Question
stringlengths
14
166
Answer
stringlengths
3
17k
Asset allocation when retirement is already secure
As others are saying, you want to be a bit wary of completely counting on a defined benefit pension plan to be fulfilling exactly the same promises during your retirement that it's making right now. But, if in fact you've "won the game" (for lack of a better term) and are sure you have enough to live comfortably in ret...
Do the activities of my LLC need to be limited to a particular field?
No. When you file your Articles of Organization, simply state that your business will operate under the law. You don't need to give any further specification.
Taking Losses To Save On Tax
As Dilip said, if you want actual concrete, based in tax law, answers, please add the country (and if applicable, state) where you pay income tax. Also, knowing what tax bracket you're in would help as well, although I certainly understand if you're not comfortable sharing that. So, assuming the US... If you're in the ...
How should I record invoices in foreign currency in GNUCash?
It depends upon in how many currencies your business is denominated. If your business is solely dependent upon this one payer, it's best to start up a new set of books in USD. All accounts should be translated from CAD from a date preceding the USD activity. The CAD books should be closed, and all should be done with...
Federal taxes for nonresident alien whose only income in 2016 was a 2015 state tax return
I believe you have to file a tax return, because state tax refund is considered income effectively connected with US trade or business, and the 1040NR instructions section "Who Must File" includes people who were engaged in trade or business in the US and had a gross income. You won't end up having to pay any taxes as ...
Vanguard Target Retirement Fund vs. Similar ETF Distribution (w/ REIT)
Your approach sounds solid to me. Alternatively, if (as appears to be the case) then you might want to consider devoting your tax-advantaged accounts to tax-inefficient investments, such as REITs and high-yield bond funds. That way your investments that generate non-capital-gain (i.e. tax-expensive) income are safe f...
us citizen receiving bank transfer from foreign boyfriend
No, any gifts you receive are not taxable to you. In fact, losing money in a scam (as this sure sounds like to me) can even be tax-deductible if you lose enough! I wouldn't recommend accepting anything. Usually people with millions are dollars are capable of setting up their own bank accounts.
Should I include retirement funds in calculating my asset allocation?
I'd imagine that it's a small portion of the population that can have much of both. If one is saving a decent amount for retirement, say 10-15%, they aren't likely to have much else, aside from the house if included. For example, when I look at my 'pie chart' I get Retirement 72%, House 22%, everything else 6%. Specif...
Can I buy a new house before selling my current house?
If you're living in a market where some houses are going for $150K over asking, then you MUST buy before you sell. In a seller's market, you will get multiple offers on your current house when you decide to sell, it will sell for (well) over asking, and you can dictate possession dates. You do not need to worry about...
A little advice please…car loan related
Let's assess the situation first, then look at an option: This leaves you with about $1,017/mo in cash flow, provided you spend money on nothing else (entertainment, oil changes, general merchandise, gifts, etc.) So I'd say take $200/mo off that as "backup" money. Now we're at $817/mo. Question: What have you been doi...
Should I finance a new home theater at 0% even though I have the cash for it?
Debt creates risk. The more debt you take on, the higher your risk. What happens if you lose your job, miss a payment, or forget to write the final payment check for the exact amount needed, and are left with a balance of $1 (meaning the back-dated interest would be applied)? There is too much risk for little reward...
Property Trust - who or what is the Owner?
I am not a lawyer, and I am assuming trusts in the UK work similar to the way they work in the US... A trust is a legally recognized entity that can act in business transactions much the same way as a person would (own real property, a business, insurance, investments, etc.). The short answer is the trust is the owner ...
S-Corp partnership startup. How to pay owners with minimal profit?
We don't make enough to really consider it a salary, but I've heard using a draw without a salary is a bad idea. As any other illegal action, not paying yourself a reasonable salary when being a corporate officer is indeed a bad idea. I have no idea what I need to do to actually get some money in our pockets. The ...
Do credit checks affect credit scores?
There are two types of credit checks. First is the hard pull which is typically done when you apply for a credit line. The lender will hard pull your file and make his/her decision based on that. This affects your score negatively. You might lose few points for one hard inquiry. Second type is soft pull, which is done ...
How to gift money anonymously to an individual after collection thru a donation site?
You mention that "A great friend and couple's family" which makes me think this is a couple. For gift tax concerns, you can give a couple 2 x the gift tax exemption ($28,000 in 2015). Your example of $22k would fit in this amount. To give this money anonymously, I know that people have reached out to a pastor in the...
Advantages/Disadvantages to refinancing online?
If you can deal with phone calls instead of a face to face meeting, for the average person with an average refinance online tools just offer another way to shop for deals. For new mortgages, I think having a person you can meet face to face will avoid problems, but for just a simple refi, online is one of the places yo...
Allocating IRA money, clarification needed
You'll likely see several more scary market events before your autumn years. Ahhh, everyone has an opinion on this so here is mine :) If you are constrained to picking canned mutual fund products then I would target something with decent yield for two points. The third is to keep some in cash for an 'event'. I would ...
Switch from DINK to SIWK: How do people afford kids?
If you want to have your wife stay home with kids, you'll have to make a plan to get there. As you point out, your situation right now won't support this. Create a budget that will work for you with a single income -- a "zero based" budget, not a budget based on your current expense structure. Figure out what you can a...
Tax treatment of renovation costs and mortgage interest on a second house
Should I treat this house as a second home or a rental property on my 2015 taxes? If it was not rented out or available for rent then you could treat it as your second home. But if it was available for rent (i.e.: you started advertising, you hired a property manager, or made any other step towards renting it out), but...
How to increase my credit score
Do you have the option of paying cash for the phone? To answer your question though: Essentially, you have to use credit RESPONSIBLY. That doesn't mean go get a slew of loans and pay them off. As Ratish said, a credit card is a good start. I basically buy everything with a card and then pay it off every month when the ...
How do I hedge stock options like market makers do?
Buying the underlying asset will not completely hedge you, only what lies above 155 dollars (strike + price of option) - you still have the risk of losing everything but 5. You have a maximum earnings-potential of 55 dollars (strike of 150 - investment of 100 + option of 5) but you have a risk of losing 95$ (investment...
How can I find out how much a currency is traded?
This is actually a fairly hard question to answer well as much of the currency trading that is done in financial markets is actually done directly with banks and other financial institutions instead of on a centralized market and the banks are understandably not always excited to part with information on how exactly th...
Alternatives to Intuit's PayTrust service for online bill viewing and bill payment?
(Six years later...) I've used CheckFree for over 20 years, and my uncle started using it back in the early 1980s through a 300 baud modem. It has e-bills, EDI bills that you schedule yourself, and will also mail checks to people and small businesses. You can make your payments from an unlimited number of banks, can s...
Why do investors buy stock that had appreciated?
A few reasons. First, it's hard to buy a stock that has never gone up, and isn't necessarily wise to do so. Even if you just wait for a stock go down, what if you wait and it goes up two dollars, then drops 10 cents? Has it gone up or down? When should you buy it? In general, your idea is correct, the higher the pr...
What's the point of Ford loosening financing requirements?
A repossessed automobile will have lost some value from sale price, but it's not valueless. They market "title loans" to people without good credit on this basis so its a reasonably well understood risk pool.
Should I switch to this high rate checking account for my emergency fund?
Check out the "rewards checking" accounts listed on this thread at fatwallet finance forums. You could easily get 3.5% - 4% right now if you are willing to do the rewards checking dance. If not, you should look into the 1-2% accounts at the top. I use Alliant CU and their website is nice (and they give you your credit ...
Can dividends be exploited?
Yes, somebody could buy the shares, receive the dividend, and then sell the shares back. However, the price he would get when he sells the shares back is, ignoring other reasons for the price to change, exactly the amount he paid minus the dividend.
Are bond ETF capital gains taxed similar to stock or stock funds if held for more than 1 year?
Yes, that's correct.
Car Loan upside down--refinance before selling?
As for refinancing: Many institutions charge up-front fees when doing any type of vehicle loan. Typically this is in the neighborhood of 1% the value of the loan, with a floor of $100 (although this may vary by lender). However, for the loan the be secured by the vehicle, the principle value must be less than the colla...
How to distinguish gift from payment for the service?
Generally, a one time thing is considered a gift. For the donor this is obviously not a deductible expense, except for some specific cases (for example promotional gifts under $25 to vendors can be deducted, if you're a business, or charitable contributions to a recognized charity). However, if this is a regular practi...
How do I explain why debt on debt is bad to my brother?
The only thing that comes to mind is a recent HBO Real Sports segment (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDjkbgrgcmo) on a couple of NFL players who blew all of their money. Seeing how they've ended up might make the right impression, but given that your brother ran up $148K in debt, I'm not optimistic.
Warrant shares/UNIT
A warrant is similar to a call option (the right to buy stock at a certain price), with the difference that warrants are filled by the issuing company with new shares, diluting the existing shareholders' ownership. The language is a bit confusing, but how I interpret it is: So your 9,000 shares will get you 3,000 share...
My landlord is being foreclosed on. Should I confront him?
If John signs the lease he is entitled to stay there for the duration of the lease regardless of the foreclosure status. http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/renters-foreclosure-what-are-their-30064.html I would suggest that signing a year lease (even by email), with the plan to leave as early as possible is a good...
Accepting high volatility for high long-term returns
This is basically what financial advisers have been saying for years...that you should invest in higher risk securities when you are young and lower risk securities when you get older. However, despite the fact that this is taken as truth by so many financial professionals, financial economists have been unable to form...
What is the best way to invest in US stocks from India?
Quite a few stock broker in India offer to trade in US markets via tie-up brokers in US. As an Indian citizen, there are limits as to how much FX you can buy, generally very large, should be an issue. The profits will be taxed in US as well as India [you can claim relief under DTAA]
Why would a company issue a scrip dividend and how will this issue affect me?
Yes. Instead of paying a cash dividend to shareholders, the company grants existing shareholders new shares at a previously determined price. I'm sorry, but scrip issues are free (for all ordinary shareholders) and are in proportion to existing share holding. No payment is required from shareholders. So instead of havi...
Why does Yahoo Finance and Google Finance not match historical prices?
The difference is that Yahoo is showing the unadjusted price that the security traded for on that date, while google is adjusting for price splits. This means that Google is showing how much you would have had to pay to get what is now one share. Since 1979, JNJ has split 3-for-1 once, and 2-for-1 four times. 3x2x2x2x2...
How credible is Stansberry's video “End of America”?
If we postulate that there is at least some element of truth to the phrase 'A leopard does not change his spots' and then consider this tidbit He conveniently forgets to mention his 1.5 million dollar fraud fine from the SEC over investment “advice” he sold through a news letter. The SEC claimed and the judge agre...
Are credit cards not viewed as credit until you miss one payment?
K, welcome to Money.SE. You knew enough to add good tags to the question. Now, you should search on the dozens of questions with those tags to understand (in less than an hour) far more than that banker knows about credit and credit scores. My advice is first, never miss a payment. Ever. The advice your father passed...
UK limited company and personal bank account
I don't think there is a legal requirement that you need a separate bank account. Just remember that you can only take money from your LLC as salary (paying tax), as dividend (paying tax), or as a loan (which you need to repay, including and especially if the LLC goes bankrupt). So make very sure that your books are in...
What options are available for a home loan with poor credit but a good rental history?
Take the long term view. Build up the cash. Once you have enough cash in the bank, you don't need a credit score. With 6 months living expenses in the bank after paying 20% down on a small house, he should have no issues getting a reasonably priced mortgage. However, if he waited just a bit longer he might buy the...
Can't the account information on my checks be easily used for fraud?
Yes this is a huge security loophole and many banks will do nothing to refund if you are scammed. For example for business accounts some Wells Fargo branches say you must notify within 24 hours of any check withdrawal or the loss is yours. Basically banks don't care - they are a monopoly system and you are stuck with...
What options do I have at 26 years old, with 1.2 million USD?
Buy a land and build a house. Then plant wine trees. Hire people after like 5 years and start to do and sell wine. A beautiful business :-) A second opation is to buy a houses in a city and rent rooms.
Exercise an out of the money option
For listed options in NYSE,CBOE, is it possible for an option holder to exercise an option even if it is not in the money? Abandonment of in-the-money options or the exercise of out-of-the-money options are referred as contrarian instructions. They are sometimes forbidden, e.g. see CME - Weekly & End-of-Month (EOM) Op...
What's the benefit of a credit card with an annual fee, vs. a no-fee card?
How would you respond to these cases: Limited card options - If someone has a bad credit record the cards available may only be those with an annual fee. Not everyone will have your credit record and thus access to the cards you have. Some annual fees may be waived in some cases - Thus, someone may have a card with a ...
Uncashed paycheck 13 years old
If this is in the United States, there are laws governing business behavior when they have recorded expenses (checks, bills, etc) which are never withdrawn or deposited. A business is required to turn over these funds after a certain time frame to the state government as a part of their business tax cycle. (One cavea...
Buying and selling the same stock
Sorry, no, any time you sell for a profit you owe tax.
Are there “buy and hold” passively managed funds?
Usually, the amswer to "why sell it" is "to maintain the specific distribution balance, or to track the index, that this fund was designed to offer." A "buy and hold" fund could only buy when users are actively putting money into it. That limits their ability to follow those approaches. And I think there would be prob...
Is the Yale/Swenson Asset Allocation Too Conservative for a 20 Something?
I don't think the advice to take lots more risk when young makes so much sense. The additional returns from loading up on stocks are overblown; and the rocky road from owning 75-100% stocks will almost certainly mess you up and make you lose money. Everyone thinks they're different, but none of us are. One big advantag...
what if a former employer contributes to my 401k in the year following my exit?
The vast majority of individual taxpayers in the United States operate on a cash basis of accounting. This means that the assignment of deductions or income to tax year is based on the date of the paycheck. So the money in that early January 2016 paycheck has been correctly assigned to the 2016 tax year. This is unfor...
Online Foreign Exchange Brokerages: Which ones are good & reputable for smaller trades?
I used Oanda.com for Forex trading a couple years ago. I am in the US but I think it's available in the UK as well. At the time, they had no commissions and their spreads were comparable or better than other brokers. The spreads would just quite considerably when a big event like a Fed meeting or the unemployment figur...
The Benefits/Disadvantages of using a credit card
Credit cards have three important advantages. None of them are for day-to-day borrowing of money. Safety - Credit cards have better fraud protection than checks or cash, and better than most debit/check cards. If you buy something with a credit card, you also get the issuer's (think Visa) assurances that your will get ...
U.S. nonresident alien: Is my state tax refund taxable?
Federal income tax refunds received during 2016 are not taxable income for 2016 (or any other year) on either the Federal or the State tax return. The State income tax refund for 2015 received during 2016 is not taxable income on the State tax return for 2016. It is taxable income on the Federal tax return for 2016 onl...
what is the best way of investment which gives returns forever?
What is the best way that I can invest money so that I can always get returns? Would it be to set up an FD in a bank, to buy land, to buy a rental house, to buy a field, or maybe to purchase gold? Forever is a long time. Of the options you listed, the only one guaranteed to generate returns is a bank account. The r...
How does a 2 year treasury note work?
Notes and Bonds sell at par (1.0). When rates go up, their value goes down. When rates go down, their value goes up. As an individual investor, you really don't have any business buying individual bonds unless you are holding them to maturity. Buy a short-duration bond fund or ETF.
Why would a passive investor buy anything other than the market portfolio + risk free assets?
Investing is always a matter of balancing risk vs reward, with the two being fairly strongly linked. Risk-free assets generally keep up with inflation, if that; these days advice is that even in retirement you're going to want something with better eturns for at least part of your portfolio. A "whole market" strategy ...
How much more than my mortgage should I charge for rent?
I think you are trying to figure out what will be a break-even rental rate for you, so that then you can decide whether renting at current market rates is worth it for you. This is tricky to determine because future valuations are uncertain. You can make rough estimates though. The most uncertain component is likely to...
Can I actually get a share of stock issued with a piece of paper anymore?
Yes you can get them from your broker. Two main advantages I can see are:
How can I save LLC fees when investing in Arizona real estate from California
You won't be able to avoid the $800 fee. CA FTB has a very specific example, which is identical to your situation (except that they use NV instead of AZ), to show that the LLC has liability in California. State of formation is of no matter, you'll just be liable for fees in that state in addition to the CA fees. This i...
VAT and duties payable when importing personal goods from Switzerland and the Channel Islands to the EU?
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/tax-and-duty.htm#3 explains the Import VAT situation quite well. As for who enforces and collects it, if you're talking about buying online and having it shipped to you then you'll notice on the parcel a Customs sticker declaring the contents and value. It is the responsibility of the co...
Income tax on my online drop-shipping business (India)
Please consult a tax advisor. You may be voilating the FEMA [Foreign Exchange Management Act] and can land into trouble. Further what you are doing can land up into various other acts as illegal including AML. Further if there is income generated by Indian citizen in India, he is still liable to pay tax, irrespect...
Does this sound like a great idea regarding being a landlord and starting a real estate empire?
This can be done, and there have been many good suggestions on things to do and watch out for. But to my shock I don't see anyone offering any words of caution about property managers! Whatever you do, don't assume they have your best interests at heart. Do not assume that "no news is good news" and that if you aren'...
Employee stock option plan with undefined vesting?
An option without the vesting period and the price at which one can exercise the option is of not much value. If vesting is determined by board, then at any given point in time they can change the vesting period to say 3, 5, 10 years any number. The other aspect is at what price you are allowed to exercise the option, ...
Is there a Yahoo Finance ticker for NYMEX Crude Oil Front Month?
Yahoo Finance has this now, the ticker is CL=F.
Calculating profits on a covered call. What method do you use?
yes, you are double counting. Your profit is between ($7.25 and $8) OR ($7.75 and $8.50). in other words, you bought the stock at $7.75 and sold at $8.00 and made $0.50 on top. Profit = $8.00-$7.75+$0.50 (of course all this assumes that the stock is at or above $8.00 when the option expires. If it's below, then your p...
First job: Renting vs get my parents to buy me a house
Rent. You have no idea whether you will still be in the same part of the country five years from now; you may not even be in the same country. A house is a boat anchor you really do not need or want at this time. It's also a set of obligations you may not want to take on yet. And buying is not automatically more finan...
Are prepayment penalties for mortgages normal?
It's not uncommon to have a small penalty if you pre-pay the mortgage in a short time. After all, making the loan isn't free for the bank. But as Nathan says, if a bank is planning to try very hard to stop you from giving them money, there is probably a reason. Try to convince your wife: there is nothing inherently wr...
What one bit of financial advice do you wish you could've given yourself five years ago?
Bank every dollar possible to have more cash available for investing during the 2008/2009 crisis.
What is the best way to help my dad consolidate his credit card debt at a lower rate?
Are you doing the right thing? Yes, paying back some of the expense of college is a great way to show your gratitude. Could your sister also pitch in a little to help pay the debt down? Will you get approved for a $30,000 unsecured loan? You don't mention your credit rating but that will have an effect obviously. You m...
Can I just file a 1040-ES?
Yes, you can send in a 2012 1040-ES form with a check to cover your tax liability. However, you will likely have to pay penalties for not paying tax in timely fashion as well as interest on the late payment. You can have the IRS figure the penalty and bill you for it, or you can complete Form 2210 (on which these matt...
How can I invest in gold without taking physical possession?
In addition to the possibility of buying gold ETFs or tradable certificates, there are also firms specializing in providing "bank accounts" of sorts which are denominated in units of weight of precious metal. While these usually charge some fees, they do meet your criteria of being able to buy and sell precious metals ...
Good book-keeping software?
You can try manager.io. It has a desktop, cloud and server edition that should fit your needs.
Changing Bank Account Number regularly to reduce fraud
We change it every so often to reduce fraud. This is idiocy. They receive regular payments. They are asking the people who pay them to regularly change where their money is being sent. This increases their exposure to fraud dramatically as each time the account is changed, there is a risk it will be changed to an accou...
Why does the biotechnology industry have such a high PE ratio?
Most biotech companies do not have a product they are selling. They have a set of possible drugs that they are developing. If any of these drugs get proven to be better than the current drugs they can be sold at a great profit. Therefore as soon as a biotech company proves a drug candidate is likely to pass large...
If the co-signer on my car loan dies, can the family take the car from me like they're threatening to?
The lead story here is you owe $12,000 on a car worth $6000!! That is an appalling situation and worth a lot to get out of it. ($6000, or a great deal more if the car is out of warranty and you are at risk of a major repair too.) I'm sorry if it feels like the payments you've made so far are wasted; often the number...
Does the P/E ratio not apply to bond ETFs?
A bond fund has a 5% yield. You can take 1/.05 and think of it as a 20 P/E. I wouldn't, because no one else does, really. An individual bond has a coupon yield, and a YTM, yield to maturity. A bond fund or ETF usually won't have a maturity, only a yield.
How to choose a good 401(k) investment option?
The vanguard funds are all low fee your employer has done a good job selecting their provider for 401(k). I would do a roth if you can afford it as taxes are at a historical low. Just pick the year you want to get your money if you will need your money in 2040 pick Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 Fund. Its that sim...
In the stock market, why is the “open” price value never the same as previous day's “close”?
It does sometimes open one day the same as it closed the previous day. Take a look at ESCA, it closed October 29th at 4.50, at opened November 1st at 4.50. It's more likely to change prices overnight than it is between two successive ticks during the day, because a lot more time passes, in which news can come out, an...
ETF S&P 500 with Reinvested Dividend
The problem there is that there's a tax due on that dividend. So, if you wish, you can buy the ETF and specify to reinvest dividends, but you'll have to pay a bit of tax on them, and keep track of your basis, if the account isn't a retirement account.
Making $100,000 USD per month, no idea what to do with it
If you already have 500k in a Schwab brokerage account, go see your Schwab financial consultant. They will assign you one, no charge, and in my experience they're sharp people. Sure, you can get a second opinion (or even report back here, maybe in chat?), but they will get you started in the right direction. I'd expect...
How can I identify a likely bull trap?
Remember the 1st Law of Technical Analysis: "For every analysis there exists an equal and opposite analysis." And the 2nd Law of Technical Analysis: "They're both wrong." Technical analysis in the absence of hard data is just a lot of hand-waving meant to dazzle CNBC viewers and rope would-be day traders into paying f...
Why are stocks having less institutional investors a “good thing”?
Let’s turn this round. Now what if the only people willing to own part of company are doing it due to the expectation that they will make money in the short term form the company….
What are the benefits of opening an IRA in an unstable/uncertain economy?
Your are mixing multiple questions with assertions which may or may not be true. So I'll take a stab at this, comment if it doesn't make sense to you. To answer the question in the title, you invest in an IRA because you want to save money to allow you to retire. The government provides you with tax incentives that mak...
Why is day trading considered riskier than long-term trading?
In day trading, you're trying to predict the immediate fluctuations of an essentially random system. In long-term investing, you're trying to assess the strength of a company over a period of time. You also have frequent opportunities to assess your position and either add to it or get out.
Having a separate bank account for business/investing, but not a “business account?”
You don't specify which country you are in, so my answers are more from a best practice view than a legal view.. I don't intend on using it for personal use, but I mean it's just as possible. This is a dangerous proposition.. You shouldn't co-mingle business expenses with personal expenses. If there is a chance this w...
How are stock buybacks not considered insider trading?
The reason that stock buybacks are not considered insider trading is because the offers are open to all on equal terms to everyone outside the company. Even if the company knows "inside" information, it's not supposed to tell it (and company executives are not allowed to tender shares, unless they had previously set up...
What can I replace Microsoft Money with, now that MS has abandoned it?
I use http://moneydance.com/ it has Mac, Windows and Linux versions and works well for my needs.
FOK order type: can they be market or limit orders?
You can do FOK on both market and limit orders. Normal market orders will partial fill if you want more shares than are being offered, or if someone pulled their order before you get there and now there are fewer shares than you placed a trade for. With a FOK limit order not at the BBO you are shooting in the dark for ...
As an American working in the UK, do I have to pay taxes on foreign income?
Yes. You do have to pay taxes in the UK as well but it depends on how much you have already been taxed in the US. http://taxaid.org.uk/situations/migrant-workernew-to-the-uk/income-from-abroad-arising-basis-vs-remittance-basis Say, you have to pay 20% tax in the UK for your earnings here. You ARE required to pay the sa...
How can I calculate interest portion of income when selling a stock?
When you sell the stock your income is from the difference of prices between when you bought the stock and when you sold it. There's no interest there. The interest is in two places: the underlying company assets (which you own, whether you want it or not), and in the distribution of the income to the owners (the divid...
How does a high share price benefit a company when it is raising funds?
Well, if one share cost $100 and the company needs to raise $10000, then the company will issue 100 shares for that price. Right? However, say there's 100 shares out there now, then each share holder owns 1/100th of the company. Now the company will remain the same, but it's shared between 200 shareholders after the i...
Ongoing things to do and read to improve knowledge of finance?
Good luck!
How are investment funding valued when invested in a company before it goes public?
This is a question of how does someone value a business. Typically, it is some function of how much the company owns, how much the company owes, how risky is the company's business, and how much the company makes in profit. For example if a company (or investment) make $100/year, every year no matter what, how much w...
How do 401k handle rate of return
A 401(k) is an investment just like any other investment. You generally get two types of return lumped into that number, but there can be more and you should read your funds prospectus carefully. If you aren't investing in direct companies, you're using mutual funds for instance, then you should read the funds prospect...
Am I still building a credit score if I use my credit card like a debit card?
Regardless of how it exactly impacts the credit score, the question is does it help improve your credit situation? If the score does go up, but it goes up slowly that was a lot of effort to retard credit score growth. Learning to use a credit card wisely will help you become more financially mature. Start to use the c...
New to investing — I have $20,000 cash saved, what should I do with it?
As @mbhunter says, make sure you pay off any debt you have first. Then, it's a good idea to keep some or all of your savings as an emergency fund. If you use every last dime to pay for a house, you'll have no cushion available when something breaks down. The most common recommendation I've seen is to have 3-6 months...
Cannot get a mortgage because I work through a recruiter
I think you are running into multiple problems here: All these together look like a high risk to a bank, especially right now with companies being reluctant to hire full-time employees. Looking at it from their perspective, the last thing they need right now is another potential foreclosure on their books. BTW, if it i...
How to check the paypal's current exchange rate?
PayPal does charge a premium, both for sending and receiving. Here's how you find their rates:
Who creates money? Central banks or commercial banks?
Scenario 1 is typically the better description. If commercial banks were allowed to simply "create" money, they wouldn't be in the mess they're in now. In the U.S., the central bank is the Federal Reserve or Fed, and is the only entity (not the government, not the banks, not the people) that is allowed to create money ...
Starting a new job. Help me with retirement/debt planning please!
Your initial plan (of minimizing your interest rate, and taking advantage of the 401(k) match) makes sense, except I would put the 401(k) money in a very low risk investment (such as a money market fund) while the stock market seems to be in a bear market. How to decide when the stock market is in a bear market is a s...