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The doctor didn't charge the health insurance in time, am I liable?
If you read all that paperwork they made you fill out at the emergency room, there is probably something in there explicitly stating that you owe any bills you rack up regardless of what happens with the insurance company. They generally have a disclaimer that filing for you with your insurance company is a courtesy se...
Calculating profits for a private fund
Thanks for the answer/comments! The time-based method was something we mooted and something I almost went with. But just to wrap this up, the method we settled on was this: Every time there is an entry or exit into the fund, we divvy out any unrealised market profits/losses according to each person's profit share (base...
Why are capital gains taxed at a lower rate than normal income?
I think this question is very nearly off-topic for this site, but I also believe that a basic understanding of the why the tax structure is what it is can help someone new to investing to understand their actual tax liability. The attempt at an answer I provide below is from a Canadian & US context, but should be simil...
Are credit cards not viewed as credit until you miss one payment?
Not sure what you mean by "missing". Credit card debt can be paid back in full when you get the bill, or you can "take a loan" and "pay in installments". If you do the latter, and pay back at least the minimum required amount on time, you are not "missing" your payment. Technically, you are taking a small, but expensiv...
How can a Canadian establish US credit score
set up a US company (WY is cheap and easy), go south and open a personal and business bank account, ask for the itin form. file for the itin. set up your EIN for the company. get a credit card for both. pay some mail forwarding service with it. file for taxes in the next year using your itin. prepaid cards do not link ...
How do brokers make money from margin accounts?
They will make money from brokerage as usual and also from the interest they charge you for lending you the money for you to buy your shares on margin. In other words you will be paying interest on the $30,000 you borrowed from your broker. Also, as per Chris's comment, if you are shorting securities through your margi...
Would I ever need credit card if my debit card is issued by MasterCard/Visa?
I haven't had a credit card in fifteen years. I use nothing but my debit card. (I find the whole idea of credit on a micro scale loathsome.) I have yet to encounter a single problem doing so, other than a lower than usual credit score for not keeping 23(!!!) revolving lines of credit open, or that's the number CreditKa...
Recent college grad. Down payment on a house or car?
$27,000 for a car?! Please, don't do that to yourself! That sounds like a new-car price. If it is, you can kiss $4k-$5k of that price goodbye the moment you drive it off the lot. You'll pay the worst part of the depreciation on that vehicle. You can get a 4-5 year old Corolla (or similar import) for less than half t...
Should the poor consider investing as a means to becoming rich?
Yes, you can indeed become rich by investing even small amounts over time. Let's say that you begin with nothing invested, and you start investing $100 per week. Suppose you choose to put your money in an S&P 500 index mutual fund. The CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of the S&P 500 over the last 35 years has been ab...
Investment property refinance following a low appraisal?
If I was you I would not borrow from my 401K and shred the credit card offer. Both are very risky ventures, and you are already in a situation that is risky. Doing either will increase your risk significantly. I'd also consider selling the rental house. You seem to be cutting very close on the numbers if you can't r...
How do I protect myself from a scam if I want to help a relative?
Let's summarize your relative's problem: How is this possible? If both of those statements are true, then he should be able to explain exactly why those statements are true, and then you can explain it to us, and then we can all nod our heads and admit, "Wow, that makes sense. Proceed if you want to." But until that ha...
If I own x% of company A, and A buys company B, do I own x% of B?
No, thanks to the principle of corporate personhood. The legal entity (company C) is the owner and parent of the private company (sub S). You and C are separate legal entities, as are C and S. This principle helps to legally insulate the parties for purposes such as liability, torts, taxes, and so forth. If company ...
Shifting income to 401k
This will be difficult to achieve. It can be done, but it's very rare to have an agreement where your employer is willing to max out your contribution limit unless you are a partner in the business or a family relation. In this situation the extra employer money would probably come from a profit sharing contribution. ...
Is there such a thing as a non-FDIC savings account, which earns better interest?
Everyone would like a savings/checking account that has the same liquidity as others but pays multiple times as much, but such a thing would break the laws of finance. The thing keeping savings and checking accounts cheap isn't particularly the FDIC insurance but the high liquidity and near certainty that you will not...
How do I get rid of worthless penny stocks if there is no volume (so market/limit orders don't work) and my broker won't buy them from me?
Merrill charges $500 flat fee to (I assume purchase) my untraded or worthless security. In my case, it's an OTC stock whose management used for a microcap scam, which resulted in a class action lawsuit, etc. but the company is still listed on OTC and I'm stuck with 1000s of shares. (No idea about the court decision)
How do I fold side-income into our budget so my husband doesn't know?
These earnings will likely have tax implications, depending on where in the world you are. So, your budget concerns not nearly as important as having an honest conversation about money with your husband. Better for him to be mad about the truth than to continue the lie, and potentially have this become a much larger le...
Personal Loan: How to define loan purpose
I would imagine that it goes beyond purpose and also addresses the demographic as a poor credit risk. Those seeking a post secondary education are a poor credit risk. They are at the beginning of their careers so tend to have low income, a short credit history, and a very short time of managing money on their own. Al...
Are there brokers or companies who trade Forex and make money for us on our investment? And do you think fxtradeinvestment is legit?
There are legitimate multi currency mutual funds/efts. But I don't think their rate of return will produce the extra money you're looking for any faster than any other kind of investment with comparable risks. To make money fast, you have to accept nontrivial risk of losing money fast, which isn't what you seem to have...
What percentage of my portfolio should be in individual stocks?
I'm in a remarkably similar situation as yourself. I keep roughly 80% of my portfolio in low-cost ETFs (16% bond, 16% commodities, 48% stock), with about 20% in 6-8 individual stocks. Individual stocks are often overlooked by investors. The benefits of individual stock ownership are that you can avoid paying any hol...
How can I buy government bonds from foreign countries?
Significantly less effort to buy into any of several international bond index funds. Off the top of my head, VTIBX.
Should a high-school student invest their (relative meager) savings?
If you're not rich, investing money will produce very small return, and is a waste of your resources. If you want to save until you die, then go for it (that's what investment companies want you to do). I suggest invest your money in building a network of friends who will be future asset for you. A group of friends hel...
Should a high-school student invest their (relative meager) savings?
Between 1 and 2 G is actually pretty decent for a High School Student. Your best bet in my opinion is to wait the next (small) stock market crash, and then invest in an index fund. A fund that tracks the SP500 or the Russel 2000 would be a good choice. By stock market crash, I'm talking about a 20% to 30% drop from th...
Employer 401K thru Fidelity - Investment options
The best predictor of mutual fund performance is low expense ratio, as reported by Morningstar despite the fact that it produces the star ratings you cite. Most of the funds you list are actively managed and thus have high expense ratios. Even if you believe there are mutual fund managers out there that can pick invest...
Why would I buy a bond with a negative yield?
Perhaps something else comes with the bond so it is a convertible security. Buffett's Negative-Interest Issues Sell Well from 2002 would be an example from more than a decade ago: Warren E. Buffett's new negative-interest bonds sold rapidly yesterday, even after the size of the offering was increased to $400 millio...
The spread goes to the market maker, is the market maker the exchange?
A "market maker" is someone that is contractually bound, by the exchange, to provide both bid and ask prices for a given volume (e.g. 5000 shares). A single market maker usually covers many stocks, and a single stock is usually covered by many market makers. The NYSE has "specialists" that are market makers that also p...
Repaying Debt and Saving - Difficult Situation
She seems to be paying an inordinate amount of money for car payments. $850/month is just too high. She may be able to get by on public transit, depending on where she lives, but if not, she needs to look at selling her car and picking up a cheap second-hand vehicle. Public transit would probably save her $750/month. G...
Is there any kind of unsecured stock loan?
buy an option, they cost less and let you buy shares in the future at the price you see now. only if you plan to buy more than 100 shares of the stock at that future date though. better learn how to use options strategically first, which I won't go into. but this is indeed their purpose.
Can a business refuse to take credit cards?
Businesses are free to decide what payment methods they accept for their goods and services. Businesses sometimes advertise what credit cards they accept by posting some stickers at their door. When your credit card isn't among them and you don't have enough cash with you, ask about your card before you order. If a bus...
Why does short selling require borrowing?
This can be best explained with an example. Bob thinks the price of a stock that Alice has is going to go down by the end of the week, so he borrows a share at $25 from Alice. The current price of the shares are $25 per share. Bob immediately sells the shares to Charlie for $25, it is fair, it is the current market pri...
Are junk bonds advisable to be inside a bond portfolio that has the objective of generating stable income for a retiree?
I let someone else pick and chose which junk bonds to buy and which to sell. So instead of holding individual bonds in my portfolio I hold an ETF that is managed by a man with a PHD and which buys junk bonds. I get a yearly 15.5% ROI, paid monthly. Buy and hold and you can get a good return for the rest of your life...
What is a typical investment portfolio made up of?
Paying off the high-interest debt is a good first start. Paying interest, or compound interest on debt is like paying somebody to make you poor. As for your 401k, you want to contribute enough to get the full match from your employer. You might also consider checking out the fees associated with your 401k with an onlin...
One company asks for picture of my debit card
Sounds questionable to me. If there is no way around this I would suggest opening a new account with only the minimum balance necessary and sending them the debit card associated with that account. If anything goes wrong then the amount of damage they can do will be limited. I would definitely be looking for other opti...
Are there any rules against penalizing consumers for requesting accurate credit reporting?
I think you're off base here. The bureaus only remove information if the creditor cannot verify any dispute within 30 days, or if the information's super old. If the creditor can provide corrected information, then the credit bureau is required to apply it to its own database. A dispute can be about the entire accou...
Why are banks providing credit scores for free?
An alternative take on the "why" is that most people's credit is better than they think, and all of these banks offer credit products. Put a "good credit" badge next to an ad for a shiny new card or auto refi, and it's just good business.
Why does gold have value?
Most of the answers here reflect a misunderstanding of what gold actually is from a financial perspective. I'll answer your question by asking two questions, and I do challenge you to stop and think about what we mean when we say "cash" or "unit of exchange" because without understanding those, you will completely mis...
Where can I find announcements of official GDP figures for the US and other countries?
There are tons of data provided on the CIA - The World Factbook webpage. Among the rest, there are the GDP values as well. The World Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities. Our ...
Indie Software Developers - How do I handle taxes?
The "hire a pro" is quite correct, if you are truly making this kind of money. That said, I believe in a certain amount of self-education so you don't follow a pro's advice blindly. First, I wrote an article that discussed Marginal Tax Rates, and it's worth understanding. It simply means that as your income rises past ...
Should I use regular or adjusted close for backtesting?
A one year period of study - Stock A trades at $100, and doesn't increase in value, but has $10 in dividends over the period. Stock B starts at $100, no dividend, and ends at $105. However you account for this, it would be incorrect to ignore stock A's 10% return over the period. To flip to a real example, MoneyChimp...
Why do employers require you to spread your 401(k) contributions throughout the year to get the maximum match?
The only way to know the specific explanation in your situation is to ask your employer. Different companies do it differently, and they will have their reasons for that difference. I've asked "But why is it that way?" enough times to feel confident in telling you it's rarely an arbitrary decision. In the case of your...
How long do wire transfers take?
The experience I have with wire transfers is from Australia to the US. These transfers can take up to 5 business dates (i.e. a whole week including the non-business days of the weekend). I would have thought intra-European transfers would be quicker, given how behind most US (regional) banks are in their electronic tra...
Is interest on a personal loan tax deductible?
Can you deduct interest paid to your father on your personal income taxes? Interest paid on passive investments can be deducted from the amount earned by that investment as an investment expense as long as the amount earned is greater than the total paid for the interest expense. Also beware if the amount of interest p...
Should I buy a house with a friend?
I did this about 8 years ago with a buddy in Chicago for the reasons specified in the original post. As other posters have suggested, we discussed a lot of the same questions listed above, figured out the possible scenarios, and then had a lawyer draw up a contract. We bought a 3 bedroom house, and rented out the 3r...
Getting money from online websites I own to my UK bank account
Now i want to get this money in my new UK bank account, does this mean that gov will take taxes from this money as well. Yes that is income and you have to pay tax on that. But it might be a bit complicated than that, so I would ask you to call up HMRC or visit an accountant or maybe ask the finance people of your empl...
Economics Books
The free Yale Course taught by Bob Shiller called Financial Markets is really good. Find it on youtube, iTunes U, academic earth, or yale's site.
I just made $50K from selling my house. How should I invest the proceeds?
First pay off all existing debt. Then set up at least 6 month emergency fund. Freelancing exposes you to way more risks than employment. Then buy GIC's to cover and match the maturity of your expected education fees. Only 'play' with what is left. Don't over think it. Buy a low-cost (less than 0.5%) passive large-i...
Should I pay off my 401k loan or reinvest the funds elsewhere?
Pay the 401(k) loan back as soon as possible. To be clear, the money from your 401(k) loan is no longer invested and working for you. It doesn't make sense to pull money out of your 401(k) investments and then invest it in something else. If you want to invest for retirement, pay back the loan and invest that money in...
Take advantage of rock bottom oil prices
I would suggest that oil stocks are going down due to reduced earnings predictions. The market may go too far in selling off oil and oil-related stocks. You may be able to pick up a bargain, but beware that prices may continue to fall in the short to medium term.
How an ETF reinvests dividends
Let me answer by parts: When a company gives dividends, the share price drops by the dividend amount. Not always by that exact amount for many different reasons (e.g. there are transaction costs if you reinvest, dividend taxes, etc). I have tested that empirically. Now, if all the shareholders choose to reinvest their...
What are the common income tax deductions used by “rich” salaried households?
You're asking explicitly about $250K+ wage earners. Well, believe it or not, but this is the most discriminated group of people in the US tax code. This is what is called "the upper middle class". People who still have to work for a living, but treated as if they're rich (I don't consider people who must work to keep u...
What's the best way to manage all the 401K accounts I've accumulated from my past jobs?
I'd roll them all into one account, just for your own convenience. It's a pain to keep track of lots of different accounts, esp. since you need logins/passwords, etc for all of them, and we all have plenty of those. :) Pick a place like Vanguard or Fidelity (for example), where you can find investment options with lo...
Will anything happen to me if the AMT is not re-established before 2011?
Depending on your income, you may owe AMT instead of the taxes from the regular code. Even if you don't do that, you may hit the place where you have to at least check if you owe AMT. As you probably know, AMT was established early on to catch the wealthiest of tax payers who were able to use various loop holes in the...
Creating S-Corp: Should I Name My Wife as a Director/Shareholder?
If you're creating an S-Corp for consulting services that you personally are going to provide, what would it give her to have 50% of the corporation when you're dead? Not to mention that you can just add it to your will that the corporation stock will go to her, and it will be much better (IMHO, talk to a professional)...
What are the possible metrics for evaluating annual performance of a portfolio?
The Investopedia article you linked to is a good start. Its key takeaway is that you should always consider risk-adjusted return when evaluating your portfolio. In general, investors seeking a higher level of return must face a higher likelihood of taking a loss (risk). Different types of stocks (large vs small; intern...
Do the gain and loss during futures rollover each month will be even out in long run?
There are 2 schools of thought in determining the price of a future contract in a day prior to expiration. The cost of carry model, states that the price of a future contract today is the spot price plus the cost of carrying the underlying asset until expiration minus the return that can be obtained from carrying the ...
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...
Risks associated with investing in dividend paying stocks for short term income. Alternatives?
Your back of the envelope calculation shows an income of about 5.5% per year, which is much better than a bank. The risk of course is that in a few years when you want to sell the stock, the price may not be at the level you want. The question is what are you giving up with this plan. You have 80K in cash, will cutting...
I carelessly invested in a stock on a spike near the peak price. How can I salvage my investment?
Some financial planners would not advise one way or the other on a specific stock without knowing your investment strategy... if you didn't have one, their goal would be to help you develop one and introduce you to a portfolio management framework like Asset Allocation. Is a two of clubs a good card? Well, that all de...
How to transfer money to yourself internationally?
Although I have not tried, you can check out the Western Union Money Transfers. http://www.westernunion.com/WUCOMWEB/staticMid.do?method=load&pagename=serviceToBank
Should Emergency Funds be Used for Infrequent, but Likely, Expenses?
Which of these categories are emergency funds meant to cover? Emergency funds are for emergencies, which to me means expenses that are unanticipated and can't be covered out of "normal" cash-flow. Oil changes are not an "emergency" and should be part of your normal budget. Car/house repairs and doctor visits might be...
Withdraw USD from PayPal without conversion to my home currency of EUR?
Look for EU banks that have US branches. Open an account there and look for the SWIFT code of your bank in US. Withdraw money using SWIFT US code.
Need a formula to determine monthly payments received at time t if I'm reinvesting my returns
How does compounding of annual interest work? answers this question. It's not simple compound interest. It's a time value of money calculation similar to mortgage calculations. Only the cash flow is the other way, a 'deposit' instead of 'payment'. When using a finance calculator such as the TI-BA35 (Note, it's no longe...
Getting Cash from Credit Card without Fees
Nope. Or at least, if it were possible the company offering such a credit card would quickly go out of business. Credit card companies make money off of fees from the merchants the user is buying from and from the users themselves. If they charged no fees to the user on cash advances and, in fact, gave a 3% back on cas...
Can my brother fix his credit?
Well, he could negotiate with the bank to pay off the loan before the foreclosure takes effect. That would obviously cost him a large pile of cash but might remove the foreclosure, and possibly the late payments, from his record. But the real answer is that, having signed the note, he should have been making sure payme...
Automatic investments for cheap
Almost all major no-load mutual fund families allow you to do the kind of thing you are talking about, however you may need an initial investment of between $1000 to $3000 depending on the fund. Once you have it however, annual fee's are usually very little, and the fees to buy that companies funds are usually zero if...
Safe and cheap way to send money from Canada to South America
The catch with any exchange service is that you're going to involve some sort of business and they're going to want to get paid for their service. These services all come with their own exchange rates, fees, waiting periods, or requirements to even use said service. Commonly, pros towards one of those comes at the cost...
Am I considered in debt if I pay a mortgage?
The statistic you cited comes from the Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finances, a survey that they do every three years, most recently in 2013. This was reported in the September 2014 issue of the Federal Reserve Bulletin. They list the percentage of Americans with any type of debt as 74.5 in 2013, down s...
Does the stock market create any sort of value?
With regards to "the stock market," there are actually two markets involved here: PRIMARY MARKET Value is created in the primary market where capital is exchanged for a residual interest in an opportunity. As a theoretical example, if a person operating solo (or with a small team) were to discover or create a breakthr...
If a startup can always issue new shares, what value is there to stocks/options?
Companies normally do not give you X% of shares, but in effect give you a fixed "N" number of shares. The "N" may translate initially to X%, but this can go down. If say we began with 100 shares, A holding 50 shares and B holding 50 shares. As the startup grows, there is need for more money. Create 50 more shares and s...
Are there any statistics that support the need for Title Insurance?
I'm really surprised at the answers here. Claims/year per region isn't a statistic that is meaningful here... you need to think about the risk factors and the purpose of the insurance. First, what does title insurance do? It protects you against defects in the deed -- defects that may crop up and mean that your mortgag...
Co-signer deceased
Co-signing is not the same as owning. If your elderly lady didn't make any payments on the loan, and isn't on the ownership of the car, and there was no agreement that you would pay her anything, then you do not owe either her or her daughter any money. Also the loan is not affecting the daughter's credit, and the moth...
Investing small amounts at regular intervals while minimizing fees?
I think your best bet would be commission-free ETFs, which have no minimum and many have a share price under $100. Most online brokerages have these now, e.g. Vanguard, Fidelity, etc. Just have to watch out for any non-trading fees brokerages may charge with a low balance.
Do I even need credit cards?
Try to buy an airline ticket, rent a hotel room, or rent a car without a credit card. Doable? Perhaps. Easy? Nope. With a debit card, you run the risk of a hotel reserving more than your stay's cost for room service, parking, etc and potentially having a domino effect if other payments bounce. We just spent 3 nights i...
Should I accept shares as payment?
I like the answer given by mikeazo. If paid in cash would you immediately buy the stock of the company? We all want to be the next Steve Jobs (or Woz), but the truth is that a Jobs comes along only once in a lifetime and chances are that you are not him. We have seen this kind of question here before. Search the site ...
Should I sell a 2nd home, or rent it out?
Option A - you sell the house and then use the money to pay off a portion of your second mortgage. The return on that investment is 5.5% a year, or $1925 net. Option B - you rent it out, that will bring you $5220 (435 x 12), more than 2.5 times option A. That's not counting any money going towards the principal of the...
Investment options in Australia
It depends on the exact level of risk that you want, but if you want to keep your risk close to zero you're pretty much stuck with the banks (and those rates don't look to be going up any time soon). If you're willing to accept a little more risk, you can invest in some index tracking ETFs instead, with the main provid...
Corporate Finance
If it's raising $25 million with a debt to equity ratio of 50% then it's raising $8.33 million of debt and $16.67 million of equity. You've priced it as if it were raising $25 million of debt and $25 million of equity, which would be raising $50 million with a debt to equity ratio of 100%.
Should I exclude bonds from our retirement investment portfolio if our time horizon is still long enough?
Having cash and bonds in your portfolio isn't just about balancing out the risk and volatility inherent in equities. Consider: If you are 100% invested in equities and the market declines by 30%, you'll be hard pressed to come up with additional money to "buy low". You'll miss out on the rebalancing bonus. But, if you ...
Buying an ETF vs. The explicit Index
To add to Dheer's point, the vast majority of retail investors will have to pay fees and use up a large amount of valuable time on the entrance and exit of each stock, and each and every time you rebalance as the index weightings change. These also add up extremely fast vs the few basis points the large and liquid ETFs...
If the put is more expensive than the call, what does it mean
It is a fool's errand to attribute abnormal option volume or volatility to any meaningful move in the stock. One side of the chain is frequently more expensive than the other. The relationship between historical volatility and implied volatility is dubious at best, and also a big area of study.
What taxes does a US citizen doing freelance work (self-employed) in the UK have to pay to the US government?
You will be filing the exact same form you've been filing until now (I hope...) which is called form 1040. Attached to it, you'll add a "Schedule C" form and "Schedule SE" form. Keep in mind the potential effect of the tax and totalization treaties the US has with the UK which may affect your filings. I suggest you tal...
Do governments support their own bonds when their value goes down?
Companies do not support their stock. Once the security is out on the wild (market), its price fluctuates according to what investors think they are worth. Support is a whole different concept, financially speaking: Support or support level refers to the price level below which, historically, a stock has had difficulty...
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...
Is there a good rule of thumb for how much I should have set aside as emergency cash?
First you should maintain a monthly expense and find out the burn rate. There would be certain expenses that are annual but mandatory [School fees, Insurance Premium, Property Taxes, etc]. So the ideal emergency fund depending on your industry should be 3 month to 6 months plus your mandatory yearly payments, more so i...
Is it worth it to reconcile my checking/savings accounts every month?
Sounds like you are reconciling more than once a month. I like to say I glance at all my statements, but these days I just look at the final balance and call it good. If a transaction shows up by mistake, I would find it in a couple of days because of how often I update my Quicken and Mint.com
About to start being an Independent Contractor - Any advice on estimating taxes?
One possibility that I use: I set up an LLC and get paid through that entity. Then I set up a payroll service through Bank of America and set up direct deposit so that it is free. I pay myself at 70% of my hourly rate based on the number of hours I work, and the payroll service does all the calculations for me and set...
Where was the huge scandal in the Wells Fargo scandal?
The Wells Fargo scandal was and still is a big deal because Wells Fargo opened over 1.5 million unauthorized bank and credit card accounts. The credit card accounts were opened without authorization, which means people's credit scores and reports were pulled without permission. That is considered fraud and identity the...
Understanding the phrase “afford to lose” better
I think it's a silly statement. If you are prepared from the start that you might lose it then you shouldn't invest. You invest to earn not to lose. Most often losses are a result of fear. Remember you only lose when you sell lower than you bought for. So if you have the patience you will probably regain. I ask my cl...
Should you co-sign a personal loan for a friend/family member? Why/why not?
My thoughts on loaning money to friends or family are outlined pretty extensively here, but cosigning on a loan is a different matter. It is almost never a good idea to do this (I say "almost" only because I dislike absolutes). Here are the reasons why: Now, all that said, if my sister or parents were dying of cancer...
Can a bank statement be submitted as a proof of investment?
Probably not. A debit of 50K in your Bank statement does not mean that its invested into tax saving instrument. This question is best answered by the finance department of your company. Practise vary from organization to organization.
Who could afford a higher annual deductible who couldn't afford a higher monthly payment?
I edited in the total annual out of pocket for each level to help illustrate what's going on. Your question makes sense, of course, but it's less a matter of afford vs an attempt to save. The way these plans work is to allow some choice based on your past experience. I can afford any option, but knowing the number of v...
Buying a multi-family home to rent part and live in the rest
This is one of those too good to be true things that is actually true. Why? Because only you can do this. Only you can deduct for primary home mortgage interest, only you can get a low cost mortgage (others would have to get investor mortgages at a higher interest rate). So its only a great deal for you. More people wo...
How can a 529 plan help me save for my child's college education?
If you're ready to start a 529 account, it makes a big difference which state you choose (some states have excessive fees). It doesn't have to be your own state, but some states give you tax incentives to stay in-state. What you need to do is check out Clark Howard's 529 Guide and check to see if your state is in the...
Why can't you just have someone invest for you and split the profits (and losses) with him?
The issue is the time frame. With a one year investment horizon the only way for a fund manager to be confident that they are not going to lose their shirt is to invest your money in ultra conservative low volatility investments. Otherwise a year like 2008 in the US stock market would break them. Note if you are willin...
Are Australian mutual fund fees large compared to US?
This is a Vanguard-specific difference in the sense that in the US, Vanguard is a leader in lowering management fees for the mutual funds that they offer. Of course, several US mutual fund companies have also been lowering the expense ratio of their mutual funds in recent years because more and more investors have be...
Which banks have cash-deposit machines in Germany?
HypoVereinsbank (member of UniCredit group), a few savings banks ("Sparkasse") and VR Banks offer cash (bill) deposit machines. However, it can take a few business days until the deposit is credited to your checking account, which has to be with the same bank. Google for "Bargeldeinzahlungsautomat" (=cash deposit mach...
What is the dividend tax rate for UK stock
The link provided by DumbCoder (below) is only relevant to UK resident investors and does not apply if you live in Malaysia. I noticed that in a much older question you asked a similar question about taxes on US stocks, so I'll try and answer both situations here. The answer is almost the same for any country you deci...
How is options implied volatility for a stock determined?
There are a few different "kinds" of implied volatility. They are all based on the IVs obtained from the option pricing model you use. (1) Basically, given a few different values (current stock price, time until expiration, right of option, exercise style, strike of the option, interest rates, dividends, etc), you can ...
Canadian personal finance software with ability to export historical credit card transactions?
Yodlee is the back-end which communicates with the banks, and Mint just provide a pretty layer on top. You can sign up for an account with Yodlee directly, which may give you the flexibility you need.
US taxation of stock purchase plan for non-resident alien
From my research it looks like its an income NOT effectively connected with the trade of business. This page has the exact details https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/effectively-connected-income-eci
How can I avoid international wire fees or currency transfer fees?
I haven't seen this answer, and I do not know the legality of it, as it could raise red flags as to money laundering, but about the only way to get around the exchange rate spreads and fees is to enter into transactions with a private acquaintance who has Euros and needs Dollars. The problem here is that you are taking...