Question
stringlengths
14
166
Answer
stringlengths
3
17k
Is there a reliable way to find, if a stock or company is heading bankruptcy?
You can avoid companies that might go bankrupt by not buying the stock of companies with debt. Every quarter, a public company must file financials with the EDGAR system called a 10-Q. This filing includes unaudited financial statements and provides a continuing view of the company's financial position during the year....
Early Retirement Options (UK)
It's highly unlikely that you will be able to achieve 8% and would consider myself lucky to get 4% in the current interest rate environment. You might want to read some reviews of peer-to-peer lending and even try it out some yourself. Give yourself something like 2000 Euros/Dollars and a year. If you truly need 8% ...
Does it make sense to buy a house in my situation?
Short answer: NO. Do NOT buy a house. Houses are a "luxury" good (see Why is a house not an investment?). Although the experience of the early 2000s seemed to convince most people otherwise, houses are not an investment. Historically, it has usually been cheaper to rent, because owning a house has non-pecuniary ben...
How to calculate tax amounts withheld on mixed pre-tax and Roth 401(k) contributions, and match?
Your 401k IRA will now have three different sub-accounts, the one holding your Traditional (pre-tax) 401k contributions, the one holding your Roth 401k contributions, and the one holding the employer match contributions (which, as has been pointed out to you, cannot be considered to be Roth 401k contributions). That is...
Cosigning - cosigner won't pay and won't give any information or transfer asset
Is your name on the title at all? You may have (slightly) more leverage in that case, but co-signing any loans is not a good idea, even for a friend or relative. As this article notes: Generally, co-signing refers to financing, not ownership. If the primary accountholder fails to make payments on the loan or the reta...
Does gold's value decrease over time due to the fact that it is being continuously mined?
As one can see here, the world population is growing. Assuming worldwide demand for gold is a function of population, the question you have to ask is whether gold mining outpaces population growth. Just eyeballing it, I'd say they're about even although annual production is far noisier. Keep in mind that gold extractio...
UK limited company and personal bank account
I don't think there is a legal requirement that you need a separate bank account. Just remember that you can only take money from your LLC as salary (paying tax), as dividend (paying tax), or as a loan (which you need to repay, including and especially if the LLC goes bankrupt). So make very sure that your books are in...
Financing with two mortgages: a thing of the past?
You can't get a HELOC, to the best of my knowledge, without actually "owning" the house. If you get an 80% mortgage (of the purchase price - not the appraised value, btw), you still need 20% as a down payment. Once you own the home, you can apply for a HELOC ... presuming you have enough equity (eg, the purchase price ...
How can I remove the movement of the stock market as a whole from the movement in price of an individual share?
I use StockCharts for spread charting. To take your question as an example, here is the chart of Apple against Nasdaq.
How and why does the exchange rate of a currency change almost everyday?
Money is money because people believe it is money. By "believe it is money", I mean that they expect they will be able to turn it into useful goods or services (food, rent, houses, truckloads full of iron ore, mining equipment, massages at the spa, helicopter rides, iPads, greenhouses, income streams to support your fu...
I file 83(b) election, but did't include a copy of it in that year’s tax return
It matters because that is the requirement for the 83(b) selection to be valid. Since the context is 83(b) election, I assume you got stocks/options as compensation and didn't pay for them the FMV, thus it should have been included in your income for that year. If you didn't include the election letter - I can only gue...
Opening 5 credit cards at once with no history to ruin, is it a good idea?
I would not call this a "good" idea. But I wouldn't necessarily call it a bad idea either. Before you even consider it, you need to do a little bit of soul searching. If there is ANY chance that having multiple credit cards could entice you to spend more than you otherwise would, then this is definitely a bad idea. Avo...
How can I withdraw money from my LLC?
There are TWO parts to an LLC or any company structure. This being the entire point of creating an LLC. The context is that a lawyer is after your LLC, and he's arguing that the LLC is not genuine, so he can go after your personal assets - your house, car, IRAs, tap your wife's salary etc. This is called "piercing t...
What's the difference between “Index” and “Accumulation” tracker funds?
Whenever a website mentions Hypothetical Growth of $100, $1,000, or $10,000, it assumes that that investor himself will reinvest the dividend. This is true whether you look at Morningstar or Financial Times. Unless the website does not have dividend data, e.g. Google Finance. If you want to compare the account value ...
Do Americans really use checks that often?
A very interesting topic, as I am moving to the US in a month. I realise this thread is old but its been helpful to me. My observations from my home country "Before we judge anyone who doesn't use direct deposit or who prefers to be paid in cold hard cash, consider that direct deposit is a luxury of stability. Steady...
What's the difference when asked for “debit or credit” by a store when using credit and debit cards?
When using a debit card in a "credit" way, you don't need to enter your PIN, which protects you from skimmers and similar nastiness. Also, assuming it's a Visa or Mastercard debit card, you now have access to all of the fraud protection and other things that you would get with a credit card. The downside for the mercha...
Understanding about Williams' Alligator Indicator?
Is that indicator can only be used for short-term trade? First of all, indicator works perfect during trends and oscillator works perfectly in the range market(or flat market). So, indicator can be used for long term, as well as short term. I mean if it is a range market, using this or any other indicator will not help...
Do capital gains get factored into AGI?
I believe that capital gains do affect AGI, but if she sells $40k of stock, then the AGI doesn't go up by $40k, it only goes up by the gains (gross proceeds of the sale minus cost basis). So if she paid $30k for that stock, then the AGI goes up by $10k not $40k.
Must ETF companies match an investor's amount invested in an ETF?
First, it's an exaggeration to say "every" dollar. Traditional mutual funds, including money-market funds, keep a small fraction of their assets in cash for day-to-day transactions, maybe 1%. If you invest $1, they put that in the cash bucket and issue you a share. If you and 999 other people invest $100 each, not off...
Is Amazon's offer of a $50 gift card a scam?
a free $50 looks too good to be true. As others already pointed out, these offers are common to many cards that want you to build loyalty towards a particular company (e.g. airlines cards give lots of mileage for a decent initial spend). Should I get this card for the $50? Why and/or why not? How much do you spend on A...
Is it wise to have plenty of current accounts in different banks?
The original poster indicates that he lives in the UK, but there are likely strong similarities with the US banking system that I am more familiar with: The result is that you are likely going to be unable to be approved for 10 checking accounts opened in rapid succession, at least in the US. Finally, in the US, there ...
Why is volatility in a positive direction clubbed in the same risk category as volatility in a negative direction?
Mostly, when an equity's price rises, its statistical and implied volatilities fall and vice versa. The reason why is a mathematical phenomenon mixed with the reality that a unceasingly falling asset price will soon not exist, skewing the results with survivorship bias. Since volatility is standard deviation of price...
Why can't house prices be out of tune with salaries
Those folks should be introduced to some real estate folks I know, they'd get along famously, being as how they still think it's 2007. The amount of housing out there requires that a large market of consumers is available to purchase them. If housing prices rose infinitely ahead of salaries, the market for potential bu...
Are stock index fund likely to keep being a reliable long-term investment option?
When you are putting your money in an index fund, you are not betting your performance against other asset classes but rather against competing investments withing the SAME asset class. The index fund always wins due to two factors: diversity, and lower cost. The lower cost attribute is essentially where you get your ...
What are the best software tools for personal finance?
Excel Pros: Cons:
Effective Interest Rate from bifurcated interest rate
If the APR is an effective rate. If the APR is a nominal rate compounded monthly, first convert it to an effective rate.
How can I find out what category a merchant falls into for my credit card's cashback program? [duplicate]
Not clear what you're asking. Are you trying to figure out their SIC/NAISC classification? That tells you the business category they fall into, but there's no simple, instant way to find that out. Much also depends on how the credit card issuer has classified them and how they arrived at that information. They may h...
Are Certificates of Deposit worth it compared to investing in the stock market?
Of course CDs are worth it compared to the stock market. In fact, most institutional investors are envious of the CDs you have access to as an individual investor that are unavailable to them. You just need to be competent enough to shop around for the best rates and understand your time horizon. There are several conc...
Ghana scam and direct deposit scam?
Yes, this is a scam. Tell your dad not to pay any money. There will likely be a large deposit in his account, but if he withdraws the money from his account, the bank will come after him looking for the money when the transfer to his account is reversed.
2008-2009 Stock Market Crash — what caused the second drop?
First, I would like to use a better chart. In my opinion, a close of day line chart obscures a lot of important information. Here is a daily OHLC log chart: The initial drop from the 1099.23 close on Oct 3 was to 839.8 intraday, to close at 899.22 on Oct 10. After this the market was still very volatile and reached...
Why are earning credit card rewards often tied to groceries and gas?
There absolutely is a specific model that makes this so popular with so many credit card companies, and that model is "per transaction fees". Card companies also receive cost-sharing incentives from certain merchants. There is also a psychological reasoning as an additional incentive. When you want to accept credit car...
How can this stock have an intra-day range of more than 90% on 24Aug2015?
As you know, the market is in turmoil today. At this moment, 11:45 am, the S&P is down 2.3%, 45 points. But, premarket, it was down 100 points. Now, premarket, I heard Jim Cramer say, "today is not the day to use market orders." Yes, on Mad Money, he seems a bit eccentric, but he does offer some wise advice at times. ...
Pay down on second mortage when underwater?
You're welcome to throw in the towel and stop paying any time you want. You'll just suffer the consequences of doing so. It sounds like you're concerned about losing your job "in the next few years." What are you doing to stem this off? Are you building up a side income? Are you building up portable skills -- ones ...
How does a online only bank protect itself against fraud?
I don't see why an online-only bank would need to do anything more against fraud than a bank that also has brick-and-mortars. In the contrary, they would need less (physical) security, as they don't have to protect cash, lock boxes, and other physical assets. All banks nowadays have an online business, so they all have...
Is there a candlestick pattern that guarantees any kind of future profit?
John Person has a pattern called the High Close Doji that is probably the most reliable signal in the world of candle patterns. I would check out Candle Stick and Pivot Point Trade Triggers. It all I use in trading stocks + forex.
W-4 was not updated when moving from part-time to full-time, still showed Tax-Exempt. What happens now?
The W4 specifies withholding for income taxes, FICA taxes are not impacted. The tax withholding is do that you do not need to make estimated tax payments. Failing to make sufficient quarterly estimated tax payments or withholding a sufficient amount could result in you being hit with under payment penalties but nothing...
Long term saving: Shares, Savings Account or Fund
RED FLAG. You should not be invested in 1 share. You should buy a diversified ETF which can have fees of 0.06% per year. This has SIGNIFICANTLY less volatility for the same statistical expectation. Left tail risk is MUCH lower (probability of gigantic losses) since losses will tend to cancel out gains in diversified po...
Was this a good deal on a mortgage?
I'm calculating that to about a 7% apr, which given loan rates available today seems a bit high. I wouldn't get too caught up on what that equates to over the life of the loan. There are a lot of forces in play over a 30 year period, namely the time value of money. 30 years from now a dollar will be less valuable i...
Why doesn’t every company and individual use tax-havens to pay less taxes?
There are tax free bonds in the United States. They are for things like public housing and other urban projects. They are tax free for everyone but only rich people buy them. Why? The issue is that the tax free nature of the bond is included in its yield. So rather than yielding say a 5% return, they figure that ...
Building a Taxable Portfolio Properly
Not a bad strategy. However: If you REALLY want tax efficiency you can buy stocks that don't pay a dividend, usually growth stocks like FB, GOOGL, and others. This way you will never have to pay any dividend tax - all your tax will be paid when you retire at a theoretically lower tax rate (<--- really a grey tax area h...
What's the difference between a high yield dividend stock vs a growth stock?
If you are looking to re-invest it in the same company, there is really no difference. Please be aware that when a company announces dividend, you are not the only person receiving the dividend. The millions of share holders receive the same amount that you did as dividend, and of course, that money is not falling from...
Should I keep most of my banking, credit, and investment accounts at the same bank?
For personal accounts, I can't imagine that this is too much of a problem. The only concern that I can think of (for American banks) is that FDIC only insures you up to $100,000 if the bank were to go belly-up. If you're getting over that amount of money, you may want to "diversify" a little more.
Is it possible to trade US stock from Europe ?
Yes, it's possible and even common but it depends on your bank or broker. One of the main differences is that you might assume FX risk if your account is in EUR and you trade stock denominated in USD. You might also encounter lower liquidity or price differences if you don't trade on the primary exchange where stocks a...
How can small children contribute to the “family economy”?
If you're trying to teach them the value of money and quantifying the dollar difference between prices, one very effective way to do this is by using bar charts. For instance, if a toy is $5, and movie they really want to see is $10, and a vacation they want to go on costs $2000, it can be a useful tool to help explain...
Which % of the global economy is considered “emerging”?
The company that runs the fund (Vanguard) on their website has the information on the general breakdown of their investments of that fund. They tell you that as of July 31st 2016 it is 8.7% emerging markets. They even specifically list the 7000+ companies they have purchased stocks in. Of course the actual investment a...
Mitigate Effects Of Credit With Tangible Money
Genius answer: Don't spend more than you make. Pay off your outstanding debts. Put plenty away towards savings so that you don't need to rely on credit more than necessary. Guaranteed to work every time. Answer more tailored to your question: What you're asking for is not realistic, practical, logical, or reasonable. ...
College student - I'm a 'dependent' and my parents won't apply for the Parent PLUS loan or cosign a private loan
Smart parents not wanting to get stuck with a student loan or co-signing on a loan. because rent is so high Are you able to live with your parents? Is there anyway to reduce the cost of rent like renting a room? Can you move somewhere where the rent is cheaper? working 25 hours per week Working 25 hours per week an...
For an equivalent company security, does it make more sense to trade them in country with dividend tax free?
You might have to pay a premium for the stocks on the dividend tax–free exchanges. For example, HSBC on the NYSE yields 4.71% versus HSBC on the LSE which yields only 4.56%. Assuming the shares are truly identical, the only reason for this (aside from market fluctuations) is if the taxes are more favorable in the UK ve...
Why is there so much variability on interest rate accounts
Generally, if you watch for the detail in the fine print, and stay away from non-FDIC insured investments, there is little difference, so yes, pick the highest you can get. The offered interest rate is influenced by what the banks are trying to accomplish, and how their current and desired customer base thinks. Some ba...
Bank statements - should I retain hardcopies for tax or other official purposes (or keep digital scanned copies)?
Digital records are fine, but record-keeping practices are important. Be consistent.
I cosigned for a friend who is not paying the payment
You promised to pay the loan if he didn't. That was a commitment, and I recommend "owning" your choice and following it through to its conclusion, even if you never do that again. TLDR: You made a mistake: own it, keep your word, and embrace the lesson. Why? Because you keep your promises. (Nevermind that this is ...
I am a Canadian resident who wants to gift my Adult US child CAD$175K. What are the tax implications?
The United States taxes gifts to the giver, not the receiver. Thus, in your case there would be no direct tax implications from the receiver so long as you are gifting cash and the cash is in Canada. If you are gifting capital (stocks, property, etc.), or if you are gifting something that is in the United States (US ...
S-Corp partnership startup. How to pay owners with minimal profit?
We don't make enough to really consider it a salary, but I've heard using a draw without a salary is a bad idea. As any other illegal action, not paying yourself a reasonable salary when being a corporate officer is indeed a bad idea. I have no idea what I need to do to actually get some money in our pockets. The ...
Will ADR owner enjoy same benefit as common shares holders
I would say you should invest in the market that is more convenient for you, bearing in mind that if you buy ADRs you may have some things to keep an eye on depending on certain events as mentioned by duffbeer703. So, if you are investing with an account in the U.S., go with the ADRs as that will avoid some currency co...
At what point is the contents of a trust considered to be the property of the beneficiary?
No, you will not have to pay taxes on the corpus (principal) of the trust distribution. If the trust tax forms were filed correctly, you might have as much as a $9000 loss that will flow to you on the trust's termination. Previously, the trust was supposed to file a return each year, and either claim the dividends or...
How much is university projected to cost in Canada in 18 years?
Here's a great Canadian college/university cost calculator I used; found at Canadian Business - they say: Our tool is divided into three easy steps. First, calculate the tuition cost for the university and faculty you wish to attend. Then, calculate any additional fees for residence (on campus student housing...
What are the important differences between mutual funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)?
Behind the scenes, mutual funds and ETFs are very similar. Both can vary widely in purpose and policies, which is why understanding the prospectus before investing is so important. Since both mutual funds and ETFs cover a wide range of choices, any discussion of management, assets, or expenses when discussing the diff...
How to rebalance a passive portfolio if I speculate a war is coming?
At a risk of stating the obvious: a passive portfolio doesn't try to speculate on such matters.
Is an interest-only mortgage a bad idea?
It's an interesting question, and one that has a few tentacles. A few thoughts come to mind: There's nothing wrong per se with these arrangements. I think it's a matter of doing what feels comfortable. Hopefully someone on here will have a personal experience to share.
Using Loan to Invest - Paying Monthly Installments by Selling Originally Bought Shares
In addition to the answer from CQM, let me answer your 'am I missing anything?' question. Then I'll talk about how your approach of simplifying this is making it both harder and easier for you. Last I'll show what my model for this would look like, but if you aren't capable of stacking this up yourself, then you REALLY...
Calculate Finance Rate, Interest Amount when we have below line Fees
The equation for the payment is This board does not support Latex (the number formatting code) so the above is an image, the code is M is the payment calculated, n is the number of months or periods to pay off, and i is the rate per period. You can see that with i appearing 3 times in this equation, it's not possible ...
How to pay with cash when car shopping?
You can pay with a cashiers check or personal check. You can even pay cash, or combine payment methods. However, in the USA if you give the dealership $10,000 or more in actual cash, they will be required to fill out a form 8300 with the IRS.
Started new job. Rollover previous employer 401k to new 401k, IRA or Roth IRA?
I agree with harmanjd – best to roll it over to an IRA. Not only does that afford you better control of your money as pointed out already, but: If you choose your IRA provider wisely, you can get an account that provides you with a much wider array of investing choices, including funds and ETFs that charge much lower ...
Does it make sense to take out student loans to start an IRA?
Depending on the student loan, this may be improper usage of the funds. I know the federal loans I received years ago were to be used for education related expenses only. I would imagine most, if not all, student loans would have the same restrictions. Bonus Answer: You must have earned income to contribute to an IRA...
Currently sole owner of a property. My girlfriend is looking to move in with me and is offering to pay 'rent'. Am I at risk here?
I have been renting rooms out of my house for over 7 years now. When renting to non-family, the arrangement is usually successful. People leave for various reasons, an occasionally I will ask someone to move out if they are not working out. In the USA, this works well because by keeping things formal (rental agreeme...
Do I not have a credit score?
I'm the contrarian in the crowd. I think credit scores and debt are the closest thing to evil incarnate. You're in good company. The absence of a credit score simply means the agencies have insufficient data in their behavioral model to determine how profitable your business would be to the bank. The higher your score,...
How does one determine the width of a candlestick bar?
Very common question. There is no any rule of thumb. This solely depends on your trading strategy. I will share my own experience. My day starts with the daily chart, if I have a signal, either I open my position or I check 30 minute chart to make sure that it won't go too much against my trade. and I open my position....
Should I use an NRE or NRO account to transfer money from India to the US? Any reports needed?
Deposits into NRE account can only be done from funds outside India. So your brother cannot deposit into your NRE account. He can deposit in NRO account or directly wire transfer the funds. Both these require some paper work depending on the amount.
Options on the E-mini S&P 500 Futures at the CME: when were EW3, the weekly Monday options and the weekly Wednesday options introduced?
Why do you care? In any case, you can easily Google the answer... Effective Sunday, April 2, 2017 for trade date Monday, April 3, 2017, and pending all relevant CFTC regulatory review periods, Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (“CME” or “Exchange”) will list Monday Weekly Options on the E-mini Standard and Poor’s St...
How are people able to spend more than what they make, without going into debt?
That's just his base salary for last year. Keep reading in the article: He also received $1.6 million worth of securit[ies]. Plus, he's probably earned plenty in salary, bonuses, and other compensation in previous years to more than keep up his lifestyle. He can also sell (relatively) small amounts of the stock he al...
How an ETF pays dividend to shareholders if a holding company issues dividend
The amount, reliability and frequency of dividends paid by an ETF other than a stock, such as an index or mutual fund, is a function of the agreement under which the ETF was established by the managing or issuing company (or companies), and the "basket" of investments that a share in the fund represents. Let's say you...
When should I walk away from my mortgage?
Dan - there are other choices. What rate do you have on this mortgage? And what is the value of the home? With a bit of patience and effort, you may be able to lower your rate and save some portion of that $100k you think you can grab. There is no factual answer here. The negative will show for 7 years, and only you c...
Where can I lookup accurate current exchange rates for consumers?
I want to shop in the currency that will be cheapest in CAD at any given time. How do you plan to do this? If you are using a debit or credit card on a CAD account, then you will pay that bank's exchange rate to pay for goods and services that are billed in foreign currency. If you plan on buying goods and services f...
Scam or Real: A woman from Facebook apparently needs my bank account to send money
If it's not the classic scam described in Daniel Anderson's answer, then it's probably money laundering. In that case, the woman would actually wire you money, which you have to wire to someone else she names. This is done to enter illegally gained money into the regular money circulation, hiding the trail. If this is ...
How can I legally and efficiently help my girlfriend build equity by helping with a mortgage?
There is no simple, legally reasonable, way for her to build equity by helping out with your mortgage, without her having a claim to your mortgage. The only 'equitable' thing she can do is rent from you. If you want her to be building equity, have her start and fund a brokerage account for herself. If you have an affi...
Online tools for monitoring my portfolio gains/losses in real time?
Do you have a broker? Any online brokerage (TD Ameritrade, E*Trade, Scott Trade, etc) offer the functionality that you want. If you're not interested in opening a brokerage account, you can search for threads here related to stock market simulation, since most of those services also provide the features that you want. ...
Smart to buy a house in college?
If you don't plan to stay in it, it is never good money to try to buy a house in a bad neighborhood. The question you want to be asking is probably "Is it smart to buy this piece of real estate," not "is it smart to buy a house in college." In this case, it's probably not smart because you won't actually have revenue ...
How might trading volume affect future share price?
You can't tell for sure. If there was such a technique then everyone would use it and the price would instantly change to reflect the future price value. However, trade volume does say something. If you have a lemonade stand and offer a large glass of ice cold lemonade for 1c on a hot summer day I'm pretty sure you'l...
Is technical analysis based on some underlying factors in the market or do they work simply because other people use them?
Technical Analysis assumes that the only relevant number(s) regarding a security is (are) price (and price momentum, price patterns, price harmonics, price trends, price aberrations, etc.). Technical is all based on price. Technical is not based on any of the fundamentals. Technical Analysis is for traders (speculator...
Is it a bad idea to buy a motorcycle with a lien on it?
In the case of a vehicle with a lien, there is a specific place on the title to have a lien holder listed, and the holder of the lien will also hold the title until the lien is cleared. Usually this means you have to pay off the loan when you purchase the vehicle. If that loan is held by a bank, meet the seller at the ...
Buying Fixed Deposit in India from Europe
If the intention is after maturing to convert back the Rupees into Euro, its not a good idea. Generally the interest rate in Euro and the interest rate in Rupee are offset by the predicted exchange rate. i.e. the Rupee will fall compared to Euro by similar rate. The point at Step 5 is generally what is expected to hap...
What are some sources of information on dividend schedules and amounts?
I have 3 favorite sites that I use. http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/mcd/dividend-history - lists the entire history of dividends and what dates they were paid so you can predict when future dividends will be paid. http://www.dividend.com/dividend-stocks/services/restaurants/mcd-mcdonalds/ - this site lists key stats like ...
Should I open a Roth IRA or invest in the S&P 500?
Your question indicates confusion regarding what an Individual Retirement Account (whether Roth or Traditional) is vs. the S&P 500, which is nothing but a list of stocks. IOW, it's perfectly reasonable to open a Roth IRA, put your $3000 in it, and then use that money to buy a mutual fund or ETF which tracks the S&P 500...
Is This A Scam? Woman added me on LinkedIn first, then e-mailed offering me millions of dollars [duplicate]
This is totally a scam. I didn't read the whole thing. Didn't need to after I read "abandoned sum of 22.5 million" which implied part of it was yours to take after you do something for them.. Logically speaking.. No stranger would disclose this to you.
How to handle two K-1 forms from same company?
Just type in the forms as they are, separately. That would be the easiest way both to enter the data without any mistakes, and ensure that everything matches properly with the IRS reports.
I have an extra 1000€ per month, what should I do with it?
If I were you, I would save 200 euros for retirement each month and another 800 I would stash away with the hope to start investing soon. I think you have to invest a bigger lump sum, then 1000 euros. It makes sense to invest at least 30K to see any tangible results. My acquaintances started from 50K and now see pretty...
Investment Options for 14-year old?
A Junior ISA might be one option if you are eligible do you have a CTF? (child trust fund) though the rules are changing shortly to allow those with CTF's to move to a junior ISA. JISA are yielding about 3.5% at the moment Or as you are so young you could invest in one or two of the big Generalist Investment trusts (W...
Why can't you just have someone invest for you and split the profits (and losses) with him?
What you are looking for is a pretty terrible deal for you, so I'd say it doesn't exist because there isn't a market for it, or nobody has noticed there is a market for it. In principle I would happily take the deal you offer from as many people as would let me, put the money into treasury bills, and take half the prof...
Does being involved in the management of a corporation make me ineligible for a workshare program?
Assuming you are paying into and eligible to collect regular Employment Insurance benefits for the job in question, I don't see how owning a side business would, by itself, affect your ability to participate in the workshare program. Many people own dormant businesses ($0 revenue / $0 income), or businesses with insig...
Strategy to minimize taxes due to unpaid wages?
Can I write off the $56,000 based on demand letters? Or do I need to finish suing him to write-off the loss? No and no. You didn't pay taxes on the money (since you didn't file tax returns...), so what are you writing off? If you didn't get the income - you didn't get the income. Nothing to write off. Individuals in ...
Is paying off your mortage a #1 personal finance priority?
If you can make enough ROI from the capital you retain by not paying off your mortgage, then why not? I do, I could pay off a significant chunk of mortgage if I wanted but whilst interest rates are low there's little incentive. As for another crash... Well, there's no reason to expect a crash would result in high inter...
Is threatening to close the account a good way to negotiate with the bank?
I would hold off on making that threat (closing your account). First, because as others have said, it's not likely to help. And second, assuming you're willing to make good on that threat, you should only play that card as a final absolute last resort, because if it fails, and you close your account, there is little to...
60% Downpayment on house?
Peace of mind is the key to your question. Just before the US housing bust of 2007, I had someone try to convince me to take all the equity from my house which was overvalued in an overheated market. The idea was to put that money in the stock market for a bigger return than the interest on the house. Many people did t...
Does negative P/E ratio mean stock is weak?
P/E is the number of years it would take for the company to earn its share price. You take share price divided by annual earnings per share. You can take the current reported quarterly earnings per share times 4, you can take the sum of the past four actual quarters earnings per share or you can take some projected e...
Why does historical price data not go back all the way on Google Finance?
Google Finance and Yahoo Finance have been transitioning their API (data interface) over the last 3 months. They are currently unreliable. If you're just interested in historical price data, I would recommend either Quandl or Tiingo (I am not affiliated with either, but I use them as data sources). Both have the same h...
Job Offer - Explain Stock Options [US]
Its important that you carefully read the agreement, if you accept the job. The options agreement will usually specify the vesting schedule, the strike price, and the number of options you will have. When you start vesting options, you can choose to buy stock at the strike price. When you do exercise the options, your...
Why did the stock chart for Facebook's first trading day show an initial price of $42 when the IPO price was $38?
I'd add, this is actually the way any stock opens every day, i.e. the closing price of the prior day is what it is, but the opening price will reflect whatever news there was prior to the day's open. If you watch the business news, you'll often see that some stock has an order imbalance and has not opened yet, at the n...
2 401k's and a SEP-IRA
question #2 - yes, 25% of your 1099 income. Good idea. It adds up quickly and is a good way to reduce taxable income.
How Does A Special Memorandum Account Work
Here is another explanation of an SMA. SMA refers to the Special Memorandum Account which represents neither equity nor cash but rather a line of credit created when the market value of securities in a Reg. T margin account increase in value. For example, assume the market value of securities purchased at a cost of $...
Do Americans really use checks that often?
Typically your paychecks are direct deposited into your bank account and you receive a paycheck stub telling you how much of your money went where (taxes, insurance, 401k, etc.). Most people use debit or credit cards for purchases. I personally only use checks to transfer money to another person (family, friend, etc.)...