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How to find SEC filings that are important to stock market
10-Q is the quarterly report, and accordingly is filed quarterly. Similarly, 10-K is the annual report. 8-K is a general form for notification of material events. It is filed every time a material event is required to be reported to the shareholders. It may accompany the periodical reports, but doesn't have to. It can ...
bid & ask prices and technical indicators
If you are looking to go long (buy) you would use bid prices as this is what you will be matched against for your order to be executed and a trade to go through. If you are looking to go short (sell) you would use the ask prices as this is what you will be matched against for your order to be executed and a trade go th...
Bank denying loan after “subject-to” appraisal: What to do?
I'm not sure about your first two options. But given your situation, a variant of option three seems possible. That way you don't have to throw away your appraisal, although it's possible that you'll need to get some kind of addendum related to the repairs. You also don't have your liquid money tied up long term. ...
My previous and current employers both use Fidelity for 401(k). Does it make sense to rollover?
I would check to see what the fee schedule is on your previous employer's 401k. Depending on how it was setup, the quarterly/annual maintenance fee may be lower/higher than your current employer. Another reason to rollover/not-rollover is that selection of funds available is better than the other plan. And of course al...
Ballpark salary equivalent today of “healthcare benefits” in the US?
Equation: (M x 12) + MOOP = Worst case scenario cost Where M equals the monthly cost and MOOP is the maximum out of pocket amount. So, if a plan costs $500 a month and the maximum out of pocket amount is $12,000 - which in a worst case scenario you would pay (it's almost always over the deductible) ... ($500 x 12) + 1...
Should I use put extra money toward paying off my student loans or investing in an index fund?
First, I'd like to congratulate you on your financial discipline in paying off your loans and living well within your means. I have friends who make more than twice your salary with similar debt obligations, and they barely scrape by month to month. If we combine your student loan debt and unallocated income each mont...
Job Offer - Explain Stock Options [US]
An option is a financial instrument instrument that gives you the right, but not the obligation, to do some transaction in the future at a given price. An employee stock option is a kind of "call option" -- it gives you the right, but not the obligation, to buy the stock at a certain price (the "exercise price", usuall...
Simple and safe way to manage a lot of cash
You can move most or all of those financial products into a single account at one institution, but I wouldn't go with a "mutual fund account" like Vanguard. The big online brokerages should offer: Consolidating everything into one statement can vastly simplify your record keeping. With a balance of $250k, you should be...
What are the real risks in “bio-technology” companies?
Note: My sister works for one of the largest clinical development, testing, and commercialization companies so I know some of the key issues but not all. This answer does not constitute advice on any particular stock or other instrument. This is mostly well researched opinion. The problem with biotech companies (and a ...
How do you get out of a Mutual Fund in your 401(k)?
The S&P top 5 - 401(k) usually comply with the DOL's suggestion to offer at least three distinct investment options with substantially different risk/return objectives. Typically a short term bond fund. Short term is a year or less and it will rarely have a negative year. A large cap fund, often the S&P index. A balanc...
Cashing in stocks for house downpayment
I'm not sure where people keep getting this idea, but I see it come up a lot. Anyway, you pay capital gains taxes when you sell an investment that has appreciated. It makes no difference when/if you reinvest the money or what you invest it in. If you are afraid of the tax burden you can minimize it by: 1) Selling a sto...
Teaching school kids about money - what are the real life examples of math, budgeting, finance?
My education on this topic at this age range was a little more free-form. We were given a weeklong project in the 6th grade, which I remember pretty clearly: Fast forward 6 years (we were 12). You are about to be kicked out of your parents' house with the clothes on your back, $1,000 cash in your pocket, your high...
How should one structure a portfolio given the possibility that a Total Stock Market Index might decline and not recover for a long time?
Here are a few things that you could try. But note that they are all capable of failing. They will just reduce the chance of you personally having a lost decade. First a quibble: John Bogle advocates a total stock market index (something like Vanguard's VTSMX) instead of an S&P fund, as the latter represents "only" 85%...
Pay down on second mortage when underwater?
I think everyone else answered before you added the info about your car loan in your comment. While it makes sense to pay off loans with the highest interest rate first, keep in mind that in most cases you can deduct mortgage interest from your taxable income. So the after-tax rate of interest that you're paying on you...
Net income correlation with Stock Price
A company's stock price will reflect the general sentiment about a company's value now and in the future. Net income is only one figure. You need to crack open the net summary and see what's inside it. In the financials you reference in your question (http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/FTNT/financials), you'll ...
How to determine duration of a common stock whose dividends grow in perpetuity?
The fact that dividends grow in perpetuity does not prevent one from calculating duration. In fact, many academic papers look at exactly this problem, such as Lewin and Satchell. This Wilmott thread discusses some of the pros and cons of the concept in some detail. PS: Although I was already broadly familiar with the...
Abundance of Cash - What should I do?
People have asked a lot of good questions about your broader situation, tolerance for risk, etc, but I'm going to say the one-size-fits-most answer is: split some of your monthly savings (half?) into the VEU Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF and some into VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF. This can be as automatic an...
Rental Property - have someone look for you
Many real estate agents will assist with an apartment hunt, for a suitable fee. In a hot market that may be worth the money. Then again, my best finds were always through co-workers, after the first two.
What does “100% stock dividend” mean?
Simply put, 100% stock dividend is 1:1 or 1 for 1 bonus share, as explained above, if you held 100 shares after 1:1 bonus you would have 200 shares (100 original, another 100 as bonus). The impact on the stock price is that the price becomes 1/2 the price of the stock before bonus (supply has doubled). 1:1 bonus is nor...
When to sell a stock?
I am a believer in stocks for the long term, I sat on the S&P right though the last crash, and am 15% below the high before the crash. For individual stocks, you need to look more closely, and often ask yourself about its valuation. The trick is to buy right and not be afraid to sell when the stock appears to be too h...
What to do with your savings in Japan
Been here in Japan 12 years mate, and you're right, the investment options here suck. Be very wary of them, they will take all your money in outrageous fees--3% in and 3% out of some "investment" options. It's a scam. Send the money back home and manage it there. I recommend setting up a Vanguard account back in the UK...
When should I walk away from my mortgage?
Interestingly enough, "strategic default" seems to be more common than one might think in California and there is actually a lot of information available on it, to include a calculator that breaks down the numbers for you (although affiliated with a law office). Speaking from a purely financial standpoint, walking away...
Strategy for accounting personal finance in multiple currency?
How can I correctly account for having money in different currencies, without currency transfers or currency fluctuations ending up as gains or losses? In my view, your spreadsheet should be in multiple currencies. i.e. if you have gained some in specific currency, make a note of it in that specific currency. If you ha...
Why have U.S. bank interest rates been so low for the past few years?
I've wondered the same thing. And, after reading the above replies, I think there is a simpler explanation. It goes like this. When the bank goes to make a loan they need capital to do it. So, they can get it from the federal reserve, another bank, or us. Well, if the federal reserve will loan it to them for lets say ...
Best personal finance strategy to control my balance
The key to understanding where your money is going is to budget. Rather than tracking your spending after the fact, budgeting lets you decide up front what you want to spend your money on. This can be done with cash envelopes, on paper, or on Excel spreadsheets; however, in my opinion, the best, most flexible, and ea...
Got charged ridiculous amount for doctor's walk in visit. What are my options?
You will often receive a lower bill if you simply wait for a second or third billing statement. I was once given the advice to never pay a medical bill until after they had sent three notices, because they will almost certainly reduce the amount due. Sounds crazy, right? I have excellent credit, so the idea of risking ...
What's the difference between Market Cap and NAV?
Market caps is just the share price, multiplied by the number of shares. It doesn't represent any value (if people decide to pay more or less for the shares, the market cap goes up or down). It does represent what people think the company is worth. NAV sounds very much like book value. It basically says "how much cash...
What's the best gold investment strategy for a Singapore resident?
With gold at US$1300 or so, a gram is about $40. For your purposes, you have the choice between the GLD ETF, which represents a bit less than 1/10oz gold equivalent per share, or the physical metal itself. Either choice has a cost: the commission on the buy plus, eventually, the sale of the gold. There may be ongoing ...
Dry cleaners lost $160 pants, what should I do?
I really like Rocky's answer, some more info: Keep in mind there is no limit on punitive damages. You could sue for the pants (160) + the filling fee (50) + a reasonable hourly rate to compensate your time (assume 200) + punitive damages of 4590 (assume 5000 limit on small claims court). When facing a suit of 5000, ...
Insurance broker - Online vs. physical location?
Traditional insurance agent guy here. There is no right answer in my opinion because your individual needs cannot be generalized. There are a variety of factors that influence the price charged to you including but not limited to your past claims history, geographic location, credit profile, and the carrier's book...
Automatic investments for cheap
If you are not worried about timing the market and want to buy primarily "blue chip" stocks to hold for a while, consider using Loyal3. They don't charge any commission. The downside is that trades are executed at the end of the day and there's only about 60 companies currently available (but there are some really good...
Married, 55, grown kids: Should I buy life insurance, or invest in stocks? The ultimate decision
If I were in your shoes, I would invest conservatively fully aware that for the next few years the stock market is going to be depressed, but then again, don't take that as advice. Every situation is different, weigh the pros and cons carefully and if required, consult a qualified professional.
What to do if my aging father is sustaining a hobby that is losing several thousand dollars every month?
If this was going on in the UK, I would try to get a mental capacity assessment done on the father. There are laws that stop you taking advantage of people that don’t understand what is going on; these laws could be used against the manager, but only if you can clearly prove that the father does not understand that the...
How can one identify institutional accumulation of a particular stock using price and volume data?
You can have a pretty good guess by looking at price pattern and order flow (size of the trades) a) price should be traded in a range b) relatively large size orders, speed.
At what interest rate should debt be used as a tool?
Average return on the S&P500 over the last 10 years has been 1.6 %; so if you'd invested in that with money borrowed at 3 % you would have lost (so far). Investing with borrowed money implies you think you can beat the market: that you're a cleverer investor than whoever decided to lend you the money. Whoever decided t...
Where do I find the exercise price and date for warrants?
I agree that a random page on the internet is not always a good source, but at the same time I will use Google or Yahoo Finance to look up US/EU equities, even though those sites are not authoritative and offer zero guarantees as to the accuracy of their data. In the same vein you could try a website devoted to warrant...
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...
How to measure how the Australian dollar is faring independent of the US dollar
What you want is the average change in rate of the Australian Dollar against multiple other currencies, to even out the effect of moves in a single other currency. People often look at the trade-weighted exchange rate to get an idea of this, as it allows you to look at the currencies that are most relevant, rather than...
Why are American-style options worth more than European-style options?
The value of an option has 2 components, the extrinsic or time value element and the intrinsic value from the difference in the strike price and the underlying asset price. With either an American or European option the intrinsic value of a call option can be 'locked in' any time by selling the same amount of the under...
Is a company allowed to give employees an option for a bonus to be paid out as a 401k match or cash?
This has to do with the type of plan offered: is it a 401(k) plan or a profit-sharing plan, or both? If it's 401(k) I believe the IRS will see this distribution as elective and count towards the employee's annual elective contribution limit. If it's profit sharing the distribution would be counted toward the employer's...
Why are credit cards preferred in the US?
The real reason credit cards are so popular in the US is that Americans are lazy and broke, and the credit card companies know how to market to that. Have you ever heard of the $30k millionaires? These were individuals that purchased as if they were some of the wealthy elite, but had no real money to back it up. Ameri...
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...
Relative Strength Index: Yahoo vs Google Finance
Look at the 'as of'. Google's as of is 11:27 whil Yahoo's is 11:19. Given the shape of the Google curve, it looks to me that Yahoo's may well drop that much in the next 8 minutes. In fact, looking at it now, Yahoo's algorithm showed it as about 30 at 11:24, before going back up again some. It may not have been ident...
What should I be doing to protect myself from identity theft?
I've received letters notifying me of data breaches in the past. In the end, I've never signed up for the offered protection service, figuring if "they" can hack Target or ADP or the IRS, they can hack anybody, like... Equifax. And now Equifax has been hacked. My family's Social Security Numbers were stolen from a ho...
I'm 23 and was given $50k. What should I do?
First, I would point you to this question: Oversimplify it for me: the correct order of investing With the $50k that you have inherited, you have enough money to pay off all your debt ($40k), purchase a functional used car ($5k), and get a great start on an emergency fund with the rest. There are many who would tell ...
How should I distribute my savings?
You need to track all of your expenses first, inventarize all of your assets and liabilities, and set financial goals. For example, you need to know your average monthly expenses and exactly what percentages interest each loan charges, and you need to know what to save for (your children, retirement, large purchases, e...
What does it mean when my Money Market account lists both a dividend share and an APY?
The dividend is what represents your ownership in the CU. The APY is a calculated figure that will help you compare apples to apples the return of the investment from many vendors and many types. (I think you CU might have had two different people writing that portion of the website, because the comparisons pages don'...
Is it worth it to reconcile my checking/savings accounts every month?
Banks make mistakes. Reconciling your account with your bank statement is the way to catch the errors.
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...
First time homeowner and getting a mortgage?
If you have good credit, you already know the rate -- the bank has it posted in the window. If you don't have good credit, tell the loan officer your score. Don't have them run your credit until you know that you're interested in that bank. Running an application or prequal kicks off the sales process, which gets very ...
Should I close unused credit cards before applying for another?
If you're looking for cause-effect, applying for another card won't matter at all if you're not paying any interest, or not looking to get another installment loan for which the rate you get depends on your credit rating. If you are looking to get another installment loan, then having more credit at your disposal might...
Selecting between investment vehicles for income
You have a comparatively small sum to invest, and since you're presumably expecting to go to college.university soon, where you may well need the money, you also have a short timescale for your investment. I don't think anything stock-related would be good for you -- you need a longer timescale for stock market investm...
Is there a benefit, long term, to life insurance for a youngish, debt, and dependent free person?
For most situations the "no need" answers are 100% correct. The corner case to think about depends on your health and your family history. Not to be morose, but if folks in your family who died young from heart issues, clusters of cancer or other terminal illnesses, you may want to consider getting medically qualified...
How will I pay for college?
One potentially useful option to avoid the crippling tuition fees in the states is to instead get your degree abroad. Numerous European countries have very low tuition fees, even for international students. Tuition can be as low as a 1000 EUR and housing is generally also very affordable. There is of course the languag...
Is there lesser or no tax on assets?
US federal tax law distinguishes many types of income. For most people, most of their income is "earned income", money you were paid to do a job. Another category of income is "capital gains", money you made from the sale of an asset. For a variety of reasons, capital gains tax rates are lower than earned income tax ra...
Is the need to issue bonds a telltale sign that the company would have a hard time paying coupons?
It (usually) is better to use Other Peoples Money (OPM) than your own. This is something that Donald Trump has mastered. If you use OPM and something goes wrong you can declare bankruptcy and wipe out that debt. The Donald has done this more than once. At the fantastic low Intrest rates a company would be wasting reso...
Will a small investment in a company net a worthwhile gain?
If the shares rise in value 50% over the next few years, you will have the same return that I would see if I bought 100 or 1000 shares. The only issue with a small purchase is that even a $5 commission is a high percent. But the rest of the math is the same.
Higher returns from international markets?
Foreign stocks tend to be more volatile -- higher risk trades off against higher return potential, always. The better reason for having some money in that area is that, as with bonds, it moves out-of-sync with the US markets and once you pick your preferred distribution, maintaining that balance semi-automatically take...
Recommendation on Options Back Testing tool please
Based on my experience with OpenQuant, which is a development platform for automated trading strategies (and therefore can be easily be used for backtesting your personal strategy), I can give a little insight into what you might look for in such a platform. OpenQuant is a coding environment, which reads data feeds fr...
Value of put if underlying stays below strike?
$15 - $5 = $10 How did you possibly buy a put for less than the intrinsic value of the option, at $8.25 So we can infer that you would have had to get this put when the stock price was AT LEAST $6.75, but given the 3 months of theta left, it was likely above $7 The value of the put if the price of the underlying asset ...
Does doing your “research”/“homework” on stocks make any sense?
The markets are not as information efficient as some might have you believe. But on the contrary, looking up what the aggregate professional analysts have said is also part of "doing your homework"
Other than being able to borrow to invest, how is a margin trading account different from a cash account?
Two more esoteric differences, related to the same cause... When you have an outstanding debit balance in a margin the broker may lend out your securities to short sellers. (They may well be able to lend them out even if there's no debit balance -- check your account agreement and relevant regulations). You'll never...
How to accurately calculate Apple's EPS
On closer look, it appears that Google Finance relies on the last released 10-k statement (filing date 10/30/2013), but outstanding shares as of last 10-Q statement. Using these forms, you get ($37,037M / 5.989B ) = $6.18 EPS. I think this is good to note, as you can manually calculate a more up to date EPS value than ...
If I have all this stock just sitting there, how can I lend it out to people for short selling?
Lending of securities is done by institutional investors and mutual funds. The costs of dealing with thousands of individual investors, small share blocks and the various screw-ups and drama associated with each individual are too high. Like many exotic financial transactions, if you have to ask about it, you're probab...
Personal finance software for Mac that can track stocks and mutual funds? (Even manual updating of share prices will do.)
Quicken for Mac will track stocks and mutual funds and allows you to set the "home" currency.
Car value is almost equal to GMFV with still 2 years to go on PCP
The "guaranteed minimum future value" isn't really a guarantee so much as the amount they will charge you at the end of the agreement if you want to keep the car. In this sense it might better be considered a "guaranteed maximum future cost". If the car has fallen below that value at that point, then you can just hand ...
California tells me I didn't file documents for an LLC that isn't mine. What do I do?
Did it show just your address, or was your name on it as well? You didn't share how long you've lived at the address either, so it makes me wonder whether a former tenant is the one who filed that paperwork. It's also possible that someone used your address when making a filing. Whether that was deliberate or accid...
What is most time-efficient way to track portfolio asset allocation?
I found that an application already exists which does virtually everything I want to do with a reasonable interface. Its called My Personal Index. It has allowed me to look at my asset allocation all in one place. I'll have to enter: The features which solve my problems above include: Note - This is related to an...
Why would we need a “stop-limit order” for selling?
One practical application would be to protect yourself from a "flash crash" type scenario where a stock suddenly plunges down to a penny due to transient market glitches. If you had a stop-loss order that executed at a penny (for a non-penny stock) it would be probably be voided by the exchange, but you might not want ...
Investing in low cost index fund — does the timing matter?
If you're worried about investing all at once, you can deploy your starting chunk of cash gradually by investing a bit of it each month, quarter, etc. (dollar-cost averaging). The financial merits and demerits of this have been debated, but it is unlikely to lose you a lot of money, and if it has the psychological ben...
GnuCash, how do I book loan from credit card, being paid back with salary? [duplicate]
When you pay the flight, hotel, conference attendance fees of $100: When you repay the credit card debt of $100: When you receive the gross salary of $5000: Your final balance sheet will show: Your final income statement will show: Under this method, your "Salary" account will show the salary net of business expense. T...
Options vs Stocks which is more profitable
More perspective on whether buying the stock ("going long") or options are better. My other answer gave tantalizing results for the option route, even though I made up the numbers; but indeed, if you know EXACTLY when a move is going to happen, assuming a "non-thin" and orderly option market on a stock, then a call (or...
Can housing prices rise faster than incomes in the long run?
In a strictly mathematical sense, no. Or rather, it depends what 'long run' means. Say today the home average is $200K, and payment is $900/mo. The $900 today happens to be about 20% of the median US monthly income (which is approximately $54,000/yr). Housing rises 4%/yr, income 3%/yr. In 100 years (long enough?) the ...
Buying a house, how much should my down payment be?
As observed, there is no answer that will fit all, but below are some considerations: Your monthly requirement is 5000, so you have 3000 left to pay the monthly instalments (EMI). However, if you do pay 3000, you will have no money left for any other activities (holidays etc.) till your EMI is finished Set off a sum, l...
Saving for a down payment on a new house, a few years out. Where do we put our money next?
In October 2011 in the United States, you just don't have any options. Save your money in a savings account and that is the best you can do. Your desire to buy a house means you are a saver not an investor, and you risk tolerance on this pile of money is 0. Save it in a bank account; I highly doubt chasing an interes...
How do used vehicle exchange programs at car dealerships work?
You are correct to be wary. Car dealerships make money selling cars, and use many tactics and advertisements to entice you to come into their showroom. "We are in desperate need of [insert your make, model, year and color]! We have several people who want that exact car you have! Come in and sell it to us and buy a new...
Should the bank cover money lost due to an unsuccessful transfer?
Since the transaction was not your bank's mistake (but a decision by the Indian government) why should your bank bear the cost of the unsuccessful transaction? Your bank charged a fee for a service that you were willing to pay for. You might be able to negotiate a full or partial refund, and I have done the same with m...
Indie Software Developers - How do I handle taxes?
I think the best advice you're going to get on the subject is: If you made $250k in half a year, you definitely have enough to hire an accountant! Get professional help on the subject, and they'll make sure you don't end up getting in any legal trouble.
Why does the share price tend to fall if a company's profits decrease, yet remain positive?
The company's value (which should be reflected in the share price) is not how much money it has in the bank, but something along the lines of 'how much money will it make between now and the end of times' (adjusted for time value of money and risk). So when you purchase a share of a company that has, say, little money ...
HELOC vs. Parental Student Loans vs. Second Mortgage?
Thank God you have your child back, it is so awesome that you finally found a medical treatment that worked. It must have been a truly trying time in your lives. That situation is an important template in personal finance. Through no fault of your own, a series of events occurred that caused you to spend far more m...
Money Structuring
See "Structuring transactions to evade reporting requirement prohibited." You absolutely run the risk of the accusation of structuring. One can move money via check, direct transfer, etc, all day long, from account to account, and not have a reporting issue. But, cash deposits have a reporting requirement (by the bank)...
Price graphs: why not percent change?
I am in complete agreement with you. The place i have found with the sort of charts you are looking for is stockcharts.com. To compare the percentage increase of several stocks over a period of 2 market-open days or more, which is quite useful to follow the changes in various stocks… etc., an example: Here the tick...
Why not pay in full upfront for a car?
Two adages come to mind. Never finance a depreciating asset. If you can't pay cash for a car, you can't afford it. If you decide you can finance at a low rate and invest at a higher one, you're leveraging your capital. The risk here is that your investment drops in value, or your cash flow stops and you are unable to ...
how much of foreign exchange (forex/fx) “deep liquidity” is really just unbacked leverage and what is the effect?
First it is worth noting the two sided nature of the contracts (long one currency/short a second) make leverage in currencies over a diverse set of clients generally less of a problem. In equities, since most margin investors are long "equities" making it more likely that large margin calls will all be made at the sam...
Is inflation a good or bad thing? Why do governments want some inflation?
Inflation is an increase in the money supply. Increases in consumer prices follow from inflation. It's not the same as inflation. Some inflation is necessary for a growing economy. If your gross national product is only $1,000, then you can get away with having less money than if your gross national product is $1 tr...
Form 1042-S for foreign resident and owner of trade account
As you have indicated, the 1042-S reflects no income or withholding. As such, you are not required to file a US tax return unless you have other income from the US. Gains on stocks are not reported until realized upon sale. FYI, your activity does not fit the requirements of being engaged in a trade or business activ...
Is there any way to buy a new car directly from Toyota without going through a dealership?
As someone who was just recently a salesman at Honda, I'd recommend buying a Honda instead :). If you really prefer your Toyota, I always found quote-aggregation services (Truecar, I'm blanking on others) very competitive in their pricing. Alternatively, you could email several dealerships requesting a final sale price...
Boyfriend is coowner of a house with his sister, he wants to sell but she doesn't
How did the house pass to them? Was it held in Trust? Were they both jointly listed on the deed? If no to both, then the house should have gone into probate..assuming this is going on in the US...where the probate court would reassign ownership. Until this happens the house cannot be sold and is formally owned by the e...
UK - reclaim VAT on purchases for freelance work
You are either VAT registered or you are not VAT registered. If you are not VAT registered, then you are not allowed to charge customers VAT, and you cannot reclaim VAT that you are paying. You are however allowed to deduct the cost of goods including VAT from your expenses. So if you buy a computer for £1000 + £200 V...
How long should I keep an uncleared transaction in my checkbook?
Typically I'll carry the charge for quite awhile, up to a year. If it hasn't cleared by then, I contact the institution that should have received the money to see what they want to do about it. If they tell me not to worry about it, then I change the payee to be "Overdraft Protection", and consider it as having been ...
Paying extra on a mortgage. How much can I save? [duplicate]
How much can I save? Depends on inflation and what other investment opportunities you have. It could end up costing you millions. Can I pay $12,000 extra once a year or $1000 every month - which option is better? It depends on how risk adverse you are. The first option does sound better, but for a 30 year mortgage, i...
Vanguard Mutual Funds — Diversification vs Share Class
If I were in your shoes I'd probably take the Vanguard Total Market fund with Admiral shares, then worry about further diversification when there is more in the account. Many times when you "diversify" in to multiple funds you end up with a lot of specific security overlap. A lot of the big S&P 500 constituents will b...
What to do when a job offer is made but with a salary less than what was asked for?
Not-very-serious companies always try to reduce your pretended salary. This also happens in Argentina. My advice is to look for another opportunity because you have to take into account that if you join the company this will happen again; for example, in the future, they may lowball you on raises.
Where are Bogleheadian World ETFs or Index funds?
You weren't really clear about where you are in the world, what currency you are using and what you want your eventual asset allocation to be. If you're in the US, I'd recommend splitting your international investment between a Global ex-US fund like VEU (as Chris suggested in his comment) and an emerging markets ETF l...
ESPP advantages and disadvantages
The typical deal is you can put 10% of your gross pay into the ESPP. The purchase will occur on the last deposit date, usually a 6 month period, at a 15% discount to the market price. So, the math is something like this: Your return if sold the day it's purchased is not 15%, it's 100/85 or 17.6%. Minor nitpick on my p...
What could cause a stock to trade below book value?
Discrepancies between what the book value is reported as and what they'd fetch if sold on the open market. Legal disputes in court.
TDAmeritrade Quote Summary TREE vs APRN
I suspect this is related to the fact that Blue Apron completed its IPO very recently and insider shares are likely still under a lockup period. So in the case of APRN stock only the 30mm shares involved in the IPO are trading until the insider lockup expires which is usually about 90 days.
Should I use a TSP loan?
Never borrow money to purchase a depreciating asset. Especially don't borrow money that has penalties attached.
When I ask a broker to buy stock, what does the broker do?
You or the broker place an order to buy the share with the stock exchange. There has to be a matching sell order by someone. Once a match is made, you pay the money and get the share.
How much financial information should a buyer give an estate agent?
Estate agents need the amount of deposit you will put down because they want to be able to assess the viability of your mortgage plans. If you have a high deposit (or are a cash buyer) that makes you an attractive buyer, and they can use it as leverage in your favour. It may also give them an idea of whether you could ...