ANCHOR (OFF-CAMERA) ENGLISH SAYING:

What should high-income earners be doing now? What should they be looking at now that their tax rates are going up across the board?

GARY SCHATSKY, FINANCIAL PLANNER AND PRESIDENT OF OBJECTIVEADVICE.COM, (ENGLISH) SAYING:

Whenever there's a major change in the tax code, it's an opportunity to take a fresh look at your overall portfolio, to look at your tax return, and to look at your financial situation. Many people will probably want to tweak their investments. They might want to look at municipal bonds, which are tax free and more valuable now than ever. They'll probably want to continue with capital gains, seeking out capital gains through equity investments. While the rate has risen, it's still dramatically lower than what you pay on ordinary income and certainly people want to make sure they're contributing the most they can to their retirement accounts. Those are even more valuable because those are fully deductible.

ANCHOR (OFF-CAMERA) ENGLISH SAYING:

With regard to investing in the stock market, is it still a good idea and what do high income earners need to be concerned about going forward?

GARY SCHATSKY, FINANCIAL PLANNER AND PRESIDENT OF OBJECTIVEADVICE.COM, (ENGLISH) SAYING:

At the end of the day, making money is truly the goal. So if you think you can earn more money in the equity markets with stocks, that's where you should be. Just because the rate rose from 15 to now 23.8 percent, doesn't mean you earn nothing. You're just earning a little bit less. So the key is to balance your risk tolerance along with the tax advantage of capital gain growth. And people often invest in equities for 2 things: for it to go up, and because there is some tax advantage savings in investing your money and earning money that way.

ANCHOR (OFF-CAMERA) ENGLISH SAYING:

Tell me a little bit more about the advantage of investing in munis, they're clearly tax-exempt often on three levels, right?

GARY SCHATSKY, FINANCIAL PLANNER AND PRESIDENT OF OBJECTIVEADVICE.COM, (ENGLISH) SAYING:

There's been a lot of talk about municipal bonds and there was some concern that they might take away the tax exemption for investing in municipal bonds. That did not occur. Municipal bonds are exempt, certainly from federal tax. And if you live in high-tax states and you get bonds from those states they could be exempt from state and in some cases local tax, making the rate of return you receive a lot more valuable because it's fully tax-free.