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In the USA, does the income tax rate on my wages increase with the amount of money in my bank account?
besides accrued interest But that's important. one has $40,000 in their account and the other $9,000. Does one now pay higher income tax because he has more in his account or does he pay the same because he makes the same? If they are interest bearing accounts, then yes the guy with the $40K balance will pay a little m...
Why don't companies underestimate their earnings to make quarterly reports look better?
Stating poor estimates in advance will lower your share price to compensate for thge extras boost it gets later ... And may run afoul of stock manipulation laws. More pain than gain likely.
Should I set a stop loss for long term investments?
Do not use a stop loss order as a long-term investor. The arguments in favor of stop losses being presented by a few users here rely on a faulty premise, namely, that there is some kind of formula that will let you set your stop such that it won't trigger on day-to-day fluctuations but will trigger in time to protect ...
Is the stock market too risky for long term retirement funds? Why should a 20- or 30-something person invest in stocks?
I recommend that people think for themselves and get a multitude of counselors. The more you understand about what drives the prices of various assets, the better. Getting to good advice for a particular person depends on the financial picture for that person. For example, if they have a lot of consumer debt, then th...
Is it worth it to re-finance my car loan?
Seems like a good deal to me. You are paying less interest over the lifetime of the loan. And what I would do is take the difference between the new payments and the old, put it into a savings account each month, and when the savings account exceeds the balance of the loan pay it off.
Vanguard ETF vs mutual fund
One reason is that it is not possible (at Vanguard and at many other brokerages) to auto-invest into ETFs. Because the ETF trades like a stock, you typically must buy a whole number of shares. This makes it difficult to do auto-investing where you invest, say, a fixed dollar amount each month. If you're investing $1...
How to calculate stock price (value) based on given values for equity and debt?
Adding assets (equity) and liabilities (debt) never gives you anything useful. The value of a company is its assets (including equity) minus its liabilities (including debt). However this is a purely theoretical calculation. In the real world things are much more complicated, and this isn't going to give you a good ide...
How to find historical stock price for a de-listed or defunct company?
Such data is typically only available from paid sources due to the amount of research involved in determining the identity of delisted securities, surviving entities in merger scenarios, company name changes, symbol changes, listing venue changes, research of all capital events such as splits, and to ensure that the da...
New company doesn't allow 401k deposits for 6 months, what to do with money I used to deposit?
Bit hesitant to put this in an answer as I don't know if specific investment advice is appropriate, but this has grown way too long for a comment. The typical answer given for people who don't have the time, experience, knowledge or inclination to pick specific stocks to hold should instead invest in ETFs (exchange-tra...
Dad paying for my new home in cash. How can I buy the house from him?
Presumably this house is a great deal for you for some reason if you are willing to go to great lengths such as these to acquire it. I suggest you have your father purchase the house with cash, then you purchase the house from him. You might want to discuss this with the title company, it's possible that there are some...
HSBC Hong Kong's “Deposit Plus” Product: What is it, and what strategies to employ?
HSBC Hong Kong's “Deposit Plus” Product" the same as "Dual Currency Product" . it's Currency link Sell base Currency Call / Alternative Currency Put FX Option It's not protected by the Deposit Insurance System in HK You can search Key Word "Dual Currency Product" & "Dual Currency Investment" & "Dual Currency Deposit" ...
Who can truly afford luxury cars?
It very much depends on whether you want to drive around in an expensive car, or whether you want an expensive car parked on your driveway. And whether you want to buy a new car, or a used one. And whether you know a reliable garage that doesn't rip you off or not. For example, if my wife who drives maybe 5,000 miles ...
More money towards down payment versus long-term investments
Every payment you make on your house will already be increasing your equity in it. For that reason alone, I'd recommend moving additional savings into other long-term funds.
How does stock dilution work in relation to share volume?
The reason a company creates more stock is to generate more capital so that this can be utilized and more returns can be generated. It is commonly done as a follow on public offer. Typically the funds are used to retire high cost debts and fund future expansion. What stops the company from doing it? Are Small investo...
Should I buy a house because Mortgage rates are low
The simple answer is that you are correct. You should not purchase a house until you are financially stable enough to do so. A house is an asset that you must maintain, and it can be expensive to do so. Over the long term, you will generally save money by purchasing. However, in any given year you may spend much more ...
The doctor didn't charge the health insurance in time, am I liable?
The hospital likely has a contract with your insurance company which makes them obligated to bill the insurance before billing you! I had a similar occurrence that was thrown out when my insurance company provided a copy of a contract with the hospital to the judge. So if there is an agreement they must file with the i...
What to sell when your financial needs change, stocks or bonds?
So I don't have any problems with your analysis or the comments associated with it. I just wanted to mention that no one is talking about taxes. Your answer....Figure out new portfolio breakdown and sell to 1.) Get money I need and 2.) re-balance the portfolio to my new target allocations is completely correct. (Unimp...
Swiss-style Monetary Policy
This is what is called "weasel words". They're trying to put some authority into their ad, but since they don't have any - they're putting meaningless words that sound important. Monetary policy is the state/central bank policy to control the supply of the available currency. Cannot think of a way to connect it to priv...
Is it ever logical to not deposit to a matched 401(k) account?
If your plan permits loans, deposit enough through the year to maximize the match and then take a loan from the plan. Use the loan portion to pay your student loan. Essentially you have refinanced your debt at a (presumably) lower rate and recieved the match. You pay yourself back (with interest) through your payroll. ...
How far do I go with a mortgage approval process when shopping around?
As per my comments, I think this is up to you and how much work you want to put forth. I do not feel it is trivial to provide documentation even with 90% of it will be the same among lenders. See this question: First answer, third and fourth paragraphs. You need to go as far as understanding the total cost of the loan...
Why do people buy new cars they can not afford?
I had a 2000 Chevy Cavalier until late 2011. It worked well, but was very definitely at the end of its life. This was a low-end car, certainly, but I dispute your claim that cars last 20 - 25 years. Consumer Reports apparently says the average life expectancy of a new vehicle is around 8 years or 150,000 miles. When it...
Would I qualify for a USDA loan?
If you even qualify for a no-down payment USDA loan, which I'm not sure you would. It would be extremely risky to take on a $250K house loan and have near-zero equity in the house for a good while. If property values drop at all you are going to be stuck in that house which likely has a pretty high monthly payment, ins...
Is foreign stock considered more risky than local stock and why?
The value of a foreign stock is subject to fluctuations in the foreign currency value; this is not the case for domestic stocks.
How much time should be spent on Penny Stocks Trading a day?
How long is a piece of string? This will depend on many variables. How many trades will you make in a day? What income would you be expecting to make? What expectancy do you need to achieve? Which markets you will choose to trade? Your first step should be to develop a Trading Plan, then develop your trading rules an...
What is street-side booking?
This is a technical term referring to the "double entry"-styled book keeping of trades by brokers. Suppose a client executes a buy order with their broker. The broker's accounting for this "trade" will be recorded as two different "deals" : One "deal" showing the client as buyer and the broker as seller, and a second ...
How can I find out the credit rating of a company
Dunn & Bradstreet offers detailed credit reports on businesses. They are not cheap, but they appear to have information on RIOCAN.
Is CFD a viable option for long-term trading?
it is pretty much the same as a normal margin loan but cheaper because you don't own the underlying share.the if the margin is $1000 at 5% you could borrow $20000 in total so the actual amount would be $19000 in total that you would have to pay interest on so at the moment it is 5.1% which is $19000x5.1% /365 days =$2....
What are the ramifications of lawsuits over “breaches of fiduciary duty” for the average shareholder?
As an investor, I try to interpret the suits as an attempt to in some way influence the actions of the company - and not, usually, as a serious legal threat (or as likely to lead to serious legal consequences). My (shallow) understanding (as a non-lawyer) is that the requirements for a lawsuit to be filed as class-acti...
Saving for a non-necessity
Your question is rather direct, but I think there is some underlying issues that are worth addressing. One How to save and purchase ~$500 worth items This one is the easy one, since we confront it often enough. Never, ever, ever buy anything on credit. The only exception might be your first house, but that's it. Simp...
Should I take a personal loan for my postgraduate studies?
If you are eligible for FEE-HELP then this is by far the cheapest way of financing higher education in Australia.
splitting a joint mortgage - one owner in home
Definitely get a lawyer to write up all the details of the partnership in a formal agreement. If your ex does not want to do this, that is a bad sign. You both need to be clear about expectations and responsibilities in this partnership, and define an exit strategy in the case one of you wants out. This is the most fai...
Can ETF's change the weighting of the assets they track
Can they change the weights? Yes. Will they? It depends. are ETF's fixed from their inception to their de-listing? It's actually not possible for weights to be fixed, since different assets have different returns. So the weights are constantly changing as long as the market is moving. Usually after a certain period or ...
Would the effects of an anticipated default by a nation be mostly symbolic?
It will affect Greeks as any bankruptcy affects the bankrupt. They already started reducing their welfare policies and government hand-outs. Default would mean that the government isn't able to meet its obligations. It's not only the external obligations, it's also the internal obligations - pensions, social security b...
How to rescue my money from negative interest?
You obviously pay your taxes in Switzerland and are employed (judging from your comments on your maximum possible contribution to the 3. Säule). Under these circumstances, your best best may well be to pay into the occupational pension system ("Einkauf in die 2. Säule"). Essentially, you can add funds to your pension p...
Why is a stock trade flat on large volume?
Large volume just means a lot of market participants believe they know where the stock price will be (after some amount of time). The fact that the price is not moving just means that about 50% of those really confident traders think the stock will be moving up, and about 50% of those really confident traders think th...
Learning investing and the stock market
I would recommend getting a used set of Chartered Financial Analyst books. The series is a great broad introduction to the most important aspects of investing and the markets. Combining both day-to-day knowledge and fundamental theory. CFA materials include in depth discussions of: After you have a strong base then s...
How can I save LLC fees when investing in Arizona real estate from California
You won't be able to avoid the $800 fee. CA FTB has a very specific example, which is identical to your situation (except that they use NV instead of AZ), to show that the LLC has liability in California. State of formation is of no matter, you'll just be liable for fees in that state in addition to the CA fees. This i...
Does the stock market create any sort of value?
With regards to "the stock market," there are actually two markets involved here: PRIMARY MARKET Value is created in the primary market where capital is exchanged for a residual interest in an opportunity. As a theoretical example, if a person operating solo (or with a small team) were to discover or create a breakthr...
Can the purchaser of a stock call option cancel the contract?
You bought the right – but not the obligation – to buy a certain number of shares at $15 from whomsoever sold you the option, and you paid a premium for it. You can choose whether you want to buy the shares at $15 during the period agreed upon. If you call for the shares, the other guy has to sell the shares to you f...
Does FIFO cost basis applies across multiple accounts?
You decide on a cost bases attribution yourself, per transaction (except for averaging for mutual funds, which if I remember correctly applies to all the positions). It is not a decision your broker makes. Broker only needs to know what you've decided to report it to the IRS on 1099, but if the broker reported wrong ba...
Should I cash out my Roth IRA to pay my mother's property tax debt, to avoid foreclosure on her home?
First, I'm really sorry to hear about your mother. My wife was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, so I know that there is a possibility that your mind is in "survival" mode, trying to preserve as much as you can in the way of things that you can effect (that's how I've been feeling recently). Having a loved one wi...
Are parking spaces and garage boxes a good investment?
15 years ago I bought a beach condo in Miami for $400,000 and two extra parking spaces for $3000 each. Today the condo is worth 600,000 but the rent barely covers mortgage repairs and property taxes. Most of The old people in the building have since died and are now replaced with families with at least two cars and spo...
Can I contribute to an IRA from investment income?
Your contributions must come from "compensation". Quoting IRS Publication 590 on IRAs, "Generally, compensation is what you earn from working." So it is unlikely that your stock sale proceeds, if they're your sole source of income, can be used to fund your IRA. If you do have W-2 income, or self employment income, you ...
Accounting for splits in a stock price graph
One way that is common is to show the value over time of an initial investment, say $10,000. The advantage of this is that it doesn't show stock price at all, so handles splits well. It can also take into account dividend reinvestment. Fidelity uses this for their mutual funds, as can be seen here. Another option w...
What to make of historical stock market volatility?
The first thing to realize is that the type of chart you saw is not appropriate for long-term comparisons. The vertical axis uses a linear scale, where each unit occupies the same amount of space. This is visually misleading because the relevant information at any point in the chart is "how much is the value going up...
Joint account that requires all signatures of all owners to withdraw money?
Savings accounts have lower fees. If you don't anticipate doing many transactions per month, e.g. three or fewer withdrawals, then I would suggest a savings account rather than a checking account. A joint account that requires both account holder signatures to make withdrawals will probably require both account holders...
Pros/Cons of Buying Discounted Company Stock
Is this an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP)? If so, and there is no required holding period, selling right away is essentially a guaranteed bonus with minimal risk. One caveat is that sometimes it takes a while to actually receive the shares at your brokerage, and in the meantime your company may have an earnings re...
How do I figure out the market value of used books?
Half of original MSRP at Amazon is a good option for books that are in good condition. Another option would be to use eBay, specifically Half.com.
Which colors can one use to fill out a check in the US?
Keep in mind that many checks are being cashed via scanner or photo. These can be home based, business based or ATM based systems. The key requirement is that the software has to be able to distinguish the "written" parts from the background parts. If the image doesn't have enough contrast for the edge detection to wor...
Is it better to pay an insurance deductible, or get an upgrade?
I would go for the upgrade and cancel the insurance. It's been 5 years since I left the post paid subsidized phone world and I'm WAY better off. I use ATT GoPhone and I buy my phones in cash. If I shatter my phone, I replace the screen or simply buy a new one. Sites like swappa.com make buying and selling phones a b...
Should I sell my stocks when the stock hits a 52-week high in order to “Buy Low, Sell High”?
I bought 1000 shares of Apple, when it was $5. And yet, while the purchase was smart, the sales were the dumbest of my life. "You can't go wrong taking a profit" "When a stock doubles sell half and let it ride", etc. It doubled, I sold half, a $5000 gain. Then it split, and kept going up. Long story short, I took gai...
Personal Banking using accrual method
You would add your daily earnings every day. For example, you work full time job (8 hours a day) at $20/hour. At the end of the 1st day of the month, you'd add $160 to your salary account. You've earned it, even though its still almost a month till you actually get paid. So its accrued. What if you don't get paid? You'...
Can a bank hold my deposit on a closed account?
What I'm reading is that they subtracted the $85 you owe them and they're cutting you a cashier's check for the rest. Ethically speaking, you owed them the money, they subtracted it and made you a check for the rest. Once you cash that check, nobody owes anyone anything in this equation. Sounds like they're in the cl...
Dad paying for my new home in cash. How can I buy the house from him?
You are going to need a lawyer anyway so check with him. But here is a path you might be able to go down. Put the house in your name right from the get go. He gives you the money but you sign over a promissory note to him so that you net less than $14000 (gift tax annual exclusion for the calendar year). He can gi...
What are support and resistance of a stock?
Support and resistance points indicate price levels where there have been a large amount of trading activity, usually from institutions, that tend to stabilize the price of a stock. Support is a temporary FLOOR, where people have been buying in large quantities. That means there's a good chance that the stock won't go ...
Why would a company care about the price of its own shares in the stock market?
The fact you are asking this question, the number of up votes, uncovers the real cause of the banking crisis. Answers which mention that shareholders will fire a public company board are on the bottom. It is obvious that a company owners are interested in company value. And should have direct and easy impact on a di...
Comparing the present value of total payment today and partial payments over 3 months
I got $3394.83 The first problem with this is that it is backwards. The NPV (Net Present Value) of three future payments of $997 has to be less than the nominal value. The nominal value is simple: $2991. First step, convert the 8% annual return from the stock market to a monthly return. Everyone else assumed that...
What can I take from learning that a company's directors are buying or selling shares?
It is not clear when you mean "company's directors" are they also majority owners. There are several reasons for Buy; Similarly there are enough reasons for sell; Quite often the exact reasons for Buy or Sell are not known and hence blindly following that strategy is not useful. It can be one of the inputs to mak...
Why do only a handful of Canadian companies have options trading on their stocks?
First, your question contains a couple of false premises: Options in the U.S. do not trade on the NYSE, which is a stock exchange. You must have been looking at a listing from an options exchange. There are a handful of options exchanges in the U.S., and while two of these have "NYSE" in the name, referring to "NYSE" ...
Wash sale rule impact on different scenarios between different types of accounts
Brokerage->Brokerage 13-16 The loss from the previous purchase will be added to the cost basis of the security for the second purchase. Since you sold it at a loss again it would increase your losses. Your loss from the first sale will be disallowed. Your loss will be added to the cost basis of the next purchase. Your ...
Do Americans really use checks that often?
Sorry for this late reply. I currently live in Iceland (I am a United Statesian). People here told me they thought checks were just something that were in movies. I was amazed by this. So here are some reasons that I see to being why it works still in the usa. 1. Social Security system. Most Euro, Nordic countries hav...
Are stories of turning a few thousands into millions by trading stocks real?
10k in taser stock at $1.00 per share made those who held into the hundreds per share made millions. But think about the likelihood of you owning a $1 stock and holding it past $10.00. They (taser millionaires) were both crazy and lucky. A direct answer, better off buying a lottery ticket. Stocks are for growing weal...
APR for a Loan Paid Off Monthly
If your APR is quoted as nominal rate compounded monthly, the APR is 108.6 %. Here is the calculation, (done in Mathematica ). The sum of the discounted future payments (p) are set equal to the present value (pv) of the loan, and solved for the periodic interest rate (r). Details of the effective interest rate calcula...
Rolled over husband's 401(k) to IRA after his death. Can I deduct a loss since?
I trust the 401(k) was a traditional, pre tax account. There was no tax paid, and any withdrawals would be taxable. The account could go to zero, and there's no write off, sorry. I have to ask - were there any withdrawals along the way? What was it invested in that lost 90% of its value? Edit - I'm sorry the OP came a...
What is the effect of options expiration on equity pricing?
Institutions and market makers tend to try and stay delta neutral, meaning that for every options contract they buy or write, they buy or sell the equivalent underlying asset. This, as a theory, is called max pain, which is more of an observation of this behavior by retail investors. This as a reality is called delta h...
Why is auto insurance ridiculously overpriced for those who drive few miles?
Insurance rates are about assessing risk. If the insurer has no way to reliably and easily assess usage, they will not reduce the premiums. Many companies are providing tracking devices that connect to the OBD-II port. This not only tracks actual miles driven, but can typically track aggressive driving, time of day, ...
A good investment vehicle for saving for a mortgage down payment?
When you are saving for money you need in 5 years or less the only real option is a savings account. I know the return is nothing at this point, but if you cannot take the risk of losing all of your money that's the only thing I would recommend. Now you could try a good growth stock mutual fund if, when you look up in...
Why does FlagStar Bank harass you about payments within grace period?
All standard mortgage promissory notes mandate payments are due on the first of every month; I can almost guarantee the note you signed has this provision. Most lenders offer a grace period of generally 15 days before they assess a late charge, but the payment IS late on the 2nd. People have become incorrectly accust...
What does Chapter 11 Bankruptcy mean to an investor holding shares of a Chapter 11 Company?
I held shares in BIND Therapeutics, a small biotechnology company on the NASDAQ that was liquidated on the chapter 11 auction block in 2016. There were sufficient proceeds to pay the debts and return some cash to shareholders, with payments in 2016 and 2017. (Some payments have yet to occur.) The whole process is count...
What's the catch in investing in real estate for rent?
Several, actually: Maintenance costs. As landlord, you are liable for maintaining the basic systems of the dwelling - structure, electrical, plumbing, HVAC. On top of that, you typically also have to maintain anything that comes with the space, so if you're including appliances like a W/D or fridge, if they crap out yo...
Why is it rational to pay out a dividend?
Actually, share holder value is is better maximised by borrowing, and paying dividends is fairly irrelevant but a natural phase on a mature and stable company. Company finance is generally a balance between borrowing, and money raised from shares. It should be self evident with a little thought that if not now, then in...
Should I start investing in property with $10,000 deposit and $35,000 annual wage
You want to buy a house for $150,000. It may be possible to do this with $10,000 and a 3.5% downpayment, but it would be a lot better to have $40,000 and make a 20% downpayment. That would give you a cushion in case house prices fall, and there are often advantages to a 20% downpayment (lower rate; less mandatory ins...
If stock price drops by the amount of dividend paid, what is the use of a dividend
You buy stocks for dividends over the long term. If a share of stock pays $1.00 in dividends every quarter, that's four dollars a year. If you bought it for $40, it pays out $4 in a year, and it's still worth roughly $40 at the end of the year, you're $4 richer. People will often invest large amounts of money in sta...
why do energy stocks trade at lower prices compared to other sectors?
I don't know why stocks in some industries tend to have lower prices per share than others. It doesn't really matter much. Whether a company has 1,000,0000 shares selling for $100 each, or 10,000,000 shares selling for $10 each, either way the total value is the same. Companies generally like to keep the share price re...
The Canadian dividend tax credit: Why is it that someone can earn a lot in dividends but pay no/little tax?
Basically, yes. That doesn't mean that it's easy to do. The government provides a dividend tax credit since an individual takes on more risk to invest in dividend-paying corporations rather than trading their human capital for an income. Thus, for the most part, $1 earned from dividends is taxed much less than $1 earne...
Comparing option data between yahoo finance and CBOE for SPY options
The CBOE site, as well as some other sites and trading platforms, will show the bid/ask and statistics for that option at each individual options exchange, in addition to statistics and the best bid/offer across all exchanges. cboe.com: Delayed Quote Help lists what the single-letter codes mean. A is for the AMEX optio...
My tenant wants to pay rent through their company: Should this raise a red flag?
I disagree with the other respondents. If your tenant is an individual, renting in their individual capacity, there is no reason they need your SSN. They will not be sending a 1099 to you. If your tenant is a business, then your property is not a residential property. It is at least a "corporate housing", and you would...
What happens to dividends on stock held in TFSA or RRSP account?
For an RRSP, you do not have to pay taxes on money or investments until you withdraw the money. If you do not reinvest the dividends but instead, take them out as cash, that would be withdrawing the money. For mutual funds, you would normally reinvest the dividends if holding the investment inside an RRSP. For stocks, ...
Is a stock's trade size history publicly available?
That is called a 'volume chart'. There are many interactive charts available for the purpose. Here is clear example. (just for demonstration but this is for India only) 1) Yahoo Finance 2) Google Finance 3) And many more Usually, the stock volume density is presented together (below it) with normal price vs time chart...
What to do when paying for an empty office space?
This sounds obvious, but: If the landlord is easygoing, you could ask him if he's okay with you subletting the space, and then you could sublet it. Of course you may have to do some work yourself to find an appropriate tenant and make sure you're doing everything legally, but if it works, it's better than paying rent ...
Negative Balance from Automatic Options Exercise. What to do?
Automatic exercisions can be extremely risky, and the closer to the money the options are, the riskier their exercisions are. It is unlikely that the entire account has negative equity since a responsible broker would forcibly close all positions and pursue the holder for the balance of the debt to reduce solvency risk...
What part of buying a house would make my net worth go down?
You can look at buying a house as being a long term investment in not paying rent. In the short time there are costs to buying (legal, taxes, etc). This depends on only buying house of the size/location you need e.g. no better then what you would have rented. House buying tent to work out best when there is high in...
How do i get into investing stocks [duplicate]
Everything that I'm saying presumes that you're young, and won't need your money back for 20+ years, and that you're going to invest additional money in the future. Your first investments should never be individual stocks. That is far too risky until you have a LOT more experience in the market. (Once you absolutely ca...
Indie Software Developers - How do I handle taxes?
The "hire a pro" is quite correct, if you are truly making this kind of money. That said, I believe in a certain amount of self-education so you don't follow a pro's advice blindly. First, I wrote an article that discussed Marginal Tax Rates, and it's worth understanding. It simply means that as your income rises past ...
How much should I be contributing to my 401k given my employer's contribution?
For your first question, the general guidelines I've seen recommended are as follows: As to your second question, portfolio management is something you should familiarize yourself with. If you trust it to other people, don't be surprised when they make "mistakes". Remember, they get paid regardless of whether you mak...
What are the ins/outs of writing-off part of one's rent for working at home?
Tax regulations vary from country to country - some permitting more deductions, some less - but here are a few guidelines. As regards the home-office: As regards the deductions: Think of it like this: in order to have space for a home-office you needed a bigger home. That leads to increased rates, heating, insurance a...
Why do some stocks have trading halts and what causes them?
The company may have put a trading halt due to many reasons, most of the time it is because the company is about to release some news to the market. To stop speculation driving the price up or down, it puts a halt on trading until it can get all the information together and release it to the market. This could be news ...
Pay for a cheap car or take out a loan?
Buying a car is a very big financial decision. There are three major factors to decide which car to buy: Pick two because you can't have all three. You can either have a reliable car that has cheap running costs but will be expensive to buy or a cheap car that is unreliable. If you are mechanically minded then relia...
Is it best to exercise options shares when they vest, or wait
To me it depends on things like your net worth, debt, and how other assets are invested. Currently you have 25K invested in the company you work for. If you have 100K in student loans, are a renter, and 12K in your 401K, then I would recommend exercising almost all of your options. In that case you have a much to ...
Where are open-end funds traded?
I assume that mutual funds are being discussed here. As Bryce says, open-ended funds are bought from the mutual fund company and redeemed from the fund company. Except in very rare circumstances, they exist only as bits in the fund company's computers and not as share certificates (whether paper or electronic) that ...
Blog income taxes?
If the money comes to you, then it's income. If the money goes out from you, it's an expense. You get to handle the appropriate tax documentation for those business transactions. You may also have the pleasure of filing 1099-MISC forms for all of your blogging buddies if you've paid them more than $600. (Not 100% su...
Can an S-Corp write off work and merchandise expenses donated to a non-profit organization?
An S-corp doesn't pay income tax -- taxation is pass-through. This being the case, there are no tax deductions it could take for charitable giving. The solution would be for you to make the contribution out of your own pocket and then personally claim the deduction on your own taxes.
Archive Financial Records by Account or by Year
The short answer is "it depends", mainly on the type of record and how old it is. Most retained records should be organized by year first, then by type. Have a look at this: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/personal-finance/how-long-to-keep-financial-records.aspx Typically, you should do the following:
Automate Savings by Percentage on varying paychecks?
You just need to average out the weekly hours and income over the year. So if his yearly income is $100,000 p.a. then this would average out to $2000 per week of which 15% would be $300 per week. It does not have to be exactly 15% per week as long as over the long run your saving your target 15%. If he gets a pay rise ...
What to sell when your financial needs change, stocks or bonds?
The answer may be a compromise... if your goal is to make bonds a larger part of your portfolio, sell both stocks and bonds in a 4:1 ratio. or (3:1 or whatever works for you) Also, just as you dollar-cost-average purchases of securities, you can do the same thing on the way out. Plan your sales and spread them over a p...
Getting correlation from regression slope (Completely stumped)
I just used the formula in below link and did some math. I have that book too but haven't looked at it yet really. Lots of maths to have fun with. Let me know if this is correct or needs fixing. Source: http://wiki.fool.com/How_to_Calculate_Beta_From_Volatility_%26_Correlation
What are some good, easy to use personal finance software? [UK]
I'm a big fan of Mint. I tried Wesabe prior to mint and at the time (about a year ago) it was lacking the integration of many of my accounts, so I had to go with Mint by necessity. Since then, Mint has gotten better almost monthly. I can do almost everything I want, and the budgeting tools (which would address your "6 ...
Why won't my retirement account let me write a “covered put”?
A broker does not have to allow the full trading suite the regulations permit. From brokersXpress: Do you allow equity and index options trading in brokersXpress IRAs? Yes, we allow trading of equity and index options in IRAs based on the trading level assigned to an investor. Trading in IRAs includes call buying,...
Selling stocks as LIFO or FIFO
According to the IRS, you must have written confirmation from your broker "or other agent" whenever you sell shares using a method other than FIFO: Specific share identification. If you adequately identify the shares you sold, you can use the adjusted basis of those particular shares to figure your gain or loss. ...
What should I do with the stock from my Employee Stock Purchase Plan?
While my margin is not nearly as good as yours, I sell out early. I generally think it's a bad idea to hold any single stock, as they can vary wildly in value. However, as you mention, it's advantageous to hold for one year. Read more about Capital Gains Taxes here and here.