Spare Change

Money Tip

If your 2005 tax return showed a tax due, you can avoid a repeat for 2006 by filing a new W-4 form with your employer to have more money withheld from your paycheck. If you got a refund, you should use the W-4 to have less withheld.

Market Tip

The pace of venture capital investing is off to its fastest start in four years, propelled by a high-tech comeback that’s again pumping cash into the Internet. Venture capitalists committed $5.63 billion nationwide in 761 deals completed during the first three months of the year, a 12 percent increase from the same time last year.

Fund Fact

Three years into a historic rally in emerging-market stocks, U.S. mutual-fund investors are taking notice. During the last quarter of 2005 they shoveled $5.4 billion into diversified emerging-market funds, followed by another $6.3 billion in the first two months of this year. Fund managers are starting to warn investors that they are joining the party well after it started.

Survey Says

The number of households with a net worth of $1 million or more jumped 11 percent to 8.3 million last year, a Spectrem Group survey says. Households with a net worth of $5 million or more surged 26 percent to 930,000. The figures are for assets minus liabilities and exclude the value of the primary residence.