What the experts say

Throwing out the (good) Apple

Investors seeking a true sense of the nation’s financial health may want to toss Apple, said Jonathan Cheng and Brendan Intindola in The Wall Street Journal. The company’s “torrid growth and massive size” are distorting the market, and when analysts cut it from the frame, they’re “finding a dimmer outlook” for everyone else. Fourth-quarter earnings in the S&P 500, for example, are forecast to be up 6.6 percent over the previous year. But if Apple’s earnings are bracketed out, the gains shrivel to just 2.8 percent. “By stripping away that one single company,” says Jonathan Golub of UBS, “you see things more clearly.”

The end of ‘stretch’ IRAs?

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The writing may be on the wall for inherited retirement accounts, said Mark Miller in Reuters.com. The Senate Finance Committee recently floated a proposal to put a five-year time limit on liquidating inherited IRAs and 401(k)s. Right now, heirs can opt for distributions over many years, and pass on these so-called stretch IRAs to their own beneficiaries, “allowing the assets to yield tax-sheltered returns for decades.” The Senate panel said the change would raise $4.6 billion over 10 years from accelerated tax collections. The idea died in committee, but it “could surface in future tax reform debates.”

No more waiting on hold

Say good-bye to waiting on hold for customer service, said Anne Kadet in SmartMoney.com. The infuriating inability to get a live representative on the phone has long been one of consumers’ top complaints, prompting some companies to offer callback services. But now free apps like FastCustomer and LucyPhone will “wait on hold for you and ring you back” when a rep gets on the line, for just about any company you need to call. FastCustomer, which has a database of more than 3,000 companies including airlines, health insurers, and wireless providers, will even automatically navigate computerized phone trees to get you to a real person. “Maybe we really have vanquished the enemy.”

Correction

Because of an editing error, an article last week (“Buffett: Why I like stocks”) misstated the size of a cube that could contain all of the world’s gold. It would not be a 68-square-foot cube, but one measuring 68 feet per side. We regret the error.