Volatility, Market Timing, and Long-Term Investing
For many savers, the objective of a retirement account is to accumulate assets while you are working and use those assets to pay for your expenses during retirement. While you are in the accumulation phase, assets are usually invested and hopefully earn a sufficient rate of return to meet your retirement goal. For the majority,
Volatility, Market Timing, and Long-Term Investing
For many savers, the objective of a retirement account is to accumulate assets while you are working and use those assets to pay for your expenses during retirement. While you are in the accumulation phase, assets are usually invested and hopefully earn a sufficient rate of return to meet your retirement goal. For the majority, these accounts are long-term investments and there are certain investing ideas that should be taken into consideration when managing portfolios. This article will discuss volatility, market timing and their role in long-term retirement accounts.
“Market timing is the act of moving in and out of the market or switching between asset classes based on using predictive methods such as technical indicators or economic data” (Investopedia). In other words, trying to sell investments when they are near their highest and buy investments when they are near their lowest. It is difficult, some argue impossible, to time the market successfully enough to generate higher returns. Especially over longer periods. That being said, by reallocating portfolios and not experiencing the full loss during market downturns, investors could see higher returns. When managing portfolios over longer periods, this should be done without the emotion of day to day volatility but by analyzing greater economic trends.
So far, the stock market in 2018 has been volatile; particularly when compared to 2017. Below are charts of the S&P 500 from 1/1/2018 – 10/21/2018 and the same period for 2017.
Source: Yahoo Finance. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable and are subject to change without notification.
Based on the two charts above, one could conclude the majority of investors would prefer 2017 100% of the time. In reality, the market averages a correction of over 10% each year and there are years the market goes up and there are years the market goes down. Currently, the volatility in the market has a lot of investors on edge, but when comparing 2018 to the market historically, one could argue this year is more typical than a year like 2017 where the market had very little to no volatility.
Another note from the charts above are the red and green bars on the bottom of each year. The red represent down days in the market and the green represent up days. You can see that even though there is more volatility in 2018 compared to 2017 when the market just kept climbing, both years have a mixture of down days and up days.
A lot of investors become emotional when the market is volatile but even in the midst of volatility and downturns, there are days the market is up. The chart below shows what happens to long-term portfolio performance if investors miss the best days in the market during that period.
Source: JP Morgan. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable and are subject to change without notification.
Two main takeaways from the illustration above are; 1) missing the best days over a period in the market could have a significant impact on a portfolios performance, and 2) some of the best days in the market over the period analyzed came shortly after the worst days. This means that if people reacted on the worst days and took their money from the market then they likely missed some of the best days.
Market timing is difficult over long periods of time and making drastic moves in asset allocation because of emotional reactions to volatility isn’t always the best strategy for long-term investing. Investors should align their portfolios taking both risk tolerance and time horizon into consideration and make sure the portfolio is updated as each of these change multiple times over longer periods.
When risk tolerance or time horizon do not change, most investors should focus on macro-economic trends rather than daily/weekly/monthly volatility of the market. Not experiencing the full weight of stock market declines could generate higher returns and if data shows the economy may be slowing, it could be a good time to take some “chips off the table”. That being said, looking at past down markets, some of the best days occur shortly after the worst days and staying invested enough to keep in line with your risk tolerance and time horizon could be the best strategy.
It is difficult to take the emotion out of investing when the money is meant to fund your future needs so speaking with your financial consultant to review your situation may be beneficial.
About Rob……...
Hi, I’m Rob Mangold. I’m the Chief Operating Officer at Greenbush Financial Group and a contributor to the Money Smart Board blog. We created the blog to provide strategies that will help our readers personally, professionally, and financially. Our blog is meant to be a resource. If there are questions that you need answered, please feel free to join in on the discussion or contact me directly.
How Are Trustee Commissions Calculated & Taxed?
If you are the trustee of a trust, in most cases, you are allowed to be paid a commission from the trust assets. States have different rules with regard to the trustee commission calculation. This article will assist you in understanding how the commission is calculated, how the payments are taxed, the rules for commissions not taken in past years, and how
If you are the trustee of a trust, in most cases, you are allowed to be paid a commission from the trust assets. States have different rules with regard to the trustee commission calculation. This article will assist you in understanding how the commission is calculated, how the payments are taxed, the rules for commissions not taken in past years, and how the trust commissions are split between multiple trustees.
Trust Document
The trust document usually has a special section that addresses commissions paid to the trustee. It’s common for the trust document to include language that states that “the trustee shall receive annual commissions in the same manner and at the same rates as prescribed for testamentary trustees under the laws of the State of (Name of State)”.
For New York the formula is as follows:
1.05% of the first $400,000
0.45% of the next $600,000
0.30% of the rest
For example, a trust has $500,000 in assets as of December 31st, the calculation would be as follows:
$400,000 x 1.05% = $4,200
$100,000 x 0.45% = $ 450
Total Commission: $4,650
The trustee would be eligible to receive $4,650 from the trustee assets as their commission for the year.
How Are Commissions Taxed?
Commissions paid by the trust to the trustee are reported as income by the trustee on their personal tax return. The trust deducts the commission paid as an expense. We frequently receive the question, “does the trust have to issue a 1099-MISC tax form for the commission that was paid to the trustee?” Many tax professionals take the position that a 1099-MISC is not required to be issued because serving as trustee does not meet the definition of a “trade or business” which is the prerequisite for issuing a 1099-MISC tax form.
More Than 1 Trustee
What happens where there is more than 1 trustee? Do the trustees have to split the commission equally? The answer is “it depends”. It depends on the size of the trust and the number of trustees.
Again, I’m referencing New York State law her. The rules will vary for by state. For trusts with under $100,000 in assets, each trustee gets the full commission. If a trust has $80,000 in assets and there are 3 trustees, each trustee would receive $840 ($80,000 x 1.05%).
For trusts with assets between $100,000 – $400,000, if there are one or two trustees, each trustee is entitled to a full commission. If there are 3 or more trustees within this asset range, the single trustee commission is divided equally between the trustees. I don’t necessary understand the logic behind if there are two trustees the commission is doubled but if there are 3 trustees, a single commission payment is split between the trustees. But that’s how the law is written.
For trusts with more than $400,000 in assets, if there are 1 – 3 trustees, each trustee is entitled to the full commission amount. If there are more than 3 trustees, again, the commission is split equally amongst the trustees.
Can You Waive The Commission Payment?
As the trustee, you can voluntarily waive the commission payment. The money simply remains in the trust. Why would a trustee do this? Some trustees just don’t need the income. In some situations, the parents will setup a trust, they have more than one child, but only one of the children serves as trustee. The child that serves as trustee may decide to waive the commission payment to avoid conflict with their siblings about “taking money from mom and dad’s trust”.
Another reason for waiving the commission payment is the trustee may purposefully want to realize that income at a later date. Whatever the reason, I just wanted you to know that waiving the commission payment is an option.
Back Payments
We will frequently get the following question:
“I have been the trustee of this trust for the past 10 year but I have never taken a commission. Am I still entitled to the trustee commissions for past 10 years even though I did not take them?”
The answer is “yes”. The trustee is still entitled to receive those commissions for past years even though they did not take them in the year that they were due. The trustee would just need to be able to produce the records necessary to calculation the trustee commission for all of the past years.
In these cases, remember, commission payments to the trustees are taxed at ordinary income tax rates to the trustee. If you decide to “catch-up” on past commissions that are due to you and you receive $30,000 in trustee commissions in a single tax year that could bump you up into a higher tax bracket. It may make more sense from a tax standpoint to spread those past commission payments over the course of the next few years to reduce the tax hit.
Disclosure: This article is for educational purposes only. For legal advice, please consult an attorney.
Michael Ruger
About Michael……...
Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.
Lower Your Tax Bill By Directing Your Mandatory IRA Distributions To Charity
When you turn 70 1/2, you will have the option to process Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD) which are distirbution from your pre-tax IRA directly to a chiartable organizaiton. Even though the SECURE Act in 2019 changed the RMD start age from 70 1/2 to age 72, your are still eligible to make these QCDs beginning the calendar year that you
When you turn 70 1/2, you will have the option to process Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD) which are distribution from your pre-tax IRA directly to a chartable organization. Even though the SECURE Act in 2019 changed the RMD start age from 70 1/2 to age 72, your are still eligible to make these QCDs beginning the calendar year that you turn age 70 1/2. At age 72, you must begin taking required minimum distributions (RMD) from your pre-tax IRA’s and unless you are still working, your employer sponsored retirement plans as well. The IRS forces you to take these distributions whether you need them or not. Why is that? They want to begin collecting income taxes on your tax deferred retirement assets.
Some retirees find themselves in the fortunate situation of not needing this additional income so the RMD’s just create additional tax liability. If you are charitably inclined and would prefer to avoid the additional tax liability, you can make a charitable contribution directly from your IRA and avoid all or a portion of the tax liability generated by the required minimum distribution requirement.
It Does Not Work For 401(k)’s
You can only make “qualified charitable contributions” from an IRA. This option is not available for 401(k), 403(b), and other qualified retirement plans. If you wish to execute this strategy, you would have to process a direct rollover of your FULL 401(k) balance to a rollover IRA and then process the distribution from your IRA to charity.
The reason why I emphases the word “full” for your 401(k) rollover is due to the IRS “aggregation rule”. Assuming that you no longer work for the company that sponsors your 401(k) account, you are age 72 or older, and you have both a 401(k) account and a separate IRA account, you will need to take an RMD from both the 401(k) account and the IRA separately. The IRS allows you to aggregate your IRA’s together for purposes of taking RMD’s. If you have 10 separate IRA’s, you can total up the required distribution amounts for each IRA, and then take that amount from a single IRA account. The IRS does not allow you to aggregate 401(k) accounts for purposes of satisfying your RMD requirement. Thus, if it’s your intention to completely avoid taxes on your RMD requirement, you will have to make sure all of your retirement accounts have been moved into an IRA.
Contributions Must Be Made Directly To Charity
Another important rule. At no point can the IRA distribution ever hit your checking account. To complete the qualified charitable contribution, the money must go directly from your IRA to the charity or not-for-profit organization. Typically this is completed by issuing a “third party check” from your IRA. You provide your IRA provider with payment instructions for the check and the mailing address of the charitable organization. If at any point during this process you take receipt of the distribution from your IRA, the full amount will be taxable to you and the qualified charitable contribution will be void.
Tax Lesson
For many retirees, their income is lower in the retirement years and they have less itemized deductions since the kids are out of the house and the mortgage is paid off. Given this set of circumstances, it may make sense to change from itemizing to taking the standard deduction when preparing your taxes. Charitable contributions are an itemized deduction. Thus, if you take the standard deduction for your taxes, you no longer receive the tax benefit of your contributions to charity. By making IRA distributions directly to a charity, you are able to take the standard deduction but still capture the tax benefit of making a charitable contribution because you avoid tax on an IRA distribution that otherwise would have been taxable income to you.
Example: Church Offering
Instead of putting cash or personal checks in the offering each Sunday, you may consider directing all or a portion of your required minimum distribution from your IRA directly to the church or religious organization. Usually having a conversation with your church or religious organization about your new “offering structure” helps to ease the awkward feeling of passing the offering basket without making a contribution each week.
Example: Annual Contributions To Charity
In this example, let’s assume that each year I typically issue a personal check of $2,000 to my favorite charity, Big Brother Big Sisters, a not-for-profit organization. I’m turning 70½ this year and my accountant tells me that it would be more beneficial to take the standard deduction instead of itemizing. My RMD for the year is $5,000. I can contact my IRA provider, have them issuing a check directly to the charity for $2,000 and issue me a check for the remaining $3,000. I will only have to pay taxes on the $3,000 that I received as opposed to the full $5,000. I win, the charity wins, and the IRS kind of loses. I’m ok with that situation.
Don’t Accept Anything From The Charity In Return
This is a very important rule. Sometimes when you make a charitable contribution, as a sign of gratitude, the charity will send you a coffee mug, gift basket, etc. When this happens, you will typically get a letter from the charity confirming your contribution but the amount listed in the letter will be slightly lower than the actual dollar amount contributed. The charity will often reduce the contribution by the amount of the gift that was given. If this happens, the total amount of the charitable contribution fails the “qualified charitable contribution” requirement and you will be taxed on the full amount. Plus, you already gave the money to charity so you have spend the funds that you could use to pay the taxes. Not good
Limits
While this will not be an issue for many of us, there is a $100,000 per person limit for these qualified charitable contributions from IRA’s.
Summary
While there are a number of rules to follow when making these qualified charitable contributions from IRA’s, it can be a great strategy that allows retirees to continue contributing to their favorite charities, religious organizations, and/or not-for-profit organizations, while reducing their overall tax liability.
About Michael……...
Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.
