Question stringlengths 14 166 | Answer stringlengths 3 10.6k |
|---|---|
Why is silver so volatile compared to the S&P 500? | Silver is a commodity. It's valuable for certain kinds of manufacturing, jewelry, and as a speculative financial instrument or hedge against the dollar. The S&P 500 includes companies which make money off of mining, manufacturing, medicine, media, technology, banking, dining, agriculture... There's a lot more variety t... |
Where to find out conversion ratio between General Motors bonds and new GM stock? | I would imagine that as a holder you will receive information in the post when it's made public, but I don't think it's been decided yet. This thread on the Motley Fool boards is keeping an eye on them - you might want to keep an eye on the thread. |
What is the correct way to report a tender offer fee on my taxes? | Using a different cost basis than your broker's reporting is NOT a problem. You need to keep your own records to account for this difference. Among the other many legitimate reasons to adjust your cost basis, the most popular is when you have two brokerage accounts and sell an asset in one then buy in another. This is ... |
Offer Price for my stock not shown on quote and a subsequent sale higher than my offer | There are a few things you are missing here. These appear to be penny stocks or subpenny stocks. Buying these are easy.... selling is a total different ball game. Buying commissions are low and selling commissions are outrageous. Another thing you are missing in this order is... some trading platform may assume the "AO... |
How is not paying off mortgage better in normal circumstances? | Certainly there are people who do pay off their homes. Others do not. It's a question of risk tolerance and preference. Some considerations relevant to this question: Taxes - Interest on a mortgage is tax deductible. Particularly for high earners, this is a significant incentive to maintain a mortgage balance and p... |
Why buy bonds in a no-arbitrage market? | If by "putting money in the bank" you mean regular savings or checking, then the bond locks a rate for a period of time, whereas your savings/checking rate can vary over that period. That variation might go for you or against you. Depending on your situation, you might prefer to take a determined rate to the variatio... |
Is it a good investment for a foreigner to purchase a flat/apartment in China? | It is a lousy investment to purchase an apartment in China. Chinese citizens purchase apartments in China because, well... here's how China works: There's some fundamentals driving Chinese property values higher, but mostly it's a bubble caused by those reasons. |
What happens to bonds values when interest rates rise? [duplicate] | You can look at TIPS (which have some inflation protection built in). Generally short term bonds are better than long if you expect rates to rise soon. Other ways that you can protect yourself are to choose higher yield corporate bonds instead of government bonds, or to use foreign bonds. There are plenty of bond funds... |
How risky is it to keep my emergency fund in stocks? | I've read the answers and respect the thought behind them. I'd like to focus on (a) the magnitude of the emergency, and (b) the saving rate of the people affected. 3-6 months is interesting. It's enough not just to fix the car, repair the A/C, etc, but more than enough to lose one's job and recover. (Let's avoid the d... |
Can a merchant charge you more in the US if you want to use a credit card? | I'm not sure about the laws in specific states. However it's part of their merchant agreement that they can not charge a fee for a customer paying with credit card. It's also against merchant agreements to require a minimum purchase to use a credit card, although this is less commonly enforced. Apparently (http://fso.c... |
Interactive Brokers Margin Accounts | You have to call Interactive Brokers for this. This is what you should do, they might even have a web chat. These are very broker specific idiosyncrasies, because although margin rules are standardized to an extent, when they start charging you for interest and giving you margin until settlement may not be standardized... |
Why would you ever turn down a raise in salary? | At least with US tax law where you only pay taxes at the higher rate for the income above the minimum for that tax bracket, you will always wind up ahead taking the raise if you are simply concerned with after tax (FICA) income. For example, assume you were making $8,350 (the top end of the 10% bracket in the US), and... |
What is the difference between a bond and a debenture? | Some additional links which explain their differences. But mostly as @bstpierre says, both are very similar and in some cases the terms may be used inter changeably |
Can I claim the standard deduction being an Indian citizen and non-resident in USA for tax purposes? | Prachi - While most non-resident aliens are not allowed to claim the standard deduction here are some exceptions: IRS Law under Article 21: ARTICLE 21 Payments Received by Students and Apprentices This falls under the U.S.A.-India Tax Treaty. Sources: I hope this helps. So, yes, I do believe you would be able to claim ... |
US Self-Employment Tax: Do expenses stack with the 50% SE deduction? | Business expenses reduce business income. The SE tax is paid on business income. The credit for 1/2 the SE tax is based on the amount of SE tax paid. So: |
Is it better to buy a computer on my credit card, or on credit from the computer store? | The downside of the store card is that the "deal" for using the card is typically 6-12 months of "no payments" or "no interest". In reality, the "deal" is deferred payments/interest. The problem is, if you miss any payment, or fail to pay the computer off in full, you'll have to pay for the accrued interest -- at a rat... |
What's the difference between TaxAct and TurboTax? | I prefer TaxAct. I find it simpler to use and more helpful in helping answer the questionnaire. I have a fairly complex tax return and it handles it just fine. |
Do options always expire on third Friday of every month | Traditionally options expired on the 3rd Wednesday of the months of Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec as this day was never a holiday. See IMM dates. However as option use exploded there were monthly and weekly options created on different schedules. The exchange will specify when its options expire in the contract. |
Why does a real estate seller get to know the financing arrangements of the buyer? | The buyer discloses the financing arrangements to the seller because it makes his offer more attractive. When a seller receives and accepts an offer, the deal does not usually close until 30 to 60 days later. If the buyer cannot come up with the money by closing, the deal falls apart. This is a risk for the seller. W... |
Is my wash sale being calculated incorrectly? | Strangely enough, you have a wash sale, but, for the fact that you sold the shares and then more than 30 days passed, you can take the loss. I mistakenly used the phrase "and ended the year with no shared of the stock" elsewhere, and was corrected, as one can sell at a loss up to 12/31, and have until the end of Janua... |
How can someone with a new job but no credit history get a loan to settle another debt? | The more I think about this the more I think you are actually better off letting it go to collections. At least then you would be able to agree an affordable repayment schedule based on your real budget, and having a big dent in your credit score because it's gone to collections doesn't actually put you in any worse po... |
Is there strategy to qualify stock options with near expiry date for long term capital gain tax? | There some specific circumstances when you would have a long-term gain. Option 1: If you meet all of these conditions: Then you've got a long-term gain on the stock. The premium on the option gets rolled into the capital gain on the stock and is not taxed separately. From the IRS: If a call you write is exercised an... |
What is meant by “buy-side firm” and “sell-side firm”? | Traditionally, dealers and broker-dealers were in contact with the actual producers of a product or issuers of a security, selling it at the exchange on their behalf. Consumers would traditionally be on the buy side, of course. These days, anyone can enter the market on either side. Even if you don't hold the securit... |
Can I convert spread option into regular call or put? | Just so I'm clear- the end result is a long call, and you think the stock is going up. There is nothing wrong with that fundamentally. Be aware though: That's a negative theta trade. This means if your stock doesn't increase in price during the remaining time to expiration of your call option, the option will lose som... |
When following a buy and hold investment strategy, on what conditions should one sell? | You talk about an individual not being advised to sell (or purchase) in response to trends in the market in such a buy and hold strategy. But think of this for a moment: You buy stock ABC for $10 when both the market as a whole and stock ABC are near the bottom of a bear market as say part of a value buying strategy. Y... |
Should I pay off my car loan within the year? | Contrary to popular belief, you can build your credit (if that is important to you) without paying a penny in interest. This is done through the responsible use of credit cards, paying the bill in full each month without accruing any interest charges. If I were you, I would pay off the loan today, if possible. After ... |
What evidence exists for claiming that you cannot beat the market? | common sentiment that no investor can consistently beat the market on returns. I guess its more like very few investor can beat the market, a vast Majority cannot / do not. What evidence exists for or against this? Obviously we can have a comparison of all investors. If we start taking a look at some of the Actively M... |
How can I determine if my portfolio's rate of return has been “good”, or not? | Historically, the market's average rate of return has been about 8%. (Serakfalcon's "6% to 10%" is essentially the same number.) You should be able to get into that range for long-term investments with minimal risk. "5 or 6 companies", unless you know a heck of a lot about those companies, is fairly high risk. If any o... |
Non Resident Alien Spouse Treated As Resident - Self Employment Income | First, the SSN isn't an issue. She will need to apply for an ITIN together with tax filing, in order to file taxes as Married Filing Jointly anyway. I think you (or both of you in the joint case) probably qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, if you've been outside the US for almost the whole year, in which ... |
Any advantage to exercising ISO's in company that is not yet public? | As far as I know, the AMT implications are the same for a privately held company as for one that is publicly traded. When I was given my ISO package, it came with a big package of articles on AMT to encourage me to exercise as close to the strike price as possible. Remember that the further the actual price at the ti... |
searching for historic exchange rate provider which meets this example data | You will most likely not be able to avoid some form of format conversion, regardless of which data you use since there is, afaik, no standard for this data and everyone exports it differently. One viable option would be, like you said yourself, using the free data provided by Dukascopy. Please take into consideration t... |
Relation between inflation rates and interest rates | Is it true that due the to the increase in interest rates that inflation is likely to increase as well? It is typically the reverse where inflation causes interest rates to rise. Interest rates fundamentally reflect the desire for people to purchase future goods over present day goods. If I loan money to someone for 5... |
How does unemployment insurance work? | Unemployment insurance provides a temporary safety net to workers who lose their jobs by replacing a portion of their salary for certain periods. Each state administers its own unemployment insurance program so some rules may vary from state to state. To receive unemployment insurance payments, you must have lost your ... |
US ISA equivalent for tax exempt investment & savings | As far as I know, there is no direct equivalent. An IRA is subject to many rules. Not only are there early withdrawal penalties, but the ability to deduct contributions to an IRA phases out with one's income level. Qualified withdrawals from an IRA won't have penalties, but they will be taxed as income. Contribution... |
How does a 2 year treasury note work? | Look at this question here. In my answer there, I put a link to an Investopedia article about the bond prices. Keep in mind that speculating over a short term period is pretty dangerous, even with the Treasury notes, and the prices may be affected temporary but greatly by the ordeals like the latest Republican shenanig... |
Entering the stock market in a poor economy | Forecasts of stock market direction are not reliable, so you shouldn't be putting much weight on them. Long term, you can expect to do better in stocks, but obtaining this better expected return has the danger of "buying in" to the market at a particularly bad moment, leading to a substantially lower return. So mitig... |
IRR vs. Interest Rates | Yes, if your IRR is 5% per annum after three years then the total return (I prefer total rather than your use of actual) over those three years is 15.76%. Note that if you have other cashflows in and out, it gets a bit more complicated (e.g. using the XIRR function in Excel), but the idea is to find an effective annual... |
How can my friend send $3K to me without using Paypal? | Not to overkill the theres a few more I can think of right now |
Hiring a teenager as a household employee | First you need to ensure that you are not violating any Federal child labor laws. I would look at this: U.S. Dept of Labor, Wage & Hour Div., Standards for 14- and 15-Year Olds in Nonagricultural Employment. These were the items that pertained to Federal Law, for 14 year olds: 14 is the minimum age for employment in sp... |
Pay off entire mortgage or put into investments | At the moment the interest rate... implies a variable rate mortgage. I believe rates are only going to go up from here. So, if I were in your position, I would pay off the mortgage first. If you don't have 3-6 months in savings for an emergency, I would invest that much money in low risk investments. Anything remain... |
F-1 student investing in foreign markets | You cannot have off-campus employment in your first year, but investments are considered passive income no matter how much time you put into that effort. Obviously you need to stay enrolled full-time and get good enough grades to stay in good standing academically, so you should be cautious about how much time you spen... |
Why is it rational to pay out a dividend? | First, you need to understand that not every investor's goals are the same. Some investors are investing for income. They want to invest in a profitable company and use the profit from the company as income. If that investor invests only in stocks that do not pay a dividend, the only way he can realize income is to se... |
How do you choose which mortgage structure is appropriate when buying a home? | There are several factors that you need to consider: If you have already decided on the house. Did you prequalify for the mortgage loan - If so, did you lock in the rate. If you have not already done than your research is still valid. Consider two calculators first - Affordability + Mortgage calculator Advice : If yo... |
Are you preparing for a possible dollar (USD) collapse? (How?) | I think it's apt to remind that there's no shortcuts, if someone thinks about doing FX fx: - negative sum game (big spread or commissions) - chaos theory description is apt - hard to understand costs (options are insurance and for every trade there is equivalent option position - so unless you understand how those are... |
How do you invest in real estate without using money? | There is (almost) always money involved somewhere, but it doesn't have to come from you. It can be investors, credit cards, or even seller-financing (I've done all 3). Examples: If you can find partners with the money to make the deals happen, then your job is to put the deal together. Find the properties, negotiate ... |
Recent college grad. Down payment on a house or car? | Buy a car. Unless you definitely know you are living in the area for a good long time, avoid buying a house and get a car instead. |
Borrowing money for a semi-urgent medical expense | I am a bit confused here as to how a 4K loan will negatively effect your credit score if payments are made on time. FICO scores are based upon how well you borrow. If you borrow, pay back on time, your score will not go down. Perhaps a bit in the short run when you first secure the loan, but that should come back qu... |
Does my net paycheck decrease as the year goes on due to tax brackets filling up? | H.R. basically consults Publication 15 (this is the link to 2015) to determine how much to hold, based on filing status, exemptions, and pay amount. What's described here is a form of estimation, or, in other words, H.R. withholds what would be your actual taxes, dividing across the number of paychecks you receive. Ass... |
How do you measure the value of gold? | I can describe the method for determining a price floor, which may help. It starts with looking at the cost of mining. There's a ridiculously small amount of gold in the best ore, so it's measured in tonnes of ore to produce a given ounce of gold. Mines will only operate at a loss for so long, so for any mine which foc... |
Retirement Options for Income | I agree that you should CONSIDER a shares based dividend income SIPP, however unless you've done self executed trading before, enough to understand and be comfortable with it and know what you're getting into, I would strongly suggest that as you are now near retirement, you have to appreciate that as well as the usual... |
Tracking Gold and Silver (or any other commodity investment) in Quicken 2010? | I was able to find a fairly decent index that trades very close to 1/10th the actual price of gold by the ounce. The difference may be accounted to the indexes operating cost, as it is very low, about 0.1%. The index is the ETFS Gold Trust index (SGOL). By using the SGOL index, along with a Standard Brokerage investmen... |
Why would a passive investor buy anything other than the market portfolio + risk free assets? | Investing is always a matter of balancing risk vs reward, with the two being fairly strongly linked. Risk-free assets generally keep up with inflation, if that; these days advice is that even in retirement you're going to want something with better eturns for at least part of your portfolio. A "whole market" strategy ... |
How can I save on closing costs when buying a home? | As a buyer, one of the easiest ways to save on closing costs is to avoid title insurance. This will only apply if you are a cash buyer, as a mortgage writer will typically require title insurance. It is also one of the most ill-advised ways to save money. You need title insurance. For the most part, there is real... |
If I buy a share from myself at a higher price, will that drive the price up so I can sell all my shares the higher price? | This probably won't be a popular answer due to the many number of disadvantaged market participants out there but: Yes, it is possible to distort the markets for securities this way. But it is more useful to understand how this works for any market (since it is illegal in securities markets where company shares are inv... |
When should I start an LLC for my side work? | Not all of the reason to start an LLC is liability (although that is implicit). There are two main reasons as far as I have experienced it: I always recommend that people set things up properly from the beginning. If you do start to grow, or if you need to cut your losses, it can be very difficult to separate yourself... |
Does a larger down payment make an offer stronger? | First, let me say that you have to take everything your agent says with a grain of salt. Freakonomics had a great article that discussed the math behind the motivation of the real estate agent. It described the home seller, trying to get, say $400K. On a 6% commission, the $24K is destined to be split between seller r... |
Should I replace bonds in a passive investment strategy | I have had similar thoughts regarding alternative diversifiers for the reasons you mention, but for the most part they don't exist. Gold is often mentioned, but outside of 1972-1974 when the US went off the gold standard, it hasn't been very effective in the diversification role. Cash can help a little, but it also f... |
Credit History and Outstanding Debts in Hungary | It appears all you have to do is submit a form. It might be better if she submitted it herself instead of you doing it on her behalf. All natural persons (individuals) and non-natural persons (businesses) are entitled to access and inspect the data held on record about them in the Central Credit Information System... |
Pay for a cheap car or take out a loan? | You are really showing some wisdom here, and congratulations on finishing college. Its a lot about likelihoods. If you buy a new car, there is something like a 99.5% chance you will get a car that will not need repairs. If you buy a car for $1200 there is probably a 20% chance that the car will only need minimal re... |
How to manage paying expenses when moving to a weekly pay schedule and with a pay increase? | This is really just a matter of planning. It's good that you don't want the train to go off the rails but really you just need to budget your fixed expenses. I do this by having two checking accounts. One account gets a direct deposit to cover all of my fixed expenses, the other is my regular checking account. Tak... |
Value of credit score if you never plan to borrow again? | There's many concrete answers, but there's something circular about your question. The only thing I can think of is that phone service providers ask for credit report when you want to start a new account but I am sure that could be worked around if you just put down a cash deposit in some cases. So now the situation is... |
How do I calculate ownership percentage for shared home ownership? | Once your sister and you make your first payments, you've paid $20,645, and your sister has paid $1400. But your sister also owes rent. Zeroth order estimate for rent is that it's equal to mortgage payment, so that's $2045 (I assume that $2045 is actually your total payment, not just your escrow payment. Unless I'm mis... |
Got charged ridiculous amount for doctor's walk in visit. What are my options? | You will often receive a lower bill if you simply wait for a second or third billing statement. I was once given the advice to never pay a medical bill until after they had sent three notices, because they will almost certainly reduce the amount due. Sounds crazy, right? I have excellent credit, so the idea of risking ... |
How can I find a list of self-select stocks & shares ISA providers? | I can't provide a list, but when I took out my Stocks and Shares, I extensively researched for a good, cheap, flexible option and I went with FoolShareDealing. I've found them to be good, and their online trading system works well. I hope that's still the case. |
Buy tires and keep car for 12-36 months, or replace car now? | If the car is in otherwise good shape, it's always less expensive to keep it longer. Think of it this way: you have to buy new tires no matter what. It's just a question of whether or not those new tires are attached to a new car or your current car. |
Why could rental costs for apartments/houses rise while buying prices can go up and down? | Economically, you would say that purchased and rented real estate are not perfect substitutes--they are largely separate markets. Only a few people are able to easily switch from one to the other and that choice is sticky--for example, once you buy a house, prices would have to rise a lot for it to be worth it to sell... |
Working remotely from Canada for a US company. How to get paid? | I'm no lawyer and no expert, so take my remarks as entertainment only. Also see this question. If you have a U.S. SSN which is eligible for work, they may be able to pay you on 1099 basis with your SSN as a sole proprietor, unless they have some personal reason for avoiding that. So perhaps try asking about that specif... |
Can saving/investing 15% of your income starting age 25, likely make you a millionaire? | It depends on how much you save, how much your savings earns each year. You can model it with a very simple spreadsheet: Formula view: You can change this simple model with any other assumptions you wish to make and model. This spreadsheet presumes that you only make $50,000/year, never get a raise, that your saving... |
What is the tax levied against stock portion cashed out of 401k? | Withdrawals from a traditional 401(k) plan are always treated as cash income and the taxable portion is taxed at ordinary income tax rates, even if the money was held in stocks within the 401(k) plan and the amount withdrawn is equal to whatever capital gains you made by selling the stock within the 401(k) plan. If you... |
What to do when a job offer is made but with a salary less than what was asked for? | It depends on your situation. Take the job only if you really need the job and there's no job close to your experience and salary expectations. IMO $70K is not much in NYC given the cost of living there, even if you stay in Jersey City, NJ and take a train. However, it does depend on your lifestyle. Also, if HR is not ... |
How does a brokerage firm work? | Real target of commisions is providing "risk shelter". It is kind of "insurance", which is actually last step for external risks to delete all your money. In part it cuts some of risks which you provide, brokers track history of all your actions for you (nobody else does). When brokerage firm fails, all your money is z... |
Who could afford a higher annual deductible who couldn't afford a higher monthly payment? | It's simple. Most people don't spend $6000 a year in medical care. As for myself, there's probably only $400 or less, mostly in annual checkups and the like. If you are the type to require more medical care, then you will pay more per month. I know a person with asthma, kidney stones, and inflammatory issues. This per... |
Including the region where you live in your investment portfolio? | The problem is aggregating information from so many sources, countries, and economies. You are probably more aware of local laws, local tax changes, local economic performance, etc, so it makes sense that you'd be more in tune with your own country. If your intent is to be fully diversified, then buy a total world fu... |
Tax deductions on empty property | This doesn't sound very legal to me. Real estate losses cannot generally be deducted unless you have other real estate income. So the only case when this would work is when that person has bunch of other buildings that do produce income, and he reduces that income, for tax purposes, by deducting the expenses/depreciati... |
Does my net paycheck decrease as the year goes on due to tax brackets filling up? | It seems that you are misunderstanding how your taxes are calculated. You seem to be under the impression that once you pass $37,450 annual income, ALL of your income will be taxed at 25%. However, in reality, only the income you earn above that amount will be taxed at 25%. You can use this chart to determine exactly h... |
How to read options prices | This is exactly how I started, starting a simulation account on the CBOE website just to see what situation was profitable because it was all greek to me. Actually after learning the greeks, I realize that site was worse and eventually read some books and got better tools. The screenshot you have is telling you the str... |
The doctor didn't charge the health insurance in time, am I liable? | That is your bill because the services were performed for you. You still can negotiate with the doctor however. Suggest that while you aren't willing to pay the full share, you will pay the negotiated amount he would have actually gotten from the insurance company (or some fraction thereof). Doc did make a mistake,... |
Using 2 different social security numbers | Social security number should only be needed for things that involve tax withholding or tax payment. Your bank or investment broker, and your employer, need it so they can report your earnings. You need it when filing tax forms. Other than those, nobody should really be asking you for it. The gym had absolutely no goo... |
How do you get out of a Mutual Fund in your 401(k)? | One of the strengths of 401K accounts is that you can move from investment X in the program to investment Y in the program without tax consequences. As you move through your lifetime you will tend to want to lower risk by investing in funds that are less aggressive. The only way this works is if there is an ability to ... |
Did basically all mutual funds have a significant crash in 2008? | In 2008, the S&P was down 37%. I love charts that show sector performance by year, as it helps show that 2008 wasn't like the crash of 2000-01 which was more tech-centric. Funds that were more geared towards bonds would have been up as the 10 year Treasury was up 20%. I understand you have a low risk tolerance. Over ... |
Is stock in a private corporation taxable? | This stock is the same as any other, but you need to keep clear in your head that you and your company are now different entities. You (the person) will pay tax on capital gains and losses when you sell any stock that you hold in your own name. You'll also owe "regular" tax if you draw a salary, etc. The fact that i... |
Debt collector has wrong person and is contacting my employer | This seems very suspicious, as if it were fraud, and not a legitimate collector. Garnishing wages takes a court order. A court would require a bit more proof than a name. Names can easily be common, I know sets of first cousins named after the common grandparent, 4 pairs in my extended family, along with 2 triples. Th... |
What's the fuss about identity theft? | While everything can be fixed in the end, and you can usually get all your money back, recovering from identity theft can take months or years. In the meantime, these are some of the things which you might not be able to do: In addition, you could face the following events: For all that, checking your credit report / s... |
Is there any US bank that does not charge for incoming wire transfers? | There are banks and credit unions that don't charge fee for incoming wire transfer. You most likely won't get that from big brick and mortar banks like BofA, Citi but if you are doing it regularly, using another bank that offers it free would save you a lot. Since ACH are free, you can transfer money between those bank... |
Where can publicly traded profits go but to shareholders via dividends? | Apart from investing in their own infrastructure, profits can be spent purchasing other companies, (Mergers and Acquisitions) investing in other securities, and frankly whatever they please. The idea here is that publicly traded companies have a fiduciary duty to their shareholders to make as much money as they can wit... |
Website for managing personal cash inflow and outflow, applicable to India? | https://moneycenter.yodlee.com/ You can link your bank accounts, credit cards, trading accounts etc at Yodlee. These will be updated automatically if you share your username and password from your existing financial institutions. You also have the option of creating manual accounts. You will have to manually add/update... |
How will I pay for college? | You sound like you're well educated, well spoken, and resourceful, so I'm going to assume that you are somewhere in the neighborhood of top 5% material. That means you can pretty much do anything you want to if you put enough effort into it. There are two types of people in this world: those who run the world and those... |
Mortgage or not? | Here is something that should help your decision: Currently you are 57, suppose that means that you will still work for 10 years, and then be retired for another 20 before you sell the house. Your retirement account is nearly flat, so you will have to support yourself with your own income. If there are no surprises, y... |
Trading: who takes the money from CAC 40 Or DAX | I am guessing that when you say "FRENCH40" and "GERMAN30" you are referring to the main French and German stock market indices. The main French index is the CAC-40 with its 40 constituent companies. The main German index is the DAX, which has 30 constituents. The US30 is presumably the Dow Jones Index which also has ... |
Should I get a personal loan to pay on my mortgage to go “above water” to qualify for a refinance? | Let's say you owe $200K (since you didn't mention balance. If you do, I'd edit my response), and can get 4.5%. You'd save 1.5% or about $3K/yr the first few years. If a $12K paydown is all that's between you and and refi I'd figure out a way. There are banks that are offering refi's under the HARP program if your curr... |
Does a larger down payment make an offer stronger? | There is some element of truth to what your realtor said. The seller takes the house off the market after the offer is accepted but the contract is contingent upon, among other things, buyer securing the financing. A lower down payment can mean a higher chance of failing that. The buyer might be going through FHA, VA ... |
What happens if I intentionally throw out a paycheck? | In a nutshell, throwing your taxable income in the trash does not remove it from your taxable income; you still have to report in your tax filing, and pay taxes as needed. Especially as you could at any time request your employer to write you a replacement check. I would expect them to start charging a fee for reprinti... |
How do I report book royalties for tax purposes? | (Insert the usual disclaimer that I'm not any sort of tax professional; I'm just a random guy on the Internet who occasionally looks through IRS instructions for fun. Then again, what you're doing here is asking random people on the Internet for help, so here goes.) The gigantic book of "How to File Your Income Taxes" ... |
Capital Gains in an S Corp | These are all factually correct claims. S-Corporation is a pass-through entity, so whatever gain you have on the corporate level - is passed to the shareholders. If your S-Corp has capital gains - you'll get your pro-rata share of the capital gains. Interest? The same. Dividends? You get it on your K-1. Earned income? ... |
How to decide if I should take my money with me or leave it invested in my home country? | The key is whether you plan to stay in Sweden forever, or plan to move back to Brazil after completion of 2 years. If you have not decided, best is stay invested in Brazil. Generally markets factor in currency prices so if you move the money into Krona and try and move it back it would in ideal market be more or less s... |
Saving for a down payment on a new house, a few years out. Where do we put our money next? | If you're absolutely certain that you won't buy a house within a year or so, I'd still be tempted to put some of the money into short-term CDs (ie, a max of 12 months). I think that at the moment CDs are a bit of a mug's game though because you'd hardly find one that offers better interest rates than some of the few sa... |
If you buy something and sell it later on the same day, how do you calculate 'investment'? | Your initial investment in this case is $9 on the first morning. Every other morning you are using part of your profits to buy the new piece of jewelry, so you are actually not investing any new funds. So each day you are effectively keeping $1 of your profits and re_re-investing $9. But your initial investment of your... |
Settlement of Shares Underlying a Covered Call Option | It's a covered call. When I want to create a covered call position, I don't need to wait before the stock transaction settles. I enter it as one trade, and they settle at different times. |
How to transform dividends into capital gains? | In the US, dividends have special tax treatment similar to, but not the same as Capital Gains. No easy way to transform one to the other, the very fact that you invested your money in a company that has returned part of your capital as income means it is just that, income. Also in the US, you could invest in Master Lim... |
Am I required to have a lawyer create / oversee creation of my will? | This is not intended as legal advice, and only covers general knowledge I have on the subject of wills as a result of handling my own finances. Each state of the USA has its own laws on wills and trusts. You can find these online. For example, in Kentucky I found state laws here: http://www.lrc.ky.gov/krs/titles.h... |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.