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Is there any reason not to put a 35% down payment on a car?
If you are going to finance a used car, it is frequently best to arrange financing before you even pick out the car. The easiest way I recommend is to talk to a local credit union or two. They'll be able to tell you your interest rate and terms without having to talk to the dealer at all. Most likely, they'll be ...
What percent of my salary should I save?
What percent of my salary should I save? is tightly coupled with its companion, What size “nest egg” should my husband and I have, and by what age? Interestingly, Mr.Christer's answer, 10%, is the number that plugs into the equation that I reference. Jay's 25X rule is part of this. We start with the assumption that one...
What is the most effective saving money method?
Entire books have been written on how to get to the end of the month before you get to the end of the money. It's a very broad problem. But in your case, let me point out that your salary never "suddenly disappears" (unless you're paid in cash and it blew away or was stolen while you were sleeping.) You spent it. For ...
How to calculate new price for bond if yield increases
The duration of a bond tells you the sensitivity of its price to its yield. There are various ways of defining it (see here for example), and it would have been preferable to have a more precise statement of the type of duration we should assume in answering this question. However, my best guess (given that the duratio...
Should I pay cash or prefer a 0% interest loan for home furnishings?
There are lots of good points here already, but something that hasn't been mentioned yet is what would happen if the purchased items break or are somehow defective? Depending on the warranty and how trustworthy the company is, there could be an advantage to not having fully paid for the item yet when a defect is discov...
Multiple people interested in an Apartment
I don't know how many people "a ton" is, but if you are getting more than, say, 6 people who are qualified to rent, you've priced it too low. Better to ask for $1200, and have a potential tenant haggle or ask you to reduce the price than to have 6 people want it for $900. It's worth it to run a credit report, and let ...
Why is there such disparity of max contribution limits between 401K accounts and regular IRA accounts?
IRAs were invented to help individuals save for retirement. 401(k)s were invented to help corporations provide more compensation to highly valued employees.
IRR vs. Interest Rates
IRR is not subjective, this is a response to @Laythesmack, to his remark that IRR is subjective. Not that I feel a need to defend my position, but rather, I'm going to explain his. My company offered stock at a 15% discount. We would have money withheld from pay, and twice per year buy at that discount. Coworkers said...
Common practice for start/end date of balance sheet
One's paycheck typically has a YTD (year to date) number that will end on the latest check of the year. I am paid bi-weekly, and my first 2012 check was for work 12/25 - 1/7. So, for my own balance sheet, brokerage statements and stock valuations end 12/31, but my pay ended 12/24. And then a new sheet starts.
Mortgage sold to yet another servicer. What are my options?
Your mortgage terms are locked in; the servicer/new owner cannot change the terms without your consent, but the servicer can be more aggressive in taking action (as specified in your mortgage contract) against you. For example, if the mortgage agreement calls for penalties for missing a payment or making it late, you...
why is the money withdrawn from traditional IRA taxed at the ordinary income tax rate?
In a Traditional IRA contributions are often tax-deductible. For instance, if a taxpayer contributes $4,000 to a traditional IRA and is in the twenty-five percent marginal tax bracket, then a $1,000 benefit ($1,000 reduced tax liability) will be realized for the year. So that's why they tax you as income, because they ...
What should I do with the 50k I have sitting in a European bank?
As always with investments, it depends on your risk adversity. I don't want to repeat the content of hundreds of recommendations here, so just the nutshell: (For qualified investments,) the more risk you are willing to take, the more returns you'll get. The upper end is the mutual funds and share market, where you have...
How can I get a wholesaler ID number?
This is a state by state thing, and I'm cheating because I know you are in New York State:
Can banks deny that you've paid your loan?
If the loan is for a car, or mortgage there is specific paperwork that is processed when the loan payments have been completed. For other types of loans ask the lender, what will they give you regarding the payoff of the loan. Keep this paperwork, in hard copy and electronic form forever.
What financial data are analysed (and how) to come up with a stock recommendation?
The short answer: it depends. The long answer.. Off the top of my head, there are quite a number of factors that an analyst may look at when analyzing a stock, to come up with a recommendation. Some example factors to look at include: The list goes on. Quite literally, any and all factors are fair game for a recommen...
For a mortgage down-payment, what percentage is sensible?
The typical down-payment was expected to be 20%. The idea being that if one could not save 1/5 of the cost of a house, they were not responsible enough to ensure repayment of the loan. It is hard to say whether this is truly a relevant measure. However, in the absence of other data points, it is pretty decent. It ty...
Suitable Vanguard funds for a short-term goal (1-2 years)
If you want to invest in the stock market, whether over a shorter period of 1 to 2 years or over a longer period of 10 or 20 years or longer you need to take some precautions and have a written investment plan with a risk management strategy incorporated in your plan. Others have said that 1 to 2 years is too short to ...
Why use accounting software like Quickbooks instead of Excel spreadsheets?
Here are the few points: Hope that helps,
Can I buy stocks directly from a public company?
This is allowed somewhat infrequently. You can often purchase stocks through DRIPs which might have little or no commission. For example Duke Energy (DUK) runs their plan internally, so you are buying from them directly. There is no setup fee, or reinvestment fee. There is a fee to sell. Other companies might have ...
I cosigned on a house for my brother
He wasn't wrong that a mortgage would help your credit score, assuming that this was a perfect world and everyone held up their end of the bargain. However, now that he hasn't, you are still legally obligated to pay the loan amount (including his portion of it). As for a lawsuit, it would be hard to prove what he said ...
what if a former employer contributes to my 401k in the year following my exit?
The vast majority of individual taxpayers in the United States operate on a cash basis of accounting. This means that the assignment of deductions or income to tax year is based on the date of the paycheck. So the money in that early January 2016 paycheck has been correctly assigned to the 2016 tax year. This is unfor...
If a company goes private, does it still count as a capital gain/loss?
does it still count as a capital gain or loss? Yes. Is it essentially treated like you sold the stock at the price of the buy-out? Yes. Do you still get a 1099-B from your broker? Yes.
Is 401k as good as it sounds given the way it is taxed?
This is an excellent topic as it impacts so many in so many different ways. Here are some thoughts on how the accounts are used which is almost as important as the as calculating the income or tax. The Roth is the best bang for the buck, once you have taken full advantage of employer matched 401K. Yes, you pay taxes u...
Why does the stock market index get affected when a terrorist attack takes place?
There are more than a few different ways to consider why someone may have a transaction in the stock market: Employee stock options - If part of my compensation comes from having options that vest over time, I may well sell shares at various points because I don't want so much of my new worth tied up in one company sto...
Merchant dispute with airline over missed flight, and which credit cards offer protection?
EDIT To answer what I think you question is: I do not know of anything other than trip cancellation insurance. And you must be very careful that the policy you purchase for your trip covers the circumstance you described. Essentially, you opted not to take the flight. Not all trip cancellation policies will cover th...
Expecting to move in five years; how to lock mortgage rates?
Outside of broadly hedging interest rate risk as I mentioned in my other answer, there may be a way that you could do what you are asking more directly: You may be able to commit to purchasing a house/condo in a pre-construction phase, where your bank may be willing to lock in a mortgage for you at today's rates. The m...
Transferred Stocks in 1993, sold 2017 taxes
Assuming the stock was worth more at the time she gave it to you than when she bought it, the cost basis would be the amount that she bought it for. You would then pay tax on the increase in value from that time. Generally it's better to inherit assets than receive them as gifts, since the cost basis of inherited asse...
Are cashiers required to check a credit card for a signature in the U.S.?
I'm not sure if they're required to do so, but I have been neglecting to sign my cards for some time now. If they do check, that triggers an ID check, where they'll find my signature. I know of at least one person that writes "see ID" instead of signing their cards. He began that practice over 10 years ago.
How can you correlate a company stock's performance with overall market performance?
How can you correlate a company stock's performance with overall market performance. No you can't. There is no simple magic formulae that will result in profits. There are quite a few statistical algorithms that specialists have built, that work most of the times. But they are incorrect most of the times as well.
Definition of “secular” in the context of markets?
According to Wikipedia: In the finance industry, something done on a secular basis is done on a long-term basis, not a temporary or cyclical one, with a time frame of "10–50 years or more" Source
Do I need to pay taxes in India?
Do I need to pay taxes in India in this scenario? For India tax purposes, you would still qualify as "Resident Indian". As a resident Indian you have to pay taxes on Global income. It is not relevant whether you transfer the money back to India to keep in US. The income is generated and taxable. Depending on your cont...
Employer-Paid relocation as taxable income?
If all of the relocation expenses are paid by your employer to the moving companies, then you should not have any tax liability for those payments. Relocation expenses should be treated as normal business expenses by your employer. Note I emphasize "should" because it's possible that your employer "could" consider it i...
How exactly is implied volatility assigned to an option's strike price?
As I understand it, Implied Volatility represents the expected gyrations of an options contract over it's lifetime. No, it represents that expected movement of the underlying stock, not the option itself. Yes, the value of the option will move roughly in the same direction the value of the stock, but that's not what ...
What is the correct pronunciation of CAGR?
I always hear people pronounce it to rhyme with "bagger".
As an investing novice, what to do with my money?
I'm normally not a fan of partitioning investment money into buckets but your case may be the clearest case for it I've seen in awhile. Your income and saving is good and you have two clearly defined goals of retirement saving and saving for a house each with very different time frames ~30 years and 3-5 years respecti...
How long should I keep an uncleared transaction in my checkbook?
With a check, there are limits on cashing the stale check, but that is set by the banks involved. With a debit card transaction, it will be up the the debit card company and your bank. Imagine a situation where a person finds an old check and tries to cash it at their bank. If the bank considers the check stale, they m...
What effect will the financial reform bill have on everyday Americans?
The Wall Street Journal says in its "For Consumers" section of its infographic: There's also some new agencies (including a "consumer watchdog agency"), and some new rules the SEC can implement, and it lets state pass more laws affecting national banks, but it doesn't look like there's much in particular that it does f...
How can I avoid international wire fees or currency transfer fees?
I did some empirical research, comparing the exchange rates for wire transfers vs. the exchange rates for ATM withdrawals. With my bank, wire transfers typically take a 4% float off the exchange rate. ATM withdrawals seem to take just over 2%. And ATM withdrawals don't have a wire transfer fee, as long as I'm withdrawi...
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 ...
Is the concept of an “odd lot” adjusted to stock price?
I will assume that you are not asking in the context of high frequency trading, as this is Personal Finance Stack Exchange. It is completely acceptable to trade odd lots for retail brokerage customers. The odd lot description that you provided in your link, from Interactive Brokers is correct. But even in that context,...
What are the downsides that prevent more people from working in high-income countries, and then retiring in low-income (and cost of living) ones?
I'm currently working as an expat, and my grandparents used to work overseas but retired to Canada so you could say my family has done things completely the opposite of what you suggest. However there are a number of very good reasons that my grandparents have done things the way we have, and I think it's worth sharing...
What is the most effective saving money method?
A technique that is working pretty well for me: Hide the money from myself: I have two bank accounts at different banks. Let's call them A and B. I asked my employer to send my salary into account A. Furthermore I have configured an automatic transfer of money from account A to account B on the first of each month. I ...
Why is day trading considered riskier than long-term trading?
Day trading is an attempt to profit on high frequency signal changes. Long term investing profits on low frequency changes. What is the difference? High Frequency Signal = the news of the day. This includes things like an earnings report coming out, panic selling, Jim Cramer pushing his "buy buy buy" button, an oil rig...
Got a large cash sum, wanna buy stocks. Should I buy all at once, or spread it over time?
When you hear advice to buy index funds, that usually comes with two additional pieces of investment discipline advice that are important: These two elements are important to give you relative predictability in your outcome 20 years from now. In this old blog post of mine I linked to Warren Buffett talking about this,...
Does gold's value decrease over time due to the fact that it is being continuously mined?
As one can see here, the world population is growing. Assuming worldwide demand for gold is a function of population, the question you have to ask is whether gold mining outpaces population growth. Just eyeballing it, I'd say they're about even although annual production is far noisier. Keep in mind that gold extractio...
Investing Superannuation Australia
You can make a start to learn how to make better investing decisions by learning and understanding what your current super funds are invested in. Does the super fund give you choices of where you can invest your funds, and how often does it allow you to change your investment choices each year? If you are interested in...
Why do I get a much better price for options with a limit order than the ask price?
I can often get the option at [a] price [between bid and ask] The keyword you use here is quite relevant: often. More realistically, it's going to be sometimes. And that's just how supply and demand should work. The ask is where you know you can buy right away. If you don't wanna buy at ask, you can try and put a hige...
Why do investors buy stock that had appreciated?
For the same reason you wanted it when you bought it. No-one guarantees that you'll be able to sell the stock you hold, and in fact many people get stuck with stocks they'd like to sell, but no-one is buying. But if investors think there's a profit potential that is not exhausted yet - they'll want to buy the stock.
Online stock screener to find stocks that are negatively correlated to another stock/index?
There are lists with Top 1,000 Most and Less correlated stocks for different markets, I think you'll find the solution here: https://unicornbay.com/tools/most-less-correlated-assets
Why buy stock of a company instead of the holding company who has more than 99% of the stocks
In a situation like this, I presume you'd invest in the child company if you thought that the child company would increase in value at a higher rate than the parent. You'd invest in the parent company if you thought the parent company would perform well as a whole, but you did not want to assume the risk of an individu...
One of my stocks dropped 40% in 2 days, how should I mentally approach this?
You bought the stock at some point in the past. You must have had a reason for this purchase. Has the recent change in price changed the reason you bought the stock? You must assume your losses are sunk costs. No matter what action you take, you can not recover your losses. Do not attempt to hold the stock in the hopes...
Why can't a US state default, but a EU state can?
US or EU states are sovereigns which cannot go bankrupt. US states have defaulted in the 1840's, but in most of those cases creditors were eventually repaid in full. (I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that Indiana was an exception with regard to costs incurred building a canal system) The best modern example of a true n...
Do I just let an options conversion/reversal trade go to expiration?
To Chris' comment, find out if the assignment commission is the same as the commission for an executed trade. If that does affect the profit, just let it expire. I've had spreads (buy a call, sell a higher strike call, same dates) so deep in the money, I just made sense to let both exercise at expiration. Don't panic ...
Learning investing and the stock market
It is great that you want to learn more about the Stock Market. I'm curious about the quantitative side of analyzing stocks and other financial instruments. Does anyone have a recommendation where should I start? Which books should I read, or which courses or videos should I watch? Do I need some basic prerequisites su...
Do I even need credit cards?
A credit card can be a long running line of credit that will help to boost your FICO score. However if you have student loans, a mortgage, or car payments those will work just as well. If you ever get to the point where you don't have any recent lines of credit, this may eventually end up hurting your score, but until...
What are some ways to mitigate the risks of covered calls?
If the position starts losing money as soon as it is put on, then I would close it out ,taking a small loss. However, if it starts making money,as in the stock inches higher, then you can use part of the premium collected to buy an out of money put, thereby limiting your downside. It is called a collar.
Strategy to minimize taxes due to unpaid wages?
Can I write off the $56,000 based on demand letters? Or do I need to finish suing him to write-off the loss? No and no. You didn't pay taxes on the money (since you didn't file tax returns...), so what are you writing off? If you didn't get the income - you didn't get the income. Nothing to write off. Individuals in ...
Should I change 401k investment options to prepare for rising interest rates?
The bond funds should tell you their duration. My 401(k) has similar choices, and right now, I'm at the short maturity, i.e. under 1 year. The current return is awful, but better than the drop the longer term funds will experience as rates come back up. Not quite mathematically correct, but close enough, "duration" gi...
Why not just invest in the market?
Index funds do leech a "free ride" on the coattails of active traders. Consider what would happen if literally everyone bought index funds. For a company there would be no motivation to excel. Get listed; all the index funds are forced to buy your stock; now sit on your derriere playing Freecell, or otherwise scam/lo...
Is there a Yahoo Finance ticker for NYMEX Crude Oil Front Month?
Yahoo Finance has this now, the ticker is CL=F.
Does an issue of bonus shares improve shareholder value?
It sounds like "bonus shares" are the same as a stock dividend. Stock dividends are equivalent to a stock split except for accounting treatment (good explanation here: http://www.accountingcoach.com/online-accounting-course/17Xpg05.html). As an investor, the only likely effect of a stock dividend is to make it more com...
Trading large volumes with penny profits per share
How do you know the shares will go up after you buy? The ultimate risk in your scenario is that you buy at a peak, and then that peak is never reached again. Over time, stock markets go up [more or less because there is a net increase in the overall production of the economy as time goes on]. However, you won't experie...
Can one get a house mortgage without buying a house?
I've never heard of a loan product like that. Yes, if they keep the funds in an account, it is no risk to the bank, but they would essentially need to go through the loan process twice for the same loan: when you pick a house, they need to reevaluate everything, along with appraising and approving the house. Even if y...
Can capital expenses for volunteer purposes be deducted from income?
Costs for home / small business equipment under US$10,000 don't have to be capitalized. They can be expensed (that is, claimed as an expense all in one year.) Unless this printer is one of those behemoths that collates, folds, staples, and mails medium-sized booklets, it cost less than that. Keep track of your costs....
Outstanding car bill, and I am primary but have not driven it for 2 years
Sounds like you need to contact your ex and sort it out. If you have co-signed the loan, changes are you are equally responsible even if on party chooses not to pay, then the bank will come after the other one. If you no longer wish to be part of the arrangement and your ex still wants the car, she will have to buy you...
How can I save on closing costs when buying a home?
Good answers here. I would like to add one more (less obvious) way to save - look for houses that are For Sale By Owner (FSBO). Owner's who are selling without an agent do not have to pay a seller's agent fee. The closing cost savings here are actually on the seller's side of the transaction. However, since you know th...
How do I find the mappings between sedol and isin codes?
You can get this information through Bloomberg, but it's a paid service.
How do you get your Canadian stock information?
I only follow the news of stocks I already own. I use the GlobeInvest Watchlist http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/my-watchlist/ each Friday night. In the drop-down views choose ALL NEWS I believe that there is a strong "grass is greaner .." effect from always looking at what other stock are doing - lea...
How is Discover different from a Visa or a MasterCard?
Each of those is a network. Merchants displaying their logos - participate in their network and will accept cards that bear the same logo. Most merchants participate in more than one network. Discover is mostly used in the US, while Visa, Mastercard and American Express are more widely spread in the world (Amex less, V...
Why invest in IRA while a low-cost index fund is much simpler?
Here are the few scenarios that may be worth noting in terms of using different types of accounts: Traditional IRA. In this case, the monies would grow tax-deferred and all monies coming out will be taxed as ordinary income. Think of it as everything is in one big black box and the whole thing is coming out to be taxed...
What is a mutual fund?
Let's say that you want to invest in the stock market. Choosing and investing in only one stock is risky. You can lower your risk by diversifying, or investing in lots of different stocks. However, you have some problems with this: When you buy stocks directly, you have to buy whole shares, and you don't have enoug...
Why pay estimated taxes?
In addition to the other answers, which cover the risks of what is essentially leveraged investing, I'd like to point out that the 2.6% penalty is a flat rate. If you are responsible for withholding your own taxes then you are paying tax four times a year. So any underpayment on your first quarterly tax payment will ha...
How can I find hotel properties to buy other than using Google?
Probably the easiest way to invest in hotel rooms in the U.S. is to invest in a Real Estate Investment Trust, or REIT. REITs are securities that invest in real estate and trade like a stock. There are different REITs that invest in different things: some own office buildings, some residential rentals, some hold mortg...
Can you help me find an ETF Selection website that evaluates my ETF holdings?
I used to use etfconnect before they went paid and started concentrating on closed end funds. These days my source of information is spread out. The primary source about the instrument (ETF) itself is etfdb, backed by information from Morningstar and Yahoo Finance. For comparison charts Google Finance can't be beat. Fo...
Receive credit card payment sending my customer details to a credit card processing company?
Yes, there are a bunch. I have used Paypal and it worked quite nicely. I see endless ads these days for Square, a tiny card reader that you plug into a smartphone that lets you swipe the card. (With Paypal you have to type in the credit card number.)
Blog income taxes?
If the money comes to you, then it's income. If the money goes out from you, it's an expense. You get to handle the appropriate tax documentation for those business transactions. You may also have the pleasure of filing 1099-MISC forms for all of your blogging buddies if you've paid them more than $600. (Not 100% su...
Canceling credit cards - insurance rate increase?
You don't need to have a bunch of credit cards lying around; just a couple is fine. Get a "rewards" card (without annual fee) that pays you back for use, and use it regularly to buy groceries, for example. Pay it off promptly each month, using the rewards, if you like, to reduce the amount you have to send in. Or you c...
How can people have such high credit card debts?
You must understand that not everyone has or can get credit cards. Consider that those who are in the the lowest 20-30% of income tend to have fewer credit cards (or none), and lower credit debt, although some have quite high credit card debt relative to their income. So you really aren't comparing the same demographi...
Newbie question - Brokerage and selling shares
And to answer your other questions about fees, there are a number of sites that compare brokers' fees, Google "broker fee comparison". I like the Motley Fool, although there are a lot of others. However, don't go just by the comparison sites, because they can be out-of-date and usually just have the basic fees. Once yo...
Why is financial data of some public companies not available on Yahoo Finance?
In general, the short answer is to use SEDAR, the Canadian database that compiles financial statements for Canadian companies. The financial statements for Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp can be found here. The long answer is that the data might be missing because in Canada, each province has their own agency to regulate...
Can a self-employed person have a Health Savings Account?
IRS Publication 969 gives all the details about HSA accounts and High Deductible plans: According to your question you are covered by a plan that can have an HSA. There a few points of interest for you: Contributions to an HSA Any eligible individual can contribute to an HSA. For an employee's HSA, the employee, the...
What are the best software tools for personal finance?
Excel Pros: Cons:
Sole proprietorship or LLC?
The primary advantage is protection of your personal assets. If your LLC gets sued, they can't take your house/car/dog/wife. There aren't really any financial incentives to be an LLC; because of the pass-thru taxing structure, you wind up paying the same in taxes either way. "The cost" will depend on where you're locat...
Are stories of turning a few thousands into millions by trading stocks real?
Consider this thought experiment: Take 10 million people and give them each $3,000. Every day they each purchase a random stock with all of their money. The next day they flip a coin and if it's heads they do nothing, and if it's tails they sell it and purchase another random stock. Repeat everyday for 5 years....
How do I figure out if I will owe taxes
Do you have a regular job, where you work for somebody else and they pay you a salary? If so, they should be deducting estimated taxes from your paychecks and sending them in to the government. How much they deduct depends on your salary and what you put down on your W-4. Assuming you filled that out accurately, they w...
Google free real-time stock quotes
Previously, Google had a delayed update for their stock prices (15 minutes I believe). That change enabled users of Google Finance to see updates to stock prices in real-time.
Income tax laibility in India for Stock traded in USA as a resident Indian
my tax liabilities in India on my stock profit in US You would need to pay tax on the profit in India as well after you have become resident Indian. India and US have a double tax avoidance treaty. Hence if you have already paid tax in US, you can claim benefit and pay balance if any. For example if you US tax liabili...
Does an issue of bonus shares improve shareholder value?
This IS a stock split. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_split Ratios of 2-for-1, 3-for-1, and 3-for-2 splits are the most common, but any ratio is possible. Splits of 4-for-3, 5-for-2, and 5-for-4 are used, though less frequently. Investors will sometimes receive cash payments in lieu of fractional shares.
Why would you sell your bonds?
Investment strategies abound. Bonds can be part of useful passive investment strategy but more active investors may develop a good number of reasons why buying and selling bonds on the short term. A few examples: Also, note that there is no guarantee in bonds as you imply by likening it to a "guaranteed stock dividend"...
What Happens To Stocks During Hyperinflation
Stocks in the Weimar hyperinflation are discussed in When Money Dies. I don't own a copy of the book but here is a link to a blog post about it. Speculation on the stock exchange has spread to all ranks of the population and shares rise like air balloons to limitless heights Basically, the stock market did very well ...
What's the best way to make money from a market correction?
What's the best strategy? Buy low and sell high. Now. A lot of people try to do this. A few are successful, but for the most part, people who try to time the market end up worse. A far more successful strategy is to save over your entire lifetime, put the money into a very low-cost market fund, and just let the average...
Should I re-allocate my portfolio now or let it balance out over time?
As you note, your question is inherently opinion-based. That said, if I were in your situation I would sell the stock all at once and buy whatever it is you want to buy (hopefully some index ETF or mutual fund). According to what I see, the current value of the HD stock is about $8500 and the JNJ stock is worth less t...
Are stories of turning a few thousands into millions by trading stocks real?
If they could really do this, do you really think they would be wasting their time offering this course? You are being lied to. (Or more accurately: It's certainly possible to gamble and get lucky, but those gambles are more likely to result in your rapidly losing your money than in your rapidly gaining value.) It is...
How much in cash equivalents should I keep in the bank? [duplicate]
In personal finance circles this is called an Emergency Fund. There are many opinions about how big it needs to be but most seem to come in around 3-6 months worth of your average expenses. Any more than that and you're going to loose money to inflation, less and you will start having problems if you get laid off or ha...
Why are estimated taxes due “early” for the 2nd and 3rd quarters only?
nan
What should I consider when I try to invest my money today for a larger immediate income stream that will secure my retirement?
I don't understand the OP's desire " I'd love to have a few hundred dollars coming in each month until I really get the hang of things. " When growing your wealth so that it will be large enough in retirement to throw off enough profits to live on ... you must not touch the profits generated along the way. You must r...
Formula that predicts whether one is better off investing or paying down debt
you should always invest if your investment rate of return is higher than your interest rate Your next line, about standard deviation is dead on. There are too many variables to give an exact answer here, in my opinion. The main reason is that one variable isn't easy to quantify - One's risk tolerance. Clearly, the...
When writing a covered call, what's the difference between a “net debit” and a “net credit”?
When you buy a stock and sell a covered call, the call can't be valued higher than the stock, right? How can a call on a $10 stock sell for more than the stock? So, the initial position of a covered call will cost you something. The transaction is a debit to you. The net amount of the deal, usually prices as per stoc...
Opening a bank account with cash: How should bills be presented?
Banks have electronic money counters so the order really doesn't matter. When I make a cash deposit that's large, I usually just put it in an envelope and hand it over.
Why buy SPY when there is S&P500?
The S&P500 is an index, not an investment by itself. The index lists a large number of stocks, and the value of the index is the price of all the stocks added together. If you want to make an investment that tracks the S&P500, you could buy some shares of each stock in the index, in the same proportions as the index. ...