Questions tagged [investing]
Investing is the process of buying assets such as securities, real estate and other items of value that will hopefully increase in value over time, providing a return in the form of income payments or capital gains.
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When is Cash Value Life Insurance a good or bad idea?
What makes CVLI either good or bad? If you get it while young (~23 years old) and have a respectable starting salary then what are some benefits or detriments to having it?
The specific policy I'm ...
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Target Funds for a casual investor - benefits/drawbacks
I want to invest in something but don't have much knowledge; I'm considering a target fund based on approximate retirement date.
What are the benefits / drawbacks to a casual investor, of investing ...
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Why would anyone buy a government bond?
In my country, the interest rates on government bonds are currently 2 - 3%, but I have money in a term deposit at the bank which earns 4% interest. I don't understand how this can be possible. Why are ...
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How can I invest in gold without taking physical possession?
I want to buy gold but I do not want to physically store it. I just want to invest in the price of gold. Where can I buy electronic gold certificates? Something like putting money in the bank but ...
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Investing small amounts at regular intervals while minimizing fees?
My daughter is about to turn one year old and I'd like to start some sort of investment account for her. The purpose would be to invest her birthday and gift money into the stock market each year. I'd ...
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Why does the Nikkei 225 appear to be such a bad long-term investment?
For most well-developed countries, indexes of their stock markets tend to grow in the very long term. For example, look up a long-term graph of the FTSE100 or the S&P500. For Japan's Nikkei 225, ...
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Does doing your "research"/"homework" on stocks make any sense?
One thing about investing has always bothered me. You constantly hear people saying you need to "do your research" or "do your homework" on a company before buying their stock. I rarely watch Mad ...
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How to invest in stocks without using an intermediary like a broker? Can shares be bought direct?
I am looking to buy stocks but I would like to do so without a broker. From what I can tell, the exchanges are good ole boys clubs that require you know (or pay) someone in order to participate. Am I ...
Chris
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Abundance of Cash - What should I do?
There seems to be a glut of information and I don't know where to start.
My situation is:
No debt/kids
Own Home and Vehicles
Have a years worth of living expenses in my savings/checking
Max out my ...
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Why should I invest my money in a life insurance policy?
As i am 24 now i get lot of calls from lot of insurance companies asking to take up an insurance policy.... So i decided to get answers for some of my questions in basicallymoney...
Why should i ...
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I made an investment with a company that contacted me, was it safe?
I am a French person living abroad who invested a bit of money with a company that contacted me some time ago. This leading to that, I am a bit doubtful (legitimately?) that I will ever see my money ...
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Is Real Estate ever a BAD investment? If so, when?
Even in a bad market, over 30 years won't the value of Real Estate always go up? Is it always a sure bet? If not, what should an investor or buyer consider?
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Is losing money in my 401K normal?
I had about $10.5K in my Fidelity 401K account invested in their target fund. I started it a year ago. This is my first time with investing in the stock market.
For the past 2-3 months, it keeps ...
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How would bonds fare if interest rates rose?
The first thing I learned about bonds is that when interest rates rise, the price of existing bonds tends to fall. Unfortunately, I didn't learn much else about bonds. So I have a couple questions ...
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What's an Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF)?
I've been hearing a lot about exchange-traded funds, or ETFs. What exactly are they, and how would I use them?
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Why would one choose to sell stock back to a company for less than their current market price?
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) is currently offering to buy back $4 billion USD of their stock (reference).
The minimum they will pay is $56, and the maximum is $63.
Given that this equity is ...
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What happens to the insider trade profits?
I have noticed that David Solomon has made an insider trade on Goldman Sachs as shown in this screenshot from marketwatch.com:
Now This tells me he got a profit of over 2.5 million dollars in a day ...
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How can I lower my taxable income?
I recently got a new job with a salary that puts me in the 25% tax bracket (filing as single). I don't yet qualify for my employer's 401k plan so I can't use that to reduce my pretax income for the ...
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How does dividend work in an index fund?
What does a manager do with the dividends of the companies in the index? Does he reinvest the dividends in the company in which he got the dividends or will just choose whichever company suits him? ...
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Should I pay off my student loan before putting money into Roth IRA?
I have about $7K in student loans remaining at 6.25% I also haven't made a contribution to my Roth IRA for 2010. I'm thinking off paying off my loan at the end of the year, but that'll not really ...
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What does Chapter 11 Bankruptcy mean to an investor holding shares of a Chapter 11 Company?
If I currently have shares in a company that has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection what impact does this have on me? Does this mean the shares stop trading? If the company successfully ...
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Are peer-to-peer loans viable options for savings/investing?
Now that peer-to-peer sites like Lending Club and Prosper have matured are they viable options to add to my savings/investment portfolio or should I only use them with extra cash?
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What would be reasons NOT to invest in a small company that has great leadership, talented workers and an amazing product?
For example Apple, Amazon, Microsoft all fulfilled these checkmarks when they were small companies. People who had invested in them during the phase where they were no longer obscure, (but still ...
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Pay off half mortgage vs invest in stocks
Some background: I have a mortgage ($212K/$247 remaining, 3.675% APR) on a house in my previous city. Selling it was my primary goal, but unfortunately that hasn't happened. And looks like the ...
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Is there any benefit to investing in an index fund?
Does an index fund comprise of stocks that mimic the index? So when the index is altered to include new players/exclude old ones, the fund also adjusts? But how can this be, since index funds are not ...
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Building a source of passive income: How can I start? [closed]
For the past couple of months I have been researching, specifically on how to generate or build up a second source of passive income, I am obsessed with the fact of making another source of income at ...
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My company is suspending its 401K match; what is the best thing to do with my money?
I am a 25 y/o US citizen working in the US for a US company. Given these days' hard times, my company has elected to suspend its 401k match. I make too much money to contribute to a Roth IRA. What is ...
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How to start toward financial independence
I would like to ask for help from those with more experience on how to achieve financial independence on, say, an N year window where N is large enough to get there but as small as reasonable. I just ...
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Should I get out of debt fast using Dave Ramsey's Tactics?
I currently am $31,000 in debt from school and a personal loan and I am looking to pay it off. I just started a new job; I am 21 years old, fresh out of college. I am making around 50K USD.
I have ...
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I have an extra 1000€ per month, what should I do with it?
I've seen a few questions like this here, but they all seem to be adressed to Americans and their way of life. Let me explain:
I am 27, single, live in Germany and recently got my first job, which ...
anon
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New company doesn't allow 401k deposits for 6 months, what to do with money I used to deposit?
I plan on taking a new job that does not allow employee 401k contributions for the first 6 months. I am used to maxing out my 401k, and this seems like a dangerous amount of money that I don't want ...
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What is the best way to invest in gold as a hedge against inflation without having to hold physical gold?
What is the best way to invest in gold as a hedge against inflation without having to hold physical gold? Is it possible for a regular person to just purchase shares in GLD?
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How can this be enough to fund a scholarship in perpetuity?
I am trying to understand how funding for scholarhips works. I received this email recently:
Some of you, and your colleagues, knew X, a long-time
member of our Unit, who died recently. We have
...
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How to evaluate stocks? e.g. Whether some stock is cheap or expensive?
What kind of information do you obtain before buying (or selling) a stock? I know the PE ratio is very important, but not the only thing. Are there any rules of thumb to determine whether some stock ...
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What is a good asset allocation for a 25 year old?
I have a mid-sized portfolio (under $100K). And am currently in 100% stocks. I have seen some advice being given that states 80/20 bonds will yield similar returns as 100% stocks with less volatility.
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Should I invest on margin?
I have an Interactive Brokers margin account, but so far, I haven't been using the margin; I'm considering doing so.
According to https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/index.php?f=18069, their ...
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Most common types of financial scams an individual investor should beware of?
We've probably all heard of the Ponzi Scheme, made famous first by Charles Ponzi and more recently by Bernie Madoff:
In March 2009, Madoff pleaded guilty
to 11 felonies and admitted to turning
...
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How can I offset the risk of a market crash when making a retirement plan?
Most retirement plans in America today are built upon investment portfolios - whether it's a 401K or some other scheme similar to it, they're built upon the idea that stocks will, over time, increase ...
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Are bonds really a recession proof investment?
I believe that another crisis is imminent if Trump goes ahead with deregulation of financial firms. Whether that is true or not is not my actual question.
In that context, I want to protect my 401K ...
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Why are big companies like Apple or Google not included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) index?
I'm taking an investing and personal finance class in school. I was assigned to ask someone who knows about the stock market why big companies like Apple and Google aren't included the Dow Jones ...
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Is it possible to violate SEC rules within a retail brokerage account?
I am a small buy-and-hold investor. I recently asked a question about pump and dump scams: Will I be investigated if I regularly profit from pump and dump scams? One interesting comment by user @Steve-...
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Why do banks finance shared construction as mortgages instead of financing it directly and selling the apartments in a building?
The numbers in this question are for a developing country, so rates may seem high, but I tried to make them look reasonably related to each other to illustrate this question. The question also assumes ...
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I guess I'm American (by birth). I'm Canadian... my investment company is asking an impossible question. I don't have an SSN, what to do? Lie?
When I was born (1976) they did not automatically assign SSNs to kids (according to my mother). I guess that's not the case now. I only lived there for a few years and I gather I am a US citizen by ...
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How can so many ETFs tracking the same index coexist?
I understand that different ETFs may cost different amounts of money per share, as you are buying a proportional amount of each company on the index, but why can two ETFs that cost roughly the same ...
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At what interest rate should debt be used as a tool?
I know people love to preach the merits of being 100% debt-free, but when used intelligently, debt can be a powerful tool. All else equal, if I have debt at an interest rate of say 1% and have an ...
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To rebalance or not to rebalance
I have not been able to understand the concept of rebalancing in investing. To me it's a form of the gambler's fallacy.
Let:
s_n = stock price at time n
s_{n+1} = stock price at time n+1
E[x] is ...
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When I retire, should I really pull money out of my brokerage account first when all my investments are long term?
Preparing to retire and I've looked at a lot of info on the internet and it all says the same thing: pull money out of your high taxed brokerage account first so you leave all that tax deferred money ...
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Can a bunch of wealthy people force Facebook to go public?
Over at Dealbook, Sorkin writes in reference to Facebook:
Once more than 500 individuals or institutions own shares in Facebook, securities laws mandate that the company go public. Google staged an ...
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Type of account for investing surplus funds when planning to retiring early?
How do people retire early? Say that their debts (including house) are paid in full, they have ample money already saved in IRAs, 401ks, etc., they are expecting a pension, and have earned enough SS ...
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What should I look at before investing in a start-up?
A friend from college (and middle school and elementary school, for that matter) has talked to me a little about his company, a start-up working on technology tangentially related to Internet ...
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