Here’s a question I received from a reader: “In sorting through my dad’s investments after his death, I found he owned shares of Exxon & GE. But I have been unable to determine when he bought the shares and what he paid.

How can I determine the cost for figuring taxes after I sell the shares?”

Indeed, people who inherit stocks, mutual funds or other assets often go to extraordinary lengths to find their original cost – digging through boxes of records, contacting the deceased’s brokers and so on.

But that’s not necessary. Federal tax law sets the “cost basis” of inherited property at the value on the date the owner died. So just look in the newspaper or ask your broker.

This cost is used to calculate the profit that may be subject to tax after you sell the stock. Simply subtract the cost from the sales proceeds. (Don’t forget to first subtract the broker’s commission from the proceeds.)

Incidentally, if you inherit a home, its cost basis is its value when the previous owner died, not the price originally paid.

This can be confusing if there is a mortgage on the property. Many people think they should use the home’s current equity, which is the current value less the remaining mortgage debt. Not so.

If you sell the property right away, the sales price is its current value. If you don’t, hire an appraiser or ask a real estate agent or two to help you figure it. You may find someone to do this at no charge, in hopes of handling the listing when you do decide to sell.

If you sell fairly soon, you could well have a tax loss, even though the home is a financial windfall. That’s because you would subtract from the sales proceeds any selling costs, such as the agent’s commission.

¢ Thinking of buying a home or refinancing your mortgage? Rates have been going up, and there seem to be more and more complex mortgages to choose from. So here’s a quick rundown on the mortgage landscape today.

It’s simple: Get a traditional fixed-rate 30-year loan, and forget about all the weirdos such as interest-only loans and hybrids.

Rates have inched up a tad on standard 30-year loans, to 6.1 percent, according to Freddie Mac. That’s the highest in 15 months, but it’s still very attractive by historical standards.

Sure, you can get about 4.9 percent on a one-year adjustable-rate mortgage. But that’s not low enough to justify the long-term risk if interest rates continue to rise, as most experts expect. With the standard caps, that ARM could go as high as 6.9 percent in 12 months and 10.9 percent sometime in the future.

At about 5.6 percent, the 15-year fixed-rate loan is slightly cheaper than the 30-year loan. But I don’t think the savings is big enough to offset the burden of having to make bigger monthly payments to pay the loan off in 15 years instead of 30.

As for the more exotic loans, such as those that allow you to choose from four payment options each month, stay away. Their initial “teaser” rates may look appealing, but many of these deals can turn sour as rates adjust later.

¢ Another year-end tax-planning tip: How about giving something to your loved ones?

You can give up to $11,000 a year to each of an unlimited number of persons, with no tax bill for either of you. That means a married couple could give $22,000 to each child or grandchild, for instance.

Many people use this to trim any estate tax that may be owed on assets they eventually leave to others. Although the Bush tax cuts of several years ago gradually phase out the estate tax, that law expires in 2011. The old law, applying the tax to estates of more than $1 million, will then be reinstated, unless Washington extends the cuts or makes them permanent. Who knows whether that will happen.