Question stringlengths 14 166 | Answer stringlengths 3 17k |
|---|---|
Income tax exemptions for small business? | Yes, you should be able to deduct at least some of these expenses. For expense incurred before you started the business: What Are Deductible Startup Costs? The IRS defines “startup costs” as deductible capital expenses that are used to pay for: 1) The cost of “investigating the creation or acquisition of an active tra... |
How does a bank make money on an interest free secured loan? | Very good answers as to how 0% loans are typically done. In addition, many are either tied to a specific large item purchase, or credit cards with a no interest period. On credit card transactions the bank is getting a fee from the retailer, who in turn is giving you a hidden charge to cover that fee. In the case of... |
Why do banks encourage me to use online bill payment? | One other aspect of this is that the bank will plan to eventually approach the merchant that they are sending paper checks to and say "why don't you sign up with us and give us your ACH info, and we won't send you checks?" And a lot of merchants will say "sure", because someone has to open those checks and take them d... |
Executing a stop loss at the purchase price? | You will lose out on your spread, you always pay a spread. Also, if you are looking at a strategy for using stop losses, try taking into account the support lines if you are going long. So, if the stock is on an upward trend but is dropping back from profit taking, your best best is to take a position closest to the ne... |
What happens to my savings if my country defaults or restructures its debt? | The danger to your savings depends on how much sovereign debt your bank is holding. If the government defaults then the bank - if it is holding a lot of sovereign debt - could be short funds and not able to meet its obligations. I believe default is the best option for the Euro long term but it will be painful in the ... |
How and where to get the time series of the values USDEUR? | The Federal Reserve Bank publishes exchange rate data in their H.10 release. It is daily, not minute by minute. The Fed says this about their data: About the Release The H.10 weekly release contains daily rates of exchange of major currencies against the U.S. dollar. The data are noon buying rates in New York for c... |
Is ScholarShare a legitimate entity for a 529 plan in California? | For a parent deciding on contributing to a 529 plan the first consideration is the plan run by the state government that will trigger a state income tax deduction. You do have to at least look at the annual fees for the program before jumping into the state program, but for many people the state program offers the best... |
First job: Renting vs get my parents to buy me a house | Personally, I started renting out because I couldn't afford to buy a place but now I'm quite comfortably past that point. My three main issues are: These views aren't for everyone but I find it hard to seriously contemplate dealing with 2 while 1 and 3 are issues. To be honest, I found that I learned a lot sharing a... |
Using Marine Traffic (AIS) to make stock picks? | You can. Speculating on marine traffic is more closely tied to oil trades and ocean shipping container rates, than trades on any particular companies. But companies heavily tied to ocean shipping can be ripe for speculation. The baltic dry index is created for this analytical purpose, and that information can be used a... |
After Hours S&P 500 | My original answer contained a fundamental error: it turns out that it is not true that any exchange can create its own product to track any underlying index. If the underlying index is copyrighted (such as the S&P indices, Russell indices, Dow Jones indices, etc.) then the exchange must enter into a licensing agreeme... |
Most important skills needed to select profitable stocks | You need to have 3 things if you are considering short-term trading (which I absolutely do not recommend): The ability to completely disconnect your emotions from your gains and losses (yes, even your gains but especially your losses). The winning/losing on a daily basis will cause you to start taking unnecessary risk ... |
How does the value of an asset (valued in two different currencies) change when the exchange rate changes? | The value of the asset doesn't change just because of the exchange rate change. If a thing (valued in USD) costs USD $1 and USD $1 = CAN $1 (so the thing is also valued CAN $1) today and tomorrow CAN $1 worth USD $0.5 - the thing will continue being worth USD $1. If the thing is valued in CAN $, after the exchange rate... |
Is having a 'startup fund' a good idea? | Saving money for the future is a good thing. Whether spending those savings on a business venture makes sense, will depend on a few factors, including: (1) How much money you need that business to make [ie: will you be quitting your job and relying on the business for your sole income? Or will this just be a hobby you ... |
What headaches will I have switching from Quicken to GnuCash? | I have not used Quicken; I've used GnuCash exclusively. It feels a bit rough with the UI: Balancing that, the data is stored in a gzip-compressed xml file. The compression is also optional, so you can save it as a plain xml file. This means that you have some hope of recovery if you wind up with a corrupted file. (An... |
How to withdraw money from currency account without having to lose so much to currency conversion? | In answer to the "how I can perform withdrawal with the lower rate (having GBP)?" part of your question, as Joe stated you need to use another bank or currency exchange company to convert the GBP to PLN. Most of the UK banks charge similar amounts, and it's usually not possible to transfer the GBP to a foreign bank un... |
Should I take out a loan vs pay off with mother's help? | Is it a gift or a loan? Either way, ask the same lawyer who will do the closing to record a mortgage on the property, your mother holds it. You are required to pay her market interest, 4% or so should pass IRS scrutiny. If it's truly a loan, decide on the payoff time and calculate the payments, she'll have a bit of i... |
Specifically when do options expire? | 4PM is the market close in NYC, so yes, time looks good. If "out of the money," they expire worthless. If "in the money," it depends on your broker's rules, they can exercise the option, and you'll need to have the money to cover on Monday or they can do an exercise/sell, in which case, you'd have two commissions but... |
Is candlestick charting an effective trading tool in timing the markets? | From my 15 years of experience, no technical indicator actually ever works. Those teaching technical indicators are either mostly brokers or broker promoted so called technical analysts. And what you really lose in disciplined trading over longer period is the taxes and brokerages. That is why you will see that teacher... |
How can I pay for school to finish my degree when I can't get a student loan and have bad credit? | a) Talk to the financial aid counselors at your school. There's a very good chance they have at least a partial solution for you. Let them know your dependency status has changed (if it has). I declared myself to be financially independent from my parents (I really was) and qualified for more aide. b) How much austerit... |
Is buying a lottery ticket considered an investment? | From a mathematical expected-value standpoint, there is no difference between gambling (e.g. buying a lottery ticket) and investing (e.g. buying a share of stock). The former probably has negative expected value while the latter probably has positive expected value, but that is not a distinction to include in a defini... |
Do you avoid tax when taking a home equity loan? | (credits to Joe's answer above which alluded to what I was not considering) You aren't "bypassing" the tax liability if you invest in a home instead of, say, stocks. It's true stocks would be subject to tax during the year you cash in on them while the proceeds of a home equity loan would not affect your tax liability.... |
Does the stock market create any sort of value? | When you own stock in a company, you do literally own part of the business, even if it's a small portion. Anyone amassing over 50% of shares really does have a controlling interest. No, you can't trade a handful of AAPL shares back to Apple for an iPod, but you can sell the shares and then go buy an iPod with the proce... |
Why does a stock price drop as soon an I purchase several thousand shares at market price? | You say: Every time it seems the share price dips. Does it? Have you collected the data? It may just be that you are remembering the events that seem most painful at the time. To move the market with your trade you need to be dealing in a large amount of shares. Unless the stock is illiquid (e.g most VCT in the U... |
First time homeowner and getting a mortgage? | Check with you local bank where you have an account. Sometimes they can offer a discount that results in a good rate. I just refinanced a month ago with Bank Of America and their rates were very competitive. What set them aside from the rest was their low closing fees. Otherwise I would shop around on bankrate.com an... |
Is business the only way to become a millionaire? | That's actually a pretty good way to get bankrupt quick. You can get rich quick through lottery, gambling, mere saving or investing wisely, or marrying someone from the Kennedy or Bush clans. Starting a business is one of the ways to become a millionaire, but definitely not the only one. |
Why do people always talk about stocks that pay high dividends? | When you invest in stocks, there are two possible ways to make money: Many people speculate just on the stock price, which would result in a gain (or loss), but only once you have resold the shares. Others don't really care about the stock price. They get dividends every so often, and hopefully, the return will be bett... |
Can capital loss in traditional IRA and Roth IRA be used to offset taxable income? | No, you cannot. If you withdraw everything from all your Roth IRA's and end up with less than the total basis - you can deduct the difference on your schedule A (at the time of the last withdrawal) as an itemized deduction (as misc. deductions with 2% AGI cap). Regular IRA's are pre-tax, you cannot deduct anything from... |
Payroll reimbursments | What they are doing is wrong. The IRS and the state might not be happy with what they are doing. One thing you can ask for them to do is to give you a credit card for business and travel expenses. You will still have to submit receipts for expenses, but it will also make it clear to the IRS that these checks are not i... |
What is a good rental yield? | The rule of thumb I have always heard and what we rent our rental house at is 1% per month at the minimum (in the US). The rent has to cover the mortgage, the property taxes, the homeowners insurance, your income taxes (on the rent), the maintenance of the property and the times when the property is vacant. Even at 1% ... |
What ways are there for us to earn a little extra side money? | It depends on where you live and how you can think out of the box on earning little extra income on the side. If you live in North America and based on the needs in your city, you can try out these ideas. Here is what one of my friend has done, The family has two kids and the wife started a home day care as she was a... |
Have plenty of cash flow but bad credit | A) The Credit Rating Agencies only look at the month-end totals that are on your credit card, as this is all they ever get from the issuing bank. So a higher usage frequency as described would not make any direct difference to your credit rating. B) The issuing bank will know if you use the credit with the higher frequ... |
Is there legal reason for restricting someone under 59-1/2 from an in-service rollover from a 401K to an IRA? | I don't think there's a rule -- (I can't comment) but Brick cited IRS rules...but IMO Brick missed one thing -- @ashur668 is not looking for a distribution, but is looking for a rollover. My best guess: that this part of the ruleset is not well defined, and your (and my) employer have chosen to interpret any withdrawl... |
Where can I buy European-style options? | On the US markets, most index options are European style. Most stock and ETF options are, as you noted, American style. |
Can I withdraw from my Roth IRA retirement account to fund a startup? | Yes, it is possible to withdraw money from your Roth IRA before retirement (but I wouldn't necessarily advise you to do so.) Here's the good news, and the bad news: The good news: Unlike a traditional IRA, money contributed to a Roth IRA is done so on an after-tax basis, meaning you don't benefit from a tax deduction ... |
Does the CRA reprieve those who have to commute for work? | The answer on the Canadian Government's website is pretty clear: Most employees cannot claim employment expenses. You cannot deduct the cost of travel to and from work, or other expenses, such as most tools and clothing. However, that is most likely related to a personal vehicle. There is a deduction related to Pu... |
If accepting more than $10K in cash for a used boat, should I worry about counterfeiting? | Paying tax is a Good Thing. However, warren has made good point and I would like you to consider this other thing: Go into your payees bank with the payee, get the money withdrawn from the teller and take it with you. Unless I am missing something, or the teller handed your payee fake notes, you are "safe" |
Will there always be somebody selling/buying in every stock? | Well Company is a small assets company for example it has 450,000,000 shares outstanding and is currently traded at .002. Almost never has a bid price. Compare it to PI a relative company with 350 million marker cap brokers will buy your shares. This is why blue chip stock is so much better than small company because... |
How to evaluate an annuity | Guaranteed 8.2% annual return sounds too good to be true. Am I right? Are there likely high fees, etc.? You're right. Guaranteed annual return is impossible, especially when you're talking about investments for such a long period of time. Ponzi (and Madoff) schemed their investors using promises of guaranteed return ... |
How can I spend less? | There are many tactics you can use. If your biggest problem is regretting your larger purchases, I'd suggest giving yourself rules before making any purchases over a certain minimum dollar amount that you set for yourself. For example, if that amount is $50 for an item, then any item starting at an average price of $... |
How can I legally and efficiently help my girlfriend build equity by helping with a mortgage? | all the other answers are spot on, but look at it this way. really all you mean when you say "building equity" is "accumulating wealth". if that is the goal, then having her invest the money in a brokerage (e.g. ira) account makes a lot more sense. if you can't afford the apartment without her, then you can't afford ... |
How do you find reasonably priced, quality, long lasting clothing? | Use resources like Consumer Reports and recommendations from like-minded friends to figure out brands which have a reputation for making quality clothes. Then trust, but verify. Ideally have a friend who sews a lot go with you on a clothing expedition if you don't know how to determine quality in clothing. People w... |
When does it make sense for the money paid for equity to go to the corporation? | If Jack owns all of the one million founding shares (which I assume you meant), and wants to transfer 250,000 shares to Venturo, then he is just personally selling shares to Venturo and the corporation gains nothing. If Jack does not own all of the founding shares, and the corporation had retained some, then the corpor... |
Should a high-school student invest their (relative meager) savings? | You have a few correlated questions here: Yes you can. There are only a few investment strategies that require a minimum contribution and those aren't ones that would get a blanket recommendation anyway. Investing in bonds or stocks is perfectly possible with limited funds. You're never too young to start. The power o... |
What tax-free retirement accounts are available for self-employed individuals? | You can open a self-employed 401k, here's an example. You can deposit up to 50K (including the personal cap and the profit sharing/matching portion). |
What is the opposite of a sunk cost? A “sunk gain”? | In the second example you are giving up future free cash flows in exchange for a capital gain on the original investment. With that respect the money you will not gain will be the difference of the future cash flows ( net of related costs) minus the net gain on the panel you have sold. The financial result can be con... |
Interest on Amount Exceeding CC Balance? | In the US, if your monthly statement was issued by the credit card company on January 1 and it showed a balance of $1000, then a payment must be made towards that balance by January 25 or so, not February 1 as you say, to keep the card in good standing. The minimum payment required to keep the card in good standing is ... |
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 do I know if refinance is beneficial enough to me? | It would help if we had numbers to walk you through the analysis. Current balance, rate, remaining term, and the new mortgage details. To echo and elaborate on part of Ben's response, the most important thing is to not confuse cash flow with savings. If you have 15 years to go, and refinance to 30 years, at the rate r... |
Do overall 401(k) contribution limits sum across employers? | Let me first start off by saying that you need to be careful with an S-Corp and defined contribution plans. You might want to consider an LLC or some other entity form, depending on your state and other factors. You should read this entire page on the irs site: S-Corp Retirement Plan FAQ, but here is a small clip: Co... |
How to fix Finance::Quote to pull quotes in GnuCash | The Yahoo Finance API is no longer available, so Finance::Quote needs to point at something else. Recent versions of Finance::Quote can use AlphaVantage as a replacement for the Yahoo Finance API, but individual users need to acquire and input an AlphaVantage API key. Pretty decent documentation for how to this is ava... |
What are the reasons to get more than one credit card? | I have a fair number of cards floating around some reasons I have opened multiple accounts. I am not saying that it is for everyone but there are valid scenarios where multiple credit cards can make sense. |
About to start being an Independent Contractor - Any advice on estimating taxes? | I agree with your strategy of using a conservative estimate to overpay taxes and get a refund next year. As a self-employed individual you are responsible for paying self-employment tax (which means paying Social Security and Medicare tax for yourself as both: employee and an employer.) Current Social Security Rate is ... |
Do marketmakers always quote a bid and ask simultaneously | Market makers (shortened MM) in an exchange are generally required to list both a bid and ask price to allow both buyers and sellers to trade and keep the market moving. However, a more general idea of a MM may includes companies off an exchange (say large banks acting as broker/dealers in an over-the-counter market) ... |
What are good games to play to teach young children about saving money? | Animal Crossing is great for all ages and teaches kids the importance of saving money to pay off a debt for a home and to become successful by helping out the community and what it gets you. |
Home Valuation in a Dodgy neighborhood | I wouldn't personally spend any money on an appraisal. Spend some time yourself looking at Zillow.com and maybe Realtor.com and other sites to review recent sales in your specific area. Not the houses a mile away. Try to find comparables to yours. The key factor is dollars per square foot. See if the trend over th... |
What's the difference when asked for “debit or credit” by a store when using credit and debit cards? | I'm surprised by all the pro-credit answers here, debit has some definite advantages. Most importantly, when you pay with a credit card, the merchant pays around 3% of the transaction to the credit company. In many states, they are forced to charge you the same amount, and this is frequently toted as ''consumer protect... |
Why are the banks and their customers in the United States still using checks? [duplicate] | Check use is declining here too, but it still has some practical advantages over electronic means: |
Should I set a stop loss for long term investments? | You should definately have a stop loss in place to manage your risk. For a time frame of 5 to 10 years I would be looking at a trailing stop loss of 20% to 25% off the recent high. Another type of stop you could use is a volatility stop. Here the more volatile the stock the larger the stop whilst the less volatile the... |
How much more than my mortgage should I charge for rent? | first, let me reiterate what everyone else is saying about rental rates having nothing to do with your expenses. you should charge market rates. slightly higher if you want better tenants and slightly lower if you want to avoid prolonged vacancy. you can determine market rates by finding similar properties in your area... |
Take advantage of rock bottom oil prices | I would suggest that oil stocks are going down due to reduced earnings predictions. The market may go too far in selling off oil and oil-related stocks. You may be able to pick up a bargain, but beware that prices may continue to fall in the short to medium term. |
Why is retirement planning so commonly recommended? | If you can afford it, there are very few reasons not to save for retirement. The biggest reason I can think of is that, simply, you are saving in general. The tax advantages of 401k and IRA accounts help increase your wealth, but the most important thing is to start saving at an early age in your career (as you are doi... |
Why does short selling require borrowing? | In order to compare the two, you need to compare your entire portfolio, which is not just how much money you have, but how much stock. In both scenarios, you start with (at least, but let's assume) £20 and 0 stock. In your scenario, you buy 10 shares, leaving you with £0 and 10 shares. You then sell it at £1.50/share t... |
Do I even need credit cards? | Like many things, there are pros and cons to using credit cards. The other folks on here have discussed the pros and length, so I'll just quickly summarize: Convenience of not having to carry cash. Delay paying your bills for a month with no penalty. Build your credit rating for a time when you need a big loan, like bu... |
Why does AAPL trade at such low multiples? | This is also an opinion, the iPhone makes up too much of the company's total revenue. Last quarter results were very well received because of the somewhat dramatic increase in service revenue indicating that maybe the company can shift from relying so heavily on the iPhone. As it stands, Apple is a single product com... |
List of web sites or online forums for stock picking and security analysis | This is a great forum, mostly focused around mutual funds though: http://www.bogleheads.org/ |
Why do I get a much better price for options with a limit order than the ask price? | Sounds to me like you're describing just how it should work. Ask is at 30, Bid is at 20; you offer a new bid at 25. Either: Depending on liquidity, one or the other may be more likely. This Investorplace article on the subject describes what you're seeing, and recommends the strategy you're describing precisely. Inst... |
What's so hard about a mutual fund manager pricing their mutual fund? | Remember that in most news outlets journalists do not get to pick the titles of their articles. That's up to the editor. So even though the article was primarily about ETFs, the reporter made the mistake of including some tangential references to mutual funds. The editor then saw that the article talked about ETFs a... |
HELOC vs. Parental Student Loans vs. Second Mortgage? | Debt is no fun. Getting out of debt to replace it with more debt is no fun. In both cases, you are making an investment in your child's future. That's laudable, but there might be other ways to economize on the education costs. I prefer HELOC debt because I can deduct the interest (as you pointed out) and it usually al... |
Does material nonpublic information cover knowledge of unannounced products? | So is knowledge of unannounced products simply not considered material nonpublic information? Well "material" is relative but it certainly is nonpublic information. And trading based on that information would likely be considered illegal if it is actually material. Many companies require that employees with material... |
Is it a good practice to keep salary account and savings account separate? | There are a lot of good answers, but I will share my experience. First, a savings account needs to be for savings. If your in the US you have "Regulation D" to deal with and that will bite you on the rear if you go over those limits. Specially easy to do if your purchasing from a savings account. Next having an "Inco... |
Finding stocks following performance of certain investor, like BRK.B for Warren Buffet | Remember that unless you participate in the actual fund that these individuals offer to the public, you will not get the same returns they will. If you instead do something like, look at what Warren Buffet's fund bought/sold yesterday (or even 60 minutes ago), and buy/sell it yourself, you will face 2 obstacles to achi... |
1099-MISC vs K-1 — duplicated numbers? | Well, you won't be double taxed based on what you described. Partners are taxed on income, typically distributions. Your gain in the partnership is not income. However, you were essentially given some money which you elected to invest in the partnership, so you need to pay tax on that money. The question becomes, are y... |
Are bonds really a recession proof investment? | No, they are not recession proof. Assume several companies, that issued bonds in the fund, go bankrupt. Those bonds could be worthless, they could miss principle payments, or they could be restructured. All would mean a decline in value. When the economy shrinks (which is what a recession is) how does the Fed respo... |
How can I find a lost 401K from a past employer? | The Employee Benefits Security Administration within the US Department of Labor is tasked with keeping track of pension and 401K programs. The even have a website to search for abandoned plans: it helps participants and others find out whether a particular plan is in the process of being, or has been, terminated and th... |
If Bernie Madoff had invested in Berkshire Hathaway, would the ponzi actually have succeeded? | I could be wrong, but I doubt that Bernie started out with any intention of defrauding anyone, really. I suspect it began the first time he hit a quarter when his returns were lower than everyone else's, or at least not as high as he'd promised his investors they'd be, so he fudged the numbers and lied to get past the... |
Why is stock dilution legal? | Here's another way that I look at it: Say you and me were 50-50 partners in a small business. Suppose we wanted to expand our business but that needed money. Someone (let's call him Warren) has the money we need & hence in return for the money we offer Warren an equal stake in the business. i.e. All three of us own 3... |
Why do some people go through contortions to avoid paying taxes, yet spend money on expensive financial advice, high-interest loans, etc? | One is a choice the other is not. While they are both liabilities on the balance sheet, in the real world they are quite different. We do not feel as much ownership over our money that goes to interest payments as we do over our tax payments. Taxes pay for our government and the services it provides. Interest, on t... |
What can a CPA do that an EA cannot, and vice versa? | Although they may have some similar functions, CPAs and Enrolled Agents operate in two rather different areas of the accounting "space." CPAs deal with financial statements, usually of corporations. They're the people you want to go to if you are making an investment, or if you own your own business, and need statement... |
Why there's always a very huge volume of trades for AAPL every day before market close? | A huge amount of money in all financial markets is from institutional investors, such as mutual funds, government pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, etc. For various reasons these funds do all of their trading at the end of the day. They care primarily that their end-of-day balances are in line with their targets... |
Minor stakes bought at a premium & valuation for target company | Imagine that I own 10% of a company, and yesterday my portion was valued at $1 Million, therefore the company is valued at $10 Million. Today the company accepts an offer to sell 1% of the company for $500 Thousand: now my portion is worth $5 Million, and company is worth $50 Million. The latest stock price sets the v... |
What happens if futures contract seller defaults? | MD-Tech answered: The answer is in your question: derivatives are contracts so are enforced in the same way as any other contract. If the counterparty refuses to pay immediately they will, in the first instance be billed by any intermediary (Prime Broker etc.) that facilitated the contract. If they still refuse to pay... |
Where can I find a company's earnings history for free? | I was going to comment above, but I must have 50 reputation to comment. This is a question that vexes me, and I've given it some thought in the past. Morningstar is a good choice for simple, well-organized financial histories. It has more info available for free than some may realize. Enter the ticker symbol, and th... |
Why might a robo-advisor service like Betterment be preferable to just buying a single well-performing index fund like SPY? | The reason diversification in general is a benefit is easily seen in your first graph. While the purple line (Betterment 100% Stock) is always below the blue line (S&P), and the blue line is the superior return over the entire period, it's a bit different if you retired in 2009, isn't it? In that case the orange line... |
Is it possible to physically own a share certificate in a company? | Yes, this is possible with some companies. When you buy shares of stock through a stock broker, the shares are kept in "street name." That means that the shares are registered to the broker, not to you. That makes it easy to sell the stock later. The stock broker keeps track of who actually owns which shares. The s... |
investing - where to trade online? (Greek citizen) | You will likely need to open an account in another EU country, like a broker operating out of France, Britain or Germany, to get the best options. If you are comfortable using an english language site and interface, I highly recommend Interactive Brokers as they let you trade in many markets simultaneously, have simpl... |
How might trading volume affect future share price? | There tends to be high volume around big changes in stock price. The volume of a stock does not remain constant and the term "fat fingers" can influence price.--> http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-01/that-japanese-fat-finger-can-absolutely-happen-in-u-s-.html That being said keshlam is 99% right when it comes to a ... |
Stock dividends effect on dividend received by shareholder | Dividend rate is "dividend per share" over a specified time period, usually a year. So in the first example, if the company paid a $1/share dividend over the year before the stock dividend the shareholder would receive $100, while if it paid the $1/share the year after the stock dividend the shareholder would receive $... |
Do “Instant Approved” credit card inquires appear on credit report? | Those two hard inquiries will only count as one on your score because you applied for the two cards immediately one after the other. Credit bureaus see this as just credit card shopping, so will hit your score only once as a single hard inquiry. If you had applied for these two cards days apart, then your score would h... |
Can used books bought off Amazon be claimed as a tax deduction in Australia? | VAT = Value Added Tax (as an Aussie think "GST") This is applicable in Britain. Basically, if you were in Britain, and if you could claim VAT as a deduction, that invoice is not sufficient proof to make the claim. But you're in Oz so it doesn't apply to you in any case. For work-related deductions like book purchases, ... |
What cost basis do I report on the 1099? | You wouldn't fill out a 1099, your employer would or possibly whoever manages the stock account. The 1099-B imported from E-Trade says I had a transaction with sell price ~$4,500. Yes. You sold ~$4500 of stock to pay income taxes. Both the cost basis and the sale price would probably be ~$4500, so no capital gain... |
Can paying down a mortgage be considered an “investment”? | Let's start from the premise that the mortgage is something you will have anyway because you need it to live (as opposed to say getting a bigger mortgage initially in the expectation of paying it down faster than scheduled). In that case I think paying down a mortgage certainly is an investment; one with a well-defined... |
Simple and safe way to manage a lot of cash | Overall I think your idea is sound. The key here is to choose that 401k provider wisely and have a specific asset allocation plan (like Joe mentioned) Summary of this approach: Pluses: Minuses: I'd consider Vanguard for simple, no frills investing. If you're looking to get into choosing stocks, check out the Motley F... |
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. |
Could someone explain this scenario about Google's involvement in the wireless spectrum auction? | If history is any guide, Page’s idealistic impulses could result in a vaster, more sprawling company. The following is an example of one of Page’s idealistic impulses (wanting people to share spectrum) which could result in a vaster, more sprawling company (if they hadn't been outbid, Google would have expanded by buyi... |
Is it better to ask for a raise before a spin-off / merger or after? | gef05 hit it on the head -- the books get frozen when mergers/spinoffs happen. I worked as an IT guy at a company whose mission was operating call centers -- and they didn't bother paying the phone bill! Why? the terms were already agreed upon, and the powers that be were waiting for final legal sign-off. Try to figure... |
Calculating profits for a private fund | Thanks for the answer/comments! The time-based method was something we mooted and something I almost went with. But just to wrap this up, the method we settled on was this: Every time there is an entry or exit into the fund, we divvy out any unrealised market profits/losses according to each person's profit share (base... |
How can I help others plan their finances, without being a “conventional” financial planner? | If you personally make any money from it then you need a Series 65, or a Series 63 license. It is a private industry/SEC regulation. The license itself basically spells out your duties and ethical standards for you. |
Why is it rational to pay out a dividend? | Paying out dividends and financing new projects with debt also lessens the agency problem. The consequences of a failed project are greater when debt is used, so the manager now has a greater incentive to see that the project is a success. This, in addition to the paid divided is a benefit to the shareholder. If equity... |
Why can't you just have someone invest for you and split the profits (and losses) with him? | because the market price for good investment advice isn't that low. investment advice is subject to market pricing just like any other good or service. if you are good enough at investing that you seek increased volatility opportunities, you will have no trouble finding investors willing to give you a share of the ups... |
What college degree should I pursue to learn about stock and forex markets? | There are several paths of study you could undertake. If you want to learn the fundamentals of the stock market and become a financial analyst, then finance, economics, and accounting (yes, accounting) are all good to study either on your own or in an institution. Furthermore, if you want to study a specific industry, ... |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.