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Is there a government-mandated resource that lists the shareholders of a public company? | The list of the public companies is available on the regulatory agencies' sites usually (for example, in the US, you can look at SEC filings). Otherwise, you can check the stock exchange listings, which show all the public companies traded on that exchange. The shareholders, on the other hand, are normally not listed a... |
How will going from 75% Credit Utilization to 0% Credit Utilization affect my credit score? | I wrote an article about FICO scoring which shows that 30% of your score is based on utilization or amount owed. I can't say exactly how much your score will rise, or how long it will take, but your score will improve dramatically from what you propose. This chart is from Credit Karma, and it shows how zero utilizat... |
Is compounding interest on investments a myth? | The S&P 500 index from 1974 to present certainly looks exponential to me (1974 is the earliest data Google has). If you read Jeremy Siegel's book there are 200 year stock graphs and the exponential nature of returns on stocks is even more evident. This graph only shows the index value and does not include the dividen... |
What one bit of financial advice do you wish you could've given yourself five years ago? | Bank every dollar possible to have more cash available for investing during the 2008/2009 crisis. |
How to use proceeds of old house sale shortly after buying new house? | Really this is no different from any kind of large lump sum and having a mortgage. There are probably many questions and answers on this subject. It really doesn't matter that the proceeds were the result of a sale, an inheritance would not change the answer. I think it is important to note that the proceeds will not... |
How can I deposit a check made out to my business into my personal account? | When a business asks me to make out a cheque to a person rather than the business name, I take that as a red flag. Frankly it usually means that the person doesn't want the money going through their business account for some reason - probably tax evasion. I'm not saying you are doing that, but it is a frequent issue. I... |
Potential pitfalls of this volume trading strategy | I wouldn't be turned off due to the difficult of parsing English, for a few reasons. Firstly, you don't have to perfectly parse to find meaning. You can look for keywords and write some algorithms to approximate, and of course if you get enough of a statistical advantage (and can repeat it) you can make money. Second,... |
Comparing the present value of total payment today and partial payments over 3 months | I got $3394.83 The first problem with this is that it is backwards. The NPV (Net Present Value) of three future payments of $997 has to be less than the nominal value. The nominal value is simple: $2991. First step, convert the 8% annual return from the stock market to a monthly return. Everyone else assumed that... |
I have an extra 1000€ per month, what should I do with it? | If I were you, I would save 200 euros for retirement each month and another 800 I would stash away with the hope to start investing soon. I think you have to invest a bigger lump sum, then 1000 euros. It makes sense to invest at least 30K to see any tangible results. My acquaintances started from 50K and now see pretty... |
What could cause a stock to trade below book value? | Discrepancies between what the book value is reported as and what they'd fetch if sold on the open market. Legal disputes in court. |
How can I find a high-risk, high-reward investment that is not strongly correlated with the U.S. economy? | High risk, high reward doesn't really mean anything. The reason that investments are risky is that the investor is clueless. As you gain more information and experience, you reduce the risk. To answer your question, you can consider BRIC ETF's (Brazil, Russia, India and China). They are correlated to the U.S. economy. ... |
Pros & cons in Hungary of investing retirement savings exclusively in silver? What better alternatives, given my concerns? | The points given by DumbCoder are very valid. Diversifying portfolio is always a good idea. Including Metals is also a good idea. Investing in single metal though may not be a good idea. •Silver is pretty cheap now, hopefully it will be for a while. •Silver is undervalued compared to gold. World reserve ratio is arou... |
Definition of gross income (Arizona state tax filing requirements) | I would suggest reading through page 1 of the Arizona Nonresident form instructions at the web address below: https://www.azdor.gov/Portals/0/ADOR-forms/TY2015/10100/10177_inst.pdf To quote: "You are subject to Arizona income tax on all income derived from Arizona sources. If you are in this state for a temporary or tr... |
Free Historical Commodity Prices in txt? | At indexmundi, they have some historical data which you can grab from their charts: It only has a price on a monthly basis (at least for the 25 year chart). It has a number of things, like barley, oranges, crude oil, aluminum, beef, etc. I grabbed the data for 25 years of banana prices and here's an excerpt (in dol... |
How does a financial advisor choose debt funds and equity funds for us? | There are raters of stock and bond funds of which Morningstar's is the best. Standard and Poor's and Value line offer reports that aren't quite as good. If you are able to read and understand these reports yourself, you don't need a professional. Such help is necessary for people who are "rank beginners" in investments... |
Be a partner, CTO or just a freelancer? | I write software myself and was involved in a couple of start ups. One failed, another was wildly successful, but I did not receive much in compensation. The former I received stock, but since it failed, it was worthless anyway. There should be compensation for your time in addition to equity in a company. Any agre... |
Why might a robo-advisor service like Betterment be preferable to just buying a single well-performing index fund like SPY? | Good for lazy investors, time-restricted investors, investors with little knowledge, investors who want a hybrid of advice and tools without paying the crazy fees of mutual funds or an advisor. The biggest advantage, is that it is easy, quick and convenient If you have the time and knowledge, this might not be for you |
Stocks: Where can I find a list of bankrupt/diluting stocks in the US? | The only recommendation I have is to try the stock screener from Google Finance : https://www.google.com/finance?ei=oJz9VenXD8OxmAHR263YBg#stockscreener |
What threshold to move from SEP to Solo401k? | I think this article explains it pretty well: Contributions to a SEP are limited to 20% of your business income (which is business income minus half of your self-employment tax), up to a maximum of $45,000. With a solo 401(k), on the other hand, you can contribute up to $15,500 plus 20% of your business ... |
Why do 10 year-old luxury cars lose so much value? | They start at a higher price and repairs are more expensive than with a standard car. From my experience, many luxury cars get too expensive to keep after about 10 years due to increased maintenance costs. |
What's the purpose of having separate checking and savings accounts? | For some people, it's easier to stick to a budget if they have separate checking and savings accounts because they can deposit funds directly into their savings account and not have those funds accessible by debit/credit card, checks, etc. This allows people to pay themselves first and accumulate savings, while making ... |
What's a good free checking account? | Check with a small local bank or credit union, they might offer better terms. That said, my local credit union still charges $6/month for a checking account if you don't have a direct deposit into it. |
Calculating savings from mortgage interest deduction vs. standard deduction? | It's true that the standard deduction makes the numbers less impressive. I ran your scenario through my favorite, most complete rent vs buy calculator, and your math isn't far off. However, there are a lot of deductions only available if you itemize. Medical expenses, moving expenses, job expenses, charitable contribut... |
How to compare the value of a Masters to the cost? | I wasn't 100% on which columns of the scale you were referring to, but think I captured the correct ones in this comparison, using the scale for BA and MA (MA scale starting 2 years later, with decreased income reflected for first two years), applying a 1% cost of living increase each year to the scale or to prior year... |
Double-entry bookkeeping: When selling an asset, does the money come from, Equity or Income? | There are basically two approaches, based on how detailed you want to be in your own personal accounting: Obviously the more like a business or like "real" accounting you want to be, the more complex you can make it, but in general I find that the purpose of personal accounting is (1) to track what I own, and (2) to en... |
how can a US citizen buy foreign stocks? | it looks like using an ADR is the way to go here. michelin has an ADR listed OTC as MGDDY. since it is an ADR it is technically a US company that just happens to be a shell company holding only shares of michelin. as such, there should not be any odd tax or currency implications. while it is an OTC stock, it should se... |
Is it irresponsible for me to lease a $300/month car for 18 months? | Presumably you need a car to get to work, so let's start with the assumption that you need to buy something to replace the car you just lost. The biggest difficulty to overcome in buying a car is the concept of the monthly payment. Dealers will play games with all of the numbers to massage a monthly payment that the bu... |
What are my investment options in Australia? | If you want higher returns you may have to take on more risk. From lowest returns (and usually lower risk) to higher returns (and usually higher risk), Bank savings accounts, term deposits, on-line savings accounts, offset accounts (if you have a mortgage), fixed interest eg. Bonds, property and stock markets. If you ... |
ETF holding shares in itself | Lindsell Train Investment Trust could be different than the "Lindsell Train Limited", the company that runs the fund and thus you are mixing apples and oranges here since the bank isn't a listed stock. |
First time home buyer. How to negotiate price? | No offer is too low. You can always offer more but you can't offer less once you have made your first offer. And there is always another great deal just around the corner. The more enthusiastic you are about buying this property the less your negotiating power will be. The pproperty has already been on the market for a... |
Is there a law or regulation that governs the maximum allowable interest amount that can be charged on credit cards or in agreements where credit is extended? | The word you're looking for is usury - the crime of lending money at rates above an amount set by law. |
Online tutorials for calculating DCF (Discounted Cash Flow)? | Here's a link to an online calculator employing the Discounted Cash Flow method: Discounted Cash Flows Calculator. Description: This calculator finds the fair value of a stock investment the theoretically correct way, as the present value of future earnings. You can find company earnings via the box below. ... |
Digital envelope system: a modern take | Envudu (envudu.com) looks very promising, and I think what they are planning to put out will do essentially everything you want. It's a single prepaid card, but with a connected app. On the app you choose which budget category you're going to spend on next, and then swipe your card. Your purchase gets deducted from tha... |
Options vs Stocks which is more profitable | As already noted, options contain inherent leverage (a multiplier on the profit or loss). The amount of "leverage" is dictated primarily by both the options strike relative to the current share price and the time remaining to expiration. Options are a far more difficult investment than stocks because they require that ... |
Received an unexpected cashiers check for over $2K from another state - is this some scam? | It is likely a scam. In fact the whole mystery shopping "job" may be a scam. There is a Snopes page about cashier's check scams, as well as a US government page which specifically mentions mystery shopping as a scam angle. As for how the scam works, from the occ.gov site I just linked: However, cashier’s checks latel... |
Can someone help me understand my student loans? | If you want to pay them off as quickly as possible, pay the minimum payment on the larger two and dump as much as you can into the one with the 8.75% interest. Then, even though it has a slightly lower interest rate, I would attack the one with the next smallest balance after that, while continuing to make the minimum... |
What are the common income tax deductions used by “rich” salaried households? | The $250K and up are not one homogeneous group. The lower end of this group benefits from normal Schedule A itemized deductions, e.g. mortgage interest, property tax, state income tax, and charitable donations. As you mention, 401(k) ($17k employee contribution limit this year), but also things like the dependent care ... |
What argument(s) support the claim that long-term housing prices trend upward? | Several people have mentioned the obvious: inflation. But let's assume we are talking about real (inflation adjusted) prices. One argument is that populations keep rising while the land does not change. So the price of homes in desirable places gets pushed up and people move to second-best locations, pushing those pr... |
How should my brother and I structure our real estate purchase? | While I agree with the existing bulk of comments and answers that you can't tell the lender the $7k is a gift, I do think you might have luck finding a mortgage broker who can help you get a loan as a group. (You might consider as an LLC or other form of corporation if no one will take you otherwise.) That is, each o... |
Is it possible for me to keep my credit card APR at 0% permanently? | No. There is no incentive for the card issuer to permanently loan you money for free (Even though they make a small amount of money with every transaction). Yes, there are many credit cards that offer introductory 0% APR, often lasting for a year, some even two years. In theory, you could keep applying for new cards wi... |
Credit card interest calculator with grace period & different interest rate calculation methods? | If you want to ensure that you stop paying interest, the best thing to do is to not use the card for a full billing cycle. Calculating credit card interest with precision ahead of time is difficult, as how you use the card both in terms of how much and when is critical. |
What is the most common and profitable investment for a good retirement in Australia? | In Australia anyone thinking about retirement should be concentrating on superannuation. Contribution is compulsory (I think the current minimum contribution rate is 9.5% of salary) and both contributions and investment returns are very tax efficient. The Government site is quite comprehensive - http://www.australia.go... |
How to calculate PE ratios for indices such as DJIA? | The official source for the Dow Jones P/E is Dow Jones. Unfortunately, the P/E is behind a pay-wall and not included in the free registration. The easiest (but only approximate) solution is to track against an equivalent ETF. Here's a list of popular indexes with an equivalent ETF. Source |
How much life insurance do I need? | Life Insurance can be a difficult decision. We have to first assess the "want" for it vs. the "need" for it, and that differs from person to person. Any Life licensed agent should be happy to do this calculation for you at no cost and no obligation. Just be sure you are well educated in the subject to make sure they... |
Is engaging in stocks without researching unwise? | I don't see balance sheet in what you're looking at, and I'd definitely suggest learning how to read a balance sheet and looking at it, if you're going to buy stock in a company, unless you know that the recommendations you're buying on are already doing that and you're willing to take that risk. Also, reading past ba... |
In which situations is it better to consider a loan instead of paying cash? | A loan with modest interest is better than paying by cash if there are better alternatives for investment. For example, suppose you are buying a house. Consider two extremes: a) you pay the house entirely by cash, b) the entire buy is financed by the bank. Historically, real (subtracting inflation) house prices (at le... |
Would it ever be a bad idea to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA with the following assumptions? | Taking all your assumptions: With Roth, you take $6112 from work, (let's call you tax rate 10%) pay $612 in taxes, and contribute $5500 (the max if you are younger than 50). This $5500 will grow to $21,283 in 20 years at 7% annual growth ($5500*(1.07^20)), and you will pay no additional taxes on it. With the tradition... |
Why would you ever turn down a raise in salary? | I don't know of a situation where rejecting a raise would make sense. Often, one can be in a phaseout of some benefit, so that even though you're in a certain tax bracket, the impact of the next $100 is greater than the bracket rate alone. Taxation of social security benefits is one such anomaly. It can be high, but ne... |
Who performs the blocking on a Visa card? | It is the people who you bought the ticket from. Blocking is frequently done by hotels, gas stations, or rental car companies. Also, for anything where the credit card might be used to cover any damages or charges you might incur later as part of the transaction. In essence, they are reserving part of your credit limit... |
How do you invest in real estate without using money? | I've been to one of these seminars: a) you can get a loan of up to $700,000 from the company and only have to pay a fixed amount for the use of money, but you have to pay the loan off in nine months. Or b) you can just invest say $50,000 and you'll get a return of say 4%. But what the company does is take all of the... |
How do owners in a partnership earn income? | The partnership agrees to pay each of you salaries and/or bonuses, typically based on the net profit brought in. You do have a legal document setting out the rules for this partnership, right? If so, the exact answer should be in there. If you don't or it isn't, you need a lawyer yesterday. |
How should I pay off my private student loans that have a lot of restrictions? | The one thing that I saw in here that raised a big red flag is that you said you "overpaid" on your interest. ALWAYS make sure you tell them that any extra money should be applied to principal only, not to interest. You accrue interest based on your outstanding principal amount, so getting that lower reduces the over... |
Why do gas stations charge different amounts in the same local area? | Some of this is demand management. The local BJ's wholesale club sells gas $0.10-0.15/gallon less than the prevailing rate. Typically there are lines of 3-5 cars waiting for a pump during busy periods. People are price-conscious when buying gas, which draws crowds and the retailer actually wants a line -- the whole po... |
Should I continue to invest in an S&P 500 index fund? | I would be very cautious about investing any more funds into the S&P500 at this stage. You are quite correct in your observation with the charts regarding the 2001 and 2008 crashes, and below is the chart of the S&P500 over the last 20 years with some indicators on it. The green line on the price chart is the 100 week... |
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... |
How risky is it to keep my emergency fund in stocks? | I know this is heresy but if you have funds for significantly more than 6 months of expenses (let's say 12 months), how risky would it be to put it all into stock index funds? Quite risky as if you do need to dip into it, how fast could you get the cash? Also, do you realize the tax implications when you do sell th... |
Is there a Yahoo Finance ticker for NYMEX Crude Oil Front Month? | Yahoo Finance doesn't offer this functionality; I remember looking for this exact feature a couple of years ago for coffee futures. Your best option is to look at the futures chain. However, Yahoo Finance's future chains aren't always complete, since you'll notice that the futures chain for NYMEX crude oil omit the Jun... |
What are the typical repayment plans for Credit Cards in the United States? | In the U.S., when you receive your credit card bill each month there's a "minimum payment amount." That minimum payment is usually the greater of $25 or 1% of the new balance on the card plus new interest and fees. As long as you pay the minimum payment amount, you can pay as much as you want each month. Note, in your ... |
Tax on insurance payment due to car deemed as total loss? | DJClayworth's response is generally correct. You wouldn't have to pay taxes on insurance benefits, since those are in fact bringing you whole to what you've lost. However, in some cases you do need to consider taxes. Specifically, if the insurance payout is higher than your cost basis in the lost property. While you ma... |
Why do the 1 and 2 euro cent coins exist and why are they used? | I guess other than tradition and inflation, probably because the merchants want them. In the US, what currently costs $2.00 used to cost $0.10. So 75 years ago, those individual cents made a pretty bid difference. Inflation causes prices to go up, but doesn't get us to just change our currencies patterns. In your ... |
Do stock prices drop due to dividends? | In the case of mutual funds, Net Asset Value (NAV) is the price used to buy and sell shares. NAV is just the value of the underlying assets (which are in turn valued by their underlying holdings and future earnings). So if a fund hands out a billion dollars, it stands to reason their NAV*shares (market cap?) is a billi... |
What is the standard deviation and mean return of oil? | Your question is a moving target. And my answer will be subject to revision. I disagree with the votes to close, as you are asking (imho) what role commodities and specifically oil, play in one's asset allocation. Right? How much may be opinion, but there's a place to ask if. I'm looking at this chart, and thinking, l... |
What's the most conservative split of financial assets for my portfolio in today's market? | Before investing, absolutely follow the advice in mbhunter's answer. There is no safe investment (unless you count your mattress, and even there you could find moths, theives, or simple inflation taking a chunk out of your change). There is only maximizing your reward for a given level of risk - and there is always ri... |
What is the best source of funding to pay off debt? | Thirty thousand in credit card debt is a "big elephant to eat" so to speak. But you do it by taking a bite at a time. One positive is that you do not want to borrow from your 401K. Doing so is a horrible idea. The first question you have to ask yourself and understand, is how you accumulated 30K in credit card debt ... |
How is the opening-day price of a stock decided? | When a stock is going to become public there's a level of analysis required to figure out the range of IPO price that makes sense. For a company that's somewhat mature, and has a sector to compare it to, you can come up with a range that would be pretty close. For the recent linkedin, it's tougher to price a somewhat u... |
Is there any downside snapping a picture (or scanning a copy) of every check one writes vs. using a duplicate check? | No, there is no downside. I personally don't use duplicate checks. I simply make a record of the checks I write in the check register. A copy of the check, whether a duplicate or a photo, isn't really proof of payment for anyone but yourself, as it is very easy to write a check after the fact and put a different date... |
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