In Brief

By Carole Buia

PAY TO LEAVE Before spending all your vacation money on souvenirs, keep some cash handy for the flight home. International departure and arrival taxes are on the rise, along with such levies as airport service and security charges, not to mention the more obscure "noise taxes." While many of these fees are built in to ticket prices, countries like Jamaica collect them on departure--cash only.

POPULAR TRAVEL SPOTS

INTERNATIONAL TAXES AND DESTINATION CHARGES

Nairobi, Kenya $40.00 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil $36.00 Aruba $34.25 London, England $33.33 Montego Bay, Jamaica $27.00

Sources: World Travel and Tourism Council; Liberty Travel

TAX STING Index funds are generally considered tax-repellent investments. But fast run-ups in stocks, merger activity and other factors have altered the makeup of many indexes. This has led to increased trading, leaving investors more prone to taxes on gains. If you can't hold these funds in tax-sheltered accounts, analysts suggest sticking to broader-based ones to limit tax exposure.

CAPITAL-GAINS FUND DISTRIBUTION*/YEAR

Galaxy II Sm. Co. 34%/1997 Ishares Belgium 16%/1998 CA Inv. TrII S&P MidCap 20%/1999 Dreyfus MidCap 18%/1999

* percent of adjusted net asset value Source: Lipper

THINK SMALL After being out of favor for three years, small-cap stocks are staging a relative comeback. Propelled by gains in the health-care and energy sectors, the Russell 2000 is outperforming all three major indexes. According to William Kan, a Merrill Lynch strategist, "Small-cap companies are undervalued, and many offer strong growth prospects." Don't look for a quick hit: small stocks aren't immune to the current volatile market environment.

--By Carole Buia