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Retirement planning: Pension or personal saving/investing?
with me and my wife coming from different countries, and us both living in a non-native country, we have very little clue where we will eventually settle down. The answer depends on where you reside currently, tax rules and ability to move funds. As well as where you plan to settle down and the tax rules there. From wh...
What are the benefits of investing to IRA/Roth IRA, 401(k) in comparison to investing in long term CDs?
First, you need to understand the difference in discussing types of investments and types of accounts. Certificate of Deposits (CDs), money market accounts, mutual funds, and stocks are all examples of types of investments. 401(k), IRA, Roth IRA, and taxable accounts are all examples of types of accounts. In general, t...
Does it make sense to trade my GOOGL shares for GOOG and pocket the difference?
To keep it simple, let's say that A shares trade at 500 on average between April 2nd 2014 and April 1st 2015 (one year anniversary), then if C shares trade on average: The payment will be made either in cash or in shares within 90 days. The difficulties come from the fact that the formula is based on an average price o...
Auto insurance on new car
Auto insurance is a highly personalized item, so depending on your driving record and other factors, $600 a month for full coverage may be as good as you can get. Look at the premium for each category, and consider raising the deductible if you have some savings that could be used in the event that you have a claim. Al...
How does one determine the width of a candlestick bar?
Very common question. There is no any rule of thumb. This solely depends on your trading strategy. I will share my own experience. My day starts with the daily chart, if I have a signal, either I open my position or I check 30 minute chart to make sure that it won't go too much against my trade. and I open my position....
Option Trading / Demo Account
How would this trade behave IRL? I don't know how the simulation handles limit orders and bid/ask spreads to know it's feasible, but buying at 4.04 when the current ask is 8.00 seems unlikely. That would mean that all other sell orders between 8.00 and 4.04 were fulfilled, which means that there were very few sellers ...
What should I do with the 50k I have sitting in a European bank?
You might want to just keep it in cash. For one step further you could do an even split of USD, EUR and silver. USD hedges against loss of value in the euro, precious metal hedges against a global financial problem. Silver over gold because of high gold:silver ratio is high. You could lose money this way. There are som...
How to compute for losses in an upside down trade-in of a financed car?
I think you are making this more complicated that it has to be. In the end you will end up with a car that you paid X, and is worth Y. Your numbers are a bit hard to follow. Hopefully I got this right. I am no accountant, this is how I would figure the deal: The payments made are irrelevant. The downpayment is irrel...
Why might it be advisable to keep student debt vs. paying it off quickly?
I have never double-answered till now. This loan can't be taken out of context. By the way, how much is it? What rate? "Debt bad." Really? Line the debt up. This is the highest debt you have. But, you work for a company that offers a generous match, i.e. the match to your 401(k). Now, it's a choice, pay off 6% debt or...
Bollinger Bands and TRENDING market
If upper and bollinger bands either converge (both bands are getting more and more close together) or diverge (both bands are getting more and more away from each other), does that mean the market is TRENDING? The answer is no. The divergence or convergence of BB-upper & lower band does not indicate if the market is tr...
What is a “Junk Bond”?
From wikipedia: In finance, a high-yield bond (non-investment-grade bond, speculative-grade bond, or junk bond) is a bond that is rated below investment grade at the time of purchase. These bonds have a higher risk of default or other adverse credit events, but typically pay higher yields than better quality bonds in o...
How to deal with IRS response of no action to 83(b) election?
I think you should consult a professional with experience in 83(b) election and dealing with the problems associated with that. The cost of the mistake can be huge, and you better make sure everything is done properly. For starters, I would look at the copy of the letter you sent to verify that you didn't write the yea...
Should I buy a house or am I making silly assumptions that I can afford it?
Having convinced myself that there is no point of paying someone's else mortgage Somewhat rhetorical this many years later, but I expect some other kid forcefed the obsession with propping up the housing market might be repeating the nonsense about "paying someone else's mortgage" and read this. Will you be buying yo...
collateralized mortgage obligations
Say there are 5 people took loan of $100000 each. Those 5 people work in different jobs and have different capacity to payoff loan. Someone earning $40000 a year has higher risk to default on their payment then someone making $250000 a year. As Bank wants to sell this CDO to investor but how would investor know what ...
Is it unreasonable to double your investment year over year?
It is not unheard of. Celebrity investors such as Warren Buffet and Carl Icahn gained notoriety by more than doubling investments some years, with a few very stellar trades and bets. Doubling, as in a 100% gain, is actually conservative if you want to play that game, as 500%, 1200% and greater gains are possible and we...
Basic questions about investing in stocks
What is a stock? A share of stock represents ownership of a portion of a corporation. In olden times, you would get a physical stock certificate (looking something like this) with your name and the number of shares on it. That certificate was the document demonstrating your ownership. Today, physical stock certificates...
Should you always max out contributions to your 401k?
The compound interest argument is a good one. While you are young, it is important to save, since time is on your side for compounding of interest. I think the 401K is a good idea, but not for all of your savings. Think about saving a percentage of your income, but put it in a couple places. Your Roth is also a grea...
How much of my home loan is coming from a bank, how much it goes back?
Ditto mhoran_psprep. I'm not quite sure what you're asking. Where does the money come from? When someone starts a bank, they normally get together a bunch of investors -- perhaps people they know personally, perhaps they sell stock -- to raise initial capital. But most of the money in the bank comes from depositors. F...
How can all these countries owe so much money? Why & where did they borrow it from?
Here is an overview of who owns US Debt from Wikipedia, it indicates that approximately 1/3rd of US debt is held by foreigners (mainly the central banks of other countries), approximately 1/2 of US Debt is held by the federal reserve, and the rest is owned by various America organizations (mutual funds, pension funds, ...
How does a TFSA work? Where does the interest come from?
As to where the interest comes from: The same place it comes from in other kinds of savings accounts. The bank takes the money you deposit and invests it elsewhere, traditionally by lending it out to others (hence the concept of a "savings and loan" bank). They make a profit as long as the interest they give for "borro...
Medical Bill Consolidation
In short, no, or not retroactively. There really are multiple companies involved, each of which bills you separately for the services they provided. This can be partly avoided by selecting either a high-end health plan with lower out-of-pocket maximum, (costs more up front, of course) or by selecting a genuine Health M...
Oversimplify it for me: the correct order of investing
I am a firm believer in the idea of limiting debt as much as possible. I would not recommend borrowing money for anything other than a reasonably sized mortgage. As a result, my recommendations are going to be geared toward that goal. The top priorities for me, then, would be to make sure, first, that we don't have t...
23 and on my own, what should I be doing?
You are doing Great! But you might want to read a couple of books and do some studying on budgeting and personal finance - education yourself now and you will avoid pain in the future. I learned a lot from reading Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover, and I have found some great advice from the simple budgeting guideline...
What happens to my savings if my country defaults or restructures its debt?
First question: Any, probably all, of the above. Second question: The risk is that the currency will become worth less, or even worthless. Most will resort to the printing press (inflation) which will tank the currency's purchasing power. A different currency will have the same problem, but possibly less so than yo...
How can the ROE on a stock be more than 100%?
An operating margin will not compare with ROE. If a company has even a small margin on a large turnover and has a comparative lower shareholder equity, it ROE will be much higher. One ratio alone can not analyse a company. You need a full set of ratios and figures.
How do I track investment performance in Quicken across rollovers?
Hmm, this site says If you use Quicken, you enter a new transaction of type "Corporate Acquisition (stock for stock)." You put investor shares as the "Company acquired", Admiral shares as the "Acquiring company", and the conversion ratio 0.7997754 as the "New shares issued per held share" number. Seems crazy, but maybe...
Can dividends be exploited?
The moment the dividend is announced, especially from a company that doesn't normally pay dividends, the dividend is factored into everybody's analysis. In the absence of any other news the price of apple would be expected to drop once the dividend in locked in. Why would I buy shares from you at full price one day aft...
Are index-tracking ETF popular in Japan?
The Japanese stock market offers a wide selection of popular ETFs tracking the various indices and sub-indices of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. See this page from the Japan Exchange Group site for a detailed listing of the ETFs being offered on the Tokyo exchange. As you have suggested, one would expect that Japanese inve...
Is it worth it to buy TurboTax Premier over Deluxe if I sold investments in a taxable account?
For tax year 2014, TurboTax Deluxe no longer supports Schedule D.* TurboTax Premier is required if you need to use Schedule D. Alternatively, H&R Block Tax Software Deluxe will handle Schedule D at a fraction of the cost of TurboTax Premier. Update: Beginning with tax year 2015, TurboTax has reversed their disastrous ...
Is 6% too high to trade stocks on margin?
Yes, 6% is a waste of money, because some other brokers such as IB offer margin rates below 2%. Also, to borrow money for even less than any broker's margin interest rate, one can do an EFP transaction. This involves simultaneously shorting a stock and buying the SSF for the same stock. When the futures contract ...
Does a larger down payment make an offer stronger?
There is considerable truth to what your realtor said about the Jersey City NJ housing market these days. It is a "hot" area with lots of expensive condos being bought up by people working on Wall Street in NYC (very easy commute by train, etc) and in many cases, the offers to purchase can exceed the asking price signi...
Precious metal trading a couple questions
Correcting Keith's answer (you should have read about these details in the terms and conditions of your bank/broker): Entrustment orders are like a "soft" limit order and meaningless without a validity (which is typically between 1 and 5 days). If you buy silver at an entrustment price above market price, say x when th...
Is Amazon's offer of a $50 gift card a scam?
These kinds of credit card offers are incredibly common. More often you will get a certain reward if you spend $X within Y days of getting the card. In many cases you can take advantage of them with very little downside. However, are you responsible enough to have a credit card and be able to pay off the balance every ...
Why would a company care about the price of its own shares in the stock market?
Aside of the other (mostly valid) answers, share price is the most common method of valuating the company. Here is a bogus example that will help you understand the general point: Now, suppose that Company A wants to borrow $20 Million from a bank... Not a chance. Company B? Not a problem. Same situation when trying t...
College student - I'm a 'dependent' and my parents won't apply for the Parent PLUS loan or cosign a private loan
Smart parents not wanting to get stuck with a student loan or co-signing on a loan. because rent is so high Are you able to live with your parents? Is there anyway to reduce the cost of rent like renting a room? Can you move somewhere where the rent is cheaper? working 25 hours per week Working 25 hours per week an...
What are my options to deal with Student Loan debt collectors?
I had about $16k in student loans. I defaulted on the loans, and they got > passed to a collection type agency (OSCEOLA). These guys are as legitimate as a collection agency can be. One thing that I feel is very sketchy is when they were verifying my identity they said "Does your Social Security Number end in ####. I...
Has anyone compared an in-person Tax Advisor to software like Turbo Tax?
It depends on the person. i will take turbo tax over any mediocre or poor accountant ANY DAY. You get consistent, accurate tax preparation with the software (desktop - not the online version) I was in a housing rental partnership with my brothers and one of them insisted on using his accountant... what a mistake. ...
How to invest a small guaranteed monthly income?
In my opinion, you can't save too much for retirement. An extra $3120/yr invested at 8% for 30 years would give you $353K more at retirement. If your "good amount in my 401k" is a hint that you don't want us to go in that direction, then how about saving for the child's college education? 15 years' savings, again at 8...
Looking into investment bonds for the first time- what do I need to be aware of?
First off, I do not recommend buying individual bonds yourself. Instead buy a bond fund (ETF or mutual fund). That way you get some diversification. The risk-reward ratio will be evident in what you find to invest in. Junk bond funds pay the highest rates. Treasury bond funds pay the lowest. So you have to ask yoursel...
Who should pay taxes in my typical case?
The bottom line is you broke the law. While this is pretty much victimless, it is none the less a violation of the law and should be avoided in the future. I would have not agreed to this as a parent and it sets a bad precedent. As such I would avoid trading and move the money into cash until you turn 18. Once you...
What is the principle of forming an arbitrage strategy?
Well, arbitrage is a simple mean reversion strategy which states that any two similar commodity with some price difference (usually not much) will converge. So either you can bet on difference in prices in different exchanges or also you can bet on difference in futures value. For example if current price of stock is...
What emergencies could justify a highly liquid emergency fund?
Since no one else mentioned it, there are sometimes amazing deals that require being the first person to take advantage of them. I'm not talking about black Friday sales, I'm talking about the woman who decided to sell the Porsche (she had bought for her cheating husband) for $1000. You might not run into those types o...
Option Theta: What conditions are needed for Theta > P/N, where P = option price, and N = days to expiration?
So, if an out-of-the-money option (all time value) has a price P (say $3.00), and there are N days... The extrinsic value isn't solely determined by time value as your quote suggests. It's also based on volatility and demand. Here is a quote from http://www.tradingmarkets.com/options/trading-lessons/the-mystery-of-opti...
Do Fundamentals Matter Anymore in Stock Markets?
It sounds to me like you may not be defining fundamental investing very well, which is why it may seem like it doesn't matter. Fundamental investing means valuing a stock based on your estimate of its future profitability (and thus cash flows and dividends). One way to do this is to look at the multiples you have des...
Is it possible to be subject to cash withdrawal even if you don't use ATM?
Probably not. I say probably because your credit card's terms of service may treat certain purchases (I'm thinking buying traveler's checks off-hand) as cash advances. See also this question.
What happens if a company I have stock in is bought out?
A buy out is agreed by shareholders. Plus most countries have regulation protecting minority interest. Depending on the terms of buy out, you may get equivalent shares of buyer company or cash or both.
Retirement formula for annual compound interest with changing principal
I've found the systems that seem to work. Firstly, you need to find how much money is required to pay for the withdrawals after retirement, while still accruing interest. I couldn't seem to do this with an equation, but this bit of javascript worked: yearsToLast: Number of years of yearly withdrawals yearlyWithdrawal:...
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...
Ways to establish credit history for international student
I think you should try to talk with the credit union at your campus first, they may have offer you a credit card even you don't have any credit history.
Historical stock prices: Where to find free / low cost data for offline analysis?
There are several Excel spreadsheets for downloading stock quotes (from Yahoo Finance), and historical exchange rates at http://investexcel.net/financial-web-services-kb
Why do some people say a house “not an investment”?
You're hearing alot of talk about housing (and by implication property) not being an investment today because on the downside of a market, the conventional wisdom is to be negative about buying things that have lost value. Just as it was dumb to listen to your coworker about hot .Com IPOs in 1999, it's dumb to listen t...
How to invest with a low net worth
You might want to consider 'investing' a portion of that money into educating yourself. The payoff might not be as immediately obvious or gratifying but with appropriate determination, in the long term it will generate you a much greater return. If you would like to learn about investing, a great starting point would b...
What is the fair value of a stock given the bid and ask prices? Is there such a relationship?
Fair value can mean many different things depending on the context. And it has nothing to do with the price at which your market order would be executed. For example if you buy market, you could get executed below 101 if there are hidden orders, at 101 if that sell order is large enough and it is still there when your ...
File Taxes: US Expat, now married to foreign national
When I was in this situation, I always did Married Filing Separately. In the space for spouse you just write "non resident alien". I'm assuming you don't make more than the Foreign Earned Income exclusion (about $100k), so the fact that you don't qualify for certain exemptions is probably irrelevant for you. As a side...
Interest on Amount Exceeding CC Balance?
The best answer to this is: Read the fine print on your credit card agreement. What is common, at least in the US, is that you can make any charges you want during a time window. When the date comes around that your statement balance is calculated, you will owe interest on any amount that is showing up as outstanding ...
Why do people sell when demand pushes share price up?
You are assuming the price increase will continue. The people selling are assuming that the price increase will not continue. Ultimately that's what a share transaction is: one person would rather have the cash at a particular price / time, and one person would rather have the share.
Why do financial institutions charge so much to convert currency?
Is there not some central service that tracks current currency rates that banks can use to get currency data? Sure. But this doesn't matter. All the central service can tell you is how much the rate was historically. But the banks/PayPal don't care about the historical value. They want to know the price that they'l...
Where can you find historical PEs of US indices?
Internet sites Books Academic
Do stock prices really go down by the amount of the dividend?
Here is one study http://rfs.oxfordjournals.org/content/7/4/711.short I quote from the abstract "In a variety of tests, marginal price drop is not significantly different from the dividend amount. Thus, over the last several decades, one-for-one marginal price drop has been an excellent (average) rule of thumb."
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...
Can you recommend some good websites/brokers for buying/selling stocks in India?
There are quite a few online brokers ... All of these have different pricing structure and the right one would depend on the amount of & type of trading you are doing, for example Reliance Money offer 1 paise brokrage, but with a higer anual fees, so it makes sense if you are doing delivery trades and not IPO or Day tr...
Short term parking of a large inheritance?
The person who told you "no-load funds" had the right idea. Since you are risk-averse, you tend to want a "value" fund; that is, it's not likely to grow in value (that would be a "growth" fund), but it isn't like to fall either. To pick an example more-or-less at random, Fidelity Blue Chip Value Fund "usually" returns...
Looking for a stock market simulation that's as close to the real thing as possible
I have a free account on http://optionshouse.com/ that allows me to invest fake money into different stocks and test their tracking software. It is free and easy to do, just create an account there and they give you $4000 (fake) to invest in the stock market. They do this so that you can test their tracking and other a...
Credit rating in Germany
The SCHUFA explicitly says on their website that their scoring system is a secret. However, if your goal is to be credit-worthy for example to get financing for a house or a car or whatever, just pay any loans and your credit card back on time and you'll be fine. There is no need to build a credit history. I just got a...
Is it really possible to get rich in only a few years by investing?
10 year US Treasury bonds are currently yielding 3.46%. If you're offered an investment that looks better than that, you should ask yourself why big investors are putting their money in US Treasuries instead of what you've been offered. And obviously at 3.46% per year, you're not going to get rich quick -- it will take...
How is it possible that a preauth sticks to a credit card for 30 days, even though the goods have already been delivered?
The answer to your question is very simple: The preauth and the shipment of the goods have no connection within the credit card system. It is possible to process a payment that does not cancel a preauthorization. This is needed for the case where you place two orders and the one you placed second ships first. A preauth...
How to invest in Japan's stock market from the UK
Use an exchange traded fund ETF, namely SPDR MSCI Japan EUR Hdg Ucits ETF. It is hedged and can be bought in the UK by this broker State Street Global Advisors on the London Stock Exchange LSE. Link here. Article on JAPAN ETF hedged in Sterling Pound here.
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...
What could cause a stock to trade below book value?
all of these examples are great if you actually believe in fundamentals, but who believes in fundamentals alone any more? Stock prices are driven by earnings, news, and public perception. For instance, a pharma company named Eyetech has their new macular degeneration drug approved by the FDA, and yet their stock price ...
How does a 2 year treasury note work?
There is a large market where notes/bills/bonds are traded, so yes you can sell them later. However, if interest rates go up, the value of any bond that you want to sell goes down, because you now have to compete with what someone can get on a new issue, so you need to 'discount' the principal value of your bond in or...
I'm in Australia. What should I look for in an online stock broker, for trading mostly on the ASX?
It depends what you want to do with them. If you are just simply going to drip-feed into pre-identified shares or ETFs every few months at the market price, you don't need fancy features: just go with whoever is cheaper. You can always open another account later if you need something more exotic. Some brokerages are...
Can you step up your cost basis indefinitely via the 0% capital gains rate?
Your real question, "why is this not discussed more?" is intriguing. I think the media are doing a better job bringing these things into the topics they like to ponder, just not enough, yet. You actually produced the answer to How are long-term capital gains taxed if the gain pushes income into a new tax bracket? so y...
Converting annual interbank rates into monthly rates
The formula you're looking for is Thus, from 3% p.a. you get ca. 0.247% per month. However, as you see 0.25% is a good approximation (generally, small rates give good approximation).
Options strategy - When stocks go opposite of your purchase?
I cannot believe noone mentioned this so far: Every decision you make is independent from previous decisions (that is, if you only care about your expected gain). This means that your decision whether to buy the option should be the same whether you bought the same option before or not.
What does the -V indicate on MKC ticker
MKC is non-voting stock, MKC/V is voting stock. Ofter times you'll see two or more stock symbols for a company. These usually reflect different classes of stocks. For example, voting vs. non-voting (as in this case) or preferred vs non-preferred stock.
Why do employers require you to spread your 401(k) contributions throughout the year to get the maximum match?
If one makes say, $10K/mo, and the company will match the first 5% dollar for dollar, a 10%/mo deposit of $1K/mo will see a $500/mo match. If the employee manages to request 90% get put into the 401(k), after 2 months, he's done. If the company wished, they could continue the $500/mo match, I agree. They typically don...
Where is “Cash Credit from Unsettled Activity” coming from?
The Cash Credit from Unsettled Activity occurs because AGG issued a dividend in the past week. Since you purchased the ETF long enough before the record date (June 5, 2013) for that trade to settle, you qualified for a dividend. The dividend distribution was $0.195217/share for each of your six shares, for a total cred...
If accepting more than $10K in cash for a used boat, should I worry about counterfeiting?
Paying tax is a Good Thing. However, warren has made good point and I would like you to consider this other thing: Go into your payees bank with the payee, get the money withdrawn from the teller and take it with you. Unless I am missing something, or the teller handed your payee fake notes, you are "safe"
What is the best way to determine if you should refinance a mortgage?
See the Mortgage Professor's calculators (#3). Go to bankrate and look up rates so you know what to punch in to those calculators.
Should I get a personal loan to pay on my mortgage to go “above water” to qualify for a refinance?
Let's say you owe $200K (since you didn't mention balance. If you do, I'd edit my response), and can get 4.5%. You'd save 1.5% or about $3K/yr the first few years. If a $12K paydown is all that's between you and and refi I'd figure out a way. There are banks that are offering refi's under the HARP program if your curr...
When the market crashes, should I sell bonds and buy equities for the inevitable recovery?
In a comment you say, if the market crashes, doesn't "regress to the mean" mean that I should still expect 7% over the long run? That being the case, wouldn't I benefit from intentionally unbalancing my portfolio and going all in on equities? I can can still rebalance using new savings. No. Regress to the mean just t...
I file 83(b) election, but did't include a copy of it in that year’s tax return
This may be relevant: it suggests that IRS is lenient with the attachment of the form with 1040. To paraphrase: "The ruling involved a taxpayer who timely filed the election with the IRS within 30 days of the property transfer but who did not attach a copy of the election to his or her Form 1040 for the year of the tra...
How much does it cost to build a subdivision of houses on a large plot of land?
The basic answer is that you are comparing apples and oranges. On the one hand, you are considering a case where someone buys a single already-built house. On the other hand, you are considering a case where someone buys a large piece of land, builds 10 houses, and (presumably) sells or rents the 9 they're not living...
Why do so many people trade a bankrupt company's stock?
It may have some value! Investopedia has a well-written quick article on how stock holders may still get some portion of the liquidated assets. While there is generally little left for common shareholders if the price of those shares is tiny and some money does come back to shareholders there can still be significant...
What's a normal personal debt / equity ratio for a highly educated person?
What is your biggest wealth building tool? Income. If you "nerf" your income with payments to banks, cable, credit card debt, car payments, and lattes then you are naturally handicapping your wealth building. It is sort of like trying to drive home a nail holding a hammer right underneath the head. Normal is broke...
Why don't boards of directors try to produce results in line with estimates?
First off, some companies do something like this. Microsoft for example was well-known for consistently hitting earnings estimates every quarter - nearly never missed them, and most of the time didn't exceed by much either. In order to do this and not be prosecuted for accounting fraud, you typically have to be a ser...
declaring payments to a credit card for a shared expense
If this is a business expense - then this is what is called reimbursement. Reimbursement is usually not considered as income since it is money paid back to you for an expense you covered for your employer with your after-tax money. However, for reimbursement to be considered properly executed, from income tax stand poi...
Are my parents ripping me off with this deal that doesn't allow me to build my equity in my home?
It depends on the selling price, but if we can assume the property will be sold at a profit, they are getting a pretty sweet deal at your expense. They are both getting about 5.2% interest on their money, plus the lion's share of any property appreciation. I would say that fair would be either of:
How to change stock quantity in KMyMoney investment editor?
I can't give you a detailed answer because I'm away from the computer where I use kMyMoney, but IIRC to add investments you have to create new transactions on the 'brokerage account' linked to your investment account.
Personal finance software for Mac that can track stocks and mutual funds? (Even manual updating of share prices will do.)
I'm using iBank on my Mac here and that definitely supports different currencies and is also supposed to be able to track investments (I haven't used it to track investments yet, hence the 'supposed to' caveat).
Are online mortgage lenders as good as local brick-and-mortar ones?
At least five of my co-workers are currently re-financing through Amerisave. Four have had a wonderful experience. The fifth has been dealing with a representative who constantly misunderstands him, asks for duplicate paperwork, and is in general fairly annoying to deal with. He is willing to go through the hassle b...
Is candlestick charting an effective trading tool in timing the markets?
From my 15 years of experience, no technical indicator actually ever works. Those teaching technical indicators are either mostly brokers or broker promoted so called technical analysts. And what you really lose in disciplined trading over longer period is the taxes and brokerages. That is why you will see that teacher...
Do I need a business credit card?
I would suggest at least getting a personal card that you only use for business expenses, even if you don't opt for a business card. It makes it very clear that expenses on that card are business expenses, and is just more professional. The same goes for a checking account, if you have one of those. It makes it easi...
Why don't more people run up their credit cards and skip the country?
Because most people aren't willing to sacrifice their ability to live in the US for 100k. Remember that you can't pull this off multiple times easily. So as a one and done kind of deal, 100k isn't a great trade for the right to live in tthe US or whatever country you have roots in, particularly once you factor in:
What are some well known or well regarded arguments against investing?
I think you're confusing risk analysis (that is what you quoted as "Taleb Distribution") with arguments against taking risks altogether. You need to understand that not taking a risk - is by itself a risk. You can lose money by not investing it, because of the very same Taleb Distribution: an unpredictable catastrophic...
Best way to start investing, for a young person just starting their career?
Not 100% related, but the #1 thing you need to avoid is CREDIT CARD DEBT. Trust me on this one. I'm 31, and finally got out of credit card debt about eight months ago. For just about my entire 20s, I racked up credit card debt and saved zero. Invested zero. It pains me to realize that I basically wasted ten years of p...
What does it mean “sell on ask” , “sell on bid” in stocks?
It's good to ask this question, because this is one of the fundamental dichotomies in market microstructure. At any time T for each product on a (typical) exchange there are two well-defined prices: At time T there is literally no person in the market who wants to sell below the ask, so all the people who are waiting t...
When looking at a mutual fund, how can you tell if it is a traditional fund or an ETF?
An Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) is a special type of mutual fund that is traded on the stock exchange like a stock. To invest, you buy it through a stock broker, just as you would if you were buying an individual stock. When looking at a mutual fund based in the U.S., the easiest way to tell whether or not it is an ETF ...
Options on the E-mini S&P 500 Futures at the CME: what's the expiry date of the underlying future?
I don't see EWQ6 in any of your links, so I can't say for certain, but when you buy an option contract on a future, the option will be for a specific future (and strike). So the page you're looking at may be for options on E-mini S&P 500 futures in general, and when you actually purchase one through your broker, you p...
How much cash on hand should one have?
Less than 2 1/2% of all US currency actually exists. The rest is digital entries. In a financial crisis you'll need lots of rare cash. Twenty dollar bills are the best choice. Stash as many as you can afford to. Best to stash in a anchored security safe. And for goodness sakes, don't tell anyone.