Question: Do governments support their own bonds when their value goes down?

Companies do not support their stock. Once the security is out on the wild (market), its price fluctuates according to what investors think they are worth. Support is a whole different concept, financially speaking: Support or support level refers to the price level below which, historically, a stock has had difficulty falling. It is the level at which buyers tend to enter the stock. So it is the lowest assumed price for that stock. Once it reaches its price, buyers will rush to the stock, raising its price. The company wants to keep the stock price at acceptable levels, as it can be seen as the general view of the company's health. Also several employees/executives in the company have stock or stock options, so it is in their interest to keep their stock price up. A bond that goes down in value may indicate a believe the bond issuer (government in this case) won't honor the bond when it matures. As for bonds, there is a wealth of reading in this site: Can someone explain how government bonds work? Who sets the prices on government bonds?  Basic understanding of bonds, values, rates and yields

yeah... no track record.  Here's what I'm predicting:  PayPal-like policies designed to keep money in limbo (aka a float operation).  Personally, I'm surprised that Visa, Mastercard, et. al. haven't applied Dodd-frank transaction fee limits to prevent square from inserting itself between the consumer and creditor.

I am newly applying to finance related jobs, my question is, could someone ELI5 what exactly different sectors within finance are? Like capital markets, derivatives, equity research, wealth management. All of this seems overwhelming coming at it at once.

Russia has become more risky as an investment, thus investors, basically the market, wants to be paid more for investing in or owning those bonds. As yields go up, prices go down. So right now you can buy a low priced Russian bond with a high yield because the market views the risk involved as higher than risks involved in other similar securities.

I'm old. When I was young, the schools were preparing us all for the Metric System. But the change never happened, due, I believe, to simple arrogance. Let the world cope with out 45/17th nuts and bolts.   Now of course, we're not so powerful and I do assume that American Toyota factories use metric parts.  I write this from a metric coffee house in Amsterdam. I am coping quite well with their products offered metrically.  Have a good day!

"Hurd did almost as much in his short time there to gut R&D, engineering, and every other ""cost centre"" within HP as he could, leading to a dearth of product and technology in the pipeline.  Tough to innovate with nothing but sales and marketing."

Definitely don't grocery shop when you're hungry.  Also, watch for sales, and then buy in bulk and freeze it.

You may want to keep some of your change - especially your nickels.  I know George would be disappointed if I didn't point this out. :)


Question: 2 401k's and a SEP-IRA

question #2 - yes, 25% of your 1099 income. Good idea. It adds up quickly and is a good way to reduce taxable income.

Al igual que la fidelidad del cliente, la “lealtad” a una marca está cuestionada.  Cómo valora el público tus marcas está cambiando, garantía de desempeño y diferenciación se están volviendo más relevantes. Las variaciones en los hábitos de consumo y en las relaciones empresa-cliente afectan estas valuaciones.  El principal activo de tu marca es la garantía que le provee al consumidor sobre la satisfacción de sus expectativas. Proporciona seguridad en el proceso de decisión de compra, lo hace más fácil.  Antes la gente adquiría una marca “conocida” pues brindaba confianza en su desempeño y el costo de conseguir referencias sobre productos sustitutos era alto. Hoy la información satura la Internet y los medios de comunicación, las opiniones positivas y negativas se diseminan rápidamente en la web. La publicidad pierde credibilidad y solo satisfacer al cliente mejor que la competencia cada día te permitirá mantener el valor de tu marca.

"As a Canadian resident, the simple answer to your question is ""yes"" Having worked as a tax auditor and as a Certified Financial Planner, you are required to file an income tax return because you have taxable employment income. All the employer is doing is deducting it at source and remitting it on your behalf. That does not alleviate your need to file. In fact, if you don't file you will be subject to a no filing penalty. The one aspect you are missing is that taxpayers may be entitled to tax credits that may result in a refund to you depending on your personal situation (e.g spousal or minor dependents). I hope this helps."

It could be a couple of things besides extra principal: I seem to remember hearing that some (shady?) lenders would just pocket extra payments if you didn't specify where they were headed, but I've also been told that this just isn't true.

Thanks!   > How do you believe it should be approached?   Businesses should be more cognizant of the fact that they have enormous amounts of technical debt, or what will be considered to be debt, that will suddenly need to be solved.  Infrastructure or applications that haven't seen a dime in 5+ years. Shadow IT that was stood up (e.g. hey we use this access database that everyone completely forgot about to meet this one specific need) and has somehow managed to survive. That's one of the most frequent issues that will grind consolidations to a halt. The business need to involve IT as early as possible in the M&A process.  Cross-platform can usually be solved by some form of extraction, translaton, load processes. That's straightforward but it does take time.  If you're a company that cares enough to have a disaster recovery team you should also have an IT M&A team that meets regularly to have a dry-run of an M&A that covers the processes from end to end for 2-3 worst-case-scenarios. New scenarios should be identified. If you do enough M&As you'll have compiled a fairly decent playbook of scenarios after the third or fourth. You'll have a well oiled machine that your investors can and should be proud of.   For perspective the best M&A team I've seen was Microsoft's and even then shit regularly hits the fan for those guys when it comes to technical debt. That's something to keep in mind.

"Look, as my final comment.  You're overthinking this.  Companies routinely have waaaay more cash on their books than they ""need"" because they keep a rainy day fund.  Yes, there are extreme examples like Apple that has about 60 billion more than they need but practically all companies are going to maintain excess cash for emergencies, acquisitions, etc.  As I said in another comment, the common theme between a DCF and an EV multiple is that they are both capital structure independent.    Even here there are going to be differences, companies with a really shitty capital structure (read: too much debt) will trade publicly at a lower enterprise value multiple because of the risk that they go bankrupt.  In an acquisition, this (probably) would not be the case.  In the case of a DCF, you would probably raise your discount rate to account for the risk of bankruptcy."

When a company IPOs the underwriters sell a given percentage on IPO day and shortly thereafter. Whatever is sold on IPO day trades freely.   Insiders, employees and investors who bought before the IPO only sell a percentage of their shares on IPO day. They all also agree to 'lock up' the remainder for a period of time, so that not everyone is rushing to the exits right away. Well, if you're an employee you don't per-se agree, it's just how your stock options are setup and you don't really have a say in the matter.

For ankle and foot problems, you need to go to Preferred Foot and Ankle Specialist Gilbert AZ. Recommending Dr. Mikkel Jarman, DPM, Gilbert Podiatrist. Phone 480 497-3946 or PreferredFootAnkle.com. He is one of the very best Foot Doctor Gilbert AZ and offers effective pain alleviation.


Question: For a car, what scams can be plotted with 0% financing vs rebate?

The car deal makes money 3 ways. If you pay in one lump payment. If the payment is greater than what they paid for the car, plus their expenses, they make a profit. They loan you the money. You make payments over months or years, if the total amount you pay is greater than what they paid for the car, plus their expenses, plus their finance expenses they make money. Of course the money takes years to come in, or they sell your loan to another business to get the money faster but in a smaller amount. You trade in a car and they sell it at a profit. Of course that new transaction could be a lump sum or a loan on the used car... They or course make money if you bring the car back for maintenance, or you buy lots of expensive dealer options. Some dealers wave two deals in front of you: get a 0% interest loan. These tend to be shorter 12 months vs 36,48,60 or even 72 months. The shorter length makes it harder for many to afford. If you can't swing the 12 large payments they offer you at x% loan for y years that keeps the payments in your budget. pay cash and get a rebate. If you take the rebate you can't get the 0% loan. If you take the 0% loan you can't get the rebate. The price you negotiate minus the rebate is enough to make a profit. The key is not letting them know which offer you are interested in. Don't even mention a trade in until the price of the new car has been finalized. Otherwise they will adjust the price, rebate, interest rate, length of loan,  and trade-in value to maximize their profit. The suggestion of running the numbers through a spreadsheet is a good one. If you get a loan for 2% from your bank/credit union for 3 years and the rebate from the dealer, it will cost less in total than the 0% loan from the dealer. The key is to get the loan approved by the bank/credit union before meeting with the dealer. The money from the bank looks like cash to the dealer.

When you send money with Western Union, it is essentially a cash transaction.  You supply Western Union with the name of the recipient and a location.  Your recipient then shows up at a Western Union office, shows some identification, and receives cash.  At this point, the transaction is over.  It is impossible to retract it at this point, because Western Union has already handed out cash, and they have no way of contacting the recipient any longer. This is the reason why you might want to legitimately use Western Union.  It is an instant way to send cash to anyone anywhere in the world.  Let's say that your best friend is stuck in a foreign land and desperately needs money.  You can give him cash just as fast as each of you can get to a Western Union office, and you don't even need a local bank account to do so. Unfortunately, however, the nature of the service also makes it useful for scammers.  You should never use this service to pay for something from someone you don't know, because there are absolutely no safeguards. As mentioned by user662852 in the comments, you can indeed cancel a Western Union money transfer if you do so before the money is picked up by the recipient.  But after they pick it up, the cash is gone.

I would advise against this. My main reason for saying so is that you are in a time of major transition, and transition equals uncertainty. What if the new job turns out to be a bad one, and at the same time the house is more difficult to rent out than you expect? That seems like a situation that would be worse than the sum of its parts. Some other things to consider: first, if you want to buy a house where your new job is located, you will not be able to borrow as much for that house.  This is especially important if you are moving to a city with a very high Cost of Living. Second, your margin on the rental doesn't sound like it would leave much room for profit. A $100 difference between your mortgage and your rent amount will be eaten up very quickly through property management fees and maintenance.  If the value of the house does not rise like you expect, that could mean you put in a lot of effort for very little or no gain. Finally, this will require a good deal of time management. Between relocating, closing on this house, and beginning a new job, it sounds like you'll have a lot going on. This may not concern you much, but it's still worth considering.

that's really nice, we already know whose side you are on. do you honestly think you are going to change my opinion of this situation or somehow prove me wrong in a way in which I wont just jerk off and ignore it anyway?   Or are you the one masturbating over their supposed intelligence now?

I have not opened any NRE/NRO account before coming to Finland.  This is in violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act. Please get this regularized ASAP. All your savings account need to be converted to NRO. Shall I transfer funds from abroad to both NRE and NRO account or I can transfer only to NRE account in India? You can transfer to NRE or NRO. It is advisable to transfer into NRE as funds from here can be repatriated out of India without any paperwork. Funds from NRO account need paperwork to move out of India. I am a regular tax payer in abroad. The Funds which i'll transfer in future will attract any additional tax in India? As your status is Non Resident and the income is during that period, there is no tax applicable in India on this. Few Mutual Fund SIPs (monthly basis) are linked with my existing saving account in india. Do these SIPs will stop when the savings account will turn into NRO account? Shall I need to submit any documents for KYC compliance? If yes, to whom I should submit these? is there any possibility to submit it Online? Check your Bank / Mutual Fund company. Couple of FDs are also opened online and linked with this existing saving account. Do the maturity amount(s) subject to TDS or any tax implication such as 30.9% as this account will be turned into NRO account till that time and NRO account attracts this higher tax percentage. These are subject to taxes in India. This will be as per standard tax brackets. Which account (NRE/NRO) is better for paying EMIs for Home Loan, SIPs of Mutual Funds, utility bills in India, transfer money to relative's account etc Home Loan would be better from NRE account as if you sell the house, the EMI paid can be credited into NRE account and you can transfer this out of India without much paperwork. Same for SIP's. For other it doesn't really matter as it is an expense. Is there any charge to transfer fund from NRE to NRO account if both account maintain in same Bank same branch. Generally No. Check with your bank. Which Bank account's (NRE/NRO) debit/ATM card should be used in Abroad in case of emergency. Check with your bank. NRE funds are more easy. NRO there will be limits and reporting. Do my other savings accounts, maintained in different Banks, also need to be converted into NRO account? If yes, how can it be done from Abroad? Yes. ASAP. Quite a few leading banks allow you to do this if you are not present. Check you bank for guidance.

"Social security and pensions make up a big part of it.  You may want to look at the source of the data.  If a person, has 5K at Vanguard, 5K at Fidelity and 100K at the bank; Fidelity will report on that person as having only 5K.  Vanguard will do the same. The opening pitch of a life insurance salesman sometimes includes the ""100 man story"".  Before retirement age:  26% of people will die, 54% will be broke, 5% will work, 4% will be secure, and 1% will be wealthy.  Then they sell you life insurance which is a horrible product for retirement savings. If you further dig into this subject you will find a great disparity between the mean and median retirement savings.  That is because many Americans have none, and those that do skew the average upward and have no where near mean or average. Its like this with other things in personal finance.  For example those with actual credit card debt have much higher than the average.  As those with none, or even no credit cards skew the average downward.  In my opinion it is like this because of behavior.  If one saved half of the average car payment over their working life in a growth stock mutual fund, they would make it to that 4% category.  If they also had a good salary, kept debt to a minimum, and saved a healthy amount they would make it to that 1% category.  It was a daily choice that was made many years prior to retirement."

Properties do in fact devaluate every year for several reasons. One of the reasons is that an old property is not the state of the art and cannot therefore compete with the newest properties, e.g. energy efficiency may be outdated. Second reason is that the property becomes older and thus it is more likely that it requires expensive repairs. I have read somewhere that the real value depreciation of properties if left practically unmaintained (i.e. only the repairs that have to absolutely be performed are made) is about 2% per year, but do not remember the source right now. However, Properties (or more accurately, the tenants) do pay you rent, and it is possible in some cases that rent more than pays for the possible depreciation in value. For example, you could ask whether car leasing is a poor business because cars depreciate in value. Obviously it is not, as the leasing payments more than make for the value depreciation. However, I would not recommend properties as an investment if you have only small sums of money. The reasons are manyfold: So, as a summary: for large investors property investments may be a good idea because large investors have the ability to diversify. However, large investors often use debt leverage so it is a very good question why they don't simply invest in stocks with no debt leverage. For small investors, property investments do not often make sense. If you nevertheless do property investments, remember the diversification, also in time. So, purchase different kinds of properties and purchase them in different times. Putting a million USD to properties at one point of time is very risky, because property prices can rise or fall as time goes on.

How complicated is your budget? We have a fairly in depth excel spreadsheet that does the trick for us. Lots of formulas and whatnot for calculating income, outgo, expected and actual expenses, expenses budgeted over time (i.e. planned expenses that are semi-annual or annual) as well as the necessary emergency funds based on expenses.  Took me a few hours to initially create and many tweaks over months to get just right but it's reliable and we know we'll never lose support for it. I'd be willing to share it if desired, I'll just have to remove our personal finance figures from it first.


Question: Selling an app, sharing income, how does it work tax-wise?

There are a few different ways to organize this, but mostly I think you need to talk to a lawyer.  The 50/50 split thing should be in writing along with a bunch of other issues. You could have one of you doing a sole proprietorship where the other person is a contractor that receives half of all revenues/profits.  The person that owns the sole proprietorship may be entitled to deduct certain costs of running the entity.  The other person would then be 1099'd his share of revenues. You could set up a partnership, again legal paperwork is necessary. You could also setup an S-Corp, where each of you is a 50% owner. You could also setup an LLC that is organized as any of the above.  I would only do this if you can self fund some additional tax preparation costs.  Figure about $600/year at a minimum.   There are a lot of options with a sole proprietorship being the easiest.  Your first step on the new venture would be to apply for an EIN (free), and then opening a business bank account. Good luck.

It is a dangerous policy not to have a balance across the terms of assets. Short term reserves should remain in short term investments because they are most likely needed in the short term.  The amount can be shaved according to the probability of their respective needs, but long term asset variance usually exceed the probability of needing to use reserves. For example, replacing one month bonds paying essentially nothing with stocks that should be expected to return 9% will expose oneself to a possible sudden 50% loss.  If cash is indeed so abundant that reserves can be doubled, this policy can be expected to be stable; however, cash is normally scarce.  It is a risky policy to place reserves that have a 20% chance of being 100% liquidated into investments that have a 20% chance of declining by approximately 50% just for a chance of an extra 9% annual return. Financial stability should always be of primary concern with rate of return secondary only after stability has been reasonably assured.

I asked how often grocery purchases are made in a comment, but I'm going to assume weekly for simplicity. If a roommate is present during the week following a grocery purchase, then they owe a share according to their preferences as you outlined them above. You will have to track the grocery cost by category for that week and calculate the balance owed by the person for that week. If there is a partial week where most expect to leave for a holiday or otherwise, then fewer groceries should be purchased for that week, and the cost of shares will decrease accordingly. One need only indicate preferences once, and weekly attendance thereafter. The only issue remaining is to determine how to record shares. If a normal person consumes 3 shares of milk, and .5 shares of butter, and so on, you simply add up all of the milk shares for the week and divide the milk bill by those shares. Same with the butter. The downside of this method is that you have to predict consumption in advance, so you may instead calculate by consumption after the fact with a deposit paid by all to create the initial grocery supply which will be refunded when that person leaves the grocery purchase co-op, and shares are calculated by who participated in the week prior to the grocery purchase. This also allows for a mid-week refresh if any commodity incurs higher than expected consumption, with the mid-week bill being added to the end of week refresh trip.

Ok, so here's the strategy I decided to go with in the meantime: Allocate E1 to A_corp and E3 to A_ira. Here are my considerations which I assume at this stage to be right:

If it's real, it's illegal. She needs someone to be a middle man who transfers money and doesn't ask questions. The list of possible reasons should be plenty obvious and range anywhere from fraud to terrorism.  There are thousands of ways to get already transferred money back from your account. If the source of the money is some kind of fraud that's only detected 2 years later, someone will ask you for the money back in 2 years. If real people who operate within legal and moral boundaries want to pay someone, they do not ask someone on Facebook to do it for them.

I have found that using the online version can help determine the correct product.  Try Deluxe online, you can upload the data from last year. When you get to the key forms see what happens if you don't switch.  Then switch to Premiere. Compare the results.

Its participating preferred with a 1x liquidation preference. Very unfriendly for the company owner. Most startups these days are seeded with convertible notes because there's less thinking about the valuation of the company; that question is booted to the series A. its also easier to draw up the legal docs; pretty much a standard loan agreement. Finally, it can be far friendlier for the owner depending on if the note is an uncapped note. This is expensive financing and your friend can definitely find cheaper money if he looks for it.

"Also here's a source for the $3.7 trillion number.      http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-08/u-s-municipal-bond-market-28-larger-than-estimated-federal-reserve-says.html    It's not 'incorrect data'.        EDIT:  Furthermore, in order to know the ""extent"" of the crime (your own admission) we NEED to know the size of the entire market otherwise you can't have any perspective or determine extent.  So there's no reason it shouldn't be mentioned in the article."


Question: how does one see the CBOE VIX index on Google Finance?

For whatever reason, I don't believe they offer it.  Yahoo does.  A google for google finance VIX turns up people asking the question, but no quote on google.

Odd, I've been Platinum Exec for a year and regular Platinum for 2 and I have not had any of these delays everyone is talking about. I usually fly Denver to DFW to where ever (south america or europe). I fly at least 8 legs per month if not more.  Maybe I'm just lucky and I jinxed myself.

The trouble is not enough Americans today are willing to do hard physical work for low pay. At the same time, Americans aren't willing to pay more for things like landscaping and fruits and veggies. I would be delighted if we fixed our broken legal immigration system, but since we can't seem to do that, we get illegal immigrants, and every day both you and I use products they produced.

"You can infer some of the answers to your questions from the BATS exchange's market data page and its associated help page.  (I'm pretty sure a page like this exists on each stock exchange's website; BATS just happens to be the one I'm used to looking at.) The Matched Volume section refers to all trades on a given date that took place on ""lit"" exchanges; that is, where a public protected US stock exchange's matching engine helped a buyer and a seller find each other.  Because there are exactly 11 such exchanges in existence, it's easy to show 100% of the matched volume broken down into 11 rows. The FINRA & TRF Volume section refers to all trades on a given date that took place on ""non-lit"" exchanges.  These types of trades include dark pool volume and any other trade that is not required to take place in public but is required to be reported (the R in TRF) to FINRA.  There are three venues via which these trades may be reported to FINRA -- NASDAQ's, NYSE's, and FINRA's own ADF.  They're all operated under the purview of FINRA, so the fact that they're ""located at"" NASDAQ or NYSE is a red herring.  (For example, from the volume data it's clear that the NASDAQ facility does not only handle NASDAQ-listed (Tape C) securities, nor does the NYSE facility only handle NYSE-listed (Tape A) securities or anything like that.) The number of institutions reporting to each of the TRFs is large -- many more than the 11 public exchanges -- so the TRF data is not broken down further.  (Also I think the whole point of the TRFs is to report in secret.)  I don't know enough details to say why the NASDTRF has always handled more reporting volume than the other two facilities.  Of course, since we can't see inside the TRF reporting anyway, it's sort of a moot point."

I assume that there is proper documentation. Loan can only be credited to your NRO account. See RBI regulation Persons Resident in India borrowing in INR from NRIs/PIOs 2.1 Available routes for borrowing: Persons resident in Indian may borrow in INR from NRIs/PIOs under the following two routes: 2.1.1 Borrowing in INR by persons other than companies in India: A person resident in India, not being a company incorporated in India,   may borrow in INR from NRIs/PIOs after satisfying the following terms   and conditions: Borrowing shall be only on a non-   repatriation basis; The amount of loan should be received either by inward remittance from   outside India or by debit to NRE/NRO/FCNR(B)/NRNR/NRSR account of the   lender, maintained with an authorised dealer or an authorised bank in   India; Period of loan shall not exceed 3 years; Rate of interest on the loan shall not be more than two per cent above   Bank Rate prevailing on the date of availment of loan; Payment of interest and repayment of principal shall be made only to   the NRO account of the lender.

I live in Upstate NY. It's a great, reasonable cost place to live -- provided that you have a job.  In NYC, there are probably a few hundred jobs with duties similar to mine in a 45-minute radius. Upstate, there may be 5-6.

You can never depend ONLY on pension. You must get financial education and invest your money. I recommend you to read The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham...it's the bible of Warren Buffet. Besides, you don't need to be a Billionaire for retiring and be happy. I recommend you to get education in ETFs. I quote The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham p. 131. According to Ibboston Associates, the leading financial research firm, if you had invested $12,000 in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index at the beginning of september 1929, 10 years later you would have had only $7,223 left. But if you had started with a paltry $100 and simply invested another $100 every single month, then by August 1939, your money would have grown to $15,571! That's the power of disciplined buying-even in the face of the Great Depression and the worst bear market of all time. You are still young to make even bolder investments. But seriously you can never depend ONLY on pension. You won't regret learning how to invest your money, it doesn't matter if it's in the stock market, real state market, whatever market... Knowing what to do with your money is priceless. I hope this helps. Happy profits!

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Question: How can I transfer and consolidate my 401k's and other options?

The simplest way to consolidate the funds your old 401(k) plans is by doing what's called a Direct Rollover (whereby the funds go directly into the new plan and skips you completely) from each of the old plans into either an IRA that you establish with a provider of your choice or even into your current employer's 401(k) plan if that is available. That way, the funds are in one central account and available to invest. Plus it eliminates the mandatory 20% withholding if the rollover is indirect and is sent to you first before the deposit into the new plan. It is important to bear in mind that you have 60 calendar days from the date of distribution to get the full amount into the new plan and a rollover is considered a tax reportable, but not necessarily a taxable event provided you deposit the funds within the time frame allotted.

No tax consequences to you. Tax consequences to your sister. From your comment: My sister is single, but my wife and I have a son. So we can avail   $14000 x3 = $42000 without the need to report it. The remainder   ($70000-$42000) = $28000 will be reported against the lifetime   exclusion by my sister on her return. Per my understanding, the $28000   is also not subject to any gift tax It is subject to gift tax, and she must submit gift tax return (form 709) to the IRS. On that return she can choose to apply part of the lifetime exemption and reduce the lifetime limit, or pay the tax and keep the lifetime limit. If she applies the exemption, she needs to keep track of it, so that it could be properly applied next time, or when she passes away. The lifetime exemption is in fact intended for the estate tax. But people can chose and apply it to gifts during lifetime and reduce the exemption for estate. This is something of consequence to take into account. Yearly $14K cap is not related to the lifetime exemption and is for gifts per donor per donee. Breaking the gift into several occasions over several years helps reducing the tax burden on the donor without touching the lifetime exclusion and affecting the estate tax. But if you don't have the time...

OK, were there any fund managers stupid enough to bet on Facebook? If there are, they should all be out of jobs by now. (They won't be, but they should.)  Facebook was a bad investment on paper, on hype, and on fundamentals. There was no reasonable expectation of it going up on IPO.

Because I want my plane flown by some ex-military NASA hotshot pilot with ice water running through his veins, and I am willing to pay for it. Would you rather have Neil Armstrong or Uniblab responsible for your life?

If you read r/business you see posts about market caps of companies, which is an equally nonsensical metric.   Yeah, there's a lot of fluff in r/bitcoin but you might learn a few things about cryptocurrencies, even if you don't think there's any value in it.

No, they do this to change behavior by providing a disincentive (the stick) - $2 fee - on something they want their customers to do less of. In this case, they want everyone to sign up for automatic billing via CC or bank transfer.  Their mistake was to not combine this with a positive incentive (the carrot) on the behavior they want more of. In this case, they should have promised a $2 monthly discount for the first year for customers who switch to automatic billing.

You are right: if the combined value of all outstanding GOOG shares was $495B, and the combined value of all GOOGL shares was $495B, then yes, Alphabet would have a market cap of at least $990B (where I say at least only because I myself don't know that there aren't other issues that should be in the count as well). The respective values of the total outstanding GOOG and GOOGL shares are significantly less than that at present though. Using numbers I just grabbed for those tickers from Google Finance (of course), they currently stand thus:

My husband used this device at work in an organization/club that collects dues for fundraisers. The fundraisers are only for the club. So I think that is not business at all. They have no business tax id#, etc? and they use it for personal reasons when collecting money via Cc#'s if this helps you.


Question: Are there any ETFs that follow the “Dogs of the Dow” allocation?

Google is your friend. If you buy me a beer, I might be as well. By the way DOD is the ticker.  Dogs of the Dow ETF

The problem is a little deeper than that. What you are witnessing is a change in the economy, a transformation so to say. Many people in society are unaware of this, the unadapted as I call them. Check this if you curious about this transformation, I believe its a good thing. https://www.cityxcape.com/secret-spots/2017/10/15/battle-of-ideas

Use other currencies, if available. I'm not familiar with the banking system in South Africa; if they haven't placed any currency freezes or restrictions, you might want to do this sooner than later.  In full crises, like Russian and Ukraine, once the crisis worsened, they started limiting purchases of foreign currencies. PayPal might allow currency swaps (it implies that it does at the bottom of this page); if not, I know Uphold does. Short the currency Brokerage in the US allow us to short the US Dollar.  If banks allow you to short the ZAR, you can always use that for protection.  I looked at the interest rates in the ZAR to see how the central bank is offsetting this currency crisis - WOW - I'd be running, not walking toward the nearest exit.  A USA analogy during the late 70s/early 80s would be Paul Volcker holding interest rates at 2.5%, thinking that would contain 10% inflation. Bitcoin Comes with significant risks itself, but if you use it as a temporary medium of exchange for swaps - like Uphold or with some bitcoin exchanges like BTC-e - you can get other currencies by converting to bitcoin then swapping for other assets.  Bitcoin's strength is remitting and swapping; holding on to it is high risk. Commodities I think these are higher risk right now as part of the ZAR's problem is that it's heavily reliant on commodities.  I looked at your stock market to see how well it's done, and I also see that it's done poorly too and I think the commodity bloodbath has something to do with that.  If you know of any commodity that can stay stable during uncertainty, like food that doesn't expire, you can at least buy without worrying about costs rising in the future.  I always joke that if hyperinflation happened in the United States, everyone would wish they lived in Utah.

"The supposition at the core here is supposed health risks - and costs- of green house gas on individual realities health? Almost laughable using data in such a way. Further, the attempt to suggest ""only"" 84 billion cost in regulations assumes regulations and the economy exists in a vacuum. The economy doesn't work like thAt, but then again, given the priorities of the individuals writing/supporting the paper, this propaganda is no surprise. Regulations curb business, income, efficiency, materials usage, individual and collective quality of life and a host of other positive indicators. The lefts obsession with regulation is absurd- and lacks accurate empirical support for long term net gain."

To a point.  There is also increasing prices to make their toys a premium product.  Part of it is paying for many if not most of the sets to be tied to licenses, another part is more complicated sets as they became a premium brand.    But as they became a premium brand, they began losing the lower end of the market.  I buy lego, but at toys for tots time I donate megablocks.

Clearly the US isn't interested in prosecuting executives for criminal activity, and hasn't been for years. Rick Scott perpetrated the largest Medicare fraud in history, but he was never charged with a crime because his company (HCA Columbia) agreed to pay nearly a billion in fines. His lack of a criminal record and substantial net worth left him free to pursue other opportunities, like becoming the governor of Florida.

"I think it could put a serious dent in Ticketmaster's profits.    At the very least, it introduces a huge competitor into a space where there pretty much isn't one, and that'll drive competition.    In the short term though, I can see Ticketmaster just increasing fees to cover the ""loss""."

Ever wondered why no bankers got arrested? Henry Paulson needed them on board. He has gone on record saying as much. You don't make this sort of rescue by dangling people over a cauldron, you need the political will. Remember some of the banks didn't even need TARP, they had to be convinced to take them against their best interests.


Question: Can someone explain how government bonds work?

"The short of it is that bonds are valued based on a fundamental concept of finance called the ""time value of money"". Stated simply, $100 one year from now is not the same as $100 now. If you had $100 now, you could use it to make more money and have more than $100 in a year. Conversely, if you didn't invest it, the $100 would not buy as much in a year as it would now, and so it would lose real value. Therefore, for these two benefits to be worth the same, the money received a year from now must be more than $100, in the amount of what you could make with $100 if you had it now, or at least the rate of inflation. Or, the amount received now could be less than the amount recieved a year from now, such that if you invested this lesser amount you'd expect to have $100 in a year. The simplest bonds simply pay their face value at maturity, and are sold for less than their face value, the difference being the cost to borrow the cash; ""interest"". These are called ""zero-coupon bonds"" and they're around, if maybe uncommon. The price people will pay for these bonds is their ""present value"", and the difference between the present value and face value determines a ""yield""; a rate of return, similar to the interest rate on a CD. Now, zero-coupon bonds are uncommon because they cost a lot. If I buy a zero-coupon bond, I'm basically tying up my money until maturity; I see nothing until the full bond is paid. As such, I would expect the bond issuer to sell me the bond at a rate that makes it worth my while to keep the money tied up. So basically, the bond issuer is paying me compound interest on the loan. The future value of an investment now at a given rate is given by FV = PV(1+r)t. To gain $1 million in new cash today, and pay a 5% yield over 10 years, a company or municipality would have to issue $1.629 million in bonds. You see the effects of the compounding there; the company is paying 5% a year on the principal each year, plus 5% of each 5% already accrued, adding up to an additional 12% of the principal owed as interest. Instead, bond issuers can offer a ""coupon bond"". A coupon bond has a coupon rate, which is a percentage of the face value of the bond that is paid periodically (often annually, sometimes semi-annually or even quarterly). A coupon rate helps a company in two ways. First, the calculation is very straightforward; if you need a million dollars and are willing to pay 5% over 10 years, then that's exactly how you issue the bonds; $1million worth with a 5% coupon rate and a maturity date 10 years out. A $100 5% coupon bond with a 10-year maturity, if sold at face value, would cost only $150 over its lifetime, making the total cost of capital only 50% of the principal instead of 62%. Now, that sounds like a bad deal; if the company's paying less, then you're getting less, right? Well yes, but you also get money sooner. Remember the fundamental principle here; money now is worth more than money later, because of what you can do with money between now and later. You do realize a lower overall yield from this investment, but you get returns from it quickly which you can turn around and reinvest to make more money. As such, you're usually willing to tolerate a lower rate of return, because of the faster turnaround and thus the higher present value. The ""Income Yield %"" from your table is also referred to as the ""Flat Yield"". It is a very crude measure, a simple function of the coupon rate, the current quote price and the face value (R/P * V). For the first bond in your list, the flat yield is (.04/114.63 * 100) = 3.4895%. This is a very simple measure that is roughly analogous to what you would expect to make on the bond if you held it for one year, collected the coupon payment, and then sold the bond for the same price; you'd earn one coupon payment at the end of that year and then recoup the principal. The actual present value calculation for a period of 1 year is PV = FV/(1+r), which rearranges to r = FV/PV - 1; plug in the values (present value 114.63, future value 118.63) and you get exactly the same result. This is crude and inaccurate because in one year, the bond will be a year closer to maturity and will return one less coupon payment; therefore at the same rate of return the present value of the remaining payout of the bond will only be $110.99 (which makes a lot of sense if you think about it; the bond will only pay out $112 if you bought it a year from now, so why would you pay $114 for it?). Another measure, not seen in the list, is the ""simple APY"". Quite simply, it is the yield that will be realized from all cash flows from the bond (all coupon payments plus the face value of the bond), as if all those cash flows happened at maturity. This is calculated using the future value formula: FV = PV (1+r/n)nt, where FV is the future value (the sum of the face value and all coupon payments to be made before maturity), PV is present value (the current purchase price), r is the annual rate (which we're solving for), n is the number of times interest accrues and/or is paid (for an annual coupon that's 1), and t is the number of years to maturity. For the first bond in the list, the simple APY is 0.2974%. This is the effective compound interest rate you would realize if you bought the bond and then took all the returns and stuffed them in a mattress until maturity. Since nobody does this with investment returns, it's not very useful, but it can be used to compare the yield on a zero-coupon bond to the yield on a coupon bond if you treated both the same way, or to compare a coupon bond to a CD or other compound-interest-bearing account that you planned to buy into and not touch for its lifetime. The Yield to Maturity, which IS seen, is the true yield percentage of the bond in time-valued terms, assuming you buy the bond now, hold it to maturity and all coupon payments are made on time and reinvested at a similar yield. This calculation is based on the simple APY, but takes into account the fact that most of the coupon payments will be made prior to maturity; the present value of these will be higher because they happen sooner. The YTM is calculated by summing the present values of all payments based on when they'll occur; so, you'll get one $4 payment a year from now, then another $4 in two years, then $4 in 3 years, and $104 at maturity. The present value of each of those payments is calculated by flipping around the future value formula: PV = FV/(1+r)t. The present value of the entire bond (its current price) is the sum of the present value of each payment: 114.63 = 4/(1+r) + 4/(1+r)2 + 4/(1+r)3 + 104/(1+r)4. You now have to solve for r, which is difficult to isolate; the easiest way to find the rate with a computer is to ""goal seek"" (intelligently guess and check).  Based on the formula above, I calculated a YTM of .314% for the first bond if you bought on Sept 7, 2012 (and thus missed the upcoming coupon payment). Buying today, you'd also be entitled to about 5 weeks' worth of the coupon payment that is due on Sept 07 2012, which is close enough to the present day that the discounted value is a rounding error, putting the YTM of the bond right at .40%. This is the rate of return you'll get off of your investment if you are able to take all the returns from it, when you receive them, and reinvest them at a similar rate (similar to having a savings account at that rate, or being able to buy fractional shares of a mutual fund giving you that rate)."

Businesses have bond ratings just like people have credit ratings. It has become common for businesses to issue low rate bonds to show that they are strong, and leave the door open for further borrowing if they see an opportunity, such as an acquisition.  One of the reasons Microsoft might want to build a credit reputation, is that people become familiar with their bonds and will purchase at lower rates when they want to borrow larger amounts of money, rather than assuming they are having financial issues which would lead them to demand higher rates.

The short float ratio and percent change are all calculated based on the short interest (the total number of shares shorted).  The short interest data for Nasdaq and NYSE stocks is published every two weeks. NasdaqTrader.com shows the exact dates for when short interest is published for Nasdaq stocks, and also says the following: FINRA member firms are required to report their short positions as of settlement on (1) the 15th of each month, or the preceding business day if the 15th is not a business day, and (2) as of settlement on the last business day of the month.* The reports must be filed by the second business day after the reporting settlement date. FINRA compiles the short interest data and provides it for publication on the 8th business day after the reporting settlement date. The NYSE also shows the exact dates for when short interest is published for NYSE stocks, and those dates are exactly the same as for Nasdaq stocks. Since the short interest is only updated once every 2 weeks, there is no way to see real-time updating of the short float and percent change.  That information only gets updated once every 2 weeks - after each publication of the short interest.

For a company listed on NASDAQ, the numbers are published on NASDAQ's site. The most recent settlement date was 4/30/2013, and you can see that it lists 27.5 million shares as held short.  NASDAQ gets these numbers from FINRA member firms, which are required to submit them to the exchange twice a month: Each FINRA member firm is required to report its “total” short interest positions in all customer and proprietary accounts in NASDAQ-listed securities twice a month. These reports are used to calculate short interest in NASDAQ stocks. FINRA member firms are required to report their short positions as of settlement on (1) the 15th of each month, or the preceding business day if the 15th is not a business day, and (2) as of settlement on the last business day of the month.* The reports must be filed by the second business day after the reporting settlement date. FINRA compiles the short interest data and provides it for publication on the 8th business day after the reporting settlement date.

> fucked over all local coffee shops  Planning permissions aside, I would think the consumers of Brighton did that, not Starbucks. Or did they offer free coffee until all the other coffee shops went bust?  But what do I know, I prefer McDonalds coffee to Starbucks.

"The government program to keep the unemployed from gaming the system that they mention isn't really what the article is about.  Most of their complaints are about internships, apprenticeships, and unpaid overtime for salaried employees.  The sectors that are most notorious for these sort of things are those that are often over-saturated with qualified candidates.  I work in graphic design.  The for-profit colleges in the US churn out graphic design graduates is disgustingly high numbers.  It's an easy program to sign people up for because is sounds fun.  ""Art is fun, computers are fun.  Make it a career!""  However there really aren't that many graphic design positions available.  Lots of unemployed or underemployed graphic designers means that more of them are willing to work for cheap or free to beef up their resumes.  Cheap freelance options means companies are getting rid of in-house designers.  Those of us that are left can no longer earn what we're worth but to keep doing what we love we have to suck it up and work the long unpaid hours for less pay.  similar things are taking place in a lot of sought after professions like finance, law, advertising, public relations, government, and various non-profits.  It's not terribly ethical, but it's hard to blame employers for not paying interns then they're salivating for a chance to run coffee just to get a foot in the door.  TL;DR: People want their long term career choice worse than they want to get paid immediately."

Since there's no taxable income (inheritance is not taxed to you), you do not need to amend. The executor used the correct form. Note, I'm not a tax adviser or a licensed professional. For a tax advice advice contact a CPA/EA licensed in your state.

The problem with the vintage motorcycle is that the spare parts can be tough to come by because the manufacturing companies will have stopped their manufacturing. But Geloman's Indian Spares opened doors for people, who are willing to buy the old Indian motorcycle spares parts online. Any time you purchase an old motorcycle, you should be willing to put in the effort to care for the motorcycle. Although, it is important that you check the authenticity of the online websites before making a purchase.


Question: Buy index mutual fund or build my own?

You better buy an ETF that does the same, because it would be much cheaper than mutual fund (and probably much cheaper than doing it yourself and rebalancing to keep up with the index).  Look at DIA for example. Neither buying the same amount of stocks nor buying for the same amount of money would be tracking the DJIE. The proportions are based on the market valuation of each of the companies in the index.

I was thinking something similar but that he is trying to fish for 'the best deal' by 'walking away'....or he wants show his base he was very conflicted and not totally roll over on them.  It did seem odd that only every news outlet reported inside sources say he was pulling out and he would announce his decision in a couple days.

"The account you are looking for is called a ""Positive Pay"" account.  It generally is only for business accounts, you provide a list of check numbers and amounts, and they are cross-referenced for clearing. It normally has a hefty monthly fee due to the extra labor involved."

I didn't realize that was twitter. You're right that it doesn't sound like there is one, but it also doesn't sound like there isn't one. If business guy was generally more reasonable I'd assume there would be as generally you'd get one first. But just because he's unreasonable now doesn't totally exclude the possibility.  On the facts as we have em you're right but seems there very reasonably could be more based on his comment and general situation.

"It's called a ""Pyramid scheme"". Its illegal in almost every country of the Western world. You're not going to earn lifetime income, of course, and these things collapse pretty quickly. Most of the ""common folks"" don't return the investment, its the organizers who take the money. Sometimes they run, most times they end up in jail. The way these schemes work is that they pay the early ""investors"" from the fees paid by new ""investors"". As long as a steady stream of new people keep signing up and paying into it those who got in very early make money. The idea is based on the geometric procession of each new person signing up two or more people, and those people doing the same. Pretty quickly at that rate you need to sign up every human being on the planet to keep the new money flowing in to make it work, which obviously is not realistic. Ultimately a small % of the people (if they can stay out of jail) will make a big amount of money the vast majority of ""investors"" get stiffed."

The answer to this question is given by the fact that many public companies have people who are opposed to the company's aims or practices and who own their stock, often a single share, for the purposes of turning up to shareholder meetings and haranguing directors/asking awkward questions/disrupting proceedings, etc. If public companies could stop these campaigning shareholders from owning stock they would.

"not sure how you could be more wrong.  my favorite part by far was the fedora worthy ""nonsense, and unworthy of further comment."" definitely followed by a little tip, wasn't it?  you've missed every single point i bought up. i'm not acting like investors are fat cats - you're borderline illiterate, and spend too much time on r/libertarian or watching fox news, so you jumped at the opportunity to straw man ""a dang pretentious librul."" what i said was ""relatively elite,"" exactly because i'm not saying they're cigar chomping pigs- they have a lot of money relative to most of the population.  i simply don't care enough to try to go point by point. my whole point was that the comment i was replying to represents the style of mainstream economics that misrepresents basic phenomena, and your reply was just a doubling down.  ""they are rational"" - lol literally choke on your MLP figurine. you've no idea what you're talking about. your other posts indicate a greater ignorance - you don't know how to watch the vix, or why your options move the way they do? really shocking /s"

"How will making energy cheaper help?  The issue is that average earnings have barely moved since the 70's, inflation has sky-rocketed for necessities and for assets.  My dad was making the same as I am now when he bought their first home for $40,000.  My smaller place cost me $300,000+.  That isn't fucking sustainable.  Natural gas, gasoline, electricity, those are all tiny slices of pie in comparison to food and shelter.    Then the American government makes all these shitty chess-play moves that they think will stimulate the economy but they don't take into account that civilians aren't entities that behave like ideal statistical models.  They don't fucking understand that people are concerned about the viability of their futures.  The whole thing is nose-diving into the ground.  Read the the book ""The Death of Money"" by James Rickards, America is fucked and the politicians don't care because they will be financially OK and will pass the buck on to the next generation to deal with."


Question: Looking for advice on rental property

I think the first step is to be thankful that your relationship with this person has not degenerated into lawsuits and bickering.  That would greatly affect your cash flow and valuations!  It also seems that this person is open to a variety of solutions.  This truly is a gift. I see two options without taking a mortgage or fronting cash: The key here is if the 65% property already has a mortgage.  Does it have enough equity to provide 15% cash out, and cover the existing mortgage?  What is the interest rate?  Can you get a lower rate that will reduce the impact of a higher mortgage payment will have on your income?  Can you have your partner finance the 15%?   In the end there really isn't a way to divest this company without impacting your income.

This is a big and complex topic, but it's one I think people get wrong a lot.  There's a lot of ways to treat a child's pocket money: Tell a kid that they're getting $10/week allowance.  Help them keep it safe, but don't give them access to it: Put it in a drawer in your office, or a piggie bank on a high shelf.  Encourage them to save up for a big purchase.  Help them decide what to spend it on.  When they find something they want, talk it over with them to make sure it's right for them. This seems like a good approach, because it encourages thrift, long term thinking, savings, and other important elements of real life.  But it's a TERRIBLE idea.  All it does is make the child think of it as if it wasn't really their money.  The child gets no benefits from this, and will certainly not learn anything about savings. Give the kid $10/week.  Full stop. This seems like a bad idea, because the kid is just going to waste it.  Which they will.  :)  That's the point!  There's NO way to learn except by experience. Try and shift control of discretionary spending to the child as and when appropriate.  Give them some money for clothes, or a present for their birthday, and let them spend it.  If they're going to be spending all day at some event, give them money for lunch.  And if they misspend it - tough!  No kid is going to starve in one day because the spend their lunch money at a video arcade, but they will learn a valuable lesson.  :) You have to be careful here of two mistakes.  First, only do this for truly discretionary spending.  If your kid needs clothes for school, then you better make sure they actually buy it.  Second, make sure that you don't end up filling in the gaps.  What you're teaching here is opportunity costs, and that won't work if your child gets to have his cake and eat it too.  (Or go to the movies and STILL get that new Xbox game.) Have them get a job.  And, it should go without saying, give them control of the money.  It's incredibly tempting to force them to save, be responsible, etc.  But all this does is force them to look responsible...for as long as their under your thumb.  Nothing will impart the lessons about why being responsible is important like being irresponsible.  And it's sure as hell better to learn that lesson with some paper route money when your 14 than with your rent money when your 24...

You could probably see prices at one of the Obamacare websites.  I'm on Obamacare in Massachusetts, and the premiums for me ranged from about $300-600 per month.  For a couple, you just multiply by two (couples don't get any discounts over single people).  So for a couple, the cost is about $600-$1200 per month. I never looked at family prices because I don't have kids, but I think the family plans are not that much more than the plans for a couple.

The biggest problem I see while looking for a new job so I can get out of where I am is that they basically want someone with Kevin Mitnick skills to install ram at a help desk. It's getting absurd what they put for qualifications for some of these jobs.

"Ok, I was being a bit rhetorical, sorry, it failed to come across.  I know there are other firms, but I have never seen anyone say ""ex-Bain people"". Is McKinsey sort of used like you just used google, not to refer to the company but as a type of thing (google = search engines; McKinsey = management consultants)?"

Then why do countries with single payer health plans see the cost for medical services increase beyond the rate of inflation every year?   [Seriously, just look at these numbers.](http://www.towerswatson.com/assets/pdf/3585/Towers-Watson-Global-Medical-Trends-Svy-Rpt.pdf)  It doesn't matter that they spend less of apercent of GDP on health care than us, because the net effect of thier models cause cost inflation that increases that percentage, just like ours. You could transplant thier model to the US and still see the same upward momentum. It is mathematically unsustainable.

A *lot* of big companies offer credit cards. And it makes total sense. For example, if you have a Macy's card, you get access to special discounts that you wouldn't normally get. It saves the consumer money and builds loyalty to the brand. Same for Southwest credit cards. It's a completely normal move.  EDIT: Also, Uber doesn't actually have to do much - it's the issuing bank that manages the program. *Most* of the branded credit cards you see are Chase, BTW. Amazon and Southwest are both run by Chase.


Question: Is the Canadian Securities Course (CSC) enough to get started in the finance industry in Canada?

"Wikipedia says ""The Canadian Securities Course (CSC) offered by the Canadian Securities Institute (CSI) is the initial course required for becoming licensed to work within the Canadian securities industry (outside Quebec) as a securities dealer or securities agent."" Src: Candian Securities Course EfficientMarket Canada adds "" You require it and further courses for other jobs in the investment industry. Generally some work experience is also required. All of this is governed by various self-regulatory agencies. The material in the course is strong on money making products, and fairly weak on material that would actually protect a consumer from harm. Passing the course is very little indication that you understand what's important about investing, for example, you won't be taught much of anything about the theory of investment, or the markets, or things like the efficient market hypothesis."" Src: EfficientMarket.ca on the CSC So it appears that the CSC is necessary to work as certain types of financial agencies. That being said, I doubt it will be enough to get your foot in the door. This seems more like a prerequisite rather than a true qualification, so you'll be competing with MBAs/Finance students and other people who either have experience or training in the financial industry. I'd recommend you look into the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certification as that will provide you with a rigorous knowledge of financial theory as well as asset management, which seems more appropriate for what you'd like to do. From there you'll have to network like crazy and leverage your experience to get in at a Canadian financial firm and eventually wealth management. So yes, I suppose a CSC is a good first step but more will certainly be required and I doubt it will be enough to land you a full time position.  Another important factor is age - nobody expects undergrads to have extensive certifications or experience, but it's harder for a 35 year old to enter a new industry, especially finance."

"Dimon's analysis and conclusions regarding his own lack of leadership and flawed oversight, leaves me frustrated and thinking... ""No Shit Sherlock!""     For five years we keep hearing over-and-over from an endless procession of Wall Street Elite how nobody understood the smoke-and-mirror shenanigans and that none of them believed that they were involved in any wrongdoing. Each time that this lame conclusion of blaming ""unexpected consequences and complexity"" is offered, are we really meant to accept it? Does anyone accept it? Stating that ""I now know that deceitful business practices and blatant gambling had grave consequences"" is hardly a revelation.   Seriously, Dimon had to be the archetype for the **[Captain Hindsight](http://vimeo.com/16315458)** character."

Summarized article: On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped almost 275 points and wiped out the last of the index's gains for the year.   Friday's massive selloff was triggered by a dismal US jobs report and data indicating a European and Chinese economic slowdown. Friday was the worst day of the year for the market.   Worried investors moved cash to the US Treasury bond market which also dragged the yield to a record low.   Some analysts believe the panic in the market may cause the Federal Reserve to plan for additional stimulus.   Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to speak next week.   *For more summarized news, subscribe to the [/r/SkimThat](http://www.reddit.com/r/SkimThat) subreddit*

There are several questions to answer before help can be given. How much revenue did you have this year? What is expected revenue growth for next few years? Are you operating as a sole proprietor, partnership or corporation? If a corporation did you maintain your books on the cash basis or accrual? I recommend you seek a CPA not a bookkeeper. And, don't wait until end of year to fund one.

My wife and I use a digital form of the envelope system. We call it a budget; we record how much we want to allocate each month to spend--for each category of expense--in a spread sheet. Why use prepaid cards? Why not open a bunch of bank accounts and use debit cards from each if you want to separate the money? You could also keep a ledger for each account that you spend from on a smart phone or even in a physical ledger.  The reason for the envelope method is that it psychologically hurts some people to physically part with cash. Once you digitize it in some factor, you lose what is the primary touted benefit, and it's no longer the envelope system. The secondary benefit that--once the budget for one category is gone, it's gone--is only as good as the discipline you have to not rob cash from another envelope; why is this any easier than the discipline of not debiting beyond the bottom of the ledger? So a budget IS a digital version of the envelope system; once the physical cash is removed from the equation, it's definitely not the envelope system. Sorry for the contrarian take on this question, but I've never been a fan of the envelope system for many of the reasons you have described. I guess I'm too young for the cash psychology to work for me.

"The pure numbers answer says you want the refund to be close to $0.  You can even argue, as some answers have, that you want to try to maximize the payment without receiving any sanctions for underpaying during the year. If you trace the money, it's easy to see why.  Let's say you get a paycheck.  Tag some of the dollars for Uncle Sam.  These are the dollars that, eventually, will be given to the IRS.  Now consider the following scenarios: From the raw numbers like this, its clear that you lose utility by setting yourself up for a large refund check.  The money was yours the entire time, but you chose to give it to Uncle Sam instead. However, the raw numbers are only part of the puzzle.  If you're a cold steely-gazed numbers person, they're the part that matters.  When the billionares are playing their tax evasion games, this is the only thing they are paying attention to.  However, real humans have a few psychological reasons they may choose to lose utility in terms of raw dollars in exchange for psychological assistance: These attitudes exist, and may be ideal for any one person.  Obviously the financially savvy answer of ""minimize your refund"" is the ideal answer from a dollars and cents perspective, but its up to you to see whether that attitude is right when you account for all of the non-measurable things, like stress.  In general, I would lead anyone to ""minimize your refund,"" but I would be remiss if I didn't include the very real psychological reasons people choose to deviate from it."

"The appropriate structure for an organization depends largely on the size of the firm. Smaller firms can employ some non-traditional hierarchies more easily (i.e., flat design), whereas the same structures are more difficult to use in mid-size and large companies. The most important pieces of any corporate structure are (1) clarity of roles, (2) accountability, and (3) ease of communication.  Firstly, everyone in the organization must have clarity of their own role and how it fits into the bigger picture. That means a structure that is easy to understand, and a comprehension of how all the roles tie in to each other.   Secondly, a good structure will enable and empower leadership to hold the team accountable, and be held accountable in turn. What is often misunderstood about accountability is that people often assume that it simply means punishing poor behavior when something breaks down. In reality, that's holding people responsible, not accountable. Accountability is something that is self-driven and is a product of sound relationships and transparency. As an example, one of the most common breakdowns in accountability is found in passive non-responsiveness. This is when you may reach out to a business partner for help or an update, but they simply do not reply (as in email, text, or voicemail).   Thirdly, the structure should be such that it is easy for individuals to communicate across and up/down the chain. This doesn't mean that if you send an email, communication is easy. Rather, who do I reach out to for this problem? What are the best practices or agreed-upon methodologies for a certain practice, and how does the team know this? Some of this should be codified in the form of standard operating procedures (SOPs) which can be referenced at any time. Many companies use a ""playbook"" which is a high-level reference guide on how to operate the business (an example is found here: https://www.atlassian.com/team-playbook). A playbook can be anything from a PDF to an interactive website like the aforementioned link. It should always have the most up-to-date information.  Most companies will change their structure over time as their environment (both internal and external) change and they need to adapt. For example, a small firm may not need an HR department, but as it employs more and more people, a need to have someone (or an entire team) focused on human capital management rises quickly -- an owner-operator can handle only so much before it is time to scale up.  The most important thing to consider is who you hire. People are the largest expense to an organization, and having the right people in the right roles is the best way to avoid unnecessary incremental costs resulting from inefficiency, fraud, or risky behavior. Always look for the personality traits that make a good employee relative to the role (i.e., customer service: friendliness; finance: integrity; operations: teamwork).  One of the most obvious parts of a business as it scales up is specialization. You want to find a balance, though. For example, HR handles all human relations issues, while Legal handles all internal claims, suits, and patents. There is an overlap that occurs here, as internal claims often start as human relations issues, which means you must have healthy communication and clear accountability for an appropriate hand-off so Legal takes a claim at the right point in time. While this example may be a little obvious, many times the edges are blurred, and clarity of role can be difficult.  I hope that helps! Reach out with any follow-up questions."

"I'm of the same line of thinking. The reddit community has been an amazing resource for me in the past on items like this. I have my areas of expertise (as a lawyer I have a ""binders full of precedents""), but loan proposals are not one of those areas. And when I deal in areas I don't have mastered, I like to consider examples where professionals might consider the job ""well done"" in order to question, push back, or assist my own professionals."


Question: Paid credit card bill, but money didn't leave my checking account [duplicate]

The fact that your credit card has seen the payment is strong evidence that the transaction did in fact take place.  But it's not unusual for there to be a delay of one or two business days before transactions show up in your online banking records.  Saturday and Sunday are not business days.   I bet you will see it on Monday.  If it's not there by Tuesday, you could call the bank.

"Of course, which is why you need to have a scoring function / utility function for the ""filters"", i.e. Are you going to value it by rate of accuracy hor by a metric where wins = +2, losses = -1, such that it uses a criteria like that to decide whether or not a filter adds value, (some even use a compound effect i.e. wins = 2+e^(1+w) where w is the consecutive wins).  A metric like the above would capture the trade off between predictive power and profit. Also some traders watch their Max DD very carefully so they may be very risk averse."

What would be the best way to estimate / calculate the basis risk exposure of a commodity trading company? Naturally companies are very cagey when it comes to such info, but is there a way to come up with an approximate number?

"Concerning the general problem of short selling and the need to borrow shares to complete the transaction : Selling short is a cash transaction.  Unlike a futures contract, where a short seller is entering into a legal agreement to sell something in the future, in the case of short selling a share the buyer of the share is taking immediate delivery and is therefore entitled to all of the benefits and rights that come with share ownership.  In particular, the buyer of the shares is entitled to any dividends payable and, where applicable, to vote on motions at AGMs.  If the short seller has not borrowed the shares to sell, then buyer of non-existent shares will have none of the rights associated with ownership. The cash market is based on the idea of matching buyers and sellers.  It does not accommodate people making promises. Consider that to allow short sellers to sell shares they have not borrowed opens up the possibility of the aggregate market selling more shares than actually exist.  This would lead to all sorts of problematic consequences such as heavily distorting the price of the underlying share.  If everyone is selling shares they have not borrowed willy-nilly, then it will drive the price of the share down, much to the disadvantage of existing share holders. In this case, short sellers who have sold shares they have not already borrowed would be paying out more in dividends to the buyers than the total dividends being paid out by the underlying company. There are instruments that allow for short selling of unowned shares on a futures basis.  One example is a CFD = Contract for Difference.  In the case of CFDs, sellers are obliged to pay dividends to buyers as well as other  costs related to financing. EDIT Regarding your comment, note that borrowing shares is not a market transaction.  Your account does not show you buying a share and then selling it.  It simply shows you selling a share short.  The borrowing is the result of an agreement between yourself and the lender and this agreement is off market.  You do not actually pay the lender for the shares, but you do pay financing costs for the borrowing so long as you maintain your short position. EDIT I realise that I have not actually read your question correctly.  You are not actually talking about ""naked"" short selling.  You are talking about selling shares you already own in a hope of maintaining both a long and short position (gross).  The problem with this approach is that you must deliver the shares to the buyer.  Otherwise, ask yourself what shares is the buyer actually buying if you want the bought shares to remain in your account. If you are not going to deliver your long position shares, then you will need to borrow the shares you are selling short for the reasons I have outlined above."

While Rocky's answer is correct in the big picture there is another factor here to keep in mind: The disruption while you're waiting to resolve it. If a fraudster gets your card and drains your account you'll get your money back--but there will be a period while they are investigating that it won't be available. For this reason I avoid debit card transactions and only use credit cards.  If the fraudster gets your credit card you might lose access while they investigate but you don't lose access to your bank account.

It's the rate of return on new opportunities. The rate on existing projects isn't relevant. If you buy a bond 10 years ago when market Interest rates were 8%, and you have cash to buy another bond today, it is today's interest rates that are relevant, not the rates 10 years ago.

"of course if you asked me to give you $24.4955 I can't. No, but if I asked you to give me $24.4955 and you gave me a piece of paper saying ""I O U $24.4955"", and then this happened repeatedly until I had collected 100 of these pieces of paper from you, then I could give them back to you in exchange for $2449.55 of currency. There's nothing magical about the fact that there doesn't happen to be a $0.001 coin in current circulation.  This question has some further information."

Wait. You equate public domain to being free. Public domain does mean that the source doesn't get paid. Remember when Its a Wonderful Life was in the public domain? TV stations still showed it, and they ran advertisements. Thousands of students each year buy Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, and thousands of others purchase tickets to see their local high school perform the play, or watch a film version.  People pay money for those versions because a person, or people, or a printer put work into producing the product. You can't take the files directly from Project Gutenberg and sell them, you need to add value. In the case of Huck Finn Google thinks that version does add value. Therefore they do allow them to charge for that version. If the work your propose to translate is in the public domain in the country you will be selling, then you can avoid having to pay royalties  for the source material. But you will have to check the copyright situation yourself.


Question: Why do so many NFL (pro football) players have charities?

"In addition to tax-related benefits, one answer may be that it helps them avoid being inundated with requests to support other foundations. Most charities have access to public records that indicate potential donors based on income and demographic. They can use that info to solicit for donations. ""Hey NFL Player, you have lots of money, and we have cute starving emus that really need your help!"" Here's a blurb from Foundation Source about some of the benefits to starting your own foundation.  Get an Immediate Tax Deduction, but Give Later: You get the tax deduction when the foundation is funded, then make your charitable   gifts over time. Leave a Lasting Legacy: Foundations set up in perpetuity can burnish your name far beyond your lifetime. Because gifts are made   from an endowment that generates investment revenue, the total gifts   made by the foundation can far surpass the actual funding. Be Taken More Seriously as a Philanthropist: A foundation imparts a gravitas that causes people to take your philanthropy more seriously,   due to the structured, organized approach you employ for your giving. Sidestep Unsolicited Requests: When you focus your foundation on specific giving areas, your mission statement can be used to politely   turn down off-target funding requests. Deepen and Focus Your Philanthropy: Whereas individual donors often spread their giving among as many causes as possible, the formalized   structure of a foundation often encourages donors to narrow their   focus to specific causes. Build a Better Family: As family members take on philanthropic research, present their findings to the board, participate in the   decision-making process, and track results, they hone skills that will   serve them for years to come. Tax-Deductible Grants to Individuals in Need: A private foundation allows you to provide emergency assistance directly to individuals   using dollars for which you’ve already received a tax deduction. Run Charitable Programs Without Setting Up a Separate Nonprofit: Direct charitable activities are IRS-approved programs that permit   foundations to directly fund and carry out their own projects. Pay Charitable Expenses: All legitimate and reasonable expenses incurred in carrying out the foundation’s charitable mission can be   paid by the foundation and will count toward the annual minimum   distribution requirement. Provide Loans Instead of Grants: When used to support a charitable purpose, private foundations can employ loans, loan guarantees, and   even equity investments, which are paid back (potentially with   interest), so you can recycle your philanthropic capital for other   charitable causes. https://www.foundationsource.com/resources/library/top-10-advantages-of-a-private-foundation/ There's a similar list here on the website for an attorney that specializes in philanthropy and non-profits. I won't copy/paste that list as it's similar, but I wanted to provide an additional source confirming the above benefits. This link contains some disadvantages as well.  http://www.hurwitassociates.com/l_start_pros.php"

I spent some time comparing banks' interest rates until I realized that it didn't actually matter (to me). The only money I keep in checking and savings accounts is money that I'm going to spend shortly or is part of an emergency fund, and in both those cases convenience of liquidity is far more important than small differences in interest (I want to be able to go to a nearby branch, even if traveling, and pull out large sums of money). The majority of our money goes into investment accounts, where it's earning much more than even the best savings account. Most of your 100k would be much better served in a stock/bonds mix. Are standard taxable investment accounts one of those things you can't open? What about if you opened one in your home country?

I think you're missing the point. We all have things we are good at and we all have styles we like to do it in. Was Bach's skills nature or nurture, I think we can assume both. If he had the same nurture in a different time period where a different form of music was dominant would he have found as much success? We can't truly know, but perhaps, perhaps not. If his childhood was different, if his parents were different, would he even have been a musician or a composer? Again, perhaps, perhaps not. Luck is how our parents raised us, the teachers we get in school, the friends we make, how our peers treat us, the year we were born, the random events of our lives, and so much more.   To some degree we make our own luck, yes, but to suggest that we all are dealt the same hand to play with or that all hands are equal is lunacy.

There is nothing inappropriate about this reply, yet I'm bumped down to -1 to make me invisible. That is not how debate is supposed to happen.  If someone disagrees, they should do it in words. Downvotes are for inappropriate conduct.

Facebook may sue you or your company for not paying the bill for the ads that Facebook ran for you or your company. There is a chance they may ban you and/or your company in addition to that to get the money as there was likely an agreement you accepted to put ads on Facebook.

Larger burgers are good for a treat but they aren't so good as a regular meal for many.  A McDonald's cheeseburger Happy Meal, for example, is a decent meal for many lightly active adults.  A Big Mac combo is pretty close to 2 meals worth of calories.

You create products and services that aren't tied to your personal hours worked. They generate income, like a golden egg. They need various amounts of care, but in general, they have a positive return on time spent on it. The returns can be 1000x even, like the one man who created flappy bird. Luck helps too, in those cases :)  The author of that article, on the other hand, is selling his time, not a product. That doesn't scale well, especially if you're one human.

This was all luck, that amount of leverage will destroy your account in a single bad trade. You profit is way less than it should be because you are getting killed on fees.  Take a look at the bitcoin trade, you should have 2,157.30 in profit but you only have 1825.42. And your currency trades were consistently positions that were worth $400,000 dollars, where you were pulling out ~$50 in profits, even though they should have been ~$80 profits. You are consistently getting 30% less than you should be, and consistently betting waaaaay bigger amounts than you account can really handle. Bad trades will probably have 30% greater losses than actual, and when the market moves the wrong direction then a single position will wipe out your account. Yes, you could have just bought bitcoin and gotten great profits. You totally nailed the directions of the markets! It is just a matter of time before you blow up, the trailing profits won't always help you when the market starts going down first.


Question: Retirement Options for Income

"I can think of one major income source you didn't mention, dividends.  Rather than withdrawing from your pension pot, you can roll it over to a SIPP, invest it in quality dividend growth stocks, then (depending on your pension size) withdraw only the dividends to live on. The goal here is that you buy quality dividend growth stocks.   This will mean you rarely have to sell your investments, and can weather the ups and downs of the market in relative comfort, while using the dividends as your income to live off of.   The growth aspect comes into play when considering keeping up with inflation, or simply growing your income.   In effect, companies grow the size of their dividend payments and you use that to beat the effects of inflation. Meanwhile, you do get the benefit of principle growth in the companies you've invested in.   I don't know the history of the UK stock market, but the US market has averaged over 7% total return (including dividends) over the long term. A typical dividend payout is not much better than your annuity option though -- 3% to 4% is probably achievable.   Although, looking at the list of UK Dividend Champion list (companies that have grown their dividend for 25 years continuous), some of them have higher yields than that right now.   Though that might be a warning sign... BTW, given all the legal changes around buy-to-lets recently (increases stamp duty on purchase, reduction in mortgage interest deduction, increased paperwork burden due to ""right to rent"" laws, etc.) you want to check this carefully to make sure you're safe on forecasting your return."

As a parent with a 4 yr old, it's not my reason. I want him to build something with his hands. Spend $50 on a Lego kit and what do you get? A tiny set of very specific parts for one build. Or I can spend that money on some other construction toy for half the price (blocks, Lincoln logs, train set) and you have similar enjoyment.

>I would propose that organizations like big box stores fall somewhere between animals and foreign peasants as far as our feelings of responsibility towards them.  I disagree.  To me and most people I know, big-box stores are *worse* than foreign peasants.  To foreign peasants, we're apathetic.  To big-box stores, we're hateful.

Will never be a Uber customer. I prefer my taxis to be a sustainable business, where drivers make an actual wage, which is above the minimum hourly rate for 17 year old kids.  Currently the most efficient Uber driver can make around 10 cents per mile, in net income. Or less than $4 an hour, even if driving non-stop.

If the ruleset you've created turns out to have unintended consequences (and from the article, there is at least MP who thinks so), then creating more rules to clarify or modify existing rules to keep everything operating within the intent of the law isn't insanity, it's smart government.

Eric is right regarding the tax, i.e. ordinary income on discount, cap gain treatment on profit whether long term or short.  I would not let the tax tail wag the investing dog. If you would be a holder of the stock, hold on, if not, sell. You are considering a 10-15% delta on the profit to make the decision.  Now. I hear you say your wife hasn't worked which potentially puts you in a lower bracket this year. I wrote Topping off your bracket with a Roth Conversion which would help your tax situation long term. Simply put, you convert enough Traditional IRA (or 401(k) money) to use up some of the current bracket you are in, but not hit the next. This may not apply to you, depending on whether you have retirement funds to do this. Note - The cited article offers numbers for a single person, but illustrates the concept. See the tax table for the marginal rates that would apply to you.

"Without knowing anything else about you, I'd say I need more information. If all of your investments are in stocks, then that's not really diversified, regardless of how many stocks you own.  There are other things to invest in besides stocks (and bonds, for that matter). What countries?  ""International"" is pretty broad, and some countries are better bets than others at the moment. If you're old, I'd say very little of your money should be in stocks anyway. I'd also seek financial advice that is tailored to your goals, sophistication, etc."

> The report I linked to appears to disagree with you about the numbers.  I can't remember the report you linked anymore but prior to 2010/2011 (drawdown) there was only a single point (2007/2008) where contractors outnumbered troops, and it was by (iirc from the chart) 30-40k. USAID had 53k contractors under them at that time. The math there means that, at no point prior to the drawdown, did DoD contractors outnumber DoD personnel.  >I wonder how it works out from a budgetary perspective for the professional mercenary companies, who I've read get paid massive amounts, which, I imagine, must irritate those doing similar work for government pay. People like Blackwater and their ilk.  That was the contracting work that I did. The military guys are just envious (but in a pretty positive way - certainly not hatin') and the government civilians can be annoyed but largely don't care. Everyone is in the same boat, pretty much - you're all there together. The military guys know that if they want to do contracting they need to follow a certain career path which they either choose not to pursue or can not.   State Department employees had the biggest problem with it because a) contractors fuck all of their women and b) they make more than the Staties without having a degree. It's very much a classist thing, and they are on the losing end of it. Kids educated at Cornell and now playing diplomat don't appreciate that.  Pay (for me) was $675 a day for some of the time, $1125 a day for the other part. It was decent pay, I worked 4 hours a day on average, and I got to work out a lot, but the food sucked and there were too few girls. And the ones that were there... you didn't want them. Or at least I didn't. But I've seen some of the best looking guys I've ever met dick down some ugly girls in country, and there was no way that I was about to fight with them over the (stretch marked or busted looking) scraps.


Question: What reason would a person have to use checks in stores?

Rational reason. They like this method of paying. There is a delay between writing the check and having the money removed from the account. Their checkbook makes a carbon copy of the check, so they can update their balance easier. They can leave the store and update their checkbook register, or the spreadsheet or their Quicken or budget application data. They don't have to try and remember the amount, store name or date.

Dealhoud, You are on the right path but this is actually an Equivalent annual cost problem. You have to take it a step further and divide the NPV by the Annuity factor.  You need to calculate the annuity factor and divide the investment by that amount.    Annuity Factor = (1-(1/(1+r)^n )) /r   We know the annual cost of the the current forklift = $5K. We need to figure out the Equivalent annual cost of the new forklift.  Investment / Annuity Factor + annual Cost = EAC.   Therefore $20K / (1 - (1/(1.04^10 )) / 0.04 = $2,465.82 + annual Maintenance = $4,465.82 therefore it makes sense to replace the old machine.

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Most construction is not done in 110 degree heat and there are plenty of immigrants making, what to them are good wages, but compared to prior construction wages, not great. Just because you haven't met them means little.   And most people with the option to work for Apple as a programmer are not the people looking to be in construction. Same could be said of all the people looking for the jobs at Amazon warehouses this week.

"Brokers need to assess your level of competency to ensure that they don't allow you to ""bite off more than you can chew"" and find yourself in a bad situation. Some brokers ask you to rate your skills, others ask you how long you've been trading, it always varies based on broker. I use IB and they gave me a questionairre about a wide range of instruments, my skill level, time spent trading, trades per year, etc.  Many brokers will use your self-reported experience to choose what types of instruments you can trade. Some will only allow you to start with stocks and restrict access to forex, options, futures, etc. until you ask for readiness and, for some brokers, even pass a test of knowledge. Options are very commonly restricted so that you can only go long on an option when you own the underlying stock when you are a ""newbie"" and scale out from there. Many brokers adopt a four-tiered approach for options where only the most skilled traders can write naked options, as seen here. It's important to note that all of this information is self-reported and you are not legally bound to answer honestly in any way. If, for example, you are well aware of the risks of writing naked options and want to try it despite never trading one before, there is nothing stopping you from saying you've traded options for 10 years and be given the privilege by your broker. Of course, they're just looking out for your best interest, but you are by no means forced into the scheme if you do not wish to be."

You are right sir. We both make good points and it just goes to show you how the MBA is NOT as prestigious anymore. I still think it should be. I'm getting paid worse than some BA's I know for Christ sake.

Businesses from food to retail, all assume the risk of spoilage, theft, or any form of lost assets. It's just business. With that said, I'm sure your mom didn't imagine too many ways she could've lost out when opening her nailshop. I'm unsure what the policy is that you're looking for, but my best advice to you would be to cut your losses and learn from this.  Hopefully you and your mother can be sure to check or figure out a system to ensure customers don't lie about their payments. Good luck

People normally hold precious metals as a protection against the whole system going down: massive inflation, lawlessness, etc.  If our whole government and financial system broke completely and we returned to a barter economy, then holding silver would likely turn out to be a good thing. However, precious metals are not very good hedges against individual calamity, like losing your job.  They are costly and inconvenient to sell and the price of these metals fluctuates wildly, so you could end up wanting to sell just when the metal isn't worth much. I'd say having some precious metal isn't unreasonable, but it should not make up a major portion of one's total net worth.  If you want protection against normal problems, especially as a person of limited means, start with an emergency savings account and paying down debt.  That way fixed costs will be less likely to turn an unfortunate turn of events into a personal catastrophe.