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What investments work for these goals?
Assuming this will be a taxable account (since you want to pull income off of it, although this will lower wealth growth), you could open a brokerage account at some place like Vanguard (free on their ETFs) and look at tax efficient index fund ETFs (such as total stock market or their 500 fund), including some international (foreign tax credit is nice in taxable) and muni funds for the (tax advantaged) income, although CDs are likely better for the income at this point.
Long(100%)-Short(-100%) investment explanation
If you mean the percentages of long/short positions within a mutual fund or ETF, then it's a percentage of the total value of the fund portfolio. In that case, positions of 50% in X, -50% in Y are not the same as 100% in X, -100% in Y. If the long and short positions are both for the same asset, then, as D Stanley mentions, all that matters is the net position. If you're equally long and short X, then the net position is always 0%.
Do I have to pay the internet installation charges for my home's company internet?
Of course you don't have to pay them - you just might not like the result. As a matter of law - given that I am not a lawyer - I am not aware of any requirement for a company to pay employees business-related expenses. An example might be having a cell phone, and according to this article companies aren't required to pay for you to have a cell phone even if they require you have one and use it as part of your employment. The primary areas where law does exist relates to company uniforms with a logo (in a very limited number of US states) and necessary personal safety equipment (in California and maybe only few other states). All other tool requirements for a job are not prohibited by law, so long as they are not illegally discriminatory (such as requiring people of a certain race or sex to buy something but no one else, etc). So a company can require all sorts of things, from having an internet connection to cell phone to laptop to specialty tools and equipment of all sorts, and they are even allowed to deduct the cost of some things from your pay - just so long as you still get paid minimum wage after the deductions. With all that said, the company's previous payments of fees and willingness to pay a monthly internet fee does not obligate them to pay other fees too, such as moving/installation/etc. They may even decide to no longer provide internet service at their expense and just require you to provide it as a condition of employment. You can insist on it with your employer, and if you don't have an employment contract that forbids it they can fire you or possibly even deduct it from your pay anyway (and this reason might not be one that allows you to collect unemployment insurance benefits - but you'd need to check with an expert on that). You can refuse to pay AT&T directly, and they can cancel the internet service - and your employer can then do the same as in the previous condition. Or you can choose to pay it - or ask your employer to split the cost over a few checks if it is rather high - and that's about it. Like the cost of anything else you have to pay - from your own food to your computer, clothes, etc - it's best to just consider it your own "cost of doing business" and decide if it's still in your interest to keep working there, and for something to consider in future pay negotiations! You may also qualify for an itemized Employee Business Expense deduction from the IRS, but you'll need to read the requirements carefully and get/keep a receipt for such expenses.
How much of each stock do index funds hold?
Yes, it depends on the fund it's trying to mirror. The ETF for the S&P that's best known (in my opinion) is SPY and you see the breakdown of its holdings. Clearly, it's not an equal weighted index.
Options liquidity and trading positions larger than the daily volume?
You definitely cannot be guaranteed to get the bid or ask if you are selling more than are available/desired at those prices. What prices you do get depends on who is watching that contract and how willing they are to trade with you. This question is not much different from the question of whether you can easily get into or out of a large position in an illiquid small stock easily. You can get out quickly if you are willing to take pennies on the dollar, or you may get a reasonable price if you take a long time to get out of (or into) your position. You can't normally do both. In general taking large positions in illiquid assets is not something people want to do without lining up a buyer/seller beforehand. Instead see if you can achieve your objective with liquid investments.
What US taxes are due for US stock bought via ESPP when I was in USA and sold after I returned to India?
From an Indian Tax point of view, you can bring back all the assets acquired during the period you were NRI back to India tax free. Subject to a 7 years period. i.e. all the assets / funds / etc should be brought back to India within 7 years. It would still be treated as There are certain conditions / paperwork. Please consult a CA.
How much financial information should a buyer give an estate agent?
My guess is they are fishing for business for their in-house finance person. In the UK, all the estate agency chains (and many of the smaller outfits) have financial advice firms they are affiliated with, often to the extent that a desk in each branch will be for 'the finance guy' (it's usually a guy). The moment you show any sign of not quite having the finances for a place you like, they will offer you a consultation with the finance guy, who "will be able to get you a deal". On commission, of course. What you need to say with regards to financing is (delete as applicable) "I am a cash buyer" / "I have an Agreement In Principle". And that's it. They do not 'need' to know any more, and they are under obligation to pass your offer on to the vendor.
What happens if a company I have stock in is bought out?
I've seen many buyouts in my own portfolio, including the company I worked for. There have been several different scenarios: The terms of the deal are subject to the deal -- frankly whatever makes sense to the buyer and that is accepted by the seller. So sometimes brokers charge reorganization fees. check into those for your broker. I've not seen one in a while, but my brokerage account is substantial, and often that's a perk they offer higher-value accounts. Also watch out for taxes. The transaction where my employer was bought by another publicly traded company -- we got bit because the IRS treated it as a taxable transaction, and all our RSUs were effectively sold and then repurchased. So we ended up with a big tax bill (capital gains) without any cash to offset the big tax bill. I suspect its because my old employer was a US based company, whereas the new company is not.
Are Index Funds really as good as “experts” claim?
Simply put, you cannot deterministically beat the market. If by being informed and following all relevant news, you can arrive at the conclusion that company A will likely outperform company B in the future, then having A stocks should be better than having B stocks or any (e.g., index based) mix of them. But as the whole market has access to the very same information and will arrive at the same conclusion (provided it is logically sound), "everybody" will want A stocks, which thus become expensive to the point where the expected return is average again. Your only options of winning this race are to be the very first to have the important information (insider trade), or to arrive at different logical conclusions than the rest of the world (which boils down do making decisions that are not logically sound - good luck with that - or assuming that almost everybody else is not logically sound - go figure).
Wage earners of age ≥ 60 with dependents: What Life Insurance, if any, should they buy?
The problem above is actually a pretty good list of the concerns around life insurance. While there is no correct answer to the question as posed, this will vary among different WSCs, there is a simpler way to think about insurance in general that may make finding what is right answer for you easier. Buying life insurance, like almost all insurance, is on average a money losing purchase. This is simply because the companies selling wouldn't offer it if they couldn't expect to make money on it. Think about buying insurance (a warranty) on a new cell phone, maybe if you are particularly prone to damaging cell phones it can be in your favor, but for most of the people that buy it will lose money on average. People, of course, still buy insurance anyway to protect themselves from unlikely but very bad consequences. The big reason to make this trade off is if the loss will have big lasting consequences. To stay with our cell phone example having to replace a cell phone, at least for me, would be annoying but not a catastrophic event. For myself, the protection is not worth the warranty cost, but that is not true for everyone. Life insurance is a pretty extreme case of this, but I find the best question to ask is "if you (you and your spouse) were to die will your dependents lives become so much worse that you really dislike the idea of not being insured?" For some working seniors, they already have enough saved to bridge their kids/spouse to adulthood/old-age that insurance makes no sense. For some, their children/husband/wife would be destitute and insurance is an obvious choice and an easy price to pay even if it is very high. The example you suggest seems on the border and good questions to ask are: Thinking about those questions may help you understand if the protection offers is worth the cost.
Does the IRS reprieve those who have to commute for work?
No. Regular W2 employees cannot deduct housing or transportation costs related to their employment. However, in the US, many employers offer Parking and/or Transit FSA programs which are usually collectively referred to a Commuter Benefits FSA programs, this is particularly common among larger employers with locations in major metropolitan cities. Under Commuter benefits FSAs employees can defer up to $255 per month from their gross pay, tax-free, for parking and/or transit expenses. Eligible expenses include things like bus and train passes or parking at a train or bus station. These are money-in/money-out arrangements so expenses can only be claimed against contributions that have been made, unlike a Health FSA. Though, like a health FSA, contributions are subject to use-it or lose-it provisions. These programs must be sponsored by the employer for an employee to take advantage of them though. Some jurisdictions mandate that employers above a certain threshold must offer commuter benefits.
Iraqi Dinars. Bad Investment, or Worst Investment?
Iraq is a US vassal/puppet state. I'm not sure what 500 South Vietnamese Dong were worth in 1972, but today the paper currency is worth $10 in mint condition. I'd suggest blackjack or craps as an alternate "investment".
What evidence exists for claiming that you cannot beat the market?
Will the investor beat the benchmark for a given period will follow a Bernoulli distribution -- each period is a coin toss, and heads mean the investor beat the market for that period. I can't prove the negative that there is no investor ever whose probability function p = 1, but you can statistically expect a number of individual investors with p ~ 0.5 to have a sequence of many heads in a row, as a function of the total population. By example, my father explained investment scams and hot-hand theory to me this way when I was younger: Imagine an investor newsletter which mails out to a mailing list of 1024 prospects (or alternately, a field of 1024 amateur investor bloggers in a challenge). Half the letters or bloggers state AAPL will go up this week, half that AAPL will go down this week. In the newsletter case, next week ignore the people we got wrong. In the blogger case, they're losers, so we don't pay attention to them. Next week, similar split: half newsletters or bloggers claim GOOG go up, half GOOG go down. This continues for a 10 week cycle. Now, in week 10: the newsletter has a prospect they have hit correct 10x in a row: how much will he pay for a subscription? Or, one amateur investor blogger has been on a 10 week winning streak and wins the challenge, so of course let's give her a CNBC show after Jim Cramer. No matter what, next week, this newsletter or investor is shooting 50-50. How do you know this person is not the statistically expected instance backed up by a pyramid of 1023 Bernoulli distribution losers? Alternately, if you think you're going to be the winner, you've got a 1/1024 shot.
How to have a small capital investment in US if I am out of the country?
For $100 you better just hold it in Mexico. The cost of opening an account could eat 10% or more of your capital easily, and that won't be able to buy enough shares of an ETF or similar investment to make it worthwhile.
Explanations on credit cards in Canada
I think it's worth pointing out explicitly that the biggest difference between a credit card (US/Canada) and a debit card (like your French carte de crédit) is that with a credit card, it's entirely possible to not pay the bill or to pay only the "minimum payment" when asked. This results in you owing significantly more money due to interest, which can snowball into higher and higher levels of debt, and end up getting rapidly out of control. This is the reason why you should ALWAYS pay off the ENTIRE balance every month, as attested to in the other answers; it's not uncommon to find people in the US with thousands of dollars of debt they can't pay off from misuse of credit cards.
Do I need a business credit card?
I would try to avoid mixing business expenditure with personal expenditure so a second credit card might be a good idea. That said, I did get a business credit card for my company in the UK as I didn't want to be personally liable for the money that was spent on the business card (even though I owned 100% of the business) in case things went horribly wrong. As I didn't fancy signing a personal guarantee, this meant that the limit was quite low but it was good enough in most cases.
Does a falling dollar mean doom for real estate?
A falling $AUD would be beneficial to exporters, and thus overall good for the economy. If the economy improves and exporters start growing profits, that means they will start to employ more people and employment will increase - and with higher employment, employees will become more confident to make purchases, including purchasing property. I feel the falling $AUD will be beneficial for the economy and the housing market. However, what you should consider is that with an improving economy and a rising property market, it will only be a matter of time before interest rates start rising. With a lower $AUD the RBA will be more confident in starting to increase interest rates. And increasing interest rates will have a dampening effect on the housing market. You are looking to buy a property to live in - so how long do you intend to live in and hold the property? I would assume at least for the medium to long term. If this is your intention then why are you getting cold feet? What you should be concerned about is that you do not overstretch on your borrowings! Make sure you allow a buffer of 2% to 3% above current interest rates so that if rates do go up you can still afford the repayments. And if you get a fixed rate - then you should allow the buffer in case variable rates are higher when your fixed period is over. Regarding the doomsayers telling you that property prices are going to crash - well they were saying that in 2008, then again in 2010, then again in 2012. I don't know about you but I have seen no crash. Sure when interest rates have gone up property prices have levelled off and maybe gone down by 10% to 15% in some areas, but as soon as interest rates start falling again property prices start increasing again. It's all part of the property cycle. I actually find it is a better time to buy when interest rates are higher and you can negotiate a better bargain and lower price. Then when interest rates start falling you benefit from lower repayments and increasing property prices. The only way there will be a property crash in Australia is if there was a dramatic economic downturn and unemployment rates rose to 10% or higher. But with good economic conditions, an increasing population and low supplies of newly build housing in Australia, I see no dramatic crashes in the foreseeable future. Yes we may get periods of weakness when interest rates increase, with falls up to 15% in some areas, but no crash of 40% plus. As I said above, these periods of weakness actually provide opportunities to buy properties at a bit of a discount. EDIT In your comments you say you intend to buy with a monthly mortgage repayment of $2500 in place of your current monthly rent of $1800. That means your loan amount would be somewhere around $550k to $600K. You also mention you would be taking on a 5 year fixed rate, and look to sell in about 2 years time if you can break even (I assume that is break even on the price you bought at). In 2 years you would have paid $16,800 more on your mortgage than you would have in rent. So here are the facts: A better strategy:
Is gold really an investment or just a hedge against inflation?
Over on Quantitative Finance Stack Exchange, I asked and answered a more technical and broader version of this question, Should the average investor hold commodities as part of a broadly diversified portfolio? In short, I believe the answer to your question is that gold is neither an investment nor a hedge against inflation. Although many studies claim that commodities (such as gold) do offer some diversification benefit, the most credible academic study I have seen to date, Should Investors Include Commodities in Their Portfolios After All? New Evidence, shows that a mean-variance investor would not want to allocate any of their portfolio to commodities (this would include gold, presumably). Nevertheless, many asset managers, such as PIMCO, offer funds that are marketed as "real return" or "inflation-managed" and include commodities (including gold) in their portfolios. PIMCO has also commissioned some research, Strategic Asset Allocation and Commodities, claiming that holding some commodities offers both diversification and inflation hedging benefits.
How do credit card banks detect fraudulent transactions without requiring a travel advisory?
One bank is more willing to risk losses and customer hassle in exchange for lower processing costs than the other bank is. It's strictly a business decision. Regarding how they detect suspicious transactions: Patten detection based on your past usage history. I've gotten calls asking me to confirm that I just placed a large order with a company I'd never bought from before, or in a country that I haven't previously visited, or...
How does a tax exemption for an action = penalty for inaction?
What it means is that you can always come up with alternative framings where the difference between two options is stated as a gain or a loss, but the effect is the same in either case. For instance, if I offer to sell a T-shirt for $10 and offer a cash discount of $1, you pay $10 if buying with a credit card or $9 if buying with cash. If I instead offer the shirt for $9 with a $1 surcharge for credit card use, you still pay $10 if buying with a credit card or $9 if buying with cash. The financial result is the same in either case, but psychologically people may perceive them differently and make different buying decisions. In a tax situation it may be more complicated since exemptions wouldn't directly reduce your tax, but only your taxable income. However, you can still see that, in general, having to pay $X more in tax for not doing some action (e.g., not purchasing health insurance) is the same as being able to pay $X less in tax as a reward for doing the action. Either way, doing the action results in you paying $X less than you would if you didn't do it; the only difference is in which behavior (doing it or not doing it) is framed as the "default" option. Again, these framings may differentially influence people's behavior even when the net result is the same.
Where can publicly traded profits go but to shareholders via dividends?
Apart from investing in their own infrastructure, profits can be spent purchasing other companies, (Mergers and Acquisitions) investing in other securities, and frankly whatever they please. The idea here is that publicly traded companies have a fiduciary duty to their shareholders to make as much money as they can with the resources (including cash, but including so much more than that) available to the company. It happens that the majority of huge companies eventually stopped growing and figured out that they weren't good at making money outside their core discipline and started giving the money back through dividends, but that norm has been eroded by tech companies that have figured out how to keep growing and driving up share prices even after they become giants. Shareholders will pressure management to issue dividends if share prices don't keep going up, but until the growth slows down, most investors hang on and don't rock the boat.
Rental Application Fees
Slightly abbreviated version of the guidance from NOLO.com California state law limits credit check or application screening fees landlords can charge prospective tenants and specifies what landlords must do when accepting these types of fees. (Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.6.) Here are key provisions: I am not a lawyer, but it would seem you have two options if you catch a landlord violating these rules. An idea to avoid the whole problem in the first place: Get a copy of your credit report yourself and take a copy with you to meet the landlord. If they want an application fee, ask why they need it making it clear you know the above law. If they say for a credit report offer to give them a copy in lieu of the fee.
Did my salesman damage my credit? What can I do?
At one point in my life I sold cars and from what I saw, three things stick out. Unless the other dealership was in the same network, eg ABC Ford of City A, and ABC Ford of City B, they never had possession of that truck. So, no REAL application for a loan could be sent in to a bank, just a letter of intent, if one was sent at all. With a letter of intent, a soft pull is done, most likely by the dealership, where they then attached that score to the LOI that the bank has an automated program send back an automatic decline, an officer review reply, or a tentative approval (eg tier 0,1,2...8). The tentative approval is just that, Tentative. Sometime after a lender has a loan officer look at the full application, something prompts them to change their offer. They have internal guidelines, but lets say an app is right at the line for 2-3 of the things they look at, they chose to lower the credit tier or decline the app. The dealership then goes back and looks at what other offers they had. Let's say they had a Chase offer at 3.25% and a CapOne for 5.25% they would say you're approved at 3.5%, they make their money on the .25%. But after Chase looks into the app and sees that, let's say you have been on the job for actually 11 months and not 1 year, and you said you made $50,000, but your 1040 shows $48,200, and you have moved 6 times in the last 5 years. They comeback and say no he is not a tier 2 but a tier 3 @ 5.5%. They switch to CapOne and say your rate has in fact gone up to 5.5%. Ultimately you never had a loan to start with - only a letter of intent. The other thing could be that the dealership finance manager looked at your credit score and guessed they would offer 3.5%, when they sent in the LOI it came back higher than he thought. Or he was BSing you, so if you price shopped while they looked for a truck you wouldn't get far. They didn't find that Truck, or it was not what they thought it would be. If a dealership sees a truck in inventory at another dealer they call and ask if it's available, if they have it, and it's not being used as a demo for a sales manager, they agree to send them something else for the trade, a car, or truck or whatever. A transfer driver of some sort hops in that trade, drives the 30 minutes - 6 hours away and comes back so you can sign the Real Application, TODAY! while you're excited about your new truck and willing to do whatever you need to do to get it. Because they said it would take 2-5 days to "Ship" it tells me it wasn't available. Time Kills Deals, and dealerships know this: they want to sign you TODAY! Some dealerships want "honest" money or a deposit to go get the truck, but reality is that that is a trick to test you to make sure you are going to follow through after they spend the gas and add mileage to a car. But if it takes 2 days+, The truck isn't out there, or the dealer doesn't have a vehicle the other dealership wants back, or no other dealership likes dealing with them. The only way it would take that long is if you were looking for something very rare, an odd color in an unusual configuration. Like a top end model in a low selling color, or configuration you had to have that wouldn't sell well - like you wanted all the options on a car except a cigarette lighter, you get the idea. 99.99% of the time a good enough truck is available. Deposits are BS. They don't setup any kind of real contract, notice most of the time they want a check. Because holding on to a check is about as binding as making you wear a chicken suit to get a rebate. All it is, is a test to see if you will go through with signing the deal. As an example of why you don't let time pass on a car deal is shown in this. One time we had a couple want us to find a Cadillac Escalade Hybrid in red with every available option. Total cost was about $85-90k. Only two new Red Escalade hybrids were for sale in the country at the time, one was in New York, and the other was in San Fransisco, and our dealership is in Texas, and neither was wanting to trade with us, so we ended up having to buy the SUV from one of the other dealerships inventory. That is a very rare thing to do by the way. We took a 25% down payment, around $20,000, in a check. We flew a driver to wherever the SUV was and then drove it back to Texas about 4 days later. The couple came back and hated the color, they would not take the SUV. The General Manager was pissed, he spent around $1000 just to bring the thing to Texas, not to mention he had to buy the thing. The couple walked and there was nothing the sales manager, GM, or salesman could do. We had not been able to deliver the car, and ultimately the dealership ate the loss, but it shows that deposits are useless. You can't sell something you don't own, and dealerships know it. Long story short, you can't claim a damage you never experienced. Not having something happen that you wanted to have happen is not a damage because you can't show a real economic loss. One other thing, When you sign the paperwork that you thought was an application, it was an authorization for them to pull your credit and the fine print at the bottom is boiler plate defense against getting sued for everything imaginable. Ours took up about half of one page and all of the back of the second page. I know dealing with car dealerships is hard, working at them is just as hard, and I'm sorry that you had to deal with it, however the simplest and smoothest car deals are the ones where you pay full price.
Stocks: do Good Till Cancelled orders get executed during after hours?
You typically need to specify that you want the GTC order to be working during the Extended hours session. I trade on TD Ameritrade's Thinkorswim platform, and you can select DAY, GTC, EXT or GTC_EXT. So in your case, you would select GTC_EXT.
Shared groceries expenses between roommates to be divided as per specific consumption ratio and attendance
Bren's comment is right on the mark. The typical solution is to divide all bills by 5, and for special items, the person buying it just marks his name that it's not community food. Your attempt at a granularity level this detailed is admirable, but produces false results. What happens when I claim to be a zero percent milk drinker but when someone gives me cookies, I have a glass of milk? The effort to get true accuracy will cost far more in time spent than the results are worth.
Found an old un-cashed paycheck. How long is it good for? What to do if it's expired?
The two banks involved may have different policies about honoring the check. It might not be written on the check. Your bank may decide that the stale check has to be treated differently and will withhold funds for a longer period of time before giving you access to the money. They will give time for the first bank to refuse to honor the check. They may be concerned about insufficient funds, the age of the check, and the fact that the original account could have been closed. If you are concerned about the age of the check. You could go to your bank in person, instead of using deposit by ATM, scanner, or smart phone. This allows you to talk to a knowledgeable person. And if they are going to treat the check differently or reject the check, they can let you know right away. The audit may not have been concerned about the fact that the check hadn't been cashed because when they did the audit the check was still considered fresh. Some companies will contact you eventually to reissue the check so you they can get the liability off their books. If the bank does refuse the check contact the company to see how you can get a replacement check issued. They may want proof the check can't be cashed so they don't have to worry about paying you twice.
How to share income after marriage and kids?
Now I have been trying to figure out how to split the money that we both earn. From what I can see there are several concepts but none of them really seems ideal to me. There is nothing fair or unfair in such arrangements. It is what you both agree. You can try and make this as scientific as possible. But then there is no golden rule. For example, your girlfriend makes 2200 now and due to child, she is making 1100. The child is both of your responsibility; so you need to compensate half of her salary loss. 550 and she takes the other half. If you hire a nanny to look after you kinds, it would say cost you 500. But your girlfriend is doing that job, so she should get additional 500 from common pot. Plus due to loss of few years in looking after the children, she has a lost opportunity in career growth. i.e. she may indefinitely make less money than she can... So one gets into all kinds of theories and analysis and any arrangements will have some or the other gaps. So my suggestion, don't get too scientific about it. Just talk it out as to what you both feel how this should be and arrive it. It is something every individual has to agree. It also make sense to have the large assets [or assets that matter], like house, car etc in clear title and who gets what in case you decide to separate. Other should be incidental.
Ballpark salary equivalent today of “healthcare benefits” in the US?
As others have said, it depends entirely on what benefits are provided, and how much of the cost of those benefits is paid by the employer and how much is paid by the employee, and compare that to what it would cost to obtain the necessary/equivalent coverage without employer assistance. In my case, my employer pays more than $10,000 per year toward the cost of medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance for myself and my family. That's almost 20% of the average total household income in my state, so it is not an insignificant amount at all.
Moving Coin Collection to Stapled Coin Pockets
I would be wary of having coins in containers with cardboard. Ideally you want the coins to be in an airtight envelope made of plastic to minimize any chance of oxidation or reaction with chemicals in the air. Cheap, retail coins like you would find in a Whitman collection are not generally going to hold value well. Sometimes you can sell a collection and break even if you have a nice complete set, but in general VF coins with common dates will not appreciate at all. Investment coins usually are high-priced items that sell for thousands each, not the sort thing you find in Whitman folders. In general, collectibles are bad investments in the US because IRS rules tax gains as ordinary income. So, unless you sell them under the table or have really low income, you lose a lot of your profit. If you enjoy collecting, focus on the fun of it, worrying about investment in coin collections is a joy killer. A Parting Anecdote... When I was a kid I painstakingly assembled a lot of BU rolls, because that was the hot thing back then. I wrote on them "DO NOT OPEN FOR 10 YEARS". You know how much a 1980 BU roll of Lincoln cents is worth now, 40 years later? $2.00 on eBay. Some days I spend more on lunch than the worth of my entire Lincoln cent collection.
What are the advantages of a Swiss bank account?
Here are some reasons why it is advantageous to hold a portion of your savings in other countries: However, it should be noted that there are some drawbacks to holding funds in foreign banks: Don't worry; I haven't forgotten about the elephant in the room. What about tax evasion and money laundering? In general, simply transferring funds to a foreign jurisdiction will do nothing to help you evade taxes or hide evidence of a crime. Pretty much any method you can think of to transfer money is easily traceable, and any method that is difficult to trace is either illegal or heavily-regulated, with stiff penalties if you get caught. There are a few jurisdictions that have very strict banking privacy laws (the Philippines, for example). If you can somehow get the money into a bank account in one of these countries, you might be OK... at least, until that country's government decides (or is pressured) to change its banking privacy laws. But, what would you actually do with that money? Unless you want to go live in that country, you're going to have to transfer the funds out to spend them, and now you're right back on the radar — except now it's even worse, because the fact that the funds come from a suspicious jurisdiction will automatically cause your transfer to get flagged for investigation! This is where money laundering comes into play. There are lots of ways to go about this (exceptionally illegal) activity, many of which do not involve banks at all (at least, not directly). How money laundering works is outside the scope of this question, but in case you are curious, here are a couple of articles about the "dark side" of finance: In short, if you want to break the law, opening a foreign bank account isn't going to help much. In fact, the real crime is that offshore banking has such a criminal reputation in the first place! That said, it is possible to create legal distance between yourself and your money by using a corporate structure, and there are legitimate reasons why you might want to do this. Depending on which jurisdiction(s) you are a tax resident of, you can use this method to: Exactly how to do this is outside the scope of this question, but it's worth thinking about, especially if you have an interest in geopolitically diversifying your financial assets. If you're interested in learning more, I came across a pretty comprehensive article about Offshore Basics that covers how and why to set up offshore legal structures. (and yes, that makes now 4 links from the same site in one post! I promise it's just a coincidence; see disclaimer below) I am a US citizen with bank accounts in several countries (but not Switzerland; there are far better options out there right now). I have no affiliation with the website linked in this answer; while I was doing research for this answer, I found some really good supporting content, and it all just happened to be from the same source.
Why does Charles Schwab have a Mandatory Settlement Period after selling stocks?
It's important to understand that, in general, security transactions involve you and a relatively unknown entity with your broker standing in the middle. When you sell through Schwab, Schwab needs to receive the funds from the other side of the transaction. If Schwab gave you access to the funds immediately, it would essentially be a loan until the transaction settles after funds and securities change hands. If Schwab made funds available to you as soon as they were received, it might still be two days until the money is received; because the other side also has three days. Guaranteed one day settlement would have to include receipt of funds from the buyer in one day and Schwab can't control that. You need to remember this transaction likely includes at least one party in addition to you and Schwab. Here's the SEC page related to the three day settlement period, About Settling Trades in Three Days: T+3
Bank will not accept loose change. Is this legal?
The bank certainly doesn't have to take it for a deposit; that's not a debt. There have been several cases where disgruntled debtors have attempted deliberately annoying ways to pay their debts; the apocryphal example being pennies. Courts are not likely to support such efforts since it's obvious that a) the action is malicious and (relevant to you) b) it's really on you to maintain your money in a wieldy form. If you allow your money to become unwieldy, nobody owes you anything. I wonder about the meta-meaning of that. And whether, in that light it really makes sense to worry about 5% or rolling. As far as getting rid of it, when I bought out a girlfriend's piggybank at par, I just made sure to walk out of the house with $5 in change in my pocket and unload $2-3 at every retailer, none ever objected and some appreciated. Quarters were traded to coin laundry users. When going on transit I brought a bunch, the machines never grumbled. I burned through the cache much faster than expected.
Advice on money transfer business
As soon as I see the word "friends" along with money transfer I think scam. But ignoring that red flag.... You will have American companies reporting to the IRS that you are a Canadian Vendor they have hired. Then you are transferring money to people in Bangladesh. Assuming also that you fill out all the regulatory paperwork to establish this Money transfer business you may still face annual reporting requirements to 3 national taxing authorities. In the United states there are situations where the US Government hires a large company to complete a project. As part of that contract they require the large company to hire small businesses to complete some of the tasks. In a situation where the large company is imply serving as a conduit for the money between the government and the sub-contractor; and the large company has no other responsibilities; the usual fee for providing that function is 8% of the funds. This pays for their expenses for their accounting functions plus profit and the taxes that will trigger. Yet you said "At the end of the day, I will not earn much, but the transactions will just burden my tax returns." The 8 percent fee doesn't include doesn't include having to file paperwork with 3 nations. Adding this to all the other risks associated with being an international bank, plus the legal costs of making sure you are following all the regulations...No thanks.
When the market crashes, should I sell bonds and buy equities for the inevitable recovery?
When the market moves significantly, you should rebalance your investments to maintain the diversification ratios you have selected. That means if bonds go up and stocks go down, you sell bonds and buy stocks (to some degree), and vice versa. Sell high to buy low, and remember that over the long run most things regress to the mean.
Why invest for the long-term rather than buy and sell for quick, big gains?
The technical term for it is "timing the market" and if you can pull it off correctly, you will do quite well. The problem is that it is almost impossible to consistently do well. If it were that easy there would be a lot of billionaires walking around. Even Wall street experts haven't been able to predict the market that well. This idea is almost universally considered a bad idea. Consider this: When has the stock dropped low enough that you are "buying low" and let's say you do buy low and it doubles in a month. When do you get out? What if you are wrong and it doubles again? Or if it drops 10% do you keep waiting? This strategy is rife with problems.
Why diversify stocks/investments?
Diversifying is the first advice given to beginner in order to avoid big loss. For example in 2014 the company Theranos was really appealing before it fail in 2016. So a beginner could have invest ALL his money and lose it. But if he has deverified he wouldn't lost everything. As an investor goes from beginner to experience some still Diversify and other concentrate. Mostly it depends how much confident you are about an investement. If you have 20 years of experience, now everything about the company and you are sure there will be profit you can concentrate. If you are not 100% sure there will be a profit, it is better to Diversify. Diversifying can also be profitating when you loose money: because you will pay tax when you earn money, if you diversify you can choose to loose money in some stock (usually in december) and in this way cut your taxes.
How an ETF pays dividend to shareholders if a holding company issues dividend
The amount, reliability and frequency of dividends paid by an ETF other than a stock, such as an index or mutual fund, is a function of the agreement under which the ETF was established by the managing or issuing company (or companies), and the "basket" of investments that a share in the fund represents. Let's say you invest in a DJIA-based index fund, for instance Dow Diamonds (DIA), which is traded on several exchanges including NASDAQ and AMEX. One share of this fund is currently worth $163.45 (Jan 22 2014 14:11 CDT) while the DJIA itself is $16,381.38 as of the same time, so one share of the ETF represents approximately 1% of the index it tracks. The ETF tracks the index by buying and selling shares of the blue chips proportional to total invested value of the fund, to maintain the same weighted percentages of the same stocks that make up the index. McDonald's, for instance, has an applied weight that makes the share price of MCD stock roughly 5% of the total DJIA value, and therefore roughly 5% of the price of 100 shares of DIA. Now, let's say MCD issued a dividend to shareholders of, say, $.20 per share. By buying 100 shares of DIA, you own, through the fund, approximately five MCD shares, and would theoretically be entitled to $1 in dividends. However, keep in mind that you do not own these shares directly, as you would if you spent $16k buying the correct percentage of all the shares directly off the exchange. You instead own shares in the DIA fund, basically giving you an interest in some investment bank that maintains a pool of blue-chips to back the fund shares. Whether the fund pays dividends or not depends on the rules under which that fund was set up. The investment bank may keep all the dividends itself, to cover the expenses inherent in managing the fund (paying fund management personnel and floor traders, covering losses versus the listed price based on bid-ask parity, etc), or it may pay some percentage of total dividends received from stock holdings. However, it will virtually never transparently cut you a check in the amount of your proportional holding of an indexed investment as if you held those stocks directly. In the case of the DIA, the fund pays dividends monthly, at a yield of 2.08%, virtually identical to the actual weighted DJIA yield (2.09%) but lower than the per-share mean yield of the "DJI 30" (2.78%). Differences between index yields and ETF yields can be reflected in the share price of the ETF versus the actual index; 100 shares of DIA would cost $16,345 versus the actual index price of 16,381.38, a delta of $(36.38) or -0.2% from the actual index price. That difference can be attributed to many things, but fundamentally it's because owning the DIA is not the exact same thing as owning the correct proportion of shares making up the DJIA. However, because of what index funds represent, this difference is very small because investors expect to get the price for the ETF that is inherent in the real-time index.
How do I check my account balance?
You can check your account balance by logging into your online banking account, using our mobile app, visiting an ATM, or calling our customer service line at 1-800-BANK-HELP.
What are the fees for international wire transfers?
International wire transfer fees are $25 for outgoing transfers and $15 for incoming transfers. The receiving bank may also charge additional fees. Would you like me to help you initiate a transfer?
How can I set up automatic bill payments?
You can set up automatic bill payments through online banking or our mobile app. Go to "Bill Pay" section, add your payee, set the amount and frequency. You can also visit any branch for assistance.
What should I do if my card is lost or stolen?
If your card is lost or stolen, please call our 24/7 hotline at 1-800-CARD-HELP immediately to report it. We'll freeze the card and send you a replacement within 3-5 business days.
Can you explain different types of investment accounts?
We offer several investment account types: Traditional and Roth IRAs for retirement savings, taxable brokerage accounts for general investing, and 401(k) rollovers. Each has different tax implications and contribution limits.
What is compound interest and how does it work?
Compound interest is interest earned on both your initial principal and previously earned interest. For example, if you invest $1,000 at 5% annual interest, after one year you'd have $1,050. The next year, you earn 5% on the full $1,050, not just the original $1,000.
How do I apply for a mortgage?
To apply for a mortgage, you'll need proof of income, employment history, credit score, and information about the property. You can start the application online, call us, or visit a branch. Our loan officers will guide you through the pre-approval process.
I need help with my recent transaction
I'd be happy to help you with your recent transaction. Can you please provide me with the transaction date and amount so I can look it up for you?
Why was my account charged a fee?
I can help you understand the fee on your account. Let me review your account activity. The most common fees are overdraft fees, monthly maintenance fees, or ATM fees. Which type of fee are you seeing?
I want to close my account
I'm sorry to hear you want to close your account. Before we proceed, may I ask if there's anything specific that's prompting this decision? There might be solutions we can explore together.
What is compound interest?
Compound interest is interest earned on both the original principal and previously earned interest. It's often called 'interest on interest' and can significantly boost your savings over time.
How much should I save for retirement?
Financial experts typically recommend saving 10-15% of your income for retirement. The exact amount depends on your age, current savings, and retirement goals. Starting early gives compound interest more time to work.
What's the difference between a Roth and traditional IRA?
Traditional IRAs offer tax deductions now but you pay taxes in retirement. Roth IRAs use after-tax dollars now but withdrawals in retirement are tax-free. Your current vs. expected future tax rate helps determine the best choice.
Should I pay off debt or invest?
Generally, pay off high-interest debt (like credit cards) first since the guaranteed return of eliminating interest often beats potential investment returns. For low-interest debt, you might consider investing while making minimum payments.
What is dollar-cost averaging?
Dollar-cost averaging means investing a fixed amount regularly regardless of market conditions. This strategy can reduce the impact of market volatility by purchasing more shares when prices are low and fewer when prices are high.
How do I build an emergency fund?
Start by saving $1,000 as a starter emergency fund, then work toward 3-6 months of expenses. Keep it in a high-yield savings account that's easily accessible but separate from your regular checking account.
What credit score do I need to buy a house?
Most conventional loans require a credit score of 620 or higher, though FHA loans may accept scores as low as 580. Higher scores typically qualify for better interest rates and terms.
How can I improve my credit score?
Pay all bills on time, keep credit utilization below 30%, don't close old credit cards, and check your credit report for errors. Payment history and credit utilization are the most important factors.
What is diversification in investing?
Diversification means spreading investments across different asset types, sectors, and geographic regions to reduce risk. The idea is that different investments perform well at different times, smoothing overall returns.
When should I refinance my mortgage?
Consider refinancing when rates drop significantly below your current rate, when your credit has improved, or when you want to change loan terms. Factor in closing costs to determine if it makes financial sense.
What is financial accounting?
Financial accounting is the communication of information about a business or other type of organization so that individuals can assess its financial health and prospects. Whether it is gathering financial information about a specific organization, putting that information into a structure designed to enhance communication, or working to understand the information being conveyed.
What is financial accounting?
Financial accounting is the process of recording and reporting a company's financial transactions.
What is financial accounting?
Financial accounting is when a company summarizes economic transactions performed by that company.
What makes financial accounting important?
Obtaining a working knowledge of financial accounting and its underlying principles enables a person to understand the information conveyed about an organization so that better decisions can be made. Developing the ability to analyze financial information and then using that knowledge to arrive at sound decisions can be critically important.
What makes financial accounting important?
Financial accounting allows someone to understand a company’s health and where a company intends to invest their money and resources.
What makes financial accounting important?
Financial accounting is important to an investor because it allows an investor to see and predict where a company will invest their money and resources.
What real-life decisions could a person be facing where an understanding of financial accounting is beneficial?
Most business decisions require an understanding behind financial accounting and the current status of a business or organization to understand their future prospects. Many publically traded stocks and options are evaluated for security or risk by understanding these factors.
A great number of possible decisions could be addressed in connection with an organization. Is an understanding of financial accounting relevant to all business decisions?
Organizational decisions are extremely important for success. The general term "accounting" refers to the communication of financial information for decision-making purposes. Accounting is then further subdivided into (a) financial accounting and (b) managerial accounting. The communication of financial information within an organization so internal decisions can be made in an appropriate manner. It focuses on conveying relevant data (primarily to external parties) so that decisions can be made about an organization. Thus, questions such as lending or spending money fall into this category.
Is there any reason for a person who is employed by a company to care about the financial accounting data reported about that organization?
Every employee should be quite interested in assessing that information to judge future employment prospects. A company that is doing well will possibly award larger pay raises or perhaps significant end-of-year cash bonuses. A financially healthy organization can afford to hire new employees, buy additional equipment, or pursue major new initiatives. Conversely, when a company is struggling and prospects are dim, employees might anticipate layoffs, pay cuts, or reductions in resources. Thus, although financial accounting information is often directed to outside decision makers, employees should be vitally interested in the financial health of their own organization.
Why should an employee in the marketing or personnel department of Company C be interested in the financial information that it distributes?
Individuals who attain a proper level of knowledge of financial accounting can utilize this information to make decisions based on the organization's perceived financial health and outlook. Such decisions might include assessing employment potential, lending money, granting credit, and buying or selling ownership shares. However, financial accounting does not address issues that are purely of an internal nature, such as whether an organization should buy or lease equipment or the level of pay raises. Information to guide such internal decisions is generated according to managerial accounting rules and procedures. Despite not being directed toward the inner workings of an organization, employees are interested in financial accounting because it helps them assess the future financial prospects of their employer.
Why does a person or an organization acquire ownership shares of a business?
In the United States, as well as in many other countries, owners of a business or other type of organization can apply to the state government to have it identified as an entity legally separate from its owners. This process is referred to as incorporation. A business that has not been incorporated is legally either a sole proprietorship (one owner) or a partnership (more than one owner). Several advantages can be gained from incorporation, keyly, the ability to sell shares for money and allow investors to become owners (also known as stockholders or shareholders). Any investor who acquires one or more capital shares of a corporation is an owner and has rights that are specified by the state government or on the stock certificate.
How could millions of investors possessing billions of capital shares of a single corporation ever serve as the ownership of that organization?
Obviously, a great many companies have an enormous quantity of capital shares. Virtually none of these owners can expect to have any impact on the daily operations of the corporation. In a vast number of such businesses, stockholders simply vote to elect a representative group to oversee the company for them. This body called the board of directors is a group that oversees the management of a corporation. It hires the management to run the company on a daily basis and then meets periodically to review operating and financing results and also approve policy and strategy.
Why buy stocks if very few stockholders can ever hope to hold enough shares to participate in managing or influencing the operations?
Stocks and shares can be traded between individuals. When investors believe a company is financially healthy and its future is bright, they expect prosperity and growth. If that happens, the negotiated price for this company's capital stock should rise over time. Everyone attempts to anticipate such movements in order to buy the stock at a low price and sell it later at a higher one. Conversely, if predictions are not optimistic, then the share price is likely to drop and owners face the possibility of incurring losses in the value of their investments. Many factors affect the movement of stock prices such as the perceived quality of the management, historical trends in profitability, the viability of the industry in which it operates, and the health of the economy as a whole.
What is the potential benefit of buying capital stock issued by a business organization?
Stocks and shares can be traded between individuals. When investors believe a company is financially healthy and its future is bright, they expect prosperity and growth. If that happens, the negotiated price for this company's capital stock should rise over time. Everyone attempts to anticipate such movements in order to buy the stock at a low price and sell it later at a higher one. Conversely, if predictions are not optimistic, then the share price is likely to drop and owners face the possibility of incurring losses in the value of their investments. Many factors affect the movement of stock prices such as the perceived quality of the management, historical trends in profitability, the viability of the industry in which it operates, and the health of the economy as a whole.
Is the possibility for appreciation of stock prices the only reason that investors choose to acquire capital shares?
Many corporations—although certainly not all—also pay cash dividends. Distributions made by a corporation to its shareholders as a reward when income has been earned; shareholders often receive favorable tax treatment when cash dividends are collected. to their stockholders periodically.
What do investors actually hope to learn about a company from financial information?
The information reported by financial accounting is similar to a giant, complex portrait painted of the organization. All investors are trying to arrive at the same two insights: an estimate of the price of the corporation's stock in the future and the amount of cash dividends that will be paid over time. Despite the complexity of the information, these two goals are rather simplistic. If an investor owns capital shares of a company and feels that the current accounting information signals either a rise in stock prices or strong dividend payments, holding the investment or even buying more shares is probably warranted. Conversely, if careful analysis indicates a possible drop in stock price or a reduction in dividend payments, sale of the stock is likely to be the appropriate action.
Are there reasons to analyze the financial accounting information produced by a particular business other than to help investors predict stock prices and cash dividend payments?
The desire to analyze a company's financial situation is not limited to investors in the stock market. For example, a loan might be requested from a bank or one company could be considering the sale of its merchandise to another on credit. Such obligations eventually require payment. Therefore, a sizeable portion of the parties that study the financial information reported by an organization is probably most interested in the likelihood that money will be available to pay its debts. Future stock prices and cash dividend distributions are much less significant speculations for a creditor. The same financial data utilized by investors buying or selling stock will also be of benefit to current and potential creditors.
What is meant by financial information?
The financial information reported by and about an organization consists of data that can be measured in monetary terms. For example, the cost to acquire assets, revenue, profits, salary, or investments. Relevant information is communicated to decision makers as a monetary balance. However, if a company has eight thousand employees, that number might be interesting but it is not financial information. The figure is not a dollar amount; it is not stated in the form that is useful for decision-making purposes.
Is financial information limited solely to figures that can be stated in monetary terms?
Although financial accounting starts by reporting balances as monetary amounts, the communication process does not stop there. Verbal explanations as well as additional numerical data are also provided to clarify or expand the information where necessary. An organization must also communicate other nonfinancial information such as the cause of a lawsuit and the likelihood that the loss will actually occur.
Why would you invest in stocks instead of gold or real estate?
High-volume stocks are very liquid, while real estate is not. Gold is liquid, but historically has lower returns.
What is a corporation?
A corporation is a company or business that independent of its owner(s), allowing it to carry out legalities under its own name.
What is a corporation?
Corporations are entities that pursue legal matters under the entity's name and stays separate from the owner(s).
What is a corporation?
Legal affairs are handled under the business’s or company’s name, not through the owner(s)
How does a business become a corporation?
A business becomes a corporation by completing a process called incorporation, where the business registers with the government
How does a business become a corporation?
A business must complete the "incorporation" process with the state government.
How does a business become a corporation?
A registration process through the state called “incorporation” is the how a business becomes a corporation.
Why would a business want to become a corporation?
There are many reasons a business might want to become a corporation, including selling stock, shareholder liability, and easier legality management
Why would a business want to become a corporation?
Selling stock, shareholder liability, and easier legality management are all reasons why a company might want to become a corporation.
Why would a business want to become a corporation?
Advantages of a business becoming a corporation include selling stock, shareholder liability, and easier legality management
Why would an investor would purchase stock in a corporation?
An investor would purchase a stock to receive dividend payments, sell the stock for a gain if the share price increases, or earn a return on their investment
How correct or exact is the financial information that is reported by a business or other organization?
In accounting, materiality has long been the underlying benchmark in the reporting of information. This concept requires that data presented by an organization to decision makers should never contain any material misstatements. For financial accounting information, this is the basic standard for the required level of accuracy. Decision makers want financial statements to contain no material misstatements. The reporting entity must take adequate precautions to ensure that the information holds no material misstatements for the simple reason that the data can no longer be considered fairly presented. A financial accountant never claims that reported information is correct, accurate, or exact. Such precision is rarely possible and not needed when decision makers are analyzing the financial health and prospects of an organization. However, the accountant must take all precautions necessary to ensure that the data contain no material misstatements. Thus, financial figures are never released without reasonable assurance being obtained that no errors or other mistakes are present that could impact the decisions that will be made. All parties need to believe that reported information can be used with confidence in order to evaluate the financial condition and prospects of the organization as a whole.
What prevents reported financial information from being precise?
In truth, a reasonable percentage of the numbers reported in financial accounting are exact. The primary reason that precision is not a goal—or often not even a possibility—in financial accounting can be summed up in a single word: uncertainty. Many of the events encountered every day by an organization contain some degree of uncertainty. Unfortunately, no technique exists to report uncertain events in precise terms.
Is accounting really a type of language? Is it possible for accounting to paint portraits and be a language?
The simple answer to this question is that accounting is a language, one that enables an organization to communicate a portrait of its financial health and future prospects to interested parties by using words and numbers rather than oils or watercolors. That language becomes especially helpful when an organization faces the task of reporting complex uncertainties.
When faced with complexity, how does the financial accountant know what reporting guidelines to follow?
A significant body of generally accepted accounting principles (frequently referred to as U.S. GAAP) has been created in the United States over many decades to provide authoritative guidance and standardization for financial accounting. When faced with a reporting issue, such as a lawsuit, accountants consult U.S. GAAP to arrive at an appropriate resolution, one that results in fair presentation. If both the accountant and the decision maker understand U.S. GAAP, even the most complex financial information can be conveyed successfully.
How does a decision maker looking at reported information know what reporting guidelines have been followed?
Decision makers who want to evaluate specific organizations in order to make decisions about them should learn U.S. GAAP in order to understand the data being reported. Although some elements of U.S. GAAP have been in use almost throughout history, many of these rules and principles are relatively new—often developed within the last twenty to thirty years.
Why is U.S. GAAP important?
The United States has a capitalistic economy, which means that businesses are (for the most part) owned by private citizens and groups rather than by the government. To operate and grow, these companies must convince investors and creditors to contribute huge amounts of their own money voluntarily. Not surprisingly, such financing is only forthcoming if the possible risks and rewards can be assessed and then evaluated with sufficient reliability. Before handing over thousands or even millions of dollars, investors and creditors must believe that they have the reliable data required to make reasonable estimations of future stock prices, cash dividends, and cash flows. Otherwise, buying stocks and granting credit is no more than gambling. U.S. GAAP enables these outside parties to obtain the information they need to reduce their perceived risk to acceptable levels.
Who created U.S. GAAP?
Since 1973, the primary authoritative body in charge of producing U.S. GAAP has been the Financial Accounting Standards Board (frequently referred to as FASB) . FASB is an independent group supported by the U.S. government, various accounting organizations, and private businesses. It is charged with establishing and improving the standards by which businesses and not-for-profit organizations (such as charities) produce the financial information that they distribute to decision makers. FASB combined all authoritative accounting literature into a single source for U.S. GAAP, which is known as the Accounting Standards Codification. By bringing together hundreds of official documents, FASB has made U.S. GAAP both more understandable and easier to access.
If U.S. GAAP is constantly evolving, how does that occur?
Typically, accounting problems arise over time within various areas of financial reporting. New types of financial events can be created, for example, that are not covered by U.S. GAAP or, perhaps, weaknesses in earlier rules start to become evident. If such concerns grow to be serious, FASB will step in and study the issues and alternatives and possibly pass new rules or make amendments to previous ones. FASB is methodical in its deliberations and the entire process can take years. Changes, additions, and deletions to U.S. GAAP are not made without proper consideration. Several other bodies also play important roles in the creation of U.S. GAAP.
Is an asset a complicated accounting concept?
Simply put, an asset is a future economic benefit that an organization either owns or controls. This can include buildings, property, equipment, machinery, etc.
What general information is conveyed to a decision maker by the term "asset"?
Simply put, an asset is a future economic benefit that an organization either owns or controls. This can include buildings, property, equipment, machinery, etc.
What is an asset?
Simply put, an asset is a future economic benefit that an organization either owns or controls. This can include buildings, property, equipment, machinery, etc.
Are liabilities the equivalent of monetary debts?
A more formal definition of a liability is that it is a probable future sacrifice of economic benefits arising from present obligations. Liabilities can certainly be viewed as the debts of the organization. Liabilties include amounts owed to the vendors who supply merchandise to the company's stores, notes due to banks as a result of loans, income tax obligations, and balances to be paid to employees, utility companies, advertising agencies, and the like.
What is a fincancial liability?
A more formal definition of a liability is that it is a probable future sacrifice of economic benefits arising from present obligations. Liabilities can certainly be viewed as the debts of the organization. Liabilties include amounts owed to the vendors who supply merchandise to the company's stores, notes due to banks as a result of loans, income tax obligations, and balances to be paid to employees, utility companies, advertising agencies, and the like.