Weekly Market Recap Data on the US consumer remained strong this week, with consumer confidence strong for August. Growth in US personal income and spending for July was largely as expected. Internationally, European Union unemployment remains at just over 10%, though unemployment has been slowly falling in the EU since 2013. The price of oil remained in the mid $40 per barrel range as inventories increased. A reminder this week on the impact of taxes on your investment outcomes. Investment results, whether for stocks or indexes, are typically quoted before the impact of any capital gains taxation. However, taxation can eat into your returns. As an investor, there are steps you can consider to improve your tax position. We believe one of the most important is to look to maximize tax efficient investments such as 401(k)s or IRAs for retirement, or 529 plans for college saving. If you are saving for a specific goal, such as retirement or college, then the tax deferral these vehicles offer can be valuable. However, note that there are penalties if the funds are not used for their intended purpose. For example, non-qualified withdrawal from a 529 plan or Roth, are generally subject to a penalty and taxation. Holding onto capital gains for more than a year can also help lower your taxes. That is because capital gains on long-term investments, such as stocks and bonds, are typically taxed at a lower rate than short-term capital gains. Essentially, holding investments with gains for over a year can reduce the tax you pay on the gain, or eliminate it entirely for the lowest tax brackets. Tax loss harvesting strategies also have the potential to defer tax payments into the future. An emphasis on longer term gains and tax loss harvesting are a core part of the tax focus of our Premium service. It's common to focus on before tax investment returns, but paying attention to tax has the potential to help your results. Disclaimer:
The views expressed are for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a forecast, a guarantee of future results, investment recommendations or an offer to buy or sell securities by FutureAdvisor. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market, economic political conditions, and as subsequent conditions vary. The investment strategies mentioned are not personalized to your financial circumstances or investment objectives, and differences in account size, the timing of transactions and market conditions prevailing at the time of investment may lead to different results. This material may contain "forward-looking statements": information that is not purely historical in nature. Clients may lose money. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. Any tax strategies discussed should not be interpreted as tax advice and do not represent in any manner that the tax consequences detailed will be obtained. Clients should consult with their personal tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of investing. Your Portfolio Update Over the past month your portfolio was up 1.2%, and we have no recommendations at this time to improve it. Congratulations on maintaining one of the best portfolios among all our clients. We will, as always, continue monitoring your account and alerting you if there are actions to take (periodic rebalancing is required, etc). Ways To Improve Your Portfolio | 0 Accounts with Actions | Your portfolio has no recommended actions right now. We'll watch over your investments and alert you with an email when there are actions for you to complete. Sign in to see detailed steps  |  | Action Required - keep your recommendations accurate | | Your financial institution requested additional authentication to keep your investment accounts synchronized to FutureAdvisor. Keeping your accounts synchronized allows FutureAdvisor to monitor and keep you up-to-date on your investments and recommendations. | | Please log in to fix this in your Financial Profile. | | Sign in to see your full dashboard | * All amounts are as of the sent date of this email | 
