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Using a Roth IRA instead of a college savings account
One problem with this plan is that the individual must have earned income to contribute to a Roth IRA. If you have an infant, unless she is the new Gerber baby or something like that, there is probably no legitimate way for her to earn income. If you own a business and have kids who are older, you can employ them to do...
Pay down on second mortage when underwater?
There are programs out there which will let you refinance even when underwater, under the Government's HARP program. You are overpaying by nearly $7,000 per year compared to a refinance to 4.5%. A classic example of how the bubble hurt people who overextended themselves a bit as housing shot up. The bank risks a $50K ...
Is it worth it to reconcile my checking/savings accounts every month?
My wife and I are paid every two weeks. I go on line see the exact deposit, add it to register, and see what checks cleared. In effect, I reconcile twice per month, and the statement can't be different that what their system tells me. Since the online site shows "last statement balance" I feel there's no need to bother...
Frustrated Landlord
You are not a landlord. You have choices: The current situation is charity. And that's ok, so long as you acknowledge it. In the big picture, anything less than market rent is a gift that you are giving the person living in your house. A good tenant might keep the place in better shape, and deserve a lower rent, but t...
Is there any reason to choose my bank's index fund over Vanguard?
Extortionate expense ratio aside, comparing the fund to the vanguard balanced fund (with an expense ratio of 0.19%) shows that your bank's fund has underperformed in literally every shown time period. Mind you, the vanguard fund is all US stocks and bonds which have done very well whereas the CIBC fund is mostly Canadi...
What is a trade exchange and are they reputable or not?
I think this is off topic, but here is a stab: So these are cashless. It could be a way to smooth out the harsh reality of capitalism (I overproduced my product, I have more capacity than I can sell) and I can trade those good to other capitalists who similarly poorly planned production or capacity. Therefore the mark...
How can I spend less?
There are many tactics you can use. If your biggest problem is regretting your larger purchases, I'd suggest giving yourself rules before making any purchases over a certain minimum dollar amount that you set for yourself. For example, if that amount is $50 for an item, then any item starting at an average price of $...
Interest on self assessment tax
Assuming you are Resident Indian. As per Indian Income Tax As per section 208 every person whose estimated tax liability for the year exceeds Rs. 10,000, shall pay his tax in advance in the form of “advance tax”. Thus, any taxpayer whose estimated tax liability for the year exceeds Rs. 10,000 has to pay his tax in...
What tax software automatically determines the best filing status, etc?
Rob - I'm sorry your first visit here has been unpleasant. What you are asking for is beyond the capability of most software. If you look at Fairmark.com, you find the standard deduction for married filing joint is $12,200 in 2012, and $12,400 in 2013. I offer this anecdote to share a 'deduction' story - The first yea...
If the former owner of my home is still using the address, can it harm me?
Give it to your mailman to return to sender. For this kind of material, return service is always requested, and it will let the bank know that they have incorrect address information. If the owner needs the cards, he'll contact the bank, or the bank will contact him to verify the address. Either way, as long as its not...
Roth vs. Whole Insurance vs. Cash
Cash/CD's for a house downpayment = Good. Resist the urge to invest this money unless you're not planning on the house for at least 5 years. Roth IRA - Good. Amounts contributed are able to be withdrawn without tax penalties, though you would really need to be in a crisis for this to be a good idea. It's your long-term...
Are stores that offer military discounts compensated by the government?
This story is about military grocery stores - i.e.: grocery stores for military personnel on military bases. There are no discounts for military personnel in a regular grocery store. But they may have subsidised prices in grocery stores located inside a military installation, and these are those stores that the story i...
Is it possible to take advantage of exceptions to early withdrawal penalties on a 401(k)?
Your question doesn't make much sense. The exceptions are very specific and are listed on this site (IRS.GOV). I can't see how you can use any of the exceptions regularly while still continuing being employed and contributing. In any case, you pay income tax on any distribution that has not been taxed before (which wou...
Is it better to buy a computer on my credit card, or on credit from the computer store?
The downside of the store card is that the "deal" for using the card is typically 6-12 months of "no payments" or "no interest". In reality, the "deal" is deferred payments/interest. The problem is, if you miss any payment, or fail to pay the computer off in full, you'll have to pay for the accrued interest -- at a rat...
Do you know of any online monetary systems?
I'm not sure, but I think the monetary system of Second Life or World of Warcraft would correspond to what you are looking for. I don't think they are independent of the dollar though, since acquiring liquidity in those games can be done through exchange for real dollars. But there can be more closed systems, maybe Sim...
What is the rough estimate of salary value for a taxpayer to pay AMT?
Turbox Tax states the following: "For 2015, the AMT exemption amounts are $53,600 for individual taxpayers, $83,400 for married taxpayers filing jointly and surviving spouses, and $41,700 for married persons filing separately. This is the amount you're allowed to deduct from your taxable income before applying the AMT...
Gift card fraud: To whom to report? How to recover funds? Is the party which issued me the card liable?
Have you checked to see if anything else went missing? Walmart says that because I was not the original purchaser of the gift card, they could not help me directly Just to build on what @littleadv already gave you, my personal experience on this is that none of the companies that you'll likely be dealing with in a si...
How can I work out how much a side-job contracting will be taxed for?
I would say you can file your taxes on your own, but you will probably want the advice of an accountant if you need any supplies or tools for the side business that might be tax deductible. IIRC you don't have to tell your current employer for tax reasons (just check that your contract doesn't state you can't have a si...
How to trade large number of shares?
I think if you are only trading stocks with average volume greater than 1M you should not have any trouble entering a 10,000 size trade. If you are you can try a couple of things: Change your order from a market order to a limit order, however this may potentially reduce the number of shares that are actually traded on...
Why do banks encourage me to use online bill payment?
Most transactions that the bank performs for you are electronic ACH transactions, so the costs to them are minimal in the long run. Most banks do it now to keep up with the competition. Almost every bank does it now, so they have to do it to attract new business and keep existing customers. Also, the more you rely on...
How are proceeds from writing covered calls taxed?
The tax comes when you close the position. If the option expires worthless it's as if you bought it back for $0. There's a short-term capital gain for the difference between your short-sale price and your buyback price on the option. I believe the capital gain is always short-term because short sales are treated as sho...
Is there a financial benefit for buyers from using community currencies?
Short answer: NO, there is no financial benefits for you to expect in a local currency even if some might give tiny discounts on local sales. Local currencies are attractive for small business or communities, they are perfectly legal and starting to be popular in a lot of places. Local currencies encourage individuals ...
How do you find an ethical, honest independent insurance broker in Canada?
How do you find an ethical, honest practitioner of any business? One: Make a small transaction with them and see how they treat you. If they cheat you on something small, don't give them a chance with something big. Two: Ask family and friends for recommendations. Three: Get information from public sources, like web si...
Deducting business expenses paid for by gift card
To quote the answer you linked to: Perhaps the simplest way to think about this is you can only deduct an expense that you actually incur. In other words, the expense should show up on a bank or CC statement. So, if your business purchased the $1000 gift card for $800, you should see a $800 charge appearing on a busine...
Which credit card is friendliest to merchants?
Back when they started, Discover undercut Visa and Amex fees by about a point. This was also true when I worked for a mail-order computer retailer in the '90s: if a customer asked us which credit cards we took, we were told to list Discover first (and AmEx last) because Discover had the lowest merchant charges. Possibl...
Retirement Options for Income
I can think of one major income source you didn't mention, dividends. Rather than withdrawing from your pension pot, you can roll it over to a SIPP, invest it in quality dividend growth stocks, then (depending on your pension size) withdraw only the dividends to live on. The goal here is that you buy quality dividend ...
What economic growth rate is required to halve U.S. unemployment?
I believe the Bureau of Labor Statistics has published some numbers in this area... I cannot find them at the moment though. I think you need to take these numbers with a grain of salt, though, because they cannot account for productivity and automation improvements that are being aggressively implemented. Companies ar...
How do exchanges match limit orders?
The Limit Order are matched based on amount and time. The orders are listed Highest to Lowest on the Buy Side. The orders are listed Lowest to Highest on the Sell Side. If there are 2 Sell orders for same amount the order which is first in time [fractions of milliseconds] is first. The about is the example as to how t...
How to manage household finances (income & expenses) [duplicate]
Obviously, there are many approaches. I’ll describe what we do and why we think it is successful. I have seen many couples having disagreements and even divorce over money; it seems that this is a typical reason to fight and sometimes fight badly. The realization is that different people have different preferences what...
Are non-residents or foreigners permitted to buy or own shares of UK companies?
Yes it is legal, in fact according to statistics.gov.uk, foreign investors are the largest holders of UK shares (as of 2008). Investors from outside the UK owned 41.5 per cent of shares listed on the London Stock Exchange at the end of 2008, up from 40.0 per cent at end of 2006, according to the latest Office for Natio...
Tax me more: Can I pay extra to the government so I don't have to deal with all this paperwork?
Currently, the answer is no, you cannot get out of filing a tax return. As noted in the comments, if you want to pay more to get out of the drudgery of working on your return, you can pay an accountant to do it for you. You are not alone in thinking that the current income tax system in the U.S. is overly complicated....
Is there a mathematical formula to determine a stock's price at a given time?
A stock market is just that, a market place where buyers and sellers come together to buy and sell shares in companies listed on that stock market. There is no global stock price, the price relates to the last price a stock was traded at on a particular stock market. However, a company can be listed on more than one st...
What should I be doing to protect myself from identity theft?
http://annualcreditreport.com gives you free access to your 3 credit bureau records. (Annual, not "free". The "free" guys will try to sell you something.)
What should I do with my $10K windfall, given these options?
Have you looked at DIY roof repair? Caulking with tar adhesive, and shingle replacement isn't that hard, if you're in good health. Totally depends on how bad your roof is/what the demands on it are going to be. If you can squeak another year out of it, with minimal investment, you'll have a year's worth of, say car...
Buying shares- Stocks & Shares ISA, or Fund & Share account?
The main difference is that the ISA account like a Cash ISA shelters you from TAX - you don't have to worry about Capital Gains TAX. The other account is normal taxable account. With only £500 to invest you will be paying a high % in charges so... To start out I would look at some of the Investment Trust savings scheme...
Can an unmarried couple buy a home together with only one person on the mortgage?
I did that. What is allowed changes over time, though — leading up to the crisis, lenders would approve at the flimsiest evidence. In particular, my SO had only been in the country a couple years and was at a sweet spot where lack of history was no longer counting against her. Running the numbers, the mortgage was a f...
Does U.S. tax code call for small business owners to count business purchases as personal income?
Expenses are where the catch is found. Not all expenditures are considered expenses for tax purposes. Good CPAs make a comfortable living untangling this sort of thing. Advice for both of your family members' businesses...consult with a CPA before making big purchases. They may need to adjust the way they buy, or t...
Will anything happen to me if the AMT is not re-established before 2011?
Depending on your income, you may owe AMT instead of the taxes from the regular code. Even if you don't do that, you may hit the place where you have to at least check if you owe AMT. As you probably know, AMT was established early on to catch the wealthiest of tax payers who were able to use various loop holes in the...
I have $12k in a Chase checking account, but want to start earning interest/saving/investing/etc to make more money. What should I do?
I had some extra money, so I opened American express saving account. At the time which was offering .80%, now .90%. I put most of the money in the saving account. The remainder of my money in a investment account at my local bank. I was in touch once a week with investment, I learned allot how the stock market worked a...
Is this trick enough to totally prevent bankrupcy in a case of a crash?
Adding to the answers above, there is another source of risk: if one of the companies you are short receives a bid to be purchased by another company, the price will most probably rocket...
Buying a house, how much should my down payment be?
Mortgage qualification is typically done based on pretax income. To keep the math easy, let's assume $10K/month gross. A well written loan allows 28% or $2800 to be used for the mortgage and property tax. Property tax varies, but 1% is the average of the 2 states mentioned. This results in $7500/yr property or $625/mo...
I have about 20 000 usd. How can invest them to do good in the world?
Vanguard has a Vanguard FTSE Social Index Fund. Their web page says "Some individuals choose investments based on social and personal beliefs. For this type of investor, we have offered Vanguard FTSE Social Index Fund since 2000. This low-cost fund seeks to track a benchmark of large- and mid-capitalization stocks tha...
Investing in stocks with gross income (not yet taxed) cash from contract work?
In most jurisdictions, you want to split the transactions. Why? Because you want to report capital gains on your investment income, and this will almost always be taxed at a lower rate than employment income. See Wikipedia's article for more information about capital gains. In Canada, you pay tax on 50% of your realize...
Are online mortgage lenders as good as local brick-and-mortar ones?
At least five of my co-workers are currently re-financing through Amerisave. Four have had a wonderful experience. The fifth has been dealing with a representative who constantly misunderstands him, asks for duplicate paperwork, and is in general fairly annoying to deal with. He is willing to go through the hassle b...
What should I do with the change in my change-jar?
Every now and then I fill a pocket with a handful of coins and spend it on a very small shop on my way home, i.e. a loaf of bread (£1.50), a pint of milk (50p) by using the self-check out (Tesco/Sainsbury's) which has a coin slot or even better the little bowl where you put coins down. I find this pretty straightforwar...
What gives non-dividend stocks value to purchasers? [duplicate]
Most companies are taken over. One can reasonably guess that company X will be taken over for a price P, at some future point in time. Then the company has a value today, that is less than price P, by a large enough margin so that the investor will likely "make out" when the company finally is taken over at some unknow...
How much time would I have to spend trading to turn a profit?
What determines your profitability is not your time, but your TRADES. It is probably a mistake to go into the market and say, I hope to make X% today/this month/this year. As a practical matter, you can make a lot of money in a short period of time, or lose a lot over a long period of time (the latter is more likely). ...
When's the best time to sell the stock of a company that is being acquired/sold?
This is but one opinion. Seek others before your act. "When someone puts a million dollars in your hand, close your hand." A 50% gain in two weeks is huge.
Estimate a future option price given greeks and a 1$ move in underlying
It's not that straightforward, even though your gamma will change your delta on the fly, you likely won't see the full $.48 after such a small move. If the vega drops due to lack of volatility while the stock is moving up, those few percentage points up might help your delta (2% gain $50 to $51 in your example) but w...
My friend wants to put my name down for a house he's buying. What risks would I be taking?
If you really want to help your friend buy a house, make a counter-offer to buy the house yourself and lease it to your friend, with the option to buy for original purchase cost, plus all interest paid so far to the bank, plus closing costs and other expenses incurred by you, minus payments made so far by the friend. O...
Is keeping track of your money and having a budget the same thing?
What you are doing is neither one. You are simply watching to make sure you don't overdraw, which itself suggests you might be living hand to mouth and not saving. Keeping track of your money and budgeting are useful tools which help people get on top of their money. Which tends to have the effect of allowing you to...
What's the catch with biweekly mortgage payments?
I'll preface this with saying that I'm not a finance or real estate professional, this is just how I understand the situation and what I'm doing: We just got a 30year/FHA mortgage, there's no prepayment penalty, and no fees associated with paying it biweekly. In fact (Wells Fargo), while the payments get withdrawn biw...
Pay off car loan entirely or leave $1 until the end of the loan period?
Not sure if it is the same in the States as it is here in the UK (or possibly even depends on the lender) but if you have any amount outstanding on the loan then you wouldn't own the vehicle, the loan company would. This often offers extra protection if something goes wrong with the vehicle - a loan company talking to ...
Is my employee stock purchase plan a risk free investment?
I don't know what restrictions are put on the average employee at your company. In my case, we were told we were not permitted to either short the stock, or to trade in it options. That said, I was successful shorting the exact number of shares I'd be buying at the 6 month close, the same day the purchase price would ...
Can I buy only 4 shares of a company?
Simple answer: Yes A better question to ask might be "Should I invest all my savings to buy 4 shares of a single stock." My answer to that would be "probably not". If this is your first venture into the world of owning publicly traded companies, then you're better off starting with some sort of mutual fund or ETF. Thi...
Is it legal if I'm managing my family's entire wealth?
I agree that this is a "bad idea" but I want to add in one more reason. Let's pretend your family and you are ok with all the tax ramifications and legal issues. This is still a horrid idea. You have to deal with the What Ifs. What if you get in an accident with your car, and then a law suit comes around and they deci...
What sort of tax treatment does a charitable micro-lending loan incur?
When lending through Kiva you are not making a "charitable contribution" it's a loan so you cannot deduct the amount you loaned out. If you do lose money from your loan you can write off your entire loss same as you would with any other investment. However you should be careful because in the event of a tax audit you ...
Are cashiers required to check a credit card for a signature in the U.S.?
The signature actually harks back to the days before every business checked every transaction online. When charge cards were introduced modems didn't exist. Nowadays, stolen credit cards are usually reported within 24 hours and the card won't work. Businesses that face low fraud rates don't bother checking. They probab...
Explain: “3% annual cost of renting is less than the 9% annual cost of owning”
The 3% and 9% figures are based on the cost of borrowing money and all the other ownership costs associated with real estate. From the same article: http://patrick.net/housing/crash1.html Because it's usually still much cheaper to rent than to own the same size and quality house, in the same school district. In rich...
Retirement & asset allocation of $30K for 30 year old single guy
IMHO bonds are not a good investment at this present time, nor generally. Appreciate for a moment that the yield of an investment is DIRECTLY related to the face/trading value. If a thing (bond/stock) trades for $100 and yields 3%, it pays $3. In the case of a bond, the bond doesn't pay a % amount, it pays a $ amount....
Why does a ETN that is supposed to track Crude Oil like UWTI show constant decline every year? And am I an idiot for investing in it?
This security looks like it will require patience for it to pay off. The 200 day moving average looks as if it will soon cross over the 20 day moving average. When that happens the security can be said to be in a bull run. http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=UWTI&p=D&yr=1&mn=6&dy=0&id=p10888728027 However, this is just s...
Is there any flaw in this investment scheme?
The process of borrowing shares and selling them is called shorting a stock, or "going short." When you use money to buy shares, it is called "going long." In general, your strategy of going long and short in the same stock in the same amounts does not gain you anything. Let's look at your two scenarios to see why. W...
For a mortgage down-payment, what percentage is sensible?
The typical down-payment was expected to be 20%. The idea being that if one could not save 1/5 of the cost of a house, they were not responsible enough to ensure repayment of the loan. It is hard to say whether this is truly a relevant measure. However, in the absence of other data points, it is pretty decent. It ty...
How often do typical investors really lose money?
Trading is NOT zero-sum game, it is negative sum actually. In fact all people's money is getting swept by commissions and fees. If you don't have The Plan (which includes minimizing commission losses), you win some (not a lot), then you get big positions, then market crashes, then all your money is gone. You will star...
What's the difference, if any, between stock appreciation and compound interest?
Compounding is just the notion that the current period's growth (or loss) becomes the next period's principal. So, applied to stocks, your beginning value, plus growth (or loss) in value, plus any dividends, becomes the beginning value for the next period. Your value is compounded as you measure the performance of the ...
Why do banks finance shared construction as mortgages instead of financing it directly and selling the apartments in a building?
The core competency of banks is to lend money from depositors and re-lend that money to borrowers. They do not have the expertise to develop real estate. They have trouble evening managing foreclosed real estate, such that they have to sell them at a discount.
Prepaying a loan: Shouldn't the interest be recalculated like a shorter loan?
One way to think of the typical fixed rate mortgage, is that you can calculate the balance at the end of the month. Add a month's interest (rate times balance, then divide by 12) then subtract your payment. The principal is now a bit less, and there's a snowball effect that continues to drop the principal more each mon...
Fringe Benefits (Lodging) for single member S-Corp
If you use "a room or other separately identifiable space" within your apartment exclusively for your business, then you might be able to recoup a fraction of your rent for that. Check the rules for home office at the IRS and adopt a consistent and well-documented approach. (I would pay your full rent out of your perso...
What does an x% inflation rate actually mean?
As pointe out by @quid, inflation figures are almost always quoted as a comparison of prices last month, and prices a year ago last month. So 10% inflation in August means that things cost 10% more than they did in August a year ago. This can lead to some perverse conclusions. Consider an imaginary economy where pric...
Can a company block a specific person from buying its stock?
A more serious problem: how do you know who's really buying your stock? "Shell companies" are an increasingly obvious problem in corporate and tax accountability. There are jurisdictions where companies can be created with secret lists of directors and shareholders. If stock is bought by one of these companies, it is v...
Why do Americans have to file taxes, even if their only source of income is from a regular job?
Why is the US still working with paper checks when Europe went digital about a decade ago? Tax filing is just another area in which the US is lagging. Modernizing it costs money, and the US is quite close to bankruptcy (as seen by the repeated government shutdowns). Also, the US tax code is quite complicated. For inst...
Relationship between liquidity and an efficient market
Liquidity is highly correlated to efficiency primarily because if an asset's price is not sampled during the time of a trade, it's price is unknown therefore inefficient. Past prices can be referenced, but they are not the price of the present. Prices of substitutes are even worse. SPY is extremely efficient for an e...
How does start-up equity end up paying off?
Equity could mean stock options. If that's the case if the company makes it big, you'll have the option to buy stocks cheap (which can then be sold at a huge profit) How are you going to buy those without income? 5% equity is laughable. I'd be looking for 30-40% if not better without salary. Or even better, a salary....
Should I really pay off my entire credit card balance each month or should I maintain some balance?
I think you got the message mixed up a little: Racking up big balances can hurt your scores, regardless of whether you pay your bills in full each month. What's typically reported to the credit bureaus, and thus calculated into your scores, are the balances reported on your last statements. (That doesn't mean paying ...
Split buying a house 3 ways. How do I approach this?
Get everything in writing. That includes ownership %, money in, money out, who is allowed to use the place, how much they need to pay the other partners, who pays for repairs, whether to provide 'friends and family' discounts, who is allowed to sell, what happens if someone dies, how is the mortgage set up, what to do ...
How to chose index funds, mutual funds from a plethora of options (TD Ameritrade)
I agree with others here that suggest that you should be taking higher risk since it is repaid with higher returns. You have 40 years or so to go before you might switch to safer but lower return funds. I suggest that you look at the Morningstar rating for the funds you are considering: http://www.morningstar.com/ A fu...
How can people have such high credit card debts?
In the United States, when applying for credit cards, proof of income is on an honor system. You can make $15k a year and write on your application that you make $150k a year. They don't check that value other than to have their computer systems figure out risk and you get a yes or no. It was traditionally easy to atta...
What should I do with my money?
Edit: I a in the United States, seek advice from someone who is also in Australia. I am getting about 5.5% per year by investing in a fund (ticker:PGF) that, in turn, buys preferred stock in banks. Preferred stock acts a bit like a bond and a bit like a stock. The price is very stable. However, a bank account is FDIC...
Why do 10 year Treasury bond yields affect mortgage interest rates?
You’ve really got three or four questions going here… and it’s clear that a gap in understanding one component of how bonds work (pricing) is having a ripple effect across the other facets of your question. The reality is that everybody’s answers so far touch on various pieces of your general question, but maybe I can ...
Stock Option Value correlated to net worth of company
There are a LOT of variables at play here, so with the info you've provided we can't give you an exact answer. Generally speaking, employee options at a startup are valued by a 409a valuation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_Revenue_Code_section_409A) once a year or more often. But it's entirely possible that t...
Where on schedule C should a PO Box Rental fee go?
Turbotax community had a similar question. They claim you just put it into "Office Expense". I never understood why there are so many categories when they are just summed up and subtracted from your income. How can you possibly get in trouble for putting something in a wrong column if the final tax liability doesn't c...
Equity or alternative compensation in an LLC?
I'm not sure 1099-MISC is what you should expect. Equity means ownership, and in LLC context it means membership. As an LLC member, you'll get distributions and should receive a K-1 form for tax treatment, not 1099 or W2. If the CEO is talking about 1099 it means he's going to hire you as a contractor which contradicts...
1000 pound to invest
1000 (£/$/€) is also not a lot to start with. Assuming you want to buy stocks or ETFs you will be paying fees on both ends. Even with online brokerages you are looking at 7.95 (£/$/€) a trade. That of course translates to a min of .795% x 2 = 1.59% increase in value you would need just to break even already. There i...
What is the rationale behind stock markets retreating due to S&P having a negative outlook on the USA?
If you spoke in front of a group of people in 2001 about the possibility of be lowered, you would be written off as a kook. Now S&P is talking about a negative credit outlook -- scary stuff. It's scary because a base assumption in any risk model is that US Treasury debt is utterly reliable and comes with zero default r...
Repaying Debt and Saving - Difficult Situation
Given the listed expenses, this problem will not have a nice solutions. So lets quickly go through them and see when the most pressing ones can be dealt with: Solved within 1 year: 900 Solved within a few years: 1300: 900+400 You may be able to save a couple of hundred on the rest, but just take a minute to look at the...
Single investment across multiple accounts… good, bad, indifferent?
The main restrictions you see with IRA's involve contributions, and not the actual investments themselves. I would be indifferent to having a single investment across multiple accounts. It might be a bit trickier to manage, especially if your strategy involves some specific asset allocation. Other than account manageme...
How do I build wealth?
You got some answers that essentially inform you that CEOs that have £200k written on their paysheet may in fact get much more. I'll take the opposite point of view and talk about people who (according to whatever definition) have a £200k/year income. How can they afford it Guess no 1: not all of them can (in the sens...
Relation between interest rates and currency for a nation
From Indian context, there are a number of factors that are influencing the economic condition and the exchange rate, interest rate etc. are reflection of the situation. I shall try and answer the question through the above Indian example. India is running a budget deficit of 4 odd % for last 6-7 years, which means tha...
Company stock listed in multiple exchanges?
listed simultaneously in New York, London, and maybe even some Asian markets - is this correct? If the exchanges are not connected, then in primary market the shares are listed. On other exchanges, the "Depository Receipts" are listed. i.e. the Company will keep say 100,000 shares with the primary stock exchange / depo...
Townhouse or stand-alone house for a first home?
If you buy a townhouse, you often are in a condominium arrangement in the US (when you're really in a rowhouse in particular). So that's a downside right away: you have to have a HOA, or at least some sort of common agreement, though it might not have formal meetings. Everyone who owns an interest in the entire group...
How to help a financially self destructive person?
You say you're not on speaking terms: so you do it via your lawyer. You're divorced: so IMO your obligations are: a) To your kids b) Purely financial spousal support (if any) If she's irresponsible financially then maybe she isn't the best able to care for your children. Your lawyer ought to be able to tell you what t...
Deriving the put-call parity
Think of it this way: C + (-P) = forward contract. Work it out from there. Anyways, this stack is meant for professionals, not students, I think.
Is there any way to buy a new car directly from Toyota without going through a dealership?
sadly, it is illegal in most states to buy a car directly from the manufacturer. as such, most manufacturers do not offer the option even where it is legal. if you really do know exactly what you want (model, color, options, etc.) i recommend you write down your requirements and send it to every dealer in town (via ema...
what would you do with $100K saving?
The real answer is "Why do you want to waste a windfall chasing quick returns?" Instead, use this windfall to improve your financial situation, and maybe boost you toward financial independence, or at least a secure retirement. In simplest terms, forget the short term, go for long term. Whatever you do, avoid lifest...
How can someone with a new job but no credit history get a loan to settle another debt?
I believe the best way to go about it is to approach a good friend or relative to borrow the money, interest free. Do discuss with them the repayment schedule. If you have any assets such as house / stocks, you can pledge them in exchange for $5000 cash. I believe the banks would be more than happy to lend to you. You ...
How to hedge a long stock position that does not have options
If there are no traded options in a company you can get your broker to write OTC options but this may not be possible given some restrictions on accounts. Going short on futures may also be an option. You can also open a downside CFD (contract for difference) on the stock but will have to have margin posted against it ...
How can you possibly lose on investments in stocks?
Once you buy stocks on X day of the month, the chances of stocks never actually going above and beyond your point of value on the chart are close to none. How about Enron? GM? WorldCom? Lehman Brothers? Those are just a few of the many stocks that went to 0. Even stock in solvent companies have an "all-time high" th...
Does a stay at home mom need term life insurance?
We asked the same question earlier this year as my wife is a SAHM with 2 young boys (5 and under). If something happened to her I'd have to quit work or change careers to stay home to raise them or something. We ended up getting a decent 20 year level TERM policy that will cover the care of both boys for many of their ...
Should I finance a new home theater at 0% even though I have the cash for it?
I think so. I am doing this with our furniture. It doesn't cost me any more money to pay right now than it will to pay over the course of 3 years, and I can earn interest on the money I didn't spend. But know this: they aren't offering 0%, they are deferring interest for 3 years. If you pay it off before then great,...
Why do people always talk about stocks that pay high dividends?
If you assume the market is always 100% rational and accurate and liquid, then it doesn't matter very much if a company pays dividends, other than how dividends are taxed vs. capital gains. (If the market is 100% accurate and liquid, it also doesn't really matter what stock you buy, since they are all fairly priced, o...