12/30/2009

Start the New Decade by Setting Investment Goals

Do you have dreams for your future? Setting investment goals will help you define your investment dreams. Writing down and prioritizing your investment goals is an important first step toward developing an investment plan. Be as specific as you can with dates and amounts and your goals will be easier to target and reach.

The dates you set for completion of investment goals define your investment time horizon. Typically, your time horizon will equate to the number of years you have to invest toward a specific goal. Different investment goals generally have different time horizons.  Short term time horizons are usually five years or less, while long term time horizons are fifteen or more years. Intermediate time horizons fall between five and fifteen years. Establishing time horizons will help you determine how aggressively you will need to invest to accumulate the amount needed to meet your goals.

Since a lump sum investment is not always available, you can use the method of regular, systematic investing to reach your investment goals. Short term time horizons will require more aggressive monthly investments, while long term time horizons may require smaller monthly amounts. Your first step is to determine how much monthly amount will be necessary to achieve each goal. Choose a realistic amount that takes into account your other financial obligations, so that you can stick with your plan.

Your second step will be to decide how to best allocate your investment dollars. One important consideration is your tolerance for risk. All investments carry some risk, but some carry more than others. How well can you handle market ups and downs? Your answer to this question will tell you if you can accept higher risks now for higher returns later. Remember, your objective is to maximize returns without taking on more risk than you can bear. And make sure to choose investments that are consistent with your goals and time horizon.

Retirement investing is a common investment goal for most of us, but the time horizon is unique to each person. Normally, retirement investing is considered in the long term time horizon category. The earlier you start saving for retirement, the more time and compound interest can help you reach your retirement investment goals. Remember that consistency is the key. Many employers offer retirement plans that let you invest pre-tax dollars with automatic withdrawals from your paycheck. Take advantage of as many tax deferred retirement options that are available to you.

Saving for college will be determined first by how many children you have and how many of them want to attend college. This normally falls in the intermediate time horizon category. Remember to start early and be consistent. There are many investment plans you can choose to use and I suggest you get help from a financial professional to pick the investment options that will work best for your future scholars.

Major purchases in your life like cars, homes, and vacation properties are generally more spontaneous than planned events. This causes investing for major purchases to fall in the short term time horizon category. Because your investment time is limited, you'll have to budget your investment dollars wisely. It’s a good idea to focus on liquidity in these investments so you can access your money quickly when the time to purchase arrives.

It’s a good idea to review your investments at least annually to determine if you are on track to meet your goals and to make any adjustments necessary to stay true to your investment plan. You may need to rebalance your portfolio to bring it back in line with your investment goals and risk tolerance.

Consult your friendly home town banker to help you establish investment goals to benefit from the money to be made in the next decade.

12/24/2009

Take Precautions Against Identity Theft

Identity thieves will steal your wallet, purse, garbage, mail, and hack into your computer. This type of theft is increasing exponentially and victims rarely find out until after the fact. Let’s discuss some ways to protect yourself against this growing crime.

Review your credit report periodically. Check to make sure that all the information contained in it is correct, and look for fraudulent activity. You can do this for free once a year by contacting the Annual Credit Report Request Service online at www.annualcreditreport.com or calling (877) 322-8228. If you need to correct any information or dispute any entries, contact the three national credit reporting agencies:

1. Equifax:www.equifax.com (800) 685-1111
2. Experian:www.experian.com (888) 397-3742
3. TransUnion:www.transunion.com (800) 916-8800

Your most important personal identifier is your Social Security number (SSN). Never carry your Social Security card or other forms of identification that display your SSN with you. Don't have your SSN preprinted on your checks, and don't let merchants write it on your checks. Don't give it out over the phone unless you initiate the call to an organization you trust.

Don’t carry your checkbook and all of your credit, debit, and telephone cards with you all the time. Carry only the cards or checks you'll need for any one trip. Keep a written record of all your account numbers, expiration dates, and the telephone numbers of the customer service and fraud departments in a secure place.

When you make a purchase with a credit or debit card, keep the receipt. Don't throw it away because it may contain your credit or debit card number. Save your receipts until you can check them against your monthly credit card and bank statements, and look for purchases you didn't make. Before you throw out credit or debit card receipts and statements, cancelled checks, or even offers for credit you receive in the mail, shred the documents with a cross-cut shredder.

The more your personal information is available to others, the more likely you are to be victimized by identity theft. Keep a low profile and consider doing the following:

• List your telephone number with the Federal Trade Commission's National Do Not Call Registry by calling (888) 382-1222 or registering online at www.donotcall.gov
• Write the Direct Marketing Association at 1120 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036-6700, or register online at www.dmachoice.org to stop credit offers by mail
• Remove your name from marketing lists of the three national consumer reporting agencies, call (888) 567-8688 or register online at www.optoutprescreen.com
• Opt out of allowing creditors to share your financial information with other organizations
• Remove your name and address from the telephone book

Protect your privacy on your computer. If you have high-speed internet access, install a firewall to prevent hackers from obtaining information from your hard drive and install virus protection software and update it on a regular basis.

Don’t open e-mails from people you don't know, especially if you download attached files or click on hyperlinks within the message. This can expose you to viruses and infect your computer with "spyware" that captures personal information. Visit business websites by typing the URL address directly into your browser. If you provide personal or financial information about yourself over the Internet, do so only at secure websites that begin with “https”. And always use a “wipe” utility program when discarding your old computer to remove all personal information you may have stored on it.

Contact your friendly home town banker for more ideas on how to protect your personal information from identity theft.

12/15/2009

Importance of Financial Planning

With only two weeks left in 2009, it’s time to look at your 2010 financial plan. Let’s discuss some important facts about the financial planning process.

Financial planning is a process that helps you reach your goals by evaluating your whole financial picture, then outlining strategies that are tailored to your individual needs and available resources. A comprehensive financial plan serves as a framework for organizing the pieces of your financial picture, helping you to focus on your goals and understand what it will take to reach them.

One of the main benefits of having a financial plan is that it can help you balance competing financial priorities. A financial plan will clearly show you how your financial goals are related--for example, saving for college versus saving for retirement. Then you can use this information to decide how to prioritize your goals, implement specific strategies, and choose suitable investment products. The peace of mind that comes from knowing that your financial life is on track is priceless.
Creating a comprehensive financial plan involves working with financial professionals to:

• Review your income, assets, liabilities, insurance coverage, investment portfolio, tax exposure, and your estate plan
• Establish financial goals and time frames for achieving these goals
• Implement strategies that build on your financial strengths
• Choose investments that are tailored to meet your financial objectives
• Monitor your plan, making adjustments as your goals, time frames, or circumstances change 

The financial planning process can involve a number of professionals including financial planners, accountants, tax attorneys, insurance professionals, and estate planning attorneys. A financial planner generally coordinates the whole process that ultimately provides you with information to make informed decisions about your financial future.
The financial planning process never ends. Your plan should be reviewed at least annually. Some of the events that might trigger a review of your financial plan include:

• Changing goals or time horizons
• Life-changing events such as marriage, the birth of a child, health problems, or a job change
• Immediate financial planning needs such as: drafting a will, or paying long-term care expenses
• Substantial increases or decreases in income or expenses
• Unmet portfolio performance expectations
• Changes in tax laws

Contact your home town banker to help you structure a financial plan to meet your financial goals and objectives.

12/10/2009

2009 Year-End Tax Planning Tips

Year-end tax planning is as much about the 2010 tax year as it is about the 2009 tax year. There's a real opportunity for tax savings when you can predict that you'll be paying taxes at a lower rate in one year than in the other. If that's the case, some simple year-end moves can pay off in a big way.

If you think your tax bracket next year will be the same or lower than your tax bracket this year, look for opportunities to defer income to 2010. You may be able to defer a year-end bonus, or delay the collection of business debts, rents, and payments for services. You may also be able to accelerate deductions into 2009 by paying deductible expenses such as medical expenses, interest, and state and local taxes before year-end.

The alternate minimum tax (AMT) is like a separate federal income tax system with its own rates and rules that effectively disallows a number of itemized deductions. If you're subject to the AMT in 2009, prepaying 2010 state and local taxes won't help your 2009 tax situation and could hurt your 2010 bottom line. Legislation may be passed to address 2010, but right now AMT exemption amounts for 2010 are scheduled to revert back to pre-2001 levels. The AMT exemption amount for single taxpayers is $46,700 and for joint taxpayers it’s $70,950. These will be significantly reduced in 2010.

Traditional IRAs and 401(k) plans allow you to contribute funds pretax, reducing your 2009 income. Contributions you make to a Roth IRA or a Roth 401(k) aren't deductible, but qualified Roth distributions are completely free from federal income tax making these retirement savings vehicles very appealing.

For 2009, the maximum amount that you can contribute to a 401(k) plan is $16,500, and $5,000 for  an IRA. If you're age 50 or older, you can contribute up to $22,000 to a 401(k) and $6,000 to an IRA. You can make 2009 contributions to your 401(k) through the end of the year, while 2009 contributions to your IRA can be made until April 15, 2010.

When you reach age 70½, required minimum distributions (RMDs) from traditional IRAs or 401(k) retirement plans kick in. RMD requirements have been suspended for 2009. This creates an opportunity for those normally required to take RMDs to postpone the receipt of taxable income until 2010.

Special rules will apply to Roth conversions in 2010. Current limitations based on income and filing status that prevent many from converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA will be eliminated in 2010. If you convert in 2010, half the income that results from the conversion can be reported on your 2011 federal income tax return and half on your 2012 return. This might influence the decisions you make now--prior to 2010.

If you're self-employed or own a small-business, note that special depreciation rules are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. Depreciation rules for 2009 allow an additional 50% first-year depreciation deduction for qualifying property purchased for business use on or before December 31.

When it comes to year-end planning, consult your friendly home town banker to help you determine which year-end moves make the most sense for you.

12/03/2009

Some Year-End Investment Tips

Take a little time out from the holidays to make some strategic saving and investing decisions before December 31. It could impact the amount of taxes you'll owe next April.

The first step in your year-end investment planning process should be a review of your overall portfolio. That review can tell you whether you need to rebalance your portfolio. Your overall review should also help you decide whether that rebalancing should be done before or after December 31 for tax reasons.

Make sure your asset allocation is still appropriate for your time horizon and goals. Consider being a bit more aggressive if you're not meeting your financial targets, or more conservative if you're getting closer to retirement. For greater diversification, add an asset class that tends to react to market conditions differently than your existing investments. Diversification and asset allocation don't guarantee a profit or insure against a loss, but they're worth reviewing at least annually.

When making changes in your portfolio, don't forget to consider how long you've owned each investment. Assets held for a year or less generate short-term capital gains of up to 35% while assets held for more than a year generate long-term capital gains of 15%. The tax consequences of any capital gains or losses you've experienced this year can be critical. Though tax considerations shouldn't dictate how you invest, there are steps you can take before the end of the year to minimize any tax impact of your investing decisions.

If you have realized capital gains from selling securities at a profit and you have no tax losses carried forward from previous years, you can sell losing positions to avoid being taxed on some or all of those gains. Selling losing positions for the tax benefit they will provide next April is known as harvesting your losses. If you're selling to harvest losses in a stock or mutual fund and intend to repurchase the same security, make sure you wait at least 31 days before buying it again. Otherwise, the trade is considered a "wash sale," and the tax loss will be disallowed. The wash sale rule also applies if you buy an option on the stock, sell it short, or buy it through your spouse within 30 days before or after the sale.

If you're buying a mutual fund in a taxable account, find out when it will distribute any dividends or capital gains. Consider delaying your purchase until after that date, which often is near year-end. If you buy just before the distribution, you'll owe taxes this year on that money, even if your own shares haven't appreciated. And if you plan to sell a fund anyway, you may minimize taxes by selling before the distribution date.

Think about which investments make sense to hold in a tax-advantaged account and which might be better for taxable accounts. As a general rule, it’s not a good idea to hold tax-free investments in a tax-deferred account because no additional tax advantages are realized to compensate you for the tax-free investments' lower returns. When deciding where to hold specific investments, remember that distributions from a tax-deferred retirement plan don't qualify for the lower tax rate on capital gains and dividends.

Unloading some investments prior to year-end may help you to maximize your tax advantage. Remember that calculating the cost basis to your advantage now means that you have to do it the same way for any future sales of the same investment. Decide if it’s more important to sell before year-end to generate capital losses to offset capital gains, or to just keep capital gains to a minimum for tax purposes.

Contact your friendly home town banker to help you with your year-end investment strategies.

12/30/2009

Start the New Decade by Setting Investment Goals

Do you have dreams for your future? Setting investment goals will help you define your investment dreams. Writing down and prioritizing your investment goals is an important first step toward developing an investment plan. Be as specific as you can with dates and amounts and your goals will be easier to target and reach.

The dates you set for completion of investment goals define your investment time horizon. Typically, your time horizon will equate to the number of years you have to invest toward a specific goal. Different investment goals generally have different time horizons.  Short term time horizons are usually five years or less, while long term time horizons are fifteen or more years. Intermediate time horizons fall between five and fifteen years. Establishing time horizons will help you determine how aggressively you will need to invest to accumulate the amount needed to meet your goals.

Since a lump sum investment is not always available, you can use the method of regular, systematic investing to reach your investment goals. Short term time horizons will require more aggressive monthly investments, while long term time horizons may require smaller monthly amounts. Your first step is to determine how much monthly amount will be necessary to achieve each goal. Choose a realistic amount that takes into account your other financial obligations, so that you can stick with your plan.

Your second step will be to decide how to best allocate your investment dollars. One important consideration is your tolerance for risk. All investments carry some risk, but some carry more than others. How well can you handle market ups and downs? Your answer to this question will tell you if you can accept higher risks now for higher returns later. Remember, your objective is to maximize returns without taking on more risk than you can bear. And make sure to choose investments that are consistent with your goals and time horizon.

Retirement investing is a common investment goal for most of us, but the time horizon is unique to each person. Normally, retirement investing is considered in the long term time horizon category. The earlier you start saving for retirement, the more time and compound interest can help you reach your retirement investment goals. Remember that consistency is the key. Many employers offer retirement plans that let you invest pre-tax dollars with automatic withdrawals from your paycheck. Take advantage of as many tax deferred retirement options that are available to you.

Saving for college will be determined first by how many children you have and how many of them want to attend college. This normally falls in the intermediate time horizon category. Remember to start early and be consistent. There are many investment plans you can choose to use and I suggest you get help from a financial professional to pick the investment options that will work best for your future scholars.

Major purchases in your life like cars, homes, and vacation properties are generally more spontaneous than planned events. This causes investing for major purchases to fall in the short term time horizon category. Because your investment time is limited, you'll have to budget your investment dollars wisely. It’s a good idea to focus on liquidity in these investments so you can access your money quickly when the time to purchase arrives.

It’s a good idea to review your investments at least annually to determine if you are on track to meet your goals and to make any adjustments necessary to stay true to your investment plan. You may need to rebalance your portfolio to bring it back in line with your investment goals and risk tolerance.

Consult your friendly home town banker to help you establish investment goals to benefit from the money to be made in the next decade.

12/24/2009

Take Precautions Against Identity Theft

Identity thieves will steal your wallet, purse, garbage, mail, and hack into your computer. This type of theft is increasing exponentially and victims rarely find out until after the fact. Let’s discuss some ways to protect yourself against this growing crime.

Review your credit report periodically. Check to make sure that all the information contained in it is correct, and look for fraudulent activity. You can do this for free once a year by contacting the Annual Credit Report Request Service online at www.annualcreditreport.com or calling (877) 322-8228. If you need to correct any information or dispute any entries, contact the three national credit reporting agencies:

1. Equifax:www.equifax.com (800) 685-1111
2. Experian:www.experian.com (888) 397-3742
3. TransUnion:www.transunion.com (800) 916-8800

Your most important personal identifier is your Social Security number (SSN). Never carry your Social Security card or other forms of identification that display your SSN with you. Don't have your SSN preprinted on your checks, and don't let merchants write it on your checks. Don't give it out over the phone unless you initiate the call to an organization you trust.

Don’t carry your checkbook and all of your credit, debit, and telephone cards with you all the time. Carry only the cards or checks you'll need for any one trip. Keep a written record of all your account numbers, expiration dates, and the telephone numbers of the customer service and fraud departments in a secure place.

When you make a purchase with a credit or debit card, keep the receipt. Don't throw it away because it may contain your credit or debit card number. Save your receipts until you can check them against your monthly credit card and bank statements, and look for purchases you didn't make. Before you throw out credit or debit card receipts and statements, cancelled checks, or even offers for credit you receive in the mail, shred the documents with a cross-cut shredder.

The more your personal information is available to others, the more likely you are to be victimized by identity theft. Keep a low profile and consider doing the following:

• List your telephone number with the Federal Trade Commission's National Do Not Call Registry by calling (888) 382-1222 or registering online at www.donotcall.gov
• Write the Direct Marketing Association at 1120 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036-6700, or register online at www.dmachoice.org to stop credit offers by mail
• Remove your name from marketing lists of the three national consumer reporting agencies, call (888) 567-8688 or register online at www.optoutprescreen.com
• Opt out of allowing creditors to share your financial information with other organizations
• Remove your name and address from the telephone book

Protect your privacy on your computer. If you have high-speed internet access, install a firewall to prevent hackers from obtaining information from your hard drive and install virus protection software and update it on a regular basis.

Don’t open e-mails from people you don't know, especially if you download attached files or click on hyperlinks within the message. This can expose you to viruses and infect your computer with "spyware" that captures personal information. Visit business websites by typing the URL address directly into your browser. If you provide personal or financial information about yourself over the Internet, do so only at secure websites that begin with “https”. And always use a “wipe” utility program when discarding your old computer to remove all personal information you may have stored on it.

Contact your friendly home town banker for more ideas on how to protect your personal information from identity theft.

12/15/2009

Importance of Financial Planning

With only two weeks left in 2009, it’s time to look at your 2010 financial plan. Let’s discuss some important facts about the financial planning process.

Financial planning is a process that helps you reach your goals by evaluating your whole financial picture, then outlining strategies that are tailored to your individual needs and available resources. A comprehensive financial plan serves as a framework for organizing the pieces of your financial picture, helping you to focus on your goals and understand what it will take to reach them.

One of the main benefits of having a financial plan is that it can help you balance competing financial priorities. A financial plan will clearly show you how your financial goals are related--for example, saving for college versus saving for retirement. Then you can use this information to decide how to prioritize your goals, implement specific strategies, and choose suitable investment products. The peace of mind that comes from knowing that your financial life is on track is priceless.
Creating a comprehensive financial plan involves working with financial professionals to:

• Review your income, assets, liabilities, insurance coverage, investment portfolio, tax exposure, and your estate plan
• Establish financial goals and time frames for achieving these goals
• Implement strategies that build on your financial strengths
• Choose investments that are tailored to meet your financial objectives
• Monitor your plan, making adjustments as your goals, time frames, or circumstances change 

The financial planning process can involve a number of professionals including financial planners, accountants, tax attorneys, insurance professionals, and estate planning attorneys. A financial planner generally coordinates the whole process that ultimately provides you with information to make informed decisions about your financial future.
The financial planning process never ends. Your plan should be reviewed at least annually. Some of the events that might trigger a review of your financial plan include:

• Changing goals or time horizons
• Life-changing events such as marriage, the birth of a child, health problems, or a job change
• Immediate financial planning needs such as: drafting a will, or paying long-term care expenses
• Substantial increases or decreases in income or expenses
• Unmet portfolio performance expectations
• Changes in tax laws

Contact your home town banker to help you structure a financial plan to meet your financial goals and objectives.

12/10/2009

2009 Year-End Tax Planning Tips

Year-end tax planning is as much about the 2010 tax year as it is about the 2009 tax year. There's a real opportunity for tax savings when you can predict that you'll be paying taxes at a lower rate in one year than in the other. If that's the case, some simple year-end moves can pay off in a big way.

If you think your tax bracket next year will be the same or lower than your tax bracket this year, look for opportunities to defer income to 2010. You may be able to defer a year-end bonus, or delay the collection of business debts, rents, and payments for services. You may also be able to accelerate deductions into 2009 by paying deductible expenses such as medical expenses, interest, and state and local taxes before year-end.

The alternate minimum tax (AMT) is like a separate federal income tax system with its own rates and rules that effectively disallows a number of itemized deductions. If you're subject to the AMT in 2009, prepaying 2010 state and local taxes won't help your 2009 tax situation and could hurt your 2010 bottom line. Legislation may be passed to address 2010, but right now AMT exemption amounts for 2010 are scheduled to revert back to pre-2001 levels. The AMT exemption amount for single taxpayers is $46,700 and for joint taxpayers it’s $70,950. These will be significantly reduced in 2010.

Traditional IRAs and 401(k) plans allow you to contribute funds pretax, reducing your 2009 income. Contributions you make to a Roth IRA or a Roth 401(k) aren't deductible, but qualified Roth distributions are completely free from federal income tax making these retirement savings vehicles very appealing.

For 2009, the maximum amount that you can contribute to a 401(k) plan is $16,500, and $5,000 for  an IRA. If you're age 50 or older, you can contribute up to $22,000 to a 401(k) and $6,000 to an IRA. You can make 2009 contributions to your 401(k) through the end of the year, while 2009 contributions to your IRA can be made until April 15, 2010.

When you reach age 70½, required minimum distributions (RMDs) from traditional IRAs or 401(k) retirement plans kick in. RMD requirements have been suspended for 2009. This creates an opportunity for those normally required to take RMDs to postpone the receipt of taxable income until 2010.

Special rules will apply to Roth conversions in 2010. Current limitations based on income and filing status that prevent many from converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA will be eliminated in 2010. If you convert in 2010, half the income that results from the conversion can be reported on your 2011 federal income tax return and half on your 2012 return. This might influence the decisions you make now--prior to 2010.

If you're self-employed or own a small-business, note that special depreciation rules are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. Depreciation rules for 2009 allow an additional 50% first-year depreciation deduction for qualifying property purchased for business use on or before December 31.

When it comes to year-end planning, consult your friendly home town banker to help you determine which year-end moves make the most sense for you.

12/03/2009

Some Year-End Investment Tips

Take a little time out from the holidays to make some strategic saving and investing decisions before December 31. It could impact the amount of taxes you'll owe next April.

The first step in your year-end investment planning process should be a review of your overall portfolio. That review can tell you whether you need to rebalance your portfolio. Your overall review should also help you decide whether that rebalancing should be done before or after December 31 for tax reasons.

Make sure your asset allocation is still appropriate for your time horizon and goals. Consider being a bit more aggressive if you're not meeting your financial targets, or more conservative if you're getting closer to retirement. For greater diversification, add an asset class that tends to react to market conditions differently than your existing investments. Diversification and asset allocation don't guarantee a profit or insure against a loss, but they're worth reviewing at least annually.

When making changes in your portfolio, don't forget to consider how long you've owned each investment. Assets held for a year or less generate short-term capital gains of up to 35% while assets held for more than a year generate long-term capital gains of 15%. The tax consequences of any capital gains or losses you've experienced this year can be critical. Though tax considerations shouldn't dictate how you invest, there are steps you can take before the end of the year to minimize any tax impact of your investing decisions.

If you have realized capital gains from selling securities at a profit and you have no tax losses carried forward from previous years, you can sell losing positions to avoid being taxed on some or all of those gains. Selling losing positions for the tax benefit they will provide next April is known as harvesting your losses. If you're selling to harvest losses in a stock or mutual fund and intend to repurchase the same security, make sure you wait at least 31 days before buying it again. Otherwise, the trade is considered a "wash sale," and the tax loss will be disallowed. The wash sale rule also applies if you buy an option on the stock, sell it short, or buy it through your spouse within 30 days before or after the sale.

If you're buying a mutual fund in a taxable account, find out when it will distribute any dividends or capital gains. Consider delaying your purchase until after that date, which often is near year-end. If you buy just before the distribution, you'll owe taxes this year on that money, even if your own shares haven't appreciated. And if you plan to sell a fund anyway, you may minimize taxes by selling before the distribution date.

Think about which investments make sense to hold in a tax-advantaged account and which might be better for taxable accounts. As a general rule, it’s not a good idea to hold tax-free investments in a tax-deferred account because no additional tax advantages are realized to compensate you for the tax-free investments' lower returns. When deciding where to hold specific investments, remember that distributions from a tax-deferred retirement plan don't qualify for the lower tax rate on capital gains and dividends.

Unloading some investments prior to year-end may help you to maximize your tax advantage. Remember that calculating the cost basis to your advantage now means that you have to do it the same way for any future sales of the same investment. Decide if it’s more important to sell before year-end to generate capital losses to offset capital gains, or to just keep capital gains to a minimum for tax purposes.

Contact your friendly home town banker to help you with your year-end investment strategies.