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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 ...
Car value is almost equal to GMFV with still 2 years to go on PCP
The "guaranteed minimum future value" isn't really a guarantee so much as the amount they will charge you at the end of the agreement if you want to keep the car. In this sense it might better be considered a "guaranteed maximum future cost". If the car has fallen below that value at that point, then you can just hand ...
Are there any banks with a command-line style user interface?
A bank is unlikely to provide a 'command line' interface because typical users consider a graphical interface easier to use than a command line interface. The extra effort in providing a command line interface for the remaining handful of people isn't worth it. It's the same reason that everything else in the world has...
Would I qualify for a USDA loan?
Just general advice but you should pay off your credit cards and car loans before buying a house. Or you may be able to add some extra on to the mortgage to pay off your credit card and car debt right away. Credit card interest rates can be ten times the interest rates on mortgages and car loans are not far behind. The...
Why does the stock market index get affected when a terrorist attack takes place?
There are more than a few different ways to consider why someone may have a transaction in the stock market: Employee stock options - If part of my compensation comes from having options that vest over time, I may well sell shares at various points because I don't want so much of my new worth tied up in one company sto...
Why is company provided health insurance tax free, but individual health insurance is not?
The idea is that the premiums (or costs) associated with the plan are a business expense, you know that already. The distinction here is that employees don't pay premiums, they elect to contribute. The company sponsors a plan, the employees then choose to accept less salary in order to participate in the employer's pl...
New car: buy with cash or 0% financing
There is a 3rd option: take the cash back offer, but get the money from a auto loan from your bank or credit union. The loan will only be for. $22,500 which can still be a better deal than option B. Of course the monthly payment can make it harder to qualify for the mortgage. Using the MS Excel goal seek tool and the ...
What return are you getting on your money from paying down a mortgage on a rental property?
This is a great question, considering that all of your expenses including PITA, Maintenance, etc. are paid by a tenant, your cash flow is $0. Most people would stop and assume your investment is not performing and your only chance at making money is through appreciation. Your question eliminates appreciation so here ar...
Should I replace bonds in a passive investment strategy
I have had similar thoughts regarding alternative diversifiers for the reasons you mention, but for the most part they don't exist. Gold is often mentioned, but outside of 1972-1974 when the US went off the gold standard, it hasn't been very effective in the diversification role. Cash can help a little, but it also f...
How much should I be contributing to my 401k given my employer's contribution?
First - yes, take the 2.5%. It could be better, but it's better than many get. Second - choosing from "a bunch" can be tough. Start by looking at the expenses for each. Read a bit of the description, if you can't tell your spouse what the fund's goal is, don't buy it.
When will Canada convert to the U.S. Dollar as an official currency?
Canada would most likely not convert any time in the near future. The challenge for Canada converting to the US Dollar or the fictional "Amero" mentioned by JohnFX is that : Some of the benefits would be: The challenge right now for any government would be to sell the pros over the cons and from that viewpoint the cons...
Health insurance lapsed due to employer fraud. How to get medications while in transition?
Your doctor may also have free samples available. You could call, explain your situtation and ask to see if they have any free samples.
How do dividends of the underlying security in a security futures contract affect the security futures price?
The owner of a long futures contract does not receive dividends, hence this is a disadvantage compared to owning the underlying stock. If the dividend is increased, and the future price would not change, there is an arbitrage possibility. For the sake of simplicity, assume that the stock suddenly starts paying a divide...
Is Amazon's offer of a $50 gift card a scam?
Based on my personal experience with that particular offer, I can say that it's not really a scam. I signed up for an Amazon Credit Card to get $70 off a purchase, but then never used the card. In fact, I never even called to activate it! After a few months, I then called to cancel it. I did not see a significant hit t...
Buying a home - brokerage fee
Every situation is possible, it depends on what the contract states. According to Nolo: Your ability to withdraw from a home purchase depends on two things: 1) the exact point at which you are "in contract" to buy the house, and 2) after you're in contract, what the contract says about terminating the transaction...
Trader Fostering Program on Futures Day Trading
a) Contracts are for future delivery of said underlying. So if you are trading CL (crude oil) futures and don't sell before delivery date, you will be contacted about where you want the oil to be delivered (a warehouse presumably). 1 contract is the equivalent of 1000 barrels. b) 600 contracts depends entirely on what ...
Why did the Swiss National Bank fix the EUR/CHF exchange rate at CHF 1.20?
Due to the issues in the Eurozone, many foreign investors were buying Swiss Francs as a hedge against a Euro devaluation. They were in effect treating the Franc like gold, silver or some other commodity with perceived intrinsic value. This causes huge problems from the Swiss, as the value of the Franc increased and the...
How does a high share price benefit a company when it is raising funds?
Well, if one share cost $100 and the company needs to raise $10000, then the company will issue 100 shares for that price. Right? However, say there's 100 shares out there now, then each share holder owns 1/100th of the company. Now the company will remain the same, but it's shared between 200 shareholders after the i...
Should I buy ~$2200 of a hot stock or invest elsewhere?
Forget investing, you need to focus on managing your debt. I would keep the 6k in a checking or savings account because you need that money in case of an emergency. If you save up more than 10k, use the excess to pay down the principal on your debt. Worry about investing when you have a positive net worth.
US Citizen Buying Rental Property in Canada
You've asked a number of questions. I can answer a few. I've quoted your question before each answer. What are the ins and outs of a foreigner like myself buying rental property in Canada? This is a pretty broad question which can address location, finances, basic suggestions etc. Here's some things to consider: P...
Which mutual funds is Dave Ramsey talking about in The Total Money Makeover? [duplicate]
See the Moneychimp site. From 1934 to 2006, the S&P returned an 'average' 12.81%. But the CAGR was 11.26%. I wrote an article Average Return vs Compound Annual Growth to address this issue. Interesting that over time only a few funds have managed to get anywhere near this return, but the low cost indexer can get the ...
Where should I invest my savings?
Since you mention the religion restriction, you should probably look into the stock market or funds investing in it. Owning stock basically means you own a part of a company and benefit from any increase in value the company may have (and 'loose' on decreases, provided you sell your stock) and you also earn dividends o...
Theoretically, if I bought more than 50% of a company's stocks, will I own the company?
It is also worth noting that one of the character defining features of a publicly traded company is that the management that is responsible for the day to day operations of the stands independent of those who have ownership. Shareholder of a public company typically don't have influence over the day to day running of t...
Why would you ever turn down a raise in salary?
If you have children in a university institution, then your annual salary is reported via financial aid forms. The small raise could be the difference between full tuition covered and only half tuition covered.
What does inflation mean to me?
The general discussion of inflation centers on money as a medium of exchange and a store of value. It is impossible to discuss inflation without considering time, since it is a comparison between the balance between money and goods at two points in time. The whole point of using money, rather than bartering goods, is t...
How do LLC losses affect personal income taxes in the US?
The short answer is yes, losses get passed through to members. Limits/percentages do apply, primarily based on your share in the business. Check out the final post in this thread: http://community2.business.gov/t5/Other-Business-Issues/Paying-oneself-in-a-LLC/td-p/16060 It's not a bad little summary of the profit/los...
Which is the better strategy for buying stocks monthly?
You will invest 1000£ each month and the transaction fee is 10£ per trade, so buying a bunch of stocks each month would not be wise. If you buy 5 stocks, then transaction costs will eat up 5% of your investment. So if you insist on taking this approach, you should probably only buy one or two stocks a month. It sound...
What tax law loophole is Buffet referring to?
A Section 1256 contract is any: Non-equity options include debt options, commodity futures options, currency options, and broad-based stock index options. A broad-based stock index is based upon the value of a group of diversified stocks or securities (such as the Standard and Poor's 500 index). 60% of the capital gain...
Are prepayment penalties for mortgages normal?
Mortgages with a prepayment penalty usually do not charge points as a condition of issue. The points, usually in the range 1%-3% of the amount borrowed, are paid from the buyer's funds at the settlement, and are effectively the prepayment penalty. Once upon a time (e.g. 30 years ago), in some areas, buyers had a choi...
What reason would a person have to use checks in stores?
Here's another rational reason: Discount. This typically works only in smaller stores, where you're talking directly to the owners, but it is sometimes possible to negotiate a few percent off the price when paying by check, since otherwise they'd have to give a few percent to the credit card company. (Occasionally the ...
Tracking down stocks I own
There's two possibilities. One is that the broker declared your account abandoned and turned over your account to the state. If that happened, it should turn up here: http://missingmoney.com The second is that the broker is still holding your stock. I'd start by contacting the company's transfer agent.
Unusual real estate market with seemingly huge rental returns
You are suggesting that a 1% return per month is huge. There are those who suggest that one should assume (a rule of thumb here) that you should assume expenses of half the rent. 6% per year in this case. With a mortgage cost of 4.5% on a rental, you have a forecast profit of 1.5%/yr. that's $4500 on a $300K house. If ...
How does cash ISA & share ISA mix together
There are two different types of ISA; the "Cash ISA" for cash savings, and the "Stocks and Shares ISA" for stock market investing. You can transfer funds between these two different types of ISA. If your current cash ISA provider does not provide stocks and shares ISAs, then there may be a fee involved when transferr...
Is it common for a new car of about $16k to be worth only $4-6k after three years?
It depends completely on the car. Some cars retain their value much better, and others drop in value like a rock (no pun intended). The mileage and condition on a car also has a huge impact on value. According to this site, cars on average lose 46% of their value in three years, so seeing one that drops 62% in roug...
Capitalize on a falling INR
By no means is this a comprehensive list, but a few items to consider:
As a small business owner, should I pay my taxes from my personal or business checking account?
Payment of taxes for your personal return filed with the IRS always come from your personal account, regardless of how the money was earned. Sales tax would be paid from your business account, so would corporate taxes, if those apply; but if you're talking about your tax payments to the IRS for your personal income tha...
Multi-Account Budgeting Tools/Accounts/Services
I sort of do this with credit cards. I actually have 4 AMEX cards that I've accumulated over the years. Certain types of expenses go on each card ("General expenses", recurring bills, car-related and business-related) I use AMEX because they have pretty rich iPhone/Android applications to access your accounts and a ric...
What is this type of risk-free investment called?
My Credit Union offers a market-linked CD where the investment has FDIC protection if it is held to maturity, but otherwise they are linked with the S&P 500. it comes with this warning: Market-Link CDs are not appropriate for all depositors including clients needing a guaranteed interest payment or seeking full par...
Why do stocks tend to trade at high volumes at the end of (or start) the trading day?
Is it possible that mutual funds account for a significant portion of this volume. Investors may decide to buy or sell anytime within a 24 hour period, but the transaction only happened at the close of the market. Therefore at 3:59 pm the mutual fund knows if they will be buying or selling stocks that day. As nws poin...
If one owns 75% of company shares, does that mean that he would have to take upon himself 75% of the company's expenses?
A firm is a separate legal person from its shareholders or owners (but doesn't get invited to parties much). Owners invest capital to get shares in the firm or may get shares for investing time, effort etc. but those shares are on a limited liability basis. That means that shareholders are only liable up to the value o...
“Inflation actually causes people not to spend”… could it be true?
Not always. You always consider economic factors in conjunction with each other rather than in isolation, which leads to weird assumptions. People spending isn't what you should look at always. When inflation is high, means government is spending. Government is spending on public projects, creating employment, increasi...
Good book-keeping software?
I think Peachtree is a double entry system
Is it wise to invest in a stock with a large Div yield?
There have been many interesting and correct answers but to give a direct answer to your first question, dividend yield is simply dividend over current share price. So, if the share price drops, your dividend yield increases proportionately. Dividend yield is not something one should use as the only source of informati...
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...
Pay for a cheap car or take out a loan?
Buying a car is a very big financial decision. There are three major factors to decide which car to buy: Pick two because you can't have all three. You can either have a reliable car that has cheap running costs but will be expensive to buy or a cheap car that is unreliable. If you are mechanically minded then relia...
Reinvesting earnings increases the book value of equity?
The book value is Total Assets minus Total Liabilities and so if you increase the Total Assets without changing the Total Liabilities the difference gets bigger and thus higher. Consider if a company had total assets of $4 and total liabilities of $3 so the book value is $1. Now, if the company adds $2 to the assets, t...
Do budgeting % breakdowns apply globally?
The exact percentages depend on many things, not just location. For example, everyone needs food. If you have a low income, the percentage of your income spent on food would be much higher than for someone that has a high income. Any budgeting guidelines that you find are just a starting point. You need to look at yo...
Contributing factors to historical increase in trading volume
Prior to 1975, commissions for trading stock on the NYSE were fixed at 1% of the amount of the trade. In 1975, the SEC made fixed commission rates illegal, giving rise to discount brokers offering much reduced commission rates. Simultaneously, Electronic Communications Networks (ECNs) gained market share as alternati...
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...
Is it true that Income Tax was created to finance troops for World War I?
Canada did not introduce income taxes before World War I. Specifically deficits forced them to in the later part of the war: The Conservatives opposed income tax as they wanted to attract immigrants primarily from the United Kingdom and the United States, as opposed to Eastern Europe, and they wanted to give their pre...
Asset classes: Is a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) considered a bond?
Instead of "stocks" I would refer to that asset class as "equity." Instead of bonds, I would refer to that asset class as "fixed income." Given that more general terminology, GICs would fit into fixed income.
How to convince someone they're too risk averse or conservative with investments?
Let the man be. If you've tried again and again to convince him, and haven't, maybe he doesn't want to be convinced. It's his money, and he has every right to manage it as he sees fit. You can advise him, but its his call whether he accepts your advice or not, and for what reasons. And suppose you push and push and it ...
Investment strategy for a 20 year old with about 30k in bank account
Thank you for your service. My first suggestion since your car is a planned for the near future is keep that amount in savings and just pay cash. There are plenty of attractive offers to entice you to finance your vehicle but there really is no compelling reason to do it considering the savings you have. Second I wou...
What to sell when your financial needs change, stocks or bonds?
The answer may be a compromise... if your goal is to make bonds a larger part of your portfolio, sell both stocks and bonds in a 4:1 ratio. or (3:1 or whatever works for you) Also, just as you dollar-cost-average purchases of securities, you can do the same thing on the way out. Plan your sales and spread them over a p...
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...
Option on an option possible? (Have a LEAP, put to me?)
I can sell a PUT on it a bit out of the money, and I seemingly "win" either way: i.e. make money on selling the PUT, and either I get to pick up the stock cheaper if XYZ goes down, or the PUT expires worthless. In 2008, I see a bank stock (pick one) trading at $100. I buy that put from you, a $90 strike, and pay you $5...
Does a restaurant have to pay tax on a discount?
In almost any jurisdiction, the restaurant will pay tax on the amount after the discount. Discounting is just a selective way to reduce prices for particular clients and thus achieve some degree of price discrimination. It's no different in principle to cutting prices for everyone or having a sale or similar. It would ...
Is my wash sale being calculated incorrectly?
You add the wash sale loss to your cost basis for the other transaction so you would have two entries in your schedule d reporting 1.) Listing the $2000 loss as a wash 2.) The cost basis for your second transaction is thus $1000+$2000 = $3000 so when it was sold for $2000 you now have a reportable loss of $1000. For mo...
What should I be aware of as a young investor?
nan
How smart is it to really be 100% debt free?
As others mentioned, the only clear reason to remain in debt is if you can find an investment that yields more than what you're paying to maintain the debt. This can happen if a debt was established during low-rate period and you're in a high-rate period (not what is happening now.) A speculative reason to keep debt is...
What do the terms par value, purchase price, call price, call date, and coupon rate mean in the context of bonds?
Bonds are valued based on all of this, using the concept of the "time value of money". Simply stated, money now is worth more than money later, because of what you can do with money between now and later. Case in point: let's say the par value of a bond is $100, and will mature 10 years from this date (these are common...
The U.S. National Debt: What is it, where did it come from, and how does it work?
For political reasons, almost all governments (including the US) spend more money than they get from taxes etc. There are a number of things a government can do to cover the difference: Most governments opt for selling bonds. The "National Debt" of a country can be thought of as being the sum of all the "Bonds" that ...
One company asks for picture of my debit card
Although it is strange, there is little risk. The first four numbers are just the card type (Visa, Master, etc.), and the last four alone don't give them much - there are still 8 digits missing that they do not have. There is nothing much they can do with that info, especially without the PIN and the CCV, so as I said,...
Where can I find a definition of psychological barriers with respect to marketable securities?
I will teach you to be rich blog is all about psychological barriers and behavioural change.
Is it better to ask for a raise before a spin-off / merger or after?
Corporate restructuring makes everything a flux, so you might as well revisit some core fundamental questions. Here's how to do this professionally: Start floating your CV now. Line up interviews in competing companies. Attend to them. Score a job offer, and have it put into writing, with exact salary, which should be ...
Need something more basic than a financial advisor or planner
In addition to a fee-only advisor, brought up by dg99, you could consider asking your questions on message boards such as Bogleheads.org. I have found the advice amazing, obviously conflict-free, and free.
If someone gives me cash legally, can my deposit trigger an audit for them?
Why would you even accept 75K in cash? If anything is going to trigger an audit, this will be it. 75K in cash deposited will look like money laundring, so you better have a paper trail ready to prove this is legal or this won't end well.
What are good games to play to teach young children about saving money?
I found this great resource at MarketWatch.com - a listing on online games that help parents teach kids about saving and finance, set up by age group. Here's an example of some of the content: For children six to nine: www.fleetkids.com, sponsored by the Fleet Bank, has great games -- like "Buy lo, Sell hi" and "Chunka...
Can an ETF perform differently than its holdings?
The Creation/Redemption mechanism is how shares of an ETF are created or redeemed as needed and thus is where there can be differences in what the value of the holdings can be versus the trading price. If the ETF is thinly traded, then the difference could be big as more volume would be where the mechanism could kick i...
Why can Robin Hood offer trading without commissions?
They mostly make money off of the spread between your order and the spread of the buy and sell currently in the market. As others have previously explained, their buy/sell spreads are a little lacklustre.
Can I sell a stock immediately?
In order to see whether you can buy or sell some given quantity of a stock at the current bid price, you need a counterparty (a buyer) who is willing to buy the number of stocks you are wishing to offload. To see whether such a counterparty exists, you can look at the stock's order book, or level two feed. The order bo...
Bid-ask price Question
(12 * 100) * 1.01 = 1212 Assuming the $12 ask can absorb your whole 100 share order.
How to chose index funds, mutual funds from a plethora of options (TD Ameritrade)
I agree with others here that suggest that you should be taking higher risk since it is repaid with higher returns. You have 40 years or so to go before you might switch to safer but lower return funds. I suggest that you look at the Morningstar rating for the funds you are considering: http://www.morningstar.com/ A fu...
How to approach building credit without a credit card
One possible route is to try to have no credit. This is different than bad credit. If you build up a good downpayment (20%), a number of banks would do manual underwriting for you.
Finding a good small business CPA?
Check your local better business bureau. They can tell you who is in business, who's bonded, and who has had a lot of complaints levied against them for shoddy practices.
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...
Should I move my money market funds into bonds?
If your money market funds are short-term savings or an emergency fund, you might consider moving them into an online saving account. You can get interest rates close to 1% (often above 1% in higher-rate climates) and your savings are completely safe and easily accessible. Online banks also frequently offer perks su...
Wardrobe: To Update or Not? How-to without breaking the bank
The way I handle clothing purchases, is I save a little bit with each paycheck but don't commit to spending each month. I wait until I find the exact item I need or know I will need in the near future. I have a list of things to look for so I don't get off track and blow my budget. And each time I consider hitting S...
Does reading financial statements (quarterly or annual reports) really help investing?
I agree with @STATMATT. Financial statements are the only thing that Warren Buffett & Charlie Munger read. To answer your question though, really depends on what type of investor you are and what information are you trying to extract. It is essential for the Buffett style (buy & hold). But if you are a short term o...
Why do grocery stores in the U.S. offer cash back so eagerly?
The cost to the store is small. They may have to pay a slightly greater fee because the transaction is now bigger. They do need additional cash on hand. Even though the majority of transactions are electronic (credit/debit) or check, the local grocery store still seems to have significant cash on hand. This is seen as ...
Why does the Brexit cause a fall in crude oil prices?
Uncertainty has very far reaching effects. Oil is up ~100% since February and down ~40% from it's 52 week high (and down even more on a longer timeline). It's not exactly a stable investment vehicle and moves a few percent each day on basically nothing. A lot of securities will be bouncing around for the next coupl...
How can I check my credit score?
Assuming you are asking about a credit score in the United States, the following applies. To find out your FICO score, navigate to AnnualCreditReport, the official site to help consumers receive their credit report from each of the three organizations providing these scores - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You are...
Should I use regular or adjusted close for backtesting?
If you want to monitor how well you did in choosing your investments you will want to use stock prices that account for the dividends and splits and other changes (not just the closing price). The adjusted close will include these changes where the straight close will not include them. Using the adjusted close you wi...
Renters Liability in Case of Liability Claims for Property Damage or Fire
According to US News, renter's insurance does cover liability as well as your own belongings. They list this as one of four "myths" often promulgated about renter's insurance. This is backed up by esurance.com, which explicitly mentions "Property damage to others" as covered. Nationwide Insurance says that renter's ...
Is Amazon's offer of a $50 gift card a scam?
What's going on here is that Amazon/visa thinks that the money they will earn on average from irresponsible credit card users is more value than 50$ each. This is the same logic that is behind the cash back or airplane point bonuses many credit cards offer, or the "apply and get a free 2-liter of soda" that some stores...
Buying shares in employer's company during IPO
Rather than take anyone's word for it (including and especially mine) you need to do think very carefully about your company; you know it far better than almost anyone else. Do you feel that the company values its employees? If it values you and your immediate colleagues then its likely that it not only values its othe...
Are there common stock price trends related to employee option plans?
Say I am an employee of Facebook and I will be able to sell stares at enough of a profit to pay of my mortgage and have enough money left to cover my living costs for many years. I also believe that there is a 95% chance that the stock price will go up in the next few years. Do I take a 5% risk, when I can transform my...
How to make money from a downward European market?
Trying to make money on something going down is inherently more complicated, risky and speculative than making money on it going up. Selling short allows for unlimited losses. Put options expire and have to be rebought if you want to keep playing that game. If you are that confident that the European market will com...
How do I find a legitimate, premium credit repair service?
Just a word of warning: Most of the companies that promise to repair your credit are scams or close to them. You could just as easily do yourself what they are going to charge you for. Essentially they write a letter to the credit agencies disputing most or all of the bad stuff on your credit report. When you do that,...
Is it worth buying real estate just to safely invest money?
Consider looking into real estate investment trusts (REITs). Assuming that they are available for the area that you are considering they simplify the process of investing in this sector. Your money pooled with other investors and then invested in a broad range of properties. If you go this route make sure to only by RE...
Digital envelope system: a modern take
The whole point of the "envelope system" as I understand it is that it makes it easy to see that you are staying within your budget: If the envelope still has cash in it, then you still have money to spend on that budget category. If you did this with a bunch of debit cards, you would have to have a way to quickly and ...
Is there a good rule of thumb for how much I should have set aside as emergency cash?
I think this varies considerably depending on your situation. I've heard people say 6 month's living expenses, and I know Suze Orman recommended bumping that to 8 months in our current economy. My husband and I have no children, lots of student loan debts, but we pay off our credit cards in full each month and are wor...
How is someone tax exempt at Walmart in Canada?
The short answer is you're tax exempt if the tax laws say you are. There are a bunch of specific exemptions based on who you are, what you're buying and why. Taking British Columbia as an example. One exemption is supplies for business use: Some exemptions are only available to certain purchasers in certain circumstan...
Can saving/investing 15% of your income starting age 25, likely make you a millionaire?
I just want to point out a couple of things, and I do not have enough reputation to comment. Saving 50% is totally possible. I know people saving 65%. For more see here EDIT: Let me repeat that 4% it the maximum you can assume if you want to be sure to have at least that return in the long term. It's not the average, i...
What is the best resource for determining a specific age-based asset allocation?
Look into the asset allocations of lifecycle funds offered by a company like Vanguard. This page allows you to select your current age and find a fund based on that. You could pick a fund, like the Target Retirement 2055 Fund (ages 21-25), and examine its allocation in the Portfolio & Management tab. For this fund, the...
Car financed at 24.90% — what can I do?
You could look into refinancing with a bank or credit union. But to weed out options quickly, use a service like LendingTree, which can vet multiple options for you a whole lot more quickly than you could probably do yourself. (I don't work for, or get any benefit from LendingTree.) Whatever you do, try to do all th...
Ordering from Canada, charged in CAD or USD?
Typically, businesses always charge their 'home' currency, so if the shop is in Canada, you will pay Canadian Dollars. Normally you don't have any choices either. Your credit card company will convert it to your currency, using the current international currency exchange rate (pretty good), plus a potential fee between...
Capital Gains Tax with Multiple 'buy' Transactions per Stock (U.S.)
According to the following article the answer is "first-in, first-out": http://smallbusiness.chron.com/calculate-cost-basis-stock-multiple-purchases-21588.html According to the following article the last answer was just one option an investor can choose: https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/advice-investing-costbasis?akredi...
Rules for Broker Behavior with Covered Calls
I think the question, as worded, has some incorrect assumptions built into it, but let me try to hit the key answers that I think might help: Your broker can't really do anything here. Your broker doesn't own the calls you sold, and can't elect to exercise someone else's calls. Your broker can take action to liquidat...
Do other countries have the equivalent of Australia's Negative Gearing?
I would say similar rules apply in the US. If you have a net loss from rental property, you certainly can claim that loss against your personal income. There are various rules around this though that make it a bit less clear cut. If you are a "real estate professional", which basicly means you spend at least 750 hour...