Andrew Shilling

One option is to sell funds with lower or no estimated distributions, especially if possible savings will exceed trading costs.

Double-digit gains produced by the mutual funds and ETFs with the most AUM were not enough to best the broader market.

Waiting too long means clients will miss out on the opportunity to maximize the plan’s full tax benefits.

Those that shorted the market suffered “steep losses,” while market-neutral products posted “modest gains.”

Clients with children are advised to start saving early in a 529 plan to take advantage of the “tax-free or tax-deferred growth.”

With an average gain of nearly 40%, the following mutual funds and ETFs are narrowly invested in the most attractive segments of the market.

Funding a Roth account, for example, may not offer upfront tax deductions, but withdrawals are tax-free.

Despite their high fees and double-digit returns, nearly all have even outperformed themselves so far this year.

Payouts from pensions and tax-deferred accounts are usually not taxed in states without a state income tax or with levies only on interest and dividends.

The top 20 nearly doubled their gains over the last year, data show.

High-deductible plans open the door to tax breaks for high-income investors, an expert says.

“Not every muni is trying to achieve the same thing,” an expert says.

Clients should consider paying more deductible expenses before year-end if their total itemizable deductions will be close to their standard deduction amount.

“The combination of low rates, curbs on state and local tax deductions, and consistent economic expansion have been a nice tailwind,” an analyst says.

Among the honors this year by NICSA are awards for operational excellence, and advances in product development and technology.

The tax basis can change when homeowners compute depreciation, loss or gain for sales purposes.

At more than twice the price of the average fund, many with the even biggest gains still underperformed the broader market over the last decade.

Taxpayers face a 5% penalty if they fail to meet the deadline.

Those who experience a financial setback when they are preparing to retire are advised to stick to the budget and cut spending.

Deviation from the broader market has left more than half of these products with losses during a time the Dow and S&P 500 each posted double-digit gains.