In This Issue:
BrokerSync™ Account Import Tool Launched at myICLUB.com
Folio Investing lets you schedule automatic transactions, use fractional shares and dollar-based trading to purchase securities and reinvest earnings, all commission-free under its Unlimited Plan. And qualifying BetterInvesting clubs can sign up for the Unlimited Plan completely free, making as many trades as you want in their portfolio!
Now myICLUB.com has launched a new BrokerSync™ feature that allows treasurers to automatically import transactions into your investment club account from the FOLIOfn brokerage. All your buys, sells, dividends, reinvestments, and other transsactions can be seamlessly imported into your myICLUB.com account each month, making it easy to prepare your monthly club valuation statements and other reports.
Treasurers, check under Accounting > Utilities in your myICLUB.com club for the import tool.
BrokerSync™ — just one more reason why more investment clubs choose myICLUB.com than any other club accounting tool in the world!
Try myICLUB.com absolutely free for 60 days, or log in to your club website now.
Update on ICLUBcentral Club Tax Printers
by Doug Gerlach,
President, ICLUBcentral
We are still awaiting the approval for the ICLUBcentral State Club Tax Printers from Indiana, New York, and Pennsylvania. As soon as those states give their approval, we will be able to release the final 2011 Club Federal Tax Printer program for those states.
The program is available for download or in myICLUB.com for the IRS forms and all other states. Last week, the factory began shipping CDs to customers who pre-purchased the program.
Club Accounting 3.2 Tax Printers can still be ordered at early bird pricing as an online download or as a pressed CD. Club Tax Printers for myICLUB.com are accessible under the Taxes tab on your club's myICLUB.com website.
Read more...
Dispelling Myths About Stock Investing
Excerpted from Take Stock (3rd Edition)
There's a tremendous mystique out there about investing in stocks.
So let's blow it away!
"Only people on the inside have access to the secret knowledge, which is surrounded by a huge, nearly impenetrable wall. The wall prevents anyone but the insiders from knowing enough to invest successfully on their own."
Baloney! It's a myth!
"Without a degree in finance or the letters MBA or CFA after your name, you just can't begin to know enough about business or the stock market to succeed."
So the professional community would have you believe. It's all nonsense! Just think of all of the people in the investment business who have a stake in convincing you that you can't do it yourself!
For instance, where would the brokers be if you could make your own decisions without their help? Why, they'd be reduced to just taking your phone calls and executing your orders. Hardly more than you could do for yourself on the Internet - and you can do it after working hours to boot!
Money managers, mutual fund managers, analysts who make their recommendations in the avalanche of newsletters that you could be buried under if you let them just send the trial subscriptions, and all of the clerks, secretaries, computer technicians, chauffeurs (some of them make really big bucks), and the others who support them are all interested in keeping you in the dark because your ignorance is their bread, butter, and caviar.
Well, this is certainly an intimidating business. Just think of all of the things they know that you don't. And still they rarely do better than the market average! Well, I've got news for you. As with the proverbial bumblebee that floats through the air even though aeronautical engineers have proclaimed that she can't possibly fly, there are literally millions of folks out there, from grandparents to little school kids, who successfully ignore that claim and invest successfully in stocks. And you can, too!
And it's not because the folks who do so are smart and the professionals are stupid. They're not at all stupid — at least not most of them.
One problem is that they are working with money that's not their own. In order to avoid the liability that can go with handling other people's money, most mutual funds, banks, insurance companies, and money management firms have adopted a very conservative set of constraints. And the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also laid down some laws to protect the public. These prevent the pros from doing some of the things that you can do.
Some of the rules are so conservative as to be ludicrous; others have some merit to them but still stand in the way of excellent performance.
One of the biggest restraints on professional success is the way the professionals are rated. Their peers and the financial press judge the fund managers each quarter on the basis of what stocks are in their portfolios. So every three months there's a "rush to flush" stocks that are out of favor and replace them with "hot" ones. This vanity can be very costly to the fund's shareholders....
To read more, buy a copy of Take Stock today!
10 Things You Gotta Know About Investment Club Tax Returns
by Doug Gerlach
For many investment clubs (and particularly for treasurers or financial partners), preparing the club's tax filings is a stressful task. But it doesn’t need to be! ICLUBcentral and BetterInvesting provide all the tools and assistance you need to generate accurate investment club tax returns for the Internal Revenue Service and state agencies.
As with many complex processes, there are many ways in which treasurers and members alike can get tripped up when preparing an investment club’s required filings. Here are the 10 things you absolutely must know about investment club tax returns.
- Investment clubs don't pay federal taxes. But that doesn’t mean their activities are tax-free. General partnerships are known as "pass-through entities" with respect to tax law. This means all tax liability passes through the partnership to the individual partners, who must in turn pay applicable taxes.
- There are no exceptions: All investment clubs must file an information return each year with the IRS, and in many states as well. It doesn’t matter whether they didn’t have income, expenses, investments or any other activity during the year — clubs must file Form 1065 by April 15. More than a decade ago, it was common for investment clubs to seek an exemption from the rules regarding partnership filing, but it turned out that clubs that did so had received bad advice. Even though clubs don’t pay federal or state taxes directly, they still must let the IRS know about all of their financial transactions on Form 1065 and related schedules....
Read more....
|
February 9, 2012
We're ICLUBcentral Inc.
We develop high-quality software products and web services for individual fundamental investors, and powerful accounting tools used by the majority of US investment clubs.
Address:
711 W. 13 Mile Rd
Madison Heights, MI 48071
ICLUB Links:
ICLUBinsider Past Issues
Start A Club
myICLUB.com
Investor Advisory Service
Complete Roster
Training
Events Calendar:
First Tuesday of each Month: Toolkit 6 User Group led by Doug Gerlach, ICLUBcentral Inc.
Third Tuesday of each Month: New Investment Club Orientation led by Doug Gerlach, ICLUBcentral Inc.
Doug Gerlach will also be speaking at the following events:
Feb. 21, 2012: Investment Club Operations Webinar; Evaluating Club Performance & Understanding Compound Returns
Doug Gerlach, Speaker
Mar. 1, 2012: Retail Investors Conferences; 401k Boot Camp: The Basics of Investing in Your Company Retirement Plan
More Americans invest in company-sponsored retirement plans such as a 401(k) than in any other type of investment account. In this session, Doug Gerlach will address the basics of 401(k) investing, including mutual fund selection and a set of rules to follow in order to successfully build your retirement nest egg.
Doug Gerlach, Speaker
Mar. 6, 2012: Toolkit 6 User Group Webinar; Dealing with Debt in Toolkit 6
Doug Gerlach, Speaker
Mar. 20, 2012: Investment Club Operations Webinar; Going Paperless in Your Investment Club
Doug Gerlach, Speaker
Mar. 24, 2012: BetterInvesting Southeast Florida Chapter Edufest;
Doug Gerlach, Speaker
Apr. 3, 2012: Toolkit 6 User Group Webinar; P/E Ratio Analysis in Toolkit 6
Doug Gerlach, Speaker
Apr. 5, 2012: Retail Investors Conferences; Dividend Analysis for the Growth Stock Investor
The growth stock investing approach taught by BetterInvesting and used in the Toolkit 6 software program focuses on capital appreciation and low P/E valuations as the keys to successful stock investing. But dividends can add to your total returns, and many investors appreciate the additional safety or income provided by dividend yield. Learn about concepts such as yield, the payout ratio, and the importance of not chasing dividends in your stock portfolio.
Doug Gerlach, Speaker
Apr. 17, 2012: Investment Club Operations Webinar; Ask Doug! Open Q&A on Any Investment Club Topic
Doug Gerlach, Speaker
May 1, 2012: Toolkit 6 User Group Webinar; Considering Cash Flow in Toolkit 6
Doug Gerlach, Speaker
May 3, 2012: Retail Investors Conferences; Top Picks in Healthcare Stocks from the "Investor Advisory Service"
With the aging of America, the healthcare industry has been growing faster than the overall economy. In this session, Doug Gerlach, Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning "Investor Advisory Service" newsletter, will discuss some of the publication's top selections in the healthcare field.
Doug Gerlach, Speaker
May 15, 2012: Investment Club Operations Webinar; The Investment Club Top 40: Most Widely Held, Sold, and Bought Stocks in Clubs
Doug Gerlach, Speaker
June 5, 2012: Toolkit 6 User Group Webinar; Live Stock Study using Toolkit 6
Doug Gerlach, Speaker
June 7, 2012: Retail Investors Conferences; Doug Gerlach, Speaker
June 19, 2012: Investment Club Operations Webinar; Handling Investment Club Member Withdrawals
Doug Gerlach, Speaker
Submit Your Event!
Like 7-Eleven, we're not always doing business, but we're always open — go to the ICLUB Store and outfit yourself with the simple, yet powerful tools and services that smart investors have been using to grow their portfolios since 1989.
Got a Problem?
Support is here to help. You can reach them M-F, 9:30 AM-6:00 PM at 877-33-ICLUB (877-334-2582), or use the e-mail web form at ICLUB Support. |
Join the Toolkit 6
Group on Facebook!
|
|
