International Index, ZERO Total Market Index.

Vanguard Funds: 500 Index, Dividend Appreciation Index, GNMA , High-Yield Corporate, High-Yield Tax-Exempt, Intermediate-Term Investment-Grade, Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt, Intermediate-Term Treasury, Limited-Term Tax-Exempt , Long-Term Investment-Grade, Long-Term Tax-Exempt, Long-Term Treasury, Mid-Cap Growth, Short-Term Federal, Short-Term Investment-Grade, Short-Term Tax-Exempt, Short-Term Treasury.

 

Record date: 12/14          Ex-date: 12/13
Vanguard Funds: Communication Services ETF, Consumer Discretionary ETF, Consumer Staples ETF, Energy ETF, Extended Duration Treasury ETF, Financials ETF, Health Care ETF, Industrials ETF, Information Technology ETF, Materials ETF, Real Estate ETF, Russell 1000 ETF, Russell 1000 Growth ETF, Russell 1000 Value ETF, Russell 2000 ETF, Russell 2000 Growth ETF, Russell 2000 Value ETF, Russell 3000 ETF, S&P 500 Growth ETF, S&P 500 Value ETF, S&P MidCap 400 ETF, S&P MidCap 400 Growth ETF, S&P MidCap 400 Value ETF, S&P SmallCap 600 ETF, S&P SmallCap 600 Growth ETF, S&P SmallCap 600 Value ETF, Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF, Utilities ETF.

 

Record Date: 12/17          Ex-Dividend Date: 12/18
Vanguard Funds: Alternative Strategies, Capital Opportunity, Capital Value, Convertible Securities, Dividend Growth, Emerging Markets Select Stock, Energy, Equity Income, Explorer, Explorer Value, Extended Market Index, Global Capital Cycles, Global Equity, Global Minimum Volatility, Global Wellesley Income, Global Wellington, Growth and Income, Health Care, Inflation-Protected Securities, International Growth, International Value, International Explorer, Managed Payout, Market Neutral, Morgan Growth, PRIMECAP, PRIMECAP Core, Selected Value, Strategic Equity, Strategic SmallCap Equity, Tax-Managed funds, U.S. Growth, U.S. Value, U.S. Multifactor, Wellesley Income, Wellington, Windsor, Windsor II.

 

Record date: 12/18          Ex-date: 12/17
Vanguard Funds: Dividend Appreciation ETF, S&P 500 ETF.

 

Record Date: 12/20          Ex-Dividend Date: 12/19
Vanguard Funds: Extended Market ETF, U.S. Liquidity Factor ETF, U.S. Minimum Volatility ETF, U.S. Momentum Factor ETF, U.S. Multifactor ETF, U.S. Quality Factor ETF, U.S. Value Factor ETF.

 

Record Date: 12/20          Ex-Dividend Date: 12/21
Fidelity Funds: Large Cap Growth Index, Large Cap Value Index, Multi-Asset Income, SAI U.S. Value Index, Strategic Advisers U.S. Total Stock.

Vanguard Funds: Balanced Index, Core Bond, Developed Markets Index, Emerging Markets Government Bond Index, Emerging Markets Bond, Emerging Markets Stock Index, European Stock Index, Global ex-U.S. Real Estate Index, Growth Index, High Dividend Yield Index, Intermediate-Term Bond Index, Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond Index, Intermediate-Term Treasury Index, International Dividend Appreciation Index, International High Dividend Yield Index, LargeCap Index, Long-Term Bond Index, Long-Term Corporate Bond Index, Long-Term Treasury Index, MidCap Growth Index, MidCap Index, MidCap Value Index, Mortgage-Backed Securities Index, Pacific Stock Index, Short-Term Bond Index, Short-Term Corporate Bond Index, Short-Term Treasury Index, SmallCap Growth Index, SmallCap Index, SmallCap Value Index, Social Index, Tax-Exempt Bond Index, Total Bond Market Index, Total International Bond Market Index, Total International Stock Index, Total Stock Market Index, Total World Stock Index, UltraShort-Term Bond, Value Index, World ex-U.S. Stock Index, World ex-U.S. SmallCap Stock Index.

 

Record Date: 12/24          Ex-Dividend Date: 12/26
Fidelity Funds: Connecticut Municipal Income, Convertible Securities, Equity Dividend Income, Flex Inflation-Protected Bond Index, Growth Company, Growth Strategies, Independence, Inflation-Protected Bond Index, Nasdaq Composite Index, New Jersey Municipal Income, New Millennium, Stock Selector Mid Cap, Strategic Dividend & Income, Strategic Income, Value Strategies.

 

Record Date: 12/26          Ex-Dividend Date: 12/24
Vanguard Funds: Developed Markets ETF, Emerging Markets ETF, Emerging Markets Government Bond ETF, Europe ETF, ESG International Stock ETF, ESG U.S. Stock ETF, Global ex-U.S. Real Estate ETF, Growth ETF, High Dividend Yield ETF, Intermediate-Term Bond ETF, Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF, Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF, International Dividend Appreciation ETF, International High Dividend Yield ETF, LargeCap ETF, Long-Term Bond ETF, Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF, Long-Term Treasury ETF, MegaCap ETF, MegaCap Growth ETF, MegaCap Value ETF, MidCap ETF, MidCap Growth ETF, MidCap Value ETF, Mortgage-Backed Securities ETF, Pacific ETF, Short-Term Bond ETF, Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF, Short-Term Treasury ETF, SmallCap ETF, SmallCap Growth ETF, SmallCap Value ETF, Tax-Exempt Bond ETF, Total Bond Market ETF, Total Corporate Bond ETF, Total International Bond ETF, Total International Stock ETF, Total Stock Market ETF, Total World Bond ETF, Total World Stock ETF, Value ETF, World ex-U.S. SmallCap Stock ETF, World ex-U.S. Stock ETF.

 

Record Date: 12/27          Ex-Dividend Date: 12/28
Fidelity Funds: Asset Manager funds, Flex Freedom funds, Four-in-One Index, Freedom funds, Freedom Blend funds, Freedom Index funds, Managed Retirement funds, Simplicity RMD funds, Stock Selector All Cap, Strategic Advisers Core, Strategic Advisers International, Strategic Advisers Small-Mid Cap, Strategic Advisers Value.

Vanguard Funds: California Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt, California Long-Term Tax-Exempt, Diversified Equity, LifeStrategy funds, Managed Payout, Massachusetts Tax-Exempt, New Jersey Long-Term Tax Exempt, New York Long-Term Tax-Exempt, Ohio Long-Term Tax-Exempt, Pennsylvania Long-Term Tax-Exempt, STAR, Target Retirement funds.

About Adviser Investments

Adviser Investments is a full service wealth management firm, offering investment management, financial and tax planning, managed individual bond portfolios, and 401(k) advisory services. We’ve been helping individuals, trusts, institutions and foundations since 1994, and have more than 3,500 clients across the country and over $6 billion in assets under management. Our portfolios encompass actively managed funds, ETFs, socially responsible investments and tactical asset allocation strategies, with particular expertise in Fidelity and Vanguard mutual funds. We take pride in being The Adviser You Can Talk To.

Our minimum account size is $350,000.  To see a full list of our awards and recognitions, click here, and for more information, please visit www.adviserinvestments.com or call 800-492-6868.


This material is distributed for informational purposes only. The investment ideas and expressions of opinion may contain certain forward-looking statements and should not be viewed as recommendations, personal investment advice or considered an offer to buy or sell specific securities. Data and statistics contained in this report are obtained from what we believe to be reliable sources; however, their accuracy, completeness or reliability cannot be guaranteed.

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