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Dealer Financing Fell Through on vehicle purchase: Scam?
There's a good explanation of this type of scam at the following link; It's known as a Spot-Delivery scam. https://www.carbuyingtips.com/top-10-scams/scam1.htm Also, I read this one a while back, and immediately this post reminded me of it: http://oppositelock.kinja.com/when-the-dealership-steals-back-the-car-they-just...
Return of value to shareholders in an ISA
You will receive a combination of Verizon shares and cash whether you chose option B or C. Option B means that your "Return of Value" will be treated as capital - ie: as a capital gain. Option C means that your "Return of Value" will be treated as income - ie: as a dividend. As your ISA has favourable tax status, you d...
Taxing GoFundMe Donations
The $20k limit seems to be (from another answer) the threshold for GoFundMe to report the campaign. However, such a report does not change the taxability of the income. The income is either taxable or non-taxable regardless of whether the amount is $19,999 or $20,001. This is a common misconception, commonly seen when ...
My friend wants to put my name down for a house he's buying. What risks would I be taking?
Something else to consider, even if your friend is on the up and up and never misses a payment: Until the house is paid off, any time you apply for credit banks will count the mortgage payment on your friends house against your ability to pay all your existing debts in addition to whatever new loan you're applying for...
Confirm Dividend Yield
There are lots of provisos, but in general you are correct. The provisos, off the top of my head: The only fees will be any brokerage fees when you purchase the stock. I haven't seen any handling fees when you get the dividend, but it may depend on how you hold the stock.
What's the catch in investing in real estate for rent?
There is a positive not being mentioned above: the depreciation vs your regular earned income. Disclaimer: I am not a tax attorney or an accountant, nor do I play one on the internet. I am however a landlord. With that important caveat out of the way: Rental properties (and improvements to them) depreciate in value on ...
Can saving/investing 15% of your income starting age 25, likely make you a millionaire?
The really simple answer is that compound interest is compound not linear. Money invested for longer earns more interest, and the sooner you start investing, the longer it has to earn interest. These ideas come out of pension investment where 65 is the usual retirement age and what you invest in the 1st ten years of ...
Best way to start investing, for a young person just starting their career?
Conventional wisdom says (100-age) percentage of your saving should go to Equity and (age) percentage should go to debt. My advice to you is to invest (100-age) into index fund through SIP and rest in FD. You can re-balance your investment once a year. Stock picking is very risky. And so is market timing. Of cource yo...
Insider trading in another company?
This information is clearly "material" (large impact) and "non-public" according to the statement of the problem. Also, decisions like United States v. Carpenter make it clear that you do not need to be a member of the company to do illegal insider trading on its stock. Importantly though, stackexchange is not a place...
Should we prepay our private student loans, given our particular profile?
See my recent answer to a similar question on prepaying a mortgage versus investing in IRA. The issue here is similar: you want to compare the relative rates of funding your retirement account versus paying down your debt. If you can invest at a better rate than you are paying on your debt, with similar risk, then you ...
Market Close Order
During the day, market and limit orders are submitted at any time by market participants and there is a bid and an ask that move around over time. Trades occur whenever a market order is submitted or a limit order is submitted that at a price that matches or exceeds an existing limit order. If you submit a market ord...
Would extending my mortgage cause the terms to be re-negotiated?
Run the numbers in advance. Understand what are the current rates for an additional 2nd mortgage, what are the rates for a brand new mortgage that will cover the additional funds. Understand what they are for another lender. Estimate the amount of paperwork involved in each option (new first, new 2nd, and new lender)....
Lease vs buy car with cash?
If you are talking straight dollars then leasing is always a losing proposition when compared with purchasing. The financial workings of leasing are so confusing that people don’t realize that leasing invariably costs more than an equivalent loan. And even if they did, the extra cost is difficult to calculate. Stil...
First job: Renting vs get my parents to buy me a house
Personally, I started renting out because I couldn't afford to buy a place but now I'm quite comfortably past that point. My three main issues are: These views aren't for everyone but I find it hard to seriously contemplate dealing with 2 while 1 and 3 are issues. To be honest, I found that I learned a lot sharing a...
What are the risks & rewards of being a self-employed independent contractor / consultant vs. being a permanent employee?
When I worked for myself it was bad because But Ultimately I gave up my business and went to work for a school teaching, and through a series of other jobs ended up in a very stable reliable trustworthy job. When I was younger the variable paycheck didn't outweigh the freedom. Now that I am a dad I only think about h...
What investments work for these goals?
Assuming this will be a taxable account (since you want to pull income off of it, although this will lower wealth growth), you could open a brokerage account at some place like Vanguard (free on their ETFs) and look at tax efficient index fund ETFs (such as total stock market or their 500 fund), including some interna...
In what category would I put a loan I took to pay an expense
A loan is most generally a liability, a part of the balance sheet. Expenses & income are part of the income statement. Income is the net of revenues after expenses. The interest is an expense on the income statement, but the loan itself does not reside there unless if it is defaulted and forgiven. Then it would beco...
How does the importance of a cash emergency fund change when you live in a country with nationalized healthcare?
Unanticipated unemployment is usually the triggering factor for drawing on an emergency fund. Ask yourself: what happens if I lose my job tomorrow? Or my spouse becomes unemployed? What happens if I become disabled and can't work for x amount of time? Sure, you can discount your chances of needing such a fund if you ha...
How much money should I lock up in my savings account?
Edited answer, given that I didn't address the emergency fund aspect originally: None. You've said you don't feel comfortable locking it away where you wouldn't be able to get to it in an emergency. If you don't like locking it away, the answer to "How much money should I lock up in my savings account?" is none. On a m...
What is the meaning of Equal Housing Lender? Do non-banks need to display it?
At the top result of the Google search, on the Google results page it's sumarized as applicable to every lender participating in FDIC: The terms equal housing lender and equal opportunity lender are synonymous and refer to all banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in the United States. Such banks a...
Is foreign stock considered more risky than local stock and why?
It is very important to note the strength and reputation of the country's regulatory agency. You cannot assume the standards of say the SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission) apply in other countries (even well-developed ones). These regulations force companies to disclose certain information to inform and protect...
Long term investment for money
Say you have $15,000 of capital to invest. You want to put the majority of your capital into low risk investments that will yield positive gains over the course of your working career. $5,000: Government bonds and mutual funds, split how you want. $9,500: Low risk, trusted companies with positive historical growth. I...
Should retirement fund be equal to amount of money needed for financial independence?
I want to know ideally how much should a person save for retirement funds? A person should save enough such that your total retirement resources will equal the amount you personally need for a comfortable retirement at the point in time when the person desires to retire. If you want to retire at 40, you may need to s...
Monthly money transfers from US to Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico: Last I checked, the Puerto Rico banking system wasn't materially different than working within the US - though some Continental US banks exclude US Territories like Guam and Puerto Rico or charge more when dealing with them. I'm not certain as to why. However, most banks don't see them any differently than...
Covered call when stock position is at a loss
It's unclear what you're asking. When I originally read your question, it seemed that you had closed out one options position and opened another. When I read your question the second time, it seemed that you were writing a second option while the first was still open. In the second case, you have one covered and one na...
Cons of withdrawing money from an Roth IRA account?
One "con" I have not yet seen mentioned: retirement accounts are generally protected from creditors in a bankruptcy. There are limits and exceptions, Roth has a 1.2 million dollar limit and can be split by a divorce QDRO for instance. Link Since it seems you have no income this year, you may may be raiding your IRA f...
How you make decision on a stock purchase after fundamental analysis?
The degrees to which a positive is positive and a negative is negative are up to you. There is no correct answer. A couple points of caution:
I am under 18 years old, in the US, my parents have terrible credit, how can I take out a loan?
I am 17 and currently have a loan out for a car. My parents also have terrible credit, and because I knew this I was able to get around it. Your co-signer on your loan does not have to be your parent, at least in Wisconsin, I used my grandmother, who has excellent credit, as my cosigner. With my loan, we had made it so...
How good is Wall Street Survivor for learning about investing?
To be honest, wall street survivor is good but when it comes to learning the stock markets from Europe, Beat wall street is the game to be playing. You can try it out for your self here on http://beatwallstreet.equitygameonline.com/ It is easy to use and there are monthly prizes available to winners, such as Ipads, Iph...
How to manage 20 residential apartments
If he can't manage, best is he sells it off. Its easier to manage cash. Not sure what tax you are talking about. He should have already paid tax on fair market value of the 20 flats. If the intention of Mr X is to gift to son by way of death, then yes the tax will be less. Else whenever Mr X sells there will be tax. h...
Should I fund a move by borrowing or selling other property assets?
It depends what rate mortgage you can get for any extra loans... If you remortgage you are likely to get a rate of 3.5-4%... depending who you go with. With deposit accounts in the UK maying around 1% (yes, you can get more by tying it up for longer but not a huge amount more) clearly you're better off not having a mo...
What are my risks of early assignment?
The put vs call assignment risk, is actually the reverse: in-the-money calls are more likely to be exercised early than puts. Exercising a call locks in profit for the option holder because they can buy the shares at below market price, and immediately sell them at the higher market price. If there are dividends due, t...
How much time would I have to spend trading to turn a profit?
Sounds like you are a candidate for stock trading simulators. Or just pick stocks and use Yahoo! or Google finance tools to track and see how you do. I wouldn't suggest you put real money into it. You need to learn about research and timing and a bunch of other topics you can learn about here. I personally just stick...
What options do I have at 26 years old, with 1.2 million USD?
Others have given a lot of advice about how to invest, but as a former expat I wanted to throw this in: US citizens living and investing overseas can VERY easily run afoul of the IRS. Laws and regulations designed to prevent offshore tax havens can also make it very difficult for expats to do effective investing and ...
What are the tax implications of earnings from the stock market (BSE)?
If you have held the stocks longer than a year, then there is no tax apart from the STT that is already deducted when you sell the shares. If you have held the stock for less than a year, you would have to pay short term capital gains at the rate of 15% on the profit. Edit: If you buy different shares from the total a...
Do I make money in the stock market from other people losing money?
In gambling, the house also takes a cut, so the total money in the game is shrinking by 2-10 percent. So if you gain $100, it's because other people lost $105, and you do this for dozens of plays, so it stacks up. The market owns companies who are trying to create economic value - take nothing and make it something. ...
Evaluating stocks useless?
Is evaluating stocks just a loss of time if the stock is traded very much? Not at all! Making sound investment decisions based on fundamental analysis of companies will help you to do decide whether a given company is right for you and your risk appetite. Investing is not a zero-sum game, and you can achieve a positive...
Company revenue increased however stock price did not
The company released its 2nd Quarter Revenue of $1,957,921 a couple days ago however the stock did not move up in any way. Why? If the company is making money shouldn't the stock go up. During the time between earnings announcements, analysts occasionally publish their assessment of a company, including their estimate ...
My ex sold our car that still had money owed
It is a legal issue for two reasons. In the United States if both names were on the title both people would have had to sign the paperwork in order to transfer the title. If the car was collateral for the loan, then the bank would have had to be involved in the transaction. The portion of the check need to repay the lo...
Is there a benefit, long term, to life insurance for a youngish, debt, and dependent free person?
Careful with saying "no need". Look careful at the cost of life insurance. That cost depends obviously on the amount, but also on the age when you start paying into the insurance. If you take out a $100,000 insurance at 20, and someone else takes it out at 30, and a third person at 50, they will pay hugely different a...
Stock options value
What you will probably get is an option to buy, for £10,000, £10,000 worth of stock. If the stock price on the day your option is granted is £2.50, then that's 4,000 shares. Companies rarely grant discounted options, as there are tax disincentives. The benefit of the stock option is that when you exercise it, you still...
Why don't SPY, SPX, and the e-mini s&p 500 track perfectly with each other?
As Ross says, SPX is the index itself. This carries no overheads. It is defined as a capitalization-weighted mixture of the stocks of (about) 500 companies. SPY is an index fund that tries to match the performance of SPX. As an index fund it has several differences from the index:
How does Yahoo finance adjust stock data for splits and dividends?
Should be noted that pacoverflow's answer is wrong. Yahoo back-adjusts all the previous (not current or future) values based on a cumulative adjustment factor. So if there's a dividend ex-date on December 19, Yahoo adjusts all the PREVIOUS (December 18 and prior) prices with a factor which is: 1 - dividend / Dec18Close
Does dollar cost averaging really work?
Dollar cost averaging works if the stuff you're buying goes up within your time horizon. It won't protect you from losing money if it doesn't. Also consider that the person (or company, or industry) that suggests dollar-cost averaging might want you to start up a regular investment program and put it on auto-pilot, wh...
What makes a Company's Stock prices go up or down?
It's been said before, but to repeat succinctly, a company's current share price is no more or less than what "the market" thinks that share is worth, as measured by the price at which the shares are being bought and sold. As such, a lot of things can affect that price, some of them material, others ethereal. A common ...
Investment in mutual fund in India for long term goals
Buy only 'Direct' Plans, not regular. - Demat providers won't sell Direct plans, that you can do it through https://www.mfuindia.com Make sure expense ratio < 2.5% (With direct plans it will be much lesser) I hope these points will help you to take a better decision.
ESPP advantages and disadvantages
It would be difficult to answer without knowing specifics about a particular offer. In certain cases, it's definitely great and one could become a millionaire [Google for example]. In other cases one could lose money. In most cases one makes a decent return. As the specifics are not available, in general look out for: ...
What's a normal personal debt / equity ratio for a highly educated person?
Curious, are you asking about average, or the good numbers? The median family doesn't have $2500 to address an emergency. We are a nation of debtors, and spenders. A young couple at .8 is doing well. It means they saved 20% for a down payment, and just bought a house. Not too tough to buy with 5% down, have no other sa...
Impact on Credit Worthiness (Getting A Loan with a Co-signer vs without)
It doesn't matter to the credit agencies if there is a co-signer or not. However, your family member will need to take into consideration if they are willing to be responsible for the loan in the event you are unable to make payments. Being a co-signer means they are agreeing to pay the loan amount. It will also impact...
Should I switch to this high rate checking account for my emergency fund?
I do this, and as you say the biggest downside is not having a separate account for your savings. If you're the type of person who struggles with restraint this is not for you. On the other hand this type of account gives more interest than any other type of US Checking or Savings account I've seen, so you will benefi...
Why do people always talk about stocks that pay high dividends?
If you assume the market is always 100% rational and accurate and liquid, then it doesn't matter very much if a company pays dividends, other than how dividends are taxed vs. capital gains. (If the market is 100% accurate and liquid, it also doesn't really matter what stock you buy, since they are all fairly priced, o...
Relative Strength Index: Yahoo vs Google Finance
Google's RSI is using a 10 period on 2 minute bars - i.e. it is based upon the last 20 minutes of data. Yahoo's RSI is using a 14 period lookback on an undetermined timeframe (you could maybe mouse-over and see what incremental part of the chart is giving) and given the "choppier" price chart, probably 30 second or 1 m...
Freelancer: Should I start a second bank account?
I feel the need to separate my freelance accounts from my personal accounts. Yes, you should. Should I start another savings account or a current account? Do you need the money for daily spending? Do you need to re-invest in your business? Use a current account. If you don't need the money for business expenses, put it...
Why do most banks in Canada charge monthly fee?
Lending isn't profitable when interest rates are this low. Consider what's involved to offer a savings or checking account. The bank must maintain branches with tellers. The bank has to pay rent (or buy and pay property taxes and utilities). The bank has to pay salaries. The bank has to maintain cash so as to make...
Withdraw funds with penalty or bear high management fees for 10 years?
To me, it depends. How much are their total assets? Having 10% of your money in something like that isn't crazy. having it all in? That IS crazy. Can they reduce their exposure to this account without paying a penalty (say pull out 10%?) The Manager should be taking direction from them. If they aren't able to get t...
What considerations are there for making investments on behalf of a friend?
There's a sizable community of people and fiscal advisers who advocate not managing the money at all. Set your passive investor friend with automatic bank draft into a simple three/four fund portfolio of low cost index funds and never never ever trade. See https://www.bogleheads.org/RecommendedReading.php You might be...
Options for the intelligent but inexperienced
I strongly suggest you read up the Option Greeks. You can be right about a stocks price movement and still not make money b/c other factors come into play from time or volatility. For a "free" option hedge you can look at collars. Buying puts and selling calls to offset the debit you pay for the transaction. Ex: AAPL i...
Paying off a loan with a loan to get a better interest rate
Before we were married my wife financed a car at a terrible rate. I think it was around 20%. When trying to refinance it the remaining loan was much larger than the value of the car, so no one was interested in refinancing. I was able to do a balance transfer to a credit card around 10%. This did take on a bit of risk,...
Website for managing personal cash inflow and outflow, applicable to India?
Use buxfer.com. It's available in India and most of the features are free.
How much of my capital should I spend on subscribing to a stock research company?
You should spend zero on your stock research company. If the management of the company actually had persistent skill in picking stocks, they would not be peddling their knowledge to the retail market for a few hundred dollars. They would rake in millions and billions by running a huge hedge fund and buy themselves a ...
Using financial news releases to trade stocks?
No matter how a company releases relevant information about their business, SOMEBODY will be the first to see it. I mean, of all the people looking, someone has to be the first. I presume that professional stock brokers have their eyes on these things closely and know exactly who publishes where and when to expect new ...
Rental Property - have someone look for you
Many real estate agents will assist with an apartment hunt, for a suitable fee. In a hot market that may be worth the money. Then again, my best finds were always through co-workers, after the first two.
Is 401k as good as it sounds given the way it is taxed?
Your analysis is not comparing apples to apples which is why it looks like investing money in a non-qualified account is better than a 401k (traditional or Roth). For the non-qual you are using post tax dollars (money that has already been taxed). Now on top of that original tax you are also going to pay capital gains...
Why would this FHA refinance cause my mortgage insurance payment to increase so much?
In the spring of this year FHA increased their rates for Mortgage Protection insurance. (I am looking for a good refernceon the government website) Non Government reference Annual MIP For an FHA Streamline Refinance that replaces a FHA loan endorsed on, or after, June 1, 2009, the annual MIP varies based on loan type a...
Setting a trailing stop loss at $39.70 bid price, stock sold at $41
Is this due to the delay? Yes, but the delay is caused by your broker and its affiliates. Trailing Stop Order is not exchange native, meaning that the broker is responsible for keeping track of whether the stop price has been reached, and the broker is responsible for sending the subsequent Market Order to the exchan...
Bond ETFs as a means to achieve risk parity
How is it possible that long term treasury bonds, which the government has never defaulted on, can hold more risk as an ETF then the stock market index? The risk from long-term bonds isn't that the government defaults, but that interest rates go up before you get paid, so investors want bonds issued more recently at hi...
How often does a stock price change and where is this defined?
Stocks prices are determined whenever a buyer and seller agree to trade at a given price. The company (you use AAPL as an example) doesn't set its own stock price. Rather, the investors set the price every time it trades. There's no "official" price -- just the last trade. Likewise, you can offer to trade a stock at wh...
What is the best credit card for someone with no credit history
You have what is called in the biz a "thin file". Check with a Credit Union. They will get you a secured card or maybe a straight credit card. They usually will graduate you from a secured card to a real credit card in 12-18 months. Then you are on your way. You should also sign up for Creditkarma to get your cred...
Allocating IRA money, clarification needed
You're saying that you're thinking of keeping 35% in cash? If you expect the market to plummet in the next few months and then head up again, this would be a smart strategy. Hold on to a bunch of cash, then when the market hits bottom buy, then as it goes back up collect your profits. In practice, the long-term trend o...
Are there Cashflow Positive Investment Properties in the USA?
I'm an Aussie and I purchased 5 of these properties from 2008 to 2010. I was looking for positive cash flow on properties for not too much upfront investment. The USA property market made sense because of the high Aussie $$ at the time, the depressed property market in the US and the expensive market here. I used an i...
Is there a Canadian credit card which shows holds?
As for PC Mastercard like stated by @nullability, VISA Desjardins list the "Pending Authorizations" almost instantly (the time it's take to get back home) in AccesD (Their Web portal for managing accounts).
How to help a financially self destructive person?
You say you're not on speaking terms: so you do it via your lawyer. You're divorced: so IMO your obligations are: a) To your kids b) Purely financial spousal support (if any) If she's irresponsible financially then maybe she isn't the best able to care for your children. Your lawyer ought to be able to tell you what t...
How to exclude stock from mutual fund
Mutual funds invest according to their prospectus. If they declare that they match the investments to a certain index - then that's what they should do. If you don't want to be invested in a company that is part of that index, then don't invest in that fund. Short-selling doesn't "exclude" your investment. You cannot s...
Pros & cons of investing in gold vs. platinum?
It is only wise to invest in what you understand (ala Warren Buffet style). Depending on how much money you have, you might see fit to consult a good independent financial advisor instead of seeking advice from this website. A famous quote goes: “Those who say, do not know. Those who know, do not say”
What forms of payment am I compelled to accept?
I just listened to a podcast on this topic this week, and Satanicpuppy is pretty much correct. If you are interested, here is a link to the podcast on Legal Lad: Can Businesses Refuse to Accept Cash?
Why do companies have a fiscal year different from the calendar year?
I can think of a few good reasons: A company, especially public, usually wants their fourth-quarter earnings to be the strongest of the year. That ends each fiscal year on a high note for the company and its investors, which helps public sentiment and boosts stock prices. So, travel agencies and airlines usually like e...
Snowball debt or pay off a large amount?
Pay the Best Buy first. Most of these "Do not pay until..." deals require you to retire the entire debt by the deadline, or they will charge you deferred interest for the entire period. So, if this was a six-month deal, they're going to hit you for an extra $300 in December.
What is the difference between the asset management division in an investment bank and an investment company?
I would say that there is no real difference. Asset management companies that is part of large banking groups usually seat in separate entities and operate independently from the rest of the bank. Assuming proper procedures (and regulators usually check that) are in place they will not share information with the rest ...
First time home buyer. How to negotiate price?
Often, if your realtor and the selling realtor know each other, your realtor will "discover" what price the seller really wants. (Don't worry about how this is done. There will be no evidence it occurred!) Your realtor will then drop hints that you should aim for that price to ensure the deal goes smoothly. That sounds...
What are dividends, when are they paid, and how do they affect my position?
Dividends are declared by the board of directors of a corporation on date A, to stock holders of record on date B (a later date). These stockholders then receive the declared dividend on date C, the so-called payment date. All of these dates are announced on the first (declaration) date. If there is no announcement, no...
Why invest for the long-term rather than buy and sell for quick, big gains?
On Black Friday, 1929,the market fell from over 350 to just above 200. If you were following your plan then you would buy in at about 200. But look what the market did for two years after Black Friday. It went down to about 50. You would have lost around 75% of your capital.
Typical discount for cash purchase on $1+ million homes?
I don't have a solid data-backed answer, but this is too lengthy for a comment. I've read that on average, about 1-2% is what you can get as a cash discount on a home purchase, all else being equal, but no hard data to back that. In certain situations it makes sense for a cash discount to be much greater than that, fo...
How can I pay for school to finish my degree when I can't get a student loan and have bad credit?
Wesley gave a great answer and a follow up comment. Heed his advice. If you cannot make ends meet by working two jobs, either you are working very few hours or you have a spending problem. I feel it is more of a spending problem as you should have been able to complete your program and stay within the FAFSA limit. Th...
Why do 10 year-old luxury cars lose so much value?
They are overpriced to begin with. One reason is the fact that they are luxury cars. A second, related reason, is that they tend to push the technology envelope. All cars depreciate drastically the minute they are driven off the lot. This a good argument for buying a car that is 1-2 years old. The higher you are,...
What is the Average Yield on High-Grade Corporate Bonds as of Now?
Yahoo! Finance would list it as 3.30 for the 20 year corporate AAA bonds. This is using the criteria from the Wikipedia link you stated in the initial question.
Cheapest way to wire or withdraw money from US account while living in Europe
I use xoom.com to transfer money to India. I've been using them for over 2 years now, they are the fastest and the cheapest for me (the funds are usually available the same day). They seem to have added a lot of European countries to their list. Definitely worth a shot.
What can a CPA do that an EA cannot, and vice versa?
Although they may have some similar functions, CPAs and Enrolled Agents operate in two rather different areas of the accounting "space." CPAs deal with financial statements, usually of corporations. They're the people you want to go to if you are making an investment, or if you own your own business, and need statement...
How can an Indian citizen get exposure to global markets?
Other than the possibility of minimal entry price being prohibitively high, there's no reason why you couldn't participate in any global trading whatsoever. Most ETFs, and indeed, stockbrokers allows both accounts opening, and trading via the Internet, without regard to physical location. With that said, I'd strongly a...
What would I miss out on by self insuring my car?
As you suspected, there is more than just car replacement taken care of by insurance (some of them are pointed out in Chad's story:
What is the best way for me to invest my money into my own startup?
Ask your accountant about convertable preference shares. This would permit you to loan money to your company and then convert the debt to equity, should you so choose, at a later stage. As with the answer by bstpierre, these are all contractual arrangements conducted at arms-length.
Is Amazon's offer of a $50 gift card a scam?
What's going on here is that Amazon/visa thinks that the money they will earn on average from irresponsible credit card users is more value than 50$ each. This is the same logic that is behind the cash back or airplane point bonuses many credit cards offer, or the "apply and get a free 2-liter of soda" that some stores...
Why would you ever turn down a raise in salary?
I had a colleague turn down a raise once because he believed that female colleagues were already being paid well below his salary and it was unfair to further increase this gap. For very public figures raises are often declined as a form of leadership: showing that management is willing to forgo bonuses and salary incr...
Saving tax for long term stock investment capital gain by quiting my current job?
Reducing your income by 20k is guaranteed to lower your tax bill by less than 20k (because there are no tax rates greater than 100%). Your goal shouldn't be to minimize taxes but to maximize total net income.
Can a shareholder be liable in case of bankruptcy of one of the companies he invested in?
No, assuming by "public company" you mean a corporation. The shareholder's individual liability is limited to their investment. Your shares can go to zero value, but that's the limit. EDIT In regard to the follow-up question in the comments: "Are all companies in the stock market corporations?" the answer is definite...
Can you depreciate assets differently between Federal, State, and Local?
In general, you most definitely can. In some cases you must. However for each State you'll have to check whether you can choose how to depreciate. Many States require you to take the same depreciation as on the Federal schedule, including Sec. 179, others won't allow Sec. 179 at all. Specifically to PA, I haven't found...
Who can truly afford luxury cars?
Approximately 25% of all cars sold last year were leased, which is the highest on record. When you are leasing you don't own the car, instead you are basically renting it for a fixed term, and turning it back to the dealership. It is very cost effective, because the manufacturers have a keen interest in making lots of...
Can someone recommend a book that discusses the differences between types of financial statements?
Why Stocks go up and Down by William H Pike is a great source if you are looking to interpret statements for stock analysis. This book really starts from the beginning and clearly explains with a running example of a fake company.
What is the rationale behind brokerages establishing tiers/levels for options trading?
The different levels are somewhat related to levels of risk. Writing a covered call is pretty low risk, in the sense that if I buy the stock but sell a call, I now have a lower cost for the stock, and however low the stock drops, I'm still slightly better off than the regular stock buyer. Covered call writing is often ...
want to refinance FHA loan, may move out unexpectedly and would like to keep as investment property, what are my options?
Most likely no. Just make sure to read the fine print. I'm in exactly the same boat, I have a house with an FHA loan and will be refinancing to conventional then using it as an investment. To refinance, you usually have to own 25% of your property before you can refinance, or buy another property with FHA financing....
Can I deduct equipment expenses for a job I began overseas?
I'm not an expert, but here's my $0.02. Deductions for business expenses are subject to the 2% rule. In other words, you can only deduct that which exceeds 2% of your AGI (Adjusted Gross Income). For example, say you have an AGI of $50,000, and you buy a laptop that costs $800. You won't get a write-off from that, beca...