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Some questions about investing [duplicate]
What is the best form of investment? It only depends on your goals... The perfect amount of money depends also on your particular situation. The first thing you should start getting familiar with is the notion of portfolio and diversification. Managing risk is also fundamental especially with the current market funkine...
I co-signed a car but i am listed as the primary account holder for the loan
The buyer can get another cosigner or you can sell the car to pay off the loan. These are your only options if financing cannot be obtained independently.
I have an extra 1000€ per month, what should I do with it?
I'm almost in the same situation as you. Here is what I'm doing. Buy ETFs each time you have above 3000€ saved up. I buy these: HSBC S+P 500 C.S.-MSCI PACIFIC UBS-ETF-MSCI EMERGING MARKETS ISH.STOX.EUROPE 600 They are taxable under Abgeltungssteuer, so no hassle with that, are cheap and cover almost the entire world e...
Do I still need to file taxes with the Canadian government if I am working in the U.S. on a TN visa for a few years?
You are considered a Canadian resident if you have "significant residential ties to Canada". Because your wife lives in Canada, you therefore are a resident. Even by working temporarily in the US, you are still considered a "factual resident" of Canada. Due to that, your second question is irrelevant.
Is a car loan bad debt?
What's missing in your question, so Kate couldn't address, is the rest of your financial picture. If you have a fully funded emergency account, are saving for retirement, and have saved up the $15K for the car, buy in cash. If you tell me that if the day after you buy the car in cash, your furnace/AC system dies, tha...
Making a big purchase over $2500. I have the money to cover it. Should I get a loan or just place it on credit?
You want to know if you should pay cash or use a credit card like cash? There are so many benefits to the card, like purchase protection, cash back, and postponed payments, that there needs to be a really good reason to pay cash. If you are concerned about the 10% threshold, ask your credit card company to raise your ...
Historical share price at exact day and time
You'd have to buy that information. Quoting from this page, Commercial Historical Data Higher resolution and more complete datasets are generally not available for free. Below is a list of vendors which have passed our quality screening (in total, we screened over a dozen vendors). To qualify, the vendor must aggregate...
Should I cash out my Roth IRA to pay my mother's property tax debt, to avoid foreclosure on her home?
If it turns out that you do want to help pay the tax bill (after answering all the questions above), I say cash out those funds. You are apparently very young with a long work life ahead (lucky you). Step aside from the actual money part of it for a moment. What does your Mom want? What do you really want to do about t...
The doctor didn't charge the health insurance in time, am I liable?
This has a straightforward answer. It's likely that your doctor and the hospital have no responsibility to ensure that your insurance claim is filed in a timely manner. They bill you whether you or they get reimbursed by insurance, or not. The insurance company is more than happy not to pay you any way they can. Sorry ...
What are the advantages of paying off a mortgage quickly?
Considering that it's common for the monthly mortgage payment to be 25% of one's income, it's an obvious advantage for that monthly burden to be eliminated. The issue, as I see it, is that this is the last thing one should do in the list of priorities: The idea of 'no mortgage' is great. But. You might pay early and h...
How would one follow the “smart money” when people use that term?
Smart money (Merriam-Webster, Wiktionary) is simply a term that refers to the money that successful investors invest. It can also refer to the successful investors themselves. When someone tells you to "follow the smart money," they are generally telling you to invest in the same things that successful investors inve...
15 year mortgage vs 30 year paid off in 15
Your calculations are correct if you use the same mortgage rate for both the 15 and 30 year mortgages. However, generally when you apply for a 15 year mortgage the interest rate is significantly less than the 30 year rate. The rate is lower for a number of reasons but mainly there is less risk for the bank on a 15 ye...
What's the benefit of buying shares in a wholly owned subsidiary if you own parent company stock?
The parent company is likely to own other assets, which can be badly performing. Spinoffs are typically the better performers. There are also other factors, for example certain big funds cannot invest in sectors like tobacco or defense and for conglomerates it makes sense to spin those assets off to attract a wider inv...
What should we consider when withdrawing a large amount of money from a bank account?
withdraw in cash - bank reports it to IRS no matter what. Would this affect my tax filing in the coming year? No, and no. The bank doesn't report to the IRS. In the US - the bank will probably report to FinCEN. It has nothing to do with your tax return. withdraw in check - bank does not seem to report it. Is this cor...
How to invest in a specific market without investing in a specific company?
You need to hope that a fund exists targeting the particular market segment you are interested in. For example, searching for "cloud computing ETF" throws up one result. You'd then need to read all the details of how it invests to figure out if that really matches up with what you want - there'll always be various trad...
How to pay bills for one month while waiting for new job?
The first thing I would try is to take out a loan from a local credit union. If you don't know of any that you're eligible for, start looking at the National Credit Union Administration's Credit Union Locator. You should be able to get a good rate since your credit is so good. If for whatever reason you can't get the c...
What are the usual terms of a “rent with an option to buy” situation?
While the other people have tried to answer your question as thoroughly as possible, I fear they are entirely incorrect in answering your question itself as it stands. The answer is that there are no usual terms. There are a handful of different options coming out now for this exact scheme. Examples include the UK Gove...
What's are the differences between “defined contribution” and “defined benefit” pension plans?
Defined Benefit Plans: Defined benefit plans are disappearing because of their high cost to the companies that provide them. When an employee retires, the company must pay his pension for the rest of his life, even longer if the pension includes a survivor option. Thus the company's financial burden grows as more emp...
Advice on strategy for when to sell
It's impossibly difficult to time the market. Generally speaking, you should buy low and sell high. Picking 25% as an arbitrary ceiling on your gains seems incorrect to me because sometimes you'll want to hold a stock for longer or sell it sooner, and those decisions should be based on your research (or if you need the...
Are tax deductions voluntary?
What kind of "deductions" are you talking about? Many deductions, like the standard/itemized deductions, come after the AGI, and do not affect the AGI, so I don't see how this would make any difference. Maybe you are talking about deductions that come before the AGI? If you want to increase your AGI legitimately, here'...
Who can truly afford luxury cars?
A used luxury car coming out of lease is usually very affordable. They are usually in good condition, still look relatively new, and are within the same price range as a newer Toyota or Honda.
Value of a call option spread
You have to look at the real price of the share to calculate the value of the spread. 42$ at the start, 46$ at the end. Think of it this way: When price was 42$ the call 45$ was out of the money, worth 100$ of time value only=100 the call 40$ was in the money and worth 200$ of intrinsic + 100 time value=300 the differ...
Why is the fractional-reserve banking not a Ponzi scheme?
It is possible to pay down debt (including interest) without issuing new debt money to pay for it. I think this is the heart of your question. Let me present a highly contrived example in which society has four people and one bank. Here is a bank with $100 in initial deposits. Total money supply in this society is $100...
Is house swapping possible?
You would have to find someone in the other state who wanted to swap. This is conceivable but difficult if you want the houses to be the same value. How do you find the one person who lives in the right place now and wants to move to the right area? The normal way this situation is handled is to simply put your hou...
I received $1000 and was asked to send it back. How was this scam meant to work?
I would have asked for the intended recipient's account number and pursue sending the money there. If it's the same as yours (except for one digit) that would be a good sign. But even here, the crook could send money to dozens of different accounts, all off by one digit, just to make it look authentic. I'm going with s...
Can future rental income be applied to present debt-to-income ratio when applying for second mortgage?
They will include the rental income into the calculation. They don't give you a 100% credit for the income because they have to factor that you might have a gap between tenants. Years ago they only credited me with 66% of the expected monthly income. Example: This expense was then supposed to come from the 10% of my ...
I have an extra 1000€ per month, what should I do with it?
Congratulations on getting started in life! John Malloy's (American) research suggests that you should take some time to get used to living on your own, make some friends, and settle into your community. During this time, you can build up an emergency fund. If/when the stock markets do not seem to be in a bear market...
Saving money in college while paying for college
I wouldn't recommend trying to chase a good return on this money. I'd just put it into a savings account of some sort. If you can get a better interest rate with an online account, then feel free to do that. I'd recommend using this money to pay for as much of college out of pocket as you can. The more student loan...
What does an x% inflation rate actually mean?
Let's say there's a product worth $10 in July and the inflation rate in August is 10%. Will it then cost $11 in August? Yes. That's basically what inflation means. However. The "monthly" inflation numbers you typically see are generally a year over year inflation rate on that month. Meaning August 2017 inflation is ...
Is it worth trying to find a better minimum down payment for a first time home buyer?
If you are putting down less than 20% expect to need to pay PMI. When you first applied they should have described you a group of options ranging from minimal to 20% down. The monthly amounts would have varied based on PMI, down payment, and interest rate. The maximum monthly payment for principal, interest, taxes, an...
Fundamentals of creating a diversified portfolio based on numbers?
Your question is a complex one because knowledge of the investor's beliefs about the market is required. For almost any quantitative portfolio, one must have a good estimate of the expected return vector and covariance matrix of the assets in question. The expected return vector, in particular, is far from estimable....
Online transaction - Money taken out late
When processing credit/debit cards there is a choice made by the company on how they want to go about doing it. The options are Authorization/Capture and Sale. For online transactions that require the delivery of goods, companies are supposed to start by initially Authorizing the transaction. This signals your bank t...
Should I invest in the pre-IPO company stock offered by my employer?
Depending on your perspective of it, I can see reasons for and against this idea. Only with the benefit of hindsight can one say how wise or unwise it is to do so. Earlier in my career, I invested and lost it all. Understand if you do buy when would you be able to sell, do you have to have an account with the underwrit...
Why is property investment good if properties de-valuate over time?
Some of the other answers mention this, but I want to highlight it with a personal anecdote. I have a property in a mid-sized college town in the US. Its current worth about what we paid for it 9 years ago. But I don't care at all because I will likely never sell it. That house is worth about $110,000 but rents for $15...
If a stock has only buyers and no sellers how does its price go up?
You can, in theory, have the stock price go up without any trading actually occurring. It depends on how the price is quoted. The stock price is not always quoted as the last price someone paid for it. It can also be quoted as the ask price, which is the price a seller is willing to sell at, and the price youd pay if y...
Growth of unrealized gains in tax-managed index funds
I don't know that I can answer the question fully, but 2 points. The percent that represent capital gains certainly can't exceed 100. Did you mean 50% but the 500% is a typo? More important, funds held in retirement accounts have no issue with this, Cap Gains are meaningless within tax deferred accounts. I don't know ...
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...
Reason for “qualified” buyer requirements to exercise stock options/rights spun off from parent company?
Accredited investors are required to have 1 million in assets (not including primary residence) or $200,000/yr income for the last 3 years. These kinds of regulations come from the SEC, not the company involved, which means the SEC thinks it's a risky investment. If I recall correctly, [someone I know] had to submit ev...
How should I invest my money as a young graduate in Europe?
Before starting with investing, you should make sure you are saving enough. Living in a welfare country (France) does not exempt you from potentially needing to save large amounts of money. You state that you do not need much of an emergency day fund, but this is not true. Being dismissed unjustly from your job is no...
Why do Americans have to file taxes, even if their only source of income is from a regular job?
One of the reasons is also general distrust to the government. Another one is that there exist special interest group which profits from the complicated scheme, keep adding special cases, and has stronger financial situation that the opponents of such complex scheme. People do not trust government, or companies, to act...
Optimal down payment amount
The optimal down payment is 0% IF your interest rate is also 0%. As the interest rate increases, so does the likelihood of the better option being to pay for the car outright. Note that this is probably a binary choice. In other words, depending on the rate you will pay, you should either put 0% down, or 100% down. The...
Can I buy and sell a house quickly to access the money in a LISA?
Your first home can be up to £450,000 today. But that figure is unlikely to stay the same over 40 years. The government would need to raise it in line with inflation otherwise in 40 years you won't be able to buy quite so much with it. If inflation averages 2% over your 40 year investment period say, £450,000 would buy...
Opening a bank account with cash: How should bills be presented?
I currently have the twenties in 6 rolls of 5 I don't know what "roll" means to you (perhaps it's another word for grouping). I think of it as money rolled into a circular shape. Do not do that. Place all the money flat and together. Possibly hand them the hundred and twenties separately if you want to emphasize th...
Are personal finance / money management classes taught in high school, anywhere?
Did a little bit of digging, and found this article, from Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut. Hopefully this will be a growing trend. They say: A personal financial management class will now be offered at the beginning of the upcoming school year (2011-2012). According to the course catalogue, the focus of ...
How to explain quick price changes early in the morning
The gap up/down and rapid movement immediately following market open is due to overnight futures activity. In your example, SP500 on June 20, 2016 saw a 20-point gap up at market open. This was because the SP500 futures were trading 20 points higher at 9:30 AM than at its close on Friday. The index will always "catch u...
Is it preferable to move emergency savings/retirement into offset mortgage?
Assuming no constraints on how much you can move (or how frequently) into and out of your offset mortgage account, the question becomes one of what rate of return you expect from your long-term savings/emergency cash fund. The rate you are getting from the offset mortgage account is known; since it reduces the principa...
Is selling put options an advisable strategy for a retiree to generate stable income?
No. In good years, the income seems free. In a down year, particularly a bad one, the investor will be subject to large losses that will prove the strategy a bad one. On the other hand, one often hears of the strategy of selling puts on stock you would like to own. If the stock rises, you keep the premium, if it drop...
What is the buy-hold-sell indication based on?
It is simply an average of what each analyst covering that stock are recommending, and since they usually only recommend Hold or Buy (rarely Sell), the value will float between Hold and Buy. Not very useful IMHO.
How much percent of my salary should I use to invest in company stock?
You're talking about ESPP? For ESPP it makes sense to utilize the most the company allows, i.e.: in your case - 15% of the paycheck (if you can afford deferring that much, I assume you can). When the stocks are purchased, I would sell them immediately, not hold. This way you have ~10% premium as your income (pretty muc...
Why are Rausch Coleman houses so cheap? Is it because they don't have gas?
They are cheap because they are made from cheap material. All the homes in my addition are Ruasch Coleman and a lot of them are having issues (Oklahoma). Several are around 5 years old and have already had to get new roofs. On our neighborhood FB page there have been complaints with the plumbing system and flooding ...
Convention for adding ishares (ETFs) into personal accounts
ETF is essentially a stock, from accounting perspective. Treat it as just another stock in the portfolio.
What's a reliable way for a non-permanent resident alien in the USA to get an auto loan?
From personal experience (I financed a new car from the dealer/manufacturer within weeks of graduating, still on an F1-OPT):
For SSI, is “authorized user” status on a bank account the same as “ownership”?
Having dealt with with Social Security, state agencies, and banks more than I'd care to, I would urge you to do the following: 1) Get a 100% clear answer on whether or not you are listed as "joint" or "authorized user/signer" for an account. This will probably require a call to the bank, but for less than an hour of yo...
What does ES1 refer to in this picture?
ES1 is the Bloomberg symbol for the CME E-mini S&P 500 front-month continuous contract. ES2, ES3, etc. will likewise yield the 2nd and 3rd months. Which exact futures contract this symbol refers to will change about once a month.
How do you find reasonably priced, quality, long lasting clothing?
Are specific brand recommendations allowed? I'm a big fan of Lands' End. They have good quality clothing at reasonable prices in all the basic styles. They have great customer service and you con order online and avoid clothes shopping at the mall (which I hate).
Is there any reason to choose my bank's index fund over Vanguard?
Your bank's fund is not an index fund. From your link: To provide a balanced portfolio of primarily Canadian securities that produce income and capital appreciation by investing primarily in Canadian money market instruments, debt securities and common and preferred shares. This is a very broad actively managed fund. ...
Are stories of turning a few thousands into millions by trading stocks real?
Warren Buffett pointed out that if you set 1 million monkeys to flipping coins, after ten flips, one monkey in about 1,000 (1,024) actually, would have a "perfect" track record of 10 heads. If you can double your money every three to five years (basically, the outer limit of what is humanly possible), you can turn $1,0...
Dollar Cost Averaging (Or value averaging) vs Lot sizes, what am I missing?
Don't take it so literally. 100 is close to 98, so if your formula calls for 98, buy 100.
Finding stocks following performance of certain investor, like BRK.B for Warren Buffet
A couple points, first you don't point out what investors you want to invest with, and second BRK.B does not track anything; it is just a very small slice of his entire holdings BRK.A minus the voting rights. One solid way to go would be to buy BRK.B and also a tech ETF like QQQ, or XLK, ..or both.
Why are the banks and their customers in the United States still using checks? [duplicate]
Because it makes money for all parties, and because the general public is reluctant to any change. Who should have an interest to change that? People. And they have no say in it. You can actually do a lot without paper checks nowadays (I only use one per year for car taxes, as they do not accept anything else), but man...
Replacement for mint.com with a public API?
Plaid is exactly what you are looking for! It's docs are easy to understand, and you can sign up to their API and use their free tier to get started. An example request to connect a user to Plaid and retrieve their transactions data (in JSON):
What are the contents of fixed annuities?
An annuity is a contract. Its contents are "a contractual obligation from the issuing company". If you want to evaluate how your annuity is likely to fare, you're essentially asking whether or not its issuer will honor its contract. They're legally required to honor the contract, unless they go bankrupt. (Even if they ...
Is this mortgage advice good, or is it hooey?
Sounds like baloney to me. HELOCs are variable rate, so you are paying down the principal of a fixed rate loan with a variable rate loan. If you want to pay the mortgage down faster, make two half payments per month, and/or add a little extra to each payment (make sure with the bank that any extra will automatically go...
How do you measure the value of gold?
There is no such thing as intrinsic value. Gold has value because it is rare and has a market. If any of those things decline, the value plunges. The question of whether gold is overvalued or not is complicated and depends on a lot of factors. The key question in my mind is: Is gold more valuable in terms of US dollar...
How to invest in stocks without using an intermediary like a broker? Can shares be bought direct?
In theory you can buy shares directly from someone else who owns them. In practise, if the stock is listed on an exchange, they are unlikely to own them directly, they are likely to own them through an intermediary. You will have to pay fees to that intermediary to transfer the shares to your name. There are thousands ...
What does it really mean to buy a share?
Ditto to MD-Tech, but from a more "philosophical" point of view: When you buy stock, you own it, just like you own a cell phone or a toaster or a pair of socks that you bought. The difference is that a share of stock means that you own a piece of a corporation. You can't physically take possession of it and put it in y...
Why is it rational to pay out a dividend?
It comes down to the practical value of paying dividends. The investor can continually receive a stream of income without selling shares of the stock. If the stock did not pay a dividend and wanted continual income, the investor would have to continually sell shares to gain this stream of income, incurring transaction ...
Layman's guide to getting started with Forex (foreign exchange trading)?
Unless you have a lot of money to get rid of you should spend at least a year trading with a dummy account. It takes a long time to work out what is gong on and your training will get very expensive if you start using real money. Don't start trading with real money until you : Have a strategy. Never trade on a whim. On...
Money limit to pay tax for Patreon
If you are in the US, you legally must file taxes on any income whatsoever. How much you will pay in taxes, if any, will depend on your total taxable income. Now, for small transactions, the payments are often not reported to the IRS so some people do not file or pay. The threshold at which they payer is required to ...
Is it possible to physically own a share certificate in a company?
There is a company that will sell you single paper shares of stock for many companies and handle framing. But you pay a large premium over the stock price. Disney stopped doing paper share certificates a while ago, but you should be able to buy some of the old ones on eBay if you want.
Where on schedule C should a PO Box Rental fee go?
Turbotax community had a similar question. They claim you just put it into "Office Expense". I never understood why there are so many categories when they are just summed up and subtracted from your income. How can you possibly get in trouble for putting something in a wrong column if the final tax liability doesn't c...
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...
Why does the Brexit cause a fall in crude oil prices?
Uncertainty has very far reaching effects. Oil is up ~100% since February and down ~40% from it's 52 week high (and down even more on a longer timeline). It's not exactly a stable investment vehicle and moves a few percent each day on basically nothing. A lot of securities will be bouncing around for the next coupl...
Does high frequency trading provide economic value?
You pointed out that HFT does not create ipods are mine minerals. Neither does human trading. HFT is a proxy for human trading. Although the computer is executing trades automatically based on an algorithm, it is still using money from a human being's account so the trading is still being done with someone's money. F...
If I were to get into a life situation where I would not be able to make regular payments, do lenders typically provide options other than default?
I would say generally, the answer is No. There might be some short term relief to people in certain situations, but generally speaking you sign a contract to borrow money and you are responsible to pay. This is why home loans offer better terms then auto loans, and auto loans better than credit cards or things like ...
What is the median retirement savings in the United States today?
Statistics are often tough to grasp. Specifically, we need to understand the exact context and implication of the data and how it's presented. An example - I look at real estate sales data for a given town, and find that for the last 10 years, the average sale price has dropped, 3%/yr, every year for these 10. What...
Is it better to use DRIP or invest when stock drops before ex-date?
The benefit of a dividend reinvestment program is you, generally, don't pay transaction costs or commissions and you don't have to remember to do it. Whether or not you may be able to eek out a little more by managing this yourself is a crapshoot and the equivalent of timing the market. If you're so good at timing t...
Valuing a company and comparing to share price
There are books on the subject of valuing stocks. P/E ratio has nothing directly to do with the value of a company. It may be an indication that the stock is undervalued or overvalued, but does not indicate the value itself. The direct value of company is what it would fetch if it was liquidated. For example, if you bo...
If the put is more expensive than the call, what does it mean
There are many reasons. Here are just some possibilities: The stock has a lot of negative sentiment and puts are being "bid up". The stock fell at the close and the options reflect that. The puts closed on the offer and the calls closed on the bid. The traders with big positions marked the puts up and the calls down be...
Is there a limit on the dollar amount of a personal check?
Like the old American Express commercial: "no preset spending limit". It is really up to the bank(s) in question how big a cheque they are willing to honour. A larger amount would likely be held longer by a receiving institution to ensure that it cleared properly, but nothing written in law (in Canada, that I am aware ...
Track uninvoiced (pre-invoiced?) expected income in Quicken
You are right on track with your idea of setting up a separate account for invoiced income. Create a new account with the type other asset and call it "Receivables" (or something similar). Every time you invoice a client, enter a credit to this account with the amount of the invoice. Once the client pays and you deposi...
What kinds of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) should specifically be avoided?
As with ANY investment the first answer is....do not invest in any that you do not fully understand. ETF's are very versatile and can be used for many different people for many different parts of their portfolio, so I don't think there can be a blanket statement of "this" one is good or bad for all.
Why is there inconsistent returns difference between direct and regular Mutual Funds?
If this is the case, then shouldn't the difference between their annualized returns be same year on year? In general yes, however there difference has a compounding effect. i.e. if the difference if 5% first year, this money is invested and it would generate more of the said returns. However in reality as the corpus si...
Why does the biotechnology industry have such a high PE ratio?
Residential Construction at 362x, by the way. I'm going to hazard a guess here - Say XYZ corp trades at $100, and it's showing a normal earnings of $10 the last few years. Its industry falls on hard times, and while it makes enough to keep its doors open, profits fall to $1. The company itself is still sound, but the s...
What happens to my stocks when broker goes bankrupt?
+1 to YosefWeiner. Let me add: Legally, technically, or at least theoretically, when you buy stock through a broker, you own the stock, not the broker. The broker is just holding it for you. If the broker goes bankrupt, that has nothing to do with the value of your stock. That said, if the broker fails to transfer your...
How to measure the cost/value of an Asset in the Financial Statement
Does the friend fix your electrical wiring and the engine of your car? If you need a professional advice - ask a professional. In this case - an accountant (not necessarily a CPA, but at least an experienced bookkeeper). Financial Statements (official documents, that is) must be signed by a public accountant (CPA in th...
Is it a good idea to get a mortgage when buying a house, for credit reasons?
It may or may not be a good idea to borrow money from your family; there are many factors to consider here, not the least of which is what you would do if you got in serious financial trouble and couldn't make your scheduled payments on the loan. Would you arrange with them to sell the property ASAP? Or could they easi...
Can you sell a security through a different broker from which it was purchased?
Many brokers allow you to transfer shares to another broker without selling them. It depends on what kind of account and who the broker is for what forms you might have to fill out and what other hoops you might have to jump through.
Why can Robin Hood offer trading without commissions?
They make money off you by increasing the spread you buy and sell your stocks through them. So for example, if the normal spread for a stock was $10.00 for a buy and $10.02 for a sell, they might have a spread of $9.98 for the buy and $10.02 for the sell. So for an order of 1000 shares (approx. $10000) they would make...
If I short-sell a dividend-paying stock, do I have to pay the dividend?
You could hold a long position in some company XXXX and then short your own shares (assuming your broker will let you do that). The dividend that would have gone to you would then go to whoever is holding the shares you short sold. You just don't get a dividend. If you're going to short in a smart way... do it on a...
For a mortgage down-payment, what percentage is sensible?
I think anything from 10% on demonstrates a reasonable ability to save. I would consider ongoing debt level a better indicator than the size of the down payment. It's been my experience that, without exception, there is a direct correlation between a persons use of revolving credit and their ability to manage their mo...
One company asks for picture of my debit card
I don't see a way that this would make matters worse than just giving them the credit card info... Except that it would make abusing the card easier at some other site (or the bank) if they have a similar (unreasonably weak) security-by-photo test. Still, I'd strongly recommend you use a separate card for this so you c...
Purpose of having good credit when you are well-off?
there are several reasons you might want good credit even if you could afford to pay for all your expenses in cash. having pointed out all the above reasons to have good credit, it is probably worth noting that many people with good credit choose to not borrow simply because they are more comfortable with the risks of ...
Should market based health insurance premiums be factored into 6 months emergency fund savings?
Yes, it should be. As, where one has insurance, its an expense one would expect one to continue to incur in a normal budgetary emergency, even drop in the extreme.
Super-generic mutual fund type
You can also create a CD ladder (say 1/3 in a 6 month CD, 1/3 in a 1 year CD, 1/3 in a 2 year CD) with half of your emergency fund money. You always want to leave some of it in a liquid account so you can get at it immediately without any interest penalty. CD's provide higher interest than a savings account. By stag...
What to do if the stock you brought are stopped trading
The Indian regulator (SEBI) has banned trading in 300 shell companies that it views as being "Shady", including VB Industries. According to Money Control (.com): all these shady companies have started to rally and there was a complaint to SEBI that investors are getting SMSs from various brokerage firms to invest in th...
Death and Capital Gains Taxes (United States)
My understanding is that when you die, the stocks are sold and then the money is given to the beneficiary or the stock is repurchased in the beneficiaries name. This is wrong, and the conclusion you draw from michael's otherwise correct answer follows your false assumption. You seem to understand the Estate Tax fe...
How to determine how much to charge your business for rent (in your house)?
It depends on the structure of your business. Are you a sole proprietor filing Schedule C on your 1040, or an S-corp, or part of a partnership? The treatment of a home office will differ depending on business entity.
Are COBRA premiums deductible when self-employed?
Here is a quote from the IRS website on this topic: You may be able to deduct premiums paid for medical and dental insurance and qualified long-term care insurance for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents. The insurance can also cover your child who was under age 27 at the end of 2011, even if the child was...
Which US market indexes (Dow/DJIA, S&P500, NASDAQ) include reinvested dividends?
.INX (the S&P 500 index itself) does not include reinvested dividens. You can figure total return by going to Yahoo finance, historical data. Choose the start year, and end year. You should find that data for SPY (going back to 1993) will show an adjusted close, and takes dividends into account. This isn't perfect as ...