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Why would a company issue a scrip dividend and how will this issue affect me?
Yes. Instead of paying a cash dividend to shareholders, the company grants existing shareholders new shares at a previously determined price. I'm sorry, but scrip issues are free (for all ordinary shareholders) and are in proportion to existing share holding. No payment is required from shareholders. So instead of havi...
Optimal term/number of months for car finance or lease?
If you have the money to pay cash for the car. Then 0 months will save you the most money. There are of course several caveats. The money for the car has to be in a relatively liquid form. Selling stocks which would trigger taxes may make the pay cash option non-optimal. Paying cash for the car shouldn't leave you car ...
What securities is Return of Capital applicable to?
Off the top of my head, I don't know of any publicly-traded companies that routinely earmark distributions as return of capital, but theoretically, it's certainly applicable to any publicly-traded company. The Wikipedia article gives one situation in which a publicly-traded company may use return of capital: Public bus...
What are the procedures or forms for a private loan with the sale of a vehicle?
Draft up a promissory notes. Have a lawyer do it use one of those online contract places if you have simple needs. Your promissory note need to cover Be specific. There are probably a lot more items that can be included, and if a quick internet search is any indication it gets deep fast. http://lmbtfy.com/?q=car+sal...
Why should we expect stocks to go up in the long term?
A lot of these answers are strong, but at the end of the day this question really boils down to: Do you want to own things? Duh, yes. It means you have: By this logic, you would expect aggregate stock prices to increase indefinitely. Whether the price you pay for that ownership claim is worth it at any given point in...
Should I finance a car to build credit for a mortgage next year?
The fluctuation of interest rates during the next year could easily dwarf the savings this attempt to improve your credit score will have; or the reverse is true. Will the loan improve your score enough to make a difference? It will not change the number of months old your oldest account is. It will increase the breadt...
Can a company block a specific person from buying its stock?
I assume you are talking about a publicly traded company listed on a major stock exchange and the buyer resides in the US. (Private companies and non-US locations can change the rules really a lot.) The short answer is no, because the company does not own the stock, various investors do. Each investor has to make an in...
Recent college grad. Down payment on a house or car?
Buy a car. Unless you definitely know you are living in the area for a good long time, avoid buying a house and get a car instead.
Magazine subscription leads to unauthorized recurring payment
You have a subscription that costs $25 They have the capabilities to get that $25 from the card on file if you had stopped paying for it, you re-upping the cost of the subscription was more of a courtesy. They would have considered pulling the $25 themselves or it may have gone to collections (or they could courteously...
Is Weiss Research, Inc. a legitimate financial research company?
It is a scam organization praying on fear of the simple minded. The facts Edelson presents are not accurate - http://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2006/ia-2525.pdf
Is it possible as a non-Indian citizen to create an Indian bank account (denominated in rupees) that can exchange & repatriate its funds?
No, in your situation it is not possible. Mostly, only three types of accounts are available to individuals: So, a complete foreigner can open account in India, only if he is working in India, a type of Savings account, and that account too will be linked to his resident status. If he leaves work, he needs to close thi...
Advice for opening an IRA as a newbie
If you want to 'offset' current (2016) income, only deductible contribution to a traditional IRA does that. You can make nondeductible contributions to a trad IRA, and there are cases where that makes sense for the future and cases where it doesn't, but it doesn't give you a deduction now. Similarly a Roth IRA has poss...
How can I detect potential fraud in a company before investing in them?
Even without fraud, a company can get into serious trouble overnight, often through no fault of their own. That's part of the hazard of being part owner of a company -- which is what a share of stock is. As a minority owner not involved in actually running the business, there really isn't a lot you can do about that ex...
Do I even need credit cards?
A credit card can be a long running line of credit that will help to boost your FICO score. However if you have student loans, a mortgage, or car payments those will work just as well. If you ever get to the point where you don't have any recent lines of credit, this may eventually end up hurting your score, but until...
Why are real-term bond yields systematically declining, and what does it mean for investors?
On a longer time scale, the plot thickens: It almost looks random. A large drop in real rates in the mid-70s, a massive spike in the early 80s, followed by a slow multi-decade decline. The chaos doesn't seem to be due to interest rates. They steadily climbed and steadily fell: All that's left is inflation: First, ...
Are parking spaces and garage boxes a good investment?
No no no no!!!! Do not spend 25k on a damn slab of concrete when you don't even own the land! You are not "truly" the owner unless you legally own the land. I don't care what country your talking about. If you like I'll come over to your place, mix and pour some concrete on the floor, and you can pay me 5 euro. Deal? ...
Advantages/Disadvantages to refinancing online?
For what its worth, I recently closed on a 30 year refinance mortage with an agent I found through Zillow. The lender has a perfect 5/5 reputation score, whose office was located within 5 miles of my house, and as suggested by justkt on MrChrister's response, I checked out the business on the better business bureau an...
Can the purchaser of a stock call option cancel the contract?
I'm adding to @Dilip's basic answer, to cover the additional points in your question. I'll assume you are referring to publicly traded stock options, such as those found on the CBOE, and not an option contract entered into privately between two specific counterparties (e.g. as in an employer stock option plan). Since ...
What is the opposite of a sunk cost? A “sunk gain”?
A "sunk cost" is a cost that you have already incurred, and won't get back. The "sunk cost fallacy," as you described, is when you make a bad decision based on your sunk cost. When you identify a sunk cost, you realize that the money has been spent, and the decision is irreversible. Future decisions should not take t...
How to transfer money to yourself internationally?
Transferwise is a new peer-to-peer service that's setup to lower fees for international money transfers: https://transferwise.com
Put idle savings to use while keeping them liquid
I would suggest a high interest checking account if you qualify, or if you don't, an Investor's Deposit Account (IDA).
What exactly is a “bad,” “standard,” or “good” annual raise? If I am told a hard percentage and don't get it, should I look elsewhere?
your question is based on a false premise. there is no "standard" for raises. some jobs in some years see huge raises. other years those same jobs may see average pay rates drop. if you want a benchmark, you would be better off looking at typical pay rates for people in your job, in your city with your experience. si...
What's the process to buy an old house to tear it down and create a new one?
By process, I assume you mean the financial process. Financially, this doesn't look any different to me than buying an empty lot to build a rental unit, with the added expense (potentially significant) of doing the tear-down. Given your lack of experience and capital, I would be very hesitant to jump in like this. You ...
What traditionally happens to bonds when the stock market crashes?
It depends on why the stocks crashed. If this happened because interest rates shot up, bonds will suffer also. On the other hand, stocks could be crashing because economic growth (and hence earnings) are disappointing. This pulls down interest rates and lifts bonds.
What exactly is a “derivative”?
There are a few unsavory factors that have led to the creation of new derivatives:
Buying from an aggressive salesperson
From your question and how you have framed it, I get you find Agressive Sales tactics disturb the buying process for you. ;) I understand because I also find the whole process of Research / Negotiating / Buying / Owning / Using is all on one continuum, so anything that ruins the process will likely lose the sale or enj...
Should I buy a house with a friend?
I'd be curious to compare current rent with what your overhead would be with a house. Most single people would view your current arrangement as ideal. When those about to graduate college ask for money advice, I offer that they should start by living as though they are still in college, share a house or multibedroomed ...
Everyone got a raise to them same amount, lost my higher pay than the newer employees
This is one effect of rising minimum wages: compression of lower pay tiers. The new employees might have been offered a lower starting rate than the result of your raise, but your employer did not have that option as a matter of law.
Are COBRA premiums deductible when self-employed?
COBRA premiums are not deductible on 1040 line 29; to qualify, the IRS says the insurance plan must be in your name (COBRA is in your former employer's name). H&R Block confirms this.
$200k in an IRA, unallocated. What's the safest investment?
The safest investment is probably a money market fund [originally I said a TIPS fund but they appear to be riskier than I had thought]. But you might not want to invest everything there because the returns are not going to be great. High returns come with high risk. The best portfolio has some percentage (which may b...
How do you save money on clothes and shoes for your family?
I look ahead for sizes. I was at the thrift store and saw a good condition, good brand winter coat that will likely fit my daughter next year, so I bought it. I also bought a snowsuit my baby can wear when he's 6 months (~5 months pregnant now). When it starts getting cold next fall, I'll be set, rather than wasting...
Who can truly afford luxury cars?
Most of the people I know that own them are slightly older, and thus in their prime earning years, and many have paid off their homes. That can free up $1000 a month or more in monthly expenses, which would easily cover a nice luxury car payment. If you've got it, and are into cars, why not? What's the point in having...
How does a change in market cap affect a company's operational decisions?
It basically only affects the company's dealings with its own stock, not with operational concerns. If the company were to offer more stock for sale, it would get less cash. If it had a stock buy-back program, it could buy more shares for the same money. If it was to offer to acquire another company in exchange for ...
Options profit calculation and cash settlement
Depending on the day and even time, you'd get your $2 profit less the $5 commission. Jack's warning is correct, but more so for thinly traded options, either due to the options having little open interest or the stock not quite so popular. In your case you have a just-in-the-money strike for a highly traded stock near ...
Negatives to increased credit card spending limit? [duplicate]
The one big drawback I know is when you take the mortgage credit, your credit ability is calculated, and from that sum all of your credits are subtracted, and credit limit on credit card counts as credit... I don't know if it is worldwide praxis, but at least it is the case in Poland.
Strategies for paying off my Student loans
My advice is that if you've got the money now to pay off your student loans, do so. You've saved up all of that money in one year's time. If you pay it off now, you'll eliminate all of those monthly payments, you'll be done paying interest, and you should be able to save even more toward your business over the next y...
Profiting off $0.01 changes in real life?
You can certainly try to do this, but it's risky and very expensive. Consider a simplified example. You buy 1000 shares of ABC at $1.00 each, with the intention of selling them all when the price reaches $1.01. Rinse and repeat, right? You might think the example above will net you a tidy $10 profit. But you have to fa...
What are the pros and cons of buying a house just to rent it out?
From personal experience: Loan Impact It does impact your ability to take out other loans (to an extent) Your first investment property is going to go against your debt to income levels, so if you take out a loan, you've essentially decreased the amount you can borrow before you hit a lender's debt to income ceiling. ...
Theoretically, if I bought more than 50% of a company's stocks, will I own the company?
The person holding the majority of shares can influence the decisions of the company. Even though the shareholder holds majority of the shares,the Board of Directors appointed by the shareholders in the Annual General Meeting will run the company. As said in the characteristics of the company,the owners and the adminis...
Why not just invest in the market?
The market is efficient, but it is not perfectly efficient. There are entities out there that consistently, legitimately, and significantly outperform the market because of asymmetric information (not necessarily insider trading) and their competitive advantage (access to data and proprietary, highly sophisticated mode...
When I calculate “internal rate of return (IRR)”, should I include cash balance?
Both are correct depending on what you are really trying to evaluate. If you only want to understand how that particular investment you were taking money in and out of did by itself than you would ignore the cash. You might use this if you were thinking of replacing that particular investment with another but keeping ...
Boyfriend is coowner of a house with his sister, he wants to sell but she doesn't
He needs to go see a lawyer to find out what all his options are, and the consequences of any of them. Then he needs to get help extricating himself from this situation, in whatever fashion he chooses: buyout, giveaway, what have you. This situation involves property, which involves money, so definitely get professiona...
Is 401k as good as it sounds given the way it is taxed?
Don't forget inflation. With a Roth 401k (or IRA), you don't pay any taxes on inflationary or real gains. You pay taxes at the beginning and then no more taxes (unless you invest money after you distributed from it). With a regular, taxable investment account (not a 401k or IRA), you pay taxes on the initial amoun...
Can someone help me understand my student loans?
The first loan looks like it did not have its interest subsidized while you were in school, so interest was accruing eventhough you didn't have to start making payments on it yet. With the $73 payment you made, the bank is allocating the funds in a pre-determined split that is in their best interest - NOT yours! While ...
If a company has already IPO'ed and sold its shares, what is the incentive to keep making money?
Because people bought their shares under the premise that they would make more money and if the company completely lied about that they will be subject to several civil and criminal violations. If people didn't believe the company was going to make more money, they would have valued their shares lower during the IPO by...
How will going from 75% Credit Utilization to 0% Credit Utilization affect my credit score?
You really don't know how credit scoring works. Let's think about the purpose of a credit score: to assess whether you're a high default risk. A lender wants to know, in this order: Utilization factors into the solvency assessment. If you are at 100% utilization of your unsecured credit, you're insolvent -- you can't p...
File bankruptcy, consolidate, or other options?
If your parents can afford to shell out $1,250 a month for 5 years, they would pretty much have the debt paid off, provided the credit card companies don't start playing games with rates. If that payment is too high, maybe you could kick in $5k every few months to knock the principal down. If they think the business c...
Using 2 different social security numbers
Social security number should only be needed for things that involve tax withholding or tax payment. Your bank or investment broker, and your employer, need it so they can report your earnings. You need it when filing tax forms. Other than those, nobody should really be asking you for it. The gym had absolutely no goo...
Are variable rate loans ever a good idea?
It all has to do with risk and reward. The risk is that interest rates will rise. To entice you to go with the variable, they make it so it is cheaper if interest rates never rise. Your job is to guess whether interest rates are likely to go up or not. In a first approximation, you should go fixed. The bank employs ve...
How to account for startup costs for an LLC from personal money?
If you are using software like QuickBooks (or even just using spreadsheets or tracking this without software) use two Equity accounts, something like "Capital Contributions" and "Capital Distributions" When you write a personal check to the company, the money goes into the company's checking account and also increases ...
Why would a central bank or country not want their currency to appreciate against other currencies?
It would essentially make goods from other countries more cheaper than goods from US. And it would make imports from these countries to China more expensive. The below illustration is just with 2 major currencies and is more illustrative to show the effect. It does not actually mean the goods from these countries woul...
What's the process to buy an old house to tear it down and create a new one?
Thank you for your response KeithB and Ross. I was researching more about this and looks like I have to follow all these steps (please, correct me if I'm wrong):
Can the Delta be used to calculate the option premium given a certain target?
In a simple world yes, but not in the real world. Option pricing isn't that simplistic in real life. Generally option pricing uses a Monte Carlo simulation of the Black Scholes formula/binomial and then plot them nomally to decide the optimum price of the option. Primarily multiple scenarios are generated and under tha...
If a country can just print money, is global debt between countries real?
To understand this fully one would need to understand quite a few things. Not in scope here. In short, whenever China sells goods to US, it gets USD as most of the trades are in USD. China uses this money to buy other things it needs like Oil etc. After this they still have quite a bit of USD left with them. The money ...
What's the best way to make money from a market correction?
There are several ways to protect against (or even profit from) a market correction. Hedge funds do this by hedging, that is, buying a stock that they think is strong and selling short a paired stock that is weak. If you hold, say, a strong retail company in your portfolio, you might sell short an equal weight of a wea...
How do you choose which mortgage structure is appropriate when buying a home?
Down payment: Emphatically avoid PMI if at all possible; it's pouring money down the drain. Do 20% down if you can, or pay off enough to bring you above 20% and ask for PMI to be removed as soon as you can. Beyond that it's a matter of how much risk you want to accept and how long you'll own the place, and you'll have ...
Does this sound like a great idea regarding being a landlord and starting a real estate empire?
A lot of people do this. For example, in my area nice townhouses go for about $400K, so if you have $80,000 you can buy one and rent it. Here are the typical numbers: So you would make $350 per month or $4,200 per year on $80,000 in capital or about 5% profit. What can go wrong: (1) The property does not rent and sits ...
Can one be non-resident alien in the US without being a resident anywhere else?
You may be considered a resident for tax purposes. To meet the substantial presence test, you must have been physically present in the United States on at least: 31 days during the current year, and 183 days during the 3 year period that includes the current year and the 2 years immediately before. To satisfy the...
Pros and cons of investing in a cheaper vs expensive index funds that track the same index
Cheaper would refer to the fees of a fund rather than the share price, IMO. Are 2 quarters worth more or less than 10 nickels? This is another way to express your question though most open-end funds bought directly from the fund family or through fund supermarkets would do fractional shares that may be better than goin...
How does a TFSA work? Where does the interest come from?
As to where the interest comes from: The same place it comes from in other kinds of savings accounts. The bank takes the money you deposit and invests it elsewhere, traditionally by lending it out to others (hence the concept of a "savings and loan" bank). They make a profit as long as the interest they give for "borro...
Best way to start investing, for a young person just starting their career?
I tell you how I started as an investor: read the writings of probably the best investor of the history and become familiarized with it: Warren Buffett. I highly recommend "The Essays of Warren Buffett", where he provides a wise insight on how a company generates value, and his investment philosophy. You won't regret i...
Do I have to explicitly apply for claim of tax rebate u/s 87A in India
If my salary slip says that I will be paying x INR tax this financial year. Then how much minimum investment I need to do to avoid any tax? This rebate is not directly linked to investments. If your total Gross is less than Rs 5 lacs, from the total tax computed, you can claim a rebate of upto Rs 5000. Does salary slip...
How do you measure the value of gold?
1) Get some gold. 2) Walk around, yelling, "Hey, I have some gold, who wants to buy it?" 3) Once you have enough interested parties, hold an auction and see who will give you the most dollars for it. 4) Trade the gold for that many dollars. 5) You have just measured the value of your gold.
Whats the difference between a qualified and an unqualified covered call?
Yes, as long as you write a call against your stock with a strike price greater than or equal to the previous day's closing price, with 30 or more days till experation there will be no effect on the holding period of your stock. Like you mentioned, unqualified covered calls suspend the holding period of your stock. Fo...
Am I entitled to get a maintenance loan?
I think you're eligible for the tuition fee loan but not the maintenance loan. I think that SFE were suggesting that you'd be eligible under point 4 here 4: People with the right of permanent residence in the UK If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. To b...
I am turning 18 and I am a Student, I need strategies on building great credit soon. Where should I start?
Based on the formula used by FICO which is pretty much what you want to focus on, the following is recommended for someone with no credit history: When you get all this, follow the following habits to make sure it does you some good: Follow these and you will do great, I started with a $500 Discover card and $500 Chase...
Should I buy a house or am I making silly assumptions that I can afford it?
When I bought my own place, mortgage lenders worked on 3 x salary basis. Admittedly that was joint salary - eg you and spouse could sum your salaries. Relaxing this ratio is one of the reasons we are in the mess we are now. You are shrewd (my view) to realise that buying is better than renting. But you also should ...
How can I find data on delisted stocks?
You need a source of delisted historical data. Such data is typically only available from paid sources. According to my records, AULT (Ault Inc) began as an OTC stock in the 1980s prior it having an official NASDAQ listing. It was delisted on 27 Jan 2006. Its final traded price was $2.94. It was taken over at a pric...
are there any special procedures for managing non-petty cash?
After talking to two CPAs it seems like managing it using an imprest system is the best idea. The base characteristic of an imprest system is that a fixed amount is reserved and later replenished as it runs low. This replenishment will come from another account source, e.g., petty cash will be replenished by cashing a...
Paying off a loan with a loan to get a better interest rate
If it's possible in your case to get such a loan, then sure, providing the loan fees aren't in excess of the interest rate difference. Auto loans don't have the fees mortgages do, but check the specific loan you're looking at - it may have some fees, and they'd need to be lower than the interest rate savings. Car loan...
What should I do with the change in my change-jar?
Are you in an occupation that regularly collects change or is this change left in your pocket at the end of the day? Here in the US it is typically worth it to invest in some automatic coin counters if you are in an occupation that regularly collects coins. In your case you can collect the little baggies from the bank...
Why would selling off some stores improve a company's value?
Two different takes on an answer; the net-loss concept you mentioned and a core-business concept. If a store is actually a net-loss, and anybody is willing to buy it, it may well make sense to sell it. Depending on your capital value invested, and how much it would take you to make it profitable, it may be a sound bus...
Home Renovations are expensive.. Should I only pay cash for them?
I know that both Lowes and Home Depot (in Canada at least) will offer a 6 month deferred interest payment on all purchases over a certain dollar amount (IIRC, $500+), and sometimes run product specific 1 year deferred interest specials. This is a very effective way of financing renovations. Details: You've probably see...
Is there any public data available to determine an ETF's holdings?
You can check the website for the company that manages the fund. For example, take the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB). iShares publishes the complete list of the fund's holdings on their website. This information isn't always easy to find or available, but it's a place to start. For some index funds, you should...
Can you explain why it's better to invest now rather than waiting for the market to dip?
Your chance of even correctly recognizing the actual lowest point of a dip are essentially zero, so if you try to time the market, you'll most likely not get the "buy cheap" part perfectly right. And as you write yourself, while you wait for the dip, you have an ongoing opportunity cost. Cost averaging is by far the be...
Which is better when working as a contractor, 1099 or incorporating?
Unless the amounts involved are very small, it is MUCH better to incorporate. First, incorporation gives you limited liability for your acts as an employee. As an individual, you have unlimited liability. Second, incorporating allows you to deduct (for tax purposes) the costs of doing business, including all of your he...
Should I put more money down on one property and pay it off sooner or hold on to the cash?
I would go with the 2nd option (put down as little as possible) with a small caveat: avoid the mortgage insurance if you can and put down 20%. Holding your rental property(ies)'s mortgage has some benefits: You can write off the mortgage interest. In Canada you cannot write off the mortgage interest from your primary ...
What are “preferred” stocks? How are they different from normal (common) stocks?
I know this has already been answered and I know its frowned upon to dump a link, however, when it comes to investments it's best to get data from an 'official' source to avoid misinterpretations and personal opinions. The attached pdf is from the S&P and provides detailed, but not overwhelming, information regarding ...
Process for dissolving a recently-opened Colorado LLC?
Forms for the Colorado LLCs are online. You can find the link to the dissolution form here, and instructions here. IRS instructions are here. That's what they want: To close your business account, send us a letter that includes the complete legal name of the entity, the EIN, the business address and the reason you ...
Pay off entire mortgage or put into investments
At the area where I live (Finland), banks typically charge a lot more for additional mortgage credit taken after purchasing the house. So, if you are planning to purchase a house, and pay it with a mortgage, you get a very good rate, but if you pay back the mortgage and then realize you need additional credit, you get ...
How to report house used for 100% business?
As DJClayworth said, be very careful with this one! The property is a residence, not a business location. Given that, it is almost a certainty that the IRS is not going to let you claim 100% of the expenses for the home as a business expense, even if nobody's actually living there. You may get away with doing this...
Should I re-allocate my portfolio now or let it balance out over time?
This depends completely on your investing goals. Typically when saving for retirement younger investors aim for a more volatile and aggressive portfolio but diversify their portfolio with more cautious stocks/bonds as they near retirement. In other words, the volatility that owning a single stock brings may be in line ...
Finding out actual items bought via credit card issuer and not the store receipt?
As a merchant I can tell you that the only thing the bank gets from me. Is the total amount and a category for my business. No detail, not ever.
Why would someone buy a way out-of-the-money call option that's expiring soon?
Out of the money options often have the biggest changes in value, when the stock moves upward. This person could also gain, by the implied (underlying) volatility of the stock rising if it moves erratically to either side. Still seems to be a very risky game, given only 4 days to expiry.
Why certain currencies are considered safe havens in times of turmoil
It's a combination of neutrality, economic power, economic freedom, a history of stability, and tradition. In the case of the Japanese yen, it's obviously economic power that is the determining factor, as Japan is the world's third largest economy. Switzerland, on the other hand, is only the 19th largest economy, but r...
what is the point of the part b late enrollment penalty?
The point of the enrollment penalty is basically the same as the ACA penalty. Any sort of health insurance - or really, any insurance - is funded by creating a risk pool of high and low risk people and pricing it so that the overall payments cover the total risk. That means, however, that on average the low risk peo...
Idea for getting rich using computers to track stocks
The main reason I'm aware of that very few individuals do this sort of trading is that you're not taking into account the transaction costs, which can and will be considerable for a small-time investor. Say your transaction costs you $12, that means in order to come out ahead you'll have to have a fairly large position...
If one owns 75% of company shares, does that mean that he would have to take upon himself 75% of the company's expenses?
From your question, it seems your problem is that you have a company that wants to make a deal, but does not currently have enough money to go through with it. Therefore it needs to raise capital. Assuming that you cannot get a loan from a bank and you do not want to seek funding from other sources, the two owners must...
How long to wait after getting a mortgage to increase my credit limit?
Specific to the inquiries, from my Impact of Credit Inquiries article - 8 is at the high end pulling your score down until some time passes. As MB stated, long term expanding your credit will help, but short term, it's a bit of a hit.
How to respond to a customer's demand for payment extension?
In the event that payment is not made by the due date on the invoice then the transaction is essentially null and void and you can sell the work to another client. For your particular situation I would strongly suggest that you implement a sales contract and agreement of original transfer of work of art for any and all...
Do classes have to pay sales tax on materials used?
In most jurisdictions, both the goods (raw materials) and the service (class) are being "sold" to the customer, who is the end user and thus the sale is subject to sales tax. So, when your friend charges for the class, that $100 is subject to all applicable sales taxes for the jurisdiction and all parent jurisdictions ...
Should I wait to save up 20% downpayment on a 500k condo?
As I've crunched numbers towards what my family could afford for a down payment (in an area with similar housing costs - don't you hate that high cost of living?), I've come up with the following numbers: We may be missing some area of expenses, but in general I think we are being fairly conservative. You should consi...
Why are American-style options worth more than European-style options?
According to the book of Hull, american and european calls on non-dividend paying stocks should have the same value. American puts, however, should be equals to, or more valuable than, european puts. The reason for this is the time value of money. In a put, you get the option to sell a stock at a given strike price. If...
When Employees are “Granted” Stock Options, is the Company encouraging Long-Term investments from them?
There are two things to consider: taxes - beneficial treatment for long-term holding, and for ESPP's you can get lower taxes on higher earnings. Also, depending on local laws, some share schemes allow one to avoid some or all on the income tax. For example, in the UK £2000 in shares is treated differently to 2000 in ca...
Is there any kind of unsecured stock loan?
In the U.S. it is typical that a stock brokerage account can be set up to buy stock with up to half the cost being borrowed from the broker. This is called a margin account. The stock purchased must remain in the account until sold (or the loan is paid off), as it serves as built-in collateral for the loan. If the m...
How is a relocation fee of more than 40k taxed?
With a $40,000 payment there is a 100% chance that the owner will be claiming this as a business expense on their taxes. The IRS and the state will definitely know about it, and the risk of interest and penalties if it is not claimed as income make the best course of action to see a tax adviser. Because taxes will not...
What is the meaning of “writing put options”?
Suppose you're writing a put with a strike price of 80. Say the share's(underlying asset) price goes down to 70. So the holder of the put will exercise the option. Ie he has a 'right to sell' a share worth 70 for rs 80. Whereas a put option writer has an 'obligation to buy' at rs 80 a share trading at rs 70. Always thi...
If gold's price implodes then what goes up?
Ok, I think what you're really asking is "how can I benefit from a collapse in the price of gold?" :-) And that's easy. (The hard part's making that kind of call with money on the line...) The ETF GLD is entirely physical gold sitting in a bank vault. In New York, I believe. You could simply sell it short. Alternativ...
What should I look for when looking for stocks that are 'on-sale'?
Don't invest. Keep cash. And wait till you see a crash in the price of some of your favorite blue chip stocks. But wait till the true bottom is in...you will know when is the right time as it will be obvious.
Why diversify stocks/investments?
Basically, diversifying narrows the spread of possible results, raising the center of the returns bell-curve by reducing the likelihood of extreme results at either the high or low end. It's largely a matter of basic statistics. Bet double-or-nothing on a single coin flip, and those are the only possible results, and...