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What things should I consider when getting a joint-mortgage?
It may clarify your thinking if you look at this as two transactions: I am an Australian so I cannot comment on US tax laws but this is how the Australian Tax Office would view the transaction. By thinking this way you can allocate the risks correctly, Partnership Tenancy Two things should be clear - you will need a go...
Do I have to explain the source of *all* income on my taxes?
Well, that's probably not even all of it. If that stranger did his taxes properly, then he already paid about a third of it to the government because wherever he got it from it was income for him and thus it must have been taxed. Now, the remainder is in your hands and yes, according to US law it is now your income and...
How to avoid getting back into debt?
Draw up a budget and see where most of you expenses go to. See if you can cut any not essential expenses. If this doesn't help much you will need to increase your income. Ways to do this without going into debt may be to get a job, ask your parents for money, sell some of your non essential things, tutor fellow studen...
Why do people buy new cars they can not afford?
The car you dream of might not be available in your local used car market. Or if it is, there might be something wrong with it. Here are some reasons that a person might want to buy a new car. Basically, if you have a picture in your mind of what your next car should look like, it is easier to shop for a new car: New...
How do I determine if sale proceeds from an asset are taxable?
If it's fully expensed, it has zero basis. Any sale is taxable, 100%. To the ordinary income / cap gain issue raised in comment - It's a cap gain, but I believe, as with real estate, special rates apply. This is where I am out of my area of expertise, and as they say - "Consult a professional."
Is it worth buying real estate just to safely invest money?
Investment is very uncertain, so I believe that unless you have loads of money, you should not play around with houses for the sole purpose of investing. Here are the questions which I would consider to judge the situation. Note that this is based on the current situation in The Netherlands Income: Your income is 1800 ...
When should I start an LLC for my side work?
An LLC is overkill for 99% of 1 man small businesses. Side-businesses should remain as sole proprieterships until they get much larger and need the benefits of the LLC laws. You can still bill through a company name if you want to start building a brand: And set aside 25% of your gross income for Uncle Sam. He wants yo...
When I pay off my mortgage loan, what would really happen?
The underlying investment is usually somewhat independent of your mortgage, since it encompasses a bundle of mortgages, and not only yours. It works similarly to a fund. When, you pay off the old mortgage while re-financing, the fund receives the outstanding debt in from of cash, which can be used to buy new mortgages.
Do market shares exhaust?
Yes, all the shares of a publicly traded company can be purchased. This effectively takes the company private so that it's no longer traded on a stock market. Here are some examples: EDIT: to answer your edited question... the corporation can issue more stock. However that would dilute the value of existing shares. T...
Insider Trading?
Nope, its not legal. Easy to explain: If you know something that isn't public known ("inside") it's called insider trading. Hard to prove (impossible), but still illegal. To clarify: If the CEO says it AND its known in public its not illegal. In any case the CEO could face consequences (at least from his company).
What is a good service that will allow me to practice options trading with a pretend-money account?
Try ThinkOrSwim by TDAmeritrade. It allows you to paper trade with a powerful trading platform. There's also a mobile app so you can trade on the go. Good luck!
Should I trade in a car I own to lower my payments on a new lease?
Trade-in values are generally below what you can get in a private sale. To directly answer your question, you should sell the crossover yourself and use the balance to purchase your new vehicle. I would encourage you to use the $9k to finance directly without a lease, especially if you are planning on financing after t...
How to determine whether 1099-MISC income is from self-employment?
These kinds of questions can be rather tricky. I've struggled with this sort of thing in the past when I had income from a hobby, and I wanted to ensure that it was indeed "hobby income" and I didn't need to call it "self-employment". Here are a few resources from the IRS: There's a lot of overlap among these resources...
How can I avoid international wire fees or currency transfer fees?
I faced something similar for travel or work reasons, and as for me I preferred wire transfer over credit card withdrawals because my bank has huge fees. My thoughts so far are: the fee can vary a lot for credit card. As for me, I can expect 5% fees on foreign withdrawals. But I considered changing bank and I think a G...
Evidence for Technical Analysis [duplicate]
To answer your original question: There is proof out there. Here is a paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis that might be worth a read. It has a lot of references to other publications that might help answer your question(s) about TA. You can probably read the whole article then research some of the other ...
What is the best way to learn investing techniques?
First, you need to figure out what your objectives for the money are. Mostly, this boils down to how soon you are going to need the money. If you are, as you say, very busy and you don't need the money until retirement, I'd suggest putting your money in a single target date fund, such as the BlackRock LifePath fund. ...
What should I do with my paper financial documents?
Regarding your specific types: If you can't part with anything, sure, scan them. Also, there are lots of opportunities to sign up for eStatements with just about any financial provider. They want you to sign up for them, because it reduces their expenses. If you still like having paper around (I do admit that it's com...
What is the point of owning a stock without dividends if it cannot be resold?
If that condition is permanent -- the stock will NEVER pay dividends and you will NEVER be able to sell it -- then yes, it sounds to me like this is a worthless piece of paper. If there is some possibility that the stock will pay dividends in the future, or that a market will exist to sell it, then you are making a lon...
How do I explain why debt on debt is bad to my brother?
I wouldn't try to tell him what he should do, nor would I provide any financial assistance. Invite him over and tell him how a Dave Ramsey book changed your life or something so that you aren't the one telling him what to do. People in fundamentally and persistently bad situations are like people with addiction problem...
Diversify across multiple brokers?
You should ensure that your broker is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). SIPC protects the cash and securities in your brokerage account much like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) protects bank deposits. Securities are protected with a limit of $500,000 USD. Cash is prote...
Car financed at 24.90% — what can I do?
If you are a subprime borrower, that may not be an unreasonable rate given the risk they are accepting. In any case, it's what you agreed to. As others have said, you could/should have shopped elsewhere for the loan. In fact, you can still shop elsewhere for a loan to refinance that vehicle and thus lower the rate, unl...
Why don't some places require a credit card receipt signature, and some do?
Merchants apply in advance for the program, and the amount is limited to less than $25.
Dry cleaners lost $160 pants, what should I do?
I really like Rocky's answer, some more info: Keep in mind there is no limit on punitive damages. You could sue for the pants (160) + the filling fee (50) + a reasonable hourly rate to compensate your time (assume 200) + punitive damages of 4590 (assume 5000 limit on small claims court). When facing a suit of 5000, ...
What would I miss out on by self insuring my car?
You're trading a fixed liability for an unknown liability. When I graduated from college, I bought a nice used car. Two days later, a deer came out of nowhere, and I hit it going 70 mph on a highway. The damage? $4,500. If I didn't have comprehensive insurance, that would have been a real hit to me financially. For me,...
How U.S. Depreciation works Explain in brief?
If a business tool has a limited lifespan, it's value decreases (depreciates) from year to year. The business can capture that loss of value on some things that it couldn't otherwise write off as expenses. A few tools can be either expenses or depreciated, but only one of those can be chosen for that particular object....
How to share income after marriage and kids?
I won't answer in a detailed manner because most people at this site like answers with certain bias' on these questions, like pool resources always relative to which partner is asking. If you follow the above advice, you are hoping things work out. Great! What if they don't? It will be very messy. Unlike most of m...
Td Ameritrade Roth IRA question
Your broker, Ameritrade, offers a variety of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) that you can buy and sell with zero commission. An ETF is like a mutual fund, but you buy and sell shares the same way you buy and sell shares of stocks. From your point of view, the relevance of this is that you can buy and sell as many or as ...
How much does the volatility change for a 1$ move in the underlying
The volatility measures how fast the stock moves, not how much. So you need to know the period during which that change occurred. Then the volatility naturally is higher the faster is the change.
Why having large capital is advantageous to trading
You wouldn't want to trade with too small amount of capital - it becomes harder and more expensive to diversify with a small account. Also, the bigger the account the more discounts and special may be offered by your broker (especially if you are a frequent trader). You are also able to trade more often, and have a bu...
US Bank placing a hold on funds from my paycheck deposit: Why does that make sense?
First, congratulations on the paycheck! :-) On the holds: Is it possible that by allowing your account balance to go negative (into overdraft) that you triggered such treatment of your account? Perhaps the bank is being more cautious with your account since that happened. Just how long did you have their $150 on hol...
How much of each stock do index funds hold?
Note that an index fund may not be able to precisely mirror the index it's tracking. If enough many people invest enough money into funds based on that index, there may not always be sufficient shares available of every stock included in the index for the fund to both accept additional investment and track the index pr...
Comparing IRA vs 401K's rate-of-return with dollar cost averaging
Google Docs spreadsheets have a function for filling in stock and fund prices. You can use that data to graph (fund1 / fund2) over some time period. Syntax: =GoogleFinance("symbol", "attribute", "start_date", "num_days|end_date", "interval") where: This analysis won’t include dividends or distributions. Yahoo provides...
If I go to a seminar held overseas, may I claim my flights on my tax return?
You can deduct this if the main purpose of the trip is to attend the seminar. Travel expenses relating to the attendance at conferences, seminars and other work-related events are deductible to the extent that they relate to your income-producing activities. You will need to apportion your travel expenses where you un...
How to shop for mortgage rates ?
You can shop for a mortgage rate without actually submitting a mortgage application. Unfortunately, the U.S. Government has made it illegal for the banks to give you a "good faith estimate" of the mortgage cost and terms without submitting a mortgage application. On the other hand, government regulations make the "go...
UK: How to *leave* self select stock and shares ISA (without selling the shares)?
Your existing shares in their existing ISA(s) do not in any way impact on your future ISA allowances. The only thing that uses up your ISA allowance is you paying new cash into an ISA account. So you can leave your existing shares in their existing ISA(s) and simply open new ISA(s) for future contributions which suit y...
If I put a large down payment (over 50%) towards a car loan, can I reduce my interest rate and is it smart to even put that much down?
I had a strange experience buying a new car. They were offering a deal of 0.9% interest on the loan but only if the loan was above a certain amount. Below that amount, the interest rate was something like 3%. Given the amount I was willing to put down, it was cheaper to put less down and get the lower interest rate....
How much should a new graduate with new job put towards a car?
You are currently $30k in debt. I realize it is tempting to purchase a new car with your new job, but increasing your debt right now is heading in the wrong direction. Adding a new monthly payment into your budget would be a mistake, in my opinion. Here is what I would suggest. Since you have $7k in the bank, spend ...
How can I stop a merchant from charging a credit card processing fee?
Mastercard rules also prohibit asking for ID along with the card. Yet, when I was at Disneyland, years ago (so I don't know if this is still a practice) they asked for my driver's license with every purchase. I can charge up to $200 at Costco with a swipe, not even a signature, but a $5 bottle of water (maybe it was $6...
What should I be aware of as a young investor?
If you're tending toward stocks because you have a long time horizon, you're looking at them for the right reasons. I'm twice your age. I have a mortgage -- two of them, actually! -- a wife, and a six-year-old. I can't really justify being terribly risky with my money because I have others depending on my income. You...
Where can one graph portfolio performance over time?
I use Yahoo Finance to plot my portfolio value over time. Yahoo Finance uses SigFig to link accounts (I've linked to Fidelity), which then allows you to see you exact portfolio and see a plot of its historical value. I'm not sure what other websites SigFig will allow you to sync with, but it is worth a try. Here is wha...
I keep getting overcharged at the grocery store. Foul play?
Of course, there is no way for us to know whether or not the clerk is trying to rip you off $1.29 at a time, but I can't understand the possible motivation for doing so. I would imagine that most people would catch this at some point, so for a store to consistently overcharge for something like this is really bad for ...
Why are capital gains taxed at a lower rate than normal income?
Were capital gains taxes not lower, companies would have an incentive to minimize the portion of the value they create that materializes as capital gains. They would do this by using more debt financing (since interest is deductible) than equity financing. This would have a destabilizing effect on the economy. Low capi...
Get interest on $100K by spending only $2K using FOREX rollovers?
I work at a FOREX broker, and can tell you that what you want to do is NOT possible. If someone is telling you it is, they're lying. You could (in theory) make money from the SWAP (the interest you speak of is called SWAP) if you go both short and long on the same currency, but there are various reasons why this never ...
Ethics and investment
There are a number of mutual funds which claim to be 'ethical'. Note that your definition of 'ethical' may not match theirs. This should be made clear in the prospectus of whichever mutual fund you are looking at. You will likely pay for the privilege of investing this way, in higher expenses on the mutual fund. If I m...
Do I make money in the stock market from other people losing money?
Do I make money in the stock market from other people losing money? Not normally.* The stock market as a whole, on average, increases in value over time. So if we make the claim that the market is a zero-sum game, and you only make money if other people lose money, that idea is not sustainable. There aren't that many p...
Do I need to pay Income Tax if i am running a escrow service in India
This may be closed as not quite PF, but really "startup" as it's a business question. In general, you should talk to a professional if you have this type of question, specifics like this regarding your tax code. I would expect that as a business, you will use a proper paper trail to show that money, say 1000 units of ...
Can value from labor provided to oneself be taxed?
The basis of the home is the cost of land and material. That's it. Your time isn't added to basis. No different than if you spend 1000 hours in a soup kitchen. You deduct miles for your car and expenses you can document but you can't deduct your time. Over 2 years, you could have a gain up to $500K per married couple...
If I have no exemptions or deductions, just a simple paycheck, do I HAVE to file taxes?
If you took advantage of options like a home buyers plan (HBP) you definitely need to file since you must designate how much of the plan to repay. Your employer does not know about what you do with your money so cannot take this into account for the withheld taxes. If you do not report repayment of the HBP it will be...
Is there a more flexible stock chart service, e.g. permitting choice of colours when comparing multiple stocks?
I don't think there are any web based tools that would allow you to do this. The efforts required to build vs the perceived benefit to users is less. All the web providers want the data display as simple as possible; giving more features at times confuses the average user.
Is it irresponsible for me to lease a $300/month car for 18 months?
Some questions: Will you need a car after 18 months? What are you going to do then? How likely are you able to go over the mileage? Granted paying $300 per month seems somewhat attractive as a fixed cost. However lease are notorious for forcing people into making bad decisions. If your car is over miles, or there is...
Helping girlfriend accelerate credit score improvement
This is an all too common problem and is not easy to resolve. Divorce agreements do not alter prior mortgage contracts. Most importantly, the bank is not required, and will not normally, remove the girlfriend from the mortgage even if she quitclaimed it to her Ex. If he has abandoned the property there is a good chance...
For young (lower-mid class) investors what percentage should be in individual stocks?
I don't believe the decision is decided by age or wealth. You only stock pick when a) you enjoy the process because it takes time and if you consider it 'work' then the cost will probably not be offset by higher returns. b) you must have the time to spend trading, monitoring, choosing, etc. c) you must have the skill...
Is it safer to send credit card number via unsecured website form or by e-mail? What safer options are there?
Your biggest risk with a vendor like this is not that your Credit Card Number will be stolen in transit, it is that it will be stolen from the vendor. I agree with @mhoran that using a one-time number is the best plan, provided you have a bank that offers such numbers. Bank of America calls it "Shop Safe" while Citiba...
What does the average log-return value of a stock mean?
Log-returns are very commonly used in financial maths, especially quantitative finance. The important property is that they're symmetrical around 0 with respect to addition. This property makes it possible to talk about an average return. For instance, if a stock goes down 20% over a period of time, it has to gain 25%...
A-B-C Class Shares: What's the difference?
Classes of shares are not necessarily standardized. Some share classes have preference above others in the event of a liquidation. Some share classes represent a different proportion of ownership interest. Any time you see multiple share classes, you need to research what is different for that specific corporation.
Why does it take so long to refund to credit card?
The holdup is from the merchant. To protect themselves, a merchant requires payment before giving you your purchased item/service. That is why you are charged immediately. When getting a refund, the same reason applies. The merchant needs to ensure that you are returning the correct item, or that it is still good, or...
In USA, what circumstances (if any) make it illegal for a homeless person to “rent” an address?
You owe taxes to the state where you earned the income, and also to the state where you physically live. Most, maybe all, states have laws that let you claim credits for taxes paid to other states so that you're not paying double taxes by living in one state while working in another. Most states have deals with all the...
Why do people sell when demand pushes share price up?
You are assuming the price increase will continue. The people selling are assuming that the price increase will not continue. Ultimately that's what a share transaction is: one person would rather have the cash at a particular price / time, and one person would rather have the share.
What are the costs to establish an LLC and to maintain it?
I'll answer in general terms, since I'm not familiar with the price ranges in Florida. The LLC formation costs $125 (state fee). In addition you'll need a registered agent. Registered agent could be your CPA/EA/bookkeeper/property manager/local friend, or you can pay firms specializing in providing registration and age...
Why can't the Fed lower interest rates below zero?
Why can't the Fed simply bid more than the bond's maturity value to lower interest rates below zero? The FED could do this but then it would have to buy all the bonds in the market since all other market participants would not be willing to lend money to the government only to receive less money back in the future. No...
Can self-employed individuals deduct their mileage spent commuting to events?
I looked at Publication 463 (2014), Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses for examples. I thought this was the mot relevant. No regular place of work. If you have no regular place of work but ordinarily work in the metropolitan area where you live, you can deduct daily transportation costs between home a...
Full-time work + running small side business: Best business structure for taxes?
You should look into an LLC. Its a fairly simple process, and the income simply flows through to your individual return. It will allow you to deduct supplies and other expenses from that income. It should also protect you if someone sues you for doing shoddy work (even if the work was fine), although you would need ...
Diversify my retirement investments with a Roth IRA
Without making specific recommendations, it is worthwhile to point out the differing tax treatments for a Roth IRA: investments in a Roth IRA will not be taxed when you withdraw them during retirement (unless they change the law on that or something crazy). So if you are thinking about investing in some areas with high...
Relation between interest rates and currency for a nation
What you are asking about is called Interest Rate Parity. Or for a longer explanation the article Interest Rate Parity at Wikipedia. If the US has a rate of say zero, and the rate in Elbonia is 10%, one believes that in a year the exchange rate will be shifted by 10%, i.e. it will take 1.1 unit of their currency to ge...
How to find out if I have a savings account already?
If you know what bank your parents used, call them and ask. (Or you might have to go there and show id). Chances are if such an account exists, it would be at the same bank. You can also search for unclaimed property. Here's the information link for Florida.
Is there a formula to use to analyse whether an investment property is a good investment?
There is no generic formula as such, but you can work it out using all known incomes and expenses and by making some educated assuption. You should generaly know your buying costs, which include the purchase price, legal fees, taxes (in Australia we have Stamp Duty, which is a large state based tax when you purchase a ...
Cheapest way to “wire” money in an Australian bank account to a person in England, while I'm in Laos?
I've used OFX quite a lot for international transfers. They are much faster than a normal international transfer from your bank. Instead it ends up being a local transfer on either end which just works a heck of a lot quicker. They also claim lower exchange rates. In the past we have compared and sometimes found them l...
How does one typically exit (close out) a large, in-the-money long put option position?
You are long the puts. By exercising them you force the underlying stock to be bought from you at your strike price. Let's say your strike it $100 and the stock is currently $25. Buy 100 shares and exercise 1 (bought/long) put. That gives you $7500 of new money, so do the previous sentence over again in as many 'units'...
What happens when PayPal overdrafts a checking account (with an ample backup funding source available)?
PayPal will be contacting you shortly, I'm sure. You'll see the reversal on their site in a few days as well as a fee from their end I bet.
Does the Black-Scholes Model apply to American Style options?
A minor tangent. One can claim the S&P has a mean return of say 10%, and standard deviation of say 14% or so, but when you run with that, you find that the actual returns aren't such a great fit to the standard bell curve. Market anomalies producing the "100-year flood" far more often than predicted over even a 20 year...
Is there any emprical research done on 'adding to a loser'
It works if after the price has halved and you buy more the price then rises, however if you are attempting to do this you are basing you "doubling down" on hope, and if you are basing a purchase on hope you are gambling. In many cases if the price has halved it could be because there is something very wrong with the c...
Why can we cancel cheques, but not Western Union transfers?
When you send money with Western Union, it is essentially a cash transaction. You supply Western Union with the name of the recipient and a location. Your recipient then shows up at a Western Union office, shows some identification, and receives cash. At this point, the transaction is over. It is impossible to retr...
What is the rationale behind stock markets retreating due to S&P having a negative outlook on the USA?
I think a big part of the issue is ignorance. For instance, the US govt cannot default on its loans, yet you keep hearing people speak as if it could. The US govt also does not have to borrow to pay for anything, it creates its own money whenever it wants. These 2 facts often evade many people, and they feel the US gov...
Scam or Real: A woman from Facebook apparently needs my bank account to send money
The other answers describe why this is highly likely to be a scam. This answer describes why you don't want to get involved, even in the unlikely case that it isn't a scam. I'm describing this using US law (which I'm not particularly familiar with, so if I go astray I'd suggest others fix any flaws in this answer), bu...
Are variable rate loans ever a good idea?
The earlier you are in your career, the more willing you should be to take a better opportunity even if it has a short-term financial cost. You go to college even if McDonald's has an opening. After college you may take an entry level job with better long-term prospects even if a higher paying job is available. You ...
Standard Deviation with Asset Prices?
You can use google docs to create a spreadsheet. In field A2, I put Google will load the prices into the sheet. At that point, I add the following into C12, then copy that line all the way down to the botton of column C. You can find my spreadsheet here. It calculates the moving 10 day standard deviation as a percentag...
30% share in business
Keep in mind a good lawyer will have the contract cover the five D's: Its really best to lay these things out ahead of time. I watched, first hand, two friends start a business. When they were broke and struggling the worked very well together. Then the money started rolling in. Despite exceeding their dreams they ...
Must a company have a specific number of employees to do an IPO?
While there is no legal reason to have a minimum number of employees, there can be a practical reason. They want to look like a good solid investment so that investors will give them money, which is what an IPO is, really. Hiring lots of people is part of that. Once the investors are committed, they can cut expenses...
Can a shareholder be liable in case of bankruptcy of one of the companies he invested in?
The answer depends on whether the company involved has 'limited liability'. Most, but not all public and listed companies and corporations have this, but not all so it is worth checking and understanding what you are getting involved with. The expression 'limited liability' means that the owners (shareholders) of a c...
Does financing a portfolio on margin affect the variance of a portfolio?
Variance of a single asset is defined as follows: σ2 = Σi(Xi - μ)2 where Xi's represent all the possible final market values of your asset and μ represents the mean of all such market values. The portfolio's variance is defined as σp2 = Σiwi2σi2 where, σp is the portfolio's variance, and wi stands for the weight of th...
When is Cash Value Life Insurance a good or bad idea?
The standard answer I have heard is that if you were to purchase term life insurance and invest the difference between the cost of the policies, your investments would grow larger than the cash value of the insurance. Also when you take cash out of CVLI the insurance value drops by a like amount. So you can't have your...
I have $10,000 sitting in an account making around $1 per month interest, what are some better options?
Put the whole lot into a couple of low-cost broad index funds with dividends reinvested (also known as accumulation funds) and then don't look at them. Invest through a low-cost broker. There are a number to choose from and once you start googling around the theme of "index fund investing" you'll find them. The S&P 500...
Should you always max out contributions to your 401k?
As long as you're in a lower tax bracket - you would probably be better off paying the taxes now, and investing into the Roth IRA/401K. However, you should be investing for your retirement now, and not later, because of the compounding effect, and also you'll gain the employer matching (if available).
Calculation, timing, and taxes related to profit distribution of an S-corp?
We will bill our clients periodically and will get paid monthly. Who are "we"? If you're not employed - you're not the one doing the work or billing the client. Would IRS care about this or this should be something written in the policy of our company. For example: "Every two months profits get divided 50/50" They ...
Video recommendation for stock market education
In general I would recommend to stay away from any video from a successful trader, at least those that claim to share their secrets. If they were that successful, why would they want company? What they have most likely discovered is that they can make more money through videos and seminars than they can through tradin...
What happens to options after a stock split?
It will be similar to what you have said -- the options price will adjust accordingly following a stock split - Here's a good reference on different scenarios - Splits, Mergers, Spinoffs & Bankruptcies also if you have time to read Characteristics & Risks of Standardized Options
In US, is it a good idea to hire a tax consultant for doing taxes?
Good tax people are expensive. If you are comfortable with numbers and computers, you can do it better yourself.
Earnings Calendar Fiscal Quarter Ending
Why do stock markets allow these differences in reporting? The IRS allows businesses to use fiscal calendars that differ from the calendar year. There are a number of reasons a company would choose do this, from preferring to avoid an accounting rush at end of year during holiday season, to aligning with seasonality fo...
Need something more basic than a financial advisor or planner
If you are living near a land-grant university, you might be able to find help from the university's Extension Service. In many land-grant universities (the land grants were given to universities formed for the purpose of improving "agricultural and mechanical arts"), the Extension Services have expanded beyond farm-...
Investment time horizon: When is it acceptable to withdraw money from investments?
shouldn't withdraw stock investments for at least 5 years would be better re-phrased as: "don't invest money in stocks if you (really) need it within next few years". The underlying principle is: stocks are one of the higher-risk investment classes out there. While that's exactly what you want over a long time horizon...
For a major expensive home renovation (e.g. addition, finished basement, or new kitchen) should one pay cash or finance with a loan? Would such a loan be “good” debt?
Good debt is very close to an oxymoron. People say student loans are "good debt," but I beg to differ. The very same "good debt" that allowed me to get an education is the very same "bad debt" that doesn't allow me to take chances in my career - meaning, I would prefer to have a 'steady' job over starting a business....
Why can it be a bad idea to buy stocks after hours?
Unless you want to be a short term day trader, then it is not foolish to be an end of day trader. If you are looking to be a medium to long term trader/investor then it is quite acceptable to put orders in after market close. Some would say it is even less risky, because you are not watching the price fluctuate up and ...
What percentage of my company should I have if I only put money?
There is no universal answer here; it depends on how much risk each person is taking, how you want to define the value of the business now and in the future, how much each person's contribution is essential to creating and sustaining the business, how hard it would be to get those resources elsewhere and what they woul...
How and Should I Invest (As a college 18 year old with minimal living expenses)?
I'd suggest you keep putting money in your savings account and start investing after you land that first big job. As another answer mentioned, unless you're fortunate enough to have all of your tuition and living expenses paid for, an emergency fund is an invaluable tool for a college student. And the bigger the better...
Should I have to pay income tax on contribution to home office rent from company?
This is essentially a reimbursement of your expense. Since you can deduct the expense, the fact that the reimbursement is taxable doesn't affect you much. You deduct your home office expenses on your annual tax return using form 8829. See the IRS site for more details. If you're asking about the UK tax, there may be so...
Capital gains on no-dividend stocks - a theoretical question
You are overlooking the fact that it is not only supply & demand from investors that determines the share price: The company itself can buy and sell its own shares. If company X is profitable over the long haul but pays 0 dividends then either Option (2) is pretty ridiculous, so (1) will hold except in an extreme "man...
What are some good books for learning stocks, bonds, derivatives e.t.c for beginner with a math background?
Not perhaps practically useful, but I found it conceptually useful to learn the basics of mathematical finance, a way of describing financial markets via probability theory and stochastic processes. It's a little like trying to understand horse racing by studying spherical horses rolling without friction in a vacuum, b...
Having a separate bank account for business/investing, but not a “business account?”
You don't specify which country you are in, so my answers are more from a best practice view than a legal view.. I don't intend on using it for personal use, but I mean it's just as possible. This is a dangerous proposition.. You shouldn't co-mingle business expenses with personal expenses. If there is a chance this w...
Is inflation a good or bad thing? Why do governments want some inflation?
The classic definition of inflation is "too much money chasing too few goods." Within a tight range, say 1-3%, inflation is somewhat benign. There's a nice inflation widget at The Inflation Calculator which helps me see that an item costing $1000 in 1975 would now (2010) be about $4000, and $1000 from 1984 till now, ...
How Should I Start my Finance Life and Invest?
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