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How to take advantage of home appreciation
There might just not be anything useful for you to do with that 'value'. As others mentioned, HELOCs have their risks and issues too. There is no risk-less way to take advantage of the value (outside of selling) It is similar to owning a rare stamp that is 'worth a million' - what good does it do you if you don't sell ...
Why do moving average acts as support and resistance?
A moving average will act as support or resistance to a stock only when the stock is trending. The way it acts as support for instance is similar to a trend-line. Take the daily chart of CBA over the last 6 months: The first chart shows CBA with an uptrend support line. The second chart shows CBA during the same perio...
Buy or sell futures contracts
We struck a deal. I sold an asset to some body on june 1 . However he says, he would pay me any time on or before august 1st . This puts me in a dilemma. What if price goes down by august 1st and i would have to accept lower payment from him.? If price goes up till august 1st, then obviously i make money since ,even t...
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...
Why does low interest rate prevent bankruptcy and foreclosure?
Most of the bankruptcy is due to taking [or building over a period of time] a loan that one cannot service, if the interest rates rise, then the amount of money to repay the loan increases, when one doesnt pay the revised amount and keeps paying less, the over all debt keeps shooting through the roof ... a lower intere...
is the bankruptcy of exchange markets possible?
@MichaelBorgwardt gave an excellent answer. Let me add a little analogy here that might help. Suppose you bought a car from Joe's Auto Sales. You pay your money, do all the paperwork, and drive your car home. The next day Joe's goes bankrupt. What affect does that have on your ownership rights to your car? The answer i...
Why don't banks allow more control over credit/debit card charges?
This is a question with a flawed premise. Credit cards do have two-factor authentication on transactions they consider more at risk to be fraudulent. I've had several times when I bought something relatively expensive and unusual for me, where the CC either initially declined and sent me a text asking to confirm imme...
Micro-investing: How to effectively invest frequent small amounts of money in equities?
(For people looking at this question many years later...) Schwab and Fidelity offer a wide selection of commission-free ETFs. You need an initial purchase amount, though, of (when last I checked at Schwab) $1,000.
Does the profit of a company directly affect its stock or indirectly by causing people to buy or sell?
The short answer to your question is yes. Company performance affects stock price only through investors' views. But note that selling for higher and lower prices when the company is doing well or poorly is not an arbitrary choice. A stock is a claim on the future cash flows of the firm, which ultimately come from it...
When is the best time to put a large amount of assets in the stock market?
The one thing we know for certain is that holding large amounts of cash isn't ideal - inflation will eat away at your wealth. It's understandable that you're hesitant to put all your wealth in common stock. The S&P 500's price/earnings is 18.7 right now - a little high by historical standards. But consider that the S&P...
A stock just dropped 8% in minutes and now all of a sudden the only way to buy is on the ask, what does this mean?
You have to look at stocks just like you would look at smaller and more illiquid markets. Stock trade in auction markets. These are analogous to ebay or craigslist, just with more transparency and liquidity. There is no guarantee that a market will form for a particular stock, or that it will sustain. When a stock sel...
Is there any truth to the saying '99% of the world's millionaires have become rich by doing real estate'?
This quote has it almost backwards. Thomas J. Stanley's recent book (he's one of the duo who researched and wrote about The Millionaire Next Door) claims that the top occupation of millionaires is "business owner / self-employed" (28%). "Real estate investor" is lumped in with "other" (9%), and if the ordering is corr...
How to quantify differences in return with low expense ratio vs high expense ratio mutual funds?
Yes you should take in the expenses being incurred by the mutual fund. This lists down the fees charged by the mutual fund and where expenses can be found in the annual statement of the fund. To calculate fees and expenses. As you might expect, fees and expenses vary from fund to fund. A fund with high costs must perf...
When an insider discloses a stock trade are they required to execute?
They are not required to fulfill the trade that they have intended to execute. They are able to cancel or modify the trade at any point. Example: This is how insiders are able to manipulate the price of shares through there buying and selling intentions. A CEO would be able to disclose a buy order for a month from n...
How to prevent myself from buying things I don't want
I use cash exclusively. I go to the cash machine once a week and withdraw the money I want to spend in one week (so I have to plan if I want to buy something expensive). Otherwise I leave the card at home. As bonus you get anonymity, i.e. big brother cannot track you.
Are services provided to Google employees taxed as income or in any way?
(Regarding one aspect of the question) Here's a survey suggesting new programmers value "free lunch", old programmers do not care about it: https://stackoverflow.blog/2017/06/12/new-kids-block-understanding-developers-entering-workforce-today/?cb=1
Is an analyst's “price target” assumed to be for 12 months out?
If the time horizon is not indicated, this is just a "fair price". The price of the stock, which corresponds with the fair value of the whole company. The value, which the whole business is worth, taking into consideration its net income, current bonds yield, level of risk of the business, perspective of the business e...
Capital Gains Tax with Multiple 'buy' Transactions per Stock (U.S.)
According to the following article the answer is "first-in, first-out": http://smallbusiness.chron.com/calculate-cost-basis-stock-multiple-purchases-21588.html According to the following article the last answer was just one option an investor can choose: https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/advice-investing-costbasis?akredi...
Tax benefits to buying stocks on Dec 31 vs. one day later?
For a long term gain you must hold the stock a year and a day, so, the long term hold period will fall into 2015 regardless. This is the only tax related issue that occurs to me, did you have something else in mind? Welcome to Money.SE.
Should I give to charity by check or credit card?
As someone that has run a nonprofit, my 2 cents: First: thank you for giving and for being conscientious about wanting to make things as easy as possible. The best method is the one you'll actually do. If there is a chance that you will end up not donating by check because you don't have a stamp, you forget, etc. go ah...
Taxes for citizen of EU country #1 living in EU country #2 and working from home for non-EU country #3?
You will almost certainly be paying taxes in Czech Republic, short of being American of Eritrean, citizenship has little to no bearing on tax. If you are working from home, you will probably be a contractor. In Romania you would work through either an SRL or you would set up a PFA. Essentially a limited company or a so...
Does the Fed keeping interest rates low stimulate investment in the stock market and other investments?
Investopedia has this note where you'd want the contrapositive point: The interest rate, commonly bandied about by the media, has a wide and varied impact upon the economy. When it is raised, the general effect is a lessening of the amount of money in circulation, which works to keep inflation low. It also makes ...
Why are wire transfers and other financial services in Canada so much more expensive than in Europe?
because bankers are crooks is a very close answer. Just accept the truth that financial industry is the only service industry that could turn into giant parasite chopping pieces from real economy. I am not anti-financial, because greed is not banker's fault, but just one significant part of human nature. Every human be...
Why are some long term investors so concerned about their entry price?
Because buying at discount provides a considerable safety of margin -- it increases the likelihood of profiting. The margin serves to cushion future adverse price movement. Why is so much effort made to get a small percentage off an investment, if one is then willing to let the investment drop another 20% or more w...
Why do consultants or contractors make more money than employees?
Note too that being a contractor means that you will unavoidably have periods between contracts; you tend to be out of work more often than a salaried employee would. You need to set your rates so your average income, including those down times, adds up to a living wage including all those benefits that aren't being co...
Investing in the stock market during periods of high inflation
The relation between inflation and stock (or economic) performance is not well-understood. Decades ago, economists thought inflation corresponded with periods of high growth and good real returns, but since then we have had periods of low inflation and high growth and high inflation with low growth. It is generally u...
When I ask a broker to buy stock, what does the broker do?
Here are a couple of articles that can help highlight the differences between a broker and an online investment service, which seems to be part of the question that you're asking. Pay attention to the references at the end of this link. http://finance.zacks.com/online-investing-vs-personal-broker-6720.html Investopedia...
I'm 23 and was given $50k. What should I do?
nan
Why does Charles Schwab have a Mandatory Settlement Period after selling stocks?
quid's answer explains the settlement period well. However, it should be noted that you can avoid the settlement period by opening a margin account. Any specific broker like Schwab may or may not offer margin accounts. Margin accounts allow you to borrow money to avoid the settlement period or to buy more securities th...
Should I collect receipts after paying with a card?
It is probably safe to throw away the receipt. Without a system to process and store receipts, they are of little use. With regards to personal finances I'm guilty of preaching without practicing 100% of the time, but here are some arguments for keeping receipts. To reconcile your statement to receipts before paying t...
Consolidating company pensions
I've been down the consolidation route too (of a handful of DC pensions; the DB ones I've not touched, and you would indeed need advice to move those around). What you should be comparing against is: what's the cheapest possible thing you could be doing? Monevators' online platform list will give you an idea of SIPP c...
A debt collector will not allow me to pay a debt, what steps should I take?
This may not apply in your particular situation, but I think it's important to mention: When a debt collector doesn't act like a debt collector, it may be because they aren't actually a debt collector. It's certainly strange that someone called you to collect money from you, and when you asked for a simple document, th...
What does “interest rates”, without any further context, generically refer to?
It refers to the risk free rate of a particular country. Because all other rates are usually pegged to the risk free rate. In US,it is the 30 day treasury rate. In England, it is the LIBOR In Canada, it is the overnight rate at which banks lend money to each other. All of these come under the category of risk free rate...
What is a mutual fund “high water mark” and how does it affect performance fees?
With the caveat that you should always read the fine print... Generally, the high water mark is the absolute highest mark at end of any quarter (sometimes month) over all the quarters (months) in the past. Intra-quarter marks don't matter. So, in your example the mark at the end of the second quarter would only be t...
Can I Accept Gold?
Of course you can accept gold as payment. Would anyone pay in gold? Would it have tax consequences on your federal taxes? These additional questions are off-topic on this site about personal finance.
If a stock has only buyers and no sellers how does its price go up?
Depending on what currency the price is quoted in and is originally sold, currency fluctuation can also carry over onto the price in your currency. An example for that would be bitcoin prices which sometimes show heavy ups and downs in one currency, but seem totally stable in another and can be tracked back to changed ...
How can I compare having accounts at various banks without opening an account?
I think that your best option is to use the internet to look for sites comparing the various features of accounts, and especially forums that are more focused on discussion as you can ask about specific banks and people who have those accounts can answer. "Requests for specific service provider recommendations" are off...
Financing a vehicle a few months before I expect to apply for a mortgage?
If your debt will all be less than 25% gross (yes, I see you said take home) you are in great shape. I'd get the car and not worry. The well written mortgage is 20% down, with a housing payment (which of course includes prop tax and insurance, as noted by mhoran, below) under 28% and total debt under 36%. You are well...
Investing tax (savings)
You'd want the money to be "liquid" and ready for you to use when tax time comes around. You also don't want to lose "principal", i.e. if you put it into stocks and have the value of what you put in be less than what you invested—which is possible—when you need the money, again, at tax time. That doesn't leave you with...
Visitor Shopping in the US: Would I get tax refund? Would I have to pay anything upon departure?
The US doesn't have a Value Added Tax, which is the one usually refundable upon departing the country... so sales taxes you pay in this country stay in this country and you don't get a refund. Just remember to treat the tax as an implied part of the price. (And be aware that state and local taxes may vary, so the total...
How to file income tax returns for profits from ESPP stock?
Consult a professional CA. For shares sold outside the Indian Stock Exchanges, these will be treated as normal Long Term Capital Gains if held more than one year. The rate would be 10% without Indexation and 20% with Indexation. If the stocks are held for less than 1 years, it will be short term gains and taxed accordi...
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...
Should I consolidate loans and cards, or just cards, leaving multiple loans?
My answer is similar to Ben Miller's, but let me make some slightly different points: There is one excellent reason to get a consolidation loan: You can often get a lower interest rate. If you are presently paying 19% on a credit card and you can roll that into a personal loan at 13.89%, you'll be saving over 5%, which...
Scam or Real: A woman from Facebook apparently needs my bank account to send money
This is either laundering money or laundering non-money. All the other answers point out how a cheque or bank transfer will take days to actually clear. That is a red herring! There are lots of ways to illegally transfer real money out of existing accounts. Stolen cheque books, stolen banking details (partly in conn...
Foolish to place orders before the market opens?
This would otherwise be a comment, but I wish to share an image. A stock I happened to own, gapped up on the open to $9.20 and slowly worked its way down to $8.19 where it closed up 6% but near its low for the day. This is an addendum to my comment above, warning about buying a stock on the open when news is coming ou...
Can extra mortgage payments be made to lower the monthly payment amount?
Some types of loans allow for reamortization (recasting) - which does exactly what you're talking about (making a big payment and then refiguring the monthly amount rather than the overall lifespan), without requiring any kind of a fee that refinancing does. Not every, or even most, mortgages, allow for recasting. And ...
Is there any flaw in this investment scheme?
You didn't win in case B. Borrowing shares and then selling them is known as "selling short". You received $2000 when you sold short 100 shares at $20. You spent $1000 to buy them back at $10, so you come out $1000 ahead on that deal. But at the same time, the 100 shares you already owned have declined in value from...
How long should I keep my bills?
Consumerist posted a list of how long to keep bills.
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...
Should I finance a new home theater at 0% even though I have the cash for it?
Be very careful with this. When we tried this with furniture, they charged an "administrative" fee to setup the account. I believe it was about $75. So if you defer interest for one year on a $1000 purchase and pay a $75 administrative fee, it's 7.5% interest. Also, they don't always send you a bill when it's due, t...
Restricting a check from being deposited via cell phone
I don't see any reason to worry about a check being deposited via cell phone. There isn't anything you can write on a check to make it physical deposit only or similar. If you really want to keep your check from being read electronically you could always smudge the numbers but you run the risk of the bank not cashing ...
Why does the calculation for percentage profit vary based on whether a position is short vs. long?
There are different perspectives from which to calculate the gain, but the way I think it should be done is with respect to the risk you've assumed in the original position, which the simplistic calculation doesn't factor in. There's a good explanation about calculating the return from a short sale at Investopedia. He...
Is it true that Income Tax was created to finance troops for World War I?
Canada did not introduce income taxes before World War I. Specifically deficits forced them to in the later part of the war: The Conservatives opposed income tax as they wanted to attract immigrants primarily from the United Kingdom and the United States, as opposed to Eastern Europe, and they wanted to give their pre...
How many days does Bank of America need to clear a bill pay check
I just had this happen to me with Chase and speaking with my executive support contact, they will not return the funds unless you request them back. Which I find appalling and just one more reason that I don't like working with Chase!
What's the point of a chargeback when they just ask the merchant whether they owe money to the buyer?
So, what's the point of a charge-back, if they simply take the word of the merchant? tl;dr: They don't. As both a merchant and a consumer I have been on both ends of credit card chargebacks, and have received what I consider to be mostly fair outcomes in all cases. Here are some examples: Takeaways from this: I strongl...
Will my Indian debit card work in the U.S.?
Debit cards with the Visa or Mastercard symbol on them work technically everywhere where credit cards work. There are some limitations where the respective business does not accept them, for example car rentals want a credit card for potential extra charges; but most of the time, for day-to-day shopping and dining, deb...
Getting started in stock with one special field of activity
Investing only in one industry may be problematic as it is highly correlated. There are factor outside your (or anyones) knowledge which may affect all the industry: If you are familiar with the industry it may happen that you work in that (ignore rest of paragraph if this is not the case). In such case you are likely ...
Name first on car loan can you also be the cosigner
I want to first state that I'm not an attorney and this is not a response that would be considered legal advice. I'm going to assume this was a loan was made in the USA. The OP didnt specify. A typical auto loan has a borrower and a co-borrower or "cosigner". The first signer on the contract is considered the "pri...
Why do people buy new cars they can not afford?
If everyone bought used cars, who would buy the new cars so that everyone else could buy them used? Rental car companies? Your rant expresses a misunderstanding of fundamental economics (as demand for used cars increases, so will prices) but economics is off-topic here, so let me explain why I bought a new car—that I a...
US tax for a resident NRI
Please declare everything you earn in India as well as the total amount of assets (it's called FBAR). The penalties for not declaring is jail time no matter how small the amount (and lots of ordinary people every 2-3 years are regularly sent to jail for not declaring such income). It's taken very seriously by the IRS -...
How to choose a good 401(k) investment option?
The vanguard funds are all low fee your employer has done a good job selecting their provider for 401(k). I would do a roth if you can afford it as taxes are at a historical low. Just pick the year you want to get your money if you will need your money in 2040 pick Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 Fund. Its that sim...
How much (paper) cash should I keep on hand for an emergency?
It's also worth thinking about minor "emergencies" when the location of your cash may be more important than the amount. I keep a baggie of change and small bills in my glovebox for meters and tolls. I keep a ten dollar bill in my armband when I go out for a jog or bike. Those little stashes have saved me more than onc...
End-of-season car sales?
Manufacturers sometimes give incentives to car dealers to ensure that the prior year models are sold out before the year is up. However, dealers are usually pretty smart on only ordering the cars they know they can sell before this happens. Also, manufacturers are usually pretty good about only producing enough vehic...
Totally new to finance, economy, where should I start?
I'd start with learning how to read a company's financial statement and their annual report. I would recommend reading the following: All three books are cheap and readily available. If you really want to enhance your learning, grab a few annual reports from companies' websites to reference as you learn about different...
How can I stop wasting food?
You want to combine a set of techniques to avoid throwing food away. Consider setting aside a weekend day or other non-busy time to do some food prep. Check to see if there is anything in the fridge that needs to be used quickly and prioritize meals that use that item. Make a weekly menu and get your groceries. Chop...
How does unemployment insurance work?
Unemployment insurance provides a temporary safety net to workers who lose their jobs by replacing a portion of their salary for certain periods. Each state administers its own unemployment insurance program so some rules may vary from state to state. To receive unemployment insurance payments, you must have lost your ...
Close to retirement & we may move within 7 years. Should we re-finance our mortgage, or not?
Think of your mortgage this way - you have a $130K 16 year mortgage, at 6.75%. At 4%, the same payment ($1109 or so) will pay off the loan in 12.4 years. So, I agree with littleadv, go for a 15yr fixed (but still make the higher payment) or 10 yr if you don't mind the required higher payment. Either way, a refinance i...
What things are important to consider when investing in one's company stock?
Check how long you have to hold the stock after buying it. If you can sell reasonably soon and your company is reasonably stable, you're unlikely to lose and/or be taxed and/or pay enough in fees to lose more than the 30% "free money" they're giving you. Whether you hold it longer than the minimum time depends partly ...
Taxable income on full-time job + business earnings
In Australia, any income you earn is taxable despite where it came from. Using your example your taxable income is $70,000. Keep in mind that with a business even as a sole trader any business expenses that contribute to the earning of your business income is deductible, reducing the final amount of tax you'll have to ...
Do stock prices really go down by the amount of the dividend?
Here is one study http://rfs.oxfordjournals.org/content/7/4/711.short I quote from the abstract "In a variety of tests, marginal price drop is not significantly different from the dividend amount. Thus, over the last several decades, one-for-one marginal price drop has been an excellent (average) rule of thumb."
Would cross holding make market capitalization apparently more?
Initially, Each company has 10k shares. Company B has $500k money and possibly other assets. Every company has stated purpose. It can't randomly buy shares in some other firm. Company A issued 5k new shares, which gives it $500k money. Listed companies can't make private placements without regulatory approvals. They ...
How often do typical investors really lose money?
So how often do investors really lose money? The short answer is, every day. Let's first examine your assumptions: If the price of the share gets lower, the investor can just wait until it gets higher. What are the chances that it won't forever, or for years? There are many stocks whose price goes down and then dow...
Understanding differences between S&P500 index-tracking ETFs
Regarding SPY: "One SPDR unit is valued at approximately 1/10 of the value of the S&P 500. Dividends are distributed quarterly, and are based on the accumulated stock dividends held in trust, less any expenses of the trust." (source) These are depository receipts, not the actual stocks. Regarding IVV: "The component ...
Pay off car loan entirely or leave $1 until the end of the loan period?
Among the other fine answers, you might also consider that owning a vehicle outright will free you from the requirement to carry insurance on the vehicle (you must still carry insurance on yourself in most states).
Limited Liability Partnership capital calculation
Retained earnings is different from partner capital accounts. You can draw the money however the partners agree. Unless money is specifically transferred to the capital funds, earnings will not show up there.
Can I buy and sell a house quickly to access the money in a LISA?
Your first home can be up to £450,000 today. But that figure is unlikely to stay the same over 40 years. The government would need to raise it in line with inflation otherwise in 40 years you won't be able to buy quite so much with it. If inflation averages 2% over your 40 year investment period say, £450,000 would buy...
What's the catch with biweekly mortgage payments?
Depending on who you have the loan through and how they figure the interest charges (whether daily, monthly, bi-monthly, etc. normally monthly I would assume), your interest is probably figured either daily or once a month. Let's assume that it is figured daily, otherwise it wouldn't make sense to make bi-weekly paym...
Buying a house for a shorter term
To answer your question, you need to ask yourself Common transaction costs can be really hard to compensate in a single year. It can include house inspections, closing costs, agents commissions, etc---all together, it can be up to 6-10% of the value of your house. This is a difficult goal to beat in a year, and your m...
Scam or Real: A woman from Facebook apparently needs my bank account to send money
Well, all of the previous answers already mentioned the upcoming scam and danger situation for your financial position. I thoroughly read all answers and wanted to add a few more lines on it. Cort Ammon) already shows details of it. Any kind of financial transaction involving a complete stranger is the first big scam t...
LLC in states with customers with and without employees in the state
If I hire someone in Utah to do sales for me over the phone, and he works out of his home, am I required to register an LLC or file my current one as a foreign entity in Utah? Yes, since you've established presence in Utah. You'll register your current LLC in Utah, no point creating another one. If my sales guy, or...
Can future rental income be applied to present debt-to-income ratio when applying for second mortgage?
Having both purchased income properties and converted prior residences into rental properties I have found that it is difficult to get the banks to consider the potential rental income in qualifying you for a loan. It helps if you have prior rental experience but in many cases you will have to qualify outright (i.e. w...
If a stock doesn't pay dividends, then why is the stock worth anything?
Imagine that a company never distributes any of its profits to its shareholders. The company might invest these profits in the business to grow future profits or it might just keep the money in the bank. Either way, the company is growing in value. But how does that help you as a small investor? If the share price neve...
Can anybody explain “cut their exposure to equities” and “fat and flat range” for me, please?
Someone's (or, a bank's) "exposure to equities" refers to the amount of value which has a risk that fluctuates with the equities market (ie: the stock market). In very broad terms, I think it might make sense to say that exposure to equities could mean, for example, owning many rental properties, if the rental market w...
Is issuer's bank allowed to charge fee when cashing check?
Some banks charge their own customers if they make use of a teller. That is what you are doing. You are going to a bank where you are not a customer and requesting a transaction that requires a teller. If you cash the check by going though your bank, the issuer's bank only handles it as a non-teller transaction.
What software do you recommend for Creating a To-The-Penny, To-The-Day Budget?
I wrote a little program one time to try to do this. I think I wrote it in Python or something. The idea was to have a list of "projected expenses" where each one would have things like the amount, the date of the next transaction, the frequency of the transaction, and so on. The program would then simulate time, det...
Why must identification be provided when purchasing a money order?
The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 requires that banks assist the U.S. Gov't in identifying and preventing money laundering. This means they're required to keep records of cash transactions of Negotiable Instruments, and report any such transactions with a daily aggregate limit of a value greater than (or equal to?) $10,000....
How do 401k handle rate of return
A 401(k) is an investment just like any other investment. You generally get two types of return lumped into that number, but there can be more and you should read your funds prospectus carefully. If you aren't investing in direct companies, you're using mutual funds for instance, then you should read the funds prospect...
Why do investors buy stock that had appreciated?
I understand you make money by buying low and selling high. You can also make money by buying high and selling higher, short selling high and buying back low, short selling low and buying back even lower. An important technique followed by many technical traders and investors is to alway trade with the trend - so if th...
Merits of buying apartment houses and renting them
I am not going to argue the merits of investing in real estate (I am a fan I think it is a great idea when done right). I will assume you have done your due diligence and your numbers are correct, so let's go through your questions point by point. What would be the type of taxes I should expect? NONE. You are a real ...
Merits of buying apartment houses and renting them
Hitting the 25% marginal rate does not mean all of your earnings are taxed at 25%, only those that exceed the top of the 15% bracket. You can deduct any expenses for upgrading or repairing your apartments, those are subtracted from the earnings before tax is calculated as income, so you will probably stay in a lower ma...
Why is the fractional-reserve banking not a Ponzi scheme?
No, fractional reserve banking isn't a scam. A simple exercise: replace dollars with time. You're trading some time now for time in the future, plus a bit of extra time. This is only a problem if you promise your entire life away, which we've helpfully outlawed. Once you realize that wealth is the result of human labor...
Shorting Stocks And Margin Account Minimum
And what exactly do I profit from the short? I understand it is the difference in the value of the stock. So if my initial investment was $4000 (200 * $20) and I bought it at $3800 (200 * $19) I profit from the difference, which is $200. Do I also receive back the extra $2000 I gave the bank to perform the trade? Eithe...
Why does gold have value?
Most of the answers here reflect a misunderstanding of what gold actually is from a financial perspective. I'll answer your question by asking two questions, and I do challenge you to stop and think about what we mean when we say "cash" or "unit of exchange" because without understanding those, you will completely mis...
What does HMRC (the UK tax agency) view as valid expenses for travel?
Food is almost never a valid expense. Reason for it is simple - if you were not conducting business you would have to eat too. Ad 1. I don't see why travel in that case would not be a valid expense, as the only reason for you to travel there is for business reasons. Ad 2. Unlikely as there is a duality of purpose. So w...
How do I know when I am financially stable/ready to move out on my own?
It's hard to financially justify buying a house just for one person to live in. You end up being 'over-housed' (and paying for it). Would you rent a whole house for yourself? A condo might be an option - but TO ME the maintenance fees are hard to take (and they are notorious for increasing dramatically as the building...
Meaning of reinvestment
1) When it says "an investment or mutual fund", is a mutual fund not an investment? If no, what is the definition of an investment? A mutual fund is indeed an investment. The article probably mentions mutual funds separately from other investments because it is not uncommon for mutual funds to give you the option to...
Should I sell my stocks to reduce my debt?
Put yourself in this position - if you had no debts and no investments, would you borrow money at those rates to invest in the stock market? If no, then pay off the debts. If yes, then keep them.
What are my risks of early assignment?
One reason this happens is due to dividends. If the dividend amount is greater than the time value left on a call, it can make sense to exercise early to collect the dividend. Deep in the money puts also may get exercised early. There's usually little premium on a deep in the money put and the spread on the bid-ask mi...
Form 1042-S for foreign resident and owner of trade account
As you have indicated, the 1042-S reflects no income or withholding. As such, you are not required to file a US tax return unless you have other income from the US. Gains on stocks are not reported until realized upon sale. FYI, your activity does not fit the requirements of being engaged in a trade or business activ...
Put idle savings to use while keeping them liquid
Since you're coming out of college, you're probably a new investor and don't know too much about stocks, etc. I was in the same situation as well. I wanted to keep my cash 'liquid' and wanted to make low risk investments. What I ended up doing was investing the majority of my money in higher interest GICs (Guaranteed ...