All Questions
4,129
questions
5
votes
2
answers
843
views
Are there benefits to purchasing term life insurance with an option to convert to whole life, and what type of consumers should purchase it?
Most of what I read says, "whole life insurance is not for you", but they don't elaborate much more than that. There's even less about term life insurance that has an option to convert to whole life ...
- 203
5
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Use retirement to pay off debt: Should I cash in RRSP to repay Line of Credit?
The amount I have in RRSP savings is exactly equal to the amount I have in Home Equity Line of Credit debt (significant, but aside from home mortgage, my family has no other debt).
I know if I ...
- 8,683
5
votes
2
answers
470
views
How would a collection against me affect my credit
I went to a new city two weeks ago and rented a 2011 Civic in the meantime. On the last week of the rental, someone hit my car in the front bumper in a parking lot.
The damage was a 2 by 3 inch dent ...
- 2,756
5
votes
2
answers
209
views
Can I convert my traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 2011?
Going forward, I'm putting all my retirement savings that goes above my employer 401(k) match into a Roth IRA.
I have a traditional IRA that I opened many years ago and has sat untouched for quite a ...
- 205
5
votes
4
answers
112k
views
If someone lives in one state and purchases a winning lottery ticket in another, where should they file their winnings?
If you've been paying attention (at least in the US) for the past couple days, you are aware of the Mega-Millions lottery drawing that is coming up which is conservatively estimated at $500m $640m! At ...
- 835
5
votes
2
answers
500
views
Will there be enough money in the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) to cover baby boomer retirement?
As the leading edge of the baby boomer generation edges into retirement age, is there enough funds in the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) to cover the needs of this populous generation? Do special measures ...
- 6,230
5
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Mortgage Due Date versus Late Payment Penalty - Can the loan company call me daily?
My mortgage is due on the 1st. I was told paying a week after the 1st to match my paychecks wouldn't be a problem. In fact each and every statement has a date where if I pay after that date, I owe a ...
- 25.2k
5
votes
1
answer
282
views
Company relocation allowance was taxed as income, but then forfeited & paid back. How can I get the tax back?
I recently quit a job where I was forced to pay back a portion of relocation expenses the company gave. This money was taxed as income. What will I have to do to reclaim the taxes I paid on that money?...
- 265
5
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Mutual fund question; what is a 'Series'?
In mutual fund lingo, what is a 'Series'? What does it mean?
- 16k
5
votes
2
answers
24k
views
How to calculate total interest paid on a decreasing balance?
I am trying to come up with the equation which will give me the total interest to be paid on something given a fixed interest rate with a fixed payment for a given period of time. The interest is ...
- 193
5
votes
1
answer
889
views
In Canada, can I deduct my mortgage if running a business from my home?
If I run a home business and a portion of the home is used as an office for the business can I deduct a percentage of the mortgage?
- 6,230
5
votes
2
answers
680
views
Calculating the most optimal way to pay off credit cards
I have 3 credit cards which I am slowly paying them off.
Card# Balance Monthly Interest Months to pay of Minimum
Payment at current rate Payment
1 $...
- 3,817
5
votes
2
answers
639
views
Expensive Pre-Tax Health Plan or Cheaper After Taxes Private Insurance
I currently have two options for health insurance, and I'm having trouble figuring out which one will actually save me more money.
Option 1:
Employer sponsored Health Insurance for Family
$1,330/...
- 317
5
votes
1
answer
252
views
Avoiding self-employment tax and maximizing retirement contributions
This is a follow-up to the answer to this question.
Suppose you have a single-member LLC that makes $200k and that you would like to contribute the annual maximum of $54k to a SEP IRA.
Is it ...
- 7,526
5
votes
4
answers
475
views
Logistics of managing the daily budget
My wife and I have historically struggled with managing our budget. Not because our money priorities are out of whack, or we have too much debt, etc. Rather it's just a time issue.
One person has ...
- 153
5
votes
2
answers
444
views
Is there a penalty to withholding more taxes at the end of the year?
Suppose that Bob realizes in November that he has severely underwithheld taxes and would have a large penalty due when he files. Since he works at a salary-paying job, he elects to increase his ...
- 53
5
votes
2
answers
639
views
Can I contribute to my spouse's RRSP to fully take advantage of the Home Buyer's Plan?
My spouse and I plan to eventually use the Home Buyers' Plan when purchasing our first home.
If we combine our RRSP's then we can take out $25,000 each to use as a down payment on our first home.
I ...
- 325
5
votes
1
answer
763
views
Should retail investors learn and use the capital asset pricing model (CAPM)?
I heard that the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) is commonly studied by finance students, and can help in controlling risk in stock portfolios. The CAPM looks rather complex as it seems to require ...
- 17k
5
votes
1
answer
313
views
Tax deduction macros in Python for Germany
I work to implement a set of German tax deduction macros in Python for private use and have some errors, one of my troubles is correct deduction of Lohnsteuer.
There are quite many online calculators ...
- 209
5
votes
2
answers
691
views
In which order are tax credits calculated if you earn both refundable and non-refundable?
Let's say you qualify for two types of tax credits: one refundable (EITC), and one non-refundable (adoption). To keep it simple, let's say that you owed $1000 in taxes, and you qualify for $1000 in ...
- 2,288
5
votes
1
answer
456
views
How to sell jewelery without getting ripped off?
Related to this question:
If I have some old gold jewellery, is it worth it to sell it for its melt value?
What is some good advice for getting a piece appraised? Who is a typically trustworthy ...
- 25.2k
5
votes
1
answer
8k
views
Jointly filing taxes in 2 different states
My situation is as follows:
Spouse works in MA
I worked in MA part year and part year in PA.
We file taxes jointly for federal and state.
My permanent residence is in MA, but I stay in a rented place ...
- 1,663
5
votes
1
answer
267
views
If a stock is sold but the purchase was canceled by the exchange, will it be considered a short-sale?
This question is asked as a follow-up to the question below;
How can this stock have an intra-day range of more than 90% on 24Aug2015?
BKCC had a 90% price fluctuation on 24Aug2015 and some buy ...
- 2,177
5
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Why are options that cannot be traded in cents still show a last trade as non-five-cent increments?
I read Why do some options trade in 5 cent increments? but despite that I see some options I cannot trade in pennies ( not broker specific), but I routinely see same option being traded by others in ...
- 3,492
5
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Book for balance sheet reading? [closed]
What is an easy to understand book that teaches a beginner how to read a balance sheet? Something like a Balance Sheet for Dummies?
- 16k
5
votes
2
answers
22k
views
Can the purchaser of a stock call option cancel the contract?
Let's assume there's a company, XYZ, trading at $11/share today. I purchase a call option @ $15 for $0.05.
Do I need to keep funds in my account to satisfy the contract? I know my counter party ...
- 475
5
votes
5
answers
17k
views
In what countries can credit card merchants use address verification?
Usually when you pay with a Visa or MasterCard online you have to provide a billing address. Many online shops, especially from the United States, will only send purchases to the cardholders billing ...
- 635
5
votes
1
answer
2k
views
First Time Home Buyer - How much down payment? Where to go for Mortgage?
I'm currently spending $15,000 a year in rent and gaining nothing in equity! This needs to change :). Looking to buy a place, I'm in the DC area so it'll be in the $500,000 price range.
I have just ...
- 51
5
votes
2
answers
682
views
When is the right time to pay my credit?
I am confused on when is the right time to pay my credit. Here is what is written in the paper included with my card.
Statement Date: 21st of the month
Payment Due Date: 24 days after statement ...
- 183
5
votes
5
answers
68k
views
Where can I get a car loan for roughly $2000?
I'm looking to buy a new car and have found one that I really like. It is priced at $4500 (with taxes). I currently have $2700 in my savings account. I would like to get a loan for $2000 (leaving me ...
- 151
5
votes
4
answers
195
views
Multi-Account Budgeting Tools/Accounts/Services
Every time I get paid, I take some of the money and allocate it for certain uses. I track this in a spreadsheet. This works fine, but it's not what I want in the end. Basically, I think what I want is ...
- 435
5
votes
1
answer
155
views
Complications dividing real estate for a married couple vs unmarried
What complications should be expected when an unmarried couple's relationship fails after they have purchased a house together? How does this situation compare to that of a married couple?
- 325
5
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Do I have to pay Medicare and Social Security taxes if I just have a work permit and not yet a green card?
I applied for a Green Card late July 2017. I just received my work permit few weeks ago. During this time where I am in between status am I exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes?
When I had ...
- 51
5
votes
4
answers
5k
views
Why this strategy with options and zero risk is not possible?
I'm learning options and I've seen strategies with graphs like these:
Why is not possible to combine a Butterfly with Straddle to get something like this (green is final result):
I'm very new ...
- 593
5
votes
1
answer
438
views
Options for Protecting Inheritance Before Death?
My mother is starting the process of selling her house and downsizing to an affordable apartment. The house sale will leave her a fair amount of cash that she will use to close the gap between her ...
- 3,501
5
votes
1
answer
714
views
How do I minimize exchange rate spread costs when shopping online?
I get my income in euros. I need to pay for stuff in USD because I use shops like Dealextreme where the base currency is USD. I have a Visa Debit card (so not a real Visa) since I am a student but ...
5
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Short-selling treasuries instead of borrowing on margin?
Let's say I have a diversified investment portfolio, and I wish to tap a relatively small amount of cash (less than 5% of the portfolio's value) without liquidating any of my positions.
I could ...
- 3,551
5
votes
2
answers
594
views
Any problem if I continuously spend my credit card more than normal people?
I continuously use my credit card for my friends' expenses. Normally I could spend 20~30K USD each month to get more points/cash back. I don't have large credit limits so in most time I'll put cash ...
- 53
5
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Can someone explain how government bonds work?
Can someone explain, for irresponsible investors, the maths behind government bonds as presented here?
I am assuming that the "coupon" is the yearly interest paid on the original price. Since this is ...
- 462
5
votes
2
answers
372
views
Foreclosure debt still on the credit report
I went through a pretty nasty divorce in which my ex-wife got to keep the house. Eventually the house was foreclosed on and she eventually got evicted. However, my name (along with hers) was still ...
Frank Rizzo
5
votes
2
answers
3k
views
I have a mortgage with PMI, what happens to PMI when I get to the 'safe' LTV ratio?
I have a mortgage with PMI, what happens to PMI when I get to the 'safe' LTV ratio?
Does my payment stay the same and more money goes to paying off interest or principal? Does my payment drop?
- 8,742
5
votes
3
answers
25k
views
Capital Gains in an S Corp
In this question about s-corp distributions, the answer was given that an s-corp taxes all profit as personal income. That is, there are neither distributions nor dividends which can be taxed at a ...
- 153
5
votes
2
answers
360
views
How much dividend tax will I pay while also earning a salary?
I live in UK, I have a day time job where I earn around £26,500 per year,
I am also running my own limited company, and I just received a dividend of £60,000
My accountant told me that I will need ...
- 187
5
votes
1
answer
4k
views
What are the tax benefits of a LLC vs a sole proprietorship?
What tax benefits would I receive by changing my sole proprietorship to an LLC?
Can the LLC do things like own a company car?
- 458
5
votes
1
answer
251
views
Should I open an RRSP if I don't plan to retire in Canada?
I'm currently working in Canada and my employer offers a program where they match my RRSP contributions up to a certain percentage of my salary. Should I start contributing to RRSP even though I ...
- 5,842
5
votes
1
answer
624
views
gnucash - Record several years data
Currently I am using GnuCash to record my personal expenses.
I am using it since the last year, so in my master book I have records belonging to the years 2013 and 2014.
Is that the correct way to ...
- 153
5
votes
2
answers
20k
views
What does a 30/360 day count convention mean?
I've been trying to understand day count conventions, but the Wikipedia article is confusing. It was my understanding that interest is usually compounded daily - I don't quite understand how it fits ...
- 193
5
votes
1
answer
314
views
Who sets the prices on government bonds?
I noticed my country Greece wanted to sell bonds last year and they were stating "If they go above 7% we won't sell.". But who sets the price if not them? Why can't they say "the price is 5% and if ...
- 311
5
votes
3
answers
327
views
Which payment plan is better to pay for tuition?
My kids go to a private school that's attached to a religious congregation. As far as paying tuition, they offered me a choice between these 2 deals:
$1296 per month (for 12 months).
$1156 per month ...
- 3,817
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What's the deadline to contribute to a Roth IRA
Is the deadline for contributing to a Roth IRA? Dec. 31 or when I file my taxes?
- 337