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Special Report

Morningstar.com's Tax-Wise Investing Week

February 13-17: Tips, strategies, and picks for tax-conscious investors.

Jason Stipp

Jason Zweig, a columnist at The Wall Street Journal, recently asked some leading investment experts to express their investing beliefs in 10 words or fewer. The column is a great read, but more importantly, it's a valuable reminder that the best strategies--even though they may be difficult to execute--are often the simplest in concept. (After all, you can't get too fancy in 10 words or fewer.)

Just in time for Morningstar.com's Tax-Wise Investing Week (Feb. 13-17), Morningstar's president of fund research Don Phillips offered this choice axiom: "Control what you can: your savings rate, costs, and taxes."

Though timeless, the sentiment seems especially relevant today. If the market's volatility over the last several years has left you feeling bruised, battered, and helpless, take heart. For the countless investing scenarios you can't influence, there is a powerful set of factors you absolutely can control, among them your asset allocation, your investment expenses, and--pertinent to this special report--your tax plan.

True, you can't rewrite the tax code, but you can carefully manage your investing plan to cut your tax bill. This week, Morningstar experts, including our director of personal finance Christine Benz, will do just that. We'll keep you current on pertinent tax-law changes, including possible tax hikes in 2013, with practical strategies for staying flexible and prepared. We'll also cover the best practices for managing investment taxes in retirement and optimizing your "asset location" (where you hold your investments). In addition, we'll deliver some of our strategists' top picks for tax-advantaged accounts (you have until April 17 to fully fund your IRA for 2011), as well as some of our favorite tax-managed funds for your taxable portfolios. And we'll wrap up the week with an in-depth look at the risks, rewards, and opportunities in the muni market today.

Tax considerations shouldn't drive your portfolio, but you certainly don't want taxes to drag on your results any more than necessary--especially if you believe the stock and bond markets will be serving up only low to moderate returns in the years ahead. You'll want to keep every penny of those returns you possible can.

We're here to help. Bookmark this page and stay tuned, as new reports will be posted here as well as Morningstar.com's Minimize Taxes Center every day this week. 

Tax-Wise Investing Week: Most Popular

Monday | Feb. 13: On the Tax Radar

Selected Content from External Contributors:

Tuesday | Feb. 14: Taxes and Your Portfolio Plan

Selected Content from External Contributors:

Wednesday | Feb. 15: Maximize Your Tax-Advantaged Portfolio

Thursday | Feb. 16: Tighten Up Your Taxable Portfolio 

Friday | Feb. 17: The Municipal Bond Market Today

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