All Questions
38,062
questions
350
votes
18
answers
70k
views
Best way to start investing, for a young person just starting their career?
I am young, just started my career, and looking to begin investing so I can make my money work for me. I'm still living like I did in college (occasional purchase on myself, but most of it goes into ...
- 4,883
300
votes
18
answers
124k
views
Who can truly afford luxury cars?
I never really thought about money until one day I checked how much I made compared to the rest of America. The calculator said my household income is in the top 20%. Kind of funny to me, because I ...
- 2,730
275
votes
12
answers
168k
views
I received $1000 and was asked to send it back. How was this scam meant to work?
Possible Australianism - netbank = a website + app by which an Aussie can do their banking, including transferring money to other people.
A while ago, I ended up with $1000 transferred into my ...
- 4,351
254
votes
22
answers
84k
views
Why isn't everybody rich?
This question came up after reading this question (stock market long term risks), in which it is re-iterated (as it has been many times on this site), that investing in the stock market, especially an ...
- 3,645
240
votes
22
answers
97k
views
If a stock doesn't pay dividends, then why is the stock worth anything?
I read somewhere that companies are not required to pay dividends to shareholders (this is correct, yes?).
If so, then if company A never pays dividends to its shareholders, then what is the point ...
- 2,437
212
votes
13
answers
59k
views
Why would a company care about the price of its own shares in the stock market?
After a company has issued shares, why should it care if the value of the shares fluctuate?
Since the shares are now publicly traded, if the value fluctuates, that is strictly a transaction between ...
- 15.9k
200
votes
21
answers
31k
views
How smart is it to really be 100% debt free?
For the last 2 years, I have been trying hard to be debt free without affecting my personal cash flow. I am by no means a rich person, but I have a decent salary.
I still have debt, specifically
...
- 5,825
190
votes
23
answers
65k
views
What options do I have at 26 years old, with 1.2 million USD?
I'm a 26 years old female who got into an accident that almost killed me; I sued and after attorneys fees and medical bills from hell... I will walk away with around 1.2 million dollars tax-free.
Here ...
- 1,730
190
votes
11
answers
52k
views
I'm supposedly eligible for an inheritance from a distant relative. Offer appears to be legitimate
About 12 months ago, I received a letter ostensibly from a company carrying out genealogical research for law firms. It said that they were dealing with the estate of someone who had left money to my ...
- 4,393
189
votes
6
answers
44k
views
Found a heap of BTC but have no documentation. What do I do?
Many years ago, I bought around 400 BTC for a few hundred dollars (?) and stored them in a hard drive. Shortly after that, I lost this hard drive, wrote it off as an "Oh well" and didn't think ...
- 1,689
184
votes
15
answers
50k
views
Friend was brainwashed by MLM-/ponzi investment scam. What can I do?
Recently a friend of mine invited me to hear about “an interesting chance to simply earn money.” Basically we and other invited people drove to a meeting room where a speaker told us about a growing ...
- 1,995
172
votes
6
answers
38k
views
What happens to people without any retirement savings?
I'm not sure if this is a naive question. I'm struggling mightily with a family member (and everyone has a similar story) who just cannot make the right financial decisions. This person will forever ...
- 23.9k
172
votes
3
answers
696k
views
Can someone explain a stock's "bid" vs. "ask" price relative to "current" price?
In my online brokerage account, I want to buy a particular stock and I see the following:
Bid: 13.20 x200 Ask: 13.27 x1,000
the current stock price is 13.22.
Can someone explain what ...
- 2,195
168
votes
11
answers
38k
views
Do I make money in the stock market from other people losing money?
Basically I am new to stock trading and neglect to see the differences between trading stocks and betting on sports. Basically I am "betting" on which company will do well, and this can ...
- 1,993
165
votes
24
answers
59k
views
Why do people save so much?
When I am old and retired (70 years +), I don't plan to spend a lot of money. I'll be living in my own house that is already paid off at that point, so no rent or mortgage payments. Since I don't need ...
- 1,335
165
votes
10
answers
45k
views
My friend wants to put my name down for a house he's buying. What risks would I be taking?
My good friend, who I have known since we were kids, asked me for a favor today. He originally intended to get a house with his now ex-girlfriend so that he could invest in one and later on, sell it.
...
- 1,351
161
votes
15
answers
41k
views
For very high-net worth individuals, does it make sense to not have insurance?
Various types of insurance (health, car, life) protect you from relatively low probability but very expensive events in life (cancer, serious car accident, etc.) For the average person, it makes sense ...
- 7,467
148
votes
8
answers
29k
views
Oversimplify it for me: the correct order of investing
I have been reading the top posts here, and the recommendations for what to invest in are often similar. What I'd like to know, in as simply of terms as possible, is what the consensus is on priority ...
- 1,591
132
votes
13
answers
80k
views
I'm 23 and was given $50k. What should I do?
Recently I was given 50k from my grandmother in her will. I am 23 years old and have no idea what to do with it.
I make $33k a year.
I have zero savings.
I owe $35k in student loans over 6 years 0% ...
- 1,269
131
votes
13
answers
28k
views
Why does gold have value?
I'm curious about why is there so much financial interest and news coverage about gold.
It's hard to do things like buy food or pay the rent with gold, but I can do this with cash. Gold doesn't yield ...
- 1,428
129
votes
23
answers
24k
views
Why buy insurance?
I don't understand why people buy insurance when they know the odds are not in their favor. Is staying uninsured and saving money not a better bet? I am not talking about house insurance. About things ...
- 1,479
128
votes
2
answers
831k
views
Is it safe to give out one's bank account number?
I'm managing the utility of the house and I'm sharing with another person. He asks me to provide my bank account number, so that he can transfer his money to my account when paying the utility.
I ...
- 5,873
124
votes
19
answers
32k
views
Should I buy my house in cash, or with a mortgage and invest the rest of my money?
I can afford to buy a house (to live in myself) in cash. Most of my investor friends tell me this would be a dumb idea, because I could earn more in interest by buying the house with a mortgage and ...
- 2,751
121
votes
12
answers
38k
views
Tenant claims they paid rent in cash and that it was stolen from a mailbox. What should I do?
I own a duplex, live in half, and rent out the other half to college students. I have just made a mistake that cost me $750.
One of my tenants was late paying her rent. I'd thought it was still late, ...
- 1,875
118
votes
7
answers
33k
views
Why is stock dilution legal?
What I always heard, since I was a child, was that if you own a stock share, you actually own a small share of a company. That seems to be the general consensus of what a stock share is.
Well, that ...
- 1,327
118
votes
14
answers
30k
views
As a 16 year old, how can I keep my money safe from my mother?
I am 16 and still in HS and work 20+ hours a week. I live with my mother (my Dad left us when I was a kid and I don't see him anymore). My mother is an alcoholic and has trouble keeping a job. I don't ...
- 851
116
votes
22
answers
38k
views
My million-dollar brother wants to retire. Should he?
My brother is 37 years old and works in a very stable job earning $150,000 annually. He has his own house, a fianceé and a total of $950,000 in the bank (including stocks, real state and bonds). He ...
- 1,073
113
votes
10
answers
43k
views
Someone wants me to use my credit card at a card-only gas/petrol pump in return for cash
I was at a petrol station in rural New Zealand at the weekend which only accepted payment via the automated card reader on the forecourt. After I had filled up, a young woman approached me and asked ...
- 7,546
113
votes
12
answers
112k
views
In the stock market, why is the "open" price value never the same as previous day's "close"?
This is something that is mind-boggling to me, and it is particularly obvious in candlestick graphs:
Why is the open value never the same as the previous day's close value?
This is something I just ...
- 1,350
112
votes
13
answers
28k
views
Should I take out a loan to pay off a relative's credit card debt?
Recently a close relative revealed to me that she has run up $40,000 in credit card debt over the last few years, which she can no longer manage because the interest payments are eating up all of her ...
- 1,045
112
votes
10
answers
15k
views
Why should we expect stocks to go up in the long term?
I have read in many personal finance books that stocks are a great investment for the long term, because on average they go up 5-7% every year. This has been true for the last 100 years for the S&...
- 1,221
110
votes
20
answers
33k
views
Are lottery tickets ever a wise investment provided the jackpot is large enough?
If the odds of winning a lottery jackpot are one in 292 million, and the jackpot prize is expected to be greater than than $1 billion, does this make a lottery ticket a wise investment?
I know there ...
- 1,071
110
votes
7
answers
57k
views
Why is the stock market closed on the weekend?
It's all digital and done with computers these days, so why bother? Doesn't that just make the system less liquid, which is the opposite to one aim of having the stock market?
Plus can't you just ...
- 6,060
107
votes
13
answers
24k
views
Isn't "I bought [blank] as a tax writeoff" complete nonsense?
There's a trope in movies where people do something to keep from being bumped into a higher tax bracket (For example, in The Big Lebowski: "I'll have to check with my accountant, but it might bump me ...
- 1,274
107
votes
13
answers
19k
views
Does it make sense to insure something when you could financially bear its loss?
I'm wondering whether it makes sense to insure something if its loss would not be life-changing. I want to buy a boat to live on while I attend university. It would cost about 10,000 dollars and my ...
- 1,520
105
votes
8
answers
32k
views
Scamming an investor by offering a quick sale of a property at her named price
My mother-in-law was approached by an old friend who she hadn't heard from in a couple of years with a "business proposition" which is almost certainly a scam. I don't really understand how the scam ...
- 899
105
votes
5
answers
13k
views
What does it mean for the price of oil to be negative?
The New York Times website currently has this graph, showing that the price of "West Texas Intermediate, May contract" is $-13.10. Does it literally mean that someone's offering $13.10 to ...
- 1,281
102
votes
11
answers
25k
views
Debt collector has wrong person and is contacting my employer
A debtor with my same first and last name and middle initial owes a student loan debt for a college in another state I never attended. The debt collectors have my previous address listed on the notice,...
- 911
101
votes
10
answers
33k
views
How is Bitcoin useful as a currency if so few services accept it?
I've done research on bitcoin and I know what it is and how it works, kinda. I've even built a small block chain app.
What I don't understand, and I haven't been able to find the answer to, is if ...
- 955
101
votes
5
answers
69k
views
Is this person doing illegal money transfers?
This girl that I'm friends with and have actually seen in person before, keeps posting [on social media] that she "loves when the transfer goes through" and gets $2000-$6000 for free quite often. She ...
- 929
101
votes
6
answers
28k
views
Can someone explain the GME short squeeze situation to a non-stock trader?
GameStop Corp. (GME) stock is over $300 at the time of this post. I understand the 10,000 foot view of the story only: That some Reddit folks are buying up shares to squeeze a short seller.
But I don'...
- 1,286
100
votes
14
answers
11k
views
Should I finance a new home theater at 0% even though I have the cash for it?
My wife and I are considering buying a home theater - plasma TV & new stereo - on Black Friday this year.
We do have the cash for it, but Best Buy is offering 0% financing for up to 3 years on ...
- 1,161
98
votes
11
answers
23k
views
Why does the introduction of chip & pin appear to be so controversial in the United States?
The past few weeks there have been many news articles about the introduction of chip & pin in the United States; most of these articles are against it and citing such 'issues' as:
"Some people ...
- 1,224
97
votes
10
answers
92k
views
Scam or Real: A woman from Facebook apparently needs my bank account to send money
A woman on Facebook recently contacted my dad.
She asked him to get a bank account so she could send him money, and he would send money to her employees (about 12 people), and she would pay him for ...
- 1,053
97
votes
9
answers
20k
views
Do people tend to spend less when using cash than credit cards?
I know this is a popular theory on this site and finance blogs/media in general, but I'd like to know if there is any reliable research on the subject. I can share personal experience that makes me ...
- 129k
96
votes
6
answers
25k
views
Why do credit cards have their number and CVC code printed on them for all to see?
Ever since online commerce became a reality, it was sufficient to know the credit card number, expiration date and CVC code to purchase anything online. Things are slowly changing as MFA is getting ...
- 5,814
96
votes
5
answers
34k
views
How do scammers retract money, while you can’t?
I see a lot of question about scams with the same premises:
Someone puts money in your account.
You send money somewhere.
They take their money back, while you lost your money.
I don't know a whole ...
- 783
95
votes
15
answers
35k
views
Spouse wants to pay all debt in a month but I don’t. Is this a good idea?
Between both of our student loans and car loan, we are in the hole about $48,000. My spouse is adamant about paying off all debt in the next month or two since we currently have about $55,000 in the ...
- 1,053
95
votes
14
answers
34k
views
Can saving/investing 15% of your income starting age 25, likely make you a millionaire?
I came across this article. It states,
The plan calls for young people to put 15 percent of their salary into
a savings account — whether it be an IRA, 401(k) or taxable account —
starting at ...
user4884
95
votes
1
answer
19k
views
Found old paper shares of Motorola Inc that has since been broken up
I found 36 physical shares of motorola inc from 1999. I know that since then the company has split up into a lot of subsidiaries/mergers.
Is there any to sell this physical stock or is it worthless? ...
- 963