Question
stringlengths
14
166
Answer
stringlengths
3
17k
At what interest rate should debt be used as a tool?
Money is a commodity like any other, and loans are a way to "buy" money. Like any other financial decision, you need to weigh the costs against the benefits. To me, I'm happy to take advantage of a 0% for six months or a modest 5-6% rate to make "capital" purchases of stuff, especially for major purchases. For example,...
When can you use existing real estate as collateral to buy more?
It would be good to know which country you are in? You are basically on the right track with your last point. Usually when you buy your first property you need to come up with a deposit and then borrow the remainder to have enough to purchase the property. In most cases (and most places) the standard percentage of loan...
I carelessly invested in a stock on a spike near the peak price. How can I salvage my investment?
Some financial planners would not advise one way or the other on a specific stock without knowing your investment strategy... if you didn't have one, their goal would be to help you develop one and introduce you to a portfolio management framework like Asset Allocation. Is a two of clubs a good card? Well, that all de...
Tax me more: Can I pay extra to the government so I don't have to deal with all this paperwork?
Currently, the answer is no, you cannot get out of filing a tax return. As noted in the comments, if you want to pay more to get out of the drudgery of working on your return, you can pay an accountant to do it for you. You are not alone in thinking that the current income tax system in the U.S. is overly complicated....
What are “trailing 12-month total returns”?
( t2 / t1 ) - 1 Where t2 is the value today, t1 is the value 12 months ago. Be sure to include dividend payments, if there were any, to t2. That will give you total return over 12 months.
Are mutual funds a good choice for a medium to low risk investment with a two year horizon?
First, you don't state where you are and this is a rather global site. There are people from Canada, US, and many other countries here so "mutual funds" that mean one thing to you may be a bit different for someone in a foreign country for one point. Thanks for stating that point in a tag. Second, mutual funds are me...
How do I know if a dividend stock is “safe” and not a “dividend yield trap”?
zPesk has a great answer about dividends generally, but to answer your question specifically about yield traps, here are a few things that I look for: As with everything, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. A 17% yield is pretty out of this world, even for a REIT. And I wouldn't bet on it holding up. Co...
Rules for Broker Behavior with Covered Calls
I think the question, as worded, has some incorrect assumptions built into it, but let me try to hit the key answers that I think might help: Your broker can't really do anything here. Your broker doesn't own the calls you sold, and can't elect to exercise someone else's calls. Your broker can take action to liquidat...
mortgage vs car loan vs invest extra cash?
A point that hasn't been mentioned is whether paying down the mortgage sooner will get you out of unnecessary additional costs, such as PMI or a lender's requirement that you carry flood insurance on the outstanding mortgage balance, rather than the actual value/replacement cost of the structures. (My personal bugbear...
Whole life insurance - capped earnings
I need to see the policy you are referring to give a more accurate answer. However what could be happening, it’s again the way these instruments are structured; For example if the insurance premium is say 11,000 of which 1000 is toward expenses and Term insurance amount. The Balance 10,000 is invested in growth. The pr...
Why do stores and manufacturers use mail in rebates? A scam, or is there a way to use them effectively?
Not so much a scam, if you fill the required paperwork and actually take time to mail it in assuming it's done correctly; you will get your money. That being said, having a mail-in rebate program is usually a win-win for the seller. While they may have to pay a small fee to a third party who handles the rebate almost a...
Double entry for mortgage
The £500 are an expense associated with the loan, just like interest. You should have an expense account where you can put such financing expenses (or should create a new one). Again, treat it the same way you'll treat interest charges in future statements.
Importance of dividend yield when evaluating a stock?
The dividend yield can be used to compare a stock to other forms of investments that generate income to the investor - such as bonds. I could purchase a stock that pays out a certain dividend yield or purchase a bond that pays out a certain interest. Of course, there are many other variables to consider in addition t...
Is being a landlord a good idea? Is there a lot of risk?
Buying a property and renting it out can be a good investment if it matches your long term goals. Buying an investment property is a long term investment. A large chunk of your money will be tied up with the property and difficult to access. If you put your money into dividend producing stocks you can always sell th...
What does a stock's quoted value represent?
Stock price is set to the price with the highest transaction volume at any given time. The stock price you cited was only valid in the last transaction on a specific stock exchange. As such it is more of an "historic" value. Next trade will be done with the next biggest volume. Depending on the incoming bids and asks ...
How to spend more? (AKA, how to avoid being a miser)
The key question is this - What brings you happiness? How much is this behavior actually making you miserable? It's possible, and important, to find balance between frugality and as you say, being a miser. It's also important to understand the diminishing return, and to value not just your hour of time but your happin...
Making your first million… is easy! (??)
I think there's a measure of confirmation bias here. If you talk to somebody that started a successful business and got a million out of it, he'd say "it's easy, just do this and that, like I did". If you consider this as isolated incident, you would ignore thousands of others that did exactly the same and still strugg...
As director, can I invoice my self-owned company?
No, as a director normally you can't. As a director of a Limited company, all those payments should be accounted for as directors' remuneration and have been subject to PAYE and NIC, even if you are self-employed. Currently there is no legislation which prevents a director from receiving self-employment income from a c...
Is it possible to create a self-managed superannuation fund to act as a mortage offset? (Australia)
If you're under age 55 and in good health generally you cannot withdraw your funds from super and your super fund cannot provide you with any financial assistance eg lend you money. However, for a very small percentage of people with unrestricted non preserved superannuation components ( check your statement most peopl...
Can I depreciate a car given to me?
Yes, you can depreciate gifts to your business subject to the special rules in § 1011 and Regulation § 1.1011–1 and 1.167(g)–1. It is dual basis property so when you sell the item your gain/loss basis will be different. Adjusted basis of the donor for gain, FMV on the date received for the loss. Minus any depreciation ...
What's the catch with biweekly mortgage payments?
Depending on who you have the loan through and how they figure the interest charges (whether daily, monthly, bi-monthly, etc. normally monthly I would assume), your interest is probably figured either daily or once a month. Let's assume that it is figured daily, otherwise it wouldn't make sense to make bi-weekly paym...
How websites like Google have access to stock market data?
To quote their disclaimer: Data is provided by financial exchanges and may be delayed as specified by financial exchanges or our data providers. Google does not verify any data and disclaims any obligation to do so. That means that they buy it from a reseller such as IDC. It probably differs in source between the diffe...
Why does the Brexit cause a fall in crude oil prices?
Uncertainty has very far reaching effects. Oil is up ~100% since February and down ~40% from it's 52 week high (and down even more on a longer timeline). It's not exactly a stable investment vehicle and moves a few percent each day on basically nothing. A lot of securities will be bouncing around for the next coupl...
Should I be claiming more than 1 exemption?
J - Approaching the answer from the W4 perspective (for calculation purposes) may be more trouble that it's worth. I'd strongly suggest you use tax software, whether it's the 2016 SW or a current year one, on line, to get an estimate of your total tax bill for the year. You can then look at your current run rate of tax...
I have $10,000 sitting in an account making around $1 per month interest, what are some better options?
I disagree with most of the answers here so far because they are either too risky or too conservative and don't take taxes and retirement into consideration. OP, keep in mind the higher the potential return, the greater the risk. You haven't stated your risk tolerance, but consider the following: Pick a certain percent...
Can I use same stock broker to buy stocks from different stock markets?
Most stock brokers are "full service" brokers. That is to say that you can so the same broker to buy different types of stocks, bonds, options, etc. in different markets. Some brokers are very specialized and won't allow you to do that. But those are probably brokers you don't want to use.
Why is tax being paid on my salary multiple times?
Businesses do not pay income tax on money that they pay out as salary to their employees. Businesses generally only pay income tax on profit. Profit is the money that comes in (revenue) minus the business expenses. Payroll to the employees is a deductible business expense.
High-risk investing is better for the young? Why?
There is no rule-of-thumb that fits every person and every situation. However, the reasons why this advice is generally applicable to most people are simple. Why it is good to be more aggressive when you are young The stock market has historically gone up, on average, over the long term. However, on its way up, it ha...
Equity market inflow meaning
Suppose I purchase $10,000 worth of a particular share today. If the person(s) I am purchasing the shares from paid $9,000 for those shares, then I replacing their $9,000 investment with my $10,000 investment. This is a net inflow of $1,000 into the market. Similarly, if the person(s) I am purchasing the shares from p...
Buying puts without owning underlying
Yes, it's completely normal to buy (and sell) puts and other options without holding the underlying. However, every (US) brokerage I know of only permits this within a margin account. I don't know why...probably a legal reason. You don't actually have to use the margin in a margin account. If you want to trade opti...
Pros/cons of borrowing money using a mortgage loan and investing it in a low-fee index fund?
Risk. That's it. No guarantees on the fund performance, while the mortgage has a guaranteed return of -3%. I'm doing this very thing. Money is cheap, I think it's wise to take advantage of it, assuming your exercise proper risk management.
Types of investments with built-in puts or similar safety features
An index annuity is almost the same as Indexed Universal Life, except the equity-index annuity is an investment with a guaranteed minimum return, with sometimes a higher return that is a function of the gain in the stock market, but is not associated with a life insurance policy. After a time, you can convert the EIA ...
Which practice to keep finances after getting married: joint, or separate?
My wife and I maintain seperate accounts. We have the bills split between us so that certain bills are paid by one of us, and other bills by the other. This is not a perfect 50/50 split as we don't make the same amount of money, but comparable enough that neither feels like they're doing all the bills alone. Our invest...
Is it better to buy US stocks on US stock exchanges as a European?
Liquidity on dual listed equities is rarely the same on both exchanges. More liquidity means you would typically get a better price assuming you execute the trades using the same order types. It's recommended to trade where the liquidity is greater unless your trading method benefits somehow from it being lower. It's i...
At what damage amount should I pursue a homeowner's insurance claim?
Some builders -- if given the first chance to deal with the problem, instead of being presented with a bill after the fact -- will fix the problem at no charge to the homeowner. Good faith matters. My house was built by such a builder. If I have a problem that I am competent enough to diagnose and fix, I fix it mysel...
ADR vs Ordinary shares
There are basically two different markets for ADRs and ordinary shares. 1) The American market, 2) the "local" market. The following is not true for most stocks in "developed" markets. But it is often true that the American market (for ADRs) is far more liquid than the local market for ordinary shares of a developing c...
Why are there so many stock exchanges in the world?
Stock exchanges have been undergoing a period of consolidation for the past hundred years for the exact reasons you mentioned. The existence of digital trading, harmonized laws and regulations, and fewer relevant currencies have made it more practical for mergers and acquisitions between exchanges. Stock exchanges are ...
Paid part of my state refund back last year; now must declare the initial amount as income?
http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc503.html says you can deduct "Any prior year's state or local income tax you paid during the year." So I would say as long as you have good records, you can deduct the excess refund you had to pay back in the year in which you paid it. Whether or not your return was amended shouldn't affe...
Making $100,000 USD per month, no idea what to do with it
I would be more than happy to find a good use for your money. ;-) Well, you have a bunch of money far in excess of your regular expenses. The standard things are usually: If you are very confused, it's probably worth spending some of your windfall to hire professional help. It beats you groping in the dark and possibly...
What should I do with $4,000 cash and High Interest Debt?
If your credit is good, you should immediately attempt to refinance your high rate credit cards by transferring the balance to credit cards with lower interest rates.You might want to check at your local credit union, credit unions can offer great rates. Use the $4000 to pay off whatever is left on the high rate cards....
Should I set a stop loss for long term investments?
Patience is the key to success. If you hold strong without falling to temptations like seeing a small surge in the price. If it goes down it comes up after a period of time. Just invest on the share when it reaches low bottom and you could see you money multiplying year after year
Is it worth working at home to earn money? Can I earn more money working at home?
I don't mean to be rude, but if you have to ask if you can earn a living from home, the answer is 'probably not.' Most people are more financially productive at a traditional workplace, otherwise more people would quit the jobs they hate and work at home or develop their hobbies into businesses. Making a living from...
Why does my bank suddenly need to know where my money comes from?
Banks and credit unions are constantly required to improve their detection methods for suspicious transactions. It's not just big transactions anymore, it's scattered little ones, etc. Our credit union had to buy software that runs through transactions sniffing for suspicious patterns. More regulations and more costs...
Why would a tender offer be less than the market price?
Rational shareholders wouldn't accept such an offer. The company making the offer is simply trying to get a deal with questionable — though not illegal — tactics. Your answer is actually in the link you provided. Quoting from the fourth paragraph [emphasis is mine]: The SEC has cautioned investors about mini-tender o...
What is a clearing bank, in specific, what does RMB clearing bank do?
Clearing means processing unsettled transactions. Specifically - all the money transfers between the banks, in this case. Clearing Bank for RMB business means that all RMB transactions will be cleared through that specific bank. If bank A in Hong Kong gets a check drawn on Bank B in Hong Kong, and the check is in RMB -...
merging transactions in 8949
From the instructions: If you do not need to make any adjustments to the basis or type of gain or loss (short-term or long-term) reported to you on Form 1099-B (or substitute statement) or to your gain or loss for any transactions for which basis has been reported to the IRS (normally reported on Form 8949 with...
What is the meaning of “writing put options”?
Write means sell to open. It is called that because options writers are creating (i.e. writing) new contracts. No such thing as "reading" an option.
What is the daily rebalanced leverage ratio that is ideal for the S&P 500 based on past performance?
The reason that UltraLong funds and the like are bad isn't because of the leverage ratio. It's because they're compounded daily, and the product of all the doubled daily returns is not mathematically equivalent to the double the long-term return. I'd consider providing big fancy equations using uppercase pi as the 'pro...
What does the phrase “To make your first million” mean?
I'd interpret it as "Net Worth" reached 1M where "net worth" = assets - liabilities.
Swap hedging a currency hedge
I decided to try this in order to get a feel of it. As far as the interest rates are concerned, it works. You can set it up and forget about holding time as long as the rates and positions stay within a range. The problem is that currency volatility turns the interest paid for shorting USD/JPY into noise at best. And i...
How can I save on closing costs when buying a home?
Do I need to pay for an inspection, or am I likely to save enough money from skipping it to cover potential problems that they would have caught? A home inspection costs hundreds of dollars. The average is $315. Inspections regularly catch things that cost tens of thousands of dollars to fix, e.g. a new roof or a cr...
Why does BlackRock's XIN page show XIN as having only 1 holding?
On BlackRock's XIN page under Key Facts it says the number of holdings as 1. Looking at the top 10 holdings shows EFA as the number 1 holding with a 101% weighting. XIN is "iShares MSCI EAFE Index ETF (CAD-Hedged)", so it takes the underlying component and hedges it to CAD. The underlying component is an ETF itself, E...
In Canada, how bad must your credit be for a denial of a Secured Credit Card?
Although now there are "welcome" banking packages when I landed in 2008 I couldn't find any and Vancity gave me a secured visa nonetheless. Let me emphasize: I didn't have a credit history, score at all. I doubt this changed much. The bank has zero risk.
Do other countries have the equivalent of Australia's Negative Gearing?
In India, where I live, you can: In addition, housing loans are given priority status as well - bank capital requirements on housing loans is lower than for, say, a corporate loan or a loan against other kinds of collateral. That makes housing loans cheaper as well - you get a home loan at around 10% in India versus 15...
How can I remove the movement of the stock market as a whole from the movement in price of an individual share?
I use StockCharts for spread charting. To take your question as an example, here is the chart of Apple against Nasdaq.
How to know if two ETFs are 'substantially identical' according to wash sale rules?
Nobody knows for sure what "substantially identical" means because the IRS hasn't officially defined it. Until they do so, it would come down to the decision of an auditor or a tax court. The rule of thumb that I have always heard is if the funds track the same index, they are probably substantially identical. I think ...
What actions should I be taking to establish good credit scores for my children?
My son who is now 21 has never needed me to cosign on a loan for him and I did not need to establish any sort of credit rating for him to establish his own credit. One thing I would suggest is ditch the bank and use a credit union. I have used one for many years and opened an account there for my son as soon as he got...
Can I locate the name of an account holder by the account number and sort code? (U.K.)
No, the best you can do is (probably) determine the bank, from the sort code. using an online checker such as this one from the UK payments industry trade association. Revealing the name of an account holder is something the bank would typically require a warrant for, I'd expect, or whatever is covered in the account T...
Wardrobe: To Update or Not? How-to without breaking the bank
New clothes isn't exactly an emergency expense :) so I would strongly suggest that you budget for it on a monthly basis. This doesn't mean you have to go spend the money every month, just put a reasonable amount of money into the clothes budget/savings every month and when you need a new shirt or two, take the money ou...
Historical company performance data
For free, 5 years is somewhat available, and 10 years is available to a limited extent on money.msn.com. Some are calculated for you. Gurufocus is also a treasure trove of value statistics that do in fact reach back 10 years. From the Gurufocus site, the historical P/E can be calculated by dividing their figure for "Ea...
Taxable Website Ad Revenue
If the $5000 is income, then you need to pay income taxes on it. That's simply the way it works. Hourly rate has nothing to do with whether or not you pay taxes. If it helps, try to think of the $5000 as the first $5000 you make for the year. Now it's covered by your standard deduction and you're not paying taxes on...
Is there a return-on-investment vs risk graph anywhere?
Yes, there is a very good Return vs Risk graph put out at riskgrades.com. Look at it soon, because it will be unavailable after 6-30-11. The RA (return analysis) graph is what I think you are looking for. The first graph shown is an "Average Return", which I was told was for a 3 year period. Three period returns of ...
Can a company have a credit rating better than that of the country where it is located?
BlackJack's answer is technically correct: government credit ratings are independent of corporate credit ratings. The rating should reflect the borrower's ability to repay its obligations. One reason the book you read may have stated that corporate credit ratings cannot be better than the government's credit rating is...
How can I diversify investments across currencies in ISA?
Just buy a FTSE-100 tracker. It's cheap and easy, and will hedge you pretty well, as the FTSE-100 is dominated by big mining and oil companies who do most of their business in currencies other than sterling.
Does the stock market create any sort of value?
In general, I think you're conflating a lot of ideas. The stock market is not like a supermarket. With the exception of a direct issue, you're not buying your shares from the company or from the New York Stock Exchange you're buying from an owner of stock, Joe, Sally, a pension fund, a hedge fund, etc; it's not sitt...
Why do most banks in Canada charge monthly fee?
You have to check your contract to be sure what is it you're paying for. Typically, you get some of the following features which can be unavailable to you in banks which don't charge a monthly fee: Arguably, these expenses could be paid by the interest rates your money earn to the bank. Notice how banks which don't cha...
Why do credit cards require a minimum annual household income?
I don't know, but I can guess. You'll notice the Elite card has higher rewards. A card might want to convince merchants that they represent high end buyers, and use that to negotiate higher merchant discounts. Issuing bank: "Our 10 million card holders are sophisticated and have lots of discretionary income. If you don...
Common practice for start/end date of balance sheet
One's paycheck typically has a YTD (year to date) number that will end on the latest check of the year. I am paid bi-weekly, and my first 2012 check was for work 12/25 - 1/7. So, for my own balance sheet, brokerage statements and stock valuations end 12/31, but my pay ended 12/24. And then a new sheet starts.
What is the difference between “good debt” vs. “bad debt”?
From what I've heard in the past, debt can be differentiated between secured debt and unsecured debt. Secured debt is a debt for which something stands good such as a mortgage on your house. You have a debt, but that debt is covered by the value of an asset and if you needed to free yourself of the debt, then you co...
Formula to determine readiness to retire based on age, networth and annual expense
The standard interpretation of "can I afford to retire" is "can I live on just the income from my savings, never touching the principal." To estimate that, you need to make reasonable guesses about the return you expect, the rate of inflation, your real costs -- remember to allow for medical emergencies, major house re...
What is the opposite of a hedge?
I guess the opposite of being hedged is being unhedged. Typically, a hedge is an additional position that you would take on in order to mitigate the potential for losses on another position. I'll give an example: Say that I purchase 100 shares of stock XYZ at $10 per share because I believe its price will increase in t...
Is this reply promising a money order and cashier check a scam?
It's a scam. The cashier's check will be forged. Craigslist has a warning about it here (item #3). What kind of payment do you think is not fakable? Or at least not likely to be used in scams? When on craigslist - deal only locally and in person. You can ask to see the person's ID if you're being paid by check When b...
I have $100,000 in play money… what to do?
You can start a software company. Than your office will be around the world and you can work whenever you want. If you can appoint some people who can collect work from here and there and the coder around the world can give you the job done(this can be done by posting your work in various freelancing site). It is chall...
What are the differences between an investment mortgage and a personal mortgage?
It's just a guess, as I'm from the UK and am unfamiliar with the term "investment" mortgage but is it one where you are buying the property in order to rent it out, and make money from it, rather than to live in? In the UK we call those "buy to let" mortgages and one of the main differences is that you have to have a h...
What is the meaning of “writing put options”?
Writing a put for a stock means you are selling the right to sell you stock. Simply put (er no pun intended), "writing put options" means you are selling somebody else the right (a contract) to sell YOU a specific stock at a specific price before a specific date. I imagine the word "write" to refer to the physical act...
How does start-up equity end up paying off?
In the real world, there are only two times you'll see that 5% become worth anything - ie, something you can exchange for cash - 1) if another company buys them; (2) if they go public. If neither of these things happen, you cannot do anything with the stock or stock options that you own.
H&R Block says form 1120 not finalized? IRS won't take it yet?
This form is due March 15. This year, the 15th is Saturday, so the deadline is Monday March 17th. Keep in mind, the software guys would have two choices, wait until every last form is finalized before releasing, or put the software out by late November when 80%+ are good to go. Nothing is broken in this process. Keep...
Why is stock dilution legal?
Here's another way that I look at it: Say you and me were 50-50 partners in a small business. Suppose we wanted to expand our business but that needed money. Someone (let's call him Warren) has the money we need & hence in return for the money we offer Warren an equal stake in the business. i.e. All three of us own 3...
When are equal-weighted index funds / ETFs preferable to market-cap-weighted funds?
Equal weighted indexes are not theoretically meant to be less volatile or less risky; they're just a different way to weigh stocks in an index. If you had a problem that hurt small caps more than large caps, an equal weighted index will be hurt more than a market-cap weighted one. On the other hand, if you consider th...
Why do governments borrow money instead of printing it?
My own simple answer is that it will affect and reduce productivity (e.g. Zimbabwe). it will also cause inflation which mean that no one will want to work for production again.
Schwab wants to charge me interest on the money I received for selling TSLA short
I agree with Mark. I was quite confuse about the short position at first but then I did a lot of learning and found out that as long as you have enough cash to cover your margin requirement you do not pay any interest since you do not have a debit on your margin balance. This is not true for a long position though, s...
How to calculate car insurance quote
Question 1: Yes Question 2: There is no simple formula. Car insurance is mostly Statistics, because you have so many millions of cases that the variance is really low. This also means that, because the cost can be estimated so precisely, it is difficult to make an offer better than the competitors. For that reason ever...
Primary residence converted to a rental property & tax implications
Schedule E is the form you'll use. It lists nearly all deductions you can take for a rental. TurboTax Deluxe will handle it and it includes State Filing.
Most common types of financial scams an individual investor should beware of?
If some one ever offers High returns and low risk they are either extremely stupid or scamming you. If they did find a high return low risk investment a smart person would buy it then repackage it as a low return low risk investment and then sell it to you. People would still buy and they would make a ton. Either the...
Are variable rate loans ever a good idea?
What's going on here is that the variable rate loan is transferring some of the risk from the bank to you. In a reasonable deal taking on risk brings with it reward. It's the same thing as deductibles on insurance--they're transferring some risk to you and thus your expected total cost goes down. Thus the proper eval...
What is a negotiable security and how are they related to derivatives?
The price for securities is negotiable. You totally have a right to make a lower offer when buying or ask for a higher price when selling. Securities don't trade at a fixed price, the price goes up and down throughout the day based on the price offers made by buyers and sellers and where they find agreement. If a s...
How are mortgage interest rates determined?
Mortgage or other interest rates are determined by the banks on cost of funds, risk and operating cost. The Fed raises money from the markets by issuing Tresury Bonds at a specified rate. This rate at which it raises money varies depening on the economy. Thus there are 2 rates: the rate at which banks can borrow mone...
Has anyone heard of Peerstreet?
(Disclosure - PeerStreet was at FinCon, a financial blogger conference I attended last month. I had the chance to briefly meet a couple people from this company. Also, I recognize a number of the names of their financial backers. This doesn't guarantee anything, of course, except the people behind the scenes are no sla...
Are companies in California obliged to provide invoices?
We run into this all the time with our EU clients. As far as I can tell, the only requirements when it comes to invoicing have to do with sales tax, which is determined at the state level, and only in the case that items are taxable. It seems that the service provided to you is not taxable and so there is no obligation...
How does giving to charity work?
Charitable donations can be deducted from your income, and in that way make your taxable income lower, hence lower taxes. That's the meaning of "tax deductible". As to "if I donate it then the money will be given right to the charity instead of spread out to many other places" - taxes are being used by the government b...
Is there a measure that uses both cost of living plus income?
But what if I am getting paid salary from a source in India? In other words, it may be that in India a research assistant at a college on average earns a third of what a research assistant like me earns here in US. In that case, even if my cost of living there is much less, so is my salary. There are sites that provide...
Purpose of having good credit when you are well-off?
People just love becoming more well-off than they currently are, and one of the ways they do it is with leverage. Leverage requires credit. That desire is not exclusive to people who are not already well-off. For a well-off person who wants to become more well-off by expanding their real estate ventures, paying cash fo...
Insurance company sent me huge check instead of pharmacy. Now what?
This is not a mistake. This is done for "Out of Network" providers, and mainly when the patient is an Anthem member, be it Blue Shield or Blue Cross. Even though an "Assignment of Benefits" is completed by the patient, and all fields on the claim from (CMS1500 or UB04) are completed assigning the benefits to the provid...
Are spot market ,regular market and ready market same in stock trading if not then what is the difference?
So, the term "ready market" simply means that a market exists in which there are legitimate buy/sell offers, meaning there are investors willing to own or trade in the security. A "spot market" means that the security/commodity is being delivered immediately, rather at some predetermined date in the future (hence the t...
Why would people sell a stock below the current price?
Say we have stock XYZ that costs $50 this second. It doesn't cost XYZ this second. The market price only reflects the last price at which the security traded. It doesn't mean that if you'll get that price when you place an order. The price you get if/when your order is filled is determined by the bid/ask spreads. Why w...
At what point does it become worth it to file an insurance claim?
We learned the hard way on this one. First, our area was hit with what was called an "inland hurricane" where we forced to file a claim as our home received extensive damage. Within the same year, we also incurred an electrical surge which took out our older big screen tv (one of those big monstrosities that sits on...
Why does it seem unnecessary to fully save for irregular periodic expenses?
I think we'd need to look at actual numbers to see where you're running into trouble. I'm also a little confused by your use of the term "unexpected expenses". You seem to be using that to describe expenses that are quite regular, that occur every X months, and so are totally expected. But assuming this is just some cl...
Tax Witholding for Stock Sale
I assume US as mhoran_psprep edited, although I'm not sure IRS necessarily means US. (It definitely used to also include Britain's Inland Revenue, but they changed.) (US) Stockbrokers do not normally withhold on either dividends/interest/distributions or realized capital gains, especially since gains might be reduced ...
Why was my Credit Limit Increase Denied?
I think they gave you the answer: You haven't previously shown that you can run that particular card up to (near) its existing maximum and then pay it off, so they don't have a strong indication that you can handle that large an unsecured loan. Generally, requests to have the limits raised when there isn't evidence tha...
Can a car company refuse to give me a copy of my contract or balance details?
No, they cannot refuse to provide you with the current balance or a balance history. The other answers point you to resources that are available to help you put pressure on the dealership. The bottom line is that you now know that you have the right to the details and to audit their recording of the transactions. You s...