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How does giving to charity work?
The intention of making the charitable contributions tax deductible is to provide an economic incentive to contribute to organizations which tend to improve the general welfare of the community. Deductibility impacts government revenue generation, but has positive impacts that probably offset that loss by encouraging m...
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).
Identity theft?
Assuming you live in the US, it is quite normal when you are applying for a loan that the application will ask you to confirm your identity. One of these methods is to ask you which of the following addresses you have lived at, with some of them being very similar (i.e. same city, or maybe even the same street). Someti...
Why would my job recruiter want me to form an LLC?
This is pretty normal. I am in the UK and currently doing the exact same thing. As some answers state there is additional tax law called IR35. But thats all it is, an additional tax law that may be applicable to your situation (it very well may not). It is all perfectly legal and common (all my university friends no...
What are the benefits of opening an IRA in an unstable/uncertain economy?
As I stated in my comment on @JCotton's answer, the only way you benefit by putting your money in an IRA or other tax-deferred vehicle is if you expect to have a lower tax rate when you withdraw than when you put the money in. If you look at @JCotton's numbers and remember to pay taxes when you withdraw the money in 3...
Does U.S. tax code call for small business owners to count business purchases as personal income?
Expenses are where the catch is found. Not all expenditures are considered expenses for tax purposes. Good CPAs make a comfortable living untangling this sort of thing. Advice for both of your family members' businesses...consult with a CPA before making big purchases. They may need to adjust the way they buy, or t...
Can I pay a loan under someone else's name? (assume the dispenser of the loan is malicious)
I don't think there's anything to worry about. TFS doesn't really care who's paying, as long as the loan is being paid as agreed. Of course you're helping your dad's credit history and not your own, but I doubt TFS would give back money just because it came from your bank account. A business may claim a payment wasn'...
Dividends Growing Faster than Cost of Capital
I don't think the method falls short, it's the premise that is wrong. If the dividend stream really did grow faster than the cost of capital indefinitely, eventually the company behind the share would become larger than the entire economy. Logically, at some point, the growth must slow down.
Should I move my money market funds into bonds?
If your money market funds are short-term savings or an emergency fund, you might consider moving them into an online saving account. You can get interest rates close to 1% (often above 1% in higher-rate climates) and your savings are completely safe and easily accessible. Online banks also frequently offer perks su...
Is dividend included in EPS
Not quite. The EPS is noted as ttm, which means trailing twelve months --- so the earnings are taken from known values over the previous year. The number you quote as the dividend is actually the Forward Annual Dividend Rate, which is an estimate of the future year's dividends. This means that PFE is paying out more i...
Am I considered in debt if I pay a mortgage?
The expression "in debt" when talking about a person's financial affairs means that the sum of debit balances on all accounts exceeds the sum of credit balances on all accounts. A mortgage account is not excluded from that. This definition also does not consider whether any of the debt is secured, or ownership of as...
How can a person with really bad credit history rent decent housing?
She can find a landlord that doesn't do credit checks. Maybe on Craigslist? She may end up paying more, have a bigger security deposit, etc. She can get someone else (not you) to sit her down and explain to her frankly that she's messing things up for herself and her children by being a poor manager of her finances. ...
Can an unmarried couple buy a home together with only one person on the mortgage?
In this case can the title of the home still be held by both? Yes, it is possible to have additional people on title that are not on the mortgage. Would the lender (bank) have any reservations about this since a party not on the mortgage has ownership of the property? Possibly, but there is a very simple way to avoid t...
Help! I've cancelled their service, but this company continues to bill my credit card an annual fee. What can I do?
I'm not a lawyer, and am certainly not familiar with your jurisdiction, but the general guidelines I've seen around this kind of situation are: If all else fails, you could just cancel the card, though I'm not sure what liability you have to honour the contract. I cancelled a card once to stop being charged by a partic...
Deductible expenses paid with credit card: In which tax year would they fall?
I'm a CPA and former IRS agent and manager. Whether you are a cash or accrual basis taxpayer, you get to deduct the expense when your card is charged. Think of it this way: You are borrowing from the credit card company or bank that issued the credit card. You take that money to make a purchase of a product or service....
found a 1994 uncashed profit sharing retirement plan check
Checks (in the US, anyway) are only good for six months after they have been written. After that. under the US Uniform Commerical Code they are considered "stale checks" and banks need not accept them. My experience is that they generally won't -- but you probably shouldn't count on that, either when figuring out wheth...
Why do stores and manufacturers use mail in rebates? A scam, or is there a way to use them effectively?
Rebates are a great way to give discounts to customers who are cost sensitive. A long time ago, I worked for a retailer that extensively used rebates as a marketing tool. From my point of view, about 90% of the complaints that I investigated were a result of people not following directions. Biggest single thing was not...
How can I find a lost 401K from a past employer?
The Employee Benefits Security Administration within the US Department of Labor is tasked with keeping track of pension and 401K programs. The even have a website to search for abandoned plans: it helps participants and others find out whether a particular plan is in the process of being, or has been, terminated and th...
Any reason to keep IRAs separate?
I don't know about keeping different rollover IRAs separate. But I know that there is a reason to keep rollover IRAs separate from other traditional IRAs -- if you want to roll them back into a 401(k) in the future, some 401(k)s only allow funds that were rolled over from a 401(k) originally.
Can a bank statement be submitted as a proof of investment?
Probably not. A debit of 50K in your Bank statement does not mean that its invested into tax saving instrument. This question is best answered by the finance department of your company. Practise vary from organization to organization.
Passing money through a different account to avoid cash pay-in fees
buy a cashiers check with the cash (a CRT will be nec if over 10 K) and deposit the cashiers check
Company Payment Card
From the other point of view (company use) it makes sense to segregate expenses incurred on the company's behalf away from an employee's personal expenses. This way if there were any requirement to prove that certain expenses were for the company's benefit it is not intermingled with an employee's personal expenses. ...
Ways to establish credit history for international student
I would like to establish credit history - have heard it's useful to gain employment and makes it easy to rent an apartment? Higher credit scores will make it easier with landlords, that's true. As to employment - they do background checks, which means that they usually won't like bad things, but won't care about the...
How should I pay off my private student loans that have a lot of restrictions?
Excellent question and it is a debate that is often raised. Mathematically you are probably best off using option #1. Any money that is above and beyond minimum payments earns a pretty high interest rate, about 6.82% in the form of saved interest payments. The problem is you are likely to get discouraged. Personal f...
When filing for an NOL, do you have to file the amended previous years' returns after the NOL return?
Your CPA doesn't need to file anything, so don't worry about him being sidetracked. You are the one doing the filing. Since the amended returns have to be filed on paper, you'll actually go and mail a package to the IRS (each return in a separate envelope). The reason the CPA suggests to file the amended returns after ...
Option on an option possible? (Have a LEAP, put to me?)
As with most strategies there are pros and cons associated with this approach: Advantages of using LEAPS: Disadvantages of using LEAPS: Read more about it in great detail on my blog: http://www.thebluecollarinvestor.com/leaps-and-covered-call-writing-2/
Double entry for mortgage
For the purpose of personal finance, treating $500 as Interest Expense is sufficient. For business accounting, it involves making the $500 a contra-liability and amortizing it as interest expense over the course of life of the loan.
How can someone with a new job but no credit history get a loan to settle another debt?
I believe the best way to go about it is to approach a good friend or relative to borrow the money, interest free. Do discuss with them the repayment schedule. If you have any assets such as house / stocks, you can pledge them in exchange for $5000 cash. I believe the banks would be more than happy to lend to you. You ...
Long(100%)-Short(-100%) investment explanation
When portfolio positions are reported in percentages, those percentages are relative to the portfolio's base equity. When you start out, that is equal to the cash you have in a portfolio. Later it's the net equity of the portfolio (i.e., how much money you could withdraw if you were to exit all your positions). If yo...
How does Google Finance calculate the Institution Owned metric for a stock
Institutional ownership has nearly lost all meaning. It used to mean mutual funds, investment banks, etc. Now, it means pension funds, who hold the rest of the equity assets directly, and insiders. Since the vast majority of investors in equity do not hold it directly, "institutions" are approaching 100% ownership on a...
UK university student finance - should I use my sponsorship money to pay the debt?
Let me run some simplistic numbers, ignoring inflation. You have the opportunity to borrow up to 51K. What matters (and varies) is your postgraduation salary. Case 1 - you make 22K after graduation. You pay back 90 a year for 30 years, paying off at most 2700 of the loan. In this case, whether you borrow 2,800 or 28,00...
Why is the stock market price for a share always higher than the earnings per share?
What you have to remember is you are buying a piece of the company. Think of it in terms of buying a business. Just like a business, you need to decide how long you are willing to wait to get paid back for your investment. Imagine you were trying to sell your lemonade stand. This year your earnings will be $100, next ...
Difference between GOOGL and GOOG
Note that these used to be a single "common" share that has "split" (actually a "special dividend" but effectively a split). If you owned one share of Google before the split, you had one share giving you X worth of equity in the company and 1 vote. After the split you have two shares giving you the same X worth of equ...
Alternatives to Intuit's PayTrust service for online bill viewing and bill payment?
Paytrust seems to be the only game in town. We've changed banks several times over the last 15 years and I can tell you that using a bank's bill pay service locks you in, big time. I loved paytrust because I could make one change if we changed banks. If you're using a bank directly for your bills, the ides of recrea...
Most Efficient Way to Transfer Money from Israel to the USA?
How much are we talking about here? My own experience (Switzerland->US, under $10K) was that the easiest way was just $100 bills. Alternatively, I just left a bunch in the Swiss bank, and used my ATM card to make withdrawals when needed. That worked for several years (I was doing contract work remotely for the Swiss...
Stock Exchange price target
Price targets aren't set day to day, because of market fluctuations are so high from day to day. But in their stock recommendations, brokerage firms will often set price targets for "one year out." These targets aren't set in stone, so use them at your risk.
What makes a stock get 40 times avg daily volume without any news?
Probably the biggest driver of the increased volumes that day was a change in sentiment towards the healthcare sector as a whole that caused many healthcare companies to experience higher volumes ( https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2017-07-11/asset-acquisitions-accelerate-in-healthcare-sector-boosting-potential-...
Does the profit of a company directly affect its stock or indirectly by causing people to buy or sell?
people implicity agree to sell stocks when a company does bad But, remember, when you sell the stock of a company that, in your estimation, 'did bad', someone else had to buy; otherwise, there is no sale. The someone else who bought your shares evidently disagrees with your assessment. Did you sell because the company ...
Why is gold not a good investment?
I think what the person meant to say is that Gold is not a one stop solution. There's nothing wrong with having Gold in an otherwise diversified portfolio but you need to be aware about the potential downsides: The problem with gold is that its value nowadays depends mainly on investor confidence, or the lack of it (ac...
Any difference between buying a few shares of expensive stock or a bunch of cheap stock
You are correct in thinking actual number of shares do not matter, the value is the value. However there are cases where share price does play a role. Berkshire Hathaway for example has not split because Warren Buffet believes it has cut down on the liquidity of the stock, as well as attracting investors with an eye...
How to save criteria in Google Finance Stock Screener?
There is probably a better way, but you can do the following: (1) Right click on the right pointing arrow next to the "1-20 of xx rows" message at the bottom right of the table, and select "Copy link location" (2) Paste that into the location (3) At the end of the pasted text there is a "&output=json", delete that and ...
What is the meaning of Equal Housing Lender? Do non-banks need to display it?
If a bank is evaluating a persons qualifications to qualify for a loan they have to follow the FDIC and HUD guidelines for equal opportunity credit. If they offer mortgages they will use the phrase equal housing. from the lending club website (fine print area): 2 This depiction is a summary of the processes for obtaini...
What are the implications of a corporate stock repurchase or share buyback program?
A stock buy back reduces the number of stocks available on the open market. Since stocks are literally a share in ownership a buy back of the stock then when the company repurchases it has the effect of increasing the percent of ownership of the company of each stock. Zynga has a Market Cap of ~1810M so a 200M buy bac...
Is it worth trying to find a better minimum down payment for a first time home buyer?
It's worthwhile to try and find a better minimum down-payment. When I bought my home, I got an FHA loan, which drastically reduced the minimum down-payment required (I think the minimum is 3% under FHA). Be aware that any down-payment percentage under 20% means that you'll have to pay for private mortgage insurance (...
Does a stay at home mom need term life insurance?
The way to think about this is: what would happen to the family if stay-at-home Mom were to die. You obviously can't do anything about the loss, grief and trauma, but think about the financial implications. Assuming that Dad continues to work, and that the child is young, you are going to have to find someone to take c...
What should I do with my $10K windfall, given these options?
Have you looked at DIY roof repair? Caulking with tar adhesive, and shingle replacement isn't that hard, if you're in good health. Totally depends on how bad your roof is/what the demands on it are going to be. If you can squeak another year out of it, with minimal investment, you'll have a year's worth of, say car...
Can I withdraw from my Roth IRA retirement account to fund a startup?
There are two methods of doing this Pulling out the money and paying the penalty if any, and going on your way. Having the Roth IRA own the business, and being an employee. If you go with the second choice, you should read more about it on this question.
Why is a stock dividend considered a dividend? What makes it different from a stock split?
You can argue that cash dividend is a kind of split as well by this logic. The stock price on ex-dividend gets a hit coincidental with the dividend to be paid, so one can argue that the investor has the same cash value on the day the dividend was paid as if it wouldn't be paid at all. However, for the company to distri...
How are long-term/short-term capital gains tax calculated on restricted stock?
Fidelity has a good explanation of Restricted Stock Awards: For grants that pay in actual shares, the employee’s tax holding period begins at the time of vesting, and the employee’s tax basis is equal to the amount paid for the stock plus the amount included as ordinary compensation income. Upon a later sale of the sha...
Where can I trade FX spot options, other than saxobank.com?
Oanda.com trades spot forex and something they call box options, it's not quite what you are looking for, but maybe worth looking up.
If a stock doesn't pay dividends, then why is the stock worth anything?
Stephen's answer is the 100% correct one made with the common Economics assumption, that people are rational. A company that never has paid dividends, is still worth something to people because of its potential to start paying dividends later and it is often better to grow now and payoff later. However, the actual answ...
When does Ontario's HST come into effect?
In general you must charge HST on and after July 1, 2010. However, in the case of delivered sales, you must charge HST if the transfer of goods will happen on or after July 1,2010. Example: A person comes into my hypothetical store on June 29, 2010 and buys a couch. They opt to have it delivered by my truck on July 2...
Does an index have a currency?
There's no need for an index to have a currency as its purpose is not to act as an asset but rather to signal investors about the performance of a collection of stocks. An index can be price-weighted, meaning that its value equals the (arithmetic) average of the prices of each stock in the index. With no stock splits, ...
Can't the account information on my checks be easily used for fraud?
That's accurate. Here is another risk with the current checking system, which many people are not aware of: Anyone who knows your checking account number can learn what your balance in that account is. (This is bank-specific, but it is possible at the major banks I've checked.) How does that work? Many banks have a ...
What dictates the costs of creating an options contract? (Commissions breakdown)
I'm not positive my answer is complete, but from information on my broker's website, the following fees apply to a US option trade (which I assume you're concerned with given fee in dollars and the mention of the Options Clearing Corporation): They have more detail for other countries -- see https://www.interactivebrok...
Should I start investing in property with $10,000 deposit and $35,000 annual wage
I want to caveat that I am not an active investor in Australia, you most likely should seek out other investors in your market and ask them for advice/mentorship, but since you came here I can give you some generalized advice. When investing in real estate there are a two main rules of thumb to quickly determine if th...
In Canada, how bad must your credit be for a denial of a Secured Credit Card?
Although now there are "welcome" banking packages when I landed in 2008 I couldn't find any and Vancity gave me a secured visa nonetheless. Let me emphasize: I didn't have a credit history, score at all. I doubt this changed much. The bank has zero risk.
What's the catch with biweekly mortgage payments?
So the principle is true. Assuming that you get paid bi-weekly, you end up getting three paychecks two months during the year. Typically that is in January and July/August. So if things were different, and your mortgage was setup so you paid half a monthly payment each paycheck, then you would wind up making one ful...
Under what circumstance will the IRS charge you a late-payment penalty for taxes?
Assuming US/IRS: If you filed on time and paid what you believed was the correct amount, they might be kind and let it go. But don't assume they will. If you can't file on time, you are supposed to file estimated taxes before the deadline, and to make that payment large enough to cover what you are likely to owe them. ...
Would I need to keep track of 1099s?
You have to file and issue each one of them a 1099 if you are paying them $600 or more for the year. Because you need to issue a 1099 to them (so they can file their own taxes), I don't think there's a way that you could just combine all of them. Additionally, you may want to make sure that you are properly classifying...
gift is taxable but is “loan” or “debt” taxable?
(a) you give away your money - gift tax The person who receives the gift doesn't owe any tax. If you give it out in small amounts, there will be no gift tax. It could have tax and Estate issues for you depending on the size of the gift, the timing, and how much you give away in total. Of course if you give it away to...
Is it a good idea to put everything in the S&P500?
What you choose to invest in depends largely on your own goals and time horizon. You state that your time horizon is a few decades. Most studies have shown that the equity market as a whole has outperformed most other asset types (except perhaps property in some cases) over the long term. The reason that time horizon...
Can warrants to buy stock contain conditions or stipulations other than price?
All sorts of conditions, yes. Most commonly is a limitation on the exercise date. The two more common would be American which is exercisable any time, and European which are only exercisable on their expiry date. Sometimes they may be linked to the original asset, and might only be convertible to stock if that origina...
Sales Tax: Rounded Then Totaled or Totaled Then Rounded?
Tax is often calculated per item. Especially in the days of the internet, some items are taxable and some aren't, depending on the item and your nexus. I would recommend calculating and storing tax with each item, to account for these subtle differences. EDIT: Not sure why this was downvoted, if you don't believe me,...
Purchasing options between the bid and ask prices, or even at the bid price or below?
I understand the question, I think. The tough thing is that trades over the next brief time are random, or appear so. So, just as when a stock is $10.00 bid / $10.05 ask, if you place an order below the ask, a tick down in price may get you a fill, or if the next trades are flat to higher, you might see the close at $1...
How Do Scammers / Money Launderers Profit From Loans To Victims
If they have your account numbers (which are necessary for direct deposits) they could possibly initiate ACH withdrawals from your accounts too (requires some setup but they may have accomplices). Note that even if you didn't have money there, depending on the local bank rules you may be still on the hook for overdraft...
Paid cash for a car, but dealer wants to change price
The sales manager and/or finance manager applied a rebate that did not apply. It's their fault. They have internal accounts to handle these situations as they do come up from time to time. The deal is done. They have no legal ground.
What's an economic explanation for why greeting cards are so expensive?
(At least in the UK) a company named Card Factory has been very successful in undercutting the competition using the classic pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap strategy with less glamorous high-street locations than 'traditional' stores. Interestingly it doesn't seem to have spawned either competition at their price poin...
Should I get cash from credit card at 0% for 8 months and put it on loans?
If there is any fee at all on the cash advance, and zero interest on the student loans (for now), it's not worth it mathematically. And for only 8 months of "free" money, it's rare for it to be worth it overall. You need to save a significant amount either by having a good net interest rate (e.g., saving 20% on anothe...
Best way to day trade with under $25,000
You avoid pattern day trader status by trading e-mini futures through a futures broker. The PDT rules do not apply in the futures markets. Some of the markets that are available include representatives covering the major indices i.e the YM (DJIA), ES (S&P 500) and NQ (Nasdaq 100) and many more markets. You can take as...
How should I report earning from Apple App Store (from iTunes Connect) in Washington state?
If you're waiting for Apple to send you a 1099 for the 2008 tax season, well, you shouldn't be. App Store payments are not reported to the IRS and you will not be receiving a 1099 in the mail from anyone. App Store payments are treated as sales commissions rather than royalties, according to the iTunes Royalty departme...
Is it better to buy a computer on my credit card, or on credit from the computer store?
Using your credit card: Applying for a store credit card: In general it is far better to not buy bigger items like a computer until you can pay cash, or pay for it on credit card (to get reward points) and then pay off the card the next month so you don't pay interest.
In what ways is IEX different than a typical dark pool or a typical exchange?
You've said what's different in your question. There's 330 microseconds of network latency between IEX and anywhere else, so HFTs can't get information about trades in progress on IEX and use it to jump in ahead of those traders on other exchanges. All exchanges should have artificially induced latency of this kind so ...
Would I ever need credit card if my debit card is issued by MasterCard/Visa?
Credit cards are often more fool proof, against over-drawing. Consider Bill has solid cash flow, but most of their money is in his high interest savings account (earning interest) -- an account that doesn't have a card, but is accessible via online banking. Bill keeps enough in the debit (transactions) account for regu...
Investment strategy for a 20 year old with about 30k in bank account
Thank you for your service. My first suggestion since your car is a planned for the near future is keep that amount in savings and just pay cash. There are plenty of attractive offers to entice you to finance your vehicle but there really is no compelling reason to do it considering the savings you have. Second I wou...
How does a high share price benefit a company when it is raising funds?
Well, if one share cost $100 and the company needs to raise $10000, then the company will issue 100 shares for that price. Right? However, say there's 100 shares out there now, then each share holder owns 1/100th of the company. Now the company will remain the same, but it's shared between 200 shareholders after the i...
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 ...
Is there a formula to use to analyse whether an investment property is a good investment?
I know of no generic formula for determining if an investment property is a good investment, besides the trivial formula. Make sure your income is greater than your expenses, and hope the value of the property doesn't drop. Some people will tell you to expect the monthly rent to be a fixed percentage of the purchase pr...
Lump sum annuity distribution — do I owe estate tax?
There can be Federal estate tax as well as State estate tax due on an estate, but it is not of direct concern to you. Estate taxes are paid by the estate of the decedent, not by the beneficiaries, and so you do not owe any estate tax. As a matter of fact, most estates in the US do not pay Federal estate tax at all bec...
What does “/” and “^” mean in ticker symbols? How to translate these symbols into yahoo?
There isn't a single universal way to reference a stock, there are 4 major identifiers with many different flavours of exchange ticker (see xkcd:Standards) I believe CUSIPs and ISINs represent a specific security rather than a specific listed instrument. This means you can have two listed instruments with one ISIN but ...
Why would analysts recommend buying companies with negative net income?
Companies in their earliest stages will likely not have profits but do have the potential for profits. Thus, there can be those that choose to invest in companies that require capital to stay in business that have the potential to make money. Venture Capital would be the concept here that goes along with John Bensin's...
Why can't I short a stock that sells for less than $5? Is there another way to “go short” on them?
If this is the initial transaction, the rules of a short margin account say that if you shorted 1000 share of ABC at $5/share your credit balance would be $5000 from the short plus you would have to put up yourself $5000 cash or $10,000 of marginal securities. So this is not really leveraging using margin. You have to ...
Where does the money go when I buy stocks?
The money goes to the seller. There are a lot of behind the scenes things that happen, and some transactions are very complicated with many parties involved (evidenced by all the comments on @keshlam's perfectly reasonable high-level answer), but ultimately the money goes to the seller. Sometimes the seller is the co...
Corporate Coverdell ESA Tax Liability
Not sure how authoritative it is, but according to this site, yes: Can a corporation, partnership or other non-living entity make the contribution to an ESA? Yes. The tax law does not restrict the ability to make contributions to living individuals. Corporations and other entities may make contributions without regard ...
I have around 60K $. Thinking about investing in Oil, how to proceed?
One possibility would be to invest in a crude oil ETF (or maybe technically they're an ETP), which should be easily accessible through any stock trading platform. In theory, the value of these investments is directly tied to the oil price. There's a list of such ETFs and some comments here. But see also here about s...
What does it mean to long convexity of options?
Convexity refers to vega. Gamma refers to delta. Negative carry refers to time decay.
Is there a government-mandated resource that lists the shareholders of a public company?
There are several such "lists." The one that is maintained by the company is called the shareholder registry. That is a list that the company has given to it by the brokerage firms. It is a start, but not a full list, because many individual shareholders hold their stock with say Merrill Lynch, in "street name" or anon...
Can one use Google Finance to backtest (i.e. simulate trades in the past)?
If you use Google Finance, you will get incorrect results because Google Finance does not show the dividend history. Since your requirement is that dividends are re-invested, you should use Yahoo Finance instead, downloading the historical 'adjusted' price.
UK: Personal finance book for a twenty-something
Public sector and private industry retirement plans, taxation and estate planning would be the most substantial differences between the two countries. The concepts for accumulating wealth are the same, and if you are doing anything particularly lucrative with an above average amount of risk, the aforementioned differen...
Is Stock Trading legal for a student on F-1 Visa in USA? [duplicate]
As an F1 student, I have been investing (and occasionally buying and selling within few weeks) for several years, and I have never had problems (of course I report to IRS gains/losses every year at tax time). On the other hand, the officer in charge of foreign students at my school advised me to not run ads on a websit...
What are the benefits of investing to IRA/Roth IRA, 401(k) in comparison to investing in long term CDs?
First, you need to understand the difference in discussing types of investments and types of accounts. Certificate of Deposits (CDs), money market accounts, mutual funds, and stocks are all examples of types of investments. 401(k), IRA, Roth IRA, and taxable accounts are all examples of types of accounts. In general, t...
When should I start saving/investing for my retirement?
Start now. It's a lot easier to save now than it is to start to save later.
Comparing keeping old car vs. a new car lease
Regarding the opportunity cost comparison, consider the following two scenarios assuming a three-year lease: Option A: Keep your current car for three years In this scenario, you start with a car that's worth $10,000 and end with a car that's worth $7,000 after three years. Option B: Sell your current car, invest proce...
Why online brokerages sometimes allow free ETF buying
The same reason a company would offer coupons. I'd guess they're just doing it as a way to entice people to do their investing with them. Since it is any ETF I doubt they are being compensated by the ETF companies, as is sometimes the case (iShares does this with Fidelity, for example). And they still get the commissio...
Is it usual for a tradesperson not to charge VAT?
Assuming this to be in the UK, and I suspect the rules are similar elsewhere, this indeed may be true. There is a threshold beneath which a business does not have to register for VAT - currently a turnover of £81,000. A non VAT registered business does not charge VAT but also cannot reclaim the VAT on their business e...
Wisest option to pay for second career education
Tl;dr by anecdata I paid for my master's degree from investments/savings with a HELOC backstop It appears you don't have the 62k cash needed for tuition and living expenses so your decision is between financing a degree by selling your investments or a loan. Ultimately this comes down to the yes/no sell decision on ...
How to value employee benefits?
It would depend on the health insurance that was being offered, and if it covers your family or just you. We pay around $500-600 for individual health insurance for our employees (families cost north of 1500 a month). It's extremely expensive. Provide more details on the stock purchase plan as well (it sounds to me li...
Current accounts reward schemes and reciprocal standing orders?
I don't think it would be counted as income, and if it's a short-term loan it doesn't really matter as the notional interest on the loan would be negligible. But you can avoid any possible complications by just having two accounts in the name of the person trying to get the account benefits, particularly if you're will...
Offered a job: Should I go as consultant / independent contractor, or employee?
I think it really depends on what work/lifestyle you are looking for. I'm sure your more than capable of going down either route, but you should weigh up the pros and cons of each A consultant would be great, you'd be your own boss and you have overall say on how your business/career plans out, but be prepared to put i...
Where should I invest to hedge against the stock market going down?
There are multiple ETFs which inversely track the common indices, though many of these are leveraged. For example, SDS tracks approximately -200% of the S&P 500. (Note: due to how these are structured, they are only suitable for very short term investments) You can also consider using Put options for the various indi...