While it wasn’t obvious at the time, it’s now clear that the COVID-19-induced sell-off this past spring created one of the best stock buying opportunities of our lifetime—the S&P 500 is up nearly 65% from the low and the Nasdaq is up roughly 80% over the same time. The tectonic shift in our economy also set some stocks skyrocketing; as of January 31, 2021, Zoom is up 235%, Moderna is up 712%, and Tesla is up nearly 1,000%!¹

Real estate investors who are selling property using a 1031 exchange received some welcome news last week! The IRS has issued new guidance extending the 45-day and 180-day deadline requirements currently defined in IRC section 1031. 

The notice stipulates that anyone with a 45-day identification period or 180-day closing deadline that occurs between April 1st and July 14th will have their deadline extended until July 15th.

As the end of the year approaches, Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs) remain one of the most hotly discussed topics in financial circles. This is in large part because to be eligible for the second tax step-up a QOZ investment affords in 2026, you need to be invested into a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) by the end of 2019. Aside from the obvious timing implications, though, the underlying question still exists: are QOZs good investments? Here’s how we’ve responded to that question with our clients, many of whom have chosen to invest in QOFs we’ve suggested them to.

At our firm, we always emphasize to clients the importance of having a financial plan to stick to and why they shouldn’t let short-term market gyrations influence their long-term investment decisions. Certainly, recent volatility has raised concerns about the stock market’s strength, but it is worth remembering that the strong performance we’ve seen over the last several years has benefited investors.*

For investors considering a 1031 Exchange or Opportunity Zone (OZ) investment, thorough and thoughtful due diligence has probably never been more important than it is today. With 1031 Exchanges (and especially DSTs) along with OZ investments growing in popularity, the industry is seeing a lot of new offerings as well as new sponsors entering the space.

In 2017, the new federal tax law created Opportunity Zones with the goal of directing investment, development, and improvement in distressed communities around the United States. An Opportunity Zone is defined by the IRS as an economically-distressed community where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment. As you may expect, Opportunity Zones are now, rightfully, getting a lot of attention.