MONEY AND PERSONAL FINANCE

MONEYWISE

Municipal bonds vs. Treasuries

If the stock market and the economy have you wondering where to invest, remember that cash is king in such times. Investment strategists at Merrill Lynch say, while there's nothing wrong with stashing cash in CDs and money market funds, the yield will be low in most cases. They recommend only a six-month investment.

One option is Treasury bonds, which on a total-return basis have outperformed stocks in five of the past eight years.

Municipal bonds are another attractive investment right now. Munis almost never beat Treasury yields, but the income is tax exempt.

Save sprinkler water

Want to save 480 to 600 gallons of water in the next hour? Turn off your hose or yard sprinkler.

For responsible lawn watering, Good Housekeeping recommends using a water timer on outdoor spigots.

Digital timers for $35 and up can be programmed to start and stop on schedule. The newest water savings devices include the Meinor AquaSentry with AquaTimer for $60. It checks soil moisture before turning off the water.

Search online for 'water timers' or 'hose timers.' Basic styles cost about $15 and turn off the water after a set time.

Unwise gifting can hurt later

In 2008, you can give away $12,000 to any number of recipients without owing gift tax. For a couple, the maximum is $24,000 per recipient. If they have two children that could mean gifts of $48,000. If they are married, the spouses could also be gifted, doubling the total outlay.

To people with a great deal of money in 401k accounts and other investments, gifting could seem like a good idea. Their children could enjoy the money now.

Some gifters don't realize that the gifts are not tax deductible to them. They are a tax-exempt gift to the recipient.

With long life expectancies and the high cost of nursing homes, however, they might need the money themselves.

Simplify your surroundings

Is it time to 'rightsize' your life?

Tired of maintaining a big house and yard? Got empty bedrooms, a huge family room and utility bills that make you feel like you're being robbed?

You're not alone. Today, mid-life couples and individuals of all ages are scaling back to more convenient living arrangements. That can mean fewer square feet, but an exciting new home design.

In order to visualize your "rightsized" life, visit some of the popular-sized homes designed for people with small families or homes and condos designed for people looking forward to retirement. When you understand the square footage involved and the room arrangements, you will have a better idea of how much you could keep and what you would get rid of.

Sometimes you have to sell the program to yourself, especially if you and your spouse have spent decades making your present home beautiful. A person's identity, however, should not be tied to an oversized home that is difficult to maintain.

Rightsizing doesn't always mean going to a smaller place. It could mean going from two homes to one, which creates a big need to cull possessions.

Or it can mean adding to a home in order to make room for parents or grandchildren. The important trend today is a shift to well-planned living quarters that suit a person's age, stage of life and situation.

Discussing your wish to rightsize will help others accept it. Talk about it with your spouse, your grown children, and your parents, recommends Ciji Ware in her book Rightsizing Your Life.

Paring down a lifetime of possessions, and furnishing a new home with things that have meaning, will not be easy. Depending on the size of your home, the process could take from a few weeks to a couple of years. If rightsizing is in your future, better start now.

Whether you ultimately move or not, your home will be better organized and have less clutter.

The best ways to buy event tickets online

The number of online ticket sellers has been exploding but if you want to be sure you get a genuine ticket at face value, stick to the box office or Ticketmaster, according to Smart Money magazine.

Ticketmaster, the leader in the so-called primary ticket market, sells legitimate tickets at face value. Primary market sellers, which includes box office sellers, sold $21 billion in tickets in 2007.

Second choice: The wild west of ticket sales. Hundreds of person-to-person ticket sellers and brokers are popping up online where, experts say, it's easier to get a counterfeit ticket than from the scalper outside the venue. Reputable secondary market ticket sellers (a $5 billion market) such as StubHub, Onlineseats. com, or TicketExchange.com offer hard-to-get seats. Season ticket holders are typical sellers.

Remember you are buying from a secondary market seller, you'll pay more. According to Forrester Research, Super Bowl, tickets sold for an average of $3,540 on StubHub versus $700-$900 at face value.

If you buy from a secondary seller, use PayPal or a credit card for added protection.

Finally, if you are dying for a hot ticket, there is always the street, where the free market reigns and an hour before the event, prices may well drop.

© 2015 TLC Magazine Online, Inc.