Question
stringlengths
14
166
Answer
stringlengths
3
17k
In a house with shared ownership, if one person moves out and the other assumes mortgage, how do we determine who owns what share in the end?
This is something you should decide as part of entering a partnership with someone. Ideally before you make the initial purchase you have a detailed contract written up. If you have already bought the house and someone is now ready to move out the easiest thing to do is sell the house. If that is not an option, you'll...
Why aren't bond mutual funds seeing huge selloffs now?
The Fed sets the overnight borrowing costs by setting its overnight target rate. The markets determine the rates at which the treasury can borrow through the issuance of bonds. The Fed's actions will certainly influence the price of very short term bonds, but the Fed's influence on anything other than very short term ...
Will capital gains affect my tax bracket?
I'm not sure where you are, but in the United States capital gains are taxed at a lower rate than other types of income. On the 1040, captial gains income is separated from earned income, and income tax is calculated just on earned income. Then capital gains tax is calculated on capital gains income, and then added to ...
Is the money you get from shorting a stock free to use for going long on other stocks?
You will be charged a stock borrow fee, which is inversely related to the relative supply of the stock you are shorting. IB claims to pay a rebate on the short proceeds, which would offset part or all of that fee, but it doesn't appear relevant in your case because: It is a bit strange to me that IB would not require y...
Creating a personal company
You're confusing so many things at once here...... First thing first: we cannot suggest you what to do business-wise since we have no idea about your business. How on Earth can anyone know if you should sell the software to someone or try to distribute to customers yourself? How would we know if you should hire employe...
If throwing good money after bad is generally a bad idea, is throwing more money after good Ok?
The response to this question will be different depending which of the investment philosophies you are using. Value investors look at the situation the company is in and try to determine what the company is worth and what it will be worth in the future. Then they look at the current stock price and decide whether or n...
How to interpret stock performance charts “vs S&P 500”
tl;dr: The CNN Money and Yahoo Finance charts are wildly inaccurate. The TD Ameritrade chart appears to be accurate and shows returns with reinvested dividends. Ignoring buggy data, CNN most likely shows reinvested dividends for quoted securities but not for the S&P 500 index. Yahoo most likely shows all returns withou...
Wash sale rules in India (NSE/BSE)
I sold it at 609.25 and buy again at 608.75 in the same day If you Sold and bought the same day, it would be considered as intra-day trade. Profit will be due and would be taxed at normal tax brackets. Edits Best Consult a CA. This is covered under Indian Accounting Standard AG51 The following examples illustrate the a...
Is there any special meaning when the market price for a stock exactly equals ask or bid?
When a stock is ask for 15.2 and bid for 14.5, and the last market price was 14.5, what does it mean? It means that the seller wants to sell for a higher price than the last sale while the buyer does not want to buy for more than the last sale price. Or what if the last price is 15.2? The seller is offering to sell for...
Making a big purchase over $2500. I have the money to cover it. Should I get a loan or just place it on credit?
Some already mentioned that you could pay with your savings and use the credit card as an emergency buffer. However, if you think there is a reasonable chance that your creditcard gets revoked and that you need cash quickly, here is a simple alternative:
Can I lose more on Forex than I deposit?
FX is often purchased with leverage by both retail and wholesale speculators on the assumption daily movements are typically more restrained than a number of other asset classes. When volatility picks up unexpectedly these leveraged accounts can absolutely be wiped out. While these events are relatively rare, one happe...
Which is the most liquid market for trading?
I would rate index futures, in particular the US index futures (e.g. the S&P 500 future) as the most liquid markets after the forex markets.
How much is inflation?
Nobel laureate economist, Paul Krugman, wrote a piece many moons ago about economic expansion and money supply. As an illustration of how money supply affects the economy, he used the example of a baby-sitting co-op. While simplistic, it provides an easy to grasp notion of how printing money and restricting it (e.g. ...
Making higher payments on primary residence mortgage or rental?
You're in the same situation I'm in (bought new house, didn't sell old house, now renting out old house). Assuming that everything is stable, right now I'd do something besides pay down your new mortgage. If you pay down the mortgage at your old house, that mortgage payment will go away faster than if you paid down the...
How does the process of “assignment” work for in-the-money Options?
I often sell covered calls, and if they are in the money, let the stock go. I am charged the same fee as if I sold online ($9, I use Schwab) which is better than buying back the option if I'm ok to sell the stock. In my case, If the option is slightly in the money, and I see the options are priced well, i.e. I'd do an...
Starting an investment portfolio
Is this amount an adequate starting amount to begin investing with? Yes. You can open an account at a brokerage with this amount. I'm not sure I would invest in individual stocks at this point. Which services should I use to start buying shares? (Currently my bank offers this service but I'm willing to use other source...
Is inflation inapplicable in a comparison of paying off debt vs investing?
I'd agree, inflation affects the value of the dollar you measure anything in. So, it makes your debt fade away at the same rate it eats away at dollar denominated assets. I'd suggest that one should also look at the tax effect of the debt or assets as well. For example, my 3.5% mortgage costs me 2.625% after tax. But ...
Can extra mortgage payments be made to lower the monthly payment amount?
Some types of loans allow for reamortization (recasting) - which does exactly what you're talking about (making a big payment and then refiguring the monthly amount rather than the overall lifespan), without requiring any kind of a fee that refinancing does. Not every, or even most, mortgages, allow for recasting. And ...
Why do interest rates increase or decrease?
My answer is specific to the US because you mentioned the Federal Reserve, but a similar system is in place in most countries. Do interest rates increase based on what the market is doing, or do they solely increase based on what the Federal Reserve sets them at? There are actually two rates in question here; the Wikip...
Maintaining “Woman Owned Business” while taking on investor
To qualify as a woman owned business, a woman or group of women must own shares worth 51% of the business. If your investor was a woman, the entire 5% could come from her share of the company without affecting the 51% ownership requirement. Could you find a woman to add as an investor? If you each had your shares dilut...
May 6, 2010 stock market decline/plunge: Why did it drop 9% in a few minutes?
Part of it was an Oops, but not all of it. There were reports that the sudden drop was caused by a trader who mistyped an order to sell a large block of stock. The drop in that stock's price was enough to trigger "sell" orders across the market. Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36983596/ns/business-stocks_...
Taxes: Sold House this Year, Buying Next Year
When you sell your primary residence, you are required to capitalize any loss or gain at that point; you do not carry over your loss or gain (as you might in an investment property). As such, the timing of the purchase of the next house is not relevant in this discussion: you gained however much you gained already. T...
Ways to trade the Euro debt crisis
Short the Pound and other English financial items. Because the English economy is tied to the EU, it will be hit as well. You might prefer this over Euro denominated investments, since it's not exactly clear who your counterpart is if the Euro really crashes hard. Meaning suppose you have a short position Euro's ver...
devastated with our retirement money that we have left
When you say: I am 48 and my husband is 54. We have approx. 60,000.00 left in our retirement accounts. We want to move our money into something so our money will grow. We've been looking at annunities. We've talked to 4 different advisors about what is best for us. Bad mistake, I am so overwhelmed with the differ...
What pension options are there for a 22 year old graduate in the UK?
Major things to consider: If you're expecting to look at the property market: it might prove to be sensible to start doing it now, since the market is just recovering, and (IMHO warning -I'm not a professional investor, just a random guy on the internet) prices still hasn't caught up with value fundamentals. check out...
Super-generic mutual fund type
If you are looking for an index index fund, I know vanguard offers their Star fund which invests in 11 other funds of theirs and is diversified across stocks, bonds, and short term investments.
Can I deduct the cost of software and/or computer that I need to do my job?
Yes, this is a miscellaneous itemized deduction. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p529/ar02.html For this to impact your taxes, you have to be itemizing deductions (have total deductions greater than standard deduction), and the total of all miscellaneous deductions needs to exceed the "2% floor" described in the IRS l...
Where can I find a good online fundamental data provider for Hong Kong stocks?
If you check out China Stock Markets Web provides details on all things that trade on there. It covers the Hang Seng Index, SSE Index, and SSE Component Index. There is also tons of information for investors on the exchange website here.
Where can I find accurate historical distribution data for mutual funds?
I keep spreadsheets that verify each $ distribution versus the rate times number of shares owned. For mutual funds, I would use Yahoo's historical data, but sometimes shows up late (a few days, a week?) and it isn't always quite accurate enough. A while back I discovered that MSN had excellent data when using their mar...
Why are typical 401(k) plan fund choices so awful?
401k choices are awful because: The best remedy I have found is to roll over to an IRA when changing jobs.
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...
Considering buying a house in town with few major employers (economic stability)
BLUF: Continue renting, and work toward financial independence, you can always buy later if your situation changes. Owning the house you live in can be a poor investment. It is totally dependent on the housing market where you live. Do the math. The rumors may have depressed the market to the point where the houses...
Understanding the synthetic long put option
A long put - you have a small initial cost (the option premium) but profit as the stock goes down. You have no additional risk if the shock rises, even a lot. Short a stock - you gain if the stock drops, but have unlimited risk if it rises, the call mitigates this, by capping that rising stock risk. The profit/loss gra...
Incentive Stock Option (ISO) tax question - more specific this time
Alternatively you could exercise 12000 shares for $36000 and immediately sell 7200 shares to recover your exercise price. Then you use the remaining 4800 share to pay the exercise price of the remaining 8000 options. Both scenarios are equivalent but may have different fees associated, so it's worth checking the fine p...
Which Benjamin Graham book should I read first: Security Analysis or Intelligent Investor?
If you're looking to learn more about investing for personal use (as opposed to academic interest), I'd recommend something like The Ages of the Investor instead.
Is it better to pay an insurance deductible, or get an upgrade?
If you repair your phone, when your current balance is paid off, could you get the same coverage for less money? Or would your monthly payment remain the same regardless? That would be the easiest comparison to make. ie: Pay an extra $49 to have the phone replaced [ie: the cost of using the insurance program for $149,...
What are “headwinds” and “tailwinds” in financial investments?
Headwinds in an economic situation represent events or conditions e.g. a credit crisis, rising costs, natural disasters, etc, that slow down the growth of an economy. So headwinds are negative. Tailwinds are the opposite and help to increase growth of an economy.
Funding an ira or roth ira
And on the last sentence, it doesn't matter when or where the money was earned (money is fungible, so there's generally not even any way to tell), but you do have to have sufficient earned income (that's basically money you earn from working, not from dividends and interest or selling stock and the like) in the contrib...
How could the 14th amendment relate to the US gov't debt ceiling crisis?
Section Four of the amendment reads: The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payments of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. In other words, if President Obama wants to, he could unilaterally...
Fetching technical indicators from yahoo api
Still working on exact answer to question....for now: (BONUS) Here is how to pull a graphical chart with the required data: Therefore: As r14 = the indicator for RSI. The above pull would pull Google, 6months, line chart, linear, large, with a 50 day moving average, a 200 day exponential moving average, volume, an...
Best Time to buy a stock in a day
You can't predict when to buy a stock during the day to guarantee not having a loss for the day. In the short run stock prices are really pretty random. There are many day traders who try to accomplish exactly this and most of them lose money. If you don't believe me, create an account on Investopedia and use their fre...
What IT form to use in India?
As you have income from Business / Profession, you would need to use form ITR4S
Will depositing $10k+ checks each month raise red flags with the IRS?
Contractors regularly deposit checks like this; if the income is legitimate don't worry. Report it to the IRS as income whether or not the customer issues you a 1099. With deposits like this you should be making quarterly payments to the IRS for your projected income.
Choosing the “right” NAPFA advisor, and whether fees are fair, etc.?
Some sample prices for straightforward pay-for-hours-or-deliverables planners: I think I've seen some similar rates elsewhere, too. I'd feel like you might get something perfunctory and boilerplate for too much less than $1000 - how could the person afford to spend much time? - and I'd feel like lots more than $1000 fo...
I spend too much money. How can I get on the path to a frugal lifestyle?
Track your expenses. Find out where your money is going, and target areas where you can reduce expenses. Some examples: I was spending a lot on food, buying too much packaged food, and eating out too much. So I started cooking from scratch more and eating out less. Now, even though I buy expensive organic produce, impo...
Does dollar cost averaging really work?
Dollar cost averaging works if the stuff you're buying goes up within your time horizon. It won't protect you from losing money if it doesn't. Also consider that the person (or company, or industry) that suggests dollar-cost averaging might want you to start up a regular investment program and put it on auto-pilot, wh...
Asset classes: Is a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) considered a bond?
Instead of "stocks" I would refer to that asset class as "equity." Instead of bonds, I would refer to that asset class as "fixed income." Given that more general terminology, GICs would fit into fixed income.
Why do some people say a house “not an investment”?
I invested in single family homes and made ok. Houses can be an investment. (though the OP seems to equate "house" with primary residence) Just like any other investment buying houses has risks. I would not treat your primary residence or a vacation home as an investment. That is asking for trouble, but for many...
Accounting equation: does income really decrease equity?
If your income stream goes up, it would usually increase both your "income" term and your "assets" term since that money sits in your bank account as an asset. (Even more likely a combination of assets and expenses go up if you have cost associated with the increase in income.) In this case, they balance in the equati...
Why don't market indexes use aggregate market capitalization?
They do but you're missing some calculations needed to gain an understanding. Intro To Stock Index Weighting Methods notes in part: Market cap is the most common weighting method used by an index. Market cap or market capitalization is the standard way to measure the size of the company. You might have heard of lar...
Should I pay off my 50K of student loans as quickly as possible, or steadily? Why?
If you make paying off those loans a priority, you will find money where you can and also look for stuff to sell around your home and also look for as much extra work as you can stand.
Fractional Reserve Banking and Insolvency
A bank is insolvent when it can no longer meet its short-term obligations. In this example, the bank is insolvent when depositors withdraw more cash than the bank can pay out. In this case, it's probably something in the range of $600-700k, because the bank can borrow money from other banks using assets as collateral....
Does the stock market create any sort of value?
The stock market exists for two reasons. It lets companies raise money to invest, and it lets company owners cash out and get money instead of part-ownership of a company when they are ready to do so. But to accomplish these goals effectively, it needs many more transactions than just those kinds of transaction, becaus...
Why would you elect to apply a refund to next year's tax bill?
sometimes we advise very old or incapacitated people to apply the refund to the next year as check writing from time to time & mailing may be a hassle for them.
How should I pay off my private student loans that have a lot of restrictions?
You might try to refinance some of those loans. It sounds like you are serious about minimizing interest expense, if you think you will be able to pay those loans in full within five years you might also try a loan that is fixed for five years before becoming variable. If you do not think you can repay the loans in f...
Do I make money in the stock market from other people losing money?
There is one other factor that I haven't seen mentioned here. It's easy to assume that if you buy a stock, then someone else (another stock owner) must have sold it to you. This is not true however, because there are people called "market makers" whose basic job is to always be available to buy shares from those who ...
Ongoing things to do and read to improve knowledge of finance?
Before you can truly learn, you must unlearn first. I recommend the book "Fooled by Randomness" by Nassim Taleb.
stock(paper) delivery to home
Getting "physical stocks" will in most cases only be for the "fun of it". Most stocks nowadays are registered electronically and thus the physical stock will be of no value - it will just be a certificate saying that you own X amount of shares in company X; but this information is at the same time registered electronic...
What does it mean to a life insurance policy holder to convert from a stock to mutual insurance company?
A stock insurance company is structured like a “normal” company. It has shareholders (that are the company's investors), who elect a board of directors, who select the senior executive(s), who manage the people who run the actual company. The directors (and thus the executives and employees) have a legal responsibility...
Why is the breakdown of a loan repayment into principal and interest of any importance?
Yes, the distinction between how your funds are applied to principal vs interest is very important. The interest amount charged each period (probably monthly) is not just one fixed sum calculated at the origination, but rather is a dynamically calculated amount that changes each period relative to how much principal is...
In a house with shared ownership, if one person moves out and the other assumes mortgage, how do we determine who owns what share in the end?
Let's look at the logical extreme. Two people get a house, no money down, 10 year mortgage. One moves out the day after the closing, and the gal left pays the full mortgage. Why in the world would the one who left be entitled to a dime? You offer no information about the downpayment or amount paid during the time both...
What is the most effective saving money method?
In a word: budgeting. In order to have money left over at the end of the month, you need to be intentional about how you spend it. That is all a budget is: a plan for spending your money. Few people have the discipline and abundance of income necessary to just wing it and not overspend. By making a plan at home ahead ...
Calculate time to reach investment goals given starting balance?
Here's a formula; I had to go over to SEMath, use their MathJax to compose the answer and then paste this screen shot. As a result, I can't fix a typo: "ST" is the same as "St"
Difference between 'split and redemption' of shares and dividend
It is the first time I encounter redemption programme and I would like to know what are my options here You can hold on to the shares and automatically receive 2.25 SEK per share some time after 31-May; depending on how fast the company and its bank process the payouts. Alternatively you can trade in the said window fo...
Mortgage refinancing fees
2.5%? Whoa, you are being robbed there. Straight-up, stripped-down, and bent-over-a-table robbed. Never agree to "fees". If they don't want to do the work to give you a loan, there are other lenders who do. Rarely agree to "points". If you know -- and I don't mean "think", I mean "know" -- if you know that you are g...
Why does short selling require borrowing?
Concerning the general problem of short selling and the need to borrow shares to complete the transaction : Selling short is a cash transaction. Unlike a futures contract, where a short seller is entering into a legal agreement to sell something in the future, in the case of short selling a share the buyer of the shar...
I have more than $250,000 in a US Bank account… mistake?
Yes. Although I imagine the risk is small, you can remove the risk by splitting your money amongst multiple accounts at different banks so that none of the account totals exceed the FDIC Insurance limit. There are several banks or financial institutions that deposit money in multiple banks to double or triple the effec...
Should I sell when my stocks are growing?
My thoughts are that if you've seen considerable growth and the profit amassed would be one that makes sense, you would have to seriously consider selling NOW because it could take yeoman's time to mimic that profit in the next 10 quarters or so. To analogize; If you bought a house for 100k and we're renting it for sa...
Are there “buy and hold” passively managed funds?
Usually, the amswer to "why sell it" is "to maintain the specific distribution balance, or to track the index, that this fund was designed to offer." A "buy and hold" fund could only buy when users are actively putting money into it. That limits their ability to follow those approaches. And I think there would be prob...
Motley fool says you can make $15,978 more per year with Social Security. Is this for real?
The purpose of this spammy Motley Fool video ad is to sell their paid newsletter products. Although the beginning of the video promises to tell you this secret trick for obtaining additional Social Security payments, it fails to do so. (Luckily, I found a transcript of the video, so I didn't have to watch it.) What t...
I'm thinking of getting a new car … why shouldn't I LEASE one?
You SHOULDN'T lease one if you are going to get an economy car, if you don't drive too much (<15K / year), and you want to hang on to the car for a long time. Otherwise, if you are a regular driver, driving a leased new quality car can be cost effective. Many cars now have bumper-to-bumper warranties that last as long...
What are the downsides that prevent more people from working in high-income countries, and then retiring in low-income (and cost of living) ones?
Political instability and general inability of the government to control crime, economomy, or even remain in existence, would be my greatest worry. I wouldn't want my bank account to randomly disappear, criminals to come take my stuff and/or life by force because nobody is going to stop them, or a hoarde of revolution...
What happens when the bid and ask are the same?
Rule 610 (Google for it) stands that if Bid and Ask are the same, the market is considered Locked, and the exchange must stop all trading. So the same person can't quote the same bid and ask price. However, HFTs have found ways to circumvent this limitation when exchanges created special order types for them, e.g. Spam...
When to trade in a relatively new car for maximum value
I don't disagree with the current answers, but I feel like no one really answered your question directly. Seems to me like what you were asking is when to trade in your car in relation to when/whether your loan is paid off? Assuming you are committed to trading your car in (and not selling it privately as has been sug...
1.4 million cash. What do I do?
you should invest in a range of stock market indexes. Ex : Dow jones, S&P500, Nasdaq and keep it there until you are ready to retire. I'm invested half in SLYV and SLYG (S&P600 small cap value and S&P600 small cap growth; Respectively). It brings on average between 8-13% a year (since 1971). This is not investment advi...
How do you measure the value of gold?
1) Get some gold. 2) Walk around, yelling, "Hey, I have some gold, who wants to buy it?" 3) Once you have enough interested parties, hold an auction and see who will give you the most dollars for it. 4) Trade the gold for that many dollars. 5) You have just measured the value of your gold.
Using credit card points to pay for tax deductible business expenses
For simplicity, let's start by just considering cash back. In general, cash back from credit cards for personal use is not taxable, but for business use it is taxable (sort of, I'll explain later). The reason is most personal purchases are made with after tax dollars; you typically aren't deducting the cost of what you...
US citizen married to non-resident alien; how do I file taxes?
Congrats on the upcoming wedding! Here is the official answer to this question, from the IRS. They note that you can choose to treat your spouse as a US resident for tax purposes and file jointly if you want to, by attaching a certain declaration to your tax return. Though I'm not a tax expert, if your partner has sig...
Why will the bank only loan us 80% of the value of our fully paid for home?
Banks and lenders have become a bit more conservative since the housing crisis. 80% is a typical limit. The reason is to minimize the lender's risk if declining property values would put the borrower upside-down on the loan. http://www.bankrate.com/finance/home-equity/how-much-equity-can-you-cash-out-of-home.aspx
I am trying to start a “hedge fund,” and by that, I really just mean I have a very specific and somewhat simple investment thesis that I want to
Kudos for wanting to start your own business. Now let's talk reality. Unless you already have some kind of substantial track record of successful investing to show potential investors, what you want to do will never happen, and that's just giving you the honest truth. There are extensive regulatory requirements for st...
What intrinsic, non-monetary value does gold have as a commodity?
Extrinsic value is not a factor with respect to gold. Intrinsic value by definition is the natural value of a commodity set by the market -- extrinsic value is externally set. The "extrinsic" value of gold in the United States is $50/oz. If the market value of gold fell below $50/oz, a US American Eagle coin would be ...
How does a public company issue new shares without diluting the value held by existing shareholders?
In simplest terms, when a company creates new shares and sells them, it's true that existing shareholders now own a smaller percentage of the company. However, as the company is now more valuable (since it made money by selling the new shares), the real dollar value of the previous shares is unchanged. That said, the ...
Tax implications of restricted stock units
With the Employee Stock Purchase Plan stock, if you sell it in less than 18 months from exercise, the discount you bought it at (normally 15%) becomes taxable income and included in your W-2.
Why is company provided health insurance tax free, but individual health insurance is not?
This probably is a question that belongs on History but here's the basic reason: the or Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974 established that health benefits under approved plans were not taxable to the employee. If the employer were to pay for an employees non ERISA approved individual plan, it wou...
Why do gas stations charge different amounts in the same local area?
I only have anecdotal evidence here as members of my family used to own a grocery store / gas station, but they were often time charged much more to have the gasoline delivered to than many gas stations which were just a mile or two away (up to 15% more). Also depending upon the branding of the gas station, they are r...
Why would you elect to apply a refund to next year's tax bill?
If you expect your taxes to be higher next year, it saves you the trouble of sending estimates or changing the withholding levels. But yes, its basically a free loan you're giving to the government.
Good book-keeping software?
You should consider Turbocash. It's a mature open-source project, installed locally (thick client).
Are there capital gains taxes or dividend taxes if I invest in the U.S. stock market from outside of the country?
Found a great article (with bibliography) that covers taxation on investment activity by non resident aliens - even covers the special 15% tax on dividends for Canadian residents. It's (dividend tax rate) generally 30% for other NRAs (your 2nd question). And it confirmed my suspicion that there are no capital gains ta...
Is it accurate to say that if I was to trade something, my probability of success can't be worse than random?
If i do this, I would assume I have an equal probability to make a profit or a loss. The "random walk"/EMH theory that you are assuming is debatable. Among many arguments against EMH, one of the more relevant ones is that there are actually winning trading strategies (e.g. momentum models in trending markets) which inv...
Relative merits of Petrobras as an investment
Could be risky, consider that some of their assets in Bolivia were nationalized.
Vanguard Mutual Funds — Diversification vs Share Class
There's really no right or wrong answer here because you'll be fine either way. If you've investing amounts in the low 5 figures you're likely just getting started, and if your asset allocation is not optimal it's not that big a deal because you have a long time horizon to adjust it, and the expense ratio differences h...
Life insurance policy
I would like to add to the answer provided by Dheer. I think under some ULIPs you need not pay premium after 3 years and you can take the money back after 5 years (something like that, read your policy statement of course). Since the money is invested in Stock markets and since generally people say the longer money sta...
Why do banks finance shared construction as mortgages instead of financing it directly and selling the apartments in a building?
Grade 'Eh' Bacon answers it well, the issue is risk. To explain further, when a bank issues a loan, that loan comes with certain legal rights. If the bank decided to partner with a construction company, many of those rights to collect would be gone. Debt is treated differently than equity in the legal system. Banks are...
Received an unexpected cashiers check for over $2K from another state - is this some scam?
This is so very much a scam. The accepted answer already tells you the basics of it. In addition to the cheque being fake, there is also the possibility that the cheque is a legitimate cheque but has been stolen (or swindled off) from somebody else. In that case, the delay with which the cashing of the cheque will b...
Transfer from credit to debit
The new information helps a little, but you're still stuck as far as doing exactly what you asked. The question that you really should be asking is "How do I deposit money into my BofA checking account from Italy?" If you can figure that out, then the whole part about your father's AmEx card really becomes irrelevant...
What is a good price to “Roll” a Covered Call?
An expiration 2 years out will have Sqr(2) (yes the square root of 2!) times the premium of the 1 year expiration. So if the option a year out sell for $1.00, two is only $1.41. And if the stock trades for $10, but the strike is $12, why aren't you just waiting for expiration to write the next one?
How meaningful is the “stock price” of a stock?
The information on GOOG or other sites is the average price of the stock and is indicative of the price at with the stock would be available. The actual trades happen at different values throught the day ... So the prices are good for most purposes and if you need the exact prices, you can thne decided to log into you...
Cash or Bonds (UK)
The 'appropriate' amount of cash/bonds to hold will be largely a matter of opinion, but here are the general reasons why having at least some is a good idea: Cash is very liquid, and bonds are often mostly liquid. This means you can access them very quickly, without taking on losses. To get the most liquidity out of yo...
What explains the enormous increase in gold price in the early 21st century?
Since 2007 the world has seen a period of striking economic and financial volatility featuring the deepest recession since the 1930s despite this gold has performed strongly with its price roughly doubling since the global financial crisis began in mid-2007. 1. Gold and real interest rates: One of the factor that influ...
Buy home and leverage roommates, or split rent?
what I should think about. If you decide to do this - get everything in writing. Get lease agreements to enforce the business side of the relationship. If they are not comfortable with that much formality, it's probably best not to do it, I'm not saying that you should not do this - but that you need to think about t...