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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 interna... |
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 ment... |
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 p... |
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 in... |
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... |
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 s... |
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 ... |
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 wh... |
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 insur... |
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 locatio... |
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... |
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 mor... |
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 busine... |
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, includi... |
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 inf... |
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 ... |
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... |
Where can publicly traded profits go but to shareholders via dividends? | Apart from investing in their own infrastructure, profits can be spent purchasing other companies, (Mergers and Acquisitions) investing in other securities, and frankly whatever they please. The idea here is that publicly traded companies have a fiduciary duty to their shareholders to make as much money as they can wit... |
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... |
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 wa... |
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 percen... |
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... |
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... |
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 mo... |
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. So... |
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, simpl... |
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... |
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 i... |
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 pa... |
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... |
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 t... |
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 exper... |
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... |
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 communica... |
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 b... |
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 wi... |
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,... |
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 share... |
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 ... |
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... |
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 ... |
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 ... |
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 c... |
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 th... |
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 thous... |
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 informa... |
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 a... |
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 de... |
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 fac... |
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... |
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 w... |
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, su... |
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 im... |
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 ... |
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... |
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... |
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