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Can a company charge you for services never requested or received?
In general, you can only be charged for services if there is some kind of contract. The contract doesn't have to be written, but you have to have agreed to it somehow. However, it is possible that you entered into a contract due to some clause in the home purchase contract or the contract with the home owners' associat...
For the first time in my life, I'm going to be making real money…what should I do with it?
Fool's 13 steps to invest is a good starting point. Specifically, IFF all your credit cards are paid, and you made sure you've got no outstanding liabilities (that also accrues interest), stock indexes might be a good place for 5-10 years timeframes. For grad school, I'd probably look into cash ISA (or local equivalent...
If the U.S. defaults on its debt, what will happen to my bank money?
If you are actually referring to all the political rhetoric and posturing over the debt ceiling issue. That's a long ways from the US actually defaulting on paying debts. A lot of government offices might shut down, but I expect anyone holding US debt to be paid off. (they have the printing presses after all) If tha...
I'm thinking of getting a new car … why shouldn't I LEASE one?
I never understood why people lease rather than buy or finance. I'm financing a new civic 09 @ 0.9%. At the end of the 5 year terms I will have paid less than $800 in interest.
How can small children contribute to the “family economy”?
Similar to the lawn care you mentioned: if you have space, you could have the kids create a mini-farmstand. They could grow flowers for cutting, some vegetables, etc. It would be a different twist on the classic lemonade stand. If the kids are into animals and space and zoning allows, you could keep chickens and add eg...
Why is day trading considered riskier than long-term trading?
Short-term, the game is supply/demand and how the various participants react to it at various prices. On longer term, prices start to better reflect the fundamentals. Within something like week to some month or two, if there has not been any unique value affecting news, then interest, options, market maker(s), swing tr...
Should I set a stop loss for long term investments?
This is the exactly wrong thing to do especially in the age of algorithmic trading. Consider this event from 2010: Chart Source Another similar event occurred in 2015 and there was also a currency flash crash in that year. As you can see the S&P 500 (and basically the entire market) dropped nearly 7% in a matter of ...
Pay cash for a home, get a reverse mortgage, and buy stock
I think you're missing a couple of things. First - why do you think its a reverse mortgage? More likely than not its a regular mortgage - home equity loan. If so, if they expect the stock market to rise significantly more than the amount of interest they pay on the loan - then its a totally sensible course of action. S...
Canadian personal finance software with ability to export historical credit card transactions?
Yodlee is the back-end which communicates with the banks, and Mint just provide a pretty layer on top. You can sign up for an account with Yodlee directly, which may give you the flexibility you need.
When should I start saving/investing for my retirement?
Here's a good strategy: Open up a Roth IRA at a discount-broker, like TD Ameritrade, invest in no-fee ETF's, tracking an Index, with very low expense ratios (look for around .15%) This way, you won't pay brokers fees whenever you buy shares, and shares are cheap enough to buy casually. This is a good way to start. When...
What is the main purpose of FED increase and decrease interest rate?
When inflation is high or is rising generally interest rates will be raised to reduce people spending their money and slow down the rate of inflation. As interest rates rise people will be less willing to borrow money and more willing to keep their money earning a good interest rate in the bank. People will reduce thei...
Is buying a lottery ticket considered an investment?
Buying lotteries tickets makes you the fish not the fisher. Just like casinos or drugs. If you like, you can call buying tickets an "investment" or better yet, a donation in the lottery's owner wealth. No real investor is dumb enough to get into a business where 99.9999999% of the "investors" lose EVERYTHING they inves...
Why do most banks in Canada charge monthly fee?
The other answers in this thread do a fine job of explaining the economic situation that banks are in. In addition to that information, I would like to point out that it is not hard to avoid a monthly fee for Canadian bank accounts. Usually this involves keeping a minimum balance of a few thousand dollars at all times....
I'm halfway through a 5-year purchase financing deal on my car. It's expensive. Can I sell it and get a cheaper car?
You say "it's expensive". I'm going to interpret this as "the monthly payments are too high". Basically, you need to get your old loan paid off, presumably by selling the car you have now. This is the tough part. If you sold the car now, how much would you get for it? You can use Kelley Blue Book to figure out what...
How to deal with activist targeting of individual stocks?
The easiest way to deal with risks for individual stocks is to diversify. I do most of my investing in broad market index funds, particularly the S&P 500. I don't generally hold individual stocks long, but I do buy options when I think there are price moves that aren't supported by the fundamentals of a stock. All of ...
Why can I see/trade VIX but not S&P/TSX 60 VIX?
S&P/TSX 60 VIX (CAD) is an equation and as the implied volatility of two close to the money TSX 60 options change, the output changes. This is why the intra-day price fluctuates on a graph like a traded product. Although VIXC can't be traded, it can still be used as an important signal for traders. The excerpt is from...
Should I invest in the pre-IPO company stock offered by my employer?
Whether it's wise or not depends on what you think and what you should consider are the risks both ways. What are the risks? For Let's say that the company produces great value and its current price and initial price are well below what it's worth. By investing some of your money in the company, you can take advantage...
Calculate a weekly payment on a loan when payment is a month away
You'd have to look at the terms of the loan to be sure, but if the interest compounds weekly then you'd have to calculate the effect of 3 compounding periods, then compute for weekly payments. The balance after 3 weeks would be: Using Excel's PMT function for that principal balance, I get a weekly payment of $189.48. ...
Snowball debt or pay off a large amount?
Basically, your CC is (if normal) compounded monthly, based on a yearly APR. To calculate the amount of interest you'd pay on each of these accounts in a year, pull up a spreadsheet like Office Excel. Put in your current balance, then multiply it by the annual interest rate divided by 12, and add that quantity to the b...
Can a merchant charge you more in the US if you want to use a credit card?
I'm not sure about the laws in specific states. However it's part of their merchant agreement that they can not charge a fee for a customer paying with credit card. It's also against merchant agreements to require a minimum purchase to use a credit card, although this is less commonly enforced. Apparently (http://fso.c...
Can my federal adjusted gross income differ by $1 between my federal and state returns?
No, you don't. Rounding errors happen, and if there's no change in the actual tax there's no reason to amend. If all the income was properly reported and the tax was properly calculated - no-one cares if it was rounded up or down on one of the lines. Note for the next time though: Not sure about New York, but Federal t...
What tax rules apply to selling of digital goods, specifically in-game currencies?
Believe it or not, unless you directly contact an accountant with experience in this field or a lawyer, you may have a tough time getting a direct answer from a reputable source. The reason is two fold. First, legally defining in-game assets is exceptionally difficult from a legal/taxation stand point. Who really ow...
Can I calculate stock value with Williams%R if I know the last set?
William %R is a momentum indicator used for measuring overbought and oversold levels, it is not used to predict the price of a stock. In fact, William %R, like all momentum indicators, is a lagging indicator - meaning the indicator level changes as the price of the stock changes. It ranges from 0 to -100. Usually when ...
What is the dividend tax rate for UK stock
The link provided by DumbCoder (below) is only relevant to UK resident investors and does not apply if you live in Malaysia. I noticed that in a much older question you asked a similar question about taxes on US stocks, so I'll try and answer both situations here. The answer is almost the same for any country you deci...
What is a trust? What are the different types of trusts?
From a more technical point of view, a trust is a legal relationship between 3 parties: Trusts can take many forms. People setup trusts to ensure that property is used in a specific way. Owning a home with a spouse is a form of a trust. A pension plan is a trust. Protecting land from development often involves placing ...
How meaningful is the “stock price” of a stock?
Prices quoted are primarily the offer prices quoted by the numerous market makers on the stock exchange(s) willing to sell you the stock. There is another price which generally isn't seen on these websites, the bid prices, which are lower prices quoted by buyers and market makers willing to buy your shares from you. Yo...
What assets would be valuable in a post-apocalyptic scenario?
Gold and silver are for after the crisis, not during. Gold and silver are far more likely to be able to be exchanged for things you need, since they are rare, easily divided, etc. Getting land away from where the crap is happening is also good, but it's more than that. Say you have land somewhere. How will the local...
Does a bond etf drop by the amount of the dividend just like an equity etf
It may be true for a bond fund. But it is not true for bond etf. Bond etf will drop by the same amount when it distribute dividend on ex-dividend date.
What type of returns Vanguard is quoting?
From the Vanguard page - This seemed the easiest one as S&P data is simple to find. I use MoneyChimp to get - which confirms that Vanguard's page is offering CAGR, not arithmetic Average. Note: Vanguard states "For U.S. stock market returns, we use the Standard & Poor's 90 from 1926 through March 3, 1957," while the ...
Why do interest rates increase or decrease?
Fundamentally interest rates reflect the time preference people place on money and the things money can buy. If I have a high time preference then I prefer money in my hand versus money promised to me at some date in the future. Thus, I will only loan my money to someone if they offer me an incentive which would be a...
How do I adjust to a new social class?
And specifically regarding prices of housing, what factors drive prices in that regard? I mean, the houses are roughly the same... but almost 3 times as expensive. Rent, like so many things, is tied to supply and demand. On the demand side, rent is tied to income. People tend to buy as much house as they can afford, gi...
Why is auto insurance ridiculously overpriced for those who drive few miles?
4000 miles a year is not a few! European average is about 9000... But nevertheless... But when it comes to risk, then: 1) Nothing stops you from changing circumstances and drive 10 times as much as in previous yers. The insurance remains the same. The only thing the insurance company can do is to charge you more next y...
Economics of buy-to-let (investment) flats
Lucky you - here where I live that does not work, you put money on the table year 1. Anyhow... You HAVE to account for inflation. THat is where the gain comes from. Not investment increase (value of item), but the rent goes higher, while your mortgage does not (you dont own more moeny in 3 years if you keep paying, bu...
How to deduct operational loss from my personal income tax?
I'm not an accountant, and you should probably get the advice of one to be sure about what to do. However, if the business is a sole-proprietorship, you'd complete a Schedule C for the business, and you'd end up with a loss at the end. If the investment you made in the business is considered to be entirely or partial...
Where can I find accurate historical distribution data for mutual funds?
If you want to go far upstream, you can get mutual fund NAV and dividend data from the Nasdaq Mutual Fund Quotation Service (MFQS). This isn't for end-users but rather is offered as a part of the regulatory framework. Not surprisingly, there is a fee for data access. From Nasdaq's MFQS specifications page: To promote m...
USA H1B Employee - Capital gains in India from selling selling stocks
the demat account that I have in India is not an NRI account. Since I was not sure how long I would be in the US, I never converted my account to NRI account. Is it required to convert my account to NRI account? Yes it is very much required by law. One should not buy or sell shares in the Resident account. One has to c...
Can saving/investing 15% of your income starting age 25, likely make you a millionaire?
The article links to William Bernstein’s plan that he outlined for Business Insider, which says: Modelling this investment strategy Picking three funds from Google and running some numbers. The international stock index only goes back to April 29th 1996, so a run of 21 years was modelled. Based on 15% of a salary of $...
Stock market order execution
I used to work on the software in the front office (and a bit of the middle office) of a brokerage firm. This page describes the process pretty well. Basically there are three parts: So to your question: how does an order get executed? ETFs work the same since they are effectively shares of a mutual fund's assets. True...
When will the U.K. convert to the Euro as an official currency?
Not anytime soon, I suspect, but not necessarily for financial reasons. I found this interesting, including the link to the five tests, but I think that this topic is only partially judged through financial eyes, there's a lot of political issues around this with national identity/immigration issues already in the spot...
Should I Purchase Health Insurance Through My S-Corp
The answer seems to depend on where you live. Perhaps you already found this, but the summary from the IRS is: The insurance laws in some states do not allow a corporation to purchase group health insurance when the corporation only has one employee. Therefore, if the shareholder was the sole corporate employee, the s...
If a stock doesn't pay dividends, then why is the stock worth anything?
Since I'm missing the shortest and simplest answer, I'll add it: A car also doesn't offer dividends, yet it's still worth money. A $100 bill doesn't offer dividends, yet people are willing to offer services, or goods, or other currencies, to own that $100 bill. It's the same with a stock. If other people are willing to...
What does an x% inflation rate actually mean?
As pointe out by @quid, inflation figures are almost always quoted as a comparison of prices last month, and prices a year ago last month. So 10% inflation in August means that things cost 10% more than they did in August a year ago. This can lead to some perverse conclusions. Consider an imaginary economy where pric...
How Technical Analysts react to non-market hours effects
You can't. Even as a technical trader you should know what events are coming up and be prepared. You can't prepare for everything but you should know when the earnings dates are. You should also pay attention to the market in general. Stocks also have personalities and you should get to know that personality. Most imp...
Obtaining California SOS number for out-of-state LLC
SOS stands for Secretary of State. The California Department of State handles the business entities registration, and the website is here. See "Forms" in the navigation menu on the left. Specifically, you'll be looking for LLC-5.
How to allocate profit and loss in partnership where one partner's activities are profitable and the other's aren't?
You should have a partnership agreement of some sort. The reason partnership agreements exist is so nobody can change the game because of the outcome. I'd say the most typical partnership agreement is that everyone gets an equal cut, meaning that everyone also makes an equal contribution. If you have start up expen...
MasterCard won't disclose who leaked my credit card details
As indicated in comments, this is common practice in the US as well as EU. For example, in this Fox Business article, a user had basically the same experience: their card was replaced but without the specific merchant being disclosed. When the reporter contacted Visa, they were told: "We also believe that the public ...
Why use accounting software like Quickbooks instead of Excel spreadsheets?
I think your reasons are good. Fundamentally accounting software is built to ensure you record your accounting data effectively with minimal mistakes and good auditing. But you still need to use the tool properly to get the benefit. One other advantage is that many accountants are familiar with, say QuickBooks, and can...
How can I find out which ETFs has holdings in a particular stock?
An ETF does not track any one individual stock. It "is a marketable security that tracks an index, a commodity, bonds, or a basket of assets like an index fund." Check out this link to learn more about ETFs. The easiest way see what ETF tracks a stock is to determine what sector and industry that company is in and find...
Will I have to pay taxes for Australia if I have an Australian bank account?
Because you actually reside in New Zealand, your income taxes will be paid in New Zealand. However, as a non-resident of Australia you will have tax withholding on all of the interest you earn in an Australian bank account. Obviously, because that tax is paid to Australia, that will not be counted against your New Zeal...
Germany: Employee and Entrepreneur at same time (for getting AppStore payments)
(Selling apps is AFAIK business, not freelancing - unless the type of app you produce is considered a freelancing subject. The tax office will give you a questionnaire and then decide). As Einzelunternehmer, you can receive the payments for the apps to the same account where your wages go. However, there are lots of o...
How do I hedge stock options like market makers do?
Let's consider that transaction cost is 0(zero) for calculation. In the scenario you have stated, maximum profit that could be made is 55$, however risk is unlimited. Hedging can also be used to limit your losses, let's consider this scenario. Stock ABC trading @ 100$, I'll buy the stock ABC @ 100$ and buy a put option...
Will my current employer find out if I have a sole proprietarship/corporation?
Tell your employer during your initial contract Terms of Service discussions. Ordinarily, this is boilerplate but you should ask for a rider in your contract which says - in some form - I already have IP, I will continue to work on this IP in my own time, and any benefit or opportunity derived from this IP will contin...
Total price of (AAPL option strike price + option cost) decreases with strike price. Why?
Think about it this way. If the strike price is $200, and cost of the option is $0.05. $200 + $0.05 is $200.05. That does not mean that the price of buying the option is more. Neither is the option writer going to pay you $70 to buy the contract. When you are buying options, you can only have a limited downside and th...
Is there a rule that a merchant must identify themself when making a charge
Obviously, the credit card's administators know who this charge was submitted by. Contact them, tell them that you don't recognize the charge, and ask them to tell you who it was from. If they can't or won't, tell them you suspect fraud and want it charged back, then wait to see who contacts you to complain that the pa...
Understanding a Trailing Limit if Touched Order
I don't think user4358's explanation is correct. A trailing LIT Sell Order adjusts downwards, i.e. if you place the order with an Aux price (in TWS it's trigger price) of 105.00 and a trailing amount of 6.00 then, assuming the ask is 100.00, TWS will add the trailing amount to the ask price and if it's less than the t...
How are various types of income taxed differently in the USA?
Many individual states, counties, and cities have their own income taxes, payroll taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, etc., you will need to consult your state and local government websites for information about additional taxes that apply based on your locale. Wages, Salaries, Tips, Cash bonuses and other taxable empl...
More money towards down payment versus long-term investments
I'd put the 20% down, close on the house, live in it for a year, and save the difference. If you find your cash flow is fine, run a calculation and start on a program of prepaying a bit of principal each month as an extra payment. If you study how amortization works, you'll understand that an extra payment of about 1/...
What is the future of 401(k) in terms of stability and reliability?
The same author wrote in that article “they have a trillion? Really?” But that’s what happens when ten million dollars compounds at 2% over 200 years. Really? 2% compounded over 200 years produces a return of 52.5X, multiply that by 10M and you have $525 million. The author is off by a factor of nearly 2000 fold. Let...
Is www.onetwotrade.com a scam?
OneTwoTrade is a binary option seller, and they are officially licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority. They are not in any way licensed or regulated as an investment, because they don't do actual investing. Is your money safe? If you mean will they take your money and run off with it, then no they probably won't just t...
I carelessly invested in a stock on a spike near the peak price. How can I salvage my investment?
Yes, you could sell what you have and bet against others that the stock price will continue to fall within a period of time "Shorting". If you're right, your value goes UP even though the stock price goes down. This is a pretty darn risky bet to make. If you're wrong, there's no limit to how much money you can owe. ...
How do i get into investing stocks [duplicate]
Everything that I'm saying presumes that you're young, and won't need your money back for 20+ years, and that you're going to invest additional money in the future. Your first investments should never be individual stocks. That is far too risky until you have a LOT more experience in the market. (Once you absolutely ca...
How do UK Gilts interest rates and repayments work?
A title such as "5% Treasury Gilt 2020" expresses the nominal yield. In other words, 5% is the yield you will receive if you are able to buy the Gilt at the nominal (issue) price of GBP100. Of course, you will not be able to buy such a Gilt in today's market for the nominal price of GBP100. It will be trading at a co...
Family suggests my first real estate. Advice?
You say My work is steady; even if I lost my job it'd be easy to get another. Location has been static for a few years now, but I'm not sure that'll extrapolate to the future; I'm lazy, so I don't want to move, but for a significantly better job opportunity I wouldn't mind. The general rule of thumb is that you'll c...
I have more than $250,000 in a US Bank account… mistake?
Yes. Although I imagine the risk is small, you can remove the risk by splitting your money amongst multiple accounts at different banks so that none of the account totals exceed the FDIC Insurance limit. There are several banks or financial institutions that deposit money in multiple banks to double or triple the effec...
Can you explain why these items are considered negatives on my credit report?
I'm going to give the succinct, plain language version of the answers: 1. Your oldest active credit agreement is not very old You don't have much experience or history for me to base my analysis on -- how do I know I can trust you to pay back the money? 2. You have no active credit card accounts Other people hav...
Are index-tracking ETF popular in Japan?
The Japanese stock market offers a wide selection of popular ETFs tracking the various indices and sub-indices of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. See this page from the Japan Exchange Group site for a detailed listing of the ETFs being offered on the Tokyo exchange. As you have suggested, one would expect that Japanese inve...
Impact of EIN on taxation
Your question mixes up different things. Your LLC business type is determined by how you organize your business at the state level. Separately, you can also elect to be treated in one of several different status for federal taxation. (Often this automatically changes your tax status at the state level too, but you ne...
Bitcoin Cost Basis Purchases
As long as the IRS treats bitcoin as property, then whenever you use bitcoin to buy anything you are supposed to consider the capital gain or capital loss. There is no "until it's converted to fiat". You are paying local sales tax and capital gains, or paying local sales tax and reporting capital loss. As long as you a...
Why does low interest rate prevent bankruptcy and foreclosure?
Most of the bankruptcy is due to taking [or building over a period of time] a loan that one cannot service, if the interest rates rise, then the amount of money to repay the loan increases, when one doesnt pay the revised amount and keeps paying less, the over all debt keeps shooting through the roof ... a lower intere...
Best way to buy Japanese yen for travel?
When I went on vacation to London a few years ago, I looked around at banks with ATM deals with UK banks. I found that B of A had a deal with a UK bank that you could use their ATMs to take out money from your US account for practically no fees. So the week or so before I left, I opened an account at B of A, put a bunc...
Is income from crypto-currencies taxed?
In Canada, it is similarly taxed as CQM states. Mining is considered business income and you need to file a T1 form. Capital appreciation is no different than treating gains from stock.
How does refinancing work?
You owe $20,000 to a loanshark, 1% per week interest. I'm happy to get 1% per month, and trust you to pay it back, so I lend you the $20,000. The first lender got his money, and now you are paying less interest as you pay the loan back. This is how a refi works, only the first bank won't try to break the legs of the ...
When a stock price goes down, does the money just disappears into thin air?
You buy a $100k sport car, but don't buy any insurance. You take a curve too fast and jump out just in time to see your car go off a cliff, like a chase movie. The value went from $100k to zero in seconds. Where did the $100k go?
Buy or sell futures contracts
Buying (or selling) a futures contract means that you are entering into a contractual agreement to buy (or sell) the contracted commodity or financial instrument in the contracted amount (the contract size) at the price you have bought (or sold) the contract on the contract expire date (maturity date). It is important...
Automatic investments for cheap
If you are not worried about timing the market and want to buy primarily "blue chip" stocks to hold for a while, consider using Loyal3. They don't charge any commission. The downside is that trades are executed at the end of the day and there's only about 60 companies currently available (but there are some really good...
Refinance when going to sell?
In the first years of a loan, most of what you're paying is interest, so my guess is that this is a bad idea. But there are lots of mortgage calculators offered for free on the web (your bank's website may have one) so I'd suggest that you spend some time running actual numbers before deciding. Reminder: Most renovatio...
offshoring work and tax dilemma
Generally for tax questions you should talk to a tax adviser. Don't consider anything I write here as a tax advice, and the answer was not intended or written to be used, and it cannot be used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer. Does IRS like one payment method ov...
Is there any reason not to buy points when re-financing with intent not to sell for a while?
In such a situation, is there any reason, financial or not, to NOT pay as many points as mortgage seller allows? I can think of a few reasons not to buy points, in the scenario you described: If interest rates decrease you could be better off refinancing to a lower rate than buying points now. If buying points reduce...
Why are prices in EUR for consumer items often the same number as original USD price, but the GBP price applies the actual exchange rate?
In the EU prices on consumer-focussed sites* are quoted inclusive of VAT. In the USA prices are quoted exclusive of sales tax. Consumer pricing is usually driven at least partly by psychological concerns. Some pricepoints are more appealing to certain types of buyers than others. The Euro vs dollar exchange rate has ...
Does lender care what I use the money for?
When you borrow from a bank, there are secured loans, as with a mortgage, or unsecured lines of credit, usually a more reasonable amount of money, but also based on income. You just asked about a private loan. It depends on the person and your relationship. If you need money to pay the rent, you might not be the best ...
Should I open a credit card when I turn 18 just to start a credit score?
I also feel it's important to NOT get a credit card. I'm in my mid 30's and have had credit cards since I was 20, as has everyone I know. Every single one of those people, with the exception of my dad, is currently carrying some amount of credit card debt - almost always in the thousands of dollars. Here is the essent...
What are the ramifications of lawsuits over “breaches of fiduciary duty” for the average shareholder?
Mostly these are results of arguments between shareholders. These suits come when shareholders alleged that directors didn't act in their best interests. Unless its a class action suit, I'd say there's no ramifications for an average shareholder.
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...
I'm in the U.S. What are vehicles to invest in international stocks?
Interactive Brokers offers many foreign markets (19 countries) for US based investors. You can trade all these local markets within one universal account which is very convenient in my view. IB offering
How to invest for the event of a US default?
Lots of opportunities during threats to US debt demand. Most just involve being short the S&P or long the VIX (or short treasury bond futures, or short a US dollar currency pair). Those are the opportunities. And if you are worried about the utility of speculating in US dollars on a decline of the US dollar, then it is...
Tax considerations for selling a property below appraised value to family?
Is this legal? If the purpose of the sale at that price is to defraud somebody else, you could have a legal issue. For example if the purpose was to make yourself appear poorer to make you eligible for government aid; Or to increase your chances of getting a college grant; or to not have to pay money to your spouse as...
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...
How to protect your parents if they never paid Social Security?
Wow. She really is in a pickle. Even though I can intellectualize that she ought have paid more attention to her family's finances, and assuming she wasn't complicit in her husband's obvious tax evasion, I can sympathize to some extent. This is a great demonstration of how dangerous it is to just let your spouse handl...
Does anyone offer no interest loans?
This is very much possible and happens quite a lot. In the US, for example, promotional offers by credit card companies where you pay no interest on the balance for a certain period are a very common thing. The lender gains a new customer on such a loan, and usually earns money from the spending via the merchant fees (...
Why do some stocks have a higher margin requirement?
It's about how volatile the instrument is. Brokers are concerned not about you but about potential lawsuits stemming from their perceived inadequate risk management - letting you trade extremely volatile stocks with high leverage. On top of that they run the risk of losing money in scenarios where a trader shorts a st...
Small withdrawals from IRA
Yes, it really will hurt you to keep pulling your money from your IRA. Your best bet is to set up a payment plan with the IRS, and pay the taxes you owe now, as well as adjust your withholding (with a new W-4 to your payroll department) so that you don't have a large tax liability next year. These tax advantaged plans ...
What are the alternatives to compound interest for a Muslim?
There are lot of options. I personally avoid keeping money in bank accounts and invest in one of the funds. It's just my personal opinion, you can ask your Ulamas
Does a disciplined stock investor stick with their original sell strategy, or stay in and make more?
Ask yourself a better question: Under my current investment criteria would I buy the stock at this price? If the answer to that question is yes you need to work out at what price you would now sell out of the position. Think of these as totally separate decisions from your original decisions to buy and at what price to...
Will my father still be eligible for SNAP if I claim him as my dependent?
This may be best handled by an expert. Look for somebody recommended by a church, homeless shelter, food pantry, office of unemployment, office of disability, or Veterans services to advise you on maximizing support for your father. You want to know what type of help you can give without causing the overall level of ...
When should I walk away from my mortgage?
To put a different spin on it, suppose you loaned someone $100K, expecting that they would pay it back, and then a little later they decided not too. They are perfectly capable of paying back the money, but just decided they didn't want to, and it seems the laws of your state said you couldn't make them. How would you ...
How does a tax exemption for an action = penalty for inaction?
What it means is that you can always come up with alternative framings where the difference between two options is stated as a gain or a loss, but the effect is the same in either case. For instance, if I offer to sell a T-shirt for $10 and offer a cash discount of $1, you pay $10 if buying with a credit card or $9 if...
Should I continue to invest in an S&P 500 index fund?
Cycle analysis indicates that the current bear market, which began in May/June, should last until late 2016 / early 2017. So if you want to trade the short side, then it's a great time to be short for the next 15-18 months.
Maxing out HSA after maxing out Roth IRA
Unless the hypothetical fellow is immune to disease, and indestructible, with no risk of injury, the HSA is an ideal place for this money. It offers a pretax deposit, and if used for medical expenses, a tax free withdrawal. This combination can't be beat for those who have the medical insurance that qualifies them for...
How to trade “exotic” currencies?
Keep in mind that not every currency is "tradeable", i.e.: convertible. In fact, neither the Brazilian nor the Thai currencies are fully convertible, and the trading with them may be limited. There are 17 fully convertible currencies currently in the word, you can find the list here.
Wash sale rule question
Yes. On December 10, you have a wash sale. As long as you don't buy the stock back for 30 days after that, the wash is of no consequence. In other words, you don't have a wash issue if you don't own the stock for 30 days.