Investing Unit 7: Tax-Deferred Investments

• Introduction
• Unit 1: Basic Building Blocks of Successful Financial Management
• Unit 2: Investing Basics
• Unit 3: Finding Money to Invest
• Unit 4: Ownership Investments
• Unit 5: Fixed-Income Investing
• Unit 6: Mutual Fund Investing
• Unit 7: Tax-Deferred Investments

• Advantages of Retirement Accounts
• Retirement Plans
• Tax-Advantaged College Savings Plans
• Annuities
• Summary
• Action Steps
• About the Author

• Unit 8: Investing Small Dollar Amounts
• Unit 9: Getting Help: Investing Resources
• Unit 10: Selecting Financial Professionals
• Unit 11: Investment Fraud

• Study Guide
• Action Steps
• Monthly Investment Messages
• Glossary

This unit discusses different plans for investing money and deferring the taxes on investment earnings until a later date. Tax reduction is not the primary criterion for choosing investments, but it certainly is an important one. Tax-exempt or tax-deferred refers to the tax status of the earnings on an investment. Although these terms sound similar, they are quite different. Understanding how taxes affect different investments will help you to choose the investments that are best for you.

If no taxes are owed on money you earn from an investment, it is in the tax-exempt category (a.k.a. tax-free). An example of a tax-exempt investment is municipal bonds. The interest only (not any capital gains) from these investments is free of federal taxes, as well as state and local taxes, if the investor lives in the state that issued the bond. Another example of a tax-free investment is Roth IRAs if rules to qualify for tax-free withdrawals of earnings are followed. For additional information about tax-exempt securities, refer to Unit 5, Fixed Income Investing.

With a tax-deferred investment, taxes are not owed on the investment until it is sold; i.e., taxes are deferred until that time. This unit focuses on the plans available for investing on a tax-deferred basis. Upon completion of this section, you will be better able to recognize the benefits and drawbacks of tax-deferred investments. You also will be knowledgeable about various options for tax-deferred investments. After determining which plan is right for you, you will need to select investment product(s) to be included in the plan. Units 4, 5, and 6 provide information about the characteristics of various investment products, such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.

One of the best ways to save for retirement is through tax-deferred investments. Contributions (money added to an investment plan) to employer retirement plans and some IRAs can be made with pre-tax dollars (i.e., income you don’t pay tax on), allowing you to defer taxes until you start making withdrawals. Tax-deferred investing allows you to keep money that would have been paid in taxes at the time you earned the money, leaving a greater amount available for investing.