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Further Understanding of Wash Sale Rules | Once you own no shares for 31 days, it's game over. Even though the accounting has wash sales to consider, in the end, gains and losses all cancel to one net position of break even, gain or loss. It's when there are shares remaining at the end of a period of time that the wash sale rules really impact the numbers. |
Fundamentals of creating a diversified portfolio based on numbers? | Good question. There are plenty of investors who think they can simply rely on intuition, and although luck is always present it is not enough to construct a proper portfolio. First of all there are two basic types of portfolio management: Passive and Active. The majority of abnormal gains are made with active portfoli... |
At what percentage drop should you buy to average down | A big part of the answer depends on how "beaten down" the stock is, how long it will take to recover from the drop, and your taste for risk. If you honestly believe the drop is a temporary aberration then averaging down can be a good strategy to lower your dollar-cost average in the stock. But this is a huge risk if y... |
When to use a stop limit order over a stop order | This is to protect your position in specific highly volatile market conditions. If the stock is free falling and you only have a stop order at $90, it's possible that this order could be filled at $50 or even less. The limit is to protect you from that, as there are certain very specific times where it's better to jus... |
How much percent of my salary should I use to invest in company stock? | I would not hold any company stock for the company that provides your income. This is a too many eggs in one basket kind of problem. With a discounted stock purchase plan, I would buy the shares at a 10% discount and immediately resell for a profit. If the company prevents you from immediately reselling, I don't k... |
Why invest for the long-term rather than buy and sell for quick, big gains? | As an easy way to answer... look at an index, let's say the S&P 500. Look at the price this last October, and predict where it will move in November... easy right? It already happened, and you have the benefit of hindsight. The move looks like such a consistent, obvious continuation of the previous up and down patte... |
What exactly is a “bad,” “standard,” or “good” annual raise? If I am told a hard percentage and don't get it, should I look elsewhere? | What makes a "standard" raise depends on how well the economy is doing, how well your particular industry is doing, and how well your employer is doing. All these things change constantly, so anyone who says, "a good raise is 5%" or whatever number is being simplistic. Even if true when he said it, it won't necessarily... |
Are there tax liabilities (in the US) for having a US bank account while I am abroad? | I don't think so in your case. Unless the account generates so much interest income that it became reportable (I don't know the exact limit, but I think it's in the hundreds if not thousands of dollars, you might get a 1099 form if it generates over $10 of interest income, but you don't have to file taxes if your overa... |
How do I know if refinance is beneficial enough to me? | When evaluating a refinance, you need to figure out the payback time. Refinancing costs money in closing costs. The payback time is the time it takes to recover the closing costs with the amount of money you are saving in interest. For example, if the closing costs are $2,000, your payback time is 2 years if it takes ... |
GNUCash: How to count up equity? | I would take each of these items and any others and consider how you would count it as an expense in the other direction. If you have an account for parking expenses or general transportation funds, credit that account for a refund on your parking. If you have an account for expenses on technology purchases, you would ... |
What ETF best tracks the price of gasoline, or else crude oil? | Do not buy any commodity tracking ETF without reading and understanding the prospectus. Some of these things get exposure to the underlying commodity via swaps or other hocus-pocus derivatives, so you're really buying credit obligations from some bank. Others are futures based, and you need to understand your potential... |
Is dividend included in EPS | Not quite. The EPS is noted as ttm, which means trailing twelve months --- so the earnings are taken from known values over the previous year. The number you quote as the dividend is actually the Forward Annual Dividend Rate, which is an estimate of the future year's dividends. This means that PFE is paying out more i... |
Should I sell my stocks to reduce my debt? | I'm surprised no one has picked up on this, but the student loan is an exception to the rule. It's inflation bound (for now), you only have to pay it back as a percentage of your salary if you earn over £15k (11% on any amount over that I believe), you don't have to pay it if you lose your job, and it doesn't affect yo... |
Facebook buying WhatsApp for 19 Billion. How are existing shareholders affected? | It's a dilution of the ownership; the public used to own x% of Facebook and now they own less than x% of the bigger Facebook that incorporates Whatsapp (assuming that Whatsapp was completely private before). Logically, the $15 billion is allocated proportionately between the existing stockholders (x% of it for the gene... |
Is selling put options an advisable strategy for a retiree to generate stable income? | Selling options is a great idea, but tweak it a bit and sell credit spreads on both sides of the market, i.e. sell OTM bear call spreads and OTM bull put spreads. This is also known as an iron condor, and limits risk, and allows for much more flexibility. |
Is giving my girlfriend money for her mortgage closing costs and down payment considered fraud? | Regarding the mortgage company, they will want to know where the down payment came from, and as long as you are honest about it, there is no fraud. It's possible that the mortgage company may have some reservations about the deal now that they know where the down payment came from, but that will depend on the size of t... |
If a country can just print money, is global debt between countries real? | To understand this fully one would need to understand quite a few things. Not in scope here. In short, whenever China sells goods to US, it gets USD as most of the trades are in USD. China uses this money to buy other things it needs like Oil etc. After this they still have quite a bit of USD left with them. The money ... |
Is it safer to send credit card number via unsecured website form or by e-mail? What safer options are there? | Buy a prepaid gift card, such as a MasterCard or Visa gift card. You can find them at the grocery store, a pharmacy, or your local bank. Provide this on their online form. If anyone steals your gift card information, you will have already used the funds for your purchase and there is no further risk to you. |
Differences in taxes paid for W2 employee vs. 1099 contractor working on sites like ODesk.com? | Yes, you've summarized it well. You may be able to depreciate your computer, expense some software licenses and may be home office if you qualify, but at this scale of earning - it will probably not cover for the loss of the money you need to pay for the additional SE tax (the employer part of the FICA taxes for W2 emp... |
What is an ideal number of stock positions that I should have in my portfolio? | The two biggest issues that impact your question I would say are diversification and fees. If you have $10,000 to invest and only invest it in two securities, then a 20% drop in one security can have you lose 10% of your initial investment which I would consider a very high risk scenario. If you have $10,000 to invest ... |
Suitable Vanguard funds for a short-term goal (1-2 years) | If you are looking to invest for 1-2 years I would suggest you not invest in mutual funds at all. Your time horizon is too short for it to be smart to invest in the stock market. I'd suggest a high-yield savings account or CD. I know they both have crappy returns, but the stock market can swing wildly with no notice. ... |
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... |
Why are there many small banks and more banks in the U.S.? | I can't find a citation, but from memory (EDIT: and reading the newspapers at the time it happened): up until around 1980, banks couldn't cross state borders. In my state, at least, they were also very local, only staying within one county. This was to enforce "localness", the thought being that local bankers would kn... |
401k with paltry match or SPY ETF? | Switching to only 401k or only SPY? Both bad ideas. Read on. You need multiple savings vehicles. 401k, Roth IRA, emergency fund. You can/should add others for long term savings goals and wealth building. Though you could combine the non-tax-advantaged accounts and keep track of your minimum (representing the emerg... |
How to change a large quantity of U.S. dollars into Euros? | To transfer US$30,000 from the USA to Europe, ask your European banker for the SWIFT transfer instructions. Typically in the USA the sending bank needs a SWIFT code and an account number, the name and address of the recipient, and the amount to transfer. A change of currency can be made as part of the transfer. The... |
What is the difference between a check and a paycheck? | A paycheck is simply a check for your salary. It's just like a rent check, or a birthday check, or a grocery check... I've had "paychecks" that were personal checks from the owner of the business, I've had ones that are printed in the office I worked in and signed right there, and I've had paychecks that are printed ... |
What is the difference between speculating and investing? | Investing is balancing the desire for return against the various risks that your money is faced with. There's also a recognition that an investment will be in place for some extended period of time. Speculation is seeking short-term maximum return, without protecting yourself against risk. "Speculation" or "Speculator... |
If I plan to buy a car in cash, should I let the dealer know? | If you buy a car using a loan, the dealer gets benefited by the financing institution by the way of referring fee paid to the dealer by the institution, and that too if the dealer has helped in financing the purchase. Otherwise for the dealer it doesn't matter if one pays in full or through financing. The dealer is pai... |
Why is auto insurance ridiculously overpriced for those who drive few miles? | People who drive long distances tend to do more of their driving on larger, well-built roads (freeways / motorways) that are designed for high-speed driving. Although some people find them intimidating, they are much safer in terms of accidents per kilometre driven for several reasons: |
What are the best software tools for personal finance? | http://www.Mvelopes.com Mvelopes is envelope-style budgeting in an online application. I've tried all of the other applications and I choose to pay for this one for the following reasons: |
What are investment options for young married couple with no debt that have maxed out retirement savings? | 4.7 is a pretty low rate, especially if you are deducting that from your taxes. If you reduce the number by your marginal tax rate to get the real cost of the money you end up with a number that isn't far off from inflation, and also represents a pretty low 'yield' in terms of paying off the loan early. (e.g. if you... |
First concrete steps for retirement planning when one partner is resistant | I can understand your nervousness being 40 and no retirement savings. Its understandable especially given your parents. Before going further, I would really recommend the books and seminars on Love and Respect. The subject matter is Christian based, but it based upon a lot of secular research from the University of... |
How can I improve my credit score if I am not paying bills or rent? | One of the other things you could do to improve your score would be along the lines of what Pete said in his answer, but using the current financial climate to your advantage. I'm not sure what interest rates are available to you in the UK, but I currently have 4 lines of credit aside from my house. One is a credit car... |
Should I finance a new home theater at 0% even though I have the cash for it? | You should look at the opportunity cost for your money (i.e. what kind of return it could generate otherwise). We took advantage of these types of offer (zero interest for x months) in the past with the goal to redirect the money to the mortgage (it was 7.5% back then) and we made sure we don't get hosed by the surpri... |
Is losing money in my 401K normal? | Depends on how the money is invested within the 401k... but in general, prices move both up and down with a long-tem bias toward up. Think of it this way: with fund shares priced lower now, you are getting shares cheaper than when you entered the plan. So this dip is actually working in your favor, as long as you are ... |
How to measure a currencies valuation or devaluation in relevance to itself | It's very hard to measure the worth of an abstract concept like money, particularly over long periods of time. In the modern era we have things like the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the United States, where the Bureau of Labor Statistics literally sends "shoppers" out to find prices of things and surveys people to fin... |
How are mortgage interest rates determined? | One will find that the fixed 30 year mortgage rate is tightly correlated to the 10 year treasury. An adder of 2-2.5% or so, changing slightly with the rest of the economy, as money can get tight or loose independent of the rate itself. In 2011 we are witnessing low rates yet tough loan standards, this is the phenomenon... |
What's the best online tool that can track my entire portfolio including gains/losses? | You can use a tool like WikiInvest the advantage being it can pull data from most brokerages and you don't have to enter them manually. I do not know how well it handles dividends though. |
VAT and duties payable when importing personal goods from Switzerland and the Channel Islands to the EU? | http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/tax-and-duty.htm#3 explains the Import VAT situation quite well. As for who enforces and collects it, if you're talking about buying online and having it shipped to you then you'll notice on the parcel a Customs sticker declaring the contents and value. It is the responsibility of the co... |
Are there any catches with interest from banks? Is this interest “too good to be true”? | The 1.09% is per year, not per month. Not too bad for a regular savings, but it's just interest rates in general that are bad right now. The inflation rate should be 3.8% currently so if you hide your money in a bank you'll end up with a loss of 2% in buying power in a year... If you open an CD (Certificate of Deposit)... |
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. |
Optimal way for withdrawing vested company match from my 401k? | You can borrow against a 401k for 5 years. This defers any penalty fees that the IRS mandates. Put the cash back in your 401k within those 5 years. you can also solo administer 401k plans even if you have an unincorporated business, so you can start one of those if you have any other form of cashflow, and there may be ... |
Why do people use mortgages, when they could just pay for the house in full? | I believe the reason is because society and the economy is set up a certain way, and re-enforced by the government. Your options are: So, people usually go with the most attractive of their limited options, getting a mortgage. If you want to dig deeper, do some research as to why housing is expensive. Some things to co... |
Splitting Hackathon Prize Money to minimize tax debt | I would just take $2000 and multiply by your marginal tax rate, weight that between the 5 other people according to their share of the prize money and ask them to give you that. From your question it seems like you all have a good working relationship, I'm sure the other partners would agree to that. I think it's the s... |
Question about Tax Information from a Prospectus | A mutual fund could make two different kinds of distributions to you: Capital gains: When the fund liquidates positions that it holds, it may realize a gain if it sells the assets for a greater price than the fund purchased them for. As an example, for an index fund, assets may get liquidated if the underlying index ch... |
Howto choose a marketplace while submitting an order for a stock trade | It depends on your cost structure and knowledge of the exchanges. It could be optimal to make a manual exchange selection so long as it's cheaper to do so. For brokers with trade fees, this is a lost cause because the cost of the trade is already so high that auto routing will be no cheaper than manual routing. For bro... |
Home Renovations are expensive.. Should I only pay cash for them? | Is it a safety thing? If the heat pump goes out you replace it immediately, if your floor looks bad but you aren't tripping, I would suggest saving. Use the extra time to find a great deal and educate yourself on your options. Maybe even take a class and learn to do it yourself. In these rough times, anything I can ... |
How much do large sell orders affect stock price? | The volume required to significantly move the price of a security depends completely on the orderbook for that particular security. There are a variety of different reasons and time periods that a security can be halted, this will depend a bit on which exchange you're dealing with. This link might help with the halt as... |
Vanguard Mutual Funds — Diversification vs Share Class | If I were in your shoes I'd probably take the Vanguard Total Market fund with Admiral shares, then worry about further diversification when there is more in the account. Many times when you "diversify" in to multiple funds you end up with a lot of specific security overlap. A lot of the big S&P 500 constituents will b... |
How can a U.S. citizen open a bank account in Europe? | If you don't want to hassle with opening an account (and don't mind going without insurance) there are currency ETF's that basically invest in euro money market accounts. Here's an example of one Not sure if the return would be as much as you'd get if you opened your own account and went for longer term instruments lik... |
Is foreign stock considered more risky than local stock and why? | If you intend to be responsive to news and intraday price moves, for foreign stocks these will often happen while you're asleep (e.g. the Tokyo Stock Exchange opens at roughly midnight UK time). |
Where can I find a good online fundamental data provider for Hong Kong stocks? | If you check out China Stock Markets Web provides details on all things that trade on there. It covers the Hang Seng Index, SSE Index, and SSE Component Index. There is also tons of information for investors on the exchange website here. |
Is Weiss Research, Inc. a legitimate financial research company? | This company was a reputable rating agency for many years. See Weiss Research website, ratings section for a very different perspective on Martin Weiss's work than the websites with which he is now associated. I checked both links provided, and agree with the questioner in every way: These appear to be highly questiona... |
Should I pay half a large balance this month before I get my CC statement? | It will reduce the credit ding you will take but why does it matter? Next cycle when it's paid off your credit score will go back to where it was. Unless you're looking for a loan right now and your credit is marginal why worry about it? |
Is the repayment of monies loaned to my company considered income? | I'm a Finance major in Finland and here is how it would go here. As you loan money to the company, the company has no income, but gains an asset and a liability. When the company then uses the money to pay the bills it does have expenses that accumulate to the end of the accounting period where they have to be declared... |
When a stock price goes down, does the money just disappears into thin air? | Price and value are two different things. Price is determined by supply and demand. Value does affect the demand. People are willing to pay more if they value the item more but value is not price. |
What makes a Company's Stock prices go up or down? | Here are some significant factors affect the company stock price performance: Usually, profitability is known to the public through the financial statements; it won't be 100% accurate and people would also trade the stock with the price not matching to the true value of the firm. Still there are dozens of other various... |
Do people tend to spend less when using cash than credit cards? | I'd like to know if there is any reliable research on the subject. Intuitively, this must be true, no? Is it? First, is it even possible to discover the correlation, if one exists? Dave Ramsey is a proponent of "Proven study that shows you will spend 10% more on a credit card than with cash." Of course, he suggests tha... |
IRS “convenience of the employer” test when employee lives far from the office | If your employer does not provide you with a place to work but nevertheless expects you to get work done, then having a place to work is a condition of employment. |
Is it prudent to sell a stock on a 40% rise in 2 months | Sell half. If it's as volatile as you say, sell it all and buy on another dip. No one can really offer targeted advice based on the amount of information you have provided. |
I am looking for software to scan and read receipts | Scanning receipts is easy and any decent scanner will do a good job for you. The difficult part is the software that 'extracts' the data. Today there is no software that can do this really well because there is just too great a range of receipts (e.g. handwritten receipts, receipts in foreign languages, etc.). For this... |
FSA when a retirement agreement has been put into place | There's no reason for the employer not to deduct the whole amount before you leave. The FSA salary deduction has to be periodical, but it doesn't have to be calculated over a year. It just means that an equal amount will be deducted from your every paycheck, and if the employer (and you) know that your last paycheck is... |
What happens to all of the options when they expire? | Options that are not worth exercising just expire. Options that are worth exercising are typically exercised automatically as they expire, resulting in a transfer of stock between the entity that issued the option and the entity that holds it. OCC options automatically exercise when they expire if the value of the opti... |
If accepting more than $10K in cash for a used boat, should I worry about counterfeiting? | The only issue I can see is that the stranger is looking to undervalue their purchase to save money on taxes/registration (if applicable in your state). Buying items with cash such as cars, boats, etc in the used market isn't all that uncommon* - I've done it several times (though not at the 10k mark, more along about ... |
Taking Losses To Save On Tax | As Dilip said, if you want actual concrete, based in tax law, answers, please add the country (and if applicable, state) where you pay income tax. Also, knowing what tax bracket you're in would help as well, although I certainly understand if you're not comfortable sharing that. So, assuming the US... If you're in the ... |
Are there any disadvantages to DHA Investment Properties? | A quick online search for "disadvantages of defence housing australia investment properties" turns up a several articles that list a few possible disadvantages. I can't vouch for these personally because I'm not familiar with the Australian rental market, but they may all be things to keep in mind. I quote verbatim whe... |
Buying my first car out of college | Read "Stop Acting Rich" by Dr Thomas Stanley. I'm concerned that even before you've earned your first paycheck you want a flashy car. $4800/yr on $63K/yr income is just about half what I'd recommend to someone who starts working. 10% is the minimum, if and only if, the employer matches 5, for a total 15% saved. Do it i... |
Saving up for an expensive car | This seems really simple to me. |
If throwing good money after bad is generally a bad idea, is throwing more money after good Ok? | I have heard that investing more money into an investment which has gone down is generally a bad idea*. "Throwing good money after bad" so to speak. This is over simplified statement to explain the concept. What is essentially says is; Say I hold stocks of XYZ; 100 units worth say USD 1000. This has lost me x% [say 50%... |
How can I deal with a spouse who compulsively spends? | Based on the conversations in the comments, I believe a pragmatic solution would be the best immediate course of action, while still working on the long term addiction issues. The first step is to get your husband to agree to give you all of his credit cards and let you manage the money for a set period of time, say 3 ... |
Giving kids annual tax free gift of $28,000 | From the IRS' website: How many annual exclusions are available? The annual exclusion applies to gifts to each donee. In other words, if you give each of your children $11,000 in 2002-2005, $12,000 in 2006-2008, $13,000 in 2009-2012 and $14,000 on or after January 1, 2013, the annual exclusion applies to each gi... |
On what dates do the U.S. and Canada release their respective federal budgets? | In the US there is no set date. If all goes well there are multiple dates of importance. If it doesn't go well the budget process also may include continuing resolutions, shutdowns, and sequestrations. |
What is the incentive for a bank to refinance a mortgage at a lower rate? | It can be a good thing for the bank to refinance your loan for you - since you will be keeping the loan at that particular institution. This gives them more time to enjoy the free money you pay them in interest for the remaining life of the loan. Banks that offer "No closing costs" are betting that mortgage payers wil... |
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... |
Should I stockpile nickels? | I agree with George. I'll also add that you have to think about the cost of melting the coins for their raw materials. Not exactly free in terms of equipment, facilities and energy costs. |
Should I use put extra money toward paying off my student loans or investing in an index fund? | Not all debt is bad. If it carries a reasonable interest rate, you don't need to clear it immediately. As for investing in an index fund, they're an affordable, easy way to spread your money over various assets. However, asset allocation is just one of many investment strategies. Ideally, you want to invest according t... |
How do top investors pull out 20% ROI? | It's called leverage. Here's an example from real estate. The underlying appreciation on a house in certain parts of America is something like 7% a year. So if you bought the house "all cash," your return would be something like 7% a year. (Actually, a little more, because of the rent you would be collecting, or saving... |
What are support and resistance of a stock? | You should check out existing resources like Investopedia for definitions, and ask questions if there is something you do not understand, instead of asking folks to spit out definitions. A good book for you to read might be Wall Street Words |
How would bonds fare if interest rates rose? | 1. Interest rates What you should know is that the longer the "term" of a bond fund, the more it will be affected by interest rates. So a short-term bond fund will not be subject to large gains or losses due to rate changes, an intermediate-term bond fund will be subject to moderate gains or losses, and a long-term bon... |
If someone gives me cash legally, can my deposit trigger an audit for them? | Yes you should worry and take care not to violate the law or provide any appearance of impropriety. Every bank in the USA is required under the Bank Secrecy Act to report cash transactions over $10,000 the same day to the IRS -- and here's the fun secret part -- without notification to the depositor. But splitting ... |
Pros and cons of bond ETF versus traditional bond mutual fund? | Bond ETFs are just another way to buy a bond mutual fund. An ETF lets you trade mutual fund shares the way you trade stocks, in small share-size increments. The content of this answer applies equally to both stock and bond funds. If you are intending to buy and hold these securities, your main concerns should be purc... |
declaring payments to a credit card for a shared expense | If this is a business expense - then this is what is called reimbursement. Reimbursement is usually not considered as income since it is money paid back to you for an expense you covered for your employer with your after-tax money. However, for reimbursement to be considered properly executed, from income tax stand poi... |
What is the best use of “spare” money? | Investing in mutual funds, ETF, etc. won't build a large pool of money. Be an active investor if your nature aligns. For e.g. Invest in buying out a commercial space (on bank finance) like a office space and then rent it out. That would give you better return than a savings account. In few years time, you may be able t... |
Is it sensible to keep savings in a foreign currency? | I don't think that it's a good idea to have cash savings in different currencies, unless you know which will be the direction of the wind for that currency. You can suffer a lot of volatility and losses if you just convert your savings to another currency without knowing anything about which direction that pair will ta... |
How good is Wall Street Survivor for learning about investing? | I find this site to be really poor for the virtual play portion, especially the options league. After you place a trade, you can't tell what you actually traded. The columns for Exp and type are blank. I have had better luck with OptionsXpress virtual trader. Although they have recently changed their criteria for a... |
How to make a decision for used vs new car if I want to keep the car long term? | New cars are sold for about $500 over their blue book value. They drop in value by about 20% their first year. Used cars are sold for about $2,500 above their blue book. They depreciate like normal. My advice based on my personal experience is to get a new car. When buying a used car, remember that the previous owner s... |
Why do investors buy stock that had appreciated? | People buy stocks with the intention of making money. They either expect the price to continue to rise or that they will get dividends and the price will not drop (enough) to wipe out their dividend earnings. |
What can I take from learning that a company's directors are buying or selling shares? | You can learn very little from it. Company directories are often given share options or shares as a bonus, and because of that they are unlikely to buy shares. When they sell shares, you'll hear people shouting "so-and-so sold his or her shares, they must know something bad about the company". The truth is that you ca... |
Is there any US bank that does not charge for incoming wire transfers? | Schwab High Yield Investor Checking does not charge for incoming wires. |
Oversimplify it for me: the correct order of investing | It isn't always clear cut that you should pay off a debt at all, particularly a mortgage. In simple terms, if you are making a better return than what the bank is charging you, and the investment meets your risk criteria, then you should not pay back the debt. In the UK for example, mortgage rates are currently quite l... |
Why do 10 year Treasury bond yields affect mortgage interest rates? | Different bonds (and securitized mortgages are bonds) that have similar average lives tend to have similar yields (or at least trade at predictable yield spreads from one another). So, why does a 30 year mortgage not trade in lock-step with 30-year Treasuries? First a little introduction: Mortgages are pooled together ... |
Do my 401k/Roth accounts benefit from compounding? | Sure, stocks don't pay interest. I just looked up the word "compound" in a couple of dictionaries and the relevant definition in all of them just mentioned interest and not growth in the value of stock. So it may be technically inaccurate to talk about "compound growth" of a stock. I'll yield to someone more knowledgea... |
How to acquire skills required for long-term investing? | As foundational material, read "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham. It will help prepare you to digest and critically evaluate other investing advice as you form your strategy. |
Is the ESPP discount profit? | The difference is ordinary income. If the price drops and you sell for exactly what you paid, you have an income of D and a capital loss of D which usually cancel each other, but not always. For example, if you already have over $3000 in losses, this loss won't help you, it will carry forward. The above changes a bit ... |
How to pay for Alzheimer's care? | See Paying for Care | Caregiver Center | Alzheimer's Association. Notable excerpts: For most individuals 65 or older, Medicare is the primary source of health care coverage. However, private insurance, a group employee plan or retiree health coverage also may be in effect. [...] In addition to Medicare, the per... |
Is debt almost always the cause of crashes and recessions? | The root cause can be said to always be a crisis in confidence. It may be due to a very real event. However, confidence is what pushes the markets up and worries are what bring them down. |
Can capital gains be used to fund an IRA with tax advantages? | IRA contribution must be from your earned income in the sense that you cannot contribute to IRA more than you have in earned income. If all your income is capital gains - you cannot contribute anything to IRA. Once you're within the income limit restriction, it doesn't matter what other money you have, because as you s... |
Is Bogleheadism (index fund investing) dead? | If the ship is sinking, switching cabins with your neighbor isn't necessarily a good survival strategy. Index funds have sucked, because frankly just about everything has sucked lately. I still think it is a viable long term strategy as long as you are doing some dollar cost averaging. You can't think about long term ... |
Best way to start investing, for a young person just starting their career? | I started my career over 10 years ago and I work in the financial sector. As a young person from a working class family with no rich uncles, I would prioritize my investments like this: It seems to be pretty popular on here to recommend trading individual stocks, granted you've read a book on it. I would thoroughly rec... |
First concrete steps for retirement planning when one partner is resistant | I'd try to (gently) point out to your husband that what he thinks he wants to do now and what he might want to do in 20 or 30 years are not necessarily the same thing. When I was 40 I was thinking that I would work until I died. Now I'm 58 and have health problems and I'm counting down the days until I can retire. Even... |
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