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Purpose of having good credit when you are well-off?
Credit is very important even if you are wealthy. One thing you may not realize is that rich people typically have comparatively little cash on hand. If they're smart, most of their assets are not liquid - they're tied up in safe, long-term investments. They use credit for their day-to-day expenses and pay it off fro...
What U.S. banks offer two-factor authentication (such as password & token) for online banking?
Some credit unions also offer them and support Business banking as well. First Tech Credit Union is a great example. They also have the most security-oriented banking website I've seen to date. https://www.firsttechfed.com/ As a side note I've found that Credit Unions are a MUCH better deal for personal and business ba...
Is it prudent to sell a stock on a 40% rise in 2 months
Sell half. If it's as volatile as you say, sell it all and buy on another dip. No one can really offer targeted advice based on the amount of information you have provided.
Why do some people say a house “not an investment”?
There's an old saying: "Never invest in anything that eats or needs maintenance." This doesn't mean that a house or a racehorse or private ownership of your own company is not an investment. It just points out that constant effort is needed on your part, or on the part of somebody you pay, just to keep it from losing...
What's the best way to make money from a market correction?
There are several ways to protect against (or even profit from) a market correction. Hedge funds do this by hedging, that is, buying a stock that they think is strong and selling short a paired stock that is weak. If you hold, say, a strong retail company in your portfolio, you might sell short an equal weight of a wea...
Benjamin Graham: Minimum Size of the company
If you look at the value as a composite, as Graham seems to, then look at its constituent parts (which you can get off any financials sheet they file with the SEC): For example, if you have a fictitious company with: Compared to the US GDP (~$15T) you have approximately: Now, scale those numbers to a region with a GDP ...
Ongoing things to do and read to improve knowledge of finance?
I've found Pragmatic Capitalism very helpful.
T-mobile stock: difference between TMUSP vs TMUS
The difference between TMUSP and TMUS is that the "with P" ticker is for a TMobile Preferred Stock offering. The "without P" ticker is for TMobile common stock. The difference between the apparent percentage yields is due to Yahoo! Stock misreporting the dividend on the preferred stock for the common stock, which has...
Can I make my savings keep in check with or beat inflation over a long time period via index funds?
If I invest in index funds or other long term stocks that pay dividend which I reinvest, they don't need to be worth more per share for me to make a profit, right? That is, if I sell part of the stocks, it's GOOD if they're worth more than I bought them at, but the real money comes from the QUANTITY of stocks that you ...
Is it possible to quantify the probability of sudden big movements for a high-volume stock?
The P/E is currently 20. In hindsight, it's easy to see that when it was 50, not long ago, it was very overpriced. They were not adding customers or increasing revenue as they should have to sustain that P/E level. Probability? I suppose this can happen with any company that has both a high P/E and non-diversified bus...
Are there any rules against penalizing consumers for requesting accurate credit reporting?
To answer the heart of your question, it would be illegal for any credit bureau or creditor to somehow "penalize" you just for trying to make sure that what's being reported about you is accurate. That's why the Fair Credit Reporting Act exists -- that's where the rights (and mechanisms) come from for letting you lear...
Withholding for unexpected Short-Term Capital Gains and Penalties
The safe harbor provision is based on the tax you or the prior year. So in 2016 this helped you as your tax was substantially increased from 2015. However, by the same token in 2017 your safe harbor amount is going to be very high. Therefore if 2017 is similar you will owe penalties. The solution here is to make estima...
What do people mean when they talk about the central bank providing “cheap money”? What are the implications for the stock market?
Newspapers write a lot about the central bank stopping "cheap money" in the US. What is that exactly and what are the implications for the stock market? An interest rate is simply defined as the price of money. So if money is cheap, it must mean there is a low interest rate compared to normal. If milk is cheap, we're...
Gauge the strength of the resistance level of a stock just using EMA
Firstly, you mean resistance not support, as a support is below the current price and resistance is above the price. Secondly using a MA as support or resistance would mean that that support or resistance level would move up or down as the price moved up or down and would not be static at $25. Generally stocks will ran...
Apartment lease renewal - is this rate increase normal?
There could be a number of reasons for a rent increase. The only information I can offer is how I calculate what rent I will charge. The minimum I would ever charge per unit (Mortgage payment + Water) / Number of units This number is the minimum because it's what I need to keep afloat. Keep in mind these are ballpark ...
Online Foreign Exchange Brokerages: Which ones are good & reputable for smaller trades?
I used XE trade once several years ago. I found them quite easy to use after the slightly fiddly account setup process (needed for security/anti-money laundering I think). I trusted them because I'd been using their online FX rates for a long time. I can't really comment on the specific questions you ask though as this...
What can I do when the trading price of a stock or ETF I want to buy is too high?
For equities, buy direct from the transfer agent. You have to buy one full share at a minimum but after that dividend reinvestment is free. There are others like share builder and foliofn that let you buy fractional shares. As the other poster said their roster is limited so you cannot buy every ETF out there. With y...
New to options trading and need help understanding an options spread risk graph. What am I missing?
You haven't said why you think you will gain at $41, but the graph never lies. Take it one piece at a time: At $41, your stock will lose a big chunk of value. Your short calls will expire. Your puts will gain a bit of value. The stock's loss outweighs the option gains.
Principal 401(k) managed fund fees, wow. What can I do?
The expense fees are high, and unfortunate. I would stop short of calling it criminal, however. What you are paying for with your expenses is the management of the holdings in the fund. The managers of the fund are actively, continuously watching the performance of the holdings, buying and selling inside the fund in a...
What is a bond fund?
A mutual fund that purchases bonds is a bond fund. Bond funds are considered to be less risk than a traditional stock mutual fund. The cost of this less risk is that they have earned (on average) less than mutual funds investing in stocks. Sometimes, bonds have different tax consequences than stocks.
Computer vendor not honoring warranty. What's the next step?
The issue yo have to consider is that under many state laws, you must give a merchant three opportunities to correct an issue before you can sue them, so check with your state before considering that option. Here's a link to the Federal Trade Commission's warranty information page, which may give you some ideas about w...
To rebalance or not to rebalance
In theory, investing is not gambling because the expected outcome is not random; people are expecting positive returns, on average, with some relationship to risk undertaken and economic reality. (More risk = more returns.) Historically this is true on average, that assets have positive returns, and riskier assets have...
Hedging your personal assets
No. Such companies don't exist. Derivative instruments have evolved over a period and there is a market place, stock exchange with members / broker with obligations etc clearly laid out and enforceable. If I understand correctly say the house is at 300 K. You would like a option to sell it to someone for 300 K after 6 ...
Is it ever a good idea to close credit cards?
You mentioned you have a bunch of credit cards with no balance, while others have fairly high balances I would not recommend you to close the 0 balance credit cards if they have lower APR. You can transfer the balance to those cards with lower APR. Now, if those 0 balance cards do not have lower APR, closing them will ...
Can an unmarried couple buy a home together with only one person on the mortgage?
It depends on the bank - In some cases(mine included :) ) the bank allowed for this but Emma had to sign on a document waiving the rights for the house in case the bank needs to liquidate assets in to recover their mortgage in case of delays or non-payment of dues in time. This had to be signed after taking independent...
Is a 10 year old uncashed paycheck still good?
You probably can't deposit the check directly, but there are mechanisms in place to get your money through other means. In the US, all states and territories have an unclaimed property registry. Before you contact the company that wrote the check, you should check that registry in your state. You will have to provide p...
Why is it good to borrow money to buy a house?
You can explore the scenarios in which it is better to rent or to buy using this application: http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/BuyOrRentInvestmentReturnCalculator/ In the possibly unlikely scenario shown below, at the term of the mortgage (20 years) the tenant and the buyer have practically the same return on investme...
What percent of my salary should I save?
Its been years since I lived there, but I found Seattle to be pretty expensive. Housing costs seem out of line with expected salaries. Coming from Puerto Rico you might be shocked how expensive it is to live there, and also how infrequently you see the sun. Your question is highly subjective. One person would need 1...
Are tax deductions voluntary?
There are many people who have deductions far above the standard deduction, but still don't itemize. That's their option even though it comes at a cost. It may be foolish, but it's not illegal. If @littleadv citation is correct, the 'under penalty of perjury' type issue, what of those filers who file a Schedule A but ...
15 year mortgage vs 30 year paid off in 15
Consider the "opportunity cost" of the extra repayment on a 15 year loan. If you owe money at 30% p.a. and money at 4% p.a. then it is a no brainer that the 30% loan gets paid down first. Consider too that if the mortgage is not tax deductable and you pay income tax, that you do not pay tax on money you "save". (i.e. ...
Can I pay taxes using bill pay from my on-line checking account?
And if you need to pay business taxes outside of the regular US 1040 form, you can use the IRS' Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). Basically, you enroll your bank accounts, and you can make estimated, penalty, etc. payments. The site can be found here.
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...
Should an IRA be disclaimed to allow it to be distributed according to a will?
She is very wrong. If the IRA is a traditional, i.e. A pretax IRA (not a Roth), all withdrawals are subject to tax at one's marginal rate. Read that to mean that a large sum can easily push her into higher brackets than normal. If it stayed with her, she'd take smaller withdrawals and be able to throttle her tax impac...
Where can I find all public companies' information?
MattMcA definitely gave you excellent advice and said a lot of what I would say to you. Most databases that are going to give you the most comprehensive information, but in a well formatted way, are going to require subscriptions or a fee. You should try to visit a library, especially one at a university, because they ...
Any specific examples of company valuations according to Value Investing philosophy?
I highly recommend http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/ Professor Damodaran. He's written some of the best valuation books in existence (my favorite, simply "Investment Valuation"). On his website you'll find a big pile of spreadsheets, that are models for working the various approaches to valuing a company. Also, he...
Is it a good idea to get an unsecured loan to pay off a credit card that won't lower a high rate?
Take the consolidation loan and pay it off. Don't close the card. Opening a new account will have no bearing on your mortgage a year or two down the road. Keep paying on time -- that will make a big difference! JohnFX's suggestion to open a new card and do a transfer is a great idea if you have good credit. Just read ...
Saving money in college while paying for college
I wouldn't recommend trying to chase a good return on this money. I'd just put it into a savings account of some sort. If you can get a better interest rate with an online account, then feel free to do that. I'd recommend using this money to pay for as much of college out of pocket as you can. The more student loan...
What does a contract's worth mean?
The amount stated is the total amount of money the customer will be paying to the company. How much profit that will translate into is dependent on the type of contract. Some types of contracts: Cost plus fixed fee: they are paid what it costs to complete the contract plus a fee on top of that. That fee represents the...
Deciding between Employee Stock Option and Restricted Stock
There's no best strategy. Options are just pieces of paper, and if the stock price goes below the strike price - they're worthless. Stocks are actual ownership share, whatever the price is - that's what they're worth. So unless you expect the company stock prices to sky-rocket soon, RSU will probably provide better val...
What is an effective way to invest in electric car industry?
You could have googled this question. I did so and found a link to this article. YMMV taking investment advice from thestreet.com is very likely to lose you money. However, there do not seem to be any sector funds that specifically focus on the electric vehicle market. Along similar, but not exactly the same lines, t...
Is there any chance for a layperson to gain from stock exchange? [duplicate]
No. As long as you are sensible, an average person can make money on the stock market. A number of my investments (in Investment trusts) over the last 10 yeas have achieved over 200%. You're not going to turn $1000 into a million but you can beat cash. I suggest reading the intelligent investor by Graham - he was War...
Buying a house for a shorter term
To answer your question, you need to ask yourself Common transaction costs can be really hard to compensate in a single year. It can include house inspections, closing costs, agents commissions, etc---all together, it can be up to 6-10% of the value of your house. This is a difficult goal to beat in a year, and your m...
Where can I find all public companies' information?
Edgar Online is the SEC's reporting repository where public companies post their forms, these forms contain financial data Stock screeners allow you to compare many companies based on many financial metrics. Many sites have them, Google Finance has one with a decent amount of utility
Why do stocks tend to trade at high volumes at the end of (or start) the trading day?
Trading volumes are higher at the end of the day as many traders close their open positions. In the morning however, traders incorporate various factors like performance of worldwide markets overnight, any corporate or government announcements, global macro events, etc.
Investing tax (savings)
You'd want the money to be "liquid" and ready for you to use when tax time comes around. You also don't want to lose "principal", i.e. if you put it into stocks and have the value of what you put in be less than what you invested—which is possible—when you need the money, again, at tax time. That doesn't leave you with...
Why having large capital is advantageous to trading
You wouldn't want to trade with too small amount of capital - it becomes harder and more expensive to diversify with a small account. Also, the bigger the account the more discounts and special may be offered by your broker (especially if you are a frequent trader). You are also able to trade more often, and have a bu...
What options do I have at 26 years old, with 1.2 million USD?
I agree with Grade 'Eh' Bacon's answer, but there are a couple of ideas that are relevant to your particular situation: If I were you, I would invest at least half of the cash in growth ETFs because you're young enough that market variability doesn't affect you and long term growth is important. The rest should be inve...
Optimal Asset Allocation
When you have multiple assets available and a risk-free asset (cash or borrowing) you will always end up blending them if you have a reasonable objective function. However, you seem to have constrained yourself to 100% investment. Combine that with the fact that you are considering only two assets and you can easily ...
Is it possible for the average person to profit on the stock market?
There's a huge difference between "can an anverage person make a profit on the stock market" and "can an average person get rich off the stock market". It is certainly possible for an average person to profit, but of course you are unlikely to profit as much as the big Wall Street guys. An S&P 500 index fund, for inst...
What to do with $50,000?
Considered a down payment on a house? Some illiquid assets? Otherwise you are doing 'responsible' get rich slow (read: get rich old) type things. And this question only invites opinion based answer. You tried futures and don't want to take that kind of risk again with your $50,000, so thats that
Are there any other considerations for bonus sacrifice into Pension (UK)
The pension is indeed the clear winner and you haven't missed anything. It's easiest to just compare everything in current numbers as you've done and ignore investment opportunities. Given you expect to pay off your student loan in full, you should consider the repayment as a benefit for you too, so the balance is betw...
Where should I park my rainy-day / emergency fund?
Something with an FDIC guarentee, so a bank. With an emergency fund, I think the 'return of capital' is more important than the 'return on the capital', so I'm fine with putting it in a standard savings account in a local bank(not an internet account) even if it pays next to nothing. The beauty is that since the bank i...
Why can't a US state default, but a EU state can?
US or EU states are sovereigns which cannot go bankrupt. US states have defaulted in the 1840's, but in most of those cases creditors were eventually repaid in full. (I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that Indiana was an exception with regard to costs incurred building a canal system) The best modern example of a true n...
Analysis of Valuation-Informed Indexing?
This is Rob Bennett, the fellow who developed the Valuation-Informed Indexing strategy and the fellow who is discussed in the comment above. The facts stated in that comment are accurate -- I went to a zero stock allocation in the Summer of 1996 because of my belief in Robert Shiller's research showing that valuations ...
Why divide by ask rate to get the spread?
Mathematically it's arbitrary - you could just as easily use the bid or the midpoint as the denominator, so long as you're consistent when comparing securities. So there's not a fundamental reason to use the ask. The best argument I can come up with is that most analysis is done from the buy side, so looking at liqui...
Sales Tax Licence/Permit - When is it required and how can I make a use of it as a non-US resident selling in USA?
Sales tax permits come from the state in which your business is operating. You need a business license first for them to issue you one. US sales taxes are collected by the business and remitted to the government, you need the permit in order to do this. A bigger question is whether it's legal for you to engage in busi...
Selling on eBay without PayPal?
Dwolla looks to be a great option. But it requires users to have an account there (Free to sign up). And there rates are absolutely amazing. Free for transactions under $10 $0.25 to receive money on transactions over $10
Shared groceries expenses between roommates to be divided as per specific consumption ratio and attendance
When I was in grad school (at an engineering school) my apartment-mates and I came up with this formula: Worked marvelously.
When trading put options, is your total risk decreased if you are in a position to exercise the option?
In absolute terms the risk is about the same. If you own the stock and your put option goes in the money, then you have the option to get rid of your stock at yesterday's higher price. If you don't, you can sell the option for a higher price than you paid for it. But, as you calculated yourself, the net gain or loss ...
Is it wise for an independent contractor to avoid corporation tax by planning to only break even each year?
IANAL (and nor am I an accountant), so I can't give a definitive answer as to legality, but AFAIK, what you propose is legal. But what's the benefit? Avoiding corporation tax? It's simplistic – and costly – to think in terms like that. You need to run the numbers for different scenarios, and make a plan. You can end...
Anticipating being offered stock options in a privately held company upon employment. What questions should I ask?
Good questions. I can only add that it may be valuable if the company is bought, they may buy the options. Happened to me in previous company.
Transfer $70k from Wells Fargo (US) to my other account at a Credit Union bank
Yes, you can do this. I do this for my own single-member LLC, but I usually do it online instead of writing a check. Your only legal obligation is to pay quarterly estimated tax payments to the IRS. I'm assuming you are not otherwise doing anything shady. For example, that you have funds in your business account to pa...
Should I scale down my 401k?
the whole room basically jumped on me I really have an issue with this. Someone providing advice should offer data, and guidance. Not bully you or attack you. You offer 3 choices. And I see intelligent answers advising you against #1. But I don't believe these are the only choices. My 401(k) has an S&P fund, a short t...
How to spend more? (AKA, how to avoid being a miser)
Ultimately, money derives its value from being spend on a good or service. Investing it is an act of denying your present-self a good or service so that your future-self can obtain (hopefully more) goods or services. Investing is a sensible and responsible default position, but you clearly have passed the point at whic...
What's the justification for the DJIA being share-price weighted?
The share-price weighting of the DJIA is a historical artifact. The DJIA remains share-price weighted today because that's the way it has always been done, and we're talking about an index with more than a hundred years' history. The DJIA was first calculated on May 26, 1896. Perhaps, back then, price-weighting was t...
If I put in a limit order for the same price and size as someone else, which order goes through?
While littleadv's answer is true for many exchanges (in particular the stock market, it's called FIFO matching) you should also know that some markets trade pro rata. That is, for a match at some price level everyone at that level gets a chunk of the deal proportional to their input (i.e. order size). E.g. match for q...
Advice for college student: Should I hire a financial adviser or just invest in index funds?
Exactly what you do with the money depends on various personal choices you'll have to make for yourself. Investing your money in Vanguard index funds such as the ones you mentioned is certainly one smart move. However, I think you're quite right to be suspicious of an advisor with a 1% fee. In many cases, such advis...
How much time does a doctor's office have to collect balance from me?
They have forever to collect a balance from you. Furthermore they can add whatever penalties and fees they wish to increase that balance. Worst of all, they don't have to remind you or send you bills or any other notification. You owed it when you left the office. (There very well could be local laws that require n...
“Convertible -debt/note/bond/debentures” which of these are the same or different?
They all basically mean the same thing - a type of debt than can be exchanged for (converted into) equity at some point. It's only the mechanics that can be different. A convertible bond is structured just like a regular bond - it (usually) pays periodic interest and has a face value that's due at maturity. The differe...
Why doesn't change in accounts receivable on balance sheet match cash flow statement?
I'm not an expert, but here is my best hypothesis. On Microsoft's (and most other company's) cash flow statements, they use the so-called "indirect method" of accounting for cash flow from operations. How that works, is they start with net income at the top, and then adjust it with line items for the various non-cash a...
Meaning of capital market
1) Are the definitions for capital market from the two sources the same? Yes. They are from two different perspectives. Investopedia is looking at it primarily from the perspective of a trader and they lead-off with the secondary market. This refers to the secondary market: A market in which individuals and instituti...
Does financing a portfolio on margin affect the variance of a portfolio?
Financing a portfolio with debt (on margin) leads to higher variance. That's the WHOLE POINT. Let's say it's 50-50. On the downside, with 100% equity, you can never lose more than your whole equity. But if you have assets of 100, of which 50% is equity and 50% is debt, your losses can be greater than 50%, which is to ...
What is the future of 401(k) in terms of stability and reliability?
My guess is that the point is that yields on bonds and cash equivalents is so low that inflation will cause the inflation-adjusted returns to be negative. There is something to be said for how much inflation can eat out of investment returns. At the same time, I would note the occupation of the person making that post ...
How can I transfer and consolidate my 401k's and other options?
You should ask your broker of choice for paperwork to move funds to them. You can't move into an account that doesn't exist, so when I wanted to move my money from an old pension plan to an IRA I set up the IRA with the broker first. When I told them it was to receive this money, they weren't asking for any initial dep...
Taxes due for hobbyist Group Buy
From the poster's description of this activity, it doesn't look like he is engaged in a business, so Schedule C would not be appropriate. The first paragraph of the IRS Instructions for Schedule C is as follows: Use Schedule C (Form 1040) to report income or loss from a business you operated or a profession you pract...
What is a “fiat” currency? Are there other types of currency?
In short. A fiat currency is money that has value only because (usually) a government says it does. A counter example (non-fiat currency) is a gold coin that has intrinsic value usually because it is made of valuable materials that people would trade goods/services. That is the value comes from what you are holding mo...
JCI headache part 1: How to calculate cost basis / tax consequences of JCI -> TYC merger?
I finally found it! Johnson Controls International PLC FORM 8-K/A (Amended Current report filing) Filed 10/03/16 for the Period Ending 09/02/16 from http://investors.johnsoncontrols.com/financial-information/johnson-sec-filings, says on page II-6: (my emphasis for the relevant paragraph) On September 2, 2016, Johnson C...
Canada: New mortgage qualification rules, 2010: Why, what, & when in effect?
The new mortgage qualification rules were introduced to cool a hot Canadian housing real estate market. The rules are a pre-emptive measure intended to avoid a bubble (and later crash) in real estate. The government wants to make sure anybody buying a house can handle higher interest rates. Those rates, currently at re...
How will I pay for college?
There are some useful comments about the tradeoffs of the decisions in front of you. Intertwined with the financial choices, hopefully you can see a map opening up. Make a little chart if it helps. Benefit and Cost. If you're looking for financial options, you will have to also add more columns to that chart: Opt...
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...
Can you sell a security through a different broker from which it was purchased?
Many brokers allow you to transfer shares to another broker without selling them. It depends on what kind of account and who the broker is for what forms you might have to fill out and what other hoops you might have to jump through.
Buying my first car out of college
I know I came a little late to this discussion but let me give you my opinion. I think that purchasing the BMW is a terrible investment for obvious reasons. Once you drive the car off the dealer's lot the car loses anywhere from 5-10k in value immediately. Its a terrible investment and something that you will regret in...
How May Cash be Spent Approaching Bankruptcy?
Bankruptcy law is complex. You need a lawyer who can advise you both on the statute and relevant case law for the district where you file. Your lawyer can advise you whether actions you contemplate are allowed. You can obtain advice prior to filing as you seek to determine whether the law and the relief it offers are ...
Why would you ever turn down a raise in salary?
There is currently a bill in Washington that will change the limit for salaried employees receiving overtime pay. It will be raised to $50400. I work 4 hours of overtime each week, which if the bill is passed, equates to an additional $7800 annually. If my company raises my salary to just above the limit then they woul...
What is the minimum lot size (number of shares) for the London Stock Exchange?
Good question! It seems to me that there is no minimum order size for shares trading on the LSE. Please note, I couldn't find an definite answer, but: According to the "International Order Book" document (see: http://www.londonstockexchange.com/traders-and-brokers/rules-regulations/change-and-updates/stock-exchange-not...
I carelessly invested in a stock on a spike near the peak price. How can I salvage my investment?
Stocks go down and go back up, that's their nature... Why would you sell on a low point? Stocks are a long term investment. If the company is still healthy, it's very likely you'll be able to sell them with a profit if you wait long enough.
Non Qualifying Stock Option offered by employer
A little terminology: Grant: you get a "gift" with strings attached. "Grant" refers to the plan (legal contract) under which you get the stock options. Vesting: these are the strings attached to the grant. As long as you're employed by the company, your options will vest every quarter, proportionally. You'll become an ...
How does a online only bank protect itself against fraud?
I don't see why an online-only bank would need to do anything more against fraud than a bank that also has brick-and-mortars. In the contrary, they would need less (physical) security, as they don't have to protect cash, lock boxes, and other physical assets. All banks nowadays have an online business, so they all have...
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...
What is the future of 401(k) in terms of stability and reliability?
Let's pretend that the author of that article is not selling anything and is trying to help you succeed in life. I have nothing against sales, but that author is throwing out a lot of nonsense to sell his stuff and is creating a state of urgency so that people adopt this mindset. It's clever and it obviously works. F...
How to finance necessary repairs to our home in order to sell it?
A typical HELOC will have about $300 in fees to open it. From there, it's up to you how much or how long to use it. I'd shop around to find the bank that offers the right product for you.
Why do employer contributions count against HSA limits?
am I comparing apples and oranges? Yes - different purposes, different laws, different regulations. One rationale could be that HSA benefits are immediate while retirement benefits are deferred, so the benefit of employer contributions are not felt until retirement and thus do not need as stringent a limit, but that's...
Stock market vs. baseball card trading analogy
Baseball cards don't pay dividends. But many profitable companies do just that, and those that don't could, some day. Profits & dividends is where your analogy falls apart. But let's take it further. Consider: If baseball cards could somehow yield a regular stream of income just for owning them, then there might be y...
Is it better to miss the dividend and buy the undervalued stock?
As yet another explanation of why it does not really matter, you can look at this from the valuation point of view. Stock price is the present value of its future cash flows (be it free cash flow of the firm or dividends, depending on the model). Let's have a look at the dividends case. Imagine, the price of the stock ...
How to determine how much to charge your business for rent (in your house)?
Your best approach is to assess rent levels in your local area for offices of a similar size. You need to take into account all the usuals - amenities, parking, etc, just as if your home-office was provided by a third-party. Get your $/sq ft and work out the monthly amount. With this figure, you need to then work out w...
How should I prepare for the next financial crisis?
Those ‘crises’ are only an issue if you need your savings during the time of crisis. If you have time to sit it out, you should just do that, and come out of the crisis with a gain. People that lose money during a crisis lose it because they sell their investments during the crisis, either because they had to or becaus...
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 does one value Facebook stock as a potential investment?
To know if a stock is undervalued is not something that can be easily assessed (else, everybody would know which stock is undervalued and everybody will buy it until it reaches its "true" value). But there are methods to assess the value of a company, I think that the 3 most known methods are: If the assets of the comp...
How will my stock purchase affect my taxes?
Purchasing stock doesn't affect your immediate taxes any more than purchasing anything else, unless you purchase it through a traditional 401k or some other pre-tax vehicle. Selling stock has tax effects; that's when you have a gain or loss to report.
What percent of my salary should I save?
I am pretty sure you could find a number of financial planners whom you could pay to give you a very accurate number, but the rule of thumb I like best is Save a dime of every dollar. 10% (Savings means save for retirement, not vacations.) Here is a nice article from radio personality Clark Howard with some adjustment...