Tuesday, September 23, 2008

The Worst Stock Market You Can Make


Investing in the stock market is probably one of the riskiest
ventures you can delve into with your money.

It is also one of the most profitable undertakings you may make
at the same time.

So it's only normal that you may have reservations about
actually trying your luck in the stock market.

The best thing to do is to get a stockbroker to handle your
stocks initially. He will be able to give you professional and
dependable stocks tips and advice.

It is also a good idea to actually to find a friend or an
acquaintance who already has some experience with dabbling in
the stock market. They will be able to give you stock tips and
advice for free.

One of these advices is which is the worst stock to put your
money in.

One of the worst stock moves you can make is with variable
annuities using the premium of your insurance.

A variable annuity is an insurance contract that allows you to
invest your premium in mutual fund-like investments.

This sounds good in paper, but if you look at it a little
harder, you'll find that they are bad investments in the long
run for the following reason:

Tax cuts. Ordinary investments in stocks and mutual funds
qualify for low capital gains treatments, thus smaller taxes.
Your gains from investing your premium, on the other hand, get
taxed as income as soon as you withdraw the money.

Early withdrawal penalties. Insurance plans are designed for
retirement. Taking out money from your premium entails a certain
amount of penalty from both the insurance company as well as the
government. So if you withdraw your profits, you will be
penalized.

Death benefit. If your stocks are down upon your death, your
beneficiaries can get as much as the investments you put in.
Unfortunately, if your stocks are up, they get taxed as a
regular income.

Costs. Annuities with insurance features are actually more
expensive than ordinary mutual funds. The more insurance
features your annuity has, the more annual feels are heaped
against it, which naturally eats up your profits.

There are other stock market investments that are not a good
choice to put your money in.

There are specific times as well as when to not to make an
investment. Times of natural calamity may drive prices of stocks
down but there are no insurance these would recover to make a
good profit.

As always, it is best to diversify where and when you put your
money in.

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