The article briefly mentioned Martin Shkreli and Daraprim, which is an excellent extreme example of the underlying flaws in the American medical market. Hide the true costs of various necessary medications behind multiple walls of insurance pools and government subsidy and pretty soon the sky's the limit for these companies: https://rebelnews.com/willparke/the-drama-of-daraprim-and-the-for-profit-medicine-industry/


If I were donating money to a charity, i.e. an organization set up to help others, I would simply send them the money and ask that my name not be used in publicity. That would mean that the person(s) actually benefiting from my donation didn't know who I was. The charity would know, but they don't themselves benefit.


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"If this money is intended to be used for retirement and depending on how old ""older"" is, it sounds a little risky to be putting too much money in a stock based mutual fund.  While the CDs may seem like crappy investments right now, it is important to down-shift risk as you get closer to retirement because this person won't have as much time to recover if the markets take another big dip."


The term self-directed generally refers to RRSP accounts where the account holder has not only the ability to determine a basic investment asset mix (such as can be accomplished even with a limited selection of mutual funds) but, more specifically, the self-directed account holder has a much wider choice of financial instruments beyond mutual funds, GICs, and/or cash savings. A self-directed RRSP generally permits the account holder to also invest or trade directly in financial instruments such as: Those kinds of instruments are not typically available in a non-self-directed mutual fund or bank RRSP.  Typical mutual fund or bank RRSPs offer you only their choice of products  – often with higher fees attached. Related resources:


The difference is the time when they are released and how much revenue they have recouped at that point.  The Shaw Cable PPV movie is likely to be even newer than the itunes HD movies which cost $4.99 or $5.99.


"For US stocks it's a bit of a gamble. Many actively managed funds underperform the market indexes, but some of them outperform in many years. With an index you will get average results. With an active manager you ""might"" do better than average. So you can view active management as a higher risk, potentially higher reward investment approach. On the other hand, if you want to diversify some of your investments into international stocks, bonds, junk bonds, and real estate (REITs) active management is highly likely to be better than indexing. For these specialized areas specialized knowledge and research is needed."


"> Well they've ""created"" what $5trillion in the last few years  I agree with you technically, but they control both the quantity and the quantity times velocity of money so they are also responsible for the lack of cashflow.   The big thing I think you're referring to is that they did this weird maneuver where they temporarily injected money into the banks, basically so they could say they were solvent without actually being solvent. Because the injections were temporary, the money never moved and was simply deposited at the fed. If, like Adam Smith, you don't consider money to really exist unless it moves, they did not create effective money, as you point out. Critically, they did not create cashflow, which is the appropriate macro definition of money. The corresponding macro variable for this is NGDP.  But actually the fed also controls NGDP, as Ben Bernanke says every time the FOMC makes its report. They just choose not to increase it, because they think that ""monetary policy is sufficiently accommodative."" I would agree with you that the present level of cashflow is inadequate, but if the Fed fixes it at the present level, nothing will increase it. This is called the Sumner critique (Sumner was raising the issue to argue, contra Keynes, that the multiplier on fiscal policy is 0), if you google it you can probably find someone to defend it better than me. In any event, this means it's not very surprising that private spending and investment doesn't lift NGDP: nothing but the fed can lift NGDP. Because it cannot create new cashflow on its own (which it could under free banking, this would be the advantage of free banking), the market must now move to a new equilibrium NGDP level while it is saddled with a large number of contracts from before 2008 that were negotiated with respect to a higher expected NGDP level. This deleveraging process is responsible for the present slump and the disinvestment you describe."


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 wrong with debt.  Like anything, too much can be bad for you, but when debt is deployed wisely -- that is almost always, when it is used to finance a capital asset (an asset that produces value) -- it can be a very good thing.


I would think a depressed housing market might be the BEST time to buy, is this not correct? There are foreclosures where banks are letting houses go for half of their standard value, and are offering some of the lowest interest rates ever. In a strong economy you could be looking at around 10% APR, I see this as a situation where it's a buy low sort of time.


"In absence of complete information, I can only speculate that your phrases We both endorsed the cheque,  and especially since the name on the cheque doesn't seem to be the name of the person I spoke with. mean that the check was payable to Jane Doe but was endorsed by  someone you know as Wade Roe using language such as ""Pay to the  order of user6344"" and then you endorsed it as something like  ""For deposit only to Acct# 1234567890"" and gave it to the bank teller with a deposit slip for Acct# 1234567890. Presumably Wade Roe did not accompany you to the bank and the bank teller did not notice that the check was not endorsed to you by Jane Doe, or she did go with you to the bank but the teller did not check her ID when she endorsed the check.  In any case, you, as a customer of the bank, are definitely on the hook in the sense that you in effect guaranteed the validity of Wade Roe's endorsement of the check payable to Jane Doe. You presented the check to the bank as a legitimate check that you were legitimately entitled to deposit in your account.  In effect, if fraud was committed, you committed the fraud by depositing a bum check.  As all the other answers have said, you need to go down to the bank and talk to a bank officer, preferably the manager, right  away.  Don't go to a teller (even though in many banks, the tellers have job titles like assistant vice-president."


Property in general tends to go up in value.  That's one advantage you won't get if you rent.


One thing we always have to consider when talking about raising the minimum wage is that job loss will happen. Remember that these businesses have been built on paying their employees less. That means money goes towards other things that help the company. When you are forced to increase wages, you have a choice, reorganize your business to free up cash or decrease your labor.


One of the main criticisms made by product companies (especially publishers) of Amazon.com is that it violates the price floors on various products. When Amazon routinely sells products at a heavily discounted price, the product companies feel that the product gets devalued. Amazon has often been accused of anticompetitive behavior, because other retailers cannot compete with their discounts.  It's interesting that this article makes the exact opposite claim --- that the product companies are the ones who are anticompetitive.


Here is a list of threads in other subreddits about the same content:   * [Buffalo Area Warily Eyes The Renegotiation Of NAFTA - NPR](https://www.reddit.com/r/Buffalo/comments/79h531/buffalo_area_warily_eyes_the_renegotiation_of/) on /r/Buffalo with 0 karma (created at 2017-10-29 23:40:36 by /u/Eudaimonics)  ----   ^^I ^^am ^^a ^^bot  ^^[FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/DuplicatesBot/wiki/index)-[Code](https://github.com/PokestarFan/DuplicateBot)-[Bugs](https://www.reddit.com/r/DuplicatesBot/comments/6ypgmx/bugs_and_problems/)-[Suggestions](https://www.reddit.com/r/DuplicatesBot/comments/6ypg85/suggestion_for_duplicatesbot/)-[Block](https://www.reddit.com/r/DuplicatesBot/wiki/index#wiki_block_bot_from_tagging_on_your_posts)  ^^Now ^^you ^^can ^^remove ^^the ^^comment ^^by ^^replying ^^delete!


There are no flat fees but typically banks and money exchangers will use a the current market rate, up to the minute for some powerful exchangers.  They then add a little on top depending on many variables.  Those variables can be related to the quantity of currency that organization holds, the average amount they hold, the market trend for that currency, the stability of the currency, the location of that currency exchange, etc. As for the one stop shop for currency exchange providers, you can try moneysupermarket.com Hope that helps.


I agree with IronAnvil. My research and studies in the area of Japanese production [method](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Toyota_Way) supports the idea that middle-management is mostly a drag on effective operations at virtually any organization. Here's a somewhat relevant [counter](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2554052/posts) to OP's post.


"Just tired of the bullshit postings stating ""Make $$$ NOW if you know Java or C# and have government clearance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'  LinkedIn is on par with craigslist - just different presentation.  Some company that wanted to hire me decided to make me a LinkedIn profile.  I told them to fuck off - intrusive assholes."


If it was all toward operating expenses (i.e. not investments) then I'd be all aboard the hate train. But that's not where it goes.  I don't spend time on reddit to educate people so I can shit on them. Just know that there are a lot of smart people who follow this company. I'm not here to prove that I'm one of them, but at least consider there is more to this story than an argument about whether someone checked a damn income statement. I mean, really?


"From the article: ""Because of complicated legal and financial constraints I (Abigail) am unable to withdraw my investment at this time...""  BECAUSE:  ""*I still gonna make money off this cause it's HARD to separate this asset from my overloaded portfolio...stocks go up in value and then Yaaaa! Bonanza down the road WITH THE HIGHER STOCK VALUE... but hey, I still love those little snot-nosed children and the scrappy puppies they chase around in my park - yeah, my park as their deadbeat parents don't pay any taxes - of course I don't either, but my accountants can explain all my write-offs every year that gives me a ""No tax due"" notice and usually a refund!""*"


Source: I'm recently (2 years) out of college (Info Sciences + Technology degree) Disclaimer: Speaking from limited personal experience (see above) A lot of corporate recruiters like the prospect of hiring recent college grads of because of the location flexibility they have (typically own no real estate, are not married, and have no children). If you get a job with Amazon and relocate, take a year to settle your finances, then determine if purchasing a house is something you can manage. If you don't have a savings set aside for a reasonable down payment on a house, you'll get hit with a mortgage insurance payment each month =\, and that's not fun. Don't try to do too much at once, and make sure you have a full assessment of your finances before making any major purchases. I follow this general rule: Every few months, I fully re-assess our expenditures, and see what we can cut out or cut back on, put a bit into savings, and put the rest against outstanding student loans.


"Use VTIVX. The ""Target Retirement 2045"" and ""Target Retirement 2045 Trust Plus"" are the same underlying fund, but the latter is offered through employers.  The only differences I see are the expense ratio and the minimum investment dollars.  But for the purposes of comparing funds, it should be pretty close. Here is the list of all of Vanguard's target retirement funds. Also, note that the ""Trust Plus"" hasn't been around as long, so you don't see the returns beyond the last few years.  That's another reason to use plain VTIVX for comparison. See also: Why doesn't a mutual fund in my 401(k) have a ticker symbol?"


How do tax cuts for a corporation decrease available labor or increase demand for labor?  I know wages are complex but what company is going to get a tax cut and say, “Ya know what, we’re not paying as much taxes so raises for everyone.”?  Maybe if the company uses that money to buy stuff, there will be demand on those companies that produce those products.


There is no difference between more shares of a relatively cheaper stock and less shares of a relatively more expensive stock. When you invest in a stock, the percentage increase (or decrease) in the share price results in gains (or losses). This is a fundamental concept of investing. Your question suggests that you would benefit from further research before investing your money. Trading real dollars can be difficult without a strong understanding of the principles involved. Investing your money without a good knowledge base will likely be stressful and could have a discouraging effect if it doesn't go well. Before you open an investment account, read up on investing fundamentals, particularly mutual funds as those can be a great place to start as a new investor. There are many sources of information including books, websites such as http://investor.gov/investing-basics and this website. Don't skip the sections on taxes, as those matter just as much and sometimes more than the simple buying and selling. You might look at tax advantaged accounts, such as 401k's, IRA's, etc.  It shouldn't take long but it will be one of the most important things you do as a beginning investor. Everyone has to start here. Understanding the vocabulary and concepts will likely save you time and money throughout your investing life.


"Short answer: don't do it. Unless you know something that the bank doesn't, it's safe to assume that banks are a lot better at assessing risk than you are. If they think he can't afford it, odds are he can't afford it regardless of what he might say to the contrary. In this case, the best answer may be ""sorry for your luck;"" you could recommend that he comes up with a larger down payment to reduce his monthly payment (or that he find a way to get some extra income) rather than getting you to cosign. Please also see this article by Dave Ramsey on why you should never cosign loans."


Does anyone know if it is possible to find Lehman Brothers last two conference calls before they went defunct in September (audio version)? Really interested in hearing it vs. reading it. I would appreciate it! Note, I did try the 'way back machine'.


For a 401(k), only contributions that you make for the current tax year through payroll deduction are tax-deductible.  Those contributions are subtracted off of your income for your W-2 Box 1 income amount.  If you make a manual contribution to your 401(k) outside of that, it is not tax deductible, and there is nowhere on your Form 1040 to deduct it. Your commuter benefits are also paid for out of payroll deduction and deducted on your W-2, so this is not an option, either. You could contribute to a traditional IRA for last year up to your tax return deadline, and deduct the amount on Form 1040 Line 32.  However, because you have access to a retirement plan at work, your IRA contribution is only tax deductible if your income is below certain limits.


In general, minors cannot enter into legally binding contracts --   which is what credit accounts are -- so an individually held card is   probably not an option for you right now. You will not be approved for a credit card because you are minor. The only option credit card wise for you is for your parents to add you on as an authorized user onto their accounts. The upside is that you and your parents can work out a monthly payment for the amount you spend on your equipment, the downside is that if your parents don't pay their credit card bill, your credit score/report can be negatively affected. (This also depends on the bank, however, all the banks I bank with report monthly payment activities on authorized users' credit reports as well. There might be a bank that doesn't.)  In terms of credit cards, there is nothing you can do. What you could do as the comments have suggested is either save up money for the equipment you want, or buy something cheaper.


I started my account with $500 so I know where you're coming from.  For the words of caution, in about 2009 we entered a pretty significant bull market.  During this period you could basically buy almost any big name company and do pretty well for yourself.  So don't be too cocky about your ability to pick winners in the middle of a bull market.  Over the last few years you'd have to try pretty hard to consistently pick losers. I absolutely think you should put real money in the game when you have this sort of interest.  However, at your $400-600 level broker fees will eat any sort of active trading or short term profit you could muster.  Stock trading is not a great way to make money in the short term.  If you're looking to save for something specific you should put that money in a zero risk savings account.   You should do more research on brokers.  Find the lowest possible trade commission at an organization where you can meet the account opening minimum.  A $10 commission is 11% more than a $9 commission.


Here is a list of threads in other subreddits about the same content:   * [Hillary Clinton in Russian nuclear company Rosatom’s case over Uranium One illegal acquisition in US](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/78fob8/hillary_clinton_in_russian_nuclear_company/) on /r/worldnews with 1 karma (created at 2017-10-24 21:20:25 by /u/Cmgredditim)  ----   ^^I ^^am ^^a ^^bot  ^^[FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/DuplicatesBot/wiki/index)-[Code](https://github.com/PokestarFan/DuplicateBot)-[Bugs](https://www.reddit.com/r/DuplicatesBot/comments/6ypgmx/bugs_and_problems/)-[Suggestions](https://www.reddit.com/r/DuplicatesBot/comments/6ypg85/suggestion_for_duplicatesbot/)-[Block](https://www.reddit.com/r/DuplicatesBot/wiki/index#wiki_block_bot_from_tagging_on_your_posts)  ^^Now ^^you ^^can ^^remove ^^the ^^comment ^^by ^^replying ^^delete!


I asked my realtor, but she recommends to go with just one banker   (her friend), and not to do any rate shopping. You need a new realtor. Anyone who would offer such advice is explicitly stating they are not advocating on your behalf.  I'd do the rate shopping first. When you make an offer, once it's accepted, time becomes critical. The seller expects you to go to closing in so many days after signing the P&S. The realtor is specifically prohibited from pushing a particular lender on you. She should know better.  In response to comment - Rate Shopping can be as simple as making a phone call, and having a detailed conversation. Jasper's list can be conveyed verbally. Prequalification is the next step, where a bank actually writes a letter indicating they have a high confidence you will qualify for the loan.


Politicians can't even be bothered to listen to scientists who almost all agree on major thing like climate change or GMOs where almost all scientists agree.  Why would they bother to listen to economists where there are at least a half dozen competing theories of macroeconomics and the optimal role of government in it?


I don't think these currencies need large scale adoption to exist or go up in value. Even if only 0.2% of middle and upper class people own bitcoins it can go to 100000$, simply because the marketcap and value of bitcoin is more than the $ amount invested in it because of holders and longterm supply deflation.


Well, it certainly has the first-mover advantage. I imagine Tesla has become pretty efficient in its production of electric cars and they are continuously driving down costs. As production expands, Tesla is gaining economies of scale, allowing it to produce electric vehicles for much cheaper than any other company might do with its patents. I think it would be difficult for new entrants to achieve the same quality and cost that Tesla does, even if they are using Tesla's patents.   Furthermore, Tesla and electric vehicles have become synonymous. If someone is going to buy an electric car, the first thing they are going to think of is Tesla. Owning a Tesla has become (and will likely continue to be) a bit of a status symbol, and because of that, I think they will probably always have the dominant position in the electric vehicle industry, and will likely be able to charge premium prices that competitors might not be able to justify. Similar to the way that despite the ubiquity of smartphones, Apple has a dominant position and an ability to charge premium prices. (Largely because Apple kind of drove the smartphone revolution)   Tesla wants the electric car market to grow as quickly as possible. The more money automobile manufacturers pour into electric cars, the less they will spend on cheaper, fossil-fuel vehicles. Secondly, as more companies start producing electric vehicles, more people will end up owning one, hence more infrastructure will be built to support those people, making owning an electric car a lot easier, hence increasing the value of a Tesla. Making electric cars accessible to the mainstream public is Tesla's ultimate goal, because they know they will likely always have the lion's share of that industry.


Yup he sure is.  And he will be for possibly 3.5, possibly 7.5 more years.  But Derrick Rose is on a vet minimum and only 1 season under contract.  Is he going to have to prove himself every season now?  I mean with injuries as severe as he has had, I consider high level professional play to be a major success.  But a league where rose takes the early retirement only due to teams not making offers, now that is a league that I would be unhappy with


I would like JD to soar I got in little while ago. I have heard a lot of news lately about Unicom in the last month or so but this is the first time JD has been involved. Also until you shared this article I always read Unicom as Unicorn haha.


No, no they don't. No more so than wages do. A pension is not some magical pot of money that you retire and suddenly are a billionaire. A pension payment replaces your wages. It is retirement savings.   This is like saying we should eliminate 401K's, Roth, and Keogh IRA's and simply take the money. This is like saying we should seize homes and other properties. You need to elaborate why you think paying out pensions is going to raise inflation, that doesn't make sense.


"Speaking from personal experience: I have had a credit card canceled for exactly this reason. It's happened to me three times, with two different providers (NatWest and Nationwide). After the third instance I stopped bothering to even carry a credit card. It's worth noting that all three were ""free"" cards in the sense that I paid no flat fee or subscription to get the cards. The only way the issuer could make a profit on them was through interest. I was also not a frequent user, carrying the card for convenience more than anything else, although I did make purchases on all three. So it's certainly a possibility. But I live in the UK and I'm guessing most of your other respondents do not. It may be a practice that's more common here than in the US. That might even explain the origin of the rumour."


We've also had pretty freak weather throughout the US this past year doing quite a bit of damage.  If I recall correctly, there's been major flooding along the Mississippi River in Louisiana that's wiped out a good bit of rice farmland, serious drought throughout Texas (though that may be lessening of late), and a frost in Florida that took out a swath of the strawberry crop.  Now, maybe that's the sort of stuff that happens every year and people get by regardless, but still.


> Same in Switzerland as far as I know  In Switzerland it is a regional matter and in most regions not possible. The few that allow it also tend to require a justification and/or let you opt out (of what is in my mind a disgusting breach of data protection); Zurich is a case in point - you can opt out.


"I don't have experience with TSP in particular, but they look to be roughly the same as 401(k) loans. If the ""G Fund rate"" is equal to the yield of government bonds, then your main risk is the risk that yields increase, which means the interest you're paying is less than what you would have earned on the investments. Here are some other things to consider: For any car loan, I would borrow as little as possible with as short a term as possible.  To me, the interest savings and additional risks from borrowing from your retirement isn't worth it."


And driving out of business the rest of competitors with huge incentives at loss, cause uber has a very long term plan and don't care of profitability. Let's face it once they'll be one of the push to deregulate autonomous driving there will be a massive shift in labour economy too.


I struggle with 0% interest things in my personal life.  A responsible me that thinks logically says continue to pay it on time and take advantage of the benefit of the interest free loan you got. It will keep your funds liquid in the case of an emergency, build your credit and teach you self control.  Paying it off now has little to no benefit. It does however tie up $3,000 worth of capital you could be using for building interest or leveraging against other purchases.


I don't think any open source trading project is going to offer trial or demo accounts. In fact, I'm not clear on what you mean by this. Are you looking for some example data sets so you can see how your algorithm would perform historically? If you contact whatever specific brokers that you'd like to interface with, they can provide things like connection tests, etc., but no one is going to let you do live trades on a trial or demo basis. For more information about setting this sort of thing up at home, here's a good link: < http://www.stat.cmu.edu/~abrock/algotrading/index.html >. It's not Python specific, but should give you a good idea of what to do.


I have been careful here to cover both shares in companies and in ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds). Some information such as around corporate actions and AGMs is only applicable for company shares and not ETFs. The shares that you own are registered to you through the broker that you bought them via but are verified by independent fund administrators and brokerage reconciliation processes. This means that there is independent verification that the broker has those shares and that they are ring fenced as being yours. The important point in this is that the broker cannot sell them for their own profit or otherwise use them for their own benefit, such as for collateral against margin etc..  1) Since the broker is keeping the shares for you they are still acting as an intermediary. In order to prove that you own the shares and have the right to sell them you need to transfer the registration to another broker in order to sell them through that broker. This typically, but not always, involves some kind of fee and the broker that you transfer to will need to be able to hold and deal in those shares. Not all brokers have access to all markets. 2) You can sell your shares through a different broker to the one you bought them through but you will need to transfer your ownership to the other broker and that broker will need to have access to that market. 3) You will normally, depending on your broker, get an email or other message on settlement which can be around two days after your purchase. You should also be able to see them in your online account UI before settlement. You usually don't get any messages from the issuing entity for the instrument until AGM time when you may get invited to the AGM if you hold enough stock. All other corporate actions should be handled for you by your broker. It is rare that settlement does not go through on well regulated markets, such as European, Hong Kong, Japanese, and US markets but this is more common on other markets. In particular I have seen quite a lot of trades reversed on the Istanbul market (XIST) recently. That is not to say that XIST is unsafe its just that I happen to have seen a few trades reversed recently.


You probably won't save much, if anything at all, by getting another fixed-term mortgage. The last part of a mortgage is mostly principal payments.  If you borrowed $200k (guessing) at 4.75% then during the last five years you'll pay about $10.5k in interest, as opposed to $41.7k in the first five years and $27.9k in the second five.  Another fixed rate loan won't get you a whole lot lower than 4.75%. If you can score a teaser rate (say 2.5% for the first five years) on the balance at the beginning of year 11, and pay the same amount that you were before ($1,555) then you'd knock out the mortgage in 57 months and save yourself a little under $5k.  If the refinance costs only a few hundred, then you might make out. Anyway, you may find other similar options that have a low teaser rate but (goody for you) you won't be around long enough to see it jump up.  Just watch for prepayment penalties. I'd probably just bump up my payments, though.  I went through a refinance and I felt like my hand was forced a lot in that process, but your mileage may vary. :)


This is more of a general answer about your situation than a specific answer to your question.  You might consider getting a SIP telephone number based in the US, or an even easier to use IP based phone number. That way you can use it through your Internet connection and make eaiser calls to US companies that you still have a business relationship with.


But then they turn their stores is hugely expensive show rooms.   BB's real problem is that they are getting eaten at both ends. Amazon is taking the online business, and walmart has expanded their electronics.   BB niche is gone. It has nothing to do with their customer service, or their pricing practices. It just has a business model that doesn't work anymore.   Only chance is to reduce the number of stores and aim for the in person sales only.


"simplicity and roi are often at odds. the simplest plan that also supports a reasonable investment return would have 3 accounts: if you want to get better returns on your investments, things can get much more complicated. here are some optional accounts to consider: besides the mechanics of money flowing between accounts, a budget helps you understand and control your spending.  while there are many methods for this (e.g. envelopes of cash, separate accounts for various types of expenses), the simplest might be using mint.com.  just be sure to put all your spending on a credit or debit card, and you can see your spending by category when you log into mint. it can take a bit to get it set up, and your bank needs to be compatible, but it can give you a really good picture of where your money is going.  once you know that, you can start making decisions like ""i should spend less on coffee"", or ""i should go to the zoo more"", based on how much things cost vs how much you enjoy them. if you feel like your spending is out of control, then you can set yourself hard limits on certain kinds of spending, but usually just watching and influencing your own choices is enough. notes:  if you have a spouse or partner, you should each maintain your own separate accounts. there are many reasons for this including simplicity and roi, besides the obvious. if you feel you must have a joint account, be sure to clearly define how it should be used (e.g. only for paying the utilities) and funded (x$ per month each). particularly with your house, do not do joint ownership. one of you should be a renter and the other a landlord. some of these statements assume you are in the usa. on a personal note, i have about 20 credit cards, 2 checking accounts, 2 ira's, 2 brokerage accounts, and 3 401k's. but i consider myself a personal finance hobbyist, and spend an absurd amount of time chasing financial deals and tax breaks."


My household items/groceries comes from too many different places, from Costco, Amazon, Sprouts, local grocers, and farmers markets. Never bought groceries on Amazon though, no perishables or too expensive for packaged goods.     I sure wont pay WFM prices for their 360 store brand


This is all very basic and general advice, that works for most, but not all.  You are unique with your own special needs and desires.  Good luck! P.S.: not exactly related to your question, but when you get more familiar with investing and utilizing your money, find more ways to save more. For example, change phone plan, cut the cable, home made food in bulk, etc.


"Overall, since gold has value in any currency (and is sort of the ultimate reserve currency), why would anyone want to currency hedge it? Because gold is (mostly) priced in USD. You currency hedge it to avoid currency risk and be exposed to only the price risk of Gold in USD.  Hedging it doesn't mean ""less speculative"". It just means you won't take currency risk. EDIT: Responding to OP's questions in comment what happens if the USD drops in value versus other major currencies? Do you think that the gold price in USD would not be affected by this drop in dollar value? Use the ETF $GLD as a proxy of gold price in USD, the correlation between weekly returns of $GLD and US dollar index (measured by major world currencies) since the ETF's inception is around -47%. What this says is that gold may or may not be affected by USD movement. It's certainly not a one-way movement. There are times where both USD and gold rise and fall simultaneously. Isn't a drop in dollar value fundamentally currency risk? Per Investopedia, currency risk arises from the change in price of one currency in relation to another. In this context, it's referring to the EUR/USD movement. The bottom line is that, if gold price in dollar goes up 2%, this ETF gives the European investor a way to bring home that 2% (or as close to that as possible)."


fire and water damage restoration  --Triton Renovation has been the authority on fire and water damage restoration for over a decade. With their team of experts, they have the ability to handle any renovation or repair you would need whether it be commercial or residential.


"In personal finance, most of your success is determined by personal habit rather than financial savvy.  Getting in the habit of making regular deposits to your savings account will have a much larger effect on your situation than worrying about which account pays the highest interest rate (particularly as neither one of them matches the current inflation rate, which is over 3%). So go ahead and put your money in a savings account, but not because of the interest or safety, but because it's a ""savings"" account."


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You should be careful about mingling your personal money and that of the business, even if it is a sole prop right now.  It is a good habit to keep separate business and personal bank/credit accounts just so that when you change to an LLC, it is simpler for you to separate what belongs to the company and what is yours personally.  What you're doing makes it more difficult (although only marginally so) to itemize business deductions that were paid with an ostensibly personal credit account.  The better habit to get into now is keeping that distinct separation between personal and business. That being said, there's nothing illegal in what you're doing, but it would make an accountant cringe, that's for sure. (chuckle) Hope this helps. Good luck!


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Good point, but the idea I was getting at is that the money was already allocated for this purpose as it is regularly with every pay day.  The idea that some people should not get unemployment insurance payments because they happen to live in households that retain high income is not trivial and at very least should be put before a vote of representatives.


I wager Amazon could do a better job fighting scrapers auto buying tickets like they do with Ticketmaster.  Tho the one main game change I can see is Amazon being able to handle massive loads of traffic on their site.  As Ticketmaster has loads of problems here, but Amazon yet to show any real issues in handling loads of traffic all at once.  So imagine able to get tickets without issues.


If real investors are leaving the marketplace, and only gamblers are left, then it is no longer an investment platform.  The market was designed, and allowed by our people & govt, to be an investment platform for effective resource allocation.  A Gambling engine is not an effective resource allocation mechanism.


The use of an old address would make me suspect that your data was stolen from some database you had registered to long ago with the old address.  I would think that contacting your credit rating firm and the credit card company is urgent.


I agree of course that we SHOULD just test a product to see if it’s good or not. But as the article states, a lot of consumers discard it based off date alone. So if a company can make X amount of dollars more by saying their eggs expire a few days earlier, that can be abused, right? All I’m saying is there’s so much ambiguity on the dates on packaging, some more regulation would be helpful (like regulations on ingredients)


"A very interesting topic, as I am moving to the US in a month. I realise this thread is old but its been helpful to me.  My observations from my home country  ""Before we judge anyone who doesn't use direct deposit or who prefers to be paid in cold hard cash, consider that direct deposit is a luxury of stability. Steady job, home, etc. Direct deposit doesn't make sense for a contractor or day labourer who expect to work for a different person each day or week""  --- well here a contractor would still be paid by a direct deposit, even if he was working for many different people. On the invoice the contractor provides Bank account details, and customer logs onto their internet banking and pays electronically. It is a a very simple process and is the preferred method of payment by most businesses even small contractors. Many accounting software programs are linked to bank accounts and can quickly reconcile accounts for small business. Many businesses will not accept a cheque in Australia anymore as they are considered to be a higher risk.  I started work in 1994 and have never received any payment except via direct deposit."


Because most people aren't willing to sacrifice their ability to live in the US for 100k. Remember that you can't pull this off multiple times easily.   So as a one and done kind of deal, 100k isn't a great trade for the right to live in tthe US or whatever country you have roots in, particularly once you factor in:


probably forgetting some but off the top of my head:MIT, Caltech, Berkeley, UCLA, Duke, Stanford, Chicago, NYU, Northwestern, Michigan, Notre Dame, UVA, and top LACs like Amherst,Williams,etc.  At a target school you would see many of the following names come to your school for OCR or resume drops: Goldman Sachs, KKR, Blackstone, Morgan Stanley, JPM, D.E. Shaw, Jane Street, Blackrock, Two Sigma, Citadel


If we hadn't blockaded Cuba for 60 years, it would likely look a lot like China, albeit not as overall productive.  Keep in mind both nations had communist revolutions at roughly the same time, the main difference being the US effectively shut out all trade with the island nation.


"Payment gateways such as Square do not normally withhold tax. It is up to you to pay the appropriate tax at tax time. That having been said, Square does report your payments to the IRS on a form 1099-K if your payments are large enough. According to Square, you'll get a 1099-K from them if your total payments for the year add up to $20,000 AND more than 200 transactions.  Whether or not they report on a 1099-K, you are required to pay the appropriate taxes on your income.  So now the question becomes, ""Do I have to pay income tax on the proceeds from my garage sale?"" And the answer to that question is usually not. When you sell something that you previously purchased, if you sell it for more than you paid for it, you have a capital gain and need to pay tax on that. However, generally you sell things in a garage sale at a loss, meaning that there is no tax due.  If you make more than $20,000 at your garage sale and the IRS gets a 1099-K, the IRS might be curious as to how you did that with no capital gain. So if you sell any big ticket items (a bulldozer, for example), you should keep a record of what you paid for it, so you can show the loss to the IRS in the event of an audit."


i am not against bonuses, provided employees have health care, retirement contributions from the corporation, a living wage and a claw back clause if exec is fired for cause.  The problem is for too many companies the bonus is based on exec's squeezing employees benefits or bought buy the execs using profits to buy back stock to increase stock prices and inflate bonuses based on stock price.


A lot of us state I want money on the internet however how would you obtain money on the internet? Difficult which rare money on the internet if you want money on the internet. This site does not have any credit check needed money money together with sequel money as well as fantastic deals. Should find out if experts require regarding some money on the internet.


"Looking at your numbers, I would definitively consider selling the car, and use the public transportation instead. You could easily save $450 month, plus gas and maintenance. As you mentioned, public transportation will be only a fraction of this amount, so you might end up saving around $400 monthly. If you decide to keep the car, the amount that you will spent monthly is easily a payment for a brand-new car. What if, God forbid, for any kind of reason, you get a traffic ticket that can increase your insurance premium? What if the engine stops working, and you will need to spent thousands of dollars fixing the car? With this, and all of the other expenses pilled up, you might be unable to afford all this at some point. If you decide to sell the car, the money that you will save monthly can be put in a savings account (or in any other sort of ""safe"" investment instrument). In this way, if your situation changes where you need a car again, you will be able to easily afford a new car. Regarding your need to visit your friends on the suburbs every other weekend, I think you can just talk with them, and meet on places where public transportation is available, or ask them to pick you up in the nearest station to the suburbs.  In conclusion, based on what you said, I do not think the ""little"" convenience that you get in owning the car outweighs the big savings that you get monthly, if you decide to sell the car."


"I worked for a major car rental company (not Hertz, but comparable) for quite a while, taking reservations by phone. I completely agree that the reservation system is terrible, and is only vaguely based on the reality of their vehicles in stock at best. The problem is, from a strictly business perspective, taking more reservations than they have cars is currently considered the most profitable model for them.  To play devil's advocate just a little, switching to a ""take only one reservation per vehicle, reserve it to 100% lock it in"" model is a bit more complicated than it sounds. In order to guarantee a specific car for a customer at a specific time, they either have to leave that car sitting on their lot until you rent it (not making money), or keep renting it out to other people in the interim. If they rent it out to someone else before your rental comes up, that removes the vehicle from their control. Bordering on constantly, renters don't return the vehicle within their promised schedule or return it in a damaged or otherwise unsuitable condition. To be clear I'm not trying to make excuses for the rental car company (there are many reasons I no longer work there), but it's objectively hard for them to get a specific vehicle if, say, all but one of them were in wrecks the previous night, and the person renting the last one drove it across the country without warning the rental office and refuses to come back. Those problems all get solved eventually, but that doesn't help you when you show up and can't get the car you reserved.  So, they continue to take excessive reservations, and just give people whatever they happen to have when they show up, if they have any cars at all.   There's definitely better ways to do it for the customer, but like many businesses, they'll continue to do it whatever way they determine is best for their profits.  Edit: Words."


I work in banking for the private bank division for a major bank as a banker. I have been helping clients with these types of transactions for years. I believe that large transactions like this are best left to the big boys. That is where the talented bankers/loan officers/underwriters are, and that is the type of transaction they specialize in. I know for a fact that your credit union will not be able to suit your needs, and a smaller bank will be tough to deal with. I wouldn't worry at all about the credit pulls as much as picking a rock solid bank with lots of experiences doing these kinds of deals. That is my 2 cents, albeit a little bit biased, but it is also coming from experience. History with the bank definitely matters, but what business you can bring to the bank along with the lending (deposits, 401k management, personal investments, business services, etc) matter just as much and can make or break the approval/decline or even the terms being favorable or not favorable to your company.


Actually, yes. Two parties can write a contract and specify how money will change hands, it's called a swap. It's not unusual to write a contract that mimics an existing financial instrument. However, there are disadvantages to both sides to trading a swap rather than a more standard, liquid instrument, so usually it won't happen unless there's an excellent reason.


CDs or money market funds. Zero-risk for the CD and ultra-low risk for the money market account; better return than most savings accounts.


http://www.calcamo.net/loancalculator/simulation/fixed-rate-loan.php5 This website is a calculator only and has some extra features that take into account late payments, paying extra to reduce principal, and has the ability to export amortization table to excel that you could use to keep track of the loan.   If you are looking for a web site to manage and keep track of the whole process, reminder emails, accepting credit card payments, etc.. paybaq.com may be right for you.


"You should only invest in individual stocks if you truly understand the company's business model and follow its financial reports closely.  Even then, individual stocks should represent only the tiniest, most ""adventurous"" part of your portfolio, as they are a huge risk. A basic investing principle is diversification.  If you invest in a variety of financial instruments, then: (a) when some components of your portfolio are doing poorly, others will be doing well.  Even in the case of significant economic downturns, when it seems like everything is doing poorly, there will be some investment sectors that are doing relatively better (such as bonds, physical real estate, precious metals). (b) over time, some components of your portfolio will gain more money than others, so every 6 or 12 months you can ""rebalance"" such that all components once again have the same % of money invested in them as when you began.  You can do this either by selling off some of your well-performing assets to purchase more of your poorly-performing assets or (if you don't want to incur a taxable event) by introducing additional money from outside your portfolio.  This essentially forces you to ""buy (relatively) low, sell (relatively) high"". Now, if you accept the above argument for diversification, then you should recognize that owning a handful (or even several handfuls) of individual stocks will not help you achieve diversification.  Even if you buy one stock in the energy sector, one in consumer discretionary, one in financials, etc., then you're still massively exposed to the day-to-day fates of those individual companies.  And if you invest solely in the US stock market, then when the US has a decline, your whole portfolio will decline.  And if you don't buy any bonds, then again when the world has a downturn, your portfolio will decline.  And so on ... That's why index mutual funds are so helpful.  Someone else has already gone to the trouble of grouping together all the stocks or bonds of a certain ""type"" (small-cap/large-cap, domestic/foreign, value/growth) so all you have to do is pick the types you want until you feel you have the diversity you need.  No more worrying about whether you've picked the ""right"" company to represent a particular sector.  The fewer knobs there are to turn in your portfolio, the less chance there is for mistakes!"


The only thing that I refuse to buy generic is trash bags.  I've tried several different generic versions of trash bags and all of them ripped very easily.  I'll spend the extra money for Hefty or Glad so I don't have to clean up trash.


I've heard in both cases the hours are usually steady unless you're closing a deal, in which case you can expect a lot of long hours similar to IB. I'm sure this changes based on the size of the firm, but how many deals do you normally close in a year, and how long are you typically working on each one?


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"Dear OWS - when you march on Washington next month, please demand that all these bankers be arrested, tried in court and then executed. This is BS, how are they able to get away with this - these guys literally destroyed our economy and yet we have people who sold a bag of weed sitting in jail. Come on Obama, you said you were going to ""Change"" things - this is one thing that will get support from everybody!"


The S&P report (aka STARS report) for each company has 10 years of financial data. These reports are available free at several online brokers (like E-Trade) if you have an account with the brokerage.


If it were me, I would create a website for him.  Take a look at all the other local plumber websites and identify the things they get right and wrong and then do or don't do those things, as appropriate.  My feeling is that when someone wants a plumber, they are often anxious and may be in a hurry, so the first thing you need to say on that site is something that is brief and reassuring. The text needs to be clear and easy to read - no white text on a black background, or text placed over a picture.  You also need to answer all the key questions they are likely to ask - how much, how soon, can I trust you to do the right thing, how much experience do you have?  Basically, you need to put yourself in the shoes of that anxious customer and say the things that will strike a chord with them - obviously, any promises he makes on the site he then has to deliver.


This is bullshit. The US government requires taxes to be paid in USD. There's your intrinsic value. If you want to be compliant with the federal law, your business and you as an individual are required to convert assets or labor into USD to pay them.


Actually the Fidelity hypothetical example (with same marginal tax rates) is super misleading.  They are putting the money saved up front from the traditional 401k in to at taxable account. Why? If you put the actual money used for the Roth that would be saved into traditional 401k they look the same no matter the timeline (with a hypothetical unchanging tax rate). Check this out.  So there are only two things to consider when choosing traditional vs roth.


Maybe have a more clearly stated goal and plan to get there. Were they selling just a nicely built machine no one needs (the single design flaw) or were they trying to sell us a way to buy their juice repeatedly and maintain revenue.


Orange and green leafy vegetables provide beta - carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A protein foods. Half of a sweet potato or a large carrot provides the recommended daily allowance. If you don’t eat healthy, you probably need to take supplements.


I think what's screwing up my calculation is the (reL), return on equity levereged figure. The beta for KORS apparently is -0.58, so when I use the formula reL = rf + (ßL)(rm - rf), I get -0.0048 as my reL.   Am I doing my beta wrong? Am I supposed to use a different figure for my beta?    ALSO, further in the process, when using the formula for WACC, my E/(D+E) is essentially 1.0 because market value of equity for KORS is 7bill and its market value of debt is only like 147 million.  edit: I'm beginning to believe that my beta of -0.58 is not rightly used. It's what yahoo told me, but other sources are saying that the beta of KORS is more like -0.01 or close to 0. Yes?   edit 2: Using -0.01 beta, I get a rdWACC of 2.2%. Now this seems more plausible. I did some research on negative betas and found out that they basically don't really exist aside from gold. So Yahoo must be giving me a weird beta figure. Other websites are all giving me -0.01, so I believe that is correct.


Good credit is calculated (by many lenders) by taking your FICO score which is calculated based upon what is in your credit report.  Building credit generally means building up your FICO score. Your FICO score is impacted my many factors, one small one of which is your utilization ratio of your installment loans like student loans.  This is the ratio of the current balance to your original balance.  To improve your score (slightly) you would want a lower ratio.  I would recommend paying your student loan down to 75% ratio as fast as you can and then you can go back to $50/month. A much better way to improve your FICO score is to have revolving credit.  Your student loans are not revolving, they are installment loans.  Therefore, you should open at least one credit card (assuming you currently have none) right away.  The longer you have had a credit card open, the better your FICO score gets.  Your revolving credit utilization ratio is way more important than your installment loan ratio.  Therefore, to maximize your FICO, try to never have more than 10% utilization on your revolving credit report to the credit bureaus each month.  Only the current month's ratio affects your score at any given moment.  You can ensure you don't go above 10% by paying your balance before the statement cuts each month to get it below 10% way before any payment would be due.  (You should always pay your remaining credit card statement balance in full each month by the due date after the statement cuts to avoid any interest charges.)  Note that there is a slight FICO advantage to having at least one major bank credit card instead of just only credit union credit cards.  Also, never let all your revolving credit report a zero balance in a month, you must always have at least $1 reporting to the credit bureaus on at least one of your open credit cards or your FICO score will take a big negative hit. If you cannot get a normal credit card, go to a credit union and find one that offers secured credit cards, or a bank that does.  A secured credit card is where you place a deposit with the bank that they hold and give you a credit limit to match your security.  Ideally it would be a card that graduates to unsecured after your demonstrate good history with them.  For example, the Navy Federal Credit Union secured card unsecures for many people.  I also believe the Wells Fargo Bank credit card (you can join if there is a family member who served or a roomate who did) also will unsecure.  The reason you want it to unsecure and not be forced to open a new account to get an unsecured account is that you want your average age and oldest age of open revolving credit accounts to be as high as possible as this is another impact on your FICO score. Credit unions that anyone can join include, Digital Federal Credit Union, the Pentagon Federal Credit Union (which offers a secured card that does not graduate), and The State Department Federal Credit Union (also offers secured card that I think does not graduate). One other method to boost your FICO score is to get added as an authorized user on one of your parent's credit cards that has been open a long time.  Not all lenders will report such an authorized user, however, ones that are known to do so are: Bank of America, Citi Bank, and Capital One.  It is a good sign that it will report if they ask for the social security number of the authorized user. However, note that the Authorized User addition can have no impact if the lender is using one of the newer versions of the FICO scoring model, only the older versions reward you for the age of accounts for which you are an authorized user. A very long term boost is to open your first American Express card underwritten directly by Amex such as their Zync card which is pretty easy to get.  The advantage of American express is that they remember the date your first credit card was opened with them and if you open new accounts in the future they will back date the date of their opening to match the date your first card was opened.  If you let your membership lapse, be sure to record the account number and date opened in your personal files so that you can help them locate it again if you reopen as they can have trouble if it has been on the order of ten years or more. Finally, note that the number of accounts opened in the last twelve months is a small negative mark on your score (along with number of inquiries), so if you open a lot of accounts all at once, in addition to bringing down your average age of accounts, you will also get dinged for how many were opened in the last year.


"I am asking because startups are super risky and 99% of the times you fail and lose the money. First of all, that 99% number is exaggerated. Only 96% of companies fail within ten years. But starting your own business is not a pure game of chance. It mostly depends on how good your business idea is and if you have the necessary skills and resources to succeed with it. Yes, there is luck involved, but a smart businessman can calculate the risks and possible rewards and then decide if a certain business idea is a good or a bad gamble. Also, a business failing does not necessarily mean that the business owner failed. A good business owner knows when to fold. A business might be profitable at first, but market circumstances might change at any time making it unprofitable. A smart business owner notices that early, liquidates the unprofitable business as quickly as possible and refocuses on their next business idea. Only those who can not let go of an unprofitable business or take too long to notice that it is failing are those who get dragged down with it. So should you have a ""startup fund""? Saving your disposable income is never a mistake. If you never end up starting a business, it will eventually serve you as a retirement fund. So yes, you should save a part of your money each month. But should you start a company with it? That depends on whether or not you have a business idea where you know you will succeed. How do you know that? When you answered yes to all of these questions, then you might want to consider it."


"LLC is, as far as I know, just a US thing, so I'm assuming that you are in the USA. Update for clarification: other countries do have similar concepts, but I'm not aware of any country that uses the term LLC, nor any other country that uses the single-member LLC that is disregarded for income tax purposes that I'm referring to here (and that I assume the recruiter also was talking about). Further, LLCs vary by state. I only have experience with California, so some things may not apply the same way elsewhere. Also, if you are located in one state but the client is elsewhere, things can get more complex. First, let's get one thing out of the way: do you want to be a contractor, or an employee? Both have advantage, and especially in the higher-income areas, contractor can be more beneficial for you. Make sure that if you are a contractor, your rate must be considerably higher than as employee, to make up for the benefits you give up, as well as the FICA taxes and your expense of maintaining an LLC (in California, it costs at least $800/year, plus legal advice, accounting, and various other fees etc.). On the other hand, oftentimes, the benefits as an employee aren't actually worth all that much when you are in high income brackets. Do pay attention to health insurance - that may be a valuable benefit, or it may have such high deductibles that you would be better off getting your own or paying the penalty for going uninsured. Instead of a 401(k), you can set up an IRA (update or various other options), and you can also replace all the other benefits. If you decide that being an employee is the way to go, stop here. If you decide that being a contractor is a better deal for you, then it is indeed a good idea to set up an LLC. You actually have three fundamental options: work as an individual (the legal term is ""sole proprietorship""), form a single-member LLC disregarded for income tax purposes, or various other forms of incorporation. Of these, I would argue that the single-member LLC combines the best of both worlds: taxation is almost the same as for sole proprietorship, the paperwork is minimal (a lot less than any other form of incorporation), but it provides many of the main benefits of incorporating. There are several advantages. First, as others have already pointed out, the IRS and Department of Labor scrutinize contractor relationships carefully, because of companies that abused this status on a massive scale (Uber and now-defunct Homejoy, for instance, but also FedEx and other old-economy companies). One of the 20 criteria they use is whether you are incorporated or not. Basically, it adds to your legal credibility as a contractor. Another benefit is legal protection. If your client (or somebody else) sues ""you"", they can usually only sue the legal entity they are doing business with. Which is the LLC. Your personal assets are safe from judgments. That's why Donald Trump is still a billionaire despite his famous four bankruptcies (which I believe were corporate, not personal, bankrupcies). Update for clarification Some people argue that you are still liable for your personal actions. You should consult with a lawyer about the details, but most business liabilities don't arise from such acts. Another commenter suggested an E&O policy - a very good idea, but not a substitute for an LLC. An LLC does require some minimal paperwork - you need to set up a separate bank account, and you will need a professional accounting system (not an Excel spreadsheet). But if you are a single member LLC, the paperwork is really not a huge deal - you don't need to file a separate federal tax return. Your income will be treated as if it was personal income (the technical term is that the LLC is disregarded for IRS tax purposes). California still does require a separate tax return, but that's only two pages or so, and unless you make a large amount, the tax is always $800. That small amount of paperwork is probably why your recruiter recommended the LLC, rather than other forms of incorporation. So if you want to be a contractor, then it sounds like your recruiter gave you good advice. If you want to be an employee, don't do it. A couple more points, not directly related to the question, but hopefully generally helpful: If you are a contractor (whether as sole proprietor or through an LLC), in most cities you need a business license. Not only that, but you may even need a separate business license in every city you do business (for instance, in the city where your client is located, even if you don't live there). Business licenses can range from ""not needed"" to a few dollars to a few hundred dollars. In some cities, the business license fee may also depend on your income. And finally, one interesting drawback of a disregarded LLC vs. sole proprietorship as a contractor has to do with the W-9 form and your Social Security Number. Generally, when you work for somebody and receive more than $600/year, they need to ask you for your Social Security Number, using form W-9. That is always a bit of a concern because of identity theft. The IRS also recognizes a second number, the EIN (Employer Identification Number). This is basically like an SSN for corporations. You can also apply for one if you are a sole proprietor. This is a HUGE benefit because you can use the EIN in place of your SSN on the W-9. Instant identity theft protection. HOWEVER, if you have a disregarded LLC, the IRS says that you MUST use your SSN; you cannot use your EIN! Update: The source for that information is the W-9 instructions; it specifically only excludes LLCs."


> - Waiting too long to renovated their stores.  There was a Sears between my house and the neighborhood train station that I walked by regularly for two years before realizing that it was an operating store and not an abandoned warehouse.


If this is the case then it will never get past the Senate. It requires 67 votes to be approved for ratification. Negotiators know this. Anything that they think will prevent passage by the Senate will not be in the final draft of the agreement. It's not like they can just sneak this past the Senate and the people. They can only keep the negotiations secret, the full agreement will be public and hotly debated well before it would be put to a vote in the Senate.


Is investing more money into a stock that you already have a stake, in which has gone up in price a good idea? What you describe here is a good idea when the stock keeps up-trending. The way to do it is say you have originally bought $1000 worth of shares, then the next purchase you buy $500 worth, then $250 worth. It is called pyramiding into your trades. However, this system would not be the best with simply a buy and hold when you keep holding even if the price starts freefalling. You would need to have a trailing stop loss on your initial trade, and then as you buy each additional trade your trailing stop loss would incorporate the additional trade and move to a level where if you get stopped out you will make an overall profit. With each additional trade your trailing stop will move higher and higher for higher protected profits. The whole point behind pyramid trading is to keep buying more of a stock that keeps performing well to increase your profits. However, each additional purchase is half the previous one so that you don't eat too much into existing profits (in the case of the uptrend reversing) and so as to not overcapitalise on the one stock. So you are using part of your existing profits in an attempt to make more profits.


So many possible reasons here, some good, some not.   - Maybe they weren't as good at negotiating the original equity ask.   - Maybe they don't let egos get in the way of advice from a business partner.   - Maybe is about goals.  - Maybe it's random luck with a small sample size.  - Maybe it's selection bias.  - Maybe they're seeling a popular feminism trend more than a product.  Regardless, without more data and comparables, this is just fluff.


All of RonJohn's reasons to say no are extremely valid. There are also two more. First, the cost of a mortgage is not the only cost of owning a house. You have to pay taxes, utilities, repairs, maintenence, insurance. Those are almost always hundreds of dollars a month, and an unlucky break like a leaking roof can land you with a bill for many thousands of dollars. Second owning a house is a long term thing. If you find you have to sell in a year or two, the cost of making the sale can be many thousands of dollars, and wipe out all the 'savings' you made from owning rather than renting. I would suggest a different approach, although it depends very much on your circumstances and doesn't apply to everybody. If there is someone you know who has money to spare and is concerned for your welfare (your mention of a family that doesn't want you to work for 'academic reason' leads me to believe that might be the case) see if they are prepared to buy a house and rent it to you. I've known families do that when their children became students. This isn't necessarily charity. If rents are high compared to house prices, owning a house and renting it out can be very profitable, and half the battle with renting a house is finding a tenant who will pay rent and not damage the house. Presumably you would qualify. You could also find fellow-students who you know to share the rent cost.


If it is one of those debit cards you use just like a credit card without a PIN, I'd cancel it regardless of whatever you are trying to do with your finances. They just seem too dangerous to me.  Unlike a credit card, if someone makes fraudulent purchases on a debit card the money is gone from your bank account until you resolve the issue with the issue. With a credit card, the BANK is out the money until it gets worked out. My brother once had his credit card number (not the card) stolen and the criminals emptied his bank account. Eventually the bank put the money back after an investigation, but it had two really nasty side effects: 1) Dozens of checks bounced. The bank refunded the bounced check fees, but not all of the stores would.   2) He had no money in his account until it was resolved. Luckily in his case they resolved it in a few days, but he was already making preparations to borrow money to pay his rent/bills.


"What exactly would the financial institution need to see to make them   comfortable with these regulations The LLC Operating Agreement. The OA should specify the member's allocation of equity, assets, income and loss, and of course - managerial powers and signature authorities. In your case - it should say that the LLC is single-member entity and the single member has all the managerial powers and authorities - what is called ""member-managed"". Every LLC is required to have an operating agreement, although you don't necessarily have to file it with the State or record it. If you don't have your own OA, default rules will apply, depending on your State law. However, the bank will probably not take you as a customer without an explicit OA."


It's absolutely going to come eventually. But making a $15 minimum will make it happen right away, and there will be a cascade effect because everyone down the line will want a raise as well, and companies will figure out how to get rid of those people as well.


Yea read a few books or watch some videos on YouTube on fundamental analysis and try it using excel. It's probably not what you'll be doing if you get a degree in finance, and you might even end up in accounting like I did, but its a good place to start to see if you like it or not.  It also exposes you to accounting, business, the politics of business, taxation, financial statements, EDGAR and all the other interesting and important stuff.  You might want to pick up a study guide for the CPA exam BEC. Lots of very interesting stuff in there about business in general including how the board of directors works, and taxation. It's an awesome read.


The best option for maximizing your money long-term is to contribute to the 401(k) offered by your employer. If you park your inheritance in a savings account you can draw on it to augment your income while you max out your contributions to the 401(k). You will get whatever the employer matches right off the bat and your gains are tax deferred. In essence you will be putting your inheritance into the 401(k) and forcing your employer to match at whatever rate they do. So if your employer matches at 50 cents on the dollar you will turn your 50 thousand into 75 thousand.


Considering I know people who don't give a rats ass about football but watch the Super Bowl for the halftime show, the commercials and the score, the NFL should be shelling out a big piece of those tickets to the performers and give away free ad time.


"You start with an error.  >a known disadvantaged minority.  This tells me that you buy into the liberal ""no man is responsible for himself"" bullshit. As you probably do not know, the poorest counties in the US are 95% white, but somehow you need to be a fucking minority to fit into your little box. [PROOF](http://dailycaller.com/2016/03/08/sanders-is-wrong-americas-poorest-counties-are-95-percent-white/)  If you would have bothered to click on the link I provided for your ass you would see that the assistance that we have been providing for 50 god damn years does not work.   In adult world we make decisions based on data, not what our social justice handlers tell us are disadvantaged minorities.. Read the links assmunch.   Here is my solution.  1.If you are willing to work and show progress we as a society will support that process. If you sit back and ""woe as me"" because you are a disadvantaged minority you can fuck right off.  2.If you as a regular person want to give them some money or start a charity because you feel bad about things we cannot measure, then fine. Has nothing to do with society owing you a thing. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Not a check for 50 years, like Detroit and Baltimore.  3.Family and Church support worked pretty well until the welfare society.   **'When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic.'**  -------------Ben Franklin"


My question is did the jobs that were between minimum wage and 15 scale appropriately during this time? I made 15 an hour doing roofing for a while and if this didn't cause a pay raise if do something with minimal effort.


Though a fan of ETFs (esp. high volume commission-free ones) recently a single, new fund VQT appeared on my radar of interest.  It's based on dynamic hedging that has sort of build-in diversification and adapts to the market climate, pulling in and out varying amounts from cash, the S&P 500 and volatility futures based on VIX. I've been Long VQT and it's followed the S&P500 during good times, though not at far, but crucially disconnected with much milder losses when the general market was nose diving.  You can lookup and compare to SPY at http://finance.google.com Not trying to give investment advice, in case that upsets some rules.


"Ok, I actually went and looked at the income statements for GE. They did not get a refund. They did not get a check from the government for the refund. This all took place between the balance sheet and the income statement. It goes down like this:  GE has on their books ""Deferred Tax Asset"" for XX billion dollars. This came from a year when they had an operating loss. They are carrying this loss forward as a deduction on their taxes (that's what makes it an asset, it's an asset to the company as it decreases their taxes).  For years, they've been reducing that Deferred Tax Asset account, and adding that amount to their ""Income After Tax"" amount. At the end of 2009, the amount they reduced that Deferred Tax Asset account by just so happened to be larger than the amount they decreased their income by due to taxable income that year.  For reference, their end of fiscal year 2009 pre-tax income is $9.864B, and their post tax income is $11.006B.  No one wrote them a check for the difference. It all comes from their own books.  If anyone else wants to look at the actual data and draw their own conclusions: https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3AGE&fstype=ii&ei=QSxpUNi4Kc3LiQKOZw On that page, click ""Annual Data""."


I was 24 when I bought my first piece of furniture, a rocking chair at a flea market. It was $12. I shopped at Sally's aka the Salvation Army and flea markets.   Both my mid-20s nieces have fully furnished homes and their mother and I aren't even dead yet. Both of us have way more STUFF than our relatively well-off parents ever had. I never thought about us being part of a larger issue, but yeah lots of fully furnished houses will be left to kids who already have fully furnished houses.


"Note - this is a complicated topic. I've read the rules multiple times and I'm still not sure I understand them perfectly. So please take this with a pinch of salt and read the rules for yourself. The time(s) at which a test is done against the LTA are known as a ""Benefit Crystallization Event"" (BCE). There are 13 of these (!) - they're numbered 1-9 with the addition of some extras numbered 5A-D. However, the most important ones for those with defined contribution pensions are: Broadly, the idea is that a BCE occurs when you start taking money out of your pension, and when you reach age 75. Each time one happens, the amount you are taking out (""crystallizing"") gets compared against the LTA and a certain percentage of your LTA gets designated as being used. Crystallising doesn't necessarily mean you actually receive the money immediately, just that some of your money is switched into a mode where you can start receiving it in different ways. The rules are designed to avoid double counting, so broadly anything that was taken off your LTA won't be taken off a second time. The cumulative use of your LTA is tracked as a percentage rather than an absolute amount, to take account of any changes in the LTA between the different times you crystallise money. For example if you crystallise £100K when the LTA is £1mn, that's 10% of your LTA gone. If later on the LTA has risen to £1.1mn and you take out £110K, that's another 10%. Once you hit 100%, you start paying a LTA charge on any excess. The really simple path here is if you just get an annuity with your entire pot, before hitting age 75 (and you don't make any further pension contributions after). Then only BCE 4 applies: your pension pot, all of which is being used to buy the annuity, is compared with the LTA. After this point your entire pension pot is considered to be crystallized, so no more BCEs will apply - the tests at age 75 only apply if you still have money that you haven't taken out or used to buy an annuity. The annuity payments themselves will be subject to income tax at your normal rate at the time you receive them, i.e. 0%, 20%, 40% or 45% depending on how much other income you have. In reality most people would want to take 25% of their pot as a lump sum at the same time as buying an annuity, given that it's tax-free if you're under the LTA. At this point BCE 6 applies in addition to BCE 4, but again the overall effect of the test is pretty simple, look at the total pension pot (lump sum + cost of annuity), and if it's under the LTA you're fine. Again, at this point no more BCEs will apply as all the money is considered to have been fully distributed. If you only use part of the money for an annuity/lump sum, then only that part of the money is compared against the LTA, and the rest stays in your pension and will be compared later. The 25% limit for a tax-free lump sum applies to the total you are taking out at that point: if you have £200K and are taking out £100K, you can take out £25K as a tax-free lump sum and use £75K for the annuity. The other £100K stays in your pension. Many people see annuity rates as very low and will want to take on more risk (and reward) by using ""Drawdown"" for at least part of their pension. Essentially, you can designate part of your pension for drawdown, and at that point BCE 1 applies to the money you designate. Once designated, you can start drawing the money out as income, which will be taxed at your normal income tax rate at the time you receive it. Again, you can take 25% as a lump sum at this point which will be subject to BCE 6. There's also an alternative route where you put everything into ""flexi-access drawdown"" without taking any lump sum immediately, and then as you actually withdraw income, 25% is tax-free and the rest is taxed as income. The overall effect is the same, but it gives you more control over when you get the tax-free bit. However, because with drawdown you can actually leave the money in your pension and growing tax-free, there's a further test against the LTA at age 75 under BCE 5A. To avoid double-counting (""prevention of overlap""), the amount left in the drawdown fund at that point is reduced by whatever was previously tested against BCE 1. So if you put £150K into drawdown initially, and it's grown to £200K by age 75, then another £50K will crystallise under BCE 5A. I think that if you put £150K into drawdown initially and it grows by £50K, but you take that out as income so that only £150K (or less) remains at age 75, then the amount crystallising under BCE 5A is nil. Also, when money is in drawdown, you can choose to use it to buy an annuity. BCE 4 is applied at this point (if before age 75), but as with BCE 5A, this is reduced by anything that was previously crystallised under BCE 1. If you only use some of it to buy an annuity, the reduction is pro-rataed, e.g. if you started out with £150K moved into drawdown, and later it has grown to £200K and you use £100K to buy an annuity, then the reduction is £75K so £25K is considered to have crystallised under BCE 4. Once you reach age 75, as well as any money that's still in drawdown, anything you haven't yet crystallised at all gets tested against the LTA under BCE 5B. Broadly, once you go over the LTA, the charges are simple: There's never any explanation given for these two rates, but I think it's all based on trying to at least cancel out the benefit you got from using your pension, on the assumption that: So with the 25% charge + 20% income tax, if you take out £100, you'll end up with £75 gross income, so £60 net income - just the same as if you'd originally paid 40% tax. (This ignores the effect of investment growth, but if you would have saved the £60 in an ISA, the end result is the same: if you had growth of say 50% over the time the money was in your pension, it'll be the same effect if you had £100 growing to £150 and now received 60% of it, or if you had £60 growing to £90 untaxed in an ISA.) The 55% lump sum charge is in case you are paying 40% tax when you take it out, to make sure that it's not a more attractive option than the 25%+income tax: if you have £100, either you get £45 tax free via a lump sum, or you get £75 gross and hence £45 net. I haven't covered lots of cases here: defined benefit pensions. Roughly, when you start receiving the pension, 20x the initial income from the pension is deemed to crystallise under BCE 2 and any lump sum you receive crystallises under BCE 6. In the former case, you could end up having to pay the LTA charge with money you haven't actually got yet, and you can ask the pension administrator to instead reduce your pension to pay it. However, there are lots of special cases for defined benefit pensions, mostly for historical reasons, so you should make sure you check with your pension administrator about this. if you die before age 75, at which point the LTA test is applied via either BCE 5C/5D, or BCE 7. After paying the LTA charge if any, your dependents or whoever else you leave it to gets the remainder tax-free. transferring overseas (BCE 8). ""scheme pensions"" under BCE 2 and BCE 3 (I think these are relatively uncommon) some corner cases covered by regulations (BCE 9)"


It's possible that a particular policy change would flip a company from profitable to unprofitable. It is even more likely that broader economic cycles put you out of business. Or a competitor gets a major business advantage. Or you make a bad management call.   Our government is set up to encourage moderate decisions through majority rule. The president has a lot of power for one man, but without congress he's got real limits. Even with congress, the filibuster means that the minority has some real teeth against extreme bills. This idiot is saying hey we weathered 4 years and grew under Obama including 2 of a democrat majority congress, and the worst recession in 80 years, but ANOTHER 4 years, well we just don't know.


Advertising in an essential tool for any sized business or individual who needs to promote their products or services. Advertising allows you to target a set group of individuals or a general population and publicize directly to them. Each business requires a different advertising strategy to complement their unique strengths and correspond with their goals.


It looks awesome and I wish that I had one.  There's the risk that they're losing money on the product, hoping to make it up when they sell enough units due to economies of scale. CNC units without touch screens and fancy alignment cameras cost 2k. If they don't sell enough units in time, maybe they'll have to close shop?  I worry that businesses that go to Kickstarter to get money might be doing it because everyone else that looked at their business plan turned them down. That's not always the case, of course.


What are the consequences if I ignore the emails? If you ignore the emails they will try harder to collect the money from you until they give up. Unlike what some other people here say, defaulting on a loan is NOT a crime and is NOT the same as stealing. There is a large number of reasons that can make someone unable to pay off a loan. Lenders are aware of the risk associated with default; they will try to collect the debt but at the end of the day if you don't have money/assets there is not much they can do.   As far as immigration goes, there is nothing on a DS-160 form that asks you about bankruptcies or unpaid obligations. I doubt the consular officer will know of this situation, but it is possible. It is not grounds for visa ineligibility however, so you will be fine if everything else is fine. The only scenario in which unpaid student loans can come up relevant in immigration to the US is if and when you apply for US Citizenship. One of the requirements for Citizenship is having good moral character. Having a large amount of unpaid debt constitutes evidence of a poor moral character. But it is very unlikely you'd be denied Citizenship on grounds of that alone.  I got a social security number when I took up on campus jobs at the school and I do have a credit score. Can they get a hold of this and report to the credit bureaus even though I don't live in America? Yes, they probably already have.  How would this affect me if I visit America often? Does this mean I would not ever be able to live in America? No. See above. You will have a hard time borrowing again.  Will they know when I come to America and arrest me at the border or can they take away my passport? No. Unpaid debt is no grounds for inadmissibility, so even if the CBP agent knows of it he will not do anything. And again, unpaid debt is not a crime so you will not be arrested.


eStamps NZ is the leading supplier of rubber and self inking stamps in New Zealand. Our unique online ordering platform allows you to design, modify and order your very own customised stamps online, in a matter of minutes. As the global leader in rubber stamp production, our quality is of the highest standards.


"> can I use venture like that in a financial context, or does it refer specifically to venture capital?  Yes, any business is a ""venture"" so to speak.   > so they would receive a smaller return, yes?  POSSIBLY yes.  Mezzanine investors are, well, ""middle"" investors. They're beyond seed and venture capital, but before more ""late-stage"" private investment. That doesn't *necessarily* mean they're ""after a seed or venture capital investment."" It can mean that, or it can simply mean the business is a little more advanced than a pure idea, or pre-revenue, etc.  Let's say a company is pre-destined to get to $100m in value IF it can secure funding. Naturally, later investors will have a smaller return. Of course, private investments are generally for smaller, younger companies, and thus are more risky, so an investor can still *lose* value in a private equity investment.  > Is mezzanine investing particularly profitable?  Yes, absolutely. You have to understand, with investments in private equity, firms and individuals are often looking for a *multiple* of their investment (i.e. if an investor invests $1m, they expect $2m, $3m, etc. back). This is not necessarily for all levels of private equity, but many levels will attempt this. Generally the idea (as far as I'm aware) is a 20% IRR (which means that generally, the investment grows by 20% *compounding* yearly).   > Secondly, why is dilution so important further down the road? Is it to do with valuation?  Absolutely. Let's think of our example earlier, where you, me, and Joe each own 33% at $300 total value.  If suddenly another company wants to buy ALL of our equity for $600, then we're all pretty happy. Each of us will get $200. HOWEVER, let's say Joe hadn't come along. If that other company *then* made an offer for $600, we'd both get *$300* for the company.   There's some other things about dilution too, such as the possible loss of control, but we'll save that for later.  > Finally, at what point would a company aim to meet an IPO? Is it case specific, or is there a general understanding of the ""best time""?  It's VERY case specific. In *most* cases, depending on the industry, the company will be relatively a bit older, have both revenue and profitability, and a history of operations. In some cases, companies like this will choose to *never* go IPO (such as the Big 4 auditing firms, for one, among others).   There are, of course, exceptions. Many smaller pharmacueticals are *pre-revenue* and are traded on the market. Tesla is getting revenue, but *not profitable* and it's on the markets as well. These are, naturally, riskier investments, but at least you've got liquidity to help a bit with that.   When a private equity (PE) firm is looking to exit (sell their stake) through an IPO, they will try to engineer the company to be as attractive as possible to public investors. In fact, many PE firms will stipulate specific terms, and possibly get control of the company from the owner, when they initially invest. But there's a lot that goes into it. Perhaps /u/wreckingcru or /u/Seraphinic can go into a bit more detail on PE exits as while it's my chief interest and my career goal, it's not quite where I'm at *yet.*"


"Umm...  Yes I *do* expect an Admiral to sit and type emails.  If not for ""work"" merely for occasionally sending emails to friends and family.  Not knowing how to use email also tells me that he's never shopped online or participated in a forum or any other service that requires an email address to sign up."


"Assuming ""take advantage"" means continue to build wealth, as opposed to blow it all on a fancy holiday...  Downgrade As you already note, you could downgrade/downsize. This could happen via moving to a smaller house in the same area, or moving to an area where the cost of buying is less.  HELOC Take out a Home Equity Line of Credit. You could use the line of credit to do home improvements further boosting the asset value (forced appreciation, assuming the appreciation to date is simply market based). Caution is required if the house has already appreciated ""considerably"" - you want to keep the home value within tolerance levels for the area. (Best not to have the only $300K house on a street of $190K-ers...) Home Equity Loan Assuming you have built up equity in the house, you could leverage that equity to purchase another property. For most people this would form part of the jigsaw for getting the financing to purchase again."


I just read the article and I'm not sure if the calculation is flawed. When they look at the single stocks. Do they always reinvest the dividends to the same stock? That would be quite unusual behaviour I think.  An investor who uses the buy and hold strategy  might have a bunch of companies which won't exist anymore in 20 or 30 years e.g. coal plants.  While many stocks are a good investment now. Reinvesting all the dividends for decades is obviously a bad decision for a large portion of the stocks.  Maybe I misunderstood the article. But what do you guys think?


"The fallacy in your question is in this statement: ""The formulas must exist, because prices can be followed real time."" What you see are snapshots of the current status of the stock, what was the last price a stock was traded at, what is the volume, is the price going up or down.  People who buy and hold their stock look at the status every few days or even every few months. Day traders look at the status every second of the trading day.  The math/formula comes in when people try to predict where the stock is going based on the squiggles in the line. These squiggles move based on how other people react to the squiggles.  The big movements occur when big pieces of news make large movements in the price. Company X announces the release of the key product will be delayed by a year; the founder is stepping down; the government just doubled the order for a new weapon system; the insiders are selling all the shares they can. There are no formulas to determine the correct price, only formulas that try to predict where the price may go."


AIUI credit cards report three main things. The potential problem with your strategy is that by pre loading you never actually get a bill and so your provider may not report your payments. Better to wait until the bill comes and then pay it in full. That ensures that your use of the card is properly reported.


There are a few options that I know of, but pretty much every one of them will cost more than you want to pay in fees, probably.  You should be able to write a check/cheque to yourself.  You might check with your US bank branch to see how much of a limit they'd have.  You can also use a Canadian ATM card at a US ATM.  The final option would be to use a Canadian credit card for all of your purchases in the US, and then pay the bill from the Canadian bank account.  I don't recommend the last option because if you're not careful to pay off the bill every month, you're running up debt.  Also, it's hard to pay some kinds of expenses by credit card, so you'd want a way to have cash available. Another option would be to use a service like Paypal or Hyperwallet to send yourself the money.  Again, you'd be paying fees, but these might be cheaper than what the bank would charge. There may be other options, but these are the ones I'm aware of.  Whatever you choose, look carefully at what the fees would be, and how long you'd have to wait to get the money.  If you can plan ahead a bit, and take larger chunks of money at a time, that should help keep the fees down a bit.  I believe there's also a point where you start having to report these transfers to the US government.  The number $10,000 stick in my head, but they may have changed that recently.


It is generally best to avoid such situations. Any credits to your accounts need to be explained to tax authorities whenever they enquire.  This cannot be treated as income as you did not work in exchange for the amount. It can be treated by tax authorities as GIFT. Gift upto certain amount is tax free. Beyond the amount its taxable. Gifts from close relatives has not amount limit and is tax free. Whenever the scrutiny happens, if you can convince the tax authorities that the action was more for convenience, it maybe fine.


You can and are supposed to report self-employment income on Schedule C (or C-EZ if eligible, which a programmer likely is) even when the payer isn't required to give you 1099-MISC (or 1099-K for a payment network now). From there, after deducting permitted expenses, it flows to 1040 (for income tax) and Schedule SE (for self-employment tax). See https://www.irs.gov/individuals/self-employed for some basics and lots of useful links. If this income is large enough your tax on it will be more than $1000, you may need to make quarterly estimated payments (OR if you also have a 'day job' have that employer increase your withholding) to avoid an underpayment penalty. But if this is the first year you have significant self-employment income (or other taxable but unwithheld income like realized capital gains) and your economic/tax situation is otherwise unchanged -- i.e. you have the same (or more) payroll income with the same (or more) withholding -- then there is a 'safe harbor': if your withholding plus estimated payments this year is too low to pay this year's tax but it is enough to pay last year's tax you escape the penalty. (You still need to pay the tax due, of course, so keep the funds available for that.) At the end of the first year when you prepare your return you will see how the numbers work out and can more easily do a good estimate for the following year(s). A single-member LLC or 'S' corp is usually disregarded for tax purposes, although you can elect otherwise, while a (traditional) 'C' corp is more complicated and AIUI out-of-scope for this Stack; see https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/business-structures for more.