Suppose everybody stopped all economic activity right now. No more work for others, no payments, no trade in kind or otherwise. Would average wealth stay the same? Of course not. Economic activity is not a zero sum game. Most of our economic activity is organized in the form of companies. If the companies manage to make more profits by doing useful things more efficiently, or when they find new useful things to do for profit, then not only the company's value grows but also the sum total of all useful things produced in the economy. That means it's not zero sum. When stock prices go up, that is often because the companies really have become more valueable.


Andrew Lilico has a likely scenario for when Greece defaults on its sovereign debt: What happens when Greece defaults.   Here are a few things: Every bank in Greece will instantly go insolvent. The Greek government will nationalise every bank in Greece. The Greek government will forbid withdrawals from Greek banks. To prevent Greek depositors from rioting on the streets,   Argentina-2002-style (when the   Argentinian president had to flee by   helicopter from the roof of the   presidential palace to evade a mob of   such depositors), the Greek government   will declare a curfew, perhaps even   general martial law. Greece will redenominate all its debts into “New Drachmas” or whatever   it calls the new currency (this is a   classic ploy of countries defaulting) The New Drachma will devalue by some 30-70 per cent (probably around 50 per   cent, though perhaps more),   effectively defaulting 0n 50 per cent   or more of all Greek euro-denominated   debts. As Megan McArdle says, there's more at the link, all depressing. I think you're focusing too much on Greece leaving the euro and not enough on why Greece would leave the euro. Greece would leave the euro precisely so that it could pay back its debt in a new currency worth less than valuable euros. The new currency will devalue, since that's the point of leaving. Along the way the government forces its citizens to take the new currency. The money they have in Greek banks will be converted to the new currency: The citizens don't have a choice to keep their euros.


"I don't disagree that many times psychologists can exaggerate or even present fabricated claims about human behavior only in an effort to rack in some extra money.   HOWEVER, any close to normal person can see that there are a whole lot of people with serious issues that nobody mentions to them (or they themselves are afraid to acknowledge) because they don't want to deal with all of the drama.   Anyway, let's see how legitimate the (25% of americans suffer from mental illness) claim is.    1)http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisories/1201185326.aspx   ""A new national report reveals that 45.9 million American adults aged 18 or older, or 20 percent of this age group, experienced mental illness in the past year. ""  http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisories/1201185326.aspx  2) http://wwwapps.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america.shtml  ""hen applied to the 2004 U.S. Census residential population estimate for ages 18 and older, this figure translates to 57.7 million people.2Even though mental disorders are widespread in the population, the main burden of illness is concentrated in a much smaller proportion — about 6 percent, or 1 in 17 — who suffer from a serious mental illness.""   ...You can find countless studies like this online.   Now, obviously somebody is thinking about pointing out, at this point, that all of these studies were conducted by psychologists or psychiatrists only trying to validate their initial claims and ultimately for economic benefit. And, well--if you that's your argument, then yes, you are absolutely right that there is absolutely no way ""prove"" that the 25% statistic is correct.   And, just to be clear, the term ""Mental Illness"" in this case(according to the above studies) is really anything from anxiety, to depression, to schizophrenia, personality disorders, and even more social things like compulsive lying. Obviously, the definition is very broad and that is precisely why the statistic(25%) is so shocking."


"I'd change my attitude a bit. ""I'm not very good with saving money, unless I know I need to.""  If you could act as if you absolutely needed to save, but took the subsidized loan and set it aside, you'd have a good start.  As a student, it would be difficult to raise money the way an established working person might. A low interest credit card, a 401(k) loan, Home Equity Loan, etc.  If you feel it would be too tempting to set it aside, don't take it. Your question is fine, but the answer isn't financial, it's behavioral."


"From IRS Publication 970 Tax Benefits for Education Note: Qualified tuition programs (QTPs) are also called ""529 plans.""  Changing the Designated Beneficiary There are no income tax consequences if the designated beneficiary of   an account is changed to a member of the beneficiary's family. See   Members of the beneficiary's family , earlier.  Members of the beneficiary's family. For these purposes, the beneficiary's family includes the   beneficiary's spouse and the following other relatives of the   beneficiary. regarding ownership changes: Rollovers Any amount distributed from a QTP isn't taxable if it is rolled over   to another QTP for the benefit of the same beneficiary or for the   benefit of a member of the beneficiary's family (including the   beneficiary's spouse). An amount is rolled over if it is paid to   another QTP within 60 days after the date of the distribution. Don't report qualifying rollovers (those that meet the above criteria)   anywhere on Form 1040 or 1040NR. These aren't taxable distributions. Example. When Aaron graduated from college last year, he had $5,000 left in his   QTP. He wanted to give this money to his younger brother, who was in   junior high school. In order to avoid paying tax on the distribution   of the amount remaining in his account, Aaron contributed the same   amount to his brother's QTP within 60 days of the distribution. So it appears that as far as the IRS in concerned the rollover could be done to change ownership as long as the beneficiary was in the same family. It is possible that there could be a state tax issue with the change of ownership, if it changed from a plan in state A to one in state B; and state A treated the original contributions as a tax deduction. So check the guidelines for the specific 529 plan."


"By ""basic public pension"" I assume you mean Social Security, which is pretty much the only quasi-universal pension-like thing in the USA.  If she has any other sort of pension (e.g., from a job) you'd need to get more specific info about that. As for Social Security, as described here: While you are working, your earnings will reduce your benefit amount only until you reach your full retirement age. According to the calculator on that site, if she is 65 now, her full retirement age would be 66, so if she retires after that age her SS benefit won't be reduced due to extra income. As described here, if she has considerable income apart from SS, she may have to pay taxes on her SS income.  This would not reduce her income, but means the benefit of her extra blog income would be reduced.  This page describes how to calculate your ""provisional income"" to determine whether SS benefits will be taxed.  According to that page: If your provisional income is less than $25,000 for single or head-of-household returns, or $32,000 for joint returns, then your Social Security benefits will not be taxed. Based on the numbers you gave, this suggests she would not incur an SS tax.  However, she should probably take a look at the Social Security retirement estimator and other tools on that site, if she hasn't already done so, to get a sense of what sort of income SS will be providing her. I'd suggest that she talk to a retirement planner and/or CPA to get a handle on what her finances would be like.  At the least, she should find someone knowledgeable about Social Security policies and tax issues in the USA.  As you say, you are unfamiliar with the way these matters work in the USA, so your ability to help her make financial decisions is limited."


How you use the metric is super important.   Because it subtracts cash, it does not represent 'value'.  It represents the ongoing financing that will be necessary if both the equity plus debt is bought by one person, who then pays himself a dividend with that free cash.   So if you are Private Equity, this measures your net investment at t=0.5, not the price you pay at t=0.  If you are a retail investor, who a) won't be buying the debt, b) won't have any control over things like tax jurisdictions, c) won't be receiving any cash dividend, etc etc .... the metric is pointless.


It seems very risky have all of your net worth in this one home. If I were to buy the house, I'm not sure I would put that much down, consider 20% and keep cash on hand, in retirement assets, etc. I would look at how much a mortgage, plus interest, taxes, insurance, etc. would cost with 50% down and with 20% down and see how that impacts your cash flow. Renting may make more sense, it's hard to tell without more specifics (NYTimes Rent/Buy calculator is a nice tool), but regardless, I would not want to have so much net worth tied into one asset and so would opt for less money down if I were to buy. Focus on rebuilding some retirement assets.


"Certain parts of the black-scholes model [d2 and N(d2)] are sometimes used to predict default (Merton model).   Furthermore, using options on the firms equity, one can derive the implied volatility of them firm. This can also be reflected in the above (Merton model) to calculate the ""risk"" or volatility of the firm's assets.   Honestly there are numerous ways one can use the B/S model to price a variety of things. Did they say anymore more specific?"


Well, don't turn the exception into the rule. Not everyone can make it into college, or make college work, or afford it. Not everyone can work 45 hours a week while going to school full time. For some people thats too much. Maybe they have kids. Maybe they have sick family members they care for, maybe they don't live on a bus route.


You have 2 out of 3 (income and good credit). That is usually a pass where I work. The job longevity may factor in if they are strict.   As for pay stubs, can you get a letter from your employer stating your start date and annual pay? Offer letters work just as well.


">One, I'm married.  lol sure  >Two, I'm considered fairly wealthy  Paying your mom 165$/month for the basement isn't ""considered wealthy""  In any case keep sinking your money into the internet hilarity machine.  All the rest of us are having a hoot!"


The Windfall Elimination Provision will possibly reduce your benefits from Social Security depending on how much money you receive as a pension from the TRS. Money that is earned toward your TRS pension will not have payroll taxes withheld, so it will certainly not count toward the calculation of your Social Security retirement numbers. Beyond that, this page from the Social Security Administration will help you calculate the impact on what you'll receive.


I am a freelancer based in Europe and I want to tell you: - if you are a freelancer, then you INVOICE your Swizzerland based client The word salary is improper. - So your client will DEDUCE the invoice from its taxes, and NOT pay income tax on top of that invoice. Because invoice = expense.  So, ONLY YOU pay income tax in India. Your client pays no tax at all, not in India, not in Swizzerland. As you are a freelancer and not employee, the company has no obligation to pay employer taxes for you. A company  has financial benefits from working with a freelancer.


Meh, it was probably a little of both the story and others I've seen call it a meeting that included a photo op with the president.  But I can see the logic there.  Not sure what principles you are referring to here.  But again, to each their own.  Everyone has their own set of principles.  They very rarely match up exactly with others especially across ideological lines.    I never said he should.  I said I was not surprised he didn't.  The real question is why should we care if he did or didnt.


"Ordinarily a stock split increases all shareholders' share counts, so that there is no change in anybody's voting power.  For example, if you owned 1% of the company before the split, after the split you now have twice as many shares, but there are now twice as many shares outstanding, so you still own 1% of the company.  Also, stock splits are not ordinarily ""triggered"".  Usually they happen when the board decides that for one reason or another it's desirable to increase the number of shares in circulation, which causes the price of each share to decrease proportionally.   I'm not familiar with the show, and in particular I don't know what the action is that the character being addressed is thinking of taking, but it sounds like they are describing something akin to a ""poison pill"".  In these arrangements, the ""pill"" is triggered by some predefined condition, say a party acquiring shares in excess of a defined threshold.  What typically happens is that shareholders other than the ones who triggered the pill get a chance to buy shares at a substantial discount, thereby diluting the shares of the party that triggered it.  Because the other shareholders have to buy their additional shares, albeit at a discount, and because it applies only to certain shares, it's not really a split, but it's close enough that the writers of the show may have felt it was worth using the term that is more familiar to the public."


"Don't know why you're being down voted here. If any one still thinks Trump was ever fit for office I'd personally be shocked. He's done so much more harm to America than good by being our president. Other countries laugh at us. America is a circus act and will remain so while he's in ""power"". I won't even say president because that just not the right term anymore imo."


"There is no ""standard"" way for personal accounting.  However, GNUCash default accounts set includes ""Expense: Adjustment"".  It is usually used by the community for reconciliation of unknown small money lost."


Regardless of your thoughts on what was happening in late 2012, financial prices should not be used as the sole barometer of a recovery...this is why the Fed uses tons of macroeconomic data, not just that BAC has been up 20% in the last 6 months.   My point is if you are going to tout what seems to be a market timing model, where the authors are proud of the fact that the entire thing is data mined,  you need strong out of sample evidence (over a few business cycles) that it works.  Nothing here comes close


On most of the consumer electronics it would not make much sense to get Insurance. Mostly these are not priced right [are typically priced higher]. IE there is no study to arrive at equivalent claim rates as in motor vehicle. Further on most of the items there is adequate manufacturing warranty to take care of initial defects. And on most it would make sense to buy a newer model as in todays world consumer electronics are not only getting cheaper by the day, but are also have more function & features.


I answered the first one, there is no time to train Americans in useful job skills because they are too busy with government schooling instead. As to the second question, I was being hyperbolic when I said 5-18 (school age). I do think teenagers could start to be trained in useful job skills, not prepubescent children though.


The Employee Benefits Security Administration within the US Department of Labor is tasked with keeping track of pension and 401K programs. The even have a website to search for abandoned plans: it helps participants and others find out whether a particular plan is in the process of being, or has been, terminated and the name of the Qualified Termination Administrator (QTA) responsible for the termination.  The Employee Benefits Security Administration discuss all types of details regarding retirement programs. This document What You Should Know About Your Retirement Plan has a lot of details including this: If your former employer has gone out of business, arrangements should   have been made so a plan official remains responsible for the payment   of benefits and other plan business. If you are entitled to benefits   and are unable to contact the plan administrator, contact EBSA   electronically at askebsa.dol.gov or by calling toll free at   1-866-444-3272. There are also EBSA offices spread thought the United States


This is a scam. There is no soldier, no money ... This is a story to gain sympathy and make one part with Bank account and other details so that the scammer can make away with your money.


In my mind, when looking at a five year period you have a number of options. You didn't specify where you are based, which admittedly makes it harder, to give you good advice. If you are looking for an investment that can achieve large gains, equities are impossible to ignore. By investing in an index fund or other diverse asset forms (such as mutual funds), your risk is relatively minimal. However there has historically been five year periods where you would lose/flatline your money. If this was to be the case you would likely be better off waiting more than five years to buy a house, which would be frustrating. When markets rebound, they often do it hard. If you are in a major economy, taking something like the top 100 of your stock market is a safe bet, although admittedly you would have made terrible returns if you invested in the Polish markets. While they often achieve lower returns than equity investments, they are generally considered safer - especially government issued bonds. If you were willing to sacrifice returns for safety, you must always consider them.  This is an interesting new addition, and I can't comment on the state of it in the United States, however in Europe we have a number of platforms which do this. In the UK, for example you can achieve ~7.3% returns YoY using sites like Funding Circle. If you invest in a diverse range of businesses, you have minimal risk from and individual company not paying. Elsewhere in Europe (although not appropriate for me as everything I do is denominated in Sterling), you can secure 12% in places like Georgia, Poland, and Estonia. This is a very good rate and the platforms seem reputable, and 'guarantee' their loans. However unlike funding circle, they are for consumer loans. The risk profile in my mind is similar to that of equities, but it is hard to say. Whatever you do, you need to do your homework, and ensure that you can handle the level of risk offered by the investments you make. I haven't included things like Savings accounts in here, as the rates aren't worth bothering with.


"I am at work now, so I will reply later.  **But this is especially for you, from today, [announcement from Trump](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/897079051277537280?s=09): ""Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council,he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!""**"


"Assuming no constraints on how much you can move (or how frequently) into and out of your offset mortgage account, the question becomes one of what rate of return you expect from your long-term savings/emergency cash fund. The rate you are getting from the offset mortgage account is known; since it reduces the principal amount owing and thus reduces interest charges, the return is the mortgage rate (though I would not be surprised if the offset mortgage account contract has bells and whistles reducing the effective rate, saying something like 3 pounds reduction of principal for every 5 pounds you put in). So, as a movie character once said, ""Do you feel lucky today?""  If so, move money from your offset mortgage account to savings, and earn more.  If not, move money in the opposite direction. A ""guaranteed"" 2% return on the offset mortgage account might be better than taking a risk on the vagaries of the stock market, and even the possibility of loss in your long term savings account."


Here is the technical guidance from the accounting standard FRS 23 (IAS 21) 'The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates' which states: Exchange differences arising on the settlement of monetary items or on translating monetary items at rates   different from those at which they were translated on initial recognition during the period or in previous   financial statements shall be recognised in profit or loss in the period in which they arise. An example:  You agree to sell a product for $100 to a customer at a certain date. You would record the sale of this product on that date at $100, converted at the current FX rate (lets say £1:$1 for ease) in your profit loss account as £100. The customer then pays you several $100 days later, at which point the FX rate has fallen to £0.5:$1 and you only receive £50. You would then have a realised loss of £50 due to exchange differences, and this is charged to your profit and loss account as a cost. Due to double entry bookkeeping the profit/loss on the FX difference is needed to balance the journals of the transaction. I think there is a little confusion as to what constitutes a (realised) profit/loss on exchange difference. In the example in your question, you are not making any loss when you convert the bitcoins to dollars, as there is no difference in the exchange rate between the point you convert them. Therefore you have not made either a profit or a loss.  In terms of how this effects your tax position; you only pay tax on your profit and loss account. The example I give above is an instance where an exchange difference is recorded to the P&L. In your example, the value of your cash held is reflected in your balance sheet, as an asset, whatever its value is at the balance sheet date. Unfortunately, the value of the asset can rise/fall, but the only time where you will record a profit/loss on this (and therefore have an impact on tax) is if you sell the asset.


I have a BA in Quantitative Economics. The only other two econ majors in my graduating class found GOOD work right away and 6 years later seem well onto their ways into a good careers. Same goes for one I knew the before us and one after. All but one of us had either a math or a stats minor.  I plan on returning to the industry later this year after teaching English abroad. Here is what I can tell you after reading tons of job postings and the experiences of my friends:  There is more demand now than ever, but demand is, as someone mentioned above, for a quantitative type. What I would like to say differently is that this doesn't have to be a deep mathematically based type of quantitative person like a quant. You could and should master the technology end of quantitative careers.  I strongly recommend taking a course that uses or teaches SAS for stats and/or SQL for relational database management. If you can get an internship in either of the two, especially the latter, then you should have numerous opportunities like a STEM major would. I would also reccomended learning some Python, especially for data science or management, and R, which is a programming language for data science. Anything else related to big data is good too.  The quantitative side of econ has been creeping into STEM for several years now and its respective career field should be viewed much more broadly than before.  Finally I'd like to share something I read on Gary Mankiw's blog a semester too late: test out various fields of work in econ while still in undergrad. See if you can get something quantitative like being a research assistant, something financial like investment banking, or something legal or political. Those categories might be a bit different today but I hope you got the point.


"See ""Structuring transactions to evade reporting requirement prohibited."" You absolutely run the risk of the accusation of structuring. One can move money via check, direct transfer, etc, all day long, from account to account, and not have a reporting issue. But, cash deposits have a reporting requirement (by the bank) if $10K or over. Very simple, you deposit $5000 today, and $5000 tomorrow. That's structuring, and illegal.  Let me offer a pre-emptive ""I don't know what frequency of $10000/X deposits triggers this rule. But, like the Supreme Court's, ""We have trouble defining porn, but we know it when we see it. And we're happy to have these cases brought to us,"" structuring is similarly not 100% definable, else one would shift a bit right."" You did not ask, but your friend runs the risk of gift tax issues, as he's not filing the forms to acknowledge once he's over $14,000."


With the inclusion of mobility, industrial internet and cloud coupled with Industry 4.0 framework ITC Infotech’s Supply Chain practice achieves transformational results for clients. A perfected mix of digitaligence, industry best practices and the latest supply chain and cloud solutions, helps reduce manufacturing lead times, increase asset utilization, streamline processes and facilitate better collaboration with partners and suppliers.


You could also start a business.  I ran a project called the Thousand Rand Challenge a few years ago in South Africa where we supported people in starting a business for about $100 each.  Some of them were surprisingly profitable. You can find a few ideas at the wiki site.


1. Rebate  2. Bid-Ask spread  3. Tactically increasing/decreasing inventory based on their view of the market  4. Picking off idiot traders (OTC markets, basically not passing orders on to the market when the counterparty has a low performance history).


people claim that these sites are scams  I would like to know which idiots or which website says so. And I would say you haven't done your research properly. At the bottom of the page you can see this, on IG's website, very important quote authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Plus500UK Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Secondly you go and check the authencity of the firm in question on this link. your money in, you might as well kiss it goodbye This might be true because they trade in products, which if you don't understand you will more or less will loose your money. N.B. I have an account with IG for the past 5 years and they haven't scammed me yet.


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"This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2017/06/16/Trillion-Dollar-Plan-Rebuild-World-Makes-China-New-Global-Leader) reduced by 91%. (I'm a bot) ***** > While most of the world wonders nervously what&#039;s next from the Trump White House, the confident China President Xi Jinping is shifting his bid for global leadership into a full-court press.  > Across the Pacific, China is busy making friends and partners out of neighbors once nervous about its buildup in the South China Sea.  > Nothing illustrates China&#039;s ambitious drive to take its place as a global leader more dramatically than Xi&#039;s &quot;Belt and Road&quot; project.   ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/6i275s/a_trillion_dollar_plan_to_rebuild_the_world_makes/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ ""Version 1.65, ~147457 tl;drs so far."") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr ""PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome."") | *Top* *keywords*: **China**^#1 **global**^#2 **us**^#3 **Trump**^#4 **Chinese**^#5"


"You can't run a business without making ""$$$"".   Good will and good intentions only go so far and they do not always equate to positive results. Capitalism rewards the positive results of proper decision making in the market place as businesses generate enough profit to allow them to stay afloat and expand, while those businesses that do not follow through with proper decision making reap negative results, fail and eventually go out of business. These are irrefutable facts which govern how capitalism works, i.e. success is rewarded, failure is punished and both of these results serve as lessons for all others in the marketplace who dare to heed these lessons based offered up by success and failure which are to be found in a capitalist economy.   So if the current market conditions dictate that allowing workers more free time, increased perks, etc will increase productivity and lead to success then it is only rational and reasonable for businesses to attend to the needs of their employees.   However if the costs of these perks begin to spiral out of control and/or are no longer relevant or favorable in the marketplace then cost cutting measures are needed to ensure that businesses are able to secure their profits and stay afloat. Those who do not rein in or alleviate these cost issues in their businesses will quickly go under as these costs eat out their bottom line and competitors move in to under-cut them in the market place. Nevertheless attempting to place some sort of emotional or political reasoning and judgment as to how and why businesses act in regards to cost cutting measures without first taking into account the reality of the circumstances in which they must operate in, i.e. having to make a profit in order to survive, is unreasonable and flat out childish."


"Any kind of credit contract such as a mobile phone contract (could be SIM only or with a handset) would also help increase your number of accounts and demonstrate a track record of responsible management and repayments. If you have a Pay As You Go phone at present consider a SIM only contract with the same network, and if your parents currently pay for your phone consider if it would be worth switching it into your own name. Also make sure that you are registered on the Electoral Role at your permanent address and have at least a minimum payment direct debit set up on your credit card (even though you state you intend to repay in full) to make sure you don't forget a payment as this will disproportionately affect your score when combined with young age and few other accounts. Lastly ensure that you have a decent amount of ""head room"" on your rolling credit accounts like credit cards and aren't using more than 80% of the credit available to you through your monthly spending, if necessary by asking for an increased limit from your company (and then not using it)."


because the market price for good investment advice isn't that low. investment advice is subject to market pricing just like any other good or service.  if you are good enough at investing that you seek increased volatility opportunities, you will have no trouble finding investors willing to give you a share of the upside without any of the downside risk.


The price doesn't have to drop 5% in one go to activate your order. The trailing aspect simply means your sell trigger price will increase if the current value increases (it will never decrease).


"Yes, CDOs certainly allow the investor to choose the tranche they want to invest in. As you said, lower risk higher priority tranches get paid first but also have a lower coupon rate. The higher risk lower priority (""junior"" or ""mezzanine"") tranches pay last, if it all, but have higher coupons."


From what I've seen, balance is great. 10 hour days usually unless things get crazy. But the salary potential seems great too. 100k with bonus as an analyst/associate for 10 hour days seems like a great gig. Plus, you're reporting to the CRO which gives great visibility


The cap loss can be used to offset future gains or $3000/yr of ordinary income. (I just used up the last of mine from the dot com bubble.) I hope you have future gains that let you use this up quickly.  The IRS debt is separate, and I don't imagine they'll let you use any of the loss to offset it. As always, it can't hurt to ask. Their normal payment plans are for 5 years. $40k/yr is a lot.  Edit - The IRS does negotiate. I recall, from the dot-com bubble, instances where someone exercised stock grants, but kept the shares. Now, they had a $1M gain, but after year end, the stock crashed. They owed tax on that gain, but the loss was in the next tax year, with nothing to offset. These people were 'regular' guys and gals, no background in finance. I understand the IRS looked at these people and made some exceptions.


> Monetizing the internet outside of advertising would be a boon to the economy and jobs....people just can't see it.  Yeah of course it would be. No one is disputing that.  > If everyone paid for things, you know like pre-internet...  Okay, junior, so how are we going to get people to pay for things?


"Only a Cuck would take the words of /u/AlwaysThoughtful over the claims of NeoNazi leadership. They even said ""we were not specifically condemned. That's good"".  When professional racists endorse Donald Trump, support Donald Trump, and want to work with Donald Trump... and he does nothing to condemn them (and walks back what little condemnation he publicly made on Twitter as ""they made me read a statement."")... yeah. Definitely no connection there.   Trumptards really are the bots from Westworld. They can't see anything dear leader didn't program them to see."


All the manufacturers exporting things from China.  When they mention a supposed lack of consumer demand in the USA they fail to account for the heavy balance of payments deficit, [$124 billion in the last quarter of 2011](http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/glance.htm).  If there's no demand, as the Keynesians claim, how come the US is buying so much stuff from other countries? There seems to be plenty of demand, the US is just unable to manufacture the products its citizens want.   The real problem is lack of production capability. The industrial base of the US has too many obsolete plants. And the companies cannot modernize with the current tax regulations, they are unable to depreciate those obsolete plants fast enough to build new ones that could compete with the foreign corporations.


So if you manage to save enough to have a $40k/year source of income, you would want to tax it heavily so they are forced into poverty for the rest of their retirement life?  I'd rather we just let people help themselves and not tax them into a bad spot so that we can help people


My wife and I are both Canadian citizens living in the US with green card status.  I still have a Canadian RRSP and bank account in Canada that are dormant for the most part.  We use the Canadian debit card only when traveling (which is quite helpful). Neither of us file any paperwork in Canada anymore.  But as others have mentioned, we do file the FBAR form... this takes about 10 minutes and gets mailed somewhere in Michigan if I recall correctly.  (Keep the balance less than $10k total among all foreign accounts and you relieve yourself of this too.) As far as taxes go, we make less interest in our Canadian account than in our US accounts, so the tax burden is less.


You have no clue what you are talking about!  It's all natural progress of Retail.   When Sears sent its first catalogs, it killed most rural stores.   When Mr. Goldman invented the shopping cart, and Supermarkets were possible, it killed most grocery stores.  When department stores started, they killed most specialty stores.  When Amazon started, and on-line shopping, it killed all book stores and many other stores.  When 3D printers get fast and more versatile, the made-to-order will kill Amazon.  Etc, etc, etc...


OK 40k vs 10k per year.   That's 120k in loans difference.  At 6% interest over 20 years that's roughly 200k (10k) a year to pay for school.  Do you really think most people will get 10k a year extra because they when to Berkeley instead of Iowa state?


Why has no one reported on the declining market share of whole foods? Walmart was able to strategically target their customer and go after them. You'll never hear Walmart say this, but I secretly think they are celebrating this acquisition.


If anyone offers you guaranteed better than average returns, run. They are either lying to you or to themselves. (Claiming that they will try to beat the market is more credible, but that becomes a matter of whether there is any reason to believe that they'll succeed.) If anyone sends you an unsolicited stock tip, run. They wouldn't be doing so if it wasn't an attempt to manipulate you or the market or both. Most likely its a pump-and-dump attempt.


I used to trade power for a closed end hedge fund.   Yes, weather derivatives are very important.  They help power traders / utilities hedge for unaccountable variables, IE weather.  For example, lets say it costs a utility $50 an hour to produce power for the load when it is 80 degrees outside.  Lets say I trade the contract with them to guarantee the weather will be under 80 degrees.  If the weather is higher than 80 degrees, more people turn in their AC, the load on the grid goes up, and the utility has to start generating power at $70 an hour.    Under this contract, I would be liable to pay the utility the net difference in their cost (the additional $20 per hour they generate per mw).  In that case I am a loser.  If the power comes in under 80 degrees, I make money as I priced (sold) the contract at a premium according to the risk I calulated for offereing the contract.  This has many many applications, but yes, its not a weird thing to trade.  Hope this helps.


>The US government debt is how much USD the government has paid the US non-government in excess of what it's taxed them. Correct?  Incorrect.  The US debt/savings is the balance of credit the US government maintains with US banks, and foreign sovereigns/banks.  Why do you need to say it another way?    WTF is 'non-government' savings?  Other than an academically retarded way of saying  'debt' of course?  Its not a bad thing...  unless interest rates rise.  But this time is different, so that'll never happen.  I'm sticking to my initial assessment.  Fairyland.


The staff of such companies should be highly experienced in their job and updated with latest developments and they should be aware of different kinds of garbage and, especially the hazardous ones.Moreover, they should be trained to deal with different kinds of hazardous substances Sydney and have the knowledge of the risks associated with them.


Willy Hicks Paving is the go-to resource for all paving services in Chester and the surrounding areas.We can help you with paving, seal coating, tar and chip, and so much more. Whether you’re creating a driveway or need a parking lot, our experienced contractors can handle any size job.Call today for a free estimate on your next project!


Actually, you're missing the key feature of CDOs.  Most CDOs use (much to our economic misery, ultimately) a system call tranching.  To simplify this idea, I'll make a two tranch example.  Suppose I buy mortgages covering a face value of $120,000,000.  Because they are subprime, if I just put them in a pool and finance them with bonds, the rating will be lousy and most investors will shun them (at least investors who are safety oriented).  What I do is divide them into two tranches.  One bond issue is for $100,000,000 and another for $20,000,000.  The idea is that any defaulting mortgage comes out of the latter bond issue.  I'll probably keep these bonds (the lower tranch).  Thus buyers of the first issue are safe unless defaults exceed $20,000,000.  Then the rating agencies rate the first issue AAA and it gets snapped up by investors.  In a strict sense it is overcollateralized, basically the entire $120,000,000 backs up the first bond issue. In reality, many CDOs had multiple tranches, with the lowest tranch being retained by the underwriters and the other tranches sold as bonds of various ratings.


"It's an interesting point that leaves me conflicted. In some sense being poor also means you are not going to get the same education, or the same value from education made available to you.  On the other hand, education seems to be universally empowering, and therefore we try to make it universally available. If the same is true of various enhancements, should we not make them also universally available? For me the ""if"" is still too big."


"The point is that you need to figure out when a ""business expense"" is actually just a personal purchase. Otherwise you could very easily just start a business and mark all of your personal purchases as business expenses, so you never have to pay income taxes because you're handling all of your money through the untaxed corporation."


Well sure, but instead of credit card receivables, car loans, etc, the underlying assets are other ABS/MBS/CLOs...so it's an order of magnitude more securitization. And those aren't happening anymore. ABS is definitely active though, and it's a good thing too!


1.) The majority of credit and loans do not go to publicly traded companies.   2.) Companies can and do trade commodities with paper.   3.) Can't keep up with all the crazy you are spouting.   Smart people lose their shirt in commodities all the time, it's not a fun place to play. If you really believe the majority of publicly traded companies are going to lose their value, then invest in them when they do. Money always has to go somewhere. Insurance, pensions, governments, businesses, don't like to just have cash sit there because nothing happens (you can point to Apple, etc but they're making acquisitions) anyways, they need to buy and sell and will always have to do it.   My last piece of advice, look up the Hunt brothers.


Should not be on economy.  It's essentially a opinion item slanted to the folks eliminating coal completly with no replacement plan in place. The anti coal plan was really putting in an acceleration of banning coal use while also flowing Down nuclear options and trying to destroy our natural gas production and transmission. That was what would have harmed the economy in a big way.


"This actually works for some products, e.g. people are OK with paying a premium for ""fair trade"".  There are also ""buy one give one"" programmes where people pay an extra to feel good about their purchase. It works if you  have clear marketing."


Bermis Inc has a team of industrial electricians that can handle all of your electrical construction and maintenance needs.  This includes lighting retrofits, single equipment installs, full production lines to complete plant relocations and incoming service upgrades.


@foreverBroke - Ok, here are the questions - Is mom's house paid for in full? If there's any mortgage, is it current? If not, what are the numbers? Is it underwater, i.e. owe more that it's worth?  Will the tax department talk to you and negotiate? Maybe let you make payments over time? If you have that kind of cash flow, the slower payment may keep you from killing your savings.  We don't know your age. I do know that the early years savings, often around the first 8-12 years, are the funds that turn into half your final retirement savings due to compounding.  Obviously, this a tough time emotionally, what I don't want is for you to make a financial move that is a temporary fix. Not knowing the rest of the story limits my answer. If my mom needed my help I'd want to understand the whole picture.  Not that I'm a fan, but have you considered a reverse mortgage? It may be a way to keep the house but give up the equity, or some of it, on her moving out or passing.


No. Firstly I think that free market economic theories of healthcare are ungrounded because there is no such thing as consumer who can make properly informed customer.  And secondly, an economist can never understand the risks associated with healthcare because they will never have a patient die as a result of their decision making. Being an economist is a trivial job when compared to being a doctor. Losing money is not remotely the same as inadvertently causing a patient's death.  So they will never really understand the forces that motivate the healthcare economy.


Data mining + uber connections can land you in with a hedge fund. I would focus on being as social as possible, joining business clubs / connected fraternities and enrolling in CFA 1 to maximize your chances. A solid connection will get you further faster than anything else.   I'm going to say that the graduate classes you take won't be as relevant at the Msc at the end of your name.


> A well functioning legal system is consistent with capitalism.  The only well functioning legal system consistent with capitalism is the one bought and paid for by corporations that lobby for laws favorable to themselves, and for the abolishment of regulations that protect workers and consumers and safeguard our economy.


After a 6% commission to sell, you have $80K in equity. 20% down on a $400K house.  5% down will likely cost you PMI, and I don't know that you'll ever see a 3.14% rate.  The realtor may very well have knowledge of the cost to finish a basement, but I don't ask my doctor for tax advice, and I'd not ask a realtor for construction advice. My basement flooring was $20/sqft for a gym quality rubber tile. You can also get $2/sqft carpet. I'd take the $15K number with a grain of salt until I got real bids. What's there now? Poured cement? Is there clearance to put in a proper subfloor and still have adequate ceiling height? There are a lot of details that you need to research to do it right.  That said, the move to a bigger house impacts your ability to save to the extent that you are taking too large a risk. The basement finish, even if $20K, is just a bit more than the commission on your home. I like the idea of sticking it out. Once the nanny is gone, enjoy the extra income, and use the money to boost your savings and emergency funds.  As I read your question again, I suggest you cut the college funding in favor of the emergency fund. What good is a funded college account if you have no funds to sustain you through a period of unemployment?  There's a lot to be gained in holding tight for these 3 years. It seems that what's too small for 5 would be spacious once the nanny is gone and the basement added. The cost of a too-big house is enormous over the long run. It's going to rise in value with inflation, but no more, and has all the added costs that you've mentioned. On a personal note, I'm in a large house, with a dining room that's used 2 or 3 times a year, and a living room (different from family room) that is my dog's refuge, but we never go in there. In hindsight, a house 2/3 the size would have been ideal.   Finishing the basement doesn't just buy you time, it eliminates the need for the larger house.


For a complete example, do a little research on Monticello MN FiberNet. The project took 7 years to get going, including a court battle. The incumbent ISP fought tooth and nail to stop competition.  Now you can get 30 mb up/down fiber for $50/month. Probably one of the best prices you'll find anywhere in the state. And that scares every shitty dsl provider around.  Source: Minnesotan, not from Monticello and currently paying $30/mo for 3/1.5 mb dsl and getting shitty fucking customer service.  edit: Android thinks I shouldn't curse.


"This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://aeon.co/essays/how-did-usury-stop-being-a-sin-and-become-respectable-finance) reduced by 96%. (I'm a bot) ***** > So just when and how did most bankers stop seeing their work in moral terms?  > In his Divine Comedy of the 14th century, the Italian poet Dante Alighieri put the usurers in the seventh circle of Hell; in the case of Reginaldo Scrovegni, one Paduan banker singled out by Dante, his son ended up commissioning a chapel painted with frescoes by Giotto to expiate the family&#039;s sin.  > So what would the Scholastics make of modern finance? Would they admire how efficiently a family&#039;s savings can find productive uses? Or would they decry how developing countries pay more to borrow than rich ones? Would they marvel at our banks&#039; international reach? Or would they condemn how poor people pay for banking services such as checking accounts that rich people get for free?   ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/6mhfiw/how_did_usury_stop_being_a_sin_and_become/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ ""Version 1.65, ~164022 tl;drs so far."") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr ""PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome."") | *Top* *keywords*: **bank**^#1 **interest**^#2 **money**^#3 **usury**^#4 **people**^#5"


Oh yeah.  I used to rent a room from my buddy for awhile.  He had an unused heated garage.  He decided to remodel it, ad a full bathroom and kitchenette.   This summer, he made $4500 per month on Airbnb rentals.  He no longer needs roommates.  This is only good for the few that have homes to rent out.  It is a good idea that has gotten out of control.  Airbnb has been and will continue to drive up rental prices.  The market can't handle these sort of price strains long term, it is simply not sustainable for the average Joe.


Real Estate potentially has two components of profit, the increase in value, and the ongoing returns, similar to a stock appreciating and its dividends.   It's possible to buy both badly, and in the case of stocks, there are studies that show the typical investor lags the market by many percent.  Real estate is not a homogeneous asset class. A $200K house renting for $1,000 is a far different investment than a $100K 3 family renting for $2,000 total rents. Both exist depending on the part of the country you are in.  If you simply divide the price to the rent you get either 16.7X or 4.2X. This is an oversimplification, and of course, interest rates will push these numbers in one direction or another. It's safe to say that at any given time, the ratio can help determine if home prices are too high, a bargain, or somewhere in between.  As one article suggests, the median price tracks inflation pretty closely. And I'd add, that median home prices would track median income long term.  To circle back, yes, real estate can be a good investment if you buy right, find good tenants, and are willing to put in the time.  Note: Buying to rent and buying to live in are not always the same economic decision. The home buyer will very often buy a larger house than they should, and turn their own 'profit' into a loss. e.g. A buyer who would otherwise be advised to buy the $150K house instead of renting is talked into a bigger house by the real estate agent, the bank, the spouse. The extra cost of the $225K house is the 1/3 more cost of repair, utilities, interest, etc. It's identical to needing a 1000 sq ft apartment, but grabbing one that's 1500 sq ft for the view.


I operate machinery and drive for work but if I was drug tested I would fail... Yet I am not stoned at work. Am I more dangerous than my Co worker who comes in hung over everyday still smelling like booze. I get stoned at night, eat some Cheetos and go to bed. Why is what I do in my spare time a concern. Marijuana stays in your system for like 30 days, just because you test positive doesn't mean you are stoned.


Yeah thats why you dont go to work under the influence thats kind of common sense i fail to see your point here. A guy who drinks beer at dinner shouldn't be hired ??  >On the other hand, grades of individuals who moderated their use of alcohol and marijuana saw their GPA improve in subsequent semesters.  Yeah idk what your point is with this article either.


"I think the other answers raise good points.  But to your question, ""How do I find an honest financial adviser"" ask your friends and family.  See who they talk to and confide in.  Go meet that person, understand what they do and how they view things and if you gel, great.  Honesty and strong ethics exist in individuals regardless of laws. What is it you're trying to accomplish?  You just have some money you want to put aside?  You want to save for something?  You want to start a budget or savings plan?  Your first step may be talking to a tax person, not an investment adviser.  Sometimes the most significant returns are generated when you simply retain more of your earnings and tax people know how to accomplish that.  You're just graduating university, you're just going to get your first job.  You don't need to hunt for the right heavy hitter 30% gains generating financial adviser.  You need to establish your financial foundation.  Crawl, walk, then run. There are some basics (that transcend international borders).  If you don't know much about investing, most (if not all) retirement and individual brokerage type accounts will give you access to some kind of market index fund.  You don't need to multinationally diversify in to high fee funds because ""emerging markets are screaming right now.""  Typically, over a few years the fees you pay in the more exotic asset classes will eat up the gains you've made compared to a very low fee market index fund. You can open free accounts at a number of financial institutions.  These free accounts at these banks all have a list of zero commission zero load funds, all have something resembling an index fund.  You can open your account for free, deposit your money for free, and buy shares in an index fund for free."


"I would use a ""virtual credit card"" which is basically a fake card that cannot be charged.  http://credit-card-generator.2-ee.com/q_virtual-credit-card-generator.htm"


Often times the commission fees add up a lot. Many times the mundane fluctuations in the stock market on a day to day basis are just white noise, whereas long term investing generally lets you appreciate value based on the market reactions to actual earnings of the company or basket of companies. Day trading often involves leverage as well.


Corrupt country leaders will probably rape it dry for their personal gains. Next thing you know, the secretary of state is getting $100000 loan with 1 percent interest when the country national bank lending money to its people at 25% percent interest.


Yes, but it's *other institutional speculators* they are exploiting, as I made clear in my message. i.e. they prey on the people who prey on the small investors. The man on the street being upset about it is just completely stupid. It does not affect them one iota.  Also, it's worth pointing out that the amount of revenue generated by HFT is absolutely miniscule compared to all other forms of speculation. The return is somewhere around $1 for every $100,000 traded. So, even when a majority of trades in a market are HFT, a very small proportion of the profits are.


Uh...2017 MSRP for a Camry is [$23,070](https://www.google.com/search?q=toyota+camrt+price&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8), [$22,455](https://www.google.com/search?q=toyota+camrt+price&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=2017+honda+accord+msrp) for an Accord, and [$27,110](https://www.google.com/search?q=f150+price&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) for a F-150. None are close to the $35,000 asked for a Model 3.  EDIT: I fucking love Reddit, where you get downvoted for posting *facts*! Can the Tesla groupies cool it and actually read what I am writing?


But if it's possible, an example of it should exist, and it doesn't.  That Roman Democracy example?  The rich got so very rich at the end of the Roman republic that they could raise their own armies, and they did.  The strongest great-nephew was left standing.  It was a problem of too-great wealth accumulation; something that's happening now, and would happen without pause in the sort of society you envision.  Strongman.   The problem of monopoly exists in your libertarian paradise as well, but the definition of the society does not allow a solution.  We have trust busters; at least we have in the past and so can envision having them in the future.  Those violent deaths in what you call anarcho-societies were a feature, not a bug.  How would your envisioned society settle differences?


Networking encompasses many types of devices and there are now better or cheaper competitors to Cisco in each category. Off the top of my head there's Juniper and Huawei for routers and switches, Palo Alto Networks for firewalls, and F5 and Citrix Netscalers for load balancing. Physical gear aside, more and more networking functionality can be handled through software instead of dedicated hardware as well. Companies like Facebook and Google design their own networking equipment and have it contract-built as well.  There's also a war going on between the old guard enterprise tech companies where they're poaching each others territory in search of growth. Cisco makes (good but pricey) blade servers while HP makes networking equipment, etc.  Cisco's far from dead but they're no longer a growth company and need to stay nimble if they want to survive. Fortunately they do seem to understand the current environment and announcements like this should ensure their future.


Partnerships don’t work out unless you clearly define the roles and relationships, hence why most partnerships fail (I usually cringe when I hear partnerships). Also a background check never hurts (think citizenship ID cards). Having a good lawyer helps as well.  I think demonizing an entire country/ethnicity for the failure of your partnership is misguided, but that’s usually how our thinking defaults to when we’re stressed like this. Being emotional is not a trait of good business acumen. Would it make you feel better if you were being lied to by Brits,Indians,Israelis,Nigerians,etc?   You having lived in China for over 10 years should have taught you that there is a get rich quick mentality over there. Hopefully you didn’t put too much money into this venture. I would definitely look into what they are doing in China. Are they break any laws over there? Is your business in compliance with import/export controls in China & US? Is this business relationship still salvageable or should you just walk away?  Most people are not cut out for starting their own business. You might also need to support your wife in the infant stages of this enterprise or hire someone as her assistant. Looks like you have A LOT of work/discussing/brainstorming/debating with your wife before you even get into it with the partners.


I don't do this at all, but it's the internet, so hey, why not?  According to the IRS, penalties and fines are only non-deductible when they are paid for actual violations of laws/regulations.    So what crushedbyadwarf said is probably correct.  The penalty/fine reduces their income, and they become entitled to a refund on the tax they paid on that income.  It's still a questionable tax treatment of the penalty/fine.


"He's pretty much correct now though. You either have to pick one of the few fields that will guarantee high pay in the future, or work a trade instead.  Any ""lesser"" degree is literally worthless now because everyone has them."


"Before anything, I see that no one mentioned the one thing about 401(k) accounts that's just shy of magic - The matching deposit. In 2015, 42% of companies offered a dollar for dollar match on deposits. Can't beat that.  (Note - to respond to Xalorous' comment, the $18K OP deposits can be nearly any percent of his income. The typical match is 'up to' 6% of gross income. If that's the case, the 401(k) deposits are doubled. But say he makes $100K. The $18K deposit will see a $6K match. This adds a layer of complexity to the answer that I preferred to avoid, as I show with no match at all, and no change in tax brackets, the deferral alone shows value to the investor.) On to the main answer - Let's pull out a spreadsheet -  We start with $10,000, and assume the 25% bracket. This gives a choice of $10,000 in the 401(k) or $7500 in the taxable account. Next, let 20 years pass, with 10% return each year. The 401(k) sees the full 10% and after 20 years, $67K. The taxable account owner waits to get the 15% cap gain rate and adjusts portfolio, thus seeing an 8.5% return each year and carrying no ongoing gains. After 20 years of 8.5% returns, he has $38K net. The 401(k) owner on withdrawal pays the 25% tax and has $50K, still more than 25% more money that the taxable account. Because transactions within the account were all tax deferred.  EDIT - With respect to davmp's comment, I'll offer the other extreme -  In his comment, he (rightly) objected that I chose to trade every year, although I did assign the long term 15% cap gain rate, he felt the annual trade was my attempt to game the analysis. Above, I offer his extreme case, a 10% return each year, no trade, no dividend. Just a cap gain at the end. The 401(k) still wins. I also left the tax (on the 401(k)) at withdrawal at 25%, when in fact, much, if not all will be taxed at 15% or lower, which would put the net at $57K or 30% above the taxable account final withdrawal.  The next issue I'd bring up is that the 401(k) is taken out at the top (marginal) tax rate, e.g. a single filer with taxable income over $37,650 (in 2016) would save 25% on that 401(k) deduction. Of course if the deduction pulls you under that line, I'd go Roth or taxable. But, withdrawals start at zero. Today, a single retiree has a standard deduction ($4050) and exemption ($6300) for a total $10,350 ""zero bracket"" with the next $9275 taxed at 10%. This points to needing $500K in pre tax accounts before withdrawals each year would get you past the 10% bracket. (This comes from the suggestion of using 4% as an annual withdrawal rate).  Last - the tax discussion has 2 major points in time, deposit and withdrawal, of course. But, the answers here all ignore all the time in between.  In between, you see that for any number of reasons, you'll drop from the 25% bracket to 15% that year. That's the time to convert a bit of money to Roth and 'top off' the 15% bracket. It can happen due to job loss, marriage with new spouse either not working or having lower income, new baby, house purchase, etc.  Or in-between, a disability put you out of work. That permits you to take money out with no penalty, and little chance of paying even the 25% that you paid going in. This, from personal experience with a family member, funded a 401(k) with 28% money. Then divorced and disabled, able to take the $10K/yr to supplement worker's comp (non taxed) income."


">> reducing regulation > You do know that monopolies and mega corporations are bad for consumers  Reducing regulations is FIRST(!) to help small business, because only big companies can handle regulations. Please study economics first.  >> killing the PTT  > Debatable at best.   Really? The TPP is still alive and will be voted and accepted by the USA under Trump? Yes or no?  >>killing NAFTA  > See above.  Really? Does president Trump support NAFTA, yes or no? Does he act against NAFTA, yes or no? Do you honestly think that NAFTA will continue unchanged under Trump, yes or no? **Best question, is NAFTA, signed by Clintons, a good thing, yes or no?**  >>reducing immigration  > Well, there's actually pretty strong evidence that increased immigration has a net positive impact on an economy.  Absolutely not. Legal immigration of qualified people is Ok, but they take jobs from Americans who are as qualified as them.  Trump is not against immigration!!!! He's against illegal aliens  who are criminals, uneducated, religious crazies, etc. There's zero benefit to the USA and economy from those people.  >> investing in infrastructure  > I guess this depends on the type...  Does Trump invest in infrastructure and has big plans to invest in it? Yes or no. No stories please.  >> pulling out from wars (Syria)  > When was the last time bombing a foreign country was used as a strategy for pulling out of a war?   Under Obama, 8 years, constant war with MORE countries and places. Yes or no?  Under Trump, he killed the CIA ""program"" to ""support the ""rebels"" against Assad"". Read about it, but not on fake-news MSM channels, where you won't find it.  Under Obama, the war in Syria and the disastrous ""Arab Spring"" started ONLY BECAUSE the USA did not support the strong leaders tyrant Arabs have. Arabs are not ready for democracy. In the case of Syria, which I am extremely familiar with, under Assad and his father, Christian, majority Sunni and even Jews and Druze were safe and the Assad(s) did not hurt them. Assad is in power because he's part of the 20% minority Alawites (most secular Muslims you can find) which the majority Muslim Sunnis (the craziest of the Muslims) want to kill. So, instead of support Assad, the USA actively supported the ""rebels"" who are far worse than the Alawites.  And I don't want to discuss ISIS with you which is only because of the actions of the USA."


Yes, nepotism is rampant everywhere, but these examples are not comparable to the likes of Samsung. Samsung is a large portion of Korean GDP. East Asian corporations do nepotism in a way that Trump could only dream. This has a lot to do with modern Confucianism.


"First of all you do not ""co-sign a car"". I assume what you mean by this is that you co-signed a loan, and the money was used to buy a car. Once you signed that loan YOU OWED THE MONEY. Once a loan exists, it exists, and you will owe the money until the loan is paid. If you do not want to owe the money, then you need to pay back the money you borrowed. You may not think ""you"" borrowed the money because the car went to someone else. THE BANK AND THE COURTS DO NOT CARE. All they care about is that YOU signed the loan, so as far as they are concerned YOU owe the money and you owe ALL of the money to the bank, and the only way to change that is to pay the money back."


"This arrangement is a scam to get around certain tax and benefits laws, both State and Federal. I know they can't get away with this with a person-as-contractor, but this ""he's not a contractor, he's a business owner"" may move it into a gray area. (I used to know this stuff cold, but I've been retired for a while.) The fact that they asked you to do this is at all is, IMNSHO, a Red Flag®. They think that this way they won't be paying 1/2 your FICA, your Workman's Comp, health insurance, overtime, sick leave or vacation time ... you will. A somewhat simplistic rule of thumb for setting contracting rates is to take your targeted annual salary as a full-time, full-benefits employee and double it. So $50,000 becomes $100,000 a year; $25/hour becomes $50/hour. You can tell them that driving to their workplace from your company's location is now a ""site visit"" and charge them your hourly rate for the one-way commute time. You could also tell them that your company charges 150% for hours worked over 40 hours/week, plus 150% on Saturdays and 200% on Sundays. Your company may also have a minimum 30 days notice of termination with a penalty kicker. Get it all in writing and signed by someone who has the authority to sign it. Also, Get A Lawyer. The most expensive contracts I've ever signed were ones I thought I was smart enough to draw up myself."


"The definition you cite is correct, but obscure. I prefer a forward looking definition. Consider the real investment. You make an original investment at some point in time. You make a series of further deposits and withdrawals at specified times.  At some point after the last deposit/withdrawal, (the ""end"") the cash value of the investment is determined. Now, find a bank account that pays interest compounded daily. Possibly it should allow overdrafts where it charges the same interest rate. Make deposits and withdrawals to/from this account that match the investment payments in amount and date.  At the ""end"" the value in this bank account is the same as the investment. The bank interest rate that makes this happen is the IRR for the investment..."


"No.  It's mainly because:  1. Immigration is allowed in large numbers, especially of white collar people, who are willing to work for less.  2. Outsourcing to foreign countries, cheap labor.  3. Any idiot can finish high school and get a bachelor degree from college, so there's no shortage of ""qualified"" people.  4. Robots and AI doing the work of many people, and will even much work, instead of people.  5. Companies have to pay and give more ""benefits"" to employees, so they are reluctant to hire and simply can't pay so much. It's more than $10,000 a year in health benefits for each employee in the USA."


">> You have the same problem with soybeans (Geraldes Castanheira, 2013), it's a problem with production that affects all agriculture.  > You aren't getting it. Animals don't grow out the ground like plants do. You need to grow plants and then feed them to the animals to grow. The very first sentence in the soy article you sent me is ""The increase in soybean production as a source of protein and oil is being stimulated by the growing demand for livestock feed..."". You cannot win an efficiency fight in this, in the same way you cannot win an argument saying it is more efficient to create wine than it is to create grapes.   I think you didn't understand what I was pointing out. Burning down rain forest to clear land for livestock or burning down rain forest to grow soybeans for human consumption cause the same problems.   The problem is with burning down rain forest, not what you use the land for.  As I pointed out earlier we don't have an efficiency problem for food, we're not going to tell people to stop drinking wine as it's more efficient to just eat the grapes. We could also use the land to grow food for people but I've seen very few people passionately argue that people should stop drinking wine.  >> The point is that we can double the earth population without running out of food, and then we can add another 40% in the US by simply not throwing away the food, then we can optimize land use, and not all land is suitable for growing crops so we get more food by using it for meat.  > Arguing to continue proven damaging behaviours because we can ""afford it"" is trying to rationalize illogical behaviour, its like saying I can smoke because I'm still young and then when I'm older I can increase my healthy food intake and exercise to offset it.   But eating meat isn't the problem, as I've illustrated above. The problem is fossil fuels and unsustainable agricultural practices, which are the same even if people go vegan.  >> An optimized scenario includes meat as not all land is suitable to farming, and you have seafood and wildlife.  > An optimized scenario is purely plant based. That land you speak of that is not suitable for farming - it may provide physical space to house the animals, but where is the food the animals need to grow coming from? Don't even get started into ocean depletion and what we've done to that resource. And why move on to wildlife if we have no requirements for meat in the first place?  An optimized scenario is definitely not purely plant based. Would you just ignore the truly vast resources of the oceans? We can use those in a sustainable way and they provide huge amounts of food. Should we ignore huge tracts of pasture/rangeland unsuitable for farming like mountainous terrain, hills, plains with thin soil, heath, etc.? Of course we shouldn't.  This is getting a bit circular, I don't think we'll get much further in trying to debate this. I thank you for a good exchange."


My mortgage is with WF. I want to get away from them. I'm going to try to move in a year or two, and then I'll make sure I never touch them again.  I have an account with a credit union. I'll be transferring everything over to there.


Depending on your income/savings level and who you work for (if you work for a big company check with an HSBC Premier advisor, they may waive the requirements), you may qualify for an HSBC Premier account, which can allow you to open accounts in different countries and transfer money between them without a fee. You can also get a Premier account without meeting the requirements if you are willing to pay a monthly fee, but I doubt that will be worth it in the long run for what you need (worth doing the math though if you travel frequently).  NOTE: There may be similar offerings from other banks, but this is just the only one I'm aware of.


"He got an applause break at the republican convention for saying ""I am gay, and I am a republican.""  I cannot imagine, in the year of Berniemania, an applause break for saying ""I support lower corporate tax rates, and I am a democrat"" at the democratic convention.  Though I guess stranger things have happened."


**Richard Feynman**  Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics for which he proposed the parton model. For his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman, jointly with Julian Schwinger and Shin'ichirō Tomonaga, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965.  Feynman developed a widely used pictorial representation scheme for the mathematical expressions governing the behavior of subatomic particles, which later became known as Feynman diagrams. During his lifetime, Feynman became one of the best-known scientists in the world.  ***  ^[ [^PM](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=kittens_from_space) ^| [^Exclude ^me](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiTextBot&message=Excludeme&subject=Excludeme) ^| [^Exclude ^from ^subreddit](https://np.reddit.com/r/economy/about/banned) ^| [^FAQ ^/ ^Information](https://np.reddit.com/r/WikiTextBot/wiki/index) ^| [^Source](https://github.com/kittenswolf/WikiTextBot)   ^] ^Downvote ^to ^remove ^| ^v0.27


"USPS doesn't receive any taxpayer money.  Not entirely true:  http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/consumerawareness/a/uspsabout.htm  ""The USPS does get some taxpayer support. Around $96 million is budgeted annually by Congress for the ""Postal Service Fund.""""  Even so, they obviously don't know how to manage money efficiently.  A few years ago, the usps web apis went down for 3+ weeks.  If this happened to a non-government organization, they probably would have gone out of business.  Here is an interesting article about medicare:  http://www.smartmoney.com/retirement/planning/how-to-treat-medicares-problems--and-yours-1306871486889/  an excerpt: ""Medicare will start running out of money in 2024""  My point still stands.  I don't trust any government to run a service that my life will ultimately depend on when they can't even manage simple services without running out of money.  Have you ever been a part of a government-run organization?  They get an allotted amount of money to use per year.  If it's not used, guess what happens?  They get less money the next year.  So the logical conclusion for most of these organizations is to spend all of the money they get, even if it's wasteful.   Everyone on the left seems to want to increase taxes, but there's absolutely no thought put into accountability.  This is why to me, it feels like stealing."


TRAVEL GUYS ONLINE provide to travelers with a vast range of accommodation and flight options. We allow them to make an informed judgment by comparing prices and facilities of different hotels. We also provide adventure tour, you can Book Cheap adventure tour on our website. Through our website you can get pictures of hotels and rooms, information on prices and deals, reviews by travelers,  etc., making it a lot easier for people to make bookings.


How is everyone doing in their day to day lives?  What is affordable and what is not?  Often I find myself reading news that I find is disconnected from my reality.  Unemployment numbers are good. I am employed,  yet I can't help the feeling that many are getting the squeeze, especially amongst my peers; the new reality of employment being less livable than previously.  Perhaps too much zerohedge?  Housing is expensive,  saving for retirement seems futile?  Stocks are seemingly very expensive?


diamonds are intrinsically worthless -- and therefore have quite little resale value It may be true that De Beers has a near monopoly on diamond supply, but they are still a scarce resource, so their supply is still very limited.  They do have resale value - that's one reason why diamond jewelry is stolen so often. There's just not a huge secondary market for diamonds that I know of (unlike cars, for example).  You can sell diamond jewelry at pawn shops or online brokers, but you probably only get a fraction of their retail value. They are not intrinsically worthless.  They do have value in the industrial sector as powerful cutters, although synthetic diamonds are much more prevalent in this market.  Their value in industry is much lower than their worth as jewelry. Think about gold - it does not have a monopolic supplier but it still has a relatively very high value.


"Short answer - matching your firms stock record or box to the records of a depository or fund family. Any differences are referred to as ""breaks"" and need to be resolved promptly otherwise action like covering or moving to suspsense are required.   There are rules surrounding suspense, that may be valuable reading.  Let me know if you have any specifics or want more detail. I made a few assumptions but that is the broadest view of a firms asset reconciliation (FINRA passed some recent rules that take this even deeper into ""firm"" accounts)."


It's important to understand that, in general, security transactions involve you and a relatively unknown entity with your broker standing in the middle.  When you sell through Schwab, Schwab needs to receive the funds from the other side of the transaction.  If Schwab gave you access to the funds immediately, it would essentially be a loan until the transaction settles after funds and securities change hands.   If Schwab made funds available to you as soon as they were received, it might still be two days until the money is received; because the other side also has three days. Guaranteed one day settlement would have to include receipt of funds from the buyer in one day and Schwab can't control that. You need to remember this transaction likely includes at least one party in addition to you and Schwab.  Here's the SEC page related to the three day settlement period,  About Settling Trades in Three Days:  T+3


Calling insider trading theft is a pretty big stretch. I think it should remain illegal as it's not great for markets and undermines investor faith, if the people that bought stock from this guy wanted the stock they would have gotten it anyways.


"Another thing that insurance companies try to do with these types of vehicles is to promote the ""cash value"" of the policy. The longer you participate in the policy, the more your cash value goes up (assuming the investments perform reasonably well). The selling point is that at any time you can take out part of that cash value without impacting your insurance policy. A lot of people see that benefit as being the same as either putting the money in the bank or investing it, when actually they could do better if they did either of those things themselves. One true advantage of the whole term policy is that if you should fall on hard times and are not able to work, the premium payments can be taken out of the cash value. That way even if you can't make the monthly payments, the insurance policy basically pays for itself. I actually experienced this myself many years ago after I lost my job and had some health issues. I was out of work a long time, but my life insurance never lapsed. That in itself made it worthwhile for me."


"My family instilled in me early on that hard work was important, and the output of that work was its reward. My grandparents really made in impression with me about telling the truth and being fair (probably after I was busted for lying and cheating about something) -- I remember my grandfather talking about the solem trust associated with shaking hands over something. I remember opening a savings account at school on bank day and being really excited about the interest accruing... but my folks never really allowed us to spend it on toys or other stuff. I didn't really think about money at all until I was probably about 10 or 11, when I started watching ""Wall Street Week"" on PBS with my dad on Friday night and bombarding him with dozens of questions. Then games like Sim City really got me going... my grandmother was always amazed that I was talking about bonding construction projects. I think that before 10 or so, kids needn't concern themselves with money, but should understand responsibility, the rewards that come from working hard, and the consequences for not doing so."


"That right there is one of the most dangerous things that I think I have ever read. Google, has turned evidence over to the NSA and FBI numerous times even without warrants. Look at their TOS; you will see that you are allowing them to do that. Google is one of the most horrendous companies when it comes to ""your"" privacy. Microsoft has taken the US government to court more times involving their user's privacy and protection. Granted they are all about the monopoly, so there's that. Apple has an impressive history of telling the FBI to suck it.  When it comes to cloud-based security, one of the best roads to go down would be creating your own, if you can."


"The curriculum is effectively 99% identical year by year. If you do a Google search for the changes by year, the CFA Institute will post changes in the ""Learning Outcome Statements."" However, I believe when you register for the exam, you have to buy the associated books. But you can safely browse old books if you want to explore more before making the plunge."


Reminds me of last winter when two girls knocked on our door to shovel snow. I asked how much. They said $20. I pay $50-75 since I have a huge driveway (circular on one side and a regular driveway on to another street. I asked if they were sure because that is a lot of driveway. They say yes. I say, you got a deal and I'll give you $30 and you only have to do one of the driveways.  Look down 20 minutes later and they found out how hard it was and called their dad and he was stuck doing most of it. Very shitty job and they walked all over the snow on the other driveway making it even harder to shovel. Laughed a lot but had to pay a professional to clean up their mess.


Simply NO, you can NOT be put in prison for unpaid debt in America!! However, if you commit a crime to earn wealth, you can be put in prison for that.


>In the economic sense, investments really has nothing to do with capital or business investments then does it?   Congratulations, you just figured out why monetarists and Keynesians are wrong.  What actually matters is the quality of the investments that the money is making. An excess of currency won't create growth if the currency is invested in a derivative contract, since this is a zero-growth investment. A shortfall in currency won't always kill the economy, if rational investments are made (2nd half of the 19th century in the United States).  On the other hand, [infrastructure](https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/otps/060320a/forum.cfm) generally offers a much higher return on invested capital than the private market. So you see China's economy growing quickly for several decades due to investing in the right class of assets.  This is the same thing the United States did to become an economic superpower:  https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-American-school-of-economics  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_School_(economics)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_System_(economic_plan)


Thanks!! That's so kind of you. Luckily my boyfriend and I are quitting together, so we're able to support each other. This weekend will be hard because we're going to a wedding with friends who smoke. But we've already talked about strategies and code words to get us out of situations that might pressure us and that kind of thing.


Your employer pays the expected (but estimated) taxes for you. So the chances are you don't own more; but that might be different if you have other sources of income that he doesn't know about (interest on savings or a side-job or whatever). Also, you could have deductions that reduce the taxes you owe, which he again doesn't know, so you overpay. If you don't file, you don't get them back. Most tax software companies offer free usage of their tool for standard filings, and you can use it to find out your tax situation, and then buy the tool only when you want to file. If you use one of those, you can type in all your data, and depending on the result, decide to buy it and file right away. Note that if it turns out you owe taxes, you must file (and pay), but of course you can do it manually instead of buying the tool. If it turns out you get money back, it is your decision to file - you probably don't care for a small amount, but if you get 1000 $ back, you might want to file - again, buying the software of doing it manually.


No it isn't crazy; healthcare is just product like any of myriad products you consume on a daily basis. Sure, some products and services are more important than others and have plenty of room for charity and not-for-profit providers. But saying it's crazy to seek profit on those things is absurd.


Also, you need to figure out what sort of comparable data to use that would be best. Meaning, will you have to use just call report data or are there some publicly traded banks your size that would be good matches? I assume you'll have plenty of publicly traded companies to use. I would suggest listening to the latest earnings calls too. The analysts that asks questions of the CEOor cfo are focusing on meaningful topics that might give you ideas. For example, they may ask about energy concentrations or other issues that are meaningful in today's environment.


Please expanded on your reasoning and which side you are defending (pro-DACA or anti-DACA). Allowing it to remain is a slight to legal immigrants and should have gone through Congress in the first place. That being said, to remove those here presently is far to costly of an idea to entertain, both monetarily and politically. Therefore a middle road is the route that must be taken... and that requires active, and most importantly constructive, discussion. My first comment is purposely broad for this reason. Please detail a better solution that works for all parties.


Family of immigrants here. Working hard and earning it has absolutely nothing to do with it. That kind of comment absolutely denotes the complete ignorance most people have of the process. The factors that matter, like where you were born and luck have nothing to do with the applicant. The thing you have to do are 1) be patient (sometimes to the tune of 20 years) and 2) be able to follow an arcane process to the letter.


The way to do this is to make your best offer and let the seller and his/her agent do the negotiation between them. If you try to build in the discount in your offer, you will come across as cheap.


It was actually meant to be more of just a joke comment. But it doesn't take very many successful billion dollar lawsuits to justify $10 million a pop.  Personally I think that part of the patent reform solution is that patents are non-exclusive; however, licensing must be set up before use including free licensing if the owner wants to public domain it. If the two parties can't agree to terms then it goes to a arbitrator to set the the licensing fees which is binding. The arbitration will take into account the research and development costs required, likelihood of the same thing being independently created, estimated profits from products using the patent, etc.  Of course the core issue is granting patents for silly stuff but since the ones already in existence are presumably grandfathered in I think enforcing market driven licensing fees is the best way to prevent all of the dumb lawsuits going on. The patent holder gets its money or maintains market advantage if the licensing fee is so high that no one wants to pay it and it doesn't prevent competition from using other another party's patented ideas.


"JoeTaxpayer nailed it.  Here's another way to look at it: Generally, we invest in something, then might leave it there for a few years, then take it out, but don't touch it in between.  In that case, to get the final amount X(N), we need to take the initial amount, then multiply by growth in the first year, then multiply by growth in the second year, etc. So, for three years, we have: X(3) = X(0) * G(1) * G(2) * G(3) = X(0) * ""average annual growth"" ^ 3 So, here, we see that we want the average annual growth to the power three equal to the product of the annual growth rates, thus, geometric mean: geometric mean = (G(1) * G(2) * G(3)) ^ (1/3) On the other hand, consider a situation where I have three investments X,Y,Z over one year. Now I have, after one year: X(1)+Y(1)+Z(1) = X(0)*G(1,X) + Y(0)*G(1,Y) + Z(0)*G(1,Z) = ( X(0)+Y(0)+Z(0) ) * ""average annual growth"" Now, in this case, if we assume X(0) = Y(0) = Z(0) = 1, i.e. I put equal amounts in each, we see that the average annual growth rate we want in this case is the arithmetic mean: arithmetic mean = (G(1,X) + G(1,Y) + G(1,Z)) / 3 (if we had unequal amounts at the beginning, it would be a weighted average). TL;DR:"


Yes, you can open a Trading Account at one place and a Demat Account at another place. Therefore you can open Trading Account at Sharekhan and Demat Account at OBC. However, it would be more convenient for you if both the accounts are opened at the same place which would reduce unnecessary work after every transaction.


At-will state or not, I would make it a point to tell him I voted for Obama, and when I got fired this email plus my response would be pretty good grounds for a case. You can't fire someone for being gay in an at-will state, and you can't fire them for their political beliefs. What he did wasn't illegal, but he set himself up for an easy trap from a litigious employee. No one ever said he was smart though, he did some asinine things with his mansion.


Trickle down economics / tax structure have been repeatedly shown to not work as well as progressive taxation for the health of the overall economy. Poor people don't save, give them money and it comes right back putting us all to work.


I am sure when that happens, a lot of local Californians will be happy.  And, I am surprised how people are OK with letting foreign investors come in and manipulate the local economy.  Well....I guess the ones who see their home values double/triple are probably happy about it.


Funds can be a issue for most nowadays, as well as on-line poor credit fiscal are getting to be popular in an effort to spend on unanticipated as well as high priced economic circumstances. Absolutely no credit check needed poor credit fiscal like fast cash advance are mainly utilized by people that perhaps have been hit by the recent economic climate and are unable to afford unanticipated expenses as well as application auto repairs.


Agreed that the CEO is lame and only in it for himself in the meantime.  But regardless what Lampert does, he has lost billions on Sears already just over time and his recent actions will just recoup a small fraction of it.  There is no way he's going to make back his investment.  What I don't see how in this economy that most of those locations would be rentable to boutiques that pay more when all it's doing is throwing more retail space onto a market deluged with retail space.  Some locations maybe, but many are old and away from the action in the meantime.  For instance, many of the closed Kmarts, part of Sears, at least five near me are either still empty after 3-5 years or occupied by something that definitely doesn't pay the same rent, like indoor storage units or indoor paintball arenas and whatnot.


Let's start from the premise that the mortgage is something you will have anyway because you need it to live (as opposed to say getting a bigger mortgage initially in the expectation of paying it down faster than scheduled). In that case I think paying down a mortgage certainly is an investment; one with a well-defined interest rate and maturity that depends on the precise terms of the mortgage. For example I have a (UK) mortgage that's fixed for the next two years at about 5%, and allows overpayments of £500 per month, which can be withdrawn at any time. So I treat those overpayments as equivalent to savings with quite a nice interest rate, especially since mortgage interest isn't tax deductible and so I actually get the full benefit of that interest rate.


To my knowledge, there shouldn't be a limit on the amount you can receive as a gift, and gifts are not considered income to you; they are not taxable for the recipient.  Depending on the size of the wire transfer, it may be reported by the bank to the government, but there is no limit, and it should not be a concern to you.  (I don't think that $2500 is large enough to be reportable anyway.) Having said that, this might be a good question to ask your international student advisor at your school to make sure he or she agrees. There is a very similar question on Avvo.com (a legal question-and-answer site) that agrees: Limit to transfer money to students on f1 visa.


Yes, the US dollar is the standard for all global trade - IMF driven  And China has been going for that title for the past decade and this is a very smart and tactical way to do it  If this goes through, gold & oil might become really good place to be. The US has been in a supply run and kept the price of oil low.  Things are changing quick...


What's to prevent a leaner, meaner competitor from coming into the market and out-competing a PBC that isn't focused on offering the best product for the lowest price? It seems nice, but unsustainable for any single business as long as they don't have a monopoly on the market they're in.


I recommend that people think for themselves and get a multitude of counselors.  The more you understand about what drives the prices of various assets, the better. Getting to good advice for a particular person depends on the financial picture for that person.  For example, if they have a lot of consumer debt, then they probably would be better off paying off the debt before investing, as earning 5% (say) in the stock market year over year will be eaten up by the 18%+ they may be paying on their credit cards. Here's a starter list of the types of information that would be better to have in order to get fair investment advice.


The best partnership agreements cover all contingencies often referred to as the 5 D's:  death, divorce, drugs, disinterest, and disability.  Most do not, however, which makes them such a mess. I was an employee of a firm that went through this, and it is not pleasant from anyone's perspective.     Of course you don't have that option now. Your best bet is to talk to a lawyer and find out your options.  For example, would it be best to form your own company and do the same thing?  Would it be best to give your partner double as your legal fees are likely to be higher then the inflated value?  Could you offer a one time fee and revenue over time in lieu of the one time buy-out?   It is likely to get ugly, and one thing that contributes to this is the emotional turmoil that your partner's family is going through.


People thought they were being responsible by getting their degree in the first place and are unable to find a job afterward. Do you think their lacking the ability to repay huge loans with no income is them being irresponsible?


Ok ok - that's a fair statement. I'm just comparing to the last two we've had - which were decent (previous finance internships, in finance related clubs at school, very good universities). In fact the one we had last year I actually didn't have to supervise by the end of the summer (gasp!).


The basic idea is that if you start buying prenatal vitamins and pregnancy tests, it's kind of weird if target sends you a coupon booklet that is 99% baby stuff.  Idea being post pre-natal vitamin and pregnancy test purchase, you send a circular with some baby ads, and some stuff like, toilet paper and shampoo.  So the consumer doesn't realize that they have been pegged as obviously pregnant/trying by their local target shopping patterns.


That isn't how it works, and that's definitely not the way it should work for either business or personal taxes. A business is free from taxes only if they have made a net loss over the year. This is **very** different from simply having less cash at the end of the year than at the beginning. A business could have less cash if they bought assets, paid off debt or any number of reasons and still pay taxes. On the other hand, they could end up with *more* cash at the end of the year than they began it with and still be free from taxes, as long as they made a net loss for the year. The cash balance has nothing to do with whether they pay taxes or not.