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Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | How do I get a Tax Exemption Certificate for export from the US if I am in another country? | How do you know you are playing their cost plus tax? Retailers in the US currently only collect state sales tax on purchasers who are based in the same state they are in. For example, our business is in NY so we charge NY state sales tax. We do not charge sales tax for anyone living in any other state (or country).... |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | How do I get a Tax Exemption Certificate for export from the US if I am in another country? | Depends on the state, in Texas you should charge sales tax because the shipment is going to a freight forwarder in Texas. That being said, once you have the bill of lading you can have your tax credited by the vendor. It is one of the documents the state will except in lieu of sales tax for exports. There are five. ... |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | Free/open source Unix software that pulls info from all my banks/brokers/credit cards? | Gnucash uses aqbanking, so I'd suggest looking at aqbanking to see if it will do what you want. It seems to be actively developed (as of 26.2.2011), but the main page is in German and my German is a bit rusty... You might also try asking on the gnucash-users list. |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | 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... |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | Free/open source Unix software that pulls info from all my banks/brokers/credit cards? | Moneydance is a commercial application that is cross-platform. Written in Java, they run and are supported on Windows, Mac and Linux. They integrate with many financial institutions and for those that it cannot, you can import a locally downloaded file. I have used it for several years on my Mac, but have no company af... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | Free/open source Unix software that pulls info from all my banks/brokers/credit cards? | Buxfer is a personal-finance web app which you might like. It's not open-source. But at least none of your complaints about financeworks.intuit.com apply to Buxfer. Buxfer offers a piece of software you can download to your own PC, called Firebux. This macro-recording software provides automation that helps you down... |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | Creating S-Corp: Should I Name My Wife as a Director/Shareholder? | If you're creating an S-Corp for consulting services that you personally are going to provide, what would it give her to have 50% of the corporation when you're dead? Not to mention that you can just add it to your will that the corporation stock will go to her, and it will be much better (IMHO, talk to a professional)... |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | Creating S-Corp: Should I Name My Wife as a Director/Shareholder? | There are many aspects to consider in deciding what sort of company you want to form. Instead of an S-corporation, you should determine whether it would be better to form a Limited Liability Company (LLC), Limited Partnership (LP) or even a professional company (PC). Littleadv is correct: There is minimal benefit in fo... |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | Why do credit cards require a minimum annual household income? | Here's one reason that's being overlooked in answers so far. (@ChrisInEdmonton, this is for your comment on @Chad's answer.) How do credit card companies make money? Sure, there's interest charges, but those are offset significantly by the cost of borrowing money, and by people defaulting on their debt / entering bankr... |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | Why do credit cards require a minimum annual household income? | While you're asking about a particular bank, I'll give my opinion of this in general. I think a $12,000 household income is pretty low to be given credit. The risk to the bank is certainly higher than if the income were at that $35,000 level. They can use this to differentiate what they offer for perks, and if they ev... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | Why do credit cards require a minimum annual household income? | I don't know, but I can guess. You'll notice the Elite card has higher rewards. A card might want to convince merchants that they represent high end buyers, and use that to negotiate higher merchant discounts. Issuing bank: "Our 10 million card holders are sophisticated and have lots of discretionary income. If you don... |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | Why do credit cards require a minimum annual household income? | It is much simpler than any of that. People who make money have a greater capacity to pay their bills. Credit card companies make money off of people who can afford to pay several hundred dollars a month in interest charges. If you only make 500 a month you can not afford to pay 200 in interest. So their cost of do... |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | Why is the total 401(k) contribution limit (employee + employer) so high? | Because 401k's are also used by self employed. A person who has a schedule C profitable income can open a 401k and "match" in whatever ratio he wants, up to 25% of the net profits or the limits you stated. This allows self-employed to defer more income taxes to the future. Why only self-employed? Good question. Ask you... |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | Why is the total 401(k) contribution limit (employee + employer) so high? | Some 401k plans allow you to make "supplemental post-tax contributions". basically, once you hit the pre-tax contribution limit (17.5k$ in 2014), you are then allowed to contribute funds on a post-tax basis. Because of this timing, they are sometimes called "spillover" contributions. Usually, this option is advertised ... |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | How does revenue shared with someone else go into my tax return in Canada? | Generally, report your $150,000. If/when the the tax collectors notice the anomaly, they'll attempt to contact you to remedy it. I can't speak for Canada, but in the US, it's pretty orderly. The IRS requests additional information or proof and only open it up into a full blown audit if the suspect wrongdoing. In your c... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | Should I take contributions out of my Roth IRA to live off of? | Take another job. From a personal finance perspective this is the wrong reason to dip into a retirement account. You will lose so much ground towards actually retiring. Sure you won't be taxed, but you will be missing so much opportunity where that money won't be working for your retirement. The off-topic answer to ... |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | Should I take contributions out of my Roth IRA to live off of? | That's up to you, but I wouldn't play around with my retirement money if I was in your situation. Your earning potential during your retirement years will likely be at its nadir. Do you really want to risk being forced to be a Wal-Mart greeter when you are 80? Also, considering your earning potential now is probably at... |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | Which banks have cash-deposit machines in Germany? | HypoVereinsbank (member of UniCredit group), a few savings banks ("Sparkasse") and VR Banks offer cash (bill) deposit machines. However, it can take a few business days until the deposit is credited to your checking account, which has to be with the same bank. Google for "Bargeldeinzahlungsautomat" (=cash deposit mach... |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | Which banks have cash-deposit machines in Germany? | This may not answer your question but it may be an alternative. My credit union credits my account for deposits immediately (ones I make in an envelope). They view it as a service to their members. They take the risk that the member could deposit an empty envelope, say they deposited $400, and then withdraw the money... |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | Which banks have cash-deposit machines in Germany? | I know that many HSBC ATMs at branches in the US and Canada offer this service (they actually scan and shred checks as you deposit them). Perhaps they do same in Germany... but not all ATMs offer this feature. |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | Which banks have cash-deposit machines in Germany? | In my experience Sparkasse or VR Bank have them quite often. They stick out in my mind because when you make a withdrawal you have to reach in to get your money instead of it spitting it out. I'm always afraid its going to chop my hand off. |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | Withdraw USD from PayPal without conversion to my home currency of EUR? | I just tried doing that on my PP which is in the Netherlands, I have added a USD bank account (from my dutch bank) and they sent the verification amount in Euros, I called the bank and wonder why they didn't let me choose account currency they said it's not possible and if I cashout Dollars that I have in my PP (cause ... |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | Withdraw USD from PayPal without conversion to my home currency of EUR? | Look for EU banks that have US branches. Open an account there and look for the SWIFT code of your bank in US. Withdraw money using SWIFT US code. |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | How can I determine which stores are regarded as supermarkets for a rewards credit card? | Credit card companies organize types of businesses into different categories. (They charge different types of businesses different fees.) When a business first sets up their credit card processing merchant account, they need to specify the category. Here is a list of categories that Visa uses. Grocery stores and super... |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | How can I determine which stores are regarded as supermarkets for a rewards credit card? | Each company that has an account with the credit card network has to classify themselves as a particular type of business. The credit card company uses that classification to catagorize the transaction on your statement. If you buy a T-shirt at a grocery, amusement park, gas station, or resturant; the transaction will... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | How can I determine which stores are regarded as supermarkets for a rewards credit card? | Looks like a user-contributed list is the only good solution to this question, so I'll start one by making this answer community wiki, meaning anyone can edit it. We only aim to add major chain, not every mom&pop store (which probably don't qualify). The rewards details page looks like this: The lists are in alphabeti... |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | How can I determine which stores are regarded as supermarkets for a rewards credit card? | Contact AmEx. They are the only ones who might have a current list. |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | When should I walk away from my mortgage? | The value of debt is that it allows you to profit from the return of equity beyond the amount of actual net equity you own. Of course, this only works if the cost of borrowing is less than your return on equity. Market timing matters a great deal but isn't accounted for in this view. For my answer I would like to ha... |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | When should I walk away from my mortgage? | I'm in a similar situation, but I live in a state that doesn't allow mortgagees to "walk away" without recourse. I would consider a short sale or otherwise abandoning the property if: At the end of the day, real estate is an investment, and you don't realize gains or losses until you close the position. The "ra, ra" cr... |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | When should I walk away from my mortgage? | How much is rent in your area? You should compare a rental payment versus your mortgage payment now, bearing in mind the opportunity cost of the difference. Let's say that a rental unit in your area that has the same safety & convenience as your house costs $1600 per month to rent, and your mortgage is $2400. By stayin... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | When should I walk away from my mortgage? | Interestingly enough, "strategic default" seems to be more common than one might think in California and there is actually a lot of information available on it, to include a calculator that breaks down the numbers for you (although affiliated with a law office). Speaking from a purely financial standpoint, walking away... |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | When should I walk away from my mortgage? | It's a decision that only you can make. What are the chances that you'll want to take another loan (any loan - car, credit card, installment plan for new fridge, whatever else)? What are the chances that with the bad credit you'll find it hard to rent a place (and in Cali it's hard to rent a place right now, believe me... |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | When should I walk away from my mortgage? | Dan - there are other choices. What rate do you have on this mortgage? And what is the value of the home? With a bit of patience and effort, you may be able to lower your rate and save some portion of that $100k you think you can grab. There is no factual answer here. The negative will show for 7 years, and only you c... |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | When should I walk away from my mortgage? | To put a different spin on it, suppose you loaned someone $100K, expecting that they would pay it back, and then a little later they decided not too. They are perfectly capable of paying back the money, but just decided they didn't want to, and it seems the laws of your state said you couldn't make them. How would you ... |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | When should I walk away from my mortgage? | This is a very personal situation of course, but if you can afford the repayments then I recommend keeping the house!. A house is a long term investment and one has to live somewhere. You probably didn't buy the house planning to sell it in 5 years so while in the short term you could suffer a loss on paper chances are... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | When should I walk away from my mortgage? | Very few people's credit is worth $100,000. The average homeowner's credit (family of four with good to very good credit) is worth about $30,000. This is a pure business decision. The bank knew the law when they extended the mortgage to you, and part of the amount they're charging you goes to cover the risk that you mi... |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | When should I walk away from my mortgage? | The worth of a credit score (CS) is variable. If you buy your stuff outright with 100% down then your CS is worthless. If you take a loan to buy stuff then it is worth exactly what you save in interest versus a poor score. But there is also the "access" benefit of CS where loans will no longer be available to you, for... |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | When should I walk away from my mortgage? | Many good answers here, especially that you have to consider that renting may be more expensive than you'd think. Also, keep in mind that rent is money that is completely lost. Even if the property has dropped in value, if you keep paying, you will be able to recuperate part of your mortgage payments when you sell the ... |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | Multi-Account Budgeting Tools/Accounts/Services | IngDirect has this concept of sub accounts inside a main account - that might be perfect for what you are looking for. To clarify, you basically have one physical account with logical sub account groupings. |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | Multi-Account Budgeting Tools/Accounts/Services | I sort of do this with credit cards. I actually have 4 AMEX cards that I've accumulated over the years. Certain types of expenses go on each card ("General expenses", recurring bills, car-related and business-related) I use AMEX because they have pretty rich iPhone/Android applications to access your accounts and a ric... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | Multi-Account Budgeting Tools/Accounts/Services | Have you looked at mint? Their budgeting feature can track spending against your budget categories across your checking and credit card accounts. Not the same as the envelope system -- so if you need the built-in limitation that this provides, it may not work for you. But it is a low-effort, automatic system that does ... |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | Multi-Account Budgeting Tools/Accounts/Services | I know of websites that do this, but I don't know of banks that do. Is there any reason you want to do this at a bank rather than use a service? My main concern with using a bank for this would be the risk of overdraft fees |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | Adding a 180 day expiration to checks | While you can print that on the check, it isn't considered legally binding. If you are concerned about a check not being deposited in a timely manner, consider purchasing a cashier's check instead. This doesn't solve the problem per se, but it transfers responsibility of tracking that check from you to the bank. |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | Adding a 180 day expiration to checks | Your bank has discretion to honor checks after 6 months, so you should talk to your bank about their specific policy. In general, banks won't accept "large" stale checks. The meaning of "large" varies -- $25,000 in NYC, as little as $2k in other places. Banks that service high-volume check issuers (like rebate companie... |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | Consumer Loans vs Mortgages | I went here: Consumer Loan Law. It seems that a consumer loan is anything other than a business loan or mortgage. However, in California it seems to include a mortgage. It's a bit weird to see that a HEL can be considered a consumer loan even if it is the primary or the only loan on a property. Getting a HEL can be a... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | Consumer Loans vs Mortgages | Here's a good definition of a consumer loan: What is a Consumer Loan? As@Pete B. pointed out, there are some states (California loves to be the oddball, doesn't it?) that treat some loans in a more unconventional manner, but the gist of it is that a consumer loan is normally unsecured, meaning there's no collateral or ... |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | One company asks for picture of my debit card | Although it is strange, there is little risk. The first four numbers are just the card type (Visa, Master, etc.), and the last four alone don't give them much - there are still 8 digits missing that they do not have. There is nothing much they can do with that info, especially without the PIN and the CCV, so as I said,... |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | One company asks for picture of my debit card | Sounds questionable to me. If there is no way around this I would suggest opening a new account with only the minimum balance necessary and sending them the debit card associated with that account. If anything goes wrong then the amount of damage they can do will be limited. I would definitely be looking for other opti... |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | One company asks for picture of my debit card | I don't see a way that this would make matters worse than just giving them the credit card info... Except that it would make abusing the card easier at some other site (or the bank) if they have a similar (unreasonably weak) security-by-photo test. Still, I'd strongly recommend you use a separate card for this so you c... |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | One company asks for picture of my debit card | Believe it or not, what they're asking you is not as unusual as you might think. Our company sells a tremendous amount of expensive merchandise over the Internet, and whenever there's something odd or suspicious about the transaction, we may ask the customer to provide a picture of the card simply to prove they have p... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | How can I save money on a gym / fitness membership? New Year's Resolution is to get in shape - but on the cheap! | Shop around for Gym January is a great time to look because that's when most people join and the gyms are competing for your business. Also, look beyond the monthly dues. Many gyms will give free personal training sessions when you sign up - a necessity if you are serious about getting in shape! My gym offered a one ... |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | How can I save money on a gym / fitness membership? New Year's Resolution is to get in shape - but on the cheap! | If you're determined to save money, find ways to integrate exercise into your daily routine and don't join a gym at all. This makes it more likely you'll keep it up if it is a natural part of your day. You could set aside half the money you would spend on the gym towards some of the options below. I know it's not alway... |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | How can I save money on a gym / fitness membership? New Year's Resolution is to get in shape - but on the cheap! | Try a gym for a month before you sign up on any contracts. This will also give you time to figure out if you are the type who can stick with a schedule to workout on regular basis. Community centres are cost effective and offer pretty good facilities. They have monthly plans as well so no long term committments. |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | How can I save money on a gym / fitness membership? New Year's Resolution is to get in shape - but on the cheap! | Find a physical activity or programme that interests you. Memberships only have real value if you use them. Consider learning a martial art like karate, aikido, kung fu, tai kwan do, judo, tai chi chuan. :-) Even yoga is a good form of exercise. Many of these are offered at local community centres if you just want ... |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | How can I save money on a gym / fitness membership? New Year's Resolution is to get in shape - but on the cheap! | The gym I used to use was around £35-40 a month, its quite a big whack but if you think about it; its pretty good value for money. That includes gym use, swimming pool use, and most classes Paying for a gym session is around £6 a go, so if you do that 3 times a week, then make use of the other facilities like swimming ... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | How can I save money on a gym / fitness membership? New Year's Resolution is to get in shape - but on the cheap! | Look for discounts from a health insurance provider, price club, professional memberships or credit cards. That goes for a lot of things besides health memberships. My wife is in a professional woman's association for networking at work. A side benefit is an affiliate network they offer for discounts of lots of thing... |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | How can I save money on a gym / fitness membership? New Year's Resolution is to get in shape - but on the cheap! | I came across an article posted at Squawkfox last week. It's particularly relevant to answering this question. See 10 Ways to Cut Your Fitness Membership Costs. Here's an excerpt: [...] If you’re in the market for a shiny new gym membership, it may be wise to read the fine print and know your rights before a... |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | Emptying a Roth IRA account | If you have multiple accounts, you have to empty them all before you can deduct any losses. Your loss is not a capital loss, its a deduction. It is calculated based on the total amount you have withdrawn from all your Roth IRA's, minus the total basis. It will be subject to the 2% AGI treshhold (i.e.: if your AGI is > ... |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | Emptying a Roth IRA account | nan |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | How does stock dilution work in relation to share volume? | Here is an example for you. We have a fictional company. It's called MoneyCorp. Its job is to own money, and that's all. Right now it owns $10,000. It doesn't do anything special with that $10,000 - it stores it in a bank account, and whenever it earns interest gives it to the shareholders as a dividend. Also, it doesn... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | How does stock dilution work in relation to share volume? | The reason a company creates more stock is to generate more capital so that this can be utilized and more returns can be generated. It is commonly done as a follow on public offer. Typically the funds are used to retire high cost debts and fund future expansion. What stops the company from doing it? Are Small investo... |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | How does stock dilution work in relation to share volume? | Let me answer with an extreme example - I own the one single share of a company, and it's worth $1M. I issue 9 more shares, and find 9 people willing to pay $1M for each share. I know find my ownership dropped by 90%, and I am now a 10% owner of a business that was valued at $1M but with an additional $9M in the bank f... |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | US citizen sometimes residing in spain, wanting to offer consulting services in Europe, TAXES? | With something this complicated you are going to want to consult professionals. Either a professional with international experience, who will tell you the best tax arrangement overall but might come expensive, or one professional in each country who will optimize for that country. You will have to pay US taxes, and dep... |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | How to evaluate stocks? e.g. Whether some stock is cheap or expensive? | If you are looking for numerical metrics I think the following are popular: Price/Earnings (P/E) - You mentioned this very popular one in your question. There are different P/E ratios - forward (essentially an estimate of future earnings by management), trailing, etc.. I think of the P/E as a quick way to grade a com... |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | How to evaluate stocks? e.g. Whether some stock is cheap or expensive? | Its like anything else, you need to study and learn more about investing in general and the stocks you are looking at buying or selling. Magazines are a good start -- also check out the books recommended in another question. If you're looking at buying a stock for the mid/long term, look at things like this: Selling is... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | How to evaluate stocks? e.g. Whether some stock is cheap or expensive? | nan |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | How to evaluate stocks? e.g. Whether some stock is cheap or expensive? | duffbeer's answers are reasonable for the specific question asked, but it seems to me the questioner is really wanting to know what stocks should I buy, by asking "do you simply listen to 'experts' and hope they are right?" Basic fundamental analysis techniques like picking stocks with a low PE or high dividend yield a... |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | How to evaluate stocks? e.g. Whether some stock is cheap or expensive? | I look at the following ratios and how these ratios developed over time, for instance how did valuation come down in a recession, what was the trough multiple during the Lehman crisis in 2008, how did a recession or good economy affect profitability of the company. Valuation metrics: Enterprise value / EBIT (EBIT = ope... |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | Which US services allow small/micro-payments using a credit card? | I don't know of any and it is unlikely that you will be able to find one. Most credit card processors charge a flat fee plus percentage. The flat fee is typically in the 35 cent range making the cost of doing business, in the manner you are suggesting, astronomical. Also what you are suggesting is contrary to best ... |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | Buying a home with down payment from family as a “loan” | Say you're buying a 400K house. Your relative finances 120K (30%). Say I'm optimistic, but the real-estate market recovers, and your house is worth 600K in 5-6 years (can happen, with the inflation and all). The gain is 200K. Your relative gets 100K. You repay him 220K on 120K loan for 5 years. Roughly, 16% APR. Quite ... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | Buying a home with down payment from family as a “loan” | I would recommend against loans from family members. But if you decide to go down that path take care of the basics: This is a business decision so treat it like one. I would add that the situation you describe sounds extremely generous to your family member. I'd look at standard loan agreements (ie. in the marketplace... |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | Buying a home with down payment from family as a “loan” | Keep in mind that lenders will consider the terms of any loans you have when determining your ability to pay back the mortgage. They'll want to see paperwork, or if you claim it is a gift they will require a letter to that effect from your relative. Obviously, this could effect your ability to qualify for a loan. |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | Buying a home with down payment from family as a “loan” | In effect, you are paying for 70% of the house but he gets half the gain. On the flip side, you're living there, so that probably makes up this difference. It will be toughest if the house jumps in value, to the point you might be forced to sell. You might want to think about that a bit. |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | Buying a home with down payment from family as a “loan” | Lenders pay attention to where your down payment money comes from. If they see a large transfer of money into your bank account within about a year before your purchase, this WILL cause an issue for you. Down payments are not just there to make the principal smaller; they are primarily used as an underwriting data-poin... |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | Buying a home with down payment from family as a “loan” | I'll compare it to a situation that is different, but will involve the same cash flow. Imagine the buyer agrees that you buy only 70% of the house right now, and the remaining 30% in 7 years time. It would be obviously fair to pay 70% of today's value today, pay 30% of a reasonable rent for 7 years (because 30% of th... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | How does refinancing work? | A re-financing, or re-fi, is when a debtor takes out a new loan for the express purpose of paying off an old one. This can be done for several reasons; usually the primary reason is that the terms of the new loan will result in a lower monthly payment. Debt consolidation (taking out one big loan at a relatively low int... |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | How does refinancing work? | You owe $20,000 to a loanshark, 1% per week interest. I'm happy to get 1% per month, and trust you to pay it back, so I lend you the $20,000. The first lender got his money, and now you are paying less interest as you pay the loan back. This is how a refi works, only the first bank won't try to break the legs of the ... |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | How does refinancing work? | Since there was no sale, where does the money actually come from? From the refinancing bank. It's a new loan. How does a bank profit from this, i.e. why would they willingly help someone lower their mortgage payments? Because they sell a new loan. Big banks usually sell the mortgage loans to the institutional investors... |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | Why don't some places require a credit card receipt signature, and some do? | This is basically done to reduce costs and overhead, with agreement of the credit card issuers. When the card is physically present and the charge is low, the burden of keeping the signed receipts and of additional delays at the cash register is not worth the potential risk of fraud. Depending on the location and the s... |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | Why don't some places require a credit card receipt signature, and some do? | My understanding it that the signature requirement is at the retailer's discretion. If the merchant decides to require a signature it protects them against fraudulent charge-back claims, but increases their administrative costs. In some situations it just isn't practical for a retailer to require a signature. Consider ... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | Why don't some places require a credit card receipt signature, and some do? | Merchants apply in advance for the program, and the amount is limited to less than $25. |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | What ETF best tracks the price of gasoline, or else crude oil? | There is no ETF that closely tracks oil or gasoline. This is because all existing oil and gasoline ETFs hold futures contracts or other derivatives. Storing the oil and gasoline would be prohibitively costly. Futures contracts are prone to contango and backwardation, sometimes resulting in large deviations from the pri... |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | What ETF best tracks the price of gasoline, or else crude oil? | Do not buy any commodity tracking ETF without reading and understanding the prospectus. Some of these things get exposure to the underlying commodity via swaps or other hocus-pocus derivatives, so you're really buying credit obligations from some bank. Others are futures based, and you need to understand your potential... |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | What ETF best tracks the price of gasoline, or else crude oil? | UNG United States Natural Gas Fund Natural Gas USO United States Oil Fund West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil UGA United States Gasoline Fund Gasoline DBO PowerShares DB Oil Fund West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil UHN United States Heating Oil Fund Heating Oil I believe these are as close as you'... |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | Any extra fees charged by passive stock and bond ETFs on top of the standard fees? | Brokers will have transaction fees in addition to the find management fees, but they should be very transparent. Brokering is a very competitive business. Any broker that added hidden fees to their transactions would lose customers very quickly to other brokers than can offer the same services. Hedge funds are a very ... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | Should the bank cover money lost due to an unsuccessful transfer? | Since the transaction was not your bank's mistake (but a decision by the Indian government) why should your bank bear the cost of the unsuccessful transaction? Your bank charged a fee for a service that you were willing to pay for. You might be able to negotiate a full or partial refund, and I have done the same with m... |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | What's the fuss about Credit Score / History? | Simply staying out of debt is not a good way of getting a good credit score. My aged aunt has never had a credit card, loan or mortgage, has always paid cash or cheque for everything, never failed to pay her utility bills on time. Her credit score is lousy because she has never had any debts to pay off so there is no... |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | What's the fuss about Credit Score / History? | Since we seem to be discussing credit score and credit history interchangeably, if I can add credit report as the third part of the puzzle, I have another point. Your credit score and credit report can be effective tools to notice identity theft or fraud in your name. Keeping track of your report will allow you to no... |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | What's the fuss about Credit Score / History? | Your credit score, for better or worse, is increasingly about more than just getting loans. For example insurance companies can use it to some extent to determine your rates,. |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | What's the fuss about Credit Score / History? | If human beings were Homo Economicus, i.e. textbook rational and self-interested economic-minded beings, as opposed to simply human, then yes, simple advice like "just stay out of debt and your credit score will take care of itself" could work. Your simplification would be very persuasive to such a being. However, peo... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | What's the fuss about Credit Score / History? | I justed rented a new house, and they ran my credit to see if I am a reliable person. |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | What's the fuss about Credit Score / History? | Credit Unions have long advocated their services based on the fact that they consider your "character." Unfortunately, they are then at a loss to explain how they determine the value of your character, other than to say that you're buddies & play pool together so they'll give you a loan. Your Credit History / Score is... |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | What's the fuss about Credit Score / History? | Use credit and pay your bills on time. That's really about it. If you do that, you don't need to think about credit score. It's really a big distraction that is dwelled on too much. |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | Can I use FOREX markets to exchange cash? | Because the standard contract is for 125,000 euros. http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/fx/g10/euro-fx_contractSpecs_futures.html You don't want to use Microsoft as an analogy. You want to use non financial commodities. Most are settled in cash, no delivery. But in the early 80's, the Hunt brothers caused a spectacular sh... |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | Can I use FOREX markets to exchange cash? | As far as I understand, OP seems to be literally asking: "why, regarding the various contracts on various exchanges (CBE, etc), is it that in some cases they are 'cash settled' and in some 'physically settled' -?" The answer is only that "the exchange in question happens to offer it that way." Note that it's utterly co... |
Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited. | How to graph the market year over year? for example Dow Jones Index | The graphing tools within Yahoo offer a decent level of adjustment. You can easily choose start and end years, and 2 or more symbols to compare. I caution you. From Jan 1980 through Dec 2011, the S&P would have grown $1 to $29.02, (See Moneychimp) but, the index went up from 107.94 to 1257.60, growing a dollar to only... |
Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering | How to graph the market year over year? for example Dow Jones Index | Instead of using the actual index, use a mutual fund as a proxy for the index. Mutual funds will include dividend income, and usually report data on the value of a "hypothetical $10,000 investment" over the life of the fund. If you take those dollar values and normalize them, you should get what you want. There are so ... |
Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open. | I'm only spending roughly half of what I earn; should I spend more? | If you are happy, really honestly happy, there is no need to change because you read it somewhere. While I believe that budgeting in some fun is smart so you don't go crazy, I am really speaking for myself. I personally have to work at not spending more than I make, so I need to blow off some steam. I also think that ... |
Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input. | I'm only spending roughly half of what I earn; should I spend more? | Goodness, I wish I could put away half my paycheck. Not to rain on your parade, but a 6-month emergency fund is not quite "very good." It is the typical starting time frame. Personally, I would feel more comfortable with a 2+ year fund. That is a bit extreme, but only because many of us can barely seem to make it ar... |
Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background. | I'm only spending roughly half of what I earn; should I spend more? | Heck no, don't spend more! I saved a ton of money when I got my first real job. You won't always be able to do this. Save a bundle while you can. |
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