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Claiming mileage allowances, what are the rules/guidelines? | I believe so (that you can, not that you are greedy) I run my own business and, generally speaking, am 'charging' my company 40p per mile as per the quote above. I did not know about the ability to claim the shortfall, as it is not relevant to me, but it makes perfect sense and I'm sure that a phone call to HMRC will h... |
Why do companies have a fiscal year different from the calendar year? | I know some companies or entities have large incomes or expenses at certain times of the year, and like to close their books after these large events. For example where I work, the primary seasonal income comes after summer, so our fiscal year ends at the last days of October. This gives the accountants enough time ... |
What risk of a diversified portfolio can be specifically offset by options? | As I stated in my comment, options are futures, but with the twist that you're allowed to say no to the agreed-on transaction; if the market offers you a better deal on whatever you had contracted to buy or sell, you have the option of simply letting it expire. Options therefore are the insurance policy of the free mar... |
Should I buy a home or rent in my situation? | You said 2 things that made me think you are one of the rare young couples barely making it but should attempt to buy rather than rent anyway.... Around my area, renting a place is about equivalent to just paying a monthly mortgage of a 30yr 3.5% APR of a home priced at around $250,500. and... Our ideal price range wo... |
Exposure to Irish Housing Market | There contracts called an FX Forwards where you can get a feel for what the market thinks an exchange rate will be in the future. Now exchange rates are notoriously uncertain, but it is worth noting that at current prices market believes your Krona will be worth only 0.0003 Euro less three years from now than it is wo... |
What's the point of a chargeback when they just ask the merchant whether they owe money to the buyer? | So, what's the point of a charge-back, if they simply take the word of the merchant? tl;dr: They don't. As both a merchant and a consumer I have been on both ends of credit card chargebacks, and have received what I consider to be mostly fair outcomes in all cases. Here are some examples: Takeaways from this: I strongl... |
How do I invest and buy/sell stocks? What does “use a broker” mean? | I'm posting this because I think I can do a better job of explaining and detailing everything from start to stop. :) A "broker" is just someone who connect buyers and sellers - a middleman of sorts who is easy to deal with. There are many kinds of brokers; the ones you'll most commonly hear about these days are "mortga... |
Small withdrawals from IRA | Yes, it really will hurt you to keep pulling your money from your IRA. Your best bet is to set up a payment plan with the IRS, and pay the taxes you owe now, as well as adjust your withholding (with a new W-4 to your payroll department) so that you don't have a large tax liability next year. These tax advantaged plans ... |
What would I miss out on by self insuring my car? | Insurance is to mitigate risk you can't handle yourself. (All insurance, not just car insurance.) The expected value of the insurance will always cost more than the expected value of your loss, that's how the insurance company makes money. But sometimes the known fixed cost is better for your ability to sleep at nig... |
Is buying a lottery ticket considered an investment? | I am reminded of a dozen year old dialog. I asked my 6 year old, "If we call a tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have?" She replied, "Four, you can call it anything you want, but the dog still has four legs." Early on in my marriage, my wife was heading out to the mall, and remarked that she was "going to invest in... |
How long does it take for a Tangerine no-fee money-transfer email to be delivered? | I phoned Tangerine; they enlightened me. It generally takes 2 hours for the email to arrive. Next, the recipient must open the email, click the link, and enter their bank account number. They'll generally receive the money 2-3 business days after that. This forum post suggests that the delays are due to systemic risk m... |
Estate taxes and the top 1 percent by net worth | There are two key reasons: Consider a family of four, two kids and two adults, that has a net worth of $20 million. Each of these four people live in a top 1% household. But any of those four people can die, and their estate will not pay any estate tax. Both kids and one spouse can die, and still no estate tax will be ... |
My bank refused to do a charge back | You can't make your bank do a charge back. This function is to assist with straight up fraud, not a customer service mistake. (Think spoofed or stolen card or if a vendor intentionally acted fraudulently.) While you may believe what they did is fraud, your bank will require that you provide the vendor with the opportun... |
Why is stock dilution legal? | Theoretically, when a company issues more shares, it does not affect the value of your shares. The reason is that when a company issues and sells more shares, the proceeds from the sale of those shares goes back into the company. Using your example, you have 10 out of 100 shares of the company, for a 10% stake. Let's... |
Income tax on my online drop-shipping business (India) | I find that there are two violation of law , prima facie , if someone earns money by depositing in the online account and then not reporting it ( including in his total income for the year ) and not bringing in India. Income Tax Act violation 1. It is simply comcealment liable for penalty & prosecution under I.T.Act. 2... |
If I have a home loan preapproval letter for x, can the seller know this without me explicitely telling them? | I will preface saying that I only have personal experience to go on (purchased home in KS earlier this year, and have purchased/sold a home in AR). You do not give the seller the document stating the amount you have been approved for. Your real estate agent (I recommend having one if you don't) will want to see it to m... |
Value of a call option spread | The Explanation is correct. The Traders buys the 1st call and profits linearly form 40$ onwards. At at 45 the short call kick in and neutralizes any further profit on the first call. |
How do I invest and buy/sell stocks? What does “use a broker” mean? | Some good answers already, but let me add a TL:DR version. Brokers work like a special type of bank account where you can deposit or withdraw money. The major difference is that they also give you the ability to buy/sell investments with the money in your account which you can do by either calling them or using their w... |
Ongoing things to do and read to improve knowledge of finance? | Good luck! |
Do Banks Cause Inflation? What are other possible causes? | There are several causes of inflation. One is called cost push — that is, if the price of e.g. oil goes up sharply (as it did in the 1970s), it creates inflation by making everything cost more. Another is called demand pull: if labor unions bargain for higher wages (as they did in the 1960s), their wage costs push up p... |
Where can I find historical ratios of international stock indexes? | I found a possible data source. It offers fundamentals i.e. the accounting ratios you listed (P/E, dividend yield, price/book) for international stock indexes. International equity indices based on EAFE definitions are maintained by Professor French of French-Fama fame, at Dartmouth's Tuck Business School website. Spe... |
Accepting high volatility for high long-term returns | Modern portfolio theory has a strong theoretical background and its conclusions on the risk/return trade-off have a lot of good supporting evidence. However, the conclusions it draws need to be used very carefully when thinking about retirement investing. If you were really just trying to just pick the one investment... |
Transfer money from a real estate sale in India to the US | If you are using the money to invest in a property (even abroad) then you can claim tax exemption. while some people will tell you that the reinvestment should be in India only, it have been ruled that the property can be purchased abroad too.. |
Make punctual contributions to IRS based on earnings | I will answer this question broadly for various jurisdictions, and also specifically for the US, given the OP's tax home: Generally, for any tax jurisdiction If your tax system relies on periodic prepayments through the year, and a final top-up/refund at the end of the year (ie: basically every country), you have 3 the... |
Buying a house. I have the cash for the whole thing. Should I still get a mortgage to get the homeowner tax break? | Your wealth will go up if your effective rate after taxes is less than the inflation rate. That is, if your interest rate is R and marginal tax rate is T, then you need R*(1-T) to be less than inflation to make a loan worth it. Lately inflation has been bouncing around between 1% and 1.8%. Let's assume a 25% tax rat... |
Is it sensible to keep savings in a foreign currency? | Is it sensible to keep savings in a foreign currency? The answer varies from one country to the next, but in the UK (or any other mature economy), I would advise against it. There are better ways to hedge against currency risks with the funds readily available to you through your ISA. You can keep your money relatively... |
Why are wire transfers and other financial services in Canada so much more expensive than in Europe? | I don't believe there is any particular structural or financial reason that outgoing wire transfers cost so much in Canada, their costs are no higher than other countries (and lower than many). Wires seem to be an area where the Canadian banks have decided people don't comparison shop, so it's not a competitive advant... |
Why do people take out life insurance on their children? Should I take out a policy on my child? | As you say life insurance is about covering the loss of income, so unless your child is an actor or musical prodigy or similar and already earning money, there is no income to cover, and in fact you would have less of a financial commitment without a child to provide for. The other angle is that child life insurance is... |
How can I invest in an index fund but screen out (remove) certain categories of socially irresponsible investments? | I think the answer to your question is no, in theory. By screening out funds, you must actively manage the investments. To then try to ensure you track the index closely enough, you have to do further management. Either you spend your own time to do this or you pay someone else. This is ok, but it seems contrary to th... |
Alternative means of salary for my employees | There are several local currency initiatives in the US list here. Most are attempts to normalize a value as a living wage, or encourage local consumption networks. If you are in the catchment region of one of these, see if you can get a grant or loan to get started (if you are willing to buy into the philosophy of th... |
Why do consultants or contractors make more money than employees? | In addition to the other answers, consultants and contractors face a real risk (though admittedly small) of not getting paid. The more short-term the gigs are, the higher the risk of not getting paid for a particular job. As an employee, there are laws to ensure that you get your paycheck. As a contractor, you're just ... |
Building a Taxable Portfolio Properly | Not a bad strategy. However: If you REALLY want tax efficiency you can buy stocks that don't pay a dividend, usually growth stocks like FB, GOOGL, and others. This way you will never have to pay any dividend tax - all your tax will be paid when you retire at a theoretically lower tax rate (<--- really a grey tax area h... |
I cosigned for a friend who is not paying the payment | Sue the friend. When you win, garnish his wages. It does not have to be by so much that it makes him quit his job, but get 75.00 per pay period to come to you. This may require the use of a private investigator but, if you want to make this "friend" face consequences, this is your only option. Otherwise, let it go and ... |
Friend was brainwashed by MLM-/ponzi investment scam. What can I do? | First, there are MLM businesses that are legitimate and are not Ponzi schemes; I actually work with one (I will not name it lest I give the impression of trying to sell here). One thing I learned was how to respond when a prospect raises objections related to the actual scams, which are abundant; the answer being to po... |
Can someone help me understand my student loans? | First to actually answer the question "how long at these rates/payments?"- These is nothing magic or nefarious about what the bank is doing. They add accrued interest and take your payment off the new total. I'd make higher payments to the 8.75% debt until it's gone, $100/mo extra and be done. The first debt, if you ... |
Is it wise to invest in a stock with a large Div yield? | IMO, what it seems like you've done is nothing more than having screened out a company worth further investigation. The next step would be a thorough analysis of the company's past financials and current statements to arrive at your own opinion / forecast of the immediate and far future of the company's prospects. Typ... |
Tracking down stocks I own | My best answer is to simply fish out that old email account. DumbCoder makes a good point - the company whose shares you own can probably figure out what brokerage firm is holding the shares, but it'd take a lot on their end. Honestly you're better off just hitting up random brokerage firms until you find the right one... |
Asset allocation when retirement is already secure | he general advice I get is that the younger you are the more higher risk investments you should include in your portfolio. I will be frank. This is a rule of thumb given out by many lay people and low-level financial advisors, but not by true experts in finance. It is little more than an old wive's tale and does not c... |
Why would you use an IFA for choosing a pension fund | Why would anyone listen to someone else's advice? Because they believe that the person advising them knows better than they do. It's as simple as that. The fact that you're doing any research at all - indeed, the fact that you know about a site on the internet where personal finance questions get asked and answered - ... |
Should I sell my stocks when the stock hits a 52-week high in order to “Buy Low, Sell High”? | As per the chart pattern when ever a stock breaks its 52 week high. This information may differ for penny stocks,small caps and mid cap stocks |
Pay index fund expense ratios with cash instead of fund balance | In many cases the expenses are not pulled out on a specific day, so this wouldn't work. On the other hand some funds do charge an annual or quarterly fee if your investment in the fund is larger than the minimum but lower than a "small balance" value. Many funds will reduce or eliminate this fee if you signup for elect... |
How should I handle taxes for Minecraft server donations? | Technically, this is considered "income" for you, and is actually not considered a "donation" for your donors, but is instead a "gift" (not tax-deductible for your donors). So, you are technically required to report it, and there is a pretty significant audit trail that can be followed to prove you made that money. I d... |
Price graphs: why not percent change? | The actual price is represented on charts and not the change in price as a percentage, because it is the actual price which is used in all other parts of analysis (both technical and fundamental), and it is the actual figure the security is bought and sold at. A change in price has to be relative to a previous price at... |
Is there any advantage to owning equity in a company compared to a royalty agreement? | Each way you go is a little bit of a gamble. Owning equity in the company is best in situations where you can trade and sell that equity, or where the dilution of your royalty product would affect your returns, or if you can maintain a certain equity stake without working at the company or if you can hold out on taki... |
For the first time in my life, I'm going to be making real money…what should I do with it? | Your attitude is great, but be careful to temper your (awesome) ambition with a dose of reality. Saving is investing is great, the earlier the better, and seeing retirement at a young age with smooth lots of life's troubles; saving is smart and we all know it. But as a college junior, be honest with yourself. Don't y... |
How to send money across borders physically and inexpensively, but not via cash? | I assume the same criteria apply for this as your previous question. You want to physically transfer in excess of 50,000 USD multiple times a week and you want the transportation mechanism to be instant or very quick. I don't believe there is any option that won't raise serious red flags with the government entities yo... |
Why do consultants or contractors make more money than employees? | All the existing answers are right and the general theme is: contracting is a different kind of relationship. It's a business-to-business relationship rather than a business-to-employee relationship. This has implications such as: Of course, some contractors are effectively just over-paid employees, and some of the abo... |
Newbie question - Brokerage and selling shares | Capital gains tax is an income tax upon your profit from selling investments. Long-term capital gains (investments you have held for more than a year) are taxed significantly less than short-term gains. It doesn't limit how many shares you can sell; it does discourage selling them too quickly after buying. You can bal... |
How do I adjust to a new social class? | And specifically regarding prices of housing, what factors drive prices in that regard? I mean, the houses are roughly the same... but almost 3 times as expensive. Rent, like so many things, is tied to supply and demand. On the demand side, rent is tied to income. People tend to buy as much house as they can afford, gi... |
What does an options premium really mean? | Intuitive? I doubt it. Derivatives are not the simplest thing to understand. The price is either in the money or it isn't. (by the way, exactly 'at the money' is not 'in the money.') An option that's not in the money has time value only. As the price rises, and the option is more and more in the money, the time value ... |
United Kingdom: Where to save money for a property deposit | From April 2017 the plan is that there is now also going to be a "Lifetime ISA" (in addition to the Help to Buy ISA). Assuming those plans do not change, they government will give 25% after each year until you are 50, and the maximum you can put in per year will be £4000. Catches: You can only take the money out for c... |
Selling mutual fund and buying equivalent ETF: Can I 1031 exchange? | I don't believe you can do that. From the IRS: Finally, certain types of property are specifically excluded from Section 1031 treatment. Section 1031 does not apply to exchanges of: I highlighted the relevant items for emphasis. |
Prepaid Rent (Accrual Based Accounting) | Your account entries are generally correct, but do note that the last transaction is a mixture of the balance sheet and income statement. If Quickbooks doesn't do this automatically then the expense must be manually removed from the balance sheet. The expense should be recognized on the balance sheet and income statem... |
What can I do when the trading price of a stock or ETF I want to buy is too high? | If you find a particular stock to be overvalued at $200 for example and a reasonable value at $175, you can place a limit order at the price you want to pay. If/when the stock price falls to your desired purchase price, the transaction takes place. Your broker can explain how long a limit order can stay open. This meth... |
College student - I'm a 'dependent' and my parents won't apply for the Parent PLUS loan or cosign a private loan | My son is in a similar situation where he is 21 and in college. My wife and I claimed him as a dependant on our taxes last year. He had still been able to get some student loans as a dependant as well as scholarships. I have told him that we will not cosign on a loan for him. It isn't because we don't like our son, it ... |
Can one use Google Finance to backtest (i.e. simulate trades in the past)? | I've used yahoo to perform the exercise you're asking about. It allows you to download price data, month end if you wish, and by manipulating via a spreadsheet to add a column for purchases, you can easily see how your £100/mo would end after so long a time period. |
W-8BEN? What's the tax from selling my software to a U.S. company, from abroad? | I realize this is a stale topic, but to anybody who may swing by looking for an answer to this question (on the recently revised W-8BEN), a foreign taxpayer can get an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) without being resident in the US. However, an ITIN will often not be necessary for W-8BEN purposes if ... |
What are the pros and cons of buying an item on installments with zero percent interest? | If (and only if) there is a zero interest installment plan available, technically the only uncontrollable risk is that there will likely be a hard inquiry on your credit report which may or may not also have a corresponding debt obligation attached to it. (Personally, I recently signed up for one such plan with Google ... |
How much will a stock be worth after a merger? | If this is a one to one share exchange with added cash to make up the difference in value, you're getting 1 share of XYZ plus $19.20 in cash for each share of ABC. They calculated the per share price they're offering ($36) and subtracted the value of XYZ share at the time of the offer ($16.80) to get the cash part ($... |
First time home buyer. How to negotiate price? | Advice from a long-time flipper You negotiate price based on four factors and none of these are set in stone: How much you love the house. Is this house a 100 out of 100 for you or a 85 or a 75. How much have you compromised. What is the likelihood that you will find a house that will make you just as happy or at lea... |
A University student wondering if investing in stocks is a good idea? | For most people, investing in the stock market directly is one of the last things to do. That's not to say you shouldn't, but rather that there are other things to consider as well. Start with automatic monthly deposits to a liquid account such as savings or money market. The morale boost you get from seeing the balan... |
where to get stock price forecast | First, stock prices forecasts are usually pretty subjective so in the following resources you will find differing opinions. The important thing is to read both positive and negative views and do some of your additional research and form your own opinion. To answer your question, some analysts don't provide price target... |
Why don't SPY, SPX, and the e-mini s&p 500 track perfectly with each other? | The S&P 500 is an index. This refers to a specific collection of securities which is held in perfect proportion. The dollar value of an index is scaled arbitrarily and is based off of an arbitrary starting price. (Side note: this is why an index never has a "split"). Lets look at what assumptions are included in the pr... |
How does giving to charity work? | If I donate $10,000 to charity then I can deduct that $10,000 from my income and not pay income taxes on it. So if I make $50,000 a year then I will only pay income taxes on $40,000 instead of $50,000 since I donated $10,000 to charity. This is what is meant when charity contributions are said to be tax deductible. D... |
IRA contributions in a bear (bad) market: Should I build up cash savings instead? | You should consider dollar cost averaging your investments. Retirement account is perfect for that - it's long term with periodic deposits. Overall, by investing in stocks now for a long term, you'll benefit more because the stocks are at their low(er) point. |
How to calculate lump sum required to generate desired monthly income? | The product you seek is called a fixed immediate annuity. You also want to be clear it's inflation adjusted. In the US, the standard fixed annuity for a 40year old male (this is the lowest age I find on the site I use) has a 4.6% return. $6000/ yr means one would pay about $130,000 for this. The cost to include the in... |
Estate taxes and the top 1 percent by net worth | Data is a funny thing. There are many different ways of constructing data sets. Keep in mind, the cite you linked is fine, I follow this kind of site when I am data mining. They got their data from the Government, and there's no reason to doubt its validity. Keep in mind, it's a survey. They extrapolate from a survey o... |
Transfer $70k from Wells Fargo (US) to my other account at a Credit Union bank | The LLC is paying you. It would only be fraudulent if you were trying to move the money out of the LLC to avoid a liability. I'm pretty sure the transaction will be taxable income for you personally. Consider consulting with a CPA to ensure that you're doing the proper record keeping and to get advice on the best wa... |
How can a U.S. citizen open a bank account in Europe? | Tackling your last point, all banks in the EU should be covered to around €100,000. The exact figure varies slightly between countries, and generally only private deposits are covered. In the UK it's the FSCS that covers private deposits, to a value of £85,000, see this for more information on what's covered. In France... |
Is there a government-mandated resource that lists the shareholders of a public company? | There are several problems with trying to get this data: |
Calculating the total capital of a company? | I was wondering how do we calculate the total capital of a company? Which items should I look for in the financial statements? Total capital usually refers to the sum of long-term debt and total shareholder equity; both of these items can be found on the company's balance sheet. This is one of the calculations that's t... |
Can I transfer money from a personal pension to a SIPP, while leaving the original pension open? | Yes it's entirely possible; see below. If you can't find anything on transfers out (partial or otherwise) on anyone's site it's because they don't want to give anyone ideas. I have successfully done exactly what you're proposing earlier this year, transferring most of the value from my employer's group personal pensio... |
Making $100,000 USD per month, no idea what to do with it | If you already have 500k in a Schwab brokerage account, go see your Schwab financial consultant. They will assign you one, no charge, and in my experience they're sharp people. Sure, you can get a second opinion (or even report back here, maybe in chat?), but they will get you started in the right direction. I'd expect... |
super confused about bid and ask size. help | The principle of demand-supply law will not work if spoofing (or layering, fake order) is implemented. However, spoofing stocks is an illegal criminal practice monitored by SEC. In stock market, aggressive buyer are willing to pay for a higher ask price pushing the price higher even if ask size is considerably larger ... |
Have plenty of cash flow but bad credit | Sign up with credit karma. It will give you two scores for free and will show you credit cards you have a good chance in being approved for. Plus it will evaluate your score showing you the 6 items that effect your score and give you steps to improve them or tell you how long you have to wait until they roll off. Plu... |
Why would a company have 2 listings on the same exchange? | Some companies like Royal Dutch Shell have multiple share classes to suit the tax regimes in Holland and the UK the A shares have dutch withholding tax applied and the B shares dont. Also some split capital investment trusts have multiple share classes http://www.trustnet.com/Education/Split.aspx?ms=1 |
How are people able to spend more than what they make, without going into debt? | Rich people use debt for various reasons. The question should not assume that billionaires don't use debt. They also pay lower interest rates on that debt because they have enough collateral that their debt is safer than a typical mortgage. Many rich people will use interest only mortgages on their primary residences s... |
Are my parents ripping me off with this deal that doesn't allow me to build my equity in my home? | You are getting totally hosed mate. Assume you live in the house for ten years, can get a normal 30 year mortgage and house prices average at 3% annually You could get a mortgage at 3.8% so your monthly payment would be $560 a month. $60 a month difference over 10 year is $7200 Because you are paying down on a conven... |
How do currency markets work? What factors are behind why currencies go up or down? | The fiat currency is the basis for currency markets - that is, currency that is not made of precious metals. The factors that influence what the value of a fiat currency are the state of the country's economy, what the gov't says the value should be, their fiscal policies, as well as what the currency is trading at. ... |
How to change a large quantity of U.S. dollars into Euros? | You would probably be better off wiring the money from your US account to your French account. That IMHO is the cheapest and safest way. It doesn't matter much which bank to use, as it will go through the same route of SWIFT transfer, just choose the banks with the lowest fees on both sides, shop around a little. |
American living abroad and not working for an American company - tax reporting and bank accounts | The IRS taxes worldwide income of its citizens and green card holders. Generally, for those Americans genuinely living/working overseas the IRS takes the somewhat reasonable position of being in "2nd place" tax-wise. That is, you are expected to pay taxes in the country you are living in, and these taxes can reduce t... |
ESPP (Employee Stock Purchase Plan) Funds on Mortgage Loan Application | ESPP shares, once purchased, are just normal shares that you got at a discount. They're just as much a part of your current net wealth as any other shares of stock. What you can't do is claim that discount increases your salary, even if it does result in your effectively taking home more money. It's a benefit like the ... |
How and Should I Invest (As a college 18 year old with minimal living expenses)? | I have about $1K in savings, and have been told that you should get into investment and saving for retirement early. I make around $200 per week, which about $150 goes into savings. That's $10k per year. The general rule of thumb is that you should have six months income as an emergency fund. So your savings should b... |
Is CFD a viable option for long-term trading? | Something really does seem seedy that if I invest $2500, that I'll make above 50k if the stock doubles. Is it really that easy? You only buy or sell on margin. Think of when the stock moves in the opposite direction. You will loose 50k. You probably didn't look into that. Investment will vanish and then you will have d... |
If accepting more than $10K in cash for a used boat, should I worry about counterfeiting? | If you get counterfeit money, then you're dealing with the criminal who is going to be punished by the law for doing that. The portion of the total sum that was paid with the counterfeit currency is considered unpaid and you can claim the money from the criminal and sue him, while he's in jail. He'll work hard on those... |
How to spend more? (AKA, how to avoid being a miser) | People who choose "good enough" (satisficers) tend to be happier than people who choose "the best" (maximizers), see link. So decide you want to be a satisficer for most decisions, and then work at it: deliberately limit the amount of time you spend on a small decision, and celebrate a non-optimal decision. Decide to... |
I have $100,000 in play money… what to do? | If you want a concrete investment tip, precious metals (e.g. gold, silver) are on a pretty good run these days, personally I still think they have ways to go as there are just too many problems with modern monetary policy of an almost existential nature, and gold and silver are better stores of value than fiat money. S... |
Should I refi a rental property to reduce income tax from positive cash flow and use the equity pulled out to fund an annuity? | You need to do a bit more research and as @littleadv often wisely advises, consult a professional, in this case a tax layer or CPA. You are not allowed to just pull money out of a property and write off the interest. From Deducting Mortgage Interest FAQs If you own rental property and borrow against it to buy a home, ... |
What is the pitfall of using the Smith maneuver | The catch is that you're doing a form of leveraged investing. In other words, you're gambling on the stock market using money that you've borrowed. While it's not as dangerous as say, getting money from a loan shark to play blackjack in Vegas, there is always the chance that markets can collapse and your investment's v... |
Is there a way to buy raw oil today and sell it in 1 year time? | There are many ways of investing either directly or indirectly in oil: all of these options are ways to invest in an expected change in the price of oil at various degrees of directness and risk profiles. Investing in derivative or derivative-like products such as futures and CFDs is very risky and requires a good degr... |
Understanding stock market terminology | Opening - is the price at which the first trade gets executed at the start of the trading day (or trading period). High - is the highest price the stock is traded at during the day (or trading period). Low - is the lowest price the stock is traded at during the day (or trading period). Closing - is the price at which t... |
Bank will not accept loose change. Is this legal? | The bank certainly doesn't have to take it for a deposit; that's not a debt. There have been several cases where disgruntled debtors have attempted deliberately annoying ways to pay their debts; the apocryphal example being pennies. Courts are not likely to support such efforts since it's obvious that a) the action i... |
Why liquidity implies tight spread and low slippage | Consider the case where a stock has low volume. If the stock normally has a few hundred shares trade each minute and you want to buy 10,000 shares then chances are you'll move the market by driving up the price to find enough sellers so that you can get all those shares. Similarly, if you sell way more than the typic... |
What is the preferred way to finance home improvements when preparing to sell your house? | You should look into a home equity line of credit: A home equity line of credit (often called HELOC and pronounced HEE-lock) is a loan in which the lender agrees to lend a maximum amount within an agreed period (called a term), where the collateral is the borrower's equity in his/her house. Because a home often is a co... |
What should I do with the change in my change-jar? | I don't like paying the percentage on the supermarket coin counters, and don't feel like buying a coin counter so I have my own solution. I keep higher value coins for vending machines, parking meters etc, and lower value coins I put in charity boxes. |
Should I pay more than 20% down on a home? | I'd stick with 20% down. Truth is - we don't know enough about you. Are you single and staying that way? How is your retirement savings doing? As others asked, any other debt? You can put 20% down, take a breath and see how it's going. I did just that, the 20%. We then had a baby, and 5 nanny-years to pay for. When she... |
What is the rationale behind brokerages establishing tiers/levels for options trading? | Option tiers are broker specific, according mostly to their business model and presumably within the bounds of FINRA Rule 2111 (Suitability). The tier system can be as complex as E*Trade or as simple as none with Interactive Brokers. The suitability is determined presumably by compliance presumably by the legal history... |
Can a credit card company raise my rates for making a large payment? | No. That's pretty unlikely. Card issuers typically base your rate on your credit score. Paying down debt reduces your percent of available credit used, and improves your score until you are in the 1-20% range. That's optimum. To this issuer, you are one of a million customers, there's no emotion in this, just numbers t... |
What's the most conservative split of financial assets for my portfolio in today's market? | Before investing, absolutely follow the advice in mbhunter's answer. There is no safe investment (unless you count your mattress, and even there you could find moths, theives, or simple inflation taking a chunk out of your change). There is only maximizing your reward for a given level of risk - and there is always ri... |
Pay off car loan entirely or leave $1 until the end of the loan period? | Not sure if it is the same in the States as it is here in the UK (or possibly even depends on the lender) but if you have any amount outstanding on the loan then you wouldn't own the vehicle, the loan company would. This often offers extra protection if something goes wrong with the vehicle - a loan company talking to ... |
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