Investment BS Thread - Stocks/Futures/Mutual Funds/Bonds/Commodities/Options/ETFs/401ks/Etc

anyone else surprised the market kept going up even with all the impeachment news? I was expecting to wake up the other day and the markets be down due to the news.

 

They already knew he was going to be impeached in the house but no chance in the senate. Much ado about nothing.

 

it's because absolutely nothing is going to happen, if anything it just fired up the base even more and now they pretty much sealed a 2020 victory, which the markets are probably happy about. Or maybe it's the restarting of QE, and heading towards NIRP all over again... you be the judge

 

very true points but in order to move the topic away from politics and avoid mods coming in here... Just dumped a few full positions in the MJ industry, over it and def not looking too good for a few years. money can be better used elsewhere.

 

I think I could have wrote this post. Pretty much mimicks my situation. I plan to retire the year I turn 53 as well.

 

do the mods care as long as those involved in the conversation are respectful

 

I think they like that we self regulate and that we are bright enough to change topics.

 

We talk about politics a lot in here. We are just really subtle about it, and have the tendency to "call it like we see it". Heck, a mod is in here posting in this thread often. He doesn't mind our discussions on political stuff, because they tend to revolve around the current events, and not of hot button issues that no one will ever agree on. We're here to make some money, not start a debate on other crap. We're all mature enough in here to know how much of a giant waste of time that is..

 

Also not talking politics but that last tax cut allows us over 59 1/2 to withdrawl from 401K's at lower rates ! . I and my wife had put the max money into the 401's and saving the tax of 28/35% at the time . Now retired we can withdrawl up to the max of the 12% bracket , after great returns from 2009 and earlier till now . If for no other reason , if the next administration can keep this the same rates until it is all out it would work out great for us , but we would need another 10 to 15 years lol. We are putting the removed cash into dividend paying stocks in an after tax account . Do you guys think this is the right thing to do or am I missing something .

 

I think you'll be taxed on your dividends just FYI

 

Well if you like the way the markets and economy are going, Trump 2020!

That's not political, just reality. Both of those would change for the much worse with certain Dem candidates winning office.

I don't think you can ignore politics and discuss the economy and markets.

 

I care far more about what the Fed is doing, not that the Trade War hasn't had an effect..

 

True. Trump is more neutral as having the ability to affect the market in the whole scheme of things. There are definitely some candidates that would not be neutral, but would be disasters for investors.

 

I was under the impression as long as we owned the stocks for more than 90 days ? the dividends were at a lower or 0 tax , if we can stay in the proper tax bracket .

 

Nope dividends are taxed as regular income (unless qualified dividends, but it's very rare to see those).

 

Not unless you keep it in a tax deferred acct or Roth setup I think. I'm not sure about Roth. You might still be taxed on the dividends. Anyone know?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualified_dividend
For us low income couples under 77...K ? after the standard deduction , from what I read , dividends are tax free ?
What am I missing ?

 

Absolutely, wall street wants the continuation in the oval office.

 

That's interesting. I can't really comment because my stuff is all in retirement accounts right now. You may want to checkwith an accountant but it sounds like you could be in good shape.

And yes, politics does come into investing no matter how you look at it. I started to roll the 401K into the Roth IRA because the standard deduction went up to $12K. I live in NJ which is a very high tax state (yay, we're number 1 ) but seriously, the governor is talking about raising the gas tax, the sales tax and removing the 2% property tax cap. So this stuff makes you want to move to another state. And Congress just passed a bill to remove the $10K cap on the local/state tax deduction cap which would screw up the standard $12K deduction. It won't pass the Senate or president, but the problem is the states that overtax people need to fix their situation but they never seem to try to. But it does seem like all the things that could rock the market are already planned for at this point. China trade deal, impeachment, USMCA, UK trade deal, aliens taking over the planet are already baked in to the market. TGIF

 

Taxing of dividends:



An explanation of ordinary dividends: