Archive for July, 2006

The Triumph of Indexing

Friday, July 21st, 2006

The following is a partial reproduction of Taylor’s post (52033):
Each quarter Standard & Poor’s publishes a “Standard & Poor’s Indices Versus Active Funds Scorecard” for domestic stock funds. For the first time Standard and Poor’s has also included comparative figures for international and fixed income funds vs. their benchmark indexes.
Here are five year results (the [...]

Regressive tax brackets under AMT

Thursday, July 20th, 2006

The alternative minimum tax or AMT has been affecting more and more Americans in recent years. Originally designed as an alternative tax for the very rich who avoided paying tax by claiming various deductions, it is now becoming more and more of a middle and upper-middle class tax. The main reason is because the income [...]

A fool and his money are soon parted

Monday, July 17th, 2006

Well, not quite “soon” but over a period of several years.
Shefik Tallmadge was the winner of the $6.7 million jackpot ($335,000 each year for 20 years) in 1988. Imprudent use of the money caused him to filed for bankruptcy last year to save the smaller house he had left. Story here.