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I have $10,000 sitting in an account making around $1 per month interest, what are some better options?
What is your risk tolerance? Personally I invest about $5k in digital currency as an experiment. A lot of people told me I am stupid, which I agree at some point. I plan to let the money sit for 5~10 years. I can tell you there is a lot of emotion in the digital currency though.
Selecting between investment vehicles for income
It sounds like you are interested in investing in the stock market but you don't want to take too much risk. Investing in an Index EFT will provide some diversification and can be less risky than investing in individual stocks, however with potentially lower returns. If you want to invest your money, the first thing yo...
Expiring 401(k) Stock Option and Liquidation Implications
I have had this happen a couple of times because of splits or sales of portions of the company. The general timeline was to announce how the split was to be handled; then the split; then a freeze in purchasing stock in the other company; then a freeze in sales; followed by a short blackout period; then the final trans...
What happens to the put option (longer expiration) of a collar if the call gets assigned?
The put will expire and you will need to purchase a new one. My advise will be that the best thing is to sell more calls so your delta from the short call will be similr to the delta from the equity holding.
When are stock trade fees deducted?
As others have said, it depends on the brokerage firm. My broker is Scottrade. With Scottrade the commission is assessed and applied the moment the order is filled. If I buy 100 shares of XYZ at $10 a share then Scottrade will immediately deduct $1007.02 out of my account. They add the commission and fees to the buy t...
Am I putting myself at any security risks by putting all my money in one bank institution?
For small amounts I wouldn't be too concerned. There are two factors I can think of: For relatively small amounts and when dealing with reputable banking institutions there should be little concern of banking with a single bank. It's what most people do.
Can you recommend some good websites/brokers for buying/selling stocks in India?
There are quite a few online brokers ... All of these have different pricing structure and the right one would depend on the amount of & type of trading you are doing, for example Reliance Money offer 1 paise brokrage, but with a higer anual fees, so it makes sense if you are doing delivery trades and not IPO or Day tr...
How to read Google Finance data on dividends
However, you have to remember that not all dividends are paid quarterly. For example one stock I recently purchased has a price of $8.03 and the Div/yield = 0.08/11.9 . $.08 * 4 = $0.32 which is only 3.9% (But this stock pays monthly dividends). $.08 * 12 = $0.96 which is 11.9 %. So over the course of a year assum...
Why don't share prices of a company rise every other Friday when the company buys shares for its own employees?
Many companies actually just issue new shares for employee compensation instead of buying back existing ones. So actually, the share price should go down because the same value is now diluted over more shares. In addition, this would not necessarily affect companies with many employees than those with fewer employees b...
What gives non-dividend stocks value to purchasers? [duplicate]
A share of stock is a share of the underlying business. If one believes the underlying business will grow in value, then one would expect the stock price to increase commensurately. Participants in the stock market, in theory, assign value based on some combination of factors like capital assets, cash on hand, revenue,...
It's possible to short a stock without paying interest?
It is possible and it depends on your strategy. As short selling interest rates are annual and levied monthly at a prorated rate. Interest rates are also low in general, with the exception of hard to borrow stocks. Therefore you can maintain a short position for weeks on end and notice nothing. Months even, if the posi...
What are the pros and cons of buying a house just to rent it out?
Lets consider what would happen if you invested $1500/mo plus $10k down in a property, or did the same in a low-cost index fund over the 30 year term that most mortgages take. The returns of either scenarios cannot be guaranteed, but there are long term analyses that shows the stock market can be expected to return ab...
How to get rid of someone else's debt collector?
Step 1)I answer the phone saying it is illegal to call my cell phone and I want all further communications in writing. Put this number on the do not call list and reverse search the number they dialed. Step 2) I say that whoever changed their number and how long I have owned the number and I call forward when they don'...
Why does gold have value?
Why does the value of gold go up when gold itself doesn't produce anything? Why do people invest in gold? Your perception, that the value of gold goes up in the long run, is based on the price of gold measured in your favorite paper currency, for example the US Dollar. An increasing price of gold means that in the visi...
Which market orders to meet this recommendation : 'Take a position on the purchase of the fooBar share, protect your capital by placing a stop'
You would place a stop buy market order at 43.90 with a stop loss market order at 40.99 and a stop limit profit order at 49.99. This should all be entered when you place your initial buy stop order. The buy stop order will triger and be traded once the price reaches 43.90or above. At this point both the stop loss marke...
What are the tax liabilities for an international transaction?
After a bit of rooting around the HMRC sites, I found this page which says this: One key difference is that digitised products are classed as electronically-supplied services for VAT and customs duties. These services are: For VAT purposes, the place of supply of these services is the country in which the customer live...
I spend too much money. How can I get on the path to a frugal lifestyle?
Keep track of everything you buy. Write it down and be accountable. Try not to buy anything on credit cards, if the money is not in your account now then you can't afford it. Ask yourself whether what you're buying is a "need" or a "want". If you find that you are buying things because you are bored and you like sho...
Flexplan - a company is taking over another, do I pay the balance?
This is only one of a series of questions your friend needs to understand. They will also need to know what happens to: vacation balances; the vacation earning schedule; retirement fund matching; the pension program; all the costs and rules regarding health, dental and vision;life insurance amounts. Some of these can b...
Why is retirement planning so commonly recommended?
You don't have to retire. But the US government and other national governments have programs that allow you to set aside money when you are young to be used when you are older. To encourage you to do this, they reduce your taxes either now or when your are older. They also allow your employer to match your funds. In t...
Non-qualified Savings Plan vs. 401(k) for Highly Compensated Employee
Also, in (5), is it considered unpaid wages? Because that's pretty high on the bankruptcy hierarchy. No. It is near the bottom, in with unsecured debt. If you have access to the plan documents, see if the plan has the phrase "rabbi trust" anywhere in it. This means that the money is not kept comingled with the corpora...
Clarification on 529 fund
You are faced with a dilemma. If you use a 529 plan to fund your education, the short timeline of a few years will limit your returns that are tax free. Most people who use a 529 plan either purchase years of tuition via lump sum, when the child is young; or they put aside money on a regular basis that will grow tax d...
Why does the Brexit cause a fall in crude oil prices?
Uncertainty has very far reaching effects. Oil is up ~100% since February and down ~40% from it's 52 week high (and down even more on a longer timeline). It's not exactly a stable investment vehicle and moves a few percent each day on basically nothing. A lot of securities will be bouncing around for the next coupl...
Source of income: from dividends vs sale of principal or security
Some people have this notion that withdrawing dividends from savings is somehow okay but withdrawing principal is not. Note, this notion. Would someone please explain the "mistake" on P214 and why it's a mistake? Because there may be times where withdrawing principal may be a good idea as one could sell off someth...
How is not paying off mortgage better in normal circumstances?
There are several reasons:
How can I set up a recurring payment to an individual (avoiding fees)?
Many U.S. banks now support POPMoney, which allows recurring electronic transfers between consumer accounts. Even if your bank doesn't support it, you can still use the service. See popmoney.com.
At what interest rate should debt be used as a tool?
I've been taking all the cheap fixed-rate debt banks would like to give me lately. What Rate? In practice I find the only way I get a low-enough rate on a longish-term fixed-rate loan is to use collateral. That is, auto loans and home loans. I haven't seen any personal loans with a low enough fixed rate. (Student loans...
401k vs. real estate for someone who is great at saving?
Apples and oranges. The stock market requires a tiny bit of your time. Perhaps a lot if you are interested in individual stocks, and pouring through company annual reports, but close to none if you have a mix of super low cost ETFs or index fund. The real estate investing you propose is, at some point, a serious time ...
Company asking for card details to refund over email
While I agree with Ben a lot I feel like his answer is really poor here. You do not call a number to give your credit card information out for a refund. That is ridiculous. Just from his answer - he has had 5 cases of fraud lately - you should know that you shouldn't follow this advice. I personally don't ever give m...
How to fix Finance::Quote to pull quotes in GnuCash
The yahoo finance API is no longer which broke the Finance:Quote perl module. The Finance:Quote developers have been quick to fix things and have produced several new versions in the last week or two. The short of it is that you need to update Finance:Quote, then obtain an AlphaVantage free key and tell Gnucash to us...
Why call option price increases with higher volatility
When volatility is higher, the option is more likely to end up in-the-money. Moreover, when it ends up in-the-money, it is likely to be over the strike price by a greater amount. Consider a call option. With high volatility, moves in the stock price are big - both up moves and down moves. If the stock moves up by a lot...
Project future trend of a stock with high positive autocorrelation
Auto-correlation is a statistical concept for measuring repeating patterns in series. In stocks it is of particular interest as if future prices can be reliably guessed from past prices a lot of money could be made. Note, even in cases where auto-correlations are high and persistent (near 1) there is still some poss...
Why would a bank take a lower all cash offer versus a higher offer via conventional lending?
Also keep in mind that with an all-cash offer, they get their money now and not spread over X-many years, which means they can reinvest it now rather than piece meal across the term of whatever the loan would be. (Presuming the bank would be financing the house themselves.) Additionally, with an all-cash offer, there e...
Why do stocks tend to trade at high volumes at the end of (or start) the trading day?
Is it possible that mutual funds account for a significant portion of this volume. Investors may decide to buy or sell anytime within a 24 hour period, but the transaction only happened at the close of the market. Therefore at 3:59 pm the mutual fund knows if they will be buying or selling stocks that day. As nws poin...
Why does BlackRock's XIN page show XIN as having only 1 holding?
On BlackRock's XIN page under Key Facts it says the number of holdings as 1. Looking at the top 10 holdings shows EFA as the number 1 holding with a 101% weighting. XIN is "iShares MSCI EAFE Index ETF (CAD-Hedged)", so it takes the underlying component and hedges it to CAD. The underlying component is an ETF itself, E...
What can I replace Microsoft Money with, now that MS has abandoned it?
www.mint.com is a very good web site that can upload your financial data from your bank and analyze it for you. Security concerns seem to have been addressed reassuringly.
How do I calculate the quarterly returns of a stock index?
So for quarters So, if Q1's value was 10 and Q2's value was 25 For closing or opening prices, I would use closing prices. For instance, some used Adjusted Close or Close on Yahoo Finance (see this example of AAPL). Added Note: In your example, for your example, you'll want to take the absolute value of the denominator...
Less than a year at my first job out of college, what do I save for first?
I recommend saving for retirement first to leverage compound interest over a long time horizon. The historical real return on the stock market has been about 7%. Assuming returns stay at 7% in the future (big assumption, but don't have any better numbers to go off of), then $8,000 saved today will be worth $119,795 in...
Over the long term, why invest in bonds?
Many folks use bonds to diversify their portfolio since bonds rise and fall in value at different times and for different reasons than stocks. Bonds pay interest on a regular basis (usually monthly or quarterly) and so some people invest in bonds in order to match the interest payments to some regular expense they migh...
Is it safe to take a new mortgage loan in Greece?
While I would be very leery of making any Investments in Greece, and if I lived there might want to strongly consider a larger than average investment in 'international' funds (such as an index fund on the US, UK, or German exchanges) Having debt in Greece might not be such a bad thing... if only it was denominated in ...
How to get rid of someone else's debt collector?
As a former debt collector myself, I can tell you that we did occasionally get someone claiming that they weren't who they really were. However, it was pretty obvious who was telling the truth after a while. Above all else, just be calm and polite. Technically, you can also say "do not call this number again" and they ...
Will a credit card issuer cancel an account if it never incurs interest?
Some years ago a call center operator told me a bit more than they probably should have. They like to see a lot of money go through the card, but very little staying on the card. Yes, they make money on the interest but one card defaulting blows away the profit on a lot of other cards. The 3% take from the merchants i...
Are online mortgage lenders as good as local brick-and-mortar ones?
I had a pretty good experience with Lending Tree, although they are a mortgage broker, not a lender themselves.
Looking to buy a house in 1-2 years. Does starting a Roth IRA now make sense?
First, look at the local housing market, and the price to rent ratios. If you are comfortable that a house can be had for near to the cost of renting, and are not still dropping is price, then focus on the down-payment. I don't imagine housing prices to start picking up any time soon, so you don't be too rushed. If you...
Where or how can I model historical market purchases
Robert Shiller has an on-line page with links to download some historical data that may be what you want here. Center for the Research in Security Prices would be my suggestion for another resource here.
How come we can find stocks with a Price-to-Book ratio less than 1?
A lower Price/Book Value means company is undervalued. It could also mean something horribly wrong. While it may look like a good deal, remember;
Owning REIT vs owning real estate - which has a better hypothetical ROI?
Your question may have another clue. You are bullish regarding the real estate market. Is that for your city, your state, your nation or for the whole world? Unless you can identify particular properties or neighborhoods that are expected to be better than the average return for your expected bull market in real estat...
What kind of trade is this?
The question mentions a trailing stop. A trailing stop is a type of stop loss order. It allows you to protect your profit on the stock, while "keeping you in the stock". A trailing stop is specified as a percentage of market price e.g. you might want to set a trailing stop at 5%, or 10% below the market price. A traili...
How is not paying off mortgage better in normal circumstances?
Certainly there are people who do pay off their homes. Others do not. It's a question of risk tolerance and preference. Some considerations relevant to this question: Taxes - Interest on a mortgage is tax deductible. Particularly for high earners, this is a significant incentive to maintain a mortgage balance and p...
How much percent of my salary should I use to invest in company stock?
There is Free employer money on both sides of the tax fence for some employees. On the pretax side, your employer may provide you a match. If so, invest the maximum to get 100% of the match. On the after tax side, many companies offers a 15% discount on ESPP plans and a one year hold. My wife has such an employer...
What is the most common and profitable investment for a good retirement in Australia?
I don't look to Super or Pension, I am working on self funding. My method is work in Sydney and buy a house in Sydney (I bought 6 years ago). Let my property rise on this stupidly insane Sydney growth (my place has risen by 76% in the last 6 years and thats in a "bad" economic climate). Each time the equity hits a cert...
What are futures and how are they different from options?
Cart's answer is basically correct, but I'd like to elaborate: A futures contract obligates both the buyer of a contract and the seller of a contract to conduct the underlying transaction (settle) at the agreed-upon future date and price written into the contract. Aside from settlement, the only other way either party ...
What taxes are involved for LLC in Georgia?
Your best course of action is to gather your paperwork, ask around your personal network for a recommendation for a good CPA, and pay that person to do your taxes (business and personal). Read through the completed package and have them walk you through every item you do not understand. I would continue doing this un...
Where was the huge scandal in the Wells Fargo scandal?
The Wells Fargo scandal was and still is a big deal because Wells Fargo opened over 1.5 million unauthorized bank and credit card accounts. The credit card accounts were opened without authorization, which means people's credit scores and reports were pulled without permission. That is considered fraud and identity the...
What happens if futures contract seller defaults?
MD-Tech answered: The answer is in your question: derivatives are contracts so are enforced in the same way as any other contract. If the counterparty refuses to pay immediately they will, in the first instance be billed by any intermediary (Prime Broker etc.) that facilitated the contract. If they still refuse to pay...
Are market orders safe?
A market sell order will be filled at the highest current "bid" price. For a reasonably liquid stock, there will be several buy orders in line, and the highest bid must be filled first, so there should a very short time between when you place the order and when it is filled. What could happen is what's called front r...
Should my husband's business pay my business?
Just from my own experience (I am not an accountant): In addition to counting as 'business income' (1040 line 12 [1]) your $3000 (or whatever) will be subject to ~15% self-employment tax, on Schedule SE. This carries to your 1040 line ~57, which is after all your 'adjustments to income', exemptions, and deductions - s...
Starting a new job. Help me with retirement/debt planning please!
I would go with your alternative idea: get rid of the debt as fast as possible. You have $32k of debt. It's a lot, but with your new $90k salary, do you think you could get rid of it all in 12 months? See if you can make that happen. Once the debt is gone, you'll be in a position to invest as much as you want and ke...
Analyze stock value
It seems like you want to compare the company's values not necessarily the stock price. Why not get the total outstanding shares and the stock price, generate the market cap. Then you could compare changes to market cap rather than just share price.
Asset classes: Is a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) considered a bond?
Instead of "stocks" I would refer to that asset class as "equity." Instead of bonds, I would refer to that asset class as "fixed income." Given that more general terminology, GICs would fit into fixed income.
Is it a good investment for a foreigner to purchase a flat/apartment in China?
It is a lousy investment to purchase an apartment in China. Chinese citizens purchase apartments in China because, well... here's how China works: There's some fundamentals driving Chinese property values higher, but mostly it's a bubble caused by those reasons.
Who can truly afford luxury cars?
I must say, I can't completely agree with the tone of most of these answers. I think there may be a good reason to buy a new car, or a luxurious used car. For years I drove old, second hand cars that were really cheap. and unreliable. I can't count the number of times I was left stranded because my car didn't start, ...
Strategy for investing large amount of cash
What you put that money into is quite relevant. It depends on how soon you will need some, or all, of that money. It has been very useful to me to divide my savings into three areas... 1) very short term 'oops' funds. This is for when you forget to put something in your budget or when a monthly bill is very high this...
If a put seller closes early, what happens to the buyer?
You're assuming options traded on the open market. To close open positions, a seller buys them back on the open market. If there's little on offer, this will drive the price up.
What happens to an options contract during an all stock acquisition?
Depends on your contract, cash or shares delivered? If shares, then you get 5 BIG shares. Theres no longer any options. If you sell instantly, theoretically you will net the $10 difference + profit above strike. If cash, same thing just that you get cash $50 less strike. Applies to cash and stock deals Options are...
What does cryptocurrency mean for governments?
Government's tax citizens and businesses in their currency. Earnings (even earnings in cryptocurrencies) are taxable income.
Reporting financial gains from my online store
As a new (very!) small business, the IRS has lots of advice and information for you. Start at https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed and be sure you have several pots of coffee or other appropriate aid against somnolence. By default a single-member LLC is 'disregarded' for tax purposes (at least...
Trying to figure out my student loans
Is there anything here I should be deathly concerned about? A concern I see is the variable rate loans. Do you understand the maximum rate they can get to? At this time those rates are low, but if you are going to put funds against the highest rate loan, make sure the order doesn't change without you noticing it. What ...
Moving savings to Canada?
It is absolutely feasible to move your savings into Canada. There are a few ways you can do it. However it is unlikely you will benefit or avoid risk by doing so. You could directly hold your savings in the CAD. Investing in Canadian bonds achieves a similar goal as holding your money in the CAD. By doing so you will b...
Economics Books
i'm absolutely a newcomer in economics and i wish to understand how things work around finance. This is a pretty loaded question. To understand finance, you need the basics of economics. In almost every economics school in the country, you first study microeconomics and then economics. So, we'll start with micro. One o...
Methods for forecasting price?
Assuming a price is set on an free market there are particular difficulties to pricing. A free market is one where the price is entirely determined by the willingness of people to buy and sell at a particular price point. What you perceive as price, is actually the "tick", i.e. the quote of the last transaction. The fi...
Mortgage or not?
Buy a rental property instead. You get tax benefits as well as passive income. And it pays for itself
H&R Block says form 1120 not finalized? IRS won't take it yet?
The forms get updated every year, and the software providers need to get approved by the IRS every year. "Form is not yet finalized" means that this year form hasn't been approved yet. IRS starts accepting returns on January 31st anyway, nothing to be worried about. Why are you nearing a deadline? The deadline for 1120...
Why is day trading considered riskier than long-term trading?
All forms of liquid investing necessarily have the same expected value. If any one form were more profitable, money would flood in, equalizing it. Day trading is unusual in two key ways. First, although the expected value is the same, the risk profile is very different. For example, would you wager a dollar on the flip...
Why does short selling require borrowing?
why can't I just use the same trick with my own shares to make money on the way down? Because if you sell shares out of your own portfolio, by definition, you are not selling short at all. If you sell something you own (and deliver it) - then there is no short involved. A short is defined as a net negative position ...
Do I have to pay a capital gains tax if I rebuy different stocks?
Probably. It sounds like you're looking for a 1031-exchange for stocks and bonds. From the wikipedia page for 1031-exchanges: To qualify for Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code, the properties exchanged must be held for productive use in a trade or business or for investment. Stocks, bonds, and other properties...
Is it worth it to buy TurboTax Premier over Deluxe if I sold investments in a taxable account?
For tax year 2014, TurboTax Deluxe no longer supports Schedule D.* TurboTax Premier is required if you need to use Schedule D. Alternatively, H&R Block Tax Software Deluxe will handle Schedule D at a fraction of the cost of TurboTax Premier. Update: Beginning with tax year 2015, TurboTax has reversed their disastrous ...
When trading put options, is your total risk decreased if you are in a position to exercise the option?
You should also consider what the cost of the Put is, especially if the strike price is set at the current price, vs the average price delta of the security during the period between when you buy the put, and the expiration date. Also note the prices for puts on stocks with a lot of price volatility. There are a good ...
Why GOOG is “After Hours” while FB is “Pre-market”?
It looks like GOOG did not have a pre-market trade until 7:14 am ET, so Google Finance was still reporting the last trade it had, which was in the after-hours session yesterday. FB, on the other hand, was trading like crazy after-hours yesterday and pre-market today as it had an earnings report yesterday.
How to treat miles driven to the mechanic, gas station, etc when calculating business use of car?
Alright, IRS Publication 463: Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses Business and personal use. If you use your car for both business and personal purposes, you must divide your expenses between business and personal use. You can divide your expense based on the miles driven for each purpose. Example. Yo...
Free Historical Commodity Prices in txt?
At indexmundi, they have some historical data which you can grab from their charts: It only has a price on a monthly basis (at least for the 25 year chart). It has a number of things, like barley, oranges, crude oil, aluminum, beef, etc. I grabbed the data for 25 years of banana prices and here's an excerpt (in dol...
Do those who invest large amounts of money in stocks pay typical brokerage commissions?
Other than the brokerage fee you should also consider the following: Some brokerages provide extra protection against the these and as you guessed it for a fee. However, there could be a small bonus associated with your trading at scale: You are probably qualified for rebates from the exchanges for generating liquidity...
How do I know when I am financially stable/ready to move out on my own?
I recently moved out from my parents place, after having built up sufficient funds, and gone through these questions myself. I live near Louisville, KY which has a significant effect on my income, cost of living, and cost of housing. Factor that into your decisions. To answer your questions in order: When do I know tha...
Do governments support their own bonds when their value goes down?
Companies do not support their stock. Once the security is out on the wild (market), its price fluctuates according to what investors think they are worth. Support is a whole different concept, financially speaking: Support or support level refers to the price level below which, historically, a stock has had difficulty...
How do you find reasonably priced, quality, long lasting clothing?
The best way to find good quality is to check the garment tag: What kind of material is it made of? Jersey 100% cotton or any 100% cotton is one of the best quality material for most casual clothing. Then, you should touch it (designer step/touching). You will get better along the way. If you think you will like it, i...
What determines deal price on stock exchange? [duplicate]
Price is decided by what shares are offered at what prices and who blinks first. The buyer and seller are both trying to find the best offer, for their definition of best, within the constraints then have set on their bid or ask. The seller will sell to the highest bid they can get that they consider acceptable. The b...
Book or web site resources for an absolute beginner to learn about stocks and investing?
The Motley Fool's How to Invest How To Invest Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor The Intelligent Investor If you like The Intelligent Investor then try Benjamin's Security Analysis. But that one is not a beginner book.
Why buy bonds in a no-arbitrage market?
Rates are a complex field. I will assume that context wise you are talking about rates for a individual saver quantities. The two rates you are asking about are personal bank saving account and exchange traded bonds. The points you want to compare between them are. In general, a bond is what we called a fixed rate inst...
How to acquire skills required for long-term investing?
The key to good investing is you need to understand what you are investing in. That is, if you are buying a company that makes product X, you need to understand that. It is a good idea to buy stock in good companies but that is not sufficient. You need to buy stock in good companies at good prices. That means you need ...
Why are big companies like Apple or Google not included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) index?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is a Price-weighted index. That means that the index is calculated by adding up the prices of the constituent stocks and dividing by a constant, the "Dow divisor". (The value of the Dow divisor is adjusted from time to time to maintain continuity when there are splits or change...
How to choose a good 401(k) investment option?
I agree with the others that the ROTH is probably better. See this list of benefit/cost comparison (as opposed to rule differences)http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Comparison_of_401%28k%29_and_IRA_accounts&oldid=582368417
How much life insurance do I need?
If I remember the information in "The Wealthy Barber" correctly, he said: And as someone once said to me, "make sure you're worth more alive than dead!" :-)
How do I figure out the next step in deciding to sell my home to the market or to a uniquely interested buyer?
You decide whether the improvements will result in a net higher price. You also need to figure on how long the house will be on the market and the cost of carrying the home, unoccupied. Some people would prefer the quickest sale. Others would wait to get the highest price. If you sell to a known buyer, you avoid usin...
Newbie question - Brokerage and selling shares
Capital gains tax is an income tax upon your profit from selling investments. Long-term capital gains (investments you have held for more than a year) are taxed significantly less than short-term gains. It doesn't limit how many shares you can sell; it does discourage selling them too quickly after buying. You can bal...
I'm getting gouged on prices for medical services when using my HSA plan. How to be billed fairly?
First, as noted in the comments, you need to pay attention to your network providers. If you are unable to pay exorbitant prices out of pocket, then find an in-network medical provider. if you are unhappy with the in-network provider list (e.g. too distant or not specialists), then discuss switching to another plan o...
How does the process of “assignment” work for in-the-money Options?
First, it depends on your broker. Full service firms will tear you a new one, discount brokers may charge ~nothing. You'll have to check with your broker on assignment fees. Theoretically, this is the case of the opposite of my answer in this question: Are underlying assets supposed to be sold/bought immediately afte...
Digital envelope system: a modern take
Envudu (envudu.com) looks very promising, and I think what they are planning to put out will do essentially everything you want. It's a single prepaid card, but with a connected app. On the app you choose which budget category you're going to spend on next, and then swipe your card. Your purchase gets deducted from tha...
First time investing in real-estate, looks decent?
This might be a good idea, depending on your personality and inclinations. Key points: How close is the building to you? Do not buy any building that is more than 20 minutes travel from where you are. Do you have any real hard experience with doing construction, building maintenance and repair? Do you have tools? Examp...
Technical Analysis: the concepts of overbought / oversold don't make sense
You are right that every transaction involves a seller and a buyer. The difference is the level of willingness from both parties. Overbought and oversold, as I understand them (particularly in the context of stocks), describe prolonged price increase (overbought, people are more willing to buy than sell, driving price...
Does Joel Greenblatt's “Magic Formula Investing” really beat the market?
I read the book, and I'm willing to believe you'd have a good chance of beating the market with this strategy - it is a reasonable, rational, and mechanical investment discipline. I doubt it's overplayed and overused to the point that it won't ever work again. But only IF you stick to it, and doing so would be very har...
What should I invest in to hedge against a serious crash or calamity?
Are you willing to risk the possibility of investing to prepare for these things and losing money or simply getting meager returns if those crises don't happen? Just invest in a well diversified portfolio both geographically and across multiple sectors and you should be fine.