Piece of Cake Five Ways to Sweeten Your Tax Strategy
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STRATEGIES & IDEAS FOR THE CHARLES SCHWAB COMMUNITY | SPRING 2021 The case for bonds Page 16 Trading momentum stocks Page 20 Picking dividend payers Page 26 Piece of Cake Five ways to sweeten your tax strategy. Page 22 Schwab Intelligent Portfolios® Automated investing with human help when you need it. Our robo-advisor builds, monitors, and automatically rebalances a diversified portfolio based on your goals and risk tolerance. Access live support from U.S.-based service professionals 24/7. Start with as little as $5,000. Get your portfolio recommendation in minutes. Learn more at Schwab.com/AutomatedInvesting. Brokerage Products: Not FDIC-Insured • No Bank Guarantee • May Lose Value Please read the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Solutions™ disclosure brochures at schwab.com/intelligentdisclosurebrochure for important information, pricing, and disclosures related to the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios® and Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium® programs. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios and Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium are made available through Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (“Schwab”), a dually registered investment advisor and broker-dealer. Diversification, automatic investing and rebalancing strategies do not ensure a profit and do not protect against losses in declining markets. ©2021 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Member SIPC. CC4737545 (0221-0GUL) ADP110682OI-00 (12/20) 00255131 ADP110682OI-00.indd 1 12/8/20 1:19 PM Spring 2021 CONTENTS 5 11 22 26 DEPARTMENTS FEATURES 2 SCHWAB ORIGINALS PERSPECTIVES 22 Sweeten Your Tax Strategy Learn, listen, and watch. 13 Combating home bias. Five tax planning missteps— By Jeffrey Kleintop and how to avoid them. 3 CEO’s NOTE 16 The case for bonds. A clear path toward your goals. By Kathy Jones 26 Rx for What Ails You By Walt Bettinger Dividend-paying stocks could be just what the doctor 20 TRADING ordered. THE BOTTOM LINE Three popular indicators for 5 When employers pause their trading momentum. 401(k) plan contributions. By Kevin Horner 30 Seventh Heaven A data-driven look at what 6 Do stock splits still matter? makes seven financial habits 34 SPOTLIGHT so effective. 7 Financial bingo: How many CD & Treasury Ladder Builder milestones can you cross off? tool; Schwab Plan™; and 1099 Dashboard. 8 In case of emergency ... On Investing (ISSN 1523-5327) is published 9 A smarter way to sell. 39 ON YOUR SIDE quarterly. This publication is mailed at Standard A What Tesla can teach us postal rates. ◆ If you prefer not to receive about the market. On Investing, please call 888-484-5340. ◆ POSTMASTER: Send address changes to On 11 ASK CARRIE By Charles R. Schwab Investing, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., P.O. Box Long-term care insurance. 982600, El Paso, TX, 79998-2600. On Investing does not assume any liability resulting from By Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz actions taken based on the information included in this magazine. Mention of a company or security does not constitute endorsement. Some contributors to On Investing may have active positions in securities or companies discussed in this issue. MAG105672Q121-00 ON THE COVER: ARTWORK BY CHERYL TEO SPRING 2021 | ON INVESTING | 1 SCHWAB ORIGINALS Learn Listen Tax Day may be approaching, but managing Mark Riepe and Financial Decoder™ return for your taxes should be a year-round affair. Find tips Season 6 with new episodes about the for lowering your tax bill, maximizing deductions, emotional biases that can cloud your financial and making tax-smart investment decisions at judgment and cost you money. Listen and subscribe schwab.com/taxes. at schwab.com/financialdecoder. Watch Follow Like any good road map, a financial plan can help Fixed income @kathyjones you chart a course to your destination. See how International @jeffreykleintop planning can help to define your goals and focus Markets and economy @lizannsonders your savings at schwab.com/whyplan. Personal finance @carrieschwab Research @schwabresearch Trading @randyafrederick Washington @miketownsendcs (0321-0PZZ) Joe Carberry Mark W. Riepe, CFA® Sara Smith Senior Vice President, Senior Vice President, Editor in Chief Communications & Schwab Center for Owned-Channel Marketing Financial Research Jeremy Hartley and Community Managing Editor Tamar Dorsey Helen Loh Vice President, Stacia Miller Senior Vice President, Brand Journalism Associate Managing Retail Client & Editor Owned-Channel Marketing GUPTA SHREYA BY ILLUSTRATIONS 2 | CHARLES SCHWAB | SPRING 2021 CEO’s NOTE I n times of struggle, investing and When confronted with instability, On Firm planning for the future can feel there can be great comfort in focusing like abstractions compared with the on what you can control, and in having Footing realities of everyday living. tried-and-true principles in place that That’s particularly true today, when can help light the way. That’s one Schwab’s Investing Principles so many are concerned about business reason we distilled our experience can help you create a clear and job uncertainty, balancing work in the markets down to what we call path toward your goals. and home schooling, and the health of our Investing Principles—seven best themselves and their families. All of us practices that can help you reach your at Schwab know that nothing is more goals. important than the well-being of you These principles start with the and your loved ones. importance of creating a realistic plan you can stick to, in good times and bad. When confronted They address ways to invest according with instability, to your goals and tolerance for risk, there can be great so you can sleep easier. And they end with a reminder to ignore as much of comfort in focusing the noise out there as possible, because on what you can steady progress toward your goals control. is more important than short-term performance. Taken together, Schwab’s Investing Principles are a foundation upon which you can build your future— whatever may come. To learn more, visit schwab.com/principles or call us at 888-484-5340 to discuss how to implement these timeless principles in your own plan. Sincerely, Walt Bettinger See page 38 President & CEO for important information. ◆ Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. (0321-0S2M) SPRING 2021 | ON INVESTING | 3 ISO 12647-7 Digital Control Strip 2009 3% A 100 60 100 70 30 100 60 100 70 30 100 60 100 70 30 100 40 40 100 40 100 40 70 40 70 40 40 40 70 40 40 70 40 70 40 40 3 10 25 50 75 90 100 B 100 100 60 100 100 70 70 30 30 100 100 60 100 100 70 70 30 30 100 100 60 100 100 70 70 30 30 100 40 100 40 40 100 10 40 40 20 70 70 70 70 40 70 40 40 0 0 0 0 3.1 2.2 2.2 10.2 7.4 7.4 25 19 19 50 40 40 75 66 66 100 100 100 80 70 70 100 LOOK AT ETFs THROUGH A DIFFERENT LENS. iShares ETFs offer diversified, low-cost and tax-efficient access to the world’s investment markets. Get a new perspective on your portfolio. Invest in something bigger. Visit www.iShares.com to view a prospectus, which includes investment objectives, risks, fees, expenses and other information that you should read and consider carefully before investing. Risks include principal loss. Diversification may not protect against market risk or loss of principal. Transactions in shares of ETFs may result in brokerage commissions and will generate tax consequences. All regulated investment companies are obliged to distribute portfolio gains to shareholders. BlackRock Investments, LLC, distributor. ©2020 BlackRock, Inc. All rights reserved. iSHARES and BLACKROCK are trademarks of BlackRock, Inc., or its subsidiaries in the United States and elsewhere. ICRMH0920U-1330622 Schwab A24504_7b_Lens Schwab.indd Bleed: 8.1875"w x 10.5"h 12.18.2020 Trim: 7.9375"w x 10.25"h EPSON jn Live: 7.4375"w x 9.75"h Issue: TBD CONTENTS RETIREMENT | STOCK SPLITS | FINANCIAL BINGO | EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS | AND MORE W hen the economy takes a turn for So, what can you do if your employer Missing the the worse, some companies may scales back its contributions to your pare expenses—including matching retirement account? You have a few Match contributions to employees’ retire- options: ment accounts. It happened when the What to do if your employer dot-com bubble burst in 2000, again 1 Raise the stakes: One consequence suspends its retirement plan during the financial crisis of 2008–2009, of the pandemic is that savers are contributions. and most recently during last year’s spending a lot less on costs like com- pandemic-triggered recession. muting and dining out. If you’ve got As of June 2020, more than 11% extra cash that normally goes toward of large companies had suspended other expenses, consider boosting matching 401(k) contributions as a your contributions to your workplace result of the COVID-19 pandemic, plan to make up for the loss from your according to the Plan Sponsor Council employer—up to a maximum of of America. Fortunately, such cuts $19,500 in 2021 ($26,000 for those 50 are often temporary. However, when and over). If you’re already maxing every dollar counts, they can still take out, consider saving more in an IRA or ILLUSTRATION BY ADRIANA BELLET ADRIANA BY ILLUSTRATION a toll on your retirement savings. a taxable brokerage account. SPRING 2021 | ON INVESTING | 5 THE BOTTOM LINE 2 Keep it up: If you don’t have any reducing your own contributions current style of investing is still suited surplus cash, at least try to maintain would only compound the issue.” to your needs,” Rob says. your current contributions. “Money is tight for a lot of people right now, but 3 Review your plan: Sometimes we Whether your company has cut back continuing to make regular retirement let our retirement plans run on auto- on matching contributions or not, one contributions is the best way to com- pilot, and that’s never a great idea.