Bond rates are plunging, banks pay next to nothing, and stocks are so rich that the S&P 500 index yields a paltry 1.4%. My mailbox is thus brimming with queries about offbeat, high-distribution investments. Many are leveraged funds, rely on options and futures trading, or extend high-rate loans to less credit-worthy borrowers. Some augment regular income payments with periodic returns of capital. That is tolerable when a fund manufactures enough trading profits or capital gains to cover these emoluments. But returned capital does not count as “yield” and is not a dividend. (It does postpone a possible capital gains tax bill.)
This story is from the September 2021 edition of Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
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This story is from the September 2021 edition of Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
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