Variable life insurance:

Offers tax deferral.
May provide higher return potential and greater risk than a whole life policy.
Allows you to invest a portion of the premium in various subaccounts.
All of the above.

Dividends are taxed:

At the investor’s marginal income tax rate.
At a maximum rate of 15%.
Only when the stock is sold.
Dividends are never taxed.

Since the mid-1920s inflation in the United States has averaged:

About 3 percent.
About 7 percent.
About 10 percent.
About 12 percent

Junk bonds:

Are bonds issued by junk yards.
Are sometimes called "high yield bonds."
Are less risky than government bonds.
Are not actually bonds.

Beta is commonly used as a relative measure of risk. It measures:

Standard deviation of a stock’s price.
The expected total returns of a diversified portfolio.
The unsystematic risk component of an investment.
The risk of a security or portfolio relative to the overall market.

A benchmark asset, commonly considered by investors to be risk-free:

Treasury Bill (T-Bill).
Share of preferred stock.
A Eurobond
A junk bond.

Determining total return typically utilizes the:

Inflation-adjusted annual performance of all mutual-funds.
Annual capital gain plus dividend payout of a stock or fund.
Math skills learned in college-level calculus courses.
Dividend yield on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

A prudent investor:

Does not have to consider the tax effect of long-term gains.
Evaluates his/her investments on an after-tax basis.
Studiously avoids income-shifting among funds.
Knows that a drop in the dividend payout signals a stronger firm.