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Expecting to move in five years; how to lock mortgage rates?
If interest rates have gone up, don't sell when you move. Refinance to lock in a low rate and rent out your current house when you move. Let the rent pay your new mortgage.
Comprehensive tutorial on double-entry personal finance?
I found this book to be pretty decent: It is a workbook, and full of little exercises.
Impact of RMD on credit worthiness
The actual policy will vary based on the specific bank. But, if I were in your shoes I'd include RMDs in my stated income for credit card purposes.
What are the best software tools for personal finance?
Mint.com—Easy solution to provide insight into finances. Pros: Cons:
What U.S. banks offer two-factor authentication (such as password & token) for online banking?
StasM, It's taken a while but many banks offer tokens - although they tend to limit the accounts for which they will be issued. All of the following issue tokens, but there are many more: CitiBank JP Morgan Union Bank Wells Fargo Callaway Bank Wachovia Bank of North Dakota The River Bank of Wisconsin Metcalf Bank, Kans...
Any difference between buying a few shares of expensive stock or a bunch of cheap stock
I was thinking that the value of the stock is the value of the stock...the actual number of shares really doesn't matter, but I'm not sure. You're correct. Share price is meaningless. Google is $700 per share, Apple is $100 per share, that doesn't say anything about either company and/or whether or not one is a bett...
Where do traders take their prices data from? How can it be different from their brokers'?
This is a complicated subject, because professional traders don't rely on brokers for stock quotes. They have access to market data using Level II terminals, which show them all of the prices (buy and sell) for a given stock. Every publicly traded stock (at least in the U.S.) relies on firms called "market makers". ...
What are the benefits of opening an IRA in an unstable/uncertain economy?
You bring up a valid concern. IRAs are good retirement instruments as long as the rules don't change. History has shown that governments can change the rules regarding retirement accounts. As long as you have some of your retirement assets outside of an IRA I think IRAs are good ways to save for retirement. It's not ...
Why buy insurance?
I keep it simple. Here's what I learned when I took Personal Financial Planning: Insurance is for low likelihood, high-impact events.
How does a financial advisor choose debt funds and equity funds for us?
A financial advisor is a service professional. It is his/her job to do things for you that you could do for yourself, but you're either too busy to do it yourself (and you want to pay somebody else), or you'd rather not. Just like some people hire tax preparers, or maids, or people to change their oil, or re-roof thei...
What is the process of getting your first share?
I think I understand what you're trying to achieve. You just want to see how it "feels" to own a share, right? To go through the process of buying and holding, and eventually selling, be it at a loss or at a gain. Frankly, my primary advice is: Just do it on paper! Just decide, for whatever reason, which stocks to buy...
Can a wealthy investor invest in or make a deal with a company before it goes public / IPO?
Yes, it is common for investors to make equity investments in technology companies pre-IPO. There are technology incubators like Y Combinator that exist to make "angel" investments, which are early-stage equity investments in private technology companies (these investments are sometimes in notes that are convertible t...
What are some good ways to control costs for groceries?
Check out the bulk stores like BJs, Sam's Club or whatever else is available to you. You can definitely save money shopping there but you also need to keep your wits about you as well. Example, if you're buying in bulk only to let food go to waste, obviously that's not good either...
Why do grocery stores in the U.S. offer cash back so eagerly?
Cash-back also lets the store turn hard currency into an electronic transfer or check, which reduces the hassle/risk of hauling bagfulls of cash to the bank. (The smaller stores I've spoken to have called this out as a major advantage of plastic over either cash or checks. I'm assuming that the problem scales with numb...
Official site to follow Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway change in investment holdings?
Are you looking for this Warren Buffets Stock Portfolio? Or Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio WFC is near the bottom of the BH portfolio but it seems to be a rather large investment for both.
How risky are penny stocks?
The biggest problem with penny stocks is that they are easily manipulated, and they frequently are. Many of the companies trading as penny stocks have poor track histories of accurate financials, and what information that is available is not very reliable or verifiable. I recall a few years ago when there were article...
Is Real Estate ever a BAD investment? If so, when?
There's an aspect to real estate that's under-discussed. When you take all factors into account, it just about keeps up with inflation over the long term. Three factors: Now - when you normalize all of this, calculating the "hours worked" needed to pay for the median home, you find a nearly flat line at just over 40 o...
What are futures and how are they different from options?
Cart's answer is basically correct, but I'd like to elaborate: A futures contract obligates both the buyer of a contract and the seller of a contract to conduct the underlying transaction (settle) at the agreed-upon future date and price written into the contract. Aside from settlement, the only other way either party ...
Friend was brainwashed by MLM-/ponzi investment scam. What can I do?
I believe the only thing you haven't mentioned to him is the possibility that his activity is criminally fraudulent. I would sit him down, and say something substantially similar to the following: We've talked about your investment before, and I know you believe it's fine. I just want to make sure you understand that ...
Is there a bank account that allows ACH deposits but not ACH withdrawals?
Yes, kinda. Talk to local banks about a business account, and tell them you want to enable certain employees to make deposits but not withdrawals. They don't need to know you're all the same person. For instance I have a PayPal account for business. These allow you to create "sub accounts" for your employees with...
Buying from an aggressive salesperson
He sounds like a very bad salesman and I should know, because I was a sales manager at a bike shop which sold bikes from $200 to $10k. Now I had a clear goal, which is to sell as many bikes at the highest price possible, but I didn't do that by making customers uncomfortable. Each customer received different treatment ...
Am I liable for an auto accident if I'm a cosigner but not on the title, registration, or insurance policy?
You can be sued if some random stranger that you never had any interaction with gets in an accident. There is really no barrier to people suing you if they get it in their head that they want to. Winning that lawsuit is another matter entirely. Whether you would be held liable and lose the lawsuit depends on whether s...
Can I deduct equipment expenses for a job I began overseas?
A computer is a special case because the IRS thinks that you might be using it for personal applications. You may need to keep a log, or be able to state that you also have another computer for non-business use. That said, if your schedule C shows a small profit then you don't need to itemize expenses, just state th...
How (or is it necessary) to rebalance a 401k with only one index fund?
Rebalance is across asset-classes which are mutually independent [like stocks and bonds; they may be inversely correlated at times as when stocks go down, bonds go up] 80%-20% (stock-bond) split is good for a young investor [say in 30s, some suggest 110-age as a good stock allocation percentage]. Here rebalance is done...
When to convert employee shares in an RRSP into cash, even if there is a penalty?
The cost to you for selling is 3/8% of a years salary, this is what you won't get if you sell. Tough to calculate the what-if scenarios beyond this, since I can't quantify the risk of a price drop. Once the amount in he stock is say,10%, of a years salary, if you know a drop is coming, a sale is probably worth it, for ...
What does “Company Distribution” mean on Google Finance's stock screener?
Company Distribution is attempting to show a histogram of how many companies fall within a given range so you can visualize the number of companies that meet a certain parameter. For example if you move the "Market Cap" sliders so the minimum slider is just before the large rise in the distribution and move the maximu...
Possible replacement for Quicken
I would investigate mint.com further. Plenty of people have written off using them because Intuit purchased them, but that seems like cutting of your nose to spite your face. I think mint.com is worth it for its Trends functionality alone, not to mention its automatic categorization of your purchases, reminders when b...
With respect to insider trading, what is considered “material information”?
Material Information means that any information that can reasonable affect the share price of the company [upward or downward] as looked by the investors. The idea is to provide a level playing field to all investors. Hence it forces people having material information not to trade when they have this information that i...
(How) can I print my own checks on my printer on regular paper?
There are certain standards that modern checks need to meet. These aren't required by law, but banks today generally insist on them. If you are able to meet these standards and print your own checks at home, you are allowed to do so. One way this is commonly done is with purchased check blanks and check printing softwa...
Do people tend to spend less when using cash than credit cards?
Others have commented on the various studies. If, as JoeTaxpayer says, this one particular study he mentions does not really exist, there are plenty of others. (And in that case: Did someone blatantly lie to prove a bogus point? Or did someone just get the name of the organization that did the study wrong, like it was ...
Why won't my retirement account let me write a “covered put”?
I have a Roth IRA with Scottrade, and they allow me to write cash secured puts, as well as covered calls. I can also purchase calls or puts, if I choose. When I write a cash secured put, it automatically deducts the amount required to purchase the shares at the strike price from my "cash available for transactions".
Why would you elect to apply a refund to next year's tax bill?
It is a bad deal. It saves the government from processing your refund as a check or an ACH deposit, and lets them keep your money -- money that they overwithheld! -- interest-free for another year. Get it back. :)
How to decide on split between large/mid/small cap on 401(k) and how often rebalance
There many asset allocation strategies to chose from that beat lifestyle funds. For example: Relative Strength Asset Allocation keeps your money in Stocks when stocks perform well, bonds when they outperform stocks, and cash when both bonds and stocks are under-performing. The re-allocation happens on a monthly basis...
S-Corp partnership startup. How to pay owners with minimal profit?
S-Corp income is passed through to owners and is taxed on their 1040 as ordinary income. If you take a wage (pay FICA) and then take additional distributions these are not subject to FICA. A lot of business owners will buy up supplies/ necessary expenses right before the end of the tax year to lower their tax liabilit...
How do I make a small investment in the stock market? What is the minimum investment required?
A rough estimate of the money you'd need to take a position in a single stock would be: In the case of your Walmart example, the current share price is 76.39, so assuming your commission is $7, and you'd like to buy, say, 3 shares, then it would cost approximately (76.39 * 3) + 7 = $236.17. Remember that the quoted pri...
Why are American-style options worth more than European-style options?
Differences in liquidity explain why American-style options are generally worth more than their European-style counterparts. As far as I can tell, no one mentioned liquidity in their answer to this question, they just introduced needlessly complex math and logic while ignoring basic economic principles. That's not to s...
Renters Liability in Case of Liability Claims for Property Damage or Fire
According to US News, renter's insurance does cover liability as well as your own belongings. They list this as one of four "myths" often promulgated about renter's insurance. This is backed up by esurance.com, which explicitly mentions "Property damage to others" as covered. Nationwide Insurance says that renter's ...
Having a separate bank account for business/investing, but not a “business account?”
If it makes your finances easier, why not? My wife and I had his/hers/our since before we were married. I also have an account to handle transactions for my rental property, and one extra for PayPal use. I was paranoid to give out a checking account number with authorization for a third party to debit it, so that accou...
Is there any way to buy a new car directly from Toyota without going through a dealership?
sadly, it is illegal in most states to buy a car directly from the manufacturer. as such, most manufacturers do not offer the option even where it is legal. if you really do know exactly what you want (model, color, options, etc.) i recommend you write down your requirements and send it to every dealer in town (via ema...
US Stock Market - volume based real-time alert
Real-time equity (or any other market) data is not available for free anywhere in the US. It is always delayed by 10-15 minutes. On the other hand, online brokers who target the "day trader" (Interactive Brokers, TD Ameritrade, etc.) offer much closer to real-time data AND feature all the tools/alerts/charts/etc. you ...
Should I sell my stocks when the stock hits a 52-week high in order to “Buy Low, Sell High”?
One possibility is to lock in gains by selling, where a selling price can attempt to be optimized by initiating a trailing stop loss order. You'll have to look at the pros and cons of that kind of order to see if it is right for you. Another possibility is to begin hedging with options contracts, if that security is op...
Why is retirement planning so commonly recommended?
1) People aren't always going to be able to do their occupation, or their desired hobby. 2) Government assistance, or whatever you want to call it, is available at a certain age. Some people look forward to this and plan to rely on it, but it isn't really sufficient for living off of and keeping the standard of living ...
Calculate a weekly payment on a loan when payment is a month away
Using the standard loan formula with 21% APR nominal, compounded weekly. Calculate an adjusted loan start value by adding 31 - 7 = 24 extra days of daily interest (by converting the nominal compounded weekly rate to a daily rate). For details see Converting between compounding frequencies Applying the standard formula ...
I'm getting gouged on prices for medical services when using my HSA plan. How to be billed fairly?
I had an HSA for two or three years. I found very routinely that my insurance company had negotiated rates with in-network providers. So as I never hit the deductible, I always had to pay 100% of the negotiated rate, but it was still much less than the providers general rate. Sometimes dramatically so. Like I had some ...
If accepting more than $10K in cash for a used boat, should I worry about counterfeiting?
I would not do a bill of sale for less, but a legal and safe way to reduce the taxes is to write separate bills for the boat, motor and trailer. The taxes are paid at different rates and will represent to full sale price.
Do I need to write the date on the back of a received check when depositing it?
Let me just add that while you don't need to write the date received on the back of the check, you could. Why? Let's say someone was late in paying you and you wanted to document the fact that they were late. I've had late-paying customers send me a check dated on the due date but really they just pre-dated the check a...
Stock options: what happens if I leave a company and then an acquisition is finalized?
When you exercise your options, you come up with cash to buy the shares. This makes you an owner of the company for shares at the share price your options let you have. Ideally, your share price is at a significant discount to what the company is worth. Being a shareholder, you gain from any share price appreciation in...
Should I collect receipts after paying with a card?
I've seen many people sign a restaurant credit card receipt and walk away. Easy enough for the wait staff to add a tip and total. I doubt this is a high risk area compared to others, but in general, why not take the receipt for verification, or in the case of a good that can be returned, the receipt might be needed.
How often do stocks become worthless?
The only thing that makes a stock worthless is when the company goes out of business. Note that bankruptcy, by itself, does not mean the company is closing. It could successfully restructure its affairs and come out of bankruptcy with a better outlook. Being a small or unprofitable business may cause a company's to tra...
Would the purchase of a car for a business through the use of a business loan be considered a business expense?
You don't say what country you live in. If it's the U.S., the IRS has very specific rules for business use of a car. See, for starters at least, http://www.irs.gov/publications/p463/ch04.html. The gist of it is: If you use the car 100% for business purposes, you NEVER use it to drive to the grocery store or to your fri...
Why would we need a “stop-limit order” for selling?
One practical application would be to protect yourself from a "flash crash" type scenario where a stock suddenly plunges down to a penny due to transient market glitches. If you had a stop-loss order that executed at a penny (for a non-penny stock) it would be probably be voided by the exchange, but you might not want ...
Why is it in a company’s interest to have high stock prices? [duplicate]
After the initial public offering, the company can raise money by selling more stock (equity financing) or selling debt (e.g. borrowing money). If a company's stock price is high, they can raise money with equity financing on more favorable terms. When companies raise money with equity financing, they create new shar...
Is Real Estate ever a BAD investment? If so, when?
Real estate is always an interesting dynamic. In most cases prices have always gone up. Price is mainly a function of demand. Sometimes demand is artificially inflated over a short term period and can come down quickly due to corrections. During recessions the housing market will usually slow down. There are some...
Investing using leverage
Let's do a real example of leverage on the SPY. Imagine you have $20K today and plan on having $100K by JAN 2018. You could get 100 shares of SPY and ride it out. Maybe buying another 100 shares every few months until 2018, ending up with less than 500 shares to your name ( and zero cash in the bank ). or You could l...
What does the average log-return value of a stock mean?
Probably the best way to investigate this is to look at an example. First, as the commenters above have already said, the log-return from one period is log(price at time t/price at time t-1) which is approximately equal to the percentage change in the price from time t-1 to time t, provided that this percentage change ...
How much lump sum investment in stocks would be needed to yield a target stable monthly income?
If your requirements are hard (must have $1000/month, must have the same or bigger in capital at the end), stocks are a poor choice of investment. However, in many cases, people are willing to tolerate some level of risk to achieve the expected returns. You also do not mention inflation, which can take quite a lot out ...
Does my net paycheck decrease as the year goes on due to tax brackets filling up?
If your payroll payments are the same each period, you will generally have the same net pay per period. Some things that can cause variations: If your employer puts special payments in a specific paycheck (such as a quarterly or annual bonus, or a vacation payout) this can increase the percentage held from that specif...
Accounting equation: does income really decrease equity?
Equity is the term to make things balance. In a simple transaction, you get $100 paid to you. Income goes up by $100 and the asset of whatever bank account or petty cash drawer you put it into also goes up by $100. Equity is unchanged. If for some reason you had to take some income into your books, but no asset increas...
Buying shares in a company after you quit
US law dictates that you cannot buy / sell shares in a company you work for except during open trading windows. I understand lockout periods when you're in a company but what about after you quit? There's no such law. Trading lockouts are imposed by companies themselves to avoid the complexities of identifying "ins...
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...
What do I need to start trading in the NSE (National Stock Exchange)?
Yes Absolutely! You will need to provide Sharekhan with a cancelled cheque from OBC which has your account number and name on it. They will link that to your DMAT account, and any settlements/dividends paid will directly be deposited into your OBC bank account. Any time you need to deposit money into your DMAT account...
Can one get a house mortgage without buying a house?
Not unless you have something else to put up as collateral. The bank wants a basic assurance that you're not going to immediately move the money to the Caymans and disappear. 999 times out of 1000, the collateral for a home mortgage is the home itself (which you wouldn't be able to take with you if you decided to disap...
Indicators a stock is part of a pump and dump scheme?
Pump-and-Dump strategy is happening everywhere. Less so in developed market. I can tell an experience from Emerging Market perspective. Usually several securities brokers work together to pump several "penny" stocks (5 - 7 stocks). They conspire together and searching for several investors, who have money and willing t...
Financial implications of purchasing a first home?
Congrats! Make sure you nail down NOW what happens to the house should you eventually separate. I know lots of unmarried couples who have stayed together for decades and look likely to do so for life; I've also seen some marriages break up that I wouldn't have expected to. Better to have this discussion NOW. Beyond th...
what are the downsides of rolling credit card debt in this fashion
Assuming you can get keep getting credit cards like this forever, you open yourself up to risk in short term losses. Stock/bond prices fluctuate. If you need to pay the money back for some reason (at the end of the 15 months) your investment may be less than the 5,000 you started with.
selling apple stock limit order
Your order may or may not be executed. The price of stock can open anywhere. Often yesterday's close is a good indication of today's open, but with a big event overnight, the open may be somewhere quite different. You'll have to wait and see like the rest of us. Also, even if it doesn't execute at the open, the pri...
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 ...
Are lottery tickets ever a wise investment provided the jackpot is large enough?
Lottery tickets where I live are often for charity. The charity does good things with your money. So you can buy a ticket and feel good whether you win or not, so that makes it an investment in your own well-being. For some of us, who maybe buy a lottery ticket once a year, it's the fun you are paying for. You know you...
Should I replace bonds in a passive investment strategy
I have had similar thoughts regarding alternative diversifiers for the reasons you mention, but for the most part they don't exist. Gold is often mentioned, but outside of 1972-1974 when the US went off the gold standard, it hasn't been very effective in the diversification role. Cash can help a little, but it also f...
Source of income: from dividends vs sale of principal or security
The trend in ETFs is total return: where the ETF automatically reinvests dividends. This philosophy is undoubtedly influenced by that trend. The rich and retired receive nearly all income from interest, dividends, and capital gains; therefore, one who receives income exclusively from dividends and capital gains must f...
Transfer from credit to debit
As revised, the answer is still that you're asking the wrong question. If your father wants to make money available on your debit card, all he has to do is deposit the money into your checking account. Where he gets that money from -- as an AmEx casH advance, by selling your bicycle for you, or simply out of one of hi...
What happens if futures contract seller defaults?
MD-Tech answered: The answer is in your question: derivatives are contracts so are enforced in the same way as any other contract. If the counterparty refuses to pay immediately they will, in the first instance be billed by any intermediary (Prime Broker etc.) that facilitated the contract. If they still refuse to pay...
How can I avoid international wire fees or currency transfer fees?
My preferred method of doing this is to get a bank draft from the US in Euros and then pay it into the French bank (my countries are Canada and UK, but the principle is the same). The cost of the bank draft is about $8, so very little more than the ATM method. If you use bigger amounts it can be less overall cost. The ...
If something is coming into my account will it be debit or credit in my account?
If you are considering this to be an entry for your business this is how you would handle it.... You said you were making a balance sheet for monthly expenses. So on the Balance Sheet, you would be debiting cash. For the Income Statement side you would be crediting Owner's Equity to balance the equation: Assets = Liabi...
Apartment lease renewal - is this rate increase normal?
I think people are missing the most obvious thing. The yearly rate increases are just part of the landlord schtick and it is good business for them. My grandmother owned several large apartment complexes. She would raise rates for any resident that had been there between 1-5 years by 5-7% a year. Even when she had ...
Should you always max out contributions to your 401k?
While tax deferral is a nice feature, the 401k is not the Holy Grail. I've seen plenty of 401k's where the investment options are horrible: sub-par performance, high fees, limited options. That's great that you've maxed out your Roth IRA. I commend you for that. As long as the investment options in your 401k are ...
Should I be more aggressive in a Roth IRA, 401k, or taxable account?
I think you may be drawing the wrong conclusion about why you put what type of investment in a taxable vs. tax-advantaged account. It is not so much about risk, but type of return. If you're investing both tax-advantaged and taxable accounts, you can benefit by putting more tax-inefficient investments inside your tax-a...
If a bank has a transfer limit, what happens if another bank pushes/pulls more than that?
Or at least I saw it do so with Bank of America.
Does it make sense to refinance a 30 year mortgage to 15 years?
There's several different trade-offs wrapped up in your question. In general, refinancing a mortgage to a lower interest rate makes sense if you are certain you'll be living in the house for N years. N depends on your closing costs and points. Basically you need to calculate the break-even point for when the savings ...
Multiple accounts stagnant after quitting job.
Adapted from an answer to a somewhat different question. Generally, 401k plans have larger annual expenses and provide for poorer investment choices than are available to you if you roll over your 401k investments into an IRA. So, unless you have specific reasons for wanting to continue to leave your money in the 401k ...
Can saving/investing 15% of your income starting age 25, likely make you a millionaire?
I just want to point out a couple of things, and I do not have enough reputation to comment. Saving 50% is totally possible. I know people saving 65%. For more see here EDIT: Let me repeat that 4% it the maximum you can assume if you want to be sure to have at least that return in the long term. It's not the average, i...
Protecting savings from exceptional taxes
Over the last few years I've read quite a bit about monetary history. I've developed two very important rules from this study: If you follow these two rules you will be able to weather almost any governmental or banking crisis.
Why does it seem unnecessary to fully save for irregular periodic expenses?
Another way of explaining the puzzling balance: Right after a particular bill is paid, you have $0 saved to pay that bill the next time. Just before the bill is next due, you wisely have the whole amount saved; that's the purpose of the whole process. So, for that bill, on average over time, you'll have one-half tha...
Received mysterious K-1 form, seeking answers
SXL is a Master Limited Partnership so all of the income is pass-through. Your equity purchase entitles you to a fraction of the 66% of the company that is not owned by Energy Transfer Partners. You should have been receiving the K-1s from SXL from the time that you bought the shares. Without knowing your specific ...
Cheapest way to wire or withdraw money from US account while living in Europe
I use xoom.com to transfer money to India. I've been using them for over 2 years now, they are the fastest and the cheapest for me (the funds are usually available the same day). They seem to have added a lot of European countries to their list. Definitely worth a shot.
Why invest in becoming a landlord?
Let me add a few thoughts that have not been mentioned so far in the other answers. Note that for the decision of buying vs. renting a home i.e. for personal use, not for renting out there's a rule of thumb that if the price for buying is more than 20 year's (cold) rents it is considered rather expensive. I don't know...
How to acquire skills required for long-term investing?
As foundational material, read "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham. It will help prepare you to digest and critically evaluate other investing advice as you form your strategy.
How to pay with cash when car shopping?
You could write a personal check after the final price has been set and you're ready to purchase. Another option would be to get the final price - then walk over to your bank and get a cashier's check.
What does ES1 refer to in this picture?
ES1 is the Bloomberg symbol for the CME E-mini S&P 500 front-month continuous contract. ES2, ES3, etc. will likewise yield the 2nd and 3rd months. Which exact futures contract this symbol refers to will change about once a month.
Faster degree with debt or slower degree with no debt?
Basically do some math on the 2 schools. Let's say you know it will take 4 years if you go the cheaper route, at $8k/yr, plus the $300/month, total cost: $46,400. If you (for these purposes) do not have to pay back new loans until school is completed, (and depending on the rate of those loans), you would need approx $6...
How do I find a good mutual fund to invest 5K in with a moderately high amount of risk?
Vanguard has a lot of mutual fund offerings. (I have an account there.) Within the members' section they give indications of the level of risk/reward for each fund.
Wardrobe: To Update or Not? How-to without breaking the bank
We have a ton of student loan debt (mostly mine) and right now, I'm on a strict 'replace' only budget. I have some shirts I put elbow holes in that I'm only keeping around as a reminder to replace them. I wait until there is a deal of some sort (50% off or BOGO Free) unless I really need it - a white dress shirt for ...
Would every FX currency pair or public stock that is under the 30 level using Relative Strength Index (RSI) be an undervalued pair?
No, and using a 37 year old formula in finance that is as simple as: should make it obvious technical analysis is more of a game for retail traders than investment advice. When it comes to currencies, there are a myriad of macroeconomic occurrences that do not follow a predictable timescale. Using indicators like RSI o...
What is the principle of forming an arbitrage strategy?
Arbitrage is basically taking advantage of a difference in price. Generally extending to "in different places for the same thing". A monetary version would be interlisted stocks, that is stocks in companies that are on both the NYSE/Nasdaq and Toronto stock exchanges. If somebody comes along and buys a large number o...
What options do I have at 26 years old, with 1.2 million USD?
Windfalls can disappear in a heartbeat if you're not used to managing large amounts of money. That said, if you can read a bank statement and can exercise a modicum of self control over spending, you do not need a money manager. (See: Leonard Cohen) First, spend $15 on J.L. Collins' book The Simple Path to Wealth. ht...
Is the stock market too risky for long term retirement funds? Why should a 20- or 30-something person invest in stocks?
I recommend that people think for themselves and get a multitude of counselors. The more you understand about what drives the prices of various assets, the better. Getting to good advice for a particular person depends on the financial picture for that person. For example, if they have a lot of consumer debt, then th...
What should I do with my $25k to invest as a 20 years old?
Waiting for the next economic downturn probably isn't the best plan at this point. While it could happen tomorrow, you may end up waiting a long time. If you would prefer not to think much about your investment and just let them grow then mutual funds are a really good option. Make sure you research them before you buy...
Do I even need credit cards?
Like many things, there are pros and cons to using credit cards. The other folks on here have discussed the pros and length, so I'll just quickly summarize: Convenience of not having to carry cash. Delay paying your bills for a month with no penalty. Build your credit rating for a time when you need a big loan, like bu...
Optimal Asset Allocation
Generally a diversified portfolio will give you a better overall return --a couple of factors that may address what you are looking at - 1) Correlation - The correlation between your two funds is still very high -- it's partially a function of how global economies are related and many companies are now multi-national. ...
How to invest in Japan's stock market from the UK
Use an exchange traded fund ETF, namely SPDR MSCI Japan EUR Hdg Ucits ETF. It is hedged and can be bought in the UK by this broker State Street Global Advisors on the London Stock Exchange LSE. Link here. Article on JAPAN ETF hedged in Sterling Pound here.