2024 Year-End Distributions

[mrfeh]

The Fidelity distribution estimates document gives dates for each fund. I’m expecting several on Friday 12/20. And a few before that.

Turns out today is the ex-date for several, including:
FZROX
FTIHX
FZILX

Pay date is Monday.

 

[audreyh1]

Turns out today is the ex-date for several, including:
FZROX
FTIHX
FZILX

Pay date is Monday.

Yes, I got some from FDIVX today. The dividend was bigger than I had guesstimated, but the cap gains was smaller than what Fidelity had published as an estimate. Totaled together it was lower than last year!

And they also get credited today in your Fidelity account. You’ll see the transactions listed tomorrow.

I had to make my own guesses about dividend distributions as Fidelity does not provide estimates for those. I used 7% increase over last year’s dividend distribution as my best guess as that was the S&P 500 YOY increase in dividend amounts paid out. At the time I think I was able to find Sep 2023 to Sep 2024 numbers. The FDIVX dividend increase was 17% over last year! But it’s an odd duck, doesn’t match the S&P500 at all.

My index funds plus a couple others are all 12/20.

 

[scrabbler1]

The Fidelity distribution estimates document gives dates for each fund. I’m expecting several on Friday 12/20. And a few before that.

Most of the distribution dates are on Fridays. But there are a few which are not, mainly what I call the "spike" dividends (bond fund non-monthly, year-end dividends) whose dates and estimated amounts are, as we have repeatedly noted, are no longer posted in the website.

 

[mrfeh]

Some (all?) IShares and Avantis distributions are occurring today.

 

[scrabbler1]

Some of the bond funds distributed their "spike" dividends yesterday, about a week earlier than I thought they would (based on what happened in 2019, the last time we had the same December calendar). They were bigger than they were last year although there has never been any pattern or predictor to the size of these distributions.

 

[audreyh1]

These are super tiny amounts….

Oops! Mine was quite substantial! Surprise!

 

[homestead]

My aftertax Vanguard fund pays on Dec 31 this year and I am planning on doing a Roth conversion before the end of the year so I asked Chatgpt to estimate the 4th Qtr dividend for my fund. Rats, Didn't work AI not smart enough yet.

 

[audreyh1]

Some of the bond funds distributed their "spike" dividends yesterday, about a week earlier than I thought they would (based on what happened in 2019, the last time we had the same December calendar). They were bigger than they were last year although there has never been any pattern or predictor to the size of these distributions.

These are super tiny amounts….

Oops! Mine was quite substantial! Surprise!

Ouch! That unexpectedly ate up about half of my headroom to stay below the next IRMAA level. I hope there aren’t any more outsized surprises!

 

[audreyh1]

Whew! I got the numbers for my remaining mutual fund today.

They came in somewhat under forecast overall, enough to neutralize the surprise large distribution from one of my index bond funds.

Overall it was amazing how close I was to my estimates. In the case of Fidelity they don’t provide dividend distribution estimates and I have to guess on my own. I used a blanket 7% increase over last year based on the S&P500 YOY dividend increase. Amazingly this ended up being pretty close to the actual, overestimated by just a few hundred dollars in most cases.

One of the equity index funds posted half the long term cap gains estimated by Fidelity. So this one helped make up for the large index bond fund extra dividend distribution.

 

[ransil]

I underestimated my income / dividends / capital gains and made a Roth conversion, my new estimates says I'm about $3k over the 12% income limit.

Can I un-convert part of the Roth conversion ( like 5K)?
I can make an IRA contribution but that defeats the purpose of the Roth conversion.
Sell some funds/stocks for a loss.

 

[mrfeh]

I underestimated my income / dividends / capital gains and made a Roth conversion, my new estimates says I'm about $3k over the 12% income limit.

Can I un-convert part of the Roth conversion ( like 5K)?
I can make an IRA contribution but that defeats the purpose of the Roth conversion.
Sell some funds/stocks for a loss.

Can't answer your question, but won't unconverting (if possible) and making a contribution have the same effect?

If so, seems like making the IRA contribution is easiest.

 

[RunningBum]

You can't "unconvert" (recharacterize) a Roth conversion. Even if you did an IRA contribution is easiest. You want it to defeat the Roth conversion you made to bring your income level back.

I do a safe Roth conversion early in the year and then wait until the end of the year to top it off since I can't make an IRA contribution.

 

[ransil]

looks like I have until April 15th 2025 to make the IRA contribution so when I get real numbers vs Estimates I can make the adjustment then.

If I'm wrong here let me know

 

[mrfeh]

looks like I have until April 15th 2025 to make the IRA contribution so when I get real numbers vs Estimates I can make the adjustment then.

If I'm wrong here let me know

You are correct.

And yes, I would hold off on making a contribution until you have your tax return essentially completed. Then you'll have exact numbers.

 

[Sunset]

I underestimated my income / dividends / capital gains and made a Roth conversion, my new estimates says I'm about $3k over the 12% income limit.

Can I un-convert part of the Roth conversion ( like 5K)?
I can make an IRA contribution but that defeats the purpose of the Roth conversion.
Sell some funds/stocks for a loss.

You can only make an IRA contribution if you have earned (meaning work) income.

 

[ransil]

You can only make an IRA contribution if you have earned (meaning work) income.

I have about $15k of meaning work for the year

I did find some rental deductions now under the 12% " limit" barely , but until investment estimates become real numbers I wont know for sure...I will sleep Ok .

 

[TheWizard]

I'm not quite sure what the 12% limit is, but okay...

 

[jebmke]

I'm not quite sure what the 12% limit is, but okay...

I think 12% tax bracket

 

[scrabbler1]

Whew! I got the numbers for my remaining mutual fund today.

They came in somewhat under forecast overall, enough to neutralize the surprise large distribution from one of my index bond funds.

Overall it was amazing how close I was to my estimates. In the case of Fidelity they don’t provide dividend distribution estimates and I have to guess on my own. I used a blanket 7% increase over last year based on the S&P500 YOY dividend increase. Amazingly this ended up being pretty close to the actual, overestimated by just a few hundred dollars in most cases.

One of the equity index funds posted half the long term cap gains estimated by Fidelity. So this one helped make up for the large index bond fund extra dividend distribution.

I follow and record the cap gain distributions for 3 different Fidelity stock index funds. Two are for me while the third one is for my (Snake-Bit) Friend whose taxes I do.

For one of my stock index funds, the one in a rollover IRA, there was no projected CGD, and there ended up being none. No surprise there. In my other stock index fund, in my taxable account, the actual CGD was 29% higher than projected, or an extra $300.

In my SBF's taxable account, the actual CGD came in just under 1% higher than projected. Good guess by Fidelity there.

 

[NomDeER]

Glad to be moving gradually into ETFs where "surprise" gains are less of an issue.

I didn't realize there was a difference with ETFs. (I still have mutual funds.) Why the difference?

 

[TheWizard]

I didn't realize there was a difference with ETFs. (I still have mutual funds.) Why the difference?

People are often confused on this issue.
Fact is that INDEX funds of either type do not generally have Capital Gains Distributions.
But MANAGED funds, almost always of the mutual fund variety, quite often have CGDs.

Most ETFs seem to track an index of some sort rather than being managed. Not quite sure why that is. Why couldn't Fidelity create an ETF version of their Magellan fund?

 

[audreyh1]

I just refined my estimates for Vanguard and a few American Funds. Looks like my preliminary estimate of double the 2023 distributions is about right.

Glad to be moving gradually into ETFs where "surprise" gains are less of an issue.

I didn't realize there was a difference with ETFs. (I still have mutual funds.) Why the difference?

If you have Vanguard index funds, the ETFs aren’t any different tax-wise.

The American Funds - those are actively managed funds and yes sometimes have sizeable capital gains distributions.

 

[NomDeER]

Most ETFs seem to track an index of some sort rather than being managed. Not quite sure why that is. Why couldn't Fidelity create an ETF version of their Magellan fund?

Thanks. So, if my mutual funds are index funds, there shouldn't be much difference? It's not like I'm going to sell all my mutual funds to get ETFs anyway. But, good to keep in mind for the future.

 

[Al18]

FYI the ETF version of the Magellan fund is FMAG FMAG - FIDELITY MAGELLAN ETF | ETF Quotes from Fidelity Investments. The ETF was created over 3 years ago and there’s a warning at the top of the page stating this ETF is different from traditional ETFs.

FMAGX FMAGX - Fidelity ® Magellan ® Fund | Fidelity Investments is original Magellanic fund created in 1963

 

[Exchme]

Thanks. So, if my mutual funds are index funds, there shouldn't be much difference? It's not like I'm going to sell all my mutual funds to get ETFs anyway. But, good to keep in mind for the future.

If there is an ETF equivalent (should be for index funds), then you may not need to sell, you just tell the broker to switch to the ETF version. We did that a few years ago for our Vanguard accounts and they made the change, no taxes involved. It took a few days for the cost basis to transfer.

At Vanguard, you may not need to switch to avoid capital gains distributions as any mutual fund that also has a ETF equivalent is managed to avoid CGDs. I like having the ETF as I know the price we are getting when we buy or sell. The downside is that selling one thing and buying another is now two transactions.