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What to do with a distribution as a young person?
I have money to invest. Where should I put it? Anyone who answers with "Give it to me, I'll invest it for you, don't worry." needs to be avoided. If your financial advisor gives you this line or equivalent, fire him/her and find another. Before you think about where you should put your money, learn about investing. Tak...
How can I find a high-risk, high-reward investment that is not strongly correlated with the U.S. economy?
These days almost all risky assets move together, so the most difficult criterion to match from your 4 will be "not strongly correlated to the U.S. economy." However, depending on how you define "strongly," you may want to consider the following: Be careful, you are sort of asking for the impossible here, so these wil...
Questioning my Realtor
A mortgage lender will not usually lend more than they could get if they had to repossess the property and sell it to recover their investment (in the U.S. it is generally accepted that 80% of market value is the golden number that makes the mortgage work). That's why an appraisal is required. Even with 50% down, the ...
Risks associated with investing in dividend paying stocks for short term income. Alternatives?
Usually when a company is performing well both its share price and its dividends will increase over the medium to long term. Similarly, if the company is performing badly both the share price and dividends will fall over time. If you want to invest in higher dividend stocks over the medium term, you should look for com...
Is there such a thing as a non-FDIC savings account, which earns better interest?
There are lots of credit unions that are insured by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) through the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) instead of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Both cover individual accounts up to $250,000. If you are looking for non-trivial returns on yo...
Can buying REIT's be compared to investing in Real Estate?
well yes but you should also begin to understand the sectoral component of real estate as a market too in that there can be commercial property; industrial property and retail property; each of which is capable of having slightly (tho usually similar of course) different returns, yields, and risks. Whereas you are sa...
What tax advantage should I keep an eye for if I am going to relocate?
Depends. If you can choose where to relocate to, then I second the "no income tax" states. But even of these chose wisely, some have no income taxes at all, others have taxes on some kinds of income. Some don't have neither individual nor corporate taxes, some tax businesses in some ways. Some compensate with higher pr...
How safe is a checking account?
In addition to @mhoran_psprep answer, and inspired by @wayne's comment. If the bank won't let you block automatic transfers between accounts, drop the bank like a hot potato They've utterly failed basic account security principles, and shouldn't be trusted with anyone's money. It's not the bank's money, and you're the...
Do individual stocks have futures trading
There is indeed a market for single stock futures, and they have been trading on the OneChicago exchange since 2002. Futures are available in 12,509 individual stocks, according to the exchange's current product listing. One advantage they offer over trading the underlying stock is the significantly higher leverage tha...
Credit balance on new credit card
Things are generally fine. A credit balance is not a horrible thing. The argument against maintaining a credit balance is that you are essentially loaning the credit card issuer money at 0% interest. You probably have alternative investments that would pay better interest, so it's usually better to park your money ...
Identifying “Dividend Stocks”
How do you find good quality dividend stocks? That is an easy one. Past performance has always been my key to this answer. also remember why you are investing in the first place. Do you want cash flow, security or capital growth. Also let's not forget... how much time do you want to devote to this venture. There is goi...
Should I sell my stocks when the stock hits a 52-week high in order to “Buy Low, Sell High”?
One possibility is to lock in gains by selling, where a selling price can attempt to be optimized by initiating a trailing stop loss order. You'll have to look at the pros and cons of that kind of order to see if it is right for you. Another possibility is to begin hedging with options contracts, if that security is op...
Do high interest rates lead to higher bond yields or lower?
It is important to distinguish between cause and effect as well as the supply (saving) versus demand (borrowing) side of money to understand the relationship between interest rates, bond yields, and inflation. What is mean by "interest rates" is usually based on the officially published rates determined by the central ...
How do 401k handle rate of return
Your employer sends the money that you choose to contribute, plus employer match if any, to the administrator of the 401k plan who invests the money as you have directed, choosing between the alternatives offered by the administrator. Typically, the alternatives are several different mutual funds with different investm...
Is there a catch to offers of $100 when opening up a new checking account?
There's no catch. Banks need to acquire customers just like any other business. One common way to acquire new customers is by advertising on the radio, TV, print, etc. Another common way to acquire new customers is by offering incentives like the one you linked to. Basically, PNC is confident that they will make more t...
What does it mean “sell on ask” , “sell on bid” in stocks?
Honestly, I wonder if the other answerers aren't overthinking it. Their answers are detailed and correct, but what your coach may be saying is this: When you have bought a stock, on cash or margin, and you are watching it rise you are evaluating when you sell on the price of the stock you are seeing. In reality, you sh...
501(3)(c) to donators for trophy party
The good news is that your parent organization is tax exempt and your local organization might be. The national organization even has guidelines and even more details. Regarding donations they have this to say: Please note: The law requires charities to furnish disclosure statements to donors for such quid pro quo d...
Is it ever logical to not deposit to a matched 401(k) account?
Some have suggested you can put the money in the 401k then take a loan to pay off the student loan debt. Some things to consider before doing that: Check your 401k plan first. Some plans allow you to continue paying on a loan if you leave the company, some do not. If you have to change jobs before you pay back the 4...
Given current market conditions, how / when should I invest a $200k inheritance?
E) Spend a small amount of that money on getting advice from a paid financial planner. (Not a broker or someone offering you "free" advice; their recommendations may be biased toward what makes them the most money). A good financial planner will talk to you about your plans and expectations both short and long term, a...
401k compound interest vs other compound interest
Growth in a 401k dodges taxes, which means more of the gains get reinvested. Effectively, it's a boosted return rate. Like any investment, a 401k can lose value. During the period before retirement, lower stock and bond prices actually help you buy more shares than you could if prices were high, so the real question is...
What's the difference between stocks and shares?
For all practical purposes the words mean the same thing. Shares are just stock in a particular company whereas stock can refer to shares over many companies. Investopedia has a good explaination. If you are a financial journalist you might want to make sure you are using the right term at the right time, but otherwis...
First job: Renting vs get my parents to buy me a house
There is a mathematical way to determine the answer, if you know all the variables. (And that's a big if.) For example, suppose you rent for 4 years and the price of rent never increases. The total amount you will have paid is: 600*48 = 28,800. If you currently have money sitting in the bank earning only a negligible a...
Why do I get a much better price for options with a limit order than the ask price?
There are usually so many different options around for the same stock that some are rarely traded. Especially if the price has moved since the option was issued, nobody might be interested in that particular option at that price anymore. So the asking price might be something that someone asked for ages ago and that is...
Are REIT worth it and is it a good option to generate passive income for a while?
In financial markets, the gains you can expect to make (whether in the form of dividends or capital gains) correspond to the risks you are bearing. There are a variety of REITs but you can expect to make only as much money in them as you bear risk (meaning you can also lose a lot of money in the ones that earn a lot)....
1031 Exchange and Taxes?
You bought a rental property in 2001. Hopefully you paid fair value else other issues come into play. Say you paid $120K. You said you have been taking depreciation, which for residential real estate is taken over 27.5 years, so you are about halfway through. Since you don't depreciate land, you may have taken a total...
Why does selling and then rebuying stock not lead to free money?
There are a few people that do this for a living. They are called "market makers" or "specialists" in a particular stock. First of all, this requires a lot of capital. You can get burned on a few trades, a process known as "gambler's ruin," but if you have enough capital to weather the storm, you can make money. Second...
What is a “Junk Bond”?
A junk bond is, broadly, a bond with a non-negligible risk of default. ("Bond" ought to be defined elsewhere, but broadly it's a financial instrument you buy from a company or government, where they promise to pay you back the principal and some interest over time, on a particular schedule.) The name "junk" is a bit e...
How do I build wealth?
Share options. If you get options on £200,000-worth of a company and then its share price increases five-fold then you make £800,000, which is often taxed more favourably than salary.
What items are exempt from the VAT? [U.K.]
Some items are VAT Exempt or Reduced, but in short you will pay it on almost any all consumer goods. Assuming you are a visitor to the UK from a non-EU nation then Her Majesty will refund you with the appropriate paperwork
Is gold subject to inflation? [duplicate]
Gold isn't constant in value. If you look at the high price of $800 in January of 1980 and the low of $291 in 2001, you lost a lot of purchasing power, especially since money in 2001 was worth less than in 1980. People claim gold is a stable store of value but it isn't.
Digital money pots?
I guess it depends on your bank. My bank (Rabobank) recently did introduce this feature. You don't get a card per category, though. Instead you set up rules to match each expenditure to one of the existing pots.
How to become an investment banker?
Apply for a job/internship to get a first impression of what it means to work in investment banking. Go to a tier one business school and try to get an CFA. Most importantly: work, work, work... Get practical experience as much as possible.
What to do with a distribution as a young person?
I highly recommend passive investing through something like betterment (www.betterment.com) or vanguard's ETFs. FutureAdvisor.com can provide some good advice as to what funds to invest in. I'd recommend using that money to max out your Roth IRAs each year, too.
Why do some symbols not have an Options chain for specific expiration dates?
Short answer: Liquidity. Well, you have to see it from an exchange's point of view. Every contract they put up is a liability to them. You have to allocate resources for the order book, the matching engine, the clearing, etc. But only if the contract is actually trading they start earning (the big) money. Now for ev...
ESPP: Share vs Payroll withholding
Note that you're asking about withholding, not about taxing. Withholding doesn't mean this is exactly the tax you'll pay: it means they're withholding a certain amount to make sure you pay taxes on it, but the tax bill at the end of the year is the same regardless of how you choose to do the withholding. Your tax bil...
How can this be enough to fund a scholarship in perpetuity?
What's the value of the scholarship, and is it administered by itself or by the university? If by itself, the financial return discussed above drives. If by the university, they create the tuition, so it gets more interesting. If this is something that is administered and backstopped by the university, then keep in...
18 year old making $60k a year; how should I invest? Traditional or Roth IRA?
1) Usually, the choice between Traditional vs. Roth is whether you believe that your tax rate will be higher or lower in the future than it is now. Your income is probably in the 25% bracket now. It's hard to say whether that should be considered "high" or "low". Some people advocate Roth only for 15% bracket; but your...
How should I go about creating an estate plan?
Yes, an estate plan can be very important. Estate planning - typically attempts to eliminate uncertainties over the administration of a probate and maximize the value of the estate by reducing taxes and other expenses. Guardians are often designated for minor children and beneficiaries in incapacity. In general, your ...
What are the reasons to get more than one credit card?
Someone mentioned sign up bonuses but only mentioned dollar values. You might get points, sweet, sweet airline points :) which some might find compelling enough to churn cards so they always have a few open.
ESPP taxes after relocating from Europe to the United States?
If you haven't been a US resident (not citizen, different rules apply) at the time you sold the stock in Europe but it was inside the same tax year that you moved to the US, you might want to have a look at the "Dual Status" part in IRS publication 519.
Is there any downside to using temporary credit card numbers with subscription services?
I did just what you suggest. The card company honored the charge, they told me the temporary number was solely for the purpose of assigning a number to one vendor/business. So even though I set a low limit, the number was still active and the card company paid the request. Small price to pay, but it didn't go as I wish...
What is the best cross-platform GPL personal finance tool available?
There isn't one. I haven't been very happy with anything I've tried, commercial or open source. I've used Quicken for a while and been fairly happy with the user experience, but I hate the idea of their sunset policy (forced upgrades) and using proprietary format for the data files. Note that I wouldn't mind using prop...
Why is everyone saying how desperately we need to save money “in this economy”?
You ask a few different, though not unrelated, questions. Everywhere you turn today, you hear people talk about how much they need to save or how important it is to find a good deal on things "in this economy". They use phrases like "now more than ever" and "in these uncertain times". It seems to be a lot ...
Will a Barclaycard Visa help me in building up credit score?
Payment history is probably the most significant contributor to your credit score. Having a solid history of making, at least the minimum, payments on time will have a positive impact on your credit score. Whether or not this specific transaction means anything to that equation is up for debate. If you have no cred...
Can a company charge you for services never requested or received?
No. A company cannot bill you for services you did not request nor receive. If they could, imagine how many people would just randomly get bills in their mail. Ignore them. They don't have a contract or agreement with you and can't do anything other than make noise. If they get aggressive or don't stop requesting money...
What implications does having the highest household debt to disposable income ratio have on Australia?
I'd like to see a credible source for "the highest", but it's certainly fairly high. Household debt could be broadly categorized as debt for housing and debt for consumption. Housing prices seem very high compared to equivalent rental income. This is generating a great deal of debt. Keynes(?) said that "if something ...
Do US mutual funds and ETFs pay taxes on dividends?
Mutual funds don't pay taxes themselves, they distribute any dividends or capital gains to the shareholders. Thus, if you hold a mutual fund in a tax-advantaged account like a 401k or IRA then the distribution isn't a taxable event while in a regular taxable account you would have to pay taxes on the distributions. Fro...
If I were to get audited, what would I need?
While IANAL (tax or otherwise), I have always found that keeping original receipts is the only way to go. While anything can, at some level, be forged or faked, a photo is one more step removed from the original. A mere listing on a web site isn't much proof of anything. Keep your originals for a suggested seven years...
When does Ontario's HST come into effect?
It looks like the HST will be in effect in Ontario on July 1st, 2010. As to whether it will replace GST with HST for all services, it looks like some sectors may get special treatment: Ontario may exempt mutual funds from HST (National Post). But it doesn't look final yet. However, I would suggest that most service-...
Filing a corporation tax return online?
When in doubt, you should always seek the advice of a professional tax preparer or your accountant. (Many agents/accountants will gladly review your tax preparations to ensure you haven't missed something. That's quicker and cheaper than paying them to do it all.) Having said that... This Illinois resource has detailed...
Pros, cons, and taxation of Per Diem compensation?
Beware if injured on the job they will not add per diem to your wages meaning you make less and your wc benefits will be less !!
USA H1B Employee - Capital gains in India from selling selling stocks
the demat account that I have in India is not an NRI account. Since I was not sure how long I would be in the US, I never converted my account to NRI account. Is it required to convert my account to NRI account? Yes it is very much required by law. One should not buy or sell shares in the Resident account. One has to c...
Bi-weekly payment option
Biweekly pay for salaried employees is typically calculated as Annual-salary / 26. Twice a month pay for salaried employees is typically calculated as Annual-salary / 24. If you were getting paid twice a month and now are getting paid every other week, your paycheck will be roughly ( Twice-a-month-paycheck-amount * 24 ...
Where to find LEAPS option quotes (full chain)? CBOE & Yahoo! Finance not working
I'm familiar with and have traded U.S.-listed LEAPS and I've always used the CBOE quotes page you linked to. So, I too was surprised I couldn't find 3M (MMM) LEAPS quotes at that page, even after checking the "List all options, LEAPS, Credit Options & Weeklys if avail." radio button. Used to work! Fortunately, I was ...
How can I buy shares of oil? I'm told it's done through ETFs. How's that related to oil prices per barrel?
While we're not supposed to make direct recommendations, and I am in no way advising anything, USO an ETF that buys light sweet crude oil futures with the intention of mirroring the price movements of oil.
Is it preferable to move emergency savings/retirement into offset mortgage?
Assuming no constraints on how much you can move (or how frequently) into and out of your offset mortgage account, the question becomes one of what rate of return you expect from your long-term savings/emergency cash fund. The rate you are getting from the offset mortgage account is known; since it reduces the principa...
Can two companies own stock in each other?
Yes, this happens a lot. And in many cases companies don't even know this is happening. Collateralized Debt Obligations frequently contain pieces of the same financial products, where it is not obvious what the underlying asset is. It gets complicated to explain, but I can make an analogy to a portfolio of stocks you m...
Investment in mutual fund in India for long term goals
Buy only 'Direct' Plans, not regular. - Demat providers won't sell Direct plans, that you can do it through https://www.mfuindia.com Make sure expense ratio < 2.5% (With direct plans it will be much lesser) I hope these points will help you to take a better decision.
Offered a job: Should I go as consultant / independent contractor, or employee?
Your comment to James is telling and can help us lead you in the right direction: My work and lifestyle will be the same either way, as I said. This is all about how it goes "on the books."    [emphasis mine] As an independent consultant myself, when I hear something like "the work will be the same either way", I thi...
Considering investing in CHN as a dividend stock
CHN is a Closed-End Fund. CHN actually pays out three types of distributions: In the case of CHN, they appear to be paying yearly. The most recent dividend, with exdate of 18 Dec 2014, consisted of $3.4669 of Long-term capital gains and $0.2982 cash dividend. Prior to that, the dividend with exdate of 19 Dec 2013 cons...
When people say 'Interest rates are at all time low!" … Which interest rate are they actually referring to?
As Sean pointed out they usually mean LIBOR or the FFR (or for other countries the equivalent risk free rate of interest). I will just like to add on to what everyone has said here and will like to explain how various interest rates you mentioned work out when the risk free rate moves: For brevity, let's denote the ris...
Are credit cards not viewed as credit until you miss one payment?
Of course credit cards are viewed as credit. If you're using money on a credit card, you are not directly paying for your transactions on goods/services immediately: this is the act of borrowing credit to pay for them. Debit cards, on the other hand, work where the funds are taken from an account immediately (or subjec...
What is an effective way to invest in electric car industry?
At this time I would say that the electric car industry as a whole is too new to be able to invest in it as a sector. There are only a handful of companies that focus solely on electric cars to create a moderately diverse portfolio, let alone a mutual fund. You can invest in mutual funds that include EV stocks as par...
Sell or keep rental Property?
And he has to pay for it every home repair and every month the property sets empty. His loss each month is not $250, but probably closer to $500. In generally you need to clear at least $200 ABOVE PTI (principle, taxes and interest) to cover repair and the like to property. From your post, it sounds like your dad was...
Why would anyone want to pay off their debts in a way other than “highest interest” first?
There are non-financial costs to having a debt: you need to remember to make monthly payments, perhaps keep track of changing interest rates, be aware of conditions of the debt, archive the related paperwork. Life is simpler with fewer debts, and that has value. Of course, if the difference in interest rate is large, t...
Hiring a teenager as a household employee
Here is what I was able to find: Yes, but there are special instructions for minors: Working hours: New York State labor laws are slightly more strict than the federal: https://www.labor.state.ny.us/workerprotection/laborstandards/workprot/nyvsfed.shtm Minimum wage: The Dept of Labor's Youth & Labor page states: Occupa...
What factors make someone buy or sell a stock?
First, note that a share represents a % of ownership of a company. In addition to the right to vote in the management of the company [by voting on the board of directors, who hires the CEO, who hires the VPs, etc...], this gives you the right to all future value of the company after paying off expenses and debts. You w...
Is this reply promising a money order and cashier check a scam?
It's a scam. The cashier's check will be forged. Craigslist has a warning about it here (item #3). What kind of payment do you think is not fakable? Or at least not likely to be used in scams? When on craigslist - deal only locally and in person. You can ask to see the person's ID if you're being paid by check When b...
How to build a U.S. credit history as a worker on a visa?
Credit is important for many reasons. Establishing credit is an important step and should be no challenge for someone who already has good habits. The same lessons and advice that you would find for a student to establish credit would be applicable to your case as well. Factors that influence credit score, Since you a...
Pay for a cheap car or take out a loan?
The stupid question nobody asked: how mechanically inclined are you? I buy used cars, but then again I can work on them (I am building a new engine to my specs for one of my cars). Replacing a head gasket in a Subaru would be less than $200 for me, so I would find someone who blew his and offer $1000-1500 for the car i...
Does a bond etf drop by the amount of the dividend just like an equity etf
No, they do not. Stock funds and bonds funds collect income dividends in different ways. Stock funds collect dividends (as well as any capital gains that are realized) from the underlying stocks and incorporates these into the funds’ net asset value, or daily share price. That’s why a stock fund’s share price...
Do I have to pay tax on money I earn as a tutor?
There is a moral and legal obligation to file the earnings. Not doing so is tax fraud. You should keep a ledger or some record of your earnings, helpful guidelines here. Records are required by the CRA: According to the law, your responsibilities include: (source) You could get in trouble if one of your pupils report t...
What intrinsic, non-monetary value does gold have as a commodity?
This site shows a list of (mostly) industrial uses of gold: http://geology.com/minerals/gold/uses-of-gold.shtml If you ignore the first two uses, jewelry and coinage, there remains aerospace, computers, electronics, dentistry and medicine. It's worth noting that gold comes in the same chemical family as both copper an...
Calculating Future Value: Initial deposit and recurring deposits of a fixed but different Value
If I is the initial deposit, P the periodic deposit, r the rent per period, n the number of periods, and F the final value, than we can combine two formulas into one to get the following answer: F = I*(1+r)n + P*[(1+r)n-1]/r In this case, you get V = 1000*(1.05)20 + 100*[(1.05)20-1]/0.05 = 5959.89 USD. Note that the ac...
Why do grocery stores in the U.S. offer cash back so eagerly?
Cash back from credit cards is handled separately than the rest of the purchase, i.e. interest begins accumulating on that day, and likely at a higher rate, and usually comes out of a lower limit than the credit allotted to that card. Given all these differences, and the obvious revenue-generation situation for the len...
Credit History and Outstanding Debts in Hungary
It appears all you have to do is submit a form. It might be better if she submitted it herself instead of you doing it on her behalf. All natural persons (individuals) and non-natural persons (businesses) are entitled to access and inspect the data held on record about them in the Central Credit Information System...
What happens when there are no Limit Orders?
The obvious thing would happen. 10 shares change owner at the price of $100. A partially still open selling order would remain. Market orders without limits means to buy or sell at the best possible or current price. However, this is not very realistic. Usually there is a spread between the bid and the ask price and th...
Do Americans really use checks that often?
Sorry for this late reply. I currently live in Iceland (I am a United Statesian). People here told me they thought checks were just something that were in movies. I was amazed by this. So here are some reasons that I see to being why it works still in the usa. 1. Social Security system. Most Euro, Nordic countries hav...
Are there guidelines for whom you should trust for financial advice (online, peer, experts, only myself, etc)
You need to understand how various entities make their money. Once you know that, you can determine whether their interests are aligned with yours. For example, a full-service broker makes money when you buy and sell stocks. They therefore have in interest in you doing lots of buying, and selling, not in making you mon...
Is there a significant danger to market orders as opposed to limit orders?
The Key aspect is the risk of market orders; You should be worried about point 2 & 3 when you are doing market orders.
Where do countries / national governments borrow money from?
Sovereign states borrow money explicitly in a two primary ways: A sovereign cannot be compelled to repay debt, and there isn't a judicial process like bankruptcy to erase debt. When sovereigns default, they negotiate new terms with creditors and pay back some fraction of the actual debt owed. They can also print money...
Free/open source Unix software that pulls info from all my banks/brokers/credit cards?
As far as I can tell there are no "out-of-the-box" solutions for this. Nor will Moneydance or GnuCash give you the full solution you are looking for. I imaging people don't write a well-known, open-source, tool that will do this for fear of the negative uses it could have, and the resulting liability. You can roll-y...
Was on debt..can I now enter UK on visitor visa
Whether or not you'll be allowed to enter the UK is a topic for a different forum (and really more a topic for a lawyer rather than strangers on the internet). That being said, as a non-lawyer giving my opinion of the situation, you should be granted access to the UK as the banks/money lenders/phone companies don't hav...
What is the best way to stay risk neutral when buying a house with a mortgage?
You can hedge your house price from losing value if you believe that the housing market is correlated with major stock indices. Speak with a commodities broker because they will be able to help you buy puts on stock indices which if correlated with housing prices will offer somewhat of a hedge. Example. House prices dr...
How do top investors pull out 20% ROI?
First of all, the annual returns are an average, there are probably some years where their return was several thousand percent, this can make a decade of 2% a year become an average of 20% . Second of all, accredited investors are allowed to do many things that the majority of the population cannot do. Although this i...
In a competitive market, why is movie theater popcorn expensive?
I'm kind of shocked that no formal behavioral modeling has been proposed as an explanation yet. One such model would be steep (hyperbolic, quasi-hyperbolic) discounting. Consumers would rather pay for popcorn later than for an expensive movie ticket now. For instance, consumers might when purchasing the ticket see a ...
Should I wait to save up 20% downpayment on a 500k condo?
The simple answer is yes - put 20% (or more) down. In the past I have paid PMI and used a combination first and second mortgage to get around it. I recommend avoiding both of those situations. I am much more comfortable now with just a regular mortgage payment. The more equity you have in your home the more options you...
What would I miss out on by self insuring my car?
As others have pointed out, it's all about a fixed, small cost versus the potential of a large cost. If you have insurance, you know you will pay a fixed amount per month. There is a 100% probability that you will have to pay this premium. If you don't have insurance, there is a large chance that you will have no cost ...
Recording of personal property contribution to S-Corp in QuickBooks
One approach would be to create Journal Entries that debit asset accounts that are associated with these items and credit an Open Balance Equity account. The value of these contributions would have to be worked out with an accountant, as it depends on the lesser of the adjusted basis vs. the fair market value, as you t...
Do Americans really use checks that often?
I know this an old thread, but one that caught my interest as I just moved to the USA from Australia. As per the OP I had never written a check in my whole life, and upon arriving in the US I was surprised as to their proliference. In Australia pretty much all bills you receive can be paid in a number of ways: For sma...
Why do people use mortgages, when they could just pay for the house in full?
Condensed to the essence: if you can reliably get more income from investing the cost of the house than the mortgage is costing you, this is the safest leveraged investment you'll ever make. There's some risk, of course, but there is risk in any financial decision. Taking the mortgage also leaves you with far greater f...
Are credit histories/scores international?
Credit history is local, so when you move to the US you start with the blank slate. Credit history length is a huge factor, so in the first year expect that nobody would trust you and you may be refused credit or asked for deposits. I was asked for deposits at cell phone company and refused for store cards couple of ti...
Are quarterly earnings released first via a press release on the investor website, via conference call, or does it vary by company?
Companies typically release their earnings before the market opens, and then later host an analyst/investor conference call to discuss the results. Here's a link to an interesting article abstract on the subject: Disclosure Rules For Earnings Releases And Calls | Bowne Digest. Excerpt: In the aftermath of the Sarba...
Is it possible to make money by getting a mortgage?
Sounds like a poorly written piece at best... The way you make money with a mortgage, if you're careful and/or lucky and/or patient, is to use that loan to make leveraged investments. If the return on the investments is higher than the interest on the loan, you win. Of course if the investments don't do well you can lo...
What should I do with $4,000 cash and High Interest Debt?
I see some merit in the other answers, which are all based on the snowball method. However, I would like to present an alternative approach which would be the optimal way in case you have perfect self-control. (Given your amount of debt, most likely you currently do not have perfect self-control, but we will come to th...
Does doing your “research”/“homework” on stocks make any sense?
TL;DR: Sure, "do your own homework" is sometimes a cop out. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't do our homework. I agree that in many cases this is a cop-out by commentators. However, even if you believe in perfect market efficiency, there is benefit in "doing your homework" for many reasons. One of which you already me...
How do small cap stocks perform vs. large cap stocks (like Dow constituents) during bear trends?
To a certain extent, small cap companies will in general follow the same trends as large cap companies. The extent of this cointegration depends on numerous factors, but a prime reason is the presence of systemic risk, i.e. the risk to the entire market. In simple terms, sthis is the risk that your portfolio will appro...
How to manage paying expenses when moving to a weekly pay schedule and with a pay increase?
This is really just a matter of planning. It's good that you don't want the train to go off the rails but really you just need to budget your fixed expenses. I do this by having two checking accounts. One account gets a direct deposit to cover all of my fixed expenses, the other is my regular checking account. Tak...
What is best investment which is full recession proof?
Can anyone suggest all type of investments in India which are recession proof? There are no such investments. Quite a few think bullions like Gold tend to go up during recession, which is true to an extent; however there are enough articles that show it is not necessarily true. There are no fool proof investments. The ...
Are long-term bonds risky assets?
Bonds have multiple points of risk: This is part of the time value of money chapter in any finance course. Disclaimer - Duff's answer popped up as I was still doing the bond calculations. Similar to mine but less nerdy.