Best Business Commentary

Tax tips for year’s end

“If you think it’s too early to start worrying about your taxes, think again,” says Marshall Loeb in MarketWatch. If you’re one of the 70 percent of Americans who get a tax refund, you’ll be better off getting some of that money now for holiday shopping. Just ask your employer for a new W-4 and reduce the amount withheld. And don’t forget to “lower your 2007 tax bill” by contributing as much as you can to your 401(k), 403(b), or 457 before Dec. 31 —this year, you can sock away at least $15,500. If you’re worried about taxes on your IRA withdrawals and you’re 70 1/2, you can still give up to $100,000 from your IRA to charity, tax free. But “act fast”—several tax breaks are gone Jan. 1.

Curtains for WiMax?

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“WiMax simply isn’t living up to its initial hype,” says Fortune’s Stephanie Mehta in CNNMoney.com. “But then again, how could it?” Depite the 2006 “breathless promises” of a fast, cheap, nationwide wireless network and “sexy, new interconnected devices,” WiMax turns out to be subject to the same growing pains as other wireless technologies. A main backer, Sprint’s Gary Forsee, was ousted; Clearwire quit; and Verizon Wireless is backing a competing “4G” technology. WiMax has a ways to go “before it is ready for prime time,” but now the question is whether it will even have the chance.