Diversification: Bonds vs. cashA reader wants to know what advantage bonds have over money markets in rounding out a portfolio. Money Magazine's answer guy sets him straight.(Money Magazine) -- Question: Why are bonds always recommended to diversify stocks? Since bond funds are yielding no better than FDIC-insured money-market accounts, why not hold cash instead? - Ervin Mubarekyan, San Diego Answer: First, those great money-market rates can't last. Second, unlike a money-market account, bonds have more going for them than their yields. What makes bonds so useful alongside stocks is that bonds not only provide steady interest income but also can appreciate in value - and often do so when stocks are falling. In part that's because the steady income they generate makes them more valuable to investors at times of crisis. A money-market account (or a money-market mutual fund) doesn't offer the chance for capital gains. And like all good things, high money-market pay-outs will come to an end soon, thanks to the Federal Reserve's recent reduction of a key short-term rate. The best strategy, advises Richard Ferri, author of All About Asset Allocation, is to stick with intermediate-term bond funds. They offer better diversification, and today's rates notwithstanding, they historically yield 1.5 percentage points more than money funds. Question: In your August column you suggested opening a nondeductible IRA as a way to back into a Roth IRA in 2010. Would this create tax problems with my decades-old IRA? - Marcus B. Seligman, Savannah Answer: If by "tax problems" you mean "a surprisingly big IRS bill," you're right. Answer Guy's strategy for using new tax laws to open up a Roth - even if your high income blocks current contributions - works for new IRAs but can be costly if you have a pre-existing one. Here's why: The taxes you pay on a traditional-to-Roth IRA conversion are based on all your non-Roth IRAs, not just the one you convert. Let's say, for illustrative purposes, you make a $4,000 nondeductible contribution to a new IRA that grows to $4,400 by the time you convert it to a Roth in 2010. If, like the August questioner, you had no other IRA, only that $400 gain would be taxable as income. But let's say you also had $100,000 in an old IRA funded with deductible contributions. Under the IRS formula (we'll skip the math) you'd owe taxes on $4,200 of the $4,400 you convert. On the bright side, you can delay payment and split the bill over your 2011 and 2012 returns. Bottom line: Big gains and deductible contributions in old IRAs make the backdoor Roth less attractive. --Looking for answers? Send us your questions about investing. E-mail answer_guy@moneymail.com. Send feedback to Money Magazine |
|