Investment Rules for 529 College Savings Plans: IRS Eases Rules

By Doeren Mayhew

Saving for college is always hard and is even more so during the current economic downturn. One of the most popular college savings plans is the "529 plans." Recently, the IRS announced that participants in 529 plans will be able to change their investments more often in 2009 than in past years. The IRS will now allow a change in investment strategy twice in 2009. This is good news for 529 plan participants, especially those that may have otherwise been locked into a mix of investments that has turned out to be more speculative than initially contemplated.

Tax-Free Distribution Options A 529 plan, a type of qualified tuition program, allowed taxpayers to contribute to an account established for paying a student's educational expenses. Eligible educational expenses may include the costs of tuition, books, and fees at eligible institutions, such as colleges, vocational schools, and other ostsecondary institutions.

Contributions to 529 plans are not tax-deductible, though. However, earnings are tax-free, and distributions used to pay the beneficiary's qualified education expenses are also tax-free.

A 529 plan should not be confused with a Coverdell Educational Savings Account (Coverdell ESA). The latter is also a savings account for education expenses that offers tax-free distributions. Funds saved in a Coverdell ESA can be used for elementary and secondary school expenses as well as college costs.

Investment Decisions Generally, participants in 529 plans must select only from among broadbased investment strategies designed exclusively by the program. Additionally, the IRS has traditionally permitted a change in investment strategy only once a year.

Because of the economic slowdown and the turmoil in the financial markets, the IRS will allow investments in a 529 plan to be changed during 2009 on a more frequent basis. A 529 plan won't violate the investment restriction if it permits a change in the investment strategy twice in calendar year 2009, as well as upon a change in the designated beneficiary of the account. - 23159

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Visit Doeren Mayhew online for more information. Doeren Mayhew is located in Troy, Michigan.

Automated currency trading - No BS Trading recommendation from a genuine Pro .

By Michel Brockworth

You are going to look foolish and lose if you read a large amount of the nonsense written online, you can trade with some losses here and there or no losses but even the best foreign exchange trading techniques, will lose for weeks on end. You will face losses and the market making you look foolish - can you handle this and stay on course?

When you trade you want to know Your edge when you trade you must know your trading edge - this is the exact reason (defined) which means you will emerge a winner, when 95% of traders lose. If you don't know what your trading edge is - you don't have one and will lose.

It's a challenge but you can make large profit if you know what you are doing. To many novice traders like to follow like sheep and get slaughtered.

You need to stand on your own and take responsibility - are you ready to do that?

you'll learn the fundamentals this means not only learning how and why the markets work - but why you're trading system will point you to success, so you can obtain confidence in it and the willpower to follow it.

Are you prepared to do this?

you want to trade in isolation In common-or-garden life, we are taught to conform with the majority and hear pros. In foreign exchange trading you must disregard the majority view, as the majority lose! Can you ignore the majority and follow your own path?

Other traders think trading expert news is a method to win and others trade from the a method to win and they all end up with a wipeout of equity for their trouble. On the other hand the trader who learns the right foreign exchange trading basics and has confidence and discipline can make massive gains.

You don't have to work conscientiously to win. This has got zilch to do with working hard (you don't get rewarded for effort just being correct with your trading signals), it's to do with working smart, learning the right foreign exchange trading basics and having the right perspective to stand alone and win. So if the right foreign exchange trading will give it to you and with the right angle and a burning desire to be successful, you might be on the way to a great 2nd or life changing income. - 23159

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If you wanted to find out how to finally start trading like a REAL pro -Then this is the most important letter you will ever read: Automatic Forex Trading

Value Investors Compatible with Growth

By Michael Swanson

So you want to make money in the stock market. To do that you have to have a method. The only way to make money is to have a plan.

There are two basic investing methods that successful investors use to make money. They either use a growth or value oriented approach to investing, which looks for companies whose earnings are rapidly growing or whose stock is undervalued, or they employ technical analysis, which examines prior price and volume movements in order to forecast the future price movements of financial assets. Some investors use a combination of strategies, such as William O'Neill who combines a growth and technical approach to investing in his book How to Make Money in Stocks and in his newspaper, Investor's Business Daily.

Growth investors invest when they see the potential for big earnings growth in a company and don't worry how about high or low a stock is valued at. All they want is to see earnings growing. William O'Neill of Investor's Business Daily is the most popular growth investor, because he wrote the book How to Make Money in Stocks that shows you how to be a growth investor. He buys stocks in companies that have quarterly earnings growth of 20% or more. If the company has a new product coming out he likes it even better. He also only buys stocks that are acting stronger than other stocks in its group, although many other growth investors do not look for this.

In bull markets it is the growth stocks that go up the most, because everyone likes things that go up and they go up the most. But there are some scary times in the growth stocks. If the earnings growth stops then the stock can fall very hard because everyone thinks everything will grow forever.

This always happens at some point with growth companies, because nothing can grow forever. Even Wal-Mart had its growth slowdown. When that happens the stock almost always stops going up and if the end of the growth takes people by surprise it can fall very hard.

Because growth stocks tend to be highly valued they are susceptible to large and sudden drops on any negative news. An earnings warning or statements from a CEO that earnings are going to grow at a slower pace are enough to crush investors. Strategies based on growth stock investing do not tell investors to sell until it is too late.

Value investing is the other way investors make money in the stock market. Warren Buffet is the most well known value investor. Value investors like buying stocks in companies that have big book value, pay out dividends, and do not have much debt on their balance sheet. In the best cases they can find a stock that is actually priced lower than the company itself, meaning the company could be sold for more than it stock price say it is worth. It is a bargain.

In a bear market or a big stock market correction you can find bargains and that is when it is time to think about being a Warren Buffett. It happens all of the time. Investors always get scared from time to time and sell stocks at a stupid price. That is when you can buy.

One problem with value investing is that even after a company's earnings picture improves often its stock does not immediately respond. For instance when the price of gold fell from over 400 to under 260 between 1995 and 1998 the stock of large producing gold companies fell to ridiculously low valuations. However, it took two years for gold stocks to start to rally after they bottomed out.

You need to know that it is the growth stocks that go up the most in bull markets, but they fall the most in bear markets too. It is the value investor who knows when to get in cheap and sell high. You have to figure out which strategy you like the most. I combine them both and talk about both. - 23159

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IRS Provides Guidance on New COBRA Rules

By Doeren Mayhew

The IRS recently released guidance, in a question and answer format, addressing how employers are to administer and seek recovery of the new COBRA premium subsidy enacted under the American ecovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5). The Act provides that an individual who has been involuntarily terminated on or after September 1, 2008, through the end of 2009 is required to pay only 35% of the group health insurance premium to secure COBRA continuation coverage (up to nine months).

The newest IRS Guidance focuses on two broad areas 1. Form preparation - the mechanics of how an employer recovers the COBRA premium subsidy through a payroll credit claimed on IRS Form 941, and 2. administration and eligibility. The new guidance also addresses common inquiries surrounding the timing of when the subsidy begins and ends.

How The Subsidy Will Work: Former employees and their family are "assistance eligible employees" if they are eligible for COBRA health insurance continuation coverage as a result of any involuntary termination occurring from September 1, 2008, through December 31, 2009. Those individuals are required to pay only 35% of the group health insurance premium that would otherwise apply.

Under the new guidance Act, the "person to whom the premiums are payable" - generally, the employer - pays the other 65% of the COBRA continuation premium. The employer will then be reimbursed by means of a federal payroll tax credit claimed on Form 941.

The Payroll Credit Generally, an employer can claim the payroll credit for the COBRA payment subsidy on Form 941, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return. To do so, the employer should enter the amount of any COBRA payment assistance payments paid on behalf of employees for that lodge on Line 12a. The amount entered should equal 65% of suitable workers' total COBRA payment payments - not amounts received from past employees.

In the IRS Guidance, the IRS indicated that there has been some confusion surrounding the proper number of individuals to be reported on Line 12b as having received COBRA premium assistance reported on Line 12a. The guidance clarifies that only one individual should be counted for Line 12b purposes in a situation where a former employee has also secured coverage for other qualifying individuals such as a spouse and/or children.

Timing Issues from the IRS: The bureau has also clarified that the COBRA payment reduction applies as of the first punctuation of coverage beginning on or after February 17, 2009, for which a qualifying reflex terminated employee is suitable to clear 35% of the premium. The exact fellow of coverage is force upon the punctuation to which premiums are charged to the plan. The 35% payment subsidy generally applies until the earliest of three events: (1) when the past employee secures other health shelter coverage; (2) the fellow that is nine months after the first day of the first period for which the special COBRA payment subsidy provision applies; or (3) the fellow the individual is no individual suitable for COBRA continuation coverage. - 23159

About the Author:

Visit Doeren Mayhew online for more information. Doeren Mayhew is located in Troy, Michigan.

Who Else is Badly in Need of Expert Investment Property Advice?

By Bill Hamilton

Investment property advice is an important factor if you're serious about real estate investing. While some new property owners will try to go it alone, the trial and error process can prove to be a costly one indeed. It is better by far to seek the sage advice of professionals who have gone before and seen success in property investments. This article will cover four do's of the investment process. At the end of the article, we will offer contact information about a fine company for property investment that can easily give you great investment property advice.

Your first step: do your best to find positively geared property if you want to thrive in property investing. This denotes that rental charges you make are higher than the money you dish out to pay for the property's mortgage. Keeping this in mind, you should obtain property investment advice that includes great suggestions on how to unearth properties that you can turn for big money. It should also focus on property investment education, which includes finding real estate supervision services that will not increase the cost of holding the property above and beyond necessary. Get these helpful advices and more from property owners who have already proven their mettle in locating positive geared property.

Places just outside primary capital cities are also great areas to look into for positive cash flow property. If you focus your research on certain areas only, you'll get a better understanding of the real estate market in those districts sooner. This tactic will enable you to uncover properties at bargain rates before anybody else finds out about them.

To find that perfect place with the perfect price tag is not easy. Between property investment seminars that teach you to always shop around for bargains, and investment property advice that says you should focus on certain communities only, pick the latter. This is why a coach and buyers agent are indispensible. These qualified professionals can provide the direction you need to invest wisely. They will look around for you so that you invest your hard-earned cash in real estate that are calculated to bring the highest returns.

When buying an investment property, finding is bound to be discussed. Making bad funding decisions can result in you having less money to invest in property. Even if your 1st buy is positive cash flow property, it's extremely vital to handled finances wisely. Mortgage brokers cannot extend assistance to more than one property at a time. This may confine your chances of acquiring more real estate in the near future. Mortgage planners can help you design an investment strategy that will enable you to achieve your real estate ambitions.

Stumbling upon positive cash flow property is a feasible if you know the right things to do. Winning investment property advice can only come from successful gurus in the business. - 23159

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Your one-stop resource on top investment property advice is waiting for you. If you're on the hunt for top property investment seminar information, make sure to visit them.