Andrew Shilling

The 20 top-performers are largely comprised of low-cost tech offerings.

Although roughly 40% of the actively managed industry beat their indexes, the worst-performers eked out an average gain of just 1.07%.

They are advised to consider making amendments if they want to take advantage of temporary tax provisions that Congress extended retroactively in December.

They’re more expensive than their passive peers. But did they beat their benchmarks?

While they don't need a child to claim the earned income tax credit, the benefit's value increases based on the number of kids clients have.

Steady gains made in equity markets last year were "clearly a tailwind,” an expert says.

Retirement savers stand to gain more by investing their money instead of taking an interest-free reimbursement.

“Investment allocations can differ from one fund to another, and so do the expense ratios,” an expert cautions.

Although the federal penalty was axed for those who failed to register for a plan, some states will continue to impose the coverage mandates.

Nearly all of the fixed-income funds held short term debt.

Failing to pay taxes on side-gig earnings and keeping faulty records of business-related expenses must avoided to prevent an excessive tax burden.

In what was a stellar year for corporates, governments nearly missed the list entirely.

While some tax-planning tasks can be time-sensitive, the challenge is to tackle the others that aren’t in a calculated fashion, an expert explains.

"Keep records and watch the statute of limitations. The usual IRS statute of limitations is three years after you file your tax return," an expert writes.

Deferred taxation on these retirement products, in part, depends on how their distributions are made.

More than half of them track the industry’s top-performing category.

Adjusting a federal income tax return depends on personal tax circumstances, “such as the materiality of the error,” an expert says.

Despite the exodus, all of the mutual funds and ETFs on the list posted net gains for the year.

Clients who have yet to make withholding adjustments to cover their tax liability still have time to avoid the extra burden.

“There’s less performance chasing than you saw in the past, and that’s a positive thing,” an expert says.