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What options do I have at 26 years old, with 1.2 million USD?
When I was in a similar situation (due to my stocks going up), I quit my job and decided that if I live somewhat frugally, I wouldn't have to work again (I haven't). But I fell victim to some scams, didn't invest wisely, and tried to play as a (minor) philantropist. Bad move. I still have enough money to live on, an...
What are pros and cons of UK Building Societies compared to banks?
they may be willing to issue mortgages with smaller deposits, but may take longer to make a decision That cannot be farther from the truth. If you are getting a mortgage on a smaller deposit, you will be paying a higher interest rate. Time to take a decision depends very much on your credit situation, earnings, spendin...
Where to Park Proceeds from House Sale for 2-5 Years?
As soon as you specify FDIC you immediately eliminate what most people would call investing. The word you use in the title "Parking" is really appropriate. You want to preserve the value. Therefore bank or credit union deposits into either a high yield account or a Certificate of Deposit are the way to go. Because you ...
Can saving/investing 15% of your income starting age 25, likely make you a millionaire?
Millionaire, Shmillionaire! Let's do this calculation Bruno Mars style (I wanna be a Billionaire...) If my calculations are correct, in the above scenario, at age 80, you would have more than a billion in the bank, after taxes.
Why are American Express cards are not as popular as Visa or MasterCard?
I have a merchant account and accept Visa, Mastercard, and Discover but not AMEX. I don't take AMEX because they want me to go through another approval process (on top of what was required to get merchant status) and their fees are a percent or two higher than the other cards. This doesn't sound like a lot - but for a ...
When buying a call option, is the financial stability of the option writer relevant?
In the case of regulated, exchange-traded options, the writer of an options contract is obliged to maintain a margin with their broker, and the broker is obliged to maintain a margin with the clearing house. (Institutional writers of options will deal directly with the clearing house.) In the event that the writer is ...
Should I pay off my mortgage, begin retirement savings, or build my emergency fund?
Welcome to Money.SE. I will say upfront, Personal Finance is just that, personal, and you are likely to get multiple, perhaps conflicting, answers. Are you sure the PMI will drop off after 2 years? The rules are specific, and for PMI, when prepayments put you at that 78/80% LTV, your bank can require an appraisal, not ...
Why do consultants or contractors make more money than employees?
There are a couple of reasons, including:
What should I be aware of as a young investor?
You are your own worst enemy when it comes to investing. You might think that you can handle a lot of risk but when the market plummets you don't know exactly how you'll react. Many people panic and sell at the worst possible time, and that kills their returns. Will that be you? It's impossible to tell until it happens...
Pay Yourself With Credit Card Make Money With Cash Back [duplicate]
The idea is old as dirt, and some millions of people had it before you. Credit card swipes cost you between 2.4 and 4.5%, depending on the cards, the provider, and the amounts, plus potentially a fixed small amount per swipe. Of course, a 2% cash back card cost more than 2% to swipe; and a 3% cash back card cost more t...
Do I need another health insurance policy?
Most of the points by MrChrister are valid. I can't say much for Philippines, however there is a reason for one to go with individual insurance from my experience in India.
Questrade - What happens if I buy U.S. stock with Canadian money?
The reason it's not automatic is that Questrade doesn't want to force you to convert in margin accounts at the time of buying the stock. What if you bought a US stock today and the exchange rate happened to be very unfavorable (due to whatever), wouldn't you rather wait a few days to exchange the funds rather than lose...
Single investment across multiple accounts… good, bad, indifferent?
The other issue you could run into is that each deferred account is going to be subject to its own RMD's (Required Minimum Distributions) when you've retired or hit 70.5 years of age. Roth's don't generally care about RMD's at first, but are still subject to them once the person that created the Roth has passed. Havi...
Why is Google's current nasdaq market cap almost twice the current share price * the No. of shares outstanding?
For each class A share (GOOGL) there's a class C share (GOOG), hence the missing half in your calculation. The almost comes from the slightly higher market price of the class A shares (due to them having voting powers) over class C (which have no voting powers). There's also class B share which is owned by the founders...
Do performers pay taxes on comped meals and hotels?
My number one piece of advice is to see a tax professional who can guide you through the process, especially if you're new to the process. Second, keep detailed records. That being said, I found two articles, [1] and [2] that give some relevant details that you might find helpful. The articles state that: Many artists ...
Paypal website donations without being a charity
Yes, Paypal has such a button you can use, but to be clear, the money you receive is taxable income. Your website is providing 'value' to the readers, and while they may feel they are making a gift to you, it's earned income as far as the IRS is concerned. (This assumes you are in the US, you may wish to add a tag to ...
How do straddles that involve selling options protect against early assignment?
Yes, that's the risk. If the stock is bouncing around a lot your options could get assigned. If it heads south you now are the proud owner of more of a falling stock. It's good that you're looking to understand the risks of an investment method. That's important no matter what the method is.
What does “Net Depreciation in Fair Value” mean on a financial report?
First, the annual report is just that, a snapshot that shows value at the beginning and end of the period. Beginning = Aug 08 = $105B End = Aug 09 = $89B Newsletter date May 10 = $96B Odd they chose end of August as it's not even a calendar quarter end. The $16B was market loss during that period. Nearly half of...
Tax advantages of using 529 plans to save for child's education?
There are several variables to consider. Taxes, fees, returns. Taxes come in two stages. While adding money to the account you can save on state taxes, if the account is linked to your state. If you use an out of state 529 plan there is no tax savings. Keep in mind that other people (such as grandparents) can set aside...
Ticker symbols differences between Yahoo Finance and BestInvest
BestInvest is a UK site looking at that URL, base on the "co.uk" ending. Yahoo! Finance that you use is a US-based site unless you add something else to the URL. UK & Ireland Yahoo! Finance is different from where you were as there is something to be said for where are you looking. If I was looking for a quarter dollar...
Car dealer saying that they cannot see any credit information for my co-applicant. Could this be a scam?
By law, your wife can get her full Equifax credit report (sans-FICO score) instantly (once every 12 months) via https://www.annualcreditreport.com She can even get her FICO score with a 7-day free trial of Equifax Complete Premier.
Buying a small amount (e.g. $50) of stock via eToro “Social Trading Network” using a “CFD”?
Concerning the Broker: eToro is authorized and registered in Cyprus by the Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission (CySEC). Although they are regulated by Cyprus law, many malicious online brokers have opened shop there because they seem to get along with the law while they rip off customers. Maybe this has changed in th...
Why are some long term investors so concerned about their entry price?
I'm not sure who specifically you are talking about. Those are some pretty broad generalizations. Where do you draw the line about what is too much concern about entry price? On what basis do you make the assertion that they are overly concerned with it? For those that do: Probably because when you are buying anything,...
Should I sell my individual stocks and buy a mutual fund
This depends on a lot actually - with the overall being your goals and how much you like risk. Question: What are your fees/commissions for selling? $8.95/trade will wipe out some gains on those trades. (.69% if all are sold with $8.95 commission - not including the commission payed when purchased that should be fact...
What are the advantages/disadvantages of a self-directed IRA?
This type of account will sell you just enough rope to hang yourself. Gold is at $1400 or so. Were you around when it first hit $800 in '79/'80? I was. No one was saying "sell" only forecasts of $2000. If you bought and held, you've still not broken even to inflation let alone simple market returns.
Any difference between buying a few shares of expensive stock or a bunch of cheap stock
You are correct in thinking actual number of shares do not matter, the value is the value. However there are cases where share price does play a role. Berkshire Hathaway for example has not split because Warren Buffet believes it has cut down on the liquidity of the stock, as well as attracting investors with an eye...
Why does it take 3 days to do electronic transfers between banks? [duplicate]
When Laurence Olivier took the role of Douglas Macarthur in the Unification Church's filming of Inchon, he told the press, "People ask me why I'm playing in this picture. The answer is simple: Money, dear boy." Banking systems are typically decades old and subject to innumerable legal and technical restrictions. Moving...
Deduct Health Care Premiums for Family When Employer Only Pays for Me
You can deduct what you pay for your own and your family's health insurance regardless of whether it is subsidized by your employer or not, as well as all other medical and dental expenses for your family, as an itemized deduction on Schedule A of Form 1040, but only to the extent that the total exceeds 7.5% of your ...
At what interest rate should debt be used as a tool?
I've been taking all the cheap fixed-rate debt banks would like to give me lately. What Rate? In practice I find the only way I get a low-enough rate on a longish-term fixed-rate loan is to use collateral. That is, auto loans and home loans. I haven't seen any personal loans with a low enough fixed rate. (Student loans...
Is this Employee Stock Purchase Plan worth it when adding my student loan into the equation?
It's 5% free money, if you believe the company's stock is fairly valued and likely to grow and/or return reasonable dividends until you're ready to sell it. There's usually a minimum holding period of a few months to a year before these discounted shares can be sold; take that into account
Are capitalization rate and net profit margin the same thing?
Capitalization rate and "Net Profit margin" are two different things. In Capitalization rate note that we are taking the "total value" in the denominator and in Net profit margin we are taking "Revenue/Sales". Capitalization Rate: Capitalization Rate = Yearly Income/Total Value For example (from Investopedia: ) if Ste...
Borrowing money to buy shares for cashflow?
It's generally a bad idea to use low-risk credit (low-risk in sense you're practically guaranteed to be forced to pay it off) to buy high-risk shares. In optimistic scenario, the profit from shares would be higher than your credit percentages. In less optimistic scenario you come with nothing. In worse scenario you hav...
Selling RSUs that vested at different values
No, you're not missing anything. RSUs are pretty simple when it comes to taxes. They are taxed as compensation at fair market value when they vest, basically equivalent to the company giving you a cash bonus and then using it to buy company stock. The fair market value at vesting then becomes your cost basis. Assuming ...
Should I buy a house because Mortgage rates are low
Reasons for no: In your first sentence you say something interesting: rates low - prices high. Actually those 2 are reversely correlated, imagine if rates would be 5% higher-very few people could buy at current prices so prices would drop. Also you need to keep in mind the rate of inflation that was much higher durin...
Tenant wants to pay rent with EFT
It's safe. You give people those numbers every time you write a check. If a check is forged, and doesn't have your signature on it, the bank has to return the money to you; they get it back from the other bank, who takes whatever action it deems necessary against the forger. They've been doing this for a few hundred y...
How risky are penny stocks?
Consider firstly that they're penny stocks for a reason - the company just isn't worth much. Yes, it could take off but this happenstance is rarer than you think. Next, there is the problem of how you'd find out what the good stocks to invest in are. Here in the UK, reliable news about stocks outside the FTSE indexes (...
Where or how can I model historical market purchases
Robert Shiller has an on-line page with links to download some historical data that may be what you want here. Center for the Research in Security Prices would be my suggestion for another resource here.
How much more than my mortgage should I charge for rent?
I think the mortgage must not be in the equation at all in order to determine how much to charge. Of course you want to cover your mortgage but the renting price is determined only by how much the renter is willing to pay (offer and demand) and not your mortgage (some people don't even have a mortgage). In other words ...
Tax implications of diversification
If so, are there ways to reduce the amount of taxes owed? Given that it's currently December, I suppose I could sell half of what I want now, and the other half in January and it would split the tax burden over 2 years instead, but beyond that, are there any strategies for tax reduction in this scenario? One possibilit...
Finding a good small business CPA?
Consult your local Small Business Administration office - they may have resources that can help you find what you're looking for.
Does borrowing from my 401(k) make sense in my specific circumstance?
Since most of the answers are flawed in their logic, I decided to respond here. 1) "What if you lose your job, you can't pay back the loan" The point of the question was to reduce the amount paid per month. So obviously it would be easier to pay off the 401k loan rather than the 3 separate loans that are in place now. ...
Gold futures' margin
The initial margin is $5940 and maintenance margin $5400. A simple search of Comex Gold Margin gives the CME group site. You then need to specify CMX metals to see the margins. Gold is currently about $1300. A gold future is 100 oz. So the full contract is worth $130K. You want to 'go long' so you enter into a contra...
Why does Charles Schwab have a Mandatory Settlement Period after selling stocks?
That is the standard set by most securities exchanges: T+3 : trades complete three days after the bargain has been struck.
What kinds of information do financial workers typically check on a daily basis?
In addition to the information in the other answer, I would suggest looking at an economic calendar. These provide the dates and values of many economic announcements, e.g. existing home sales, durable orders, consumer confidence, etc. Yahoo, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal all provide such calendars. Yahoo prov...
How to mitigate the risk of Euro Stoxx 50 ETF?
While you would reduce risk by diversifying into other stock ETFs across the world, Developed Market returns (and Emerging Markets to a lesser extent) are generally highly correlated with another (correlation of ~0.85-0.90). This implies that they all go up in bull-markets and go down together in bear markets. You are ...
What happens to options after a stock split?
Since you asked about Apple, and I happen to have two positions - This is what happened. I was long the $500, short the $600, in effect, betting Apple would recover from its drop from $700 down to $450 or so. Friday, my target was to hope that Apple remain above $600, but not really caring how much it went over. Now,...
Is Amazon's offer of a $50 gift card a scam?
No. Amazon is a reputable company. Many stores have their own credit card. Additionally they have several cards available, through Visa and Discover. Neither would allow their name to be used knowing that a company was using it to scam people. And credit card companies are used to going after people with the full force...
How much life insurance do I need?
If I remember the information in "The Wealthy Barber" correctly, he said: And as someone once said to me, "make sure you're worth more alive than dead!" :-)
When people say 'Interest rates are at all time low!" … Which interest rate are they actually referring to?
I would say people are generally talking about the prime lending rate. I have heard the prime lending rate defined as "The rate that banks charge each other when they borrow money overnight." But it often defined as the rate at which banks lend their most creditworthy customers. That definition comes with the caveat th...
Get interest on $100K by spending only $2K using FOREX rollovers?
Now, is there any clever way to combine FOREX transactions so that you receive the US interest on $100K instead of the $2K you deposited as margin? Yes, absolutely. But think about it -- why would the interest rates be different? Imagine you're making two loans, one for 10,000 USD and one for 10,000 CHF, and you're go...
Does an individual share of a stock have some kind of unique identifier?
Nope, think what a nightmare that would be, a bunch of shares would be issued and then sold to tonnes of people, who might sell various partial numbers of them to others, who might buy them and others from 20 others all as part of one order though multiple fills... It would be nuts, and if one were to issue a certifica...
How do ETF fees get applied?
The ETF price quoted on the stock exchange is in principle not referenced to NAV. The fund administrator will calculate and publish the NAV net of all fees, but the ETF price you see is determined by the market just like for any other security. Having said that, the market will not normally deviate greatly from the NA...
How do I add my income to my personal finance balance?
Create an account called, say, "Paycheck". When you get paid, create an entry with your gross income as a deposit. For each deduction in your paycheck, create a minus (or expense) entry. After doing that, what will be left in the Paycheck account will be your net income. Simply transfer this amount to the real acco...
Do I need to report to FInCEN if I had greater than $10,000 worth of bitcoin in a foreign bitcoin exchange?
Firstly you have to know exactly what you are asking here. What you have if you "own" bitcoins is a private key that allows you to make a change to the blockchain that can assign a piece of information from yourself to the next person. Nothing more nothing less. The fact that this small piece of information is consid...
When filing taxes in Canada, in what cases does box 39 on the T4 get reported as half of box 38?
Apparently box 39 does not receive half of box 38 if "The price of the share or unit is less than its fair market value when the agreement was made." - the last point in paragraph 110(1)(d): *http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tpcs/pyrll/bnfts/fnncl/scrty/stckpt03-eng.html#dspst The employee can claim a deduction under ...
Foolish to place orders before the market opens?
Depending on your strategy, it could be though there is also something to be said for what kind of order are you placing: Market, limit or otherwise? Something else to consider is whether or not there is some major news that could cause the stock/ETF to gap at the open. For example, if a company announces strong earni...
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...
Supply & Demand - How Price Changes, Buy Orders vs Sell Orders [duplicate]
For every buyer there is a seller. That rule refers to actual (historical) trades. It doesn't apply to "wannabees." Suppose there are buyers for 2,000 shares and sellers for only 1,000 at a given price, P. Some of those buyers will raise their "bid" (the indication of the price they are willing to pay) above P so that ...
May 6, 2010 stock market decline/plunge: Why did it drop 9% in a few minutes?
No one is quite sure what happened (yet). Speculation includes: The interesting thing is that Procter & Gamble stock got hammered, as did Accenture. Both of which are fairly stable companies, that didn't make any major announcements, and aren't really connected to the current financial instability in Greece. So, the...
Will a credit card issuer cancel an account if it never incurs interest?
I've got a card that I've had for about 25 years now. The only time they charged me interest I showed it was their goof (the automatic payment failed because of their mistake) and they haven't cancelled it. No annual fee, a bit of cash back. The only cards I've ever had an issuer close are ones I didn't use.
How to search efficiently for financial institutions, credit cards, etc (At least in Canada)?
Searching for Banks or Credit Unions based on their high interest accounts is likely to be a giant waste of your time. The highest you might find is 1.5% not clearing inflation. For anything less than 100k youre better off putting it in a money market fund until you know what you want to do with it, which you can find ...
Do I need to file taxes when selling on eBay or Amazon?
In simple terms, it is a business operation when it becomes a profit-making enterprise. It is a grey area, but there is a difference between selling occasional personal items on eBay and selling for profit. I would imagine the sort of considerations HM Revenue & Customs would take into account are the size of you...
How to avoid maintenance fee when balance drops below minimum?
Looks like you have three options: Outside of this you might need to look for a different type of account. Hope that helps.
What expenses do most people not prepare for that turn into “emergencies” but are not covered by an Emergency Fund?
The most obvious one these days is unexpected and extended unemployment. If you are living paycheck to paycheck, you are asking for trouble in this economy.
I'm 23 and was given $50k. What should I do?
I would advise against "wasting" this rare opportunity on mundane things, like by paying off debts or buying toys - You can always pay those from your wages. Plus, you'll inevitably accumulate new debts over time, so debt repayment is an ongoing concern. This large pile of cash allows you to do things you can't ordinar...
Buy or sell futures contracts
In general there are two types of futures contract, a put and call. Both contract types have both common sides of a transaction, a buyer and a seller. You can sell a put contract, or sell a call contract also; you're just taking the other side of the agreement. If you're selling it would commonly be called a "sell t...
Stocks: Where can I find a list of bankrupt/diluting stocks in the US?
The only recommendation I have is to try the stock screener from Google Finance : https://www.google.com/finance?ei=oJz9VenXD8OxmAHR263YBg#stockscreener
What are the marks of poor investment advice?
Bad signs:
Can I buy a new house before selling my current house?
I sold my house and had been in the market looking for a replacement house for over 6 months after I sold it. I found someone willing to give me a short term, 3 month lease, with a month to month after that, at an equitable rate, as renters were scarcer than buyers.By the time I found a house, there were bidding wars a...
Is Cost of Living overstated?
You mention: High rent places are usually also high property value places. Given the tax incentives, it seems like a good long term idea to grab a house, so if we assume you have the option of working and buying a house in a high CoL or a low CoL city, I think you'd prefer the high cost. Because essential...
What's are the differences between “defined contribution” and “defined benefit” pension plans?
Defined Benefit Plans: Defined benefit plans are disappearing because of their high cost to the companies that provide them. When an employee retires, the company must pay his pension for the rest of his life, even longer if the pension includes a survivor option. Thus the company's financial burden grows as more emp...
Can I prove having savings without giving out the account number?
Ask your bank to write a letter asserting that you have $xxxxx on deposit with them, on their letterhead? Though realistically, the chance of your getting hit with identity theft In this situation, when you presumably know exactly who you're dealing with, are vanishingly small.
Resources on how to be a short term trader?
I commend you for your desire to be a smart and engaged investor. Regarding the other comments, yes the market is unpredictable and dangerous, but such is everything that leads to profit. I am currently reading, "Advanced Options Pricing Models" (Katz and McCormick) - mighy be at your local library. The book is helpfu...
How to interpret a big ask size?
Yes, but it must be remembered that these conditions only last for instants, and that's why only HFTs can take advantage of this. During 2/28/14's selloff from the invasion of Ukraine, many times, there were moments where there was overwhelming liquidity on the bid relative to the ask, but the price continued to drop.
What if I sell an stock that is going to give an stock dividend after the ex-date but before the payable date
I know that in the case of cash dividends I will get the dividend as long as I bought the stock before the ex-date but what happens in the case of an stock dividend? This is same as cash dividends. You would receive the additional stock.
Where can I find a definition of psychological barriers with respect to marketable securities?
GuruFocus has an excellent summary of psychological barriers in the markets: http://www.gurufocus.com/news.php?id=88451
Why would a central bank or country not want their currency to appreciate against other currencies?
I wrote about the dynamic of why either of a lower or higher exchange rate would be good for economies in Would dropping the value of its currency be good for an economy? A strong currency allows consumers to import goods cheaply from the rest of the world. A weak currency allows producers to export goods cheapl...
What to know before purchasing Individual Bonds?
A few points that I would note: Call options - Could the bond be called away by the issuer? This is something to note as some bonds may end up not being as good as one thought because of this option that gets used. Tax considerations - Are you going for corporate, Treasury, or municipals? Different ones may have differ...
What is the role of a manager in a passively managed index fund?
There is trading, and while it can be automated, someone has to define the rules for the automated system. Why not call that person the manager?
I'm only spending roughly half of what I earn; should I spend more?
I use to think there was something wrong with me because I always hated spending money. This hatred of spending resulted in me always saving quite a bit of my income. Since I don't enjoy spending it, why am I making and saving it (besides for an emergency fund)? I've come to the realization that I enjoy my free time ...
High dividend stocks
Future tax increases on dividends are likely. The Wall Street Journal says. "The millions of Americans who receive dividend income ... need to begin adjusting their investment strategy accordingly." (ref) "Last week the Senate Budget Committee passed a fiscal 2011 budget resolution that includes an increase in the ...
Are banks really making less profit when interest rates are low?
profit has nothing to do with the level of interest rates. Is this correct? In theory, yes. The difference that you're getting at is called net interest margin. As long as this stays constant, so does the bank's profit. According to this article: As long as the interest rate charged on loans doesn't decline faster than...
Cannot get a mortgage because I work through a recruiter
They are looking at your work history to see that you have maintained a similar level of income for a period of time, and that you have a reasonable expectation to continue that for the foreseeable future. They are looking to make a commitment for 15-30 years. They see the short term contract, and have no confidence in...
How to motivate young people to save money
In the United States you can't, because the average millennial in the United States has no opportunity to save money. Either you get a college education, then you will be burdened with a student loan. The cost of college education skyrocketed in the past decades. It is now practically impossible to enter the workforce ...
The U.S. National Debt: What is it, where did it come from, and how does it work?
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Stock Option Value correlated to net worth of company
I'm guessing you're talking about options given to employees. The company can issue stock options at whatever strike price it wants. The difference between the strike price and the actual market value is considered income to the employee. You can get the options at $0 strike just as well (although companies generally j...
IS it the wrong time to get into the equity market immediately after large gains?
If your gut told you to buy during the depths of '09, your gut might be well-calibrated. The problem is stock market declines during recessions are frequently not that large relative to the average long run return of 9%: A better strategy might be hold a percentage in equities based upon a probability distribution of ...
Can my employer limit my maximum 401k contribution amount (below the IRS limit)?
On thing the questioner should do is review the Summary Plan Description (SPD) for the 401(k) plan. This MAY have details on any plan imposed limits on salary deferrals. If the SPD does not have sufficient detail, the questioner should request a complete copy of current plan document and then review this with someone...
In the USA, does the income tax rate on my wages increase with the amount of money in my bank account?
besides accrued interest But that's important. one has $40,000 in their account and the other $9,000. Does one now pay higher income tax because he has more in his account or does he pay the same because he makes the same? If they are interest bearing accounts, then yes the guy with the $40K balance will pay a little m...
Is the Net Profit the 'final word' on a company's health?
To answer your question briefly: net income is affected by many things inside and outside of management control, and must be supplemented by other elements to gain a clear picture of a company's health. To answer your question in-depth, we must look at the history of financial reporting: Initially, accounting was prima...
Why are the banks and their customers in the United States still using checks? [duplicate]
Check use is declining here too, but it still has some practical advantages over electronic means:
200K 10-Year Investment Safest 5% Annual Return?
Invest in a high quality dividend paying group of stocks. Look up "stock aristocrats" to find longterm quality stocks that have regularly increased their dividends for over 20'years. 10'years is a safe period of time to invest in stocks. If you had bought stocks at their hight in 2007 and kept them through the 40% d...
Value investing
The June 2014 issue of Barclays Wealth's Compass magazine had a very nice succinct article on this topic: "Value investing – does a rules-based approach work?". It examines the performance of value and growth styles of investment in the MSCI World and S&P500 arenas for a few decades back, and reveals a surprisingly co...
Are you preparing for a possible dollar (USD) collapse? (How?)
Invest in other currencies and assets that have "real" value. And personally I don't count gold as something of real value. Of course its used in the industry but besides that its a pretty useless metal and only worth something because everybody else thinks that everybody thinks its worth something. So I would buy land...
Would open source credit score formulas be feasible?
Has this already occurred, if not: why? What are the road blocks? I think it's just that the barriers to entry are rather high. Lenders would potentially be interested in a new score if it demonstrably saved them money (by more effectively weeding out risky borrowers), but because the FICO score already exists and the...
Who can truly afford luxury cars?
I don't think you're missing anything on the math side as far as the payments. Likewise, it may seem everyone's driving a nicer car, but I'm going to predict that's based on area and a few other factors (for instance, my used car feels like riches in a college town). The behavior of why people would pay money, especi...
Money Saved on finance charges
Avoiding a cost (interest) isn't quite the same as income. There is no entry, nothing for you to consider for this avoided interest. What you do have is an expense that's no longer there, and you can decide to use that money elsewhere each month.
Take advantage of rock bottom oil prices
As others have alluded to but haven't said due to the lack of reputation points to spare, you can take advantage of oil prices by leveraging up and using as much credit and margin as the banks and brokerages (respectively) will lend you. People assume that the correct answer on this forum has to masquerade as conservat...
How does the purchase of shares on the secondary market benefit the issuing company?
Stock trading (as opposed to IPO) doesn't directly benefit the company. But it affects their ability to raise additional funds; if they're valued higher, they don't need to sell as many shares to raise a given amount of money. And the stockholders are part owners of the company; their votes in annual corporate meeting...
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.