121
votes
Accepted
Should I pay for a computer up-front or on finance?
This is pretty simple, and doesn’t require too much math.
First, talk of liquidity is not necessary. You are currently paying $3000 extra on your mortgage every month. (Nice!) You certainly would ...
- 115k
88
votes
The security team has noticed suspicious trading activity. Insurance fee is 25%
Yes it is a scam. Any money you "invested" on this platform is gone.
- 825
81
votes
The security team has noticed suspicious trading activity. Insurance fee is 25%
It is a scam because of several red flags:
They want you to pay more money to get access to your money.
They want their fee in crypto.
They want a screen capture as proof.
They want you to wait many ...
- 136k
61
votes
Accepted
Money transfer scam
I think you're overthinking it. They are likely nowhere near you and they don't actually want any puppies or the hassle of coming in person.
The likely way it works is: they wire you the money and ...
- 23.3k
58
votes
Where can I report a cryptocurrency fraud?
Each time I am asked to pay a new fee to get my money back and they won’t deduct it from my earnings or my money back.
Stop doing this. You won't get any earnings, you're just giving more money to ...
- 166k
53
votes
Accepted
Is there a way to bypass POS Credit Card processing fees?
Is there any way to keep accepting those cards without paying the fees?
No. You're receiving a service, why would you be receiving it for free?
He confirmed there is no way to scape to this.
That's ...
- 166k
52
votes
Fee-only financial advice vs. asset management (which includes advice)?
If you have $1 million, it makes no sense to pay a 1% of the $1 million annually for asset management on only $500k (the brokerage account). That is basically paying 2%. I agree with the other answers ...
- 2,126
45
votes
Why do small merchants charge an extra 30 cents for small amounts paid by credit card?
Here in the US, stores sometimes charge such a fee for small credit card purchases. Not as much as they used to, I think. And some refuse to accept credit cards for small purchases.
When I had a small ...
- 22k
44
votes
Accepted
Getting Cash from Credit Card without Fees
Nope. Or at least, if it were possible the company offering such a credit card would quickly go out of business. Credit card companies make money off of fees from the merchants the user is buying from ...
- 6,849
35
votes
Fee-only financial advice vs. asset management (which includes advice)?
After doing it myself for 35+ years, I considered turning it all over to an asset management company last year. After meeting with a number of them, I found a knowledgeable financial adviser that I ...
- 75.7k
32
votes
Accepted
Why don't index ETFs use leverage to offset their fees and eliminate tracking errors?
Leverage can be good to increase gains, but it amplifies movements of a stock. Also downward movements. Paired with the increased gains is also an increased risk, and that changes the investment ...
- 2,437
31
votes
Accepted
Do mortgage points get applied directly to the principal?
When you pay points on a mortgage, you're paying to offset interest. The payment is essentially a fee, and does not decrease principal.
In your example, if you pay $1,000 against a $100,000 mortgage, ...
- 17k
29
votes
Money transfer scam
There is actually a popular Paypal scam that operates differently from Vicky's answer. They will send you ask you for your Paypal email, and send you an email invoice from a site that looks like ...
- 641
26
votes
Money Order shredded by HOA, what do I do?
The Western Union site has a page on the expiration of money orders. Depending on the state, a non-refundable service charge will be deducted from the money order amount after 1-3 years. But the ...
- 26.5k
25
votes
Does a savings/checking account sitting at $0 have any drawbacks?
The main concern I'd have is that something will happen to the account while it's unattended. While you may not have any money in it to risk, you could have a fraudulent check written against it that ...
- 35.7k
23
votes
Accepted
Risks of using a "free" (non-fee-only) financial planner for investing a substantial sum?
The risk is that the "free" service may be supporting itself by steering customers to products which part a sales commission, or that are products of the company/bank that employees then, rather than ...
- 42.9k
22
votes
Should the bank cover money lost due to an unsuccessful transfer?
Since the transaction was not your bank's mistake (but a decision by the Indian government) why should your bank bear the cost of the unsuccessful transaction?
Your bank charged a fee for a service ...
- 32.7k
18
votes
Why do banks insist on allowing transactions without sufficient funds?
Believe it or not, this is done as a service to you. The reason for this has to do with a fundamental difference between a credit card account and a checking account.
With a credit card account, ...
- 115k
18
votes
Fee-only financial advice vs. asset management (which includes advice)?
This is a very opinion based question, but it has a lot of merit. IMHO, you do not need a FA. You guys have done really well up until this point and you are probably astute at picking mutual funds ...
- 76.1k
17
votes
Am I responsible for an annual fee on a credit card I never picked up?
Have you signed anything? If not - then tell them you don't know who they are and have not agreed to pay.
If you did sign that piece of paper at the airport, then you have probably agreed to pay.
...
- 166k
17
votes
Accepted
Bank claims I'm personally liable for small business fees; despite leaving the company?
What did you sign when the account was opened? What did you sign when you left the company, to transfer those responsibilities? Unless the bank has a record of someone else being responsible, they are ...
- 42.9k
16
votes
Risks of using a "free" (non-fee-only) financial planner for investing a substantial sum?
There is no free lunch. "Free" can cost you a small fortune over time.
If you wish to sit through a free pitch you may as well go to a time share seminar. Just keep your hands in your pocket and don'...
16
votes
What are reasonable fees for financial advice?
From what I have seen, every retail financial advisor who charges as a percentage of wealth is charging what I would consider to be an unreasonable fee and I continue to be amazed how many people pay ...
- 15.1k
15
votes
What are reasonable fees for financial advice?
What's "reasonable" is largely dependent on what you're expecting them to do for you. Nerd Wallet has a decent article about the cost structures of various FA arrangements. What you're ...
- 13.8k
15
votes
Should I pay for a computer up-front or on finance?
There is a third possibility. The cost of which is free. Use a company provided laptop.
Why: cost for the employee is zero. The company is responsible for purchase, upkeep, warranty. The company also ...
- 136k
15
votes
Accepted
Broker charging 15% on leasing a no fee apartment in NYC. Can he do this?
If you used an outside broker to find the apartment, meaning a broker not affiliated with the landlord/management company, then they are allowed to list it as a No Fee apartment with a Collect Your ...
- 13.8k
15
votes
The security team has noticed suspicious trading activity. Insurance fee is 25%
If you could get out of insider trading allegations just by buying insurance, people like Raj Rajaratnam presumably would have done so in order to avoid prison time.
It's not even clear what's being ...
14
votes
Accepted
Why do banks insist on allowing transactions without sufficient funds?
The reason they want the transaction to go through is because they make money that way. Remember the overdraft protection might incur a fee. If it does their experience may show them that the fee is a ...
- 136k
14
votes
Fee-only financial advice vs. asset management (which includes advice)?
Beware: two-handed financial advisor
Nobody seems to have picked up on this. But the "financial advice fee-based advisor and the "asset management" commission-based advisor are the same guy.
This ...
14
votes
Role of fees in mutual funds: Is it exaggerated?
The problem you have is picking the fund that can overcome the higher fees to beat the low cost index fund. You have to know which funds will over the next 10 years beat the index by enough to ...
- 136k
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