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Short term parking of a large inheritance? | The person who told you "no-load funds" had the right idea. Since you are risk-averse, you tend to want a "value" fund; that is, it's not likely to grow in value (that would be a "growth" fund), but it isn't like to fall either. To pick an example more-or-less at random, Fidelity Blue Chip Value Fund "usually" returns... |
Can I move my 401k to another country without paying tax penalty? | Transfers can be made from U.S. pension plans to Canadian RRSPs, if the following conditions are met: Way more details here: http://www.howlandtax.com/answers/05Sept21.htm And googling 'transfer 401k to rrsp' yields much fruit. |
Is there difference in risk between physical or synthetic replication of an index by an ETF? | First, make sure you understand the objective of an ETF. In some cases, they may use leverage to get a multiple of the index's return that is different than 1. Some may be ultra funds that go for double the return or double the inverse of the return and thus will try to apply the appropriate leverage to achieve that ... |
If I send money to someone on student visa in USA, will he need to pay taxes on that? | First: I am not a tax lawyer. This is just an educated opinion; not a legally verified answer. Taxes are to be paid on income, not on money that you handle for someone. So if the idea is only that he gets and holds the money for you until a later point in time, there should be no tax liability. If the amount is high en... |
If I plan to buy a car in cash, should I let the dealer know? | Ditto other answers, but I'd add there's a lot of psychology going on in a sale. If you're paying cash, you presumably have a pretty fixed upper limit on what you can spend. But if you're getting a loan, a large increase in the price of the car may sound like just a small addition to the monthly payment. Also, these da... |
Canceling credit cards - insurance rate increase? | The comments section to Dilip's reply is overflowing. First - the OP (Graphth) is correct in that credit scoring has become a game. A series of data points that predicts default probability, but of course, offers little chance to explain why you applied for 3 loans (all refinancing to save money on home or rentals) go... |
How long should I keep my tax documents, and why? | Unfortunately, my taxes tend to be complicated This. In and of itself, is a greater reason to keep the documents. The other answer offered a good summary, but keep in mind, if the IRS decides you fraudulently withheld claiming income, they can go back 7 years. I bought a rental property in 1987, and sold it in 2016. I... |
Should I buy or lease a car given that its not a super luxury car and I only drive 15 miles/d on avg? | Which to do is determined by how you like to consume cars. If you don't drive a lot and like to get a new car every 2-3 years, leasing is often the better choice. If you drive a lot or want to keep a car longer than 3 years, you're normally better buying. |
A debt collector will not allow me to pay a debt, what steps should I take? | What you are describing here is the opposite of a problem: You're trying to contact a debt-collector to pay them money, but THEY'RE ignoring YOU and won't return your calls! LOL! All joking aside, having 'incidental' charges show up as negative marks on your credit history is an annoyance- thankfully you're not the f... |
Is it possible to quantify the probability of sudden big movements for a high-volume stock? | In general, when companies are regarded as "hot" growth stocks, they are expected to keep up an accelerated level of growth for a good long time. That accelerated growth justifies a high PE relative to a slow-growth stock. When companies that are supposed to grow miss expectations or (worse) lose money, the markets pun... |
What kind of traditional IRA should I use to hold funds from old employer 401K plans? | Magazines like SmartMoney often have an annual issue that reviews brokers. One broker may have a wider variety of no-fee mutual funds, and if that's your priority, then the stock commissions may be a moot issue for you. In general, you can't go wrong with a Fidelity or Schwab, and to choose investments within the accou... |
Losing Money with Norbert's Gambit | There's a possibility to lose money in exchange rate shifts, but just as much chance to gain money (Efficient Market Hypothesis and all that). If you're worried about it, you should buy a stock in Canada and short sell the US version at the same time. Then journal the Canadian stock over to the US stock exchange and us... |
How do I find an ideal single fund to invest all my money in? | Not sure what your needs are or what NIS is: However here in the US a good choice for a single fund are "Life Cycle Funds". Here is a description from MS Money: http://www.msmoney.com/mm/investing/articles/life_cyclefunds.htm |
HELOC vs. Parental Student Loans vs. Second Mortgage? | First of all, I'm happy that the medical treatments were successful. I can't even imagine what you were going through. However, you are now faced with a not-so-uncommon reality that many households face. Here's some other options you might not have thought of: I would avoid adding more debt if at all possible. I wo... |
Am I able to conduct a private sale of public shares at a price that I determine? | Yes, you can do that, but you have to have the stocks issued in your name (stocks that you're holding through your broker are issued in "street name" to your broker). If you have a physical stock certificate issued in your name - you just endorse it like you would endorse a check and transfer the ownership. If the stoc... |
Dividend yield for multiple years? | Dividend yield is a tough thing to track because it's a moving target. Dividends are paid periodically the yield is calculated based on the stock price when the dividend is declared (usually, though some services may update this more frequently). I like to calculate my own dividend by annualizing the dividend paymen... |
Stock market vs. baseball card trading analogy | The Bobs tend to show up at the top of bubbles, then disappear soon after. For example, your next door neighbor who talks about Oracle in 1999, even though he doesn't know what Oracle does for a living. I don't think the Bobs' assets represent a large chunk of the market's value. A better analogy would be a spectrum o... |
When does it make sense for the money paid for equity to go to the corporation? | BigCo is selling new shares and receives the money from Venturo. If Venturo is offering $250k for 25% of the company, then the valuation that they are agreeing on is a value of $1m for the company after the new investment is made. If Jack is the sole owner of one million shares before the new investment, then BigCo se... |
ACH processing time of day | It depends on the bank and network. Banks are to provide outgoing data at the certain time for the processing by the central clearing house (the Federal Reserve system, for ACH), which then distributes incoming data back to the banks. All this has to be done between the closing of the business day and the opening of th... |
Mortgage interest income tax deduction during year with a principal residence change | http://www.irs.gov/publications/p936/ar02.html#en_US_2010_publink1000229891 If you still own it, you get to deduct all of it. In my taxes I did online with TaxAct, it asked if I lived there or not and it just mattered which form it filed for me. With having tenants it was a 'business' form and I assume it would be a s... |
Is it irresponsible for me to lease a $300/month car for 18 months? | With a gross income of $ 95,000 per year, and a net savings rate of over $ 18,000 per year, a budget of $ 3,600 per year for automobile interest and depreciation is not irresponsible. But poor car choices, poor car maintenance habits, and driving habits that risk totalling cars are irresponsible. Also, not fully under... |
After consulting HR Block, are you actually obligated to file your taxes with them, if they've found ways to save you money? | The obligation is contractual, so you need to read the contract to answer your question. However, since you paid for the service provided, I see no way they can force you buy any other service from them. They cannot file your tax returns without your explicit consent (on a form dedicated to that, dated and having the n... |
What to do when paying for an empty office space? | This sounds obvious, but: If the landlord is easygoing, you could ask him if he's okay with you subletting the space, and then you could sublet it. Of course you may have to do some work yourself to find an appropriate tenant and make sure you're doing everything legally, but if it works, it's better than paying rent ... |
If I have $1000 to invest in penny stocks online, should I diversify risk and invest in many of them or should I invest in just in one? | If you want to put in $1000 into penny stocks, I wouldn't be calling that investing but more like speculation or gambling. You might have better odds at a casino. If you don't have much money at the moment to invest properly and you are just starting out as an investor, I would spend that $1000 on educating yourself so... |
Should Emergency Funds be Used for Infrequent, but Likely, Expenses? | I think it's wise to account for those inevitable but unpredictable expenses like car/house repairs and abnormal medical bills when deciding on your emergency fund amount. So if you average $100/month for car repairs, and you have a 6-month emergency fund, then part of that fund is $600 for car repairs. If your total ... |
Does the IRS give some help or leniency to first-time taxpayers? | It might not be leniency for first time payers, but they do have programs, some federal some local, that help the poor and elderly complete their tax forms. There are also programs that allow the poor to file electronically for free. For most people the first time they file their taxes they are using the EZ form. Which... |
Options profit calculation and cash settlement | Marketwatch reports that the 108 strike call option sells for 1.45, down 1.53 from yesterday. If we split the bid and ask you get 1.415. That is what that contract will, likely, trade at. The biggest problems with options are commissions and liquidity. I have seen a commission as high as $45 per trade. I have also se... |
How much (paper) cash should I keep on hand for an emergency? | No cash is necessary for most people. In the modern day in the US there is no need to keep paper currency around for emergencies; any sort of emergency that knocked out all of the ability to use plastic (ATMs, credit cards, etc.) for an extended period of time AND knocked your bank out of service would be of the level... |
Overnight charges for brokers holding stocks? | If you are trading CFDs, which are usually traded on margin, you will usually be charged an overnight financing fee for long positions held overnight and you will receive an overnight financing credit for short positions held overnight. Most CFD brokers will have their overnight financing rates set at + or - 2.5% or 3%... |
Investment fund or ETF sanity check / ideas | Now I'm trying to decide whether to find a managed fund, or use Vanguard ETFs. With a new trading account I can keep at least the initial move free of transaction charges, but ongoing additions would cost me the standard fee. I may want to move half of those funds into a mortgage deposit in a year. (maybe?) Most ETFs, ... |
Is it preferable to move emergency savings/retirement into offset mortgage? | The way offset mortgages work, you are keeping savings in an account effectively earning the rate of the mortgage. You have the ability to leave it, paying the mortgage off early, or borrowing back, any time. |
Can i have NRE accounts without OCI card? | No, you do not need an OCI card to continue to have an NRE or NRO account. You are now classified as a PIO -- Person of Indian Origin -- (and you don't need to have a PIO card issued by the Government of India to prove it) and are entitled to use NRE and NRO accounts just as you were when you were a NRI (NonResident In... |
When should I start saving/investing for my retirement? | Here's a good strategy: Open up a Roth IRA at a discount-broker, like TD Ameritrade, invest in no-fee ETF's, tracking an Index, with very low expense ratios (look for around .15%) This way, you won't pay brokers fees whenever you buy shares, and shares are cheap enough to buy casually. This is a good way to start. When... |
How to return 4 - 6% on savings / investments with little / no management? | I'm assuming you mean 4-6% annually over 10-15 years. If you mean 4%-6% total return over 10 years then this question is easy just find your local country's 10Y bond and that should likely cover it (though barely if you are German). So 4%-6% annually is not a big stretch but it does require some risk and at least a bi... |
Can't the account information on my checks be easily used for fraud? | That's accurate. Here is another risk with the current checking system, which many people are not aware of: Anyone who knows your checking account number can learn what your balance in that account is. (This is bank-specific, but it is possible at the major banks I've checked.) How does that work? Many banks have a ... |
18 year old making $60k a year; how should I invest? Traditional or Roth IRA? | With this level of income, you might consider a Solo 401(k). It would allow you a much higher level of contributions and is more appropriate for your savings than the limited IRA deposits. It also offers a considerable number of options not available for IRAs. A loan for example. |
When should I start an LLC for my side work? | The major reason to start an LLC for side work is if you want the additional personal liability protection afforded by one. If you're operating as a sole proprietor, you may be exposing yourself to liability: debts and judgments against your business can put your personal assets at risk! So, if you're intending to con... |
Does it make sense to buy an index ETF (e.g. S&P 500) when the index is at an all-time high? | Here is, from Yahoo Finance, the S&P 500 over the last ~60 years (logarithmic scale): The behavior since ~2000 has been weird, by historical standards. And it's very easy, looking at that graph, to say "yes! I would have made so much money had I invested in March '09!". Of course, back in March '09, it wasn't so clear... |
What's best investment option? Mutual fund or Property [duplicate] | nan |
Can I place a stock limit order to buy above the current price? Can I place a stock limit order to sell below the current price? | You can place the orders like you suggested. This would be useful in a market that is moving quickly where you want to be reasonably sure of execution but don't want the full exposure of a market order. This won't jump your spot in the queue though in the sense that you won't get ahead of other orders that are "ready... |
Why do consultants or contractors make more money than employees? | There are a couple of reasons, including: |
Is it better for a public company to increase its dividends, or institute a share buyback? | I would prefer a dividend paying company, rather than share appreciation. And I would prefer that the dividends increase over time. |
Moving 401k balance into self-directed IRA | Your question asks "how" but "if" may be your issue. Most companies will not permit an external transfer while still employed, or under a certain age, 55 or so. If yours is one of the rare companies that permits a transfer, you simply open an IRA with the broker of your choice. Schwab, Fidelity, eTrade, or a dozen oth... |
What do these numbers mean? (futures) | The other answer covers the mechanics of how to buy/sell a future contract. You seem however to be under the impression that you can buy the contract at 1,581.90 today and sell at 1,588.85 on expiry date if the index does not move. This is true but there are two important caveats: In other words, it is not the case tha... |
How to quickly track daily cash expenses that don't come with a receipt? | A pencil and a small notepad really work here, but if you have a smartphone then some way of using it makes sense as well. Try: Transcribe all of these onto a better record at the end of each day. Also record the amount of money in your wallet/purse/pocket every day, and check to see if the amounts you've recorded add ... |
Should I continue to invest in an S&P 500 index fund? | Your 5-8 year time frame is interesting because it is actually a two windows. When people are savings for retirement, they tell us how many years or decades they have until they reach retirement age. But they also imply that they are planning on spending decades withdrawing the money. But you wanting the money for a ... |
Is a fixed-price natural gas or electricity contract likely to save money? | I can only speak to natural gas but I imagine the answer for electricity is the same. In general, yes, it is better to lock into a fixed price contract as in the long run, natural gas prices increase over time. However, if you locked (signed a fixed price contract) in prior to the economic downturn, most likely you we... |
A merchant requests that checks be made out to “Cash”. Should I be suspicious? | There are legitimate reasons: I wouldn't jump the gun and assume that this person is avoiding taxes, etc. Barbers are usually licensed professions. Since it's generally a cash business, they tend to get audited more often by the tax authorities. That said, I wouldn't pay her with a check -- you have no idea who is actu... |
Hourly rate negotiation tips for paid internship | They likely have an intern (job title) pay-scale that maxes out somewhere below $30/hr in order to meet the FLSA (that exempt vs non-exempt stuff you were seeing). As a PhD student, you could probably negotiate up into the ~$25/hr range, but from a benefits standpoint, they might not be able to pay you $35/hr without m... |
Why does the biotechnology industry have such a high PE ratio? | Most biotech companies do not have a product they are selling. They have a set of possible drugs that they are developing. If any of these drugs get proven to be better than the current drugs they can be sold at a great profit. Therefore as soon as a biotech company proves a drug candidate is likely to pass large... |
How to help a financially self destructive person? | I'm afraid your best recourse may be legal. I don't know that internet is a necessity, but the court would frown upon anyone paying $4K for rent but not being able to afford to heat the water or turn the lights on. $48K a year net should be enough for her to at least keep the kids with these things. I don't know that ... |
Over the long term, why invest in bonds? | Many folks use bonds to diversify their portfolio since bonds rise and fall in value at different times and for different reasons than stocks. Bonds pay interest on a regular basis (usually monthly or quarterly) and so some people invest in bonds in order to match the interest payments to some regular expense they migh... |
Valuing a small business to invest in | It should be pretty obvious that without knowing what sort of assets the company owns, and what sort of net earnings are being generated it's impossible to say what a $20k equity investment should get you in terms of ownership percentage. With that said, you want to look at a few to several years of books, look for t... |
Why is day trading considered riskier than long-term trading? | All forms of liquid investing necessarily have the same expected value. If any one form were more profitable, money would flood in, equalizing it. Day trading is unusual in two key ways. First, although the expected value is the same, the risk profile is very different. For example, would you wager a dollar on the flip... |
Free service for automatic email stock alert when target price is met? | I've used BigCharts (now owned by MarketWatch.com) for a while and really like them. Their tools to annotate charts are great. |
How can I deposit a check made out to my business into my personal account? | I have checked with Bank of America, and they say the ONLY way to cash (or deposit, or otherwise get access to the funds represented by a check made out to my business) is to open a business account. They tell me this is a Federal regulation, and every bank will say the same thing. To do this, I need a state-issued "d... |
I am moving to a new city. How do I plan and prepare - financially - for the move? | Utilities and cost of living vary from city to city but maybe not that much. For basic planning purposes you can probably figure to spend as much as you are now, maybe a little more. And adjust as needed when you get there. (And adjust if, for example, you're moving from a very low cost of living area or to a very h... |
Are stores that offer military discounts compensated by the government? | Nope, only base commissaries or BX/PX's are subsidized. The rest is just done for goodwill/marketing purposes. |
What's the benefit of buying shares in a wholly owned subsidiary if you own parent company stock? | The parent company is likely to own other assets, which can be badly performing. Spinoffs are typically the better performers. There are also other factors, for example certain big funds cannot invest in sectors like tobacco or defense and for conglomerates it makes sense to spin those assets off to attract a wider inv... |
Is it legal if I'm managing my family's entire wealth? | This is the biggest blunder I see in money handling. "Oh I'm a good person and everyone knows my intentions are good. And they're really happy with me right now, so it'll stay that way forever, right? So I can just do anything and they'll trust me." And then in hindsight 10 years later, the person realizes "wow, I ... |
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 ... |
How can a U.S. citizen open a bank account in Europe? | If you don't want to hassle with opening an account (and don't mind going without insurance) there are currency ETF's that basically invest in euro money market accounts. Here's an example of one Not sure if the return would be as much as you'd get if you opened your own account and went for longer term instruments lik... |
Is IRS Form 8938 asking me to double-count foreign assets? | Yes, you effectively need to "double count" when shifting balances between foreign accounts. |
Are BIC and SWIFT code the same things? | BIC and IBANN are used in EU (and some other OECD countries) for inter bank transfers. SWIFT is used everywhere for interbank transfers. In the US - IBAN system is not (yet, hopefully) available, so you have to use SWIFT. The codes may look the same, but these are different systems. More details here. |
Are car buying services worth it? | Depends on how you value your time. These programs do not say they will get you the lowest basement price; they say you get a reasonable price without negotiation. This is true. Use a service. Pick out the car you want and spend less than an afternoon picking up your vehicle. You don't have to fret or do all of the... |
401K - shift from agressive investment to Money Market | I can understand your fears, and there is nothing wrong with taking action to protect yourself from them. How much income do you need in retirement? For arguments sake, lets say you need to pull 36K per year from your 401K or 3K per month. Lets also assume that you current contribute (with any match) 1,000 per month.... |
Capital losses on early-purchased stock? | Yes When exercising a stock option you will be buying the stock at the strike price so you will be putting up your money, if you lose that money you can declare it as a loss like any other transaction. So if the stock is worth $1 and you have 10 options with a strike at $0.50 you will spend $500 when you exercise your ... |
How can I save money on a gym / fitness membership? New Year's Resolution is to get in shape - but on the cheap! | Shop around for Gym January is a great time to look because that's when most people join and the gyms are competing for your business. Also, look beyond the monthly dues. Many gyms will give free personal training sessions when you sign up - a necessity if you are serious about getting in shape! My gym offered a one ... |
What is the best way to invest in gold as a hedge against inflation without having to hold physical gold? | Investing in gold without having physical gold is not really a hedge against inflation. GLD is really more for speculation, not protection against serious inflation. If there is any kind of inflation worth really protecting yourself against then one thing you will notice at its onset is a divergence in the price of phy... |
Is selling put options an advisable strategy for a retiree to generate stable income? | I am close to retirement and sell cash secured puts and covered calls on a regular basis. I make 15 % plus per year from the puts. Less risky than buying stocks, which I also do. Riskier than bonds, but several times the income. Example: I owned 4,000 shares of XYZ, which I bought last year at 6.50 and was at 7.70 ... |
What are the advantages/disadvantages of a self-directed IRA? | The main advantage and disadvantage I can see in a scenario like this are - how savvy and good an investor are you? It's a good way to create below-market average returns if you're not that good at investing and returns way above market average if you are... |
Are lottery tickets ever a wise investment provided the jackpot is large enough? | If you just buy a few lotto tickets normally, then no, it's not going to be a good investment, as @Jasper has shown. However, there are certain scenarios where you can get a positive expected value from a lottery. In 2012, it was revealed that some MIT students found a scheme to game the Massachusetts state lottery. T... |
Where to borrow money between college graduation and employment? | You have asked about getting a loan, the issue is that you don't have collateral to offer up in exchange for the loan, you also don't have a regular source of income. Getting a low level job, even one not related to your major will provide income. Getting a not-so-perfect job related to your major will allow your to su... |
Does Robinhood calculate fees and taxes over the total gain/loss or per-transaction? | I don't see a tag for United States, so I'm having to assume this is US taxes. It doesn't matter what app you use, IRS trades are all calculated the same. First, you have to report each trade on a 8949 and from that the totals go into a schedule D. Short term trades are stocks that you've kept exactly one year or les... |
Why would preferred shares have less potential for capital gain compared to common stock? | I once bought both preferred and common shares in a bankrupt company. It is true that those preferred shares had less potential for appreciation than the common shares. The reason is because the preferred shares were trading around $50 and had a face value of $1000. This means that if the bankruptcy proceedings ende... |
Is there anything I can do to prepare myself for the tax consequences of selling investments to buy a house? | Have you changed how you handle fund distributions? While it is typical to re-invest the distributions to buy additional shares, this may not make sense if you want to get a little cash to use for the home purchase. While you may already handle this, it isn't mentioned in the question. While it likely won't make a bi... |
Should I have to pay income tax on contribution to home office rent from company? | This is essentially a reimbursement of your expense. Since you can deduct the expense, the fact that the reimbursement is taxable doesn't affect you much. You deduct your home office expenses on your annual tax return using form 8829. See the IRS site for more details. If you're asking about the UK tax, there may be so... |
I'm 18. How to build good monthly income at my 20's? | It looks like you need a lot more education on the subject. I suggest you pick up a book on investing and portfolio management to get a first idea. Dividend yields are currently way below 5% on blue chips. Unlike coupons from fixed income instruments (which, in the same risk category, pay a lot less), dividend yields a... |
Considering investing in CHN as a dividend stock | CHN is a Closed-End Fund. CHN actually pays out three types of distributions: In the case of CHN, they appear to be paying yearly. The most recent dividend, with exdate of 18 Dec 2014, consisted of $3.4669 of Long-term capital gains and $0.2982 cash dividend. Prior to that, the dividend with exdate of 19 Dec 2013 cons... |
What can make a stock price rise without good news or results? | As a general principle the stock price on the stock market is controlled by an agreement between buyers and sellers. Some initial observations on this stock So, my take on this is one/more of the following My suspicion is the latter. |
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! |
How does the person lending shares to the short selller protect themselves if the short sellers are correct? | It is true, as farnsy noted, that you generally do not know when stock that you're holding has been loaned by your broker to someone for a short sale, that you generally consent to that when you sign up somewhere in the small print, and that the person who borrows has to make repay and dividends. The broker is on the h... |
How much should a new graduate with new job put towards a car? | You are currently $30k in debt. I realize it is tempting to purchase a new car with your new job, but increasing your debt right now is heading in the wrong direction. Adding a new monthly payment into your budget would be a mistake, in my opinion. Here is what I would suggest. Since you have $7k in the bank, spend ... |
Short term cutting losses in a long term investment | If you are investing for 10 years, then you just keep buying at whatever price the fund is at. This is called dollar-cost averaging. If the fund is declining in value from when you first bought it, then when you buy more, the AVERAGE price you bought in at is now lower. So therefore your losses are lower AND when it go... |
Is This Money Laundering? | No, this is misbehavior of sales software that tries to automatically find the price point which maximizes profit. There have been much worse examples. Ignore it. The robot will eventually see that no sales occurred and try a more reasonable price. |
NYSE & NASDAQ: Mkt Cap: $1 billion+ | Try Google Finance Screener ; you will be able to filter for NASDAQ and NYSE exchanges. |
How to calculate how much a large stock position is really worth? | Something like cost = a × avg_spreadb + c × volatilityd × (order_size/avg_volume)e. Different brokers have different formulas, and different trading patterns will have different coefficients. |
When should I start an LLC for my side work? | An LLC is overkill for 99% of 1 man small businesses. Side-businesses should remain as sole proprieterships until they get much larger and need the benefits of the LLC laws. You can still bill through a company name if you want to start building a brand: And set aside 25% of your gross income for Uncle Sam. He wants yo... |
Should I buy a house or am I making silly assumptions that I can afford it? | The rules of thumb are there for a reason. In this case, they reflect good banking and common sense by the buyer. When we bought our house 15 years ago it cost 2.5 times our salary and we put 20% down, putting the mortgage at exactly 2X our income. My wife thought we were stretching ourselves, getting too big a house c... |
Good at investing - how to turn this into a job? | Step 1: Get a part-time job in sales. Perhaps selling appliances at Sears. Step 2: If you are great at that, then look into becoming a stock broker/investment adviser in Boise ... which is a sales job. Step 3: If you are great at that, then you might be able to become a portfolio manager, perhaps a hedge fund manage... |
Has anyone compared an in-person Tax Advisor to software like Turbo Tax? | I've done my taxes using turbotax for years and they were not simple, Schedule C (self-employed), rental properties, ESPP, stock options, you name it. It's a lot of work and occasionally i did find bugs in TurboTax. ESPP were the biggest pain surprisingly. The hardest part is to get all the paperwork together and you'd... |
I have savings and excess income. Is it time for me to find a financial advisor? | Is my financial status OK? You have money for emergencies in the bank, you spend less than you earn. Yes, your status is okay. You will have a good standard of living if nothing changes from your status quo. How can I improve it? You are probably paying more in taxes than you would if you made a few changes. If you ma... |
Optimal way to use a credit card to build better credit? | Great question. First, my recommendation would be for you to get a card that does not have a yearly fee. There are many credit cards out there that provide cash back on your purchases or points to redeem for gift cards or other items. Be sure to cancel the credit card that you have now so you don't forget about that y... |
Money Saved on finance charges | Avoiding a cost (interest) isn't quite the same as income. There is no entry, nothing for you to consider for this avoided interest. What you do have is an expense that's no longer there, and you can decide to use that money elsewhere each month. |
Why is the dominant investing advice for individuals to use mutual funds, exchanged traded funds (ETFs), etc | Cost. If an investor wanted to diversify his portfolio by investing in the companies that make up the S&P 500, the per-share and commission costs to individually place trades for each and every one of those companies would be prohibitive. I can buy one share of an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 for less ... |
Recent college grad. Down payment on a house or car? | I generally agree with the sentiment in many other answers that $27K is more I would personally spend on a car if I were in your position. Having said that, the following assumes you are already intent on buying that car. Even if you change your mind, I think the general ideas still apply. |
How do you invest in real estate without using money? | Sounds like the seminar is about using OPM (other people's money), which means you're going to have to find not just real estate, but investors. Those investors are going to need a business plan, contracts, and a lot of work from you to provide as much equity as possible before the property is sold. If you're serious... |
How do I analyse moving averages? | If you are going to be a long term investor you are only going to buy and hold. You will not sell. Thus future price is not relevant. Only dividend payout is relevant. Divide the dividend by the price you paid to get the yeald. Edit: once again the sitesite will not allow me to add a comment, so I have to edit a prev... |
How are stock buybacks not considered insider trading? | Buybacks do not increase the company's value. Cash is traded for outstanding shares. This is similar to a dividend, but instead of cash, investors receive a rising share-price. Whether an investor prefers a cash dividend or capital gains is less important than the outcome that their investment is gaining value for them... |
What U.S. banks offer two-factor authentication (such as password & token) for online banking? | Bank of America supports two-factor authentication using SMS messages, similar to PayPal. You can enable the feature from Online Banking under Customer Service -> SafePass Settings. Update: Over the weekend of July 28th, 2012, the SafePass control on the authentication page was updated to simple HTML + JavaScript inste... |
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