"While the question is very localized, I'll answer about the general principle. My main question is with how far away it is (over 1000 miles), how do   I quantify the travel expenses? Generally, ""necessary and ordinary"" expenses are deductible. This is true for business and also true for rentals. But what is necessary and what is ordinary? Is it ordinary that a landlord will manage the property 1000 miles away by himself on a daily basis? Is it ordinary for people to drive 1000 miles every week? I'd say ""no"" to both. I'd say it would be cheaper for you to hire a local property manager, thus the travel expense would not be necessary. I would say it would be cheaper to fly (although I don't know if its true to the specific situation of the OP, but as I said - its too localized to deal with) rather than drive from Texas to Colorado. If the OP thinks that driving a thousand miles is indeed ordinary and necessary he'll have to justify it to the IRS examiner, as I'm sure it will be examined. 2 trips to the property a year will be a nearly 100% write-off (2000   miles, hotels, etc). From what I understood (and that is what I've been told by my CPA), IRS generally allows 1 (one) trip per year per property. If there's an exceptional situation - be prepared to justify it. Also, keep all the receipts (like gas, hotel, etc.... If you claim mileage but in reality you took a flight - you'll get hit hard by the IRS when audited). Also while I'm up there am I allowed to mix business with pleasure? You cannot deduct personal (""pleasure"") expenses, at all. If the trip is mainly business, but you go out at the evening instead of staying at the hotel - that's fine. But if the trip is ""business"" trip where you spend a couple of hours at your property and then go around having fun for two days - the whole trip may be disallowed. If there's a reasonable portion dedicated to your business/rental, and the rest is pleasure - you'll have to split some of the costs and only deduct the portion attributed to the business activities. You'll have to analyze your specific situation, and see where it falls. Don't stretch the limits too much, it will cost you more on the long run after all the audits and penalties. Can I also write off all travel involved in the purchase of the   property? Although, again, the ""necessary and ordinary"" justification of such a trip is arguable, lets assume it is necessary and ordinary and generally justified. It is reasonable to expect you to go and see the property with your own eyes before the closing (IMHO, of course, I'm not an authority). Such an expense can be either business or investment expense. If its a business expense - its deductible on schedule C. If its an investment expense (if you do buy the property), its added to the cost of the property (capitalized). I'm not a tax adviser or a tax professional, and this is not a tax advice. This answer was not written or intended to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding any tax related penalties that may be imposed on you or any other person under the Internal Revenue Code. You should seek a professional consultation with a CPA/Attorney(tax) licensed in your State(s) or a Federally licensed Enrolled Agent (EA)."


"Nobody is going to hold your hands and prepare a structured program, simply because how you deal with this situation is part of the evaluation of your performance. I performed poorly in my first intership because I was really afraid of being perceived as annoying. The guys were not very receptive and when I asked if they could teach me something, they usually explained quickly and without a lot of attention. Dumb as I was, I would try to not annoy anyone anymore, stop asking questions and go back to my chair to create some macros in VBA. When my boss gave me the feedback after some months, it was fucking awful. The whole team said that my posture was too passive and that I should be A LOT MORE agressive.      So, don't be afraid to be a little annoying. Ask a shit ton of questions until you understand everything and don't pretend that you understood something (I used to do the classic ""mm-hmm...mm-hmm..."" when someone was explaining something I wasn't understanting because I was afraid of looking dumb. Don't do that, you aren't fooling anyone). If you feel that there is nothing for you to do, go to your boss and say that to him. If he doesn't find something, go ask someone else (""Hey man, what are you doing there? Seems interesting. Can you teach me when you have the time?"") Just for Christ's sake, don't keep your butt in the chair waiting someone to tell you what to do. This is not college anymore."


I've read a nice rule of thumb somewhere that you should consider: You should invest (100-YOURAGE)% of your money in stock The rest should be something less volatile and more liquid, so you have some money when the stock market goes down and you need some money nevertheless. So you would start with buying about 75% stock and balance your stock percentage over time by buing more secure assets to keep the stock percentage at the desired level. At some time you might need to  sell stock to rebalance and invest in more secure assets.


If you are just trying to curb impulse spending I'd suggest the following:  1) Set up a separate bank account for your savings - Do not order checks or a debit card for this account. 2) Get your employer to split your paycheck to put the saving amount in the new account (most employers will do this) The trick to avoid impulse spending is to make it a chore to get at the money. With the above arrangement you would have to physically go to the bank, fill out a withdrawal slip and get cash. This way you still can access the money in an emergency, but it forces you to plan things out better.


It depends on your situation. Situations may change. There are also other factors: Being free and clear is nice, but there is an opportunity cost.


"Really arbitrage means that, currency risk aside, it shouldn't matter which exchange you buy on in price terms alone. Arbitrage will always make sure that the prices are equivalent otherwise high frequency traders can make free money off the difference. In practical terms liquidity and brokerage costs usually make trading on the ""home"" exchange more worthwhile as any limit orders etc will be filled at a better price as you will more easily find a counterparty to your trade. Obviously that will only be an issue where your quantity is significant enough to move the market on a given exchange. The volume needed to move a market is dependent upon the liquidity of the particular stock."


Your friends are overlooking a couple of problems with house prices and salaries being out of whack: Home 'equity' is a paper gain unless you realize it by selling the house. If you don't, but use the 'home ATM', all you're doing is piling up more debt that's secured on an asset that has downside risk. Ask anybody who's refinanced their house to buy a new boat or SUV in 2006/2007. In other words you're remortgaging the chickens before the eggs hatched. Of course they're also forgetting that all this debt will have to be paid back at some point, and that usually takes income, not equity. In a certain sense the housing market is a pyramid scheme that requires an influx of new buyers to maintain prices. Very simply, if you can't sell your house to buy a bigger one because the first time buyer you're trying to sell it to can't afford the down payment or the payment on the mortgage, then you can't sell your house to buy a bigger/better/nicer one and the next person in the chain can't sell his/hers. Cue the domino effect. House prices are only sustainable if people actually can afford to buy houses and if there's a massive disconnect between house prices and salaries, then house prices will fall eventually. It might just take a little longer depending on the amount of creative financing options that will eventually dry up.


The brand name is of more importance to most people. After all, you just some pay for the bag - you pay for the appeal that a brand name might have.  A cross body bags will feel instantly 10 times better than a brand name bag. It wouldn't be exaggerating to say that when buying clutch bags. Maybe, buying designer clutch bags is not for everyone. You need to have quite a large budget to afford one.


"When considering such a major life decision, with such high potential costs and high potential rewards, I encourage you to consider multiple different potential options. Even if loans were available, they might not be the best option. Less debt and an engineering degree is better than more debt and an engineering degree, both of which are likely better than your current debt and no engineering degree. I encourage you to consider: revisit your aid (which is not just loans), cut expenses, consider alternative aid sources, use your engineering student status to get a better paying job (including more profitable summer employment), check for methods to cut down the cost of your degree, and double-check your plans to make sure you have a long-term plan that makes sense.  The first issue, raised in the comments, is whether or not you are getting appropriate financial aid. This does not just mean loans, it includes grants and other forms of assistance.  You should be getting in-state tuition, and by searching the tuition of UNC I believe you are. But for future readers, you should make sure you are getting in-state rates, and it not there are options to return to a state where you would get in-state tuition rates, or look into the possibility of pausing your study for one year until you meet in-state funding requirements. You should also ensure your FAFSA information is correct, including your income, family situation (whether or not you are an independent study, as it sounds like you probably are), etc. This effects how many grants you get, and if you are independent this changes maximum federal loan amounts (see website for details).  While you don't say what your pay is, the fact that you are working two jobs and having trouble making ends-meet suggests either that you have a spending issue, or that your jobs pay sucks, and possibly both. I've been in both situations, and there are methods for dealing with both. If your spending is not very carefully controlled, that's a big issue. I won't try to rehash all the personal finance advice about this, but I will just warn that when you are desperate and you know there isn't enough money even if you spend perfectly, there is a strong tendency to just give up and not even try because what's the point? Learned helplessness is hell, but it can be overcome with effort and tightly holding on to any glimmer of hope you find to do better each day. If you are in a field like engineering or computing (and some other fields, though I am less personally familiar with the current employment climate in those), there are usually companies who want to hire you as a paid intern or part-time employee in the hopes of getting you when you graduate. Those last two semesters of undergrad are a technicality to employers, they know it doesn't really change your skill set much. Many companies are actually more interesting in hiring someone on who hasn't finished the degree yet than getting someone recently post-degree, because they can get you cheaper and learn if this is a good match before they have to take the big risk of full-time hiring. You need to use this system to your advantage. Its hard when you feel destitute, but talk with career councilors in your school, your department advisor, and/or main administrative staff in your main academic department. Make sure you are on the right mailing lists to see the job offers (many schools require you to subscribe to one because at a school like UNC it easily gets way too much traffic each day). You need field-relevant experience, not just to finish the degree, but to be able to really open up your job opportunities and earning potential. Do not be shy about directly calling/emailing a contact who reaches out to your school looking for ""recent graduates"", and especially any mention of flexibility on early start for those who are almost finished. You can say you are in your final year (you are), and even ask if they are open to working around a light school schedule while you finish up. Most can end up to be ""no"", but it doesn't matter - the recruiting contacts want to hire people, so just reaching out early means you can follow up later once you get your degree and finances sorted out and you will have an even easier time getting that opportunity. In technology and engineering, the importance of summer internships cannot be understated, especially as you are now technically at the end of your degree. In engineering and tech fields, internships pay - often very well. Don't worry about it being the job of your dreams. Depending on your set of skills, apply to insurance companies, IT departments in hospitals and banks (even if you thought your coding skills in engineering were minimal), and of course any paying position that might be more directly in your field of interest. Consider ones outside your immediate area or even the more national internships from the bigger name companies, where possible. It is not at all uncommon for tech and engineering internships for undergraduate students to pay $15-$25+ per hour, even where most non-degree jobs might only pay $8 (and I've seen as high as $40 per hour+ in the high cost of living markets, depending on your skill set). I know many people who were paid more as a student intern than they were previously paid as a full-time professional employee. Many schools - including UNC - charge different tuition for distance learning and satellite campuses, and often also offer University-approved online classes. While this is not always a possibility for every student, you should consider the options. It could be that one of the final classes you need towards your degree can be taken at one of these other options, with reduced tuition. This is not always possible with all courses, but is certainly true if you have any of those general education requirements to knock out. Also consider if any of those final requirements have test-out options, such as CLEP test alternatives. Again, not always available, but sometimes you can get class credit for a general education class for   Finally, make sure you aren't paying unnecessarily for text books, once you do get the money for tuition. You can sometimes get hand-me-down copies, rent ebooks or physical books from online companies, creative searches for PDF copies, get your book from off-campus local stores, etc. It isn't tuition, but money is money. Attend Part-Time While Working Look into the option of being a half-time student, which is usually 6-8 credit hours, if you can't afford full-time tuition. There is generally a greatly reduced rate, you still qualify for aid programs, and you are still working towards the degree - so you still get access to student resources like internships and job listings that may not be publicly posted. Inquire About Scholarships and School Emergency Assistance While this varies hugely by institution, make sure you check into scholarships you can apply to (even if they are just a few hundred bucks, it helps a lot) in your school (I don't believe the big online searches help, ask the school - but YMMV). Also inquire about any sort of possible help the school provides to students who've had life emergencies, such as your medical issues. Many have programs that are not advertised, designed to help students finish their degree and recover from personal hard times. It's worth the inquiry if you are willing to ask. Any little bit of assistance can help. Don't be afraid to talk with an institution's mental health councilors either, who can help you deal with the psychological difficulty of your situation as well as often being able to connect you to other potential support resources. The pressure can take its tole, and you'll have better long-term opportunities if you build up your support network and options. Student Loan Forbearance While In School If you are trying to save up every last dollar for tuition to finish the degree, but you have to pay loans now, call up the provider to ask about temporary delays on your student loan payments. Many have time-limited hardship allowances, and between the medical bills, low income, and returning to school, they may be willing to give you a few months break until you get back to school and the in-school provisions kick in. Skip a Semester If Necessary To Save Money If you can only raise enough for one semester, then need to skip a semester to build up more funds, that happens, it's OK. Be strategic, and check on loan forbearance. Usually being out for one semester is allowed by student loan companies before you owe them payment, and if you re-enroll you don't have to start making payments yet. Double-check on Credit Expiration and Degree Requirements Make sure you talk to someone who knows what they are talking about, especially in terms of credit expiration. Policies vary, and sometimes an advisor is able to put in a special request to waive you through some of these issues. Academia is heavily, heavily reliant on developing a good relationship and clear communication with an advisor who is willing to work with you to achieve your goals. Written policies are sometimes very firm, and sometimes all you have to do is ask the right person and poof, suddenly the rules change.  It's a weird system, but don't be afraid to explain your situation and ask what can be done. Don't assume a written policy is 100% ironclad - sometimes it is, but it often isn't. Inquire About Other Government and Community-based Assistance Being destitute is awful, and having to ask for help can feel terrible in it's own way, but doing what you have to do to have a better future can mean pushing through and being willing to ask for help. This can mean asking parents and close family if they can contribute to help you finish your degree, but this also means checking with your local community programs to see if you qualify for anything. Many communities have food pantries and related programs that will help you even if you don't qualify for something like SNAP (aka food stamps), because they know times can get hard for anyone and they want you to spend what little money you have on building a better life. Your university may even run a food pantry for students in need - use it. Get what assistance you can, minimize spending in any way you can manage, put all the money towards doing what you need to do to get to a better place. It's even nicely reciprocal - once you work through your hard times and get things on track, you can return the favor and help give back to programs like the ones that helped you. Make Sure Your Long-Term Goal Makes Sense Finally, this is all predicated on pulling out all the stops to finish your degree. But this assumes that this is a good plan. Not all degrees are helpful for all people in all areas of the country. Do your own research to make sure you aren't throwing good money after bad, and are pursuing a goal that will make sense for you and what you want.  The cost of a degree keeps going up, but it remains true that many sets of skills and degree-holding candidates are in demand and can command high salaries that blow away the cost of college in comparison. If you actually have a good chance of going from struggling to make $8/hour to making $50k-90k a year, based on your developed skills, experience, and professional network, then reasonable student loan debt is a worthy investment. If, on the other hand, you wrack up tens of thousands of more dollars in debt just to say you did and still have to work the same kinds of jobs, that's not really much of an investment at all.  Good luck on your journey, and best wishes towards better days - regardless of what path you choose.  Finally, make sure you aren't paying unnecessarily for text books, once you do get the money for tuition. You can sometimes get hand-me-down copies, rent ebooks or physical books from online companies, creative searches for PDF copies, get your book from off-campus local stores, etc. It isn't tuition, but money is money. Look into the option of being a half-time student, which is usually 6-8 credit hours, if you can't afford full-time tuition. There is generally a greatly reduced rate, you still qualify for aid programs, and you are still working towards the degree - so you still get access to student resources like internships and job listings that may not be publicly posted. While this varies hugely by institution, make sure you check into scholarships you can apply to (even if they are just a few hundred bucks, it helps a lot) in your school (I don't believe the big online searches help, ask the school - but YMMV). Also inquire about any sort of possible help the school provides to students who've had life emergencies, such as your medical issues. Many have programs that are not advertised, designed to help students finish their degree and recover from personal hard times. It's worth the inquiry if you are willing to ask. Any little bit of assistance can help. Don't be afraid to talk with an institution's mental health councilors either, who can help you deal with the psychological difficulty of your situation as well as often being able to connect you to other potential support resources. The pressure can take its tole, and you'll have better long-term opportunities if you build up your support network and options. If you are trying to save up every last dollar for tuition to finish the degree, but you have to pay loans now, call up the provider to ask about temporary delays on your student loan payments. Many have time-limited hardship allowances, and between the medical bills, low income, and returning to school, they may be willing to give you a few months break until you get back to school and the in-school provisions kick in. If you can only raise enough for one semester, then need to skip a semester to build up more funds, that happens, it's OK. Be strategic, and check on loan forbearance. Usually being out for one semester is allowed by student loan companies before you owe them payment, and if you re-enroll you don't have to start making payments yet. Make sure you talk to someone who knows what they are talking about, especially in terms of credit expiration. Policies vary, and sometimes an advisor is able to put in a special request to waive you through some of these issues. Academia is heavily, heavily reliant on developing a good relationship and clear communication with an advisor who is willing to work with you to achieve your goals. Written policies are sometimes very firm, and sometimes all you have to do is ask the right person and poof, suddenly the rules change.  It's a weird system, but don't be afraid to explain your situation and ask what can be done. Don't assume a written policy is 100% ironclad - sometimes it is, but it often isn't. Being destitute is awful, and having to ask for help can feel terrible in it's own way, but doing what you have to do to have a better future can mean pushing through and being willing to ask for help. This can mean asking parents and close family if they can contribute to help you finish your degree, but this also means checking with your local community programs to see if you qualify for anything. Many communities have food pantries and related programs that will help you even if you don't qualify for something like SNAP (aka food stamps), because they know times can get hard for anyone and they want you to spend what little money you have on building a better life. Your university may even run a food pantry for students in need - use it. Get what assistance you can, minimize spending in any way you can manage, put all the money towards doing what you need to do to get to a better place. It's even nicely reciprocal - once you work through your hard times and get things on track, you can return the favor and help give back to programs like the ones that helped you. Finally, this is all predicated on pulling out all the stops to finish your degree. But this assumes that this is a good plan. Not all degrees are helpful for all people in all areas of the country. Do your own research to make sure you aren't throwing good money after bad, and are pursuing a goal that will make sense for you and what you want.  The cost of a degree keeps going up, but it remains true that many sets of skills and degree-holding candidates are in demand and can command high salaries that blow away the cost of college in comparison. If you actually have a good chance of going from struggling to make $8/hour to making $50k-90k a year, based on your developed skills, experience, and professional network, then reasonable student loan debt is a worthy investment. If, on the other hand, you wrack up tens of thousands of more dollars in debt just to say you did and still have to work the same kinds of jobs, that's not really much of an investment at all. Good luck on your journey, and best wishes towards better days - regardless of what path you choose."


"Then what?  I have no doubt Amazon can sustain this for a LONG TIME, but maybe not ""forever"".  What happens after Walmart is gutted, and Amazon is on top?  Do they just sit there with their high-quality products with low prices ad infinitum?  Or do they start taking advantage of their position and ratchet it up?  We don't even need to guess, we can just look at the rest of their business.  Amazon is already ""turning on"" the profits for the retail side of the business having already gutted many brick and morter businesses."


If you intend to be responsive to news and intraday price moves, for foreign stocks these will often happen while you're asleep (e.g. the Tokyo Stock Exchange opens at roughly midnight UK time).


The value of debt is that it allows you to profit from the return of equity beyond the amount of actual net equity you own.  Of course, this only works if the cost of borrowing is less than your return on equity.  Market timing matters a great deal but isn't accounted for in this view.  For my answer I would like to hand-wave away market timing considerations.  One plausible justification is that you could default on your current home and then immediately go buy one of equal value.  If you buy a new home of a lesser value (due to lack of funds) and then prices appreciate, then you missed some opportunity cost but probably not $100k worth of it. Moving on, here are some helpful assumptions I'll make. I'll ignore performance of your portfolio after retirement and only seek to optimize F, which will be your net worth upon retirement.  In either case, your current net worth is earning the R2 rate.  We can convert this for both your current net worth and future savings using conversion formulas. Present to future value F = P (1+R2)^x Annual to future value F = S ( (1+R2)^x - 1 ) / R2 Adding these together is sufficient to obtain F in the case that you have no borrowing power.  The case where you do not default and maintain your credit score is different due to an initial $100k penalty and the amortized value of borrowing power.  In a completely theoretical sense, you get an effective (R2-R1) yield on all borrowed money.  The future value will be the following: F = A1 (1+R2-R1)^x One step is missing, however, which is to convert this value (the value of having a good credit score) into present value to compare to value of your defaulting. P of borrowing power = F / (1+R2)^x = A1 { (1+R2-R1)/(1+R2) }^x Now, let's put some specific values in.  Say that you can borrow $300k with your good credit history and this applies for the next 25 years, after which you retire.  The borrowing rate is 7% and the time-value of money to you is 10%.  I would then calculate: P of borrowing power = $58 k < $100 k This indicates that it would be more economical to default.  Of course, some people might point out that it will be removed from your record after 7 years.  If you plug 7 years instead of 25 years into the equation, almost no assumptions about rates will lead to the option of keeping your house being preferable. So in a nutshell, the value of your credit is probably less than $100k in a purely mathematical sense.  But there are other factors too.  If you don't have that borrowing ability maybe you wouldn't be able to borrow money to start the business of your dreams.  If you are a rock star entrepreneur, then time-value of money to you could be 1,000% yield, sure, then maybe you could make the above numbers work (to favor keeping the house).  I've also neglected ethics.  As other people point out, it would be like stealing from the bank.


I hovered over the label for trading volume and the following message popped up: Volume / average volume  Volume is the number of shares traded on the   latest trading day. The average volume is measured over 30 days.


r/personalfinance  r/investing   Make a budget, set goals, and make a plan on how to achieve them.   99% of people will say index funds and dollar cost average. Make sure to set up a retirement account and see if your company has a matching program   Edit- hire an accounting/tax specialist.


"From the article: > Employment relations minister Jo Swinson said: ""Pregnancy discrimination is illegal, immoral and completely unacceptable. There is no excuse for such attitudes from these employers, who frankly are dinosaurs.  Yeah, it might be illegal... but only in the context of when the idea is spoken out loud & and the final selection is male.  which is why the notion is kept internally to the mind of the hiring manager, and why the final selection is based on merit.    Good thing there is no such thing as thought crime."


If a stock that makes up a big part of the Dow Jones Industrial   Average decided to issue a huge number of additional shares, that will   make the index go up. At least this is what should happen, since an   index is basically a sum of the market cap of the contributing   companies. No, indices can have various weightings. The DJIA is a price-weighted index not market-cap weighted. An alternative weighting besides market-cap and price is equal weighting. From Dow Jones: Dow Jones Industrial Average™. Introduced in May 1896, the index, also   referred to as The Dow®, is a price-weighted measure of 30 U.S.   blue-chip companies. Thus, I can wonder what in the new shares makes the index go up? If a stock is split, the Dow divisor is adjusted as one could easily see how the current Dow value isn't equal to the sum or the share prices of the members of the index. In other cases, there may be a dilution of earnings but that doesn't necessarily affect the stock price directly as there may be options exercised or secondary offerings made. SO if the index, goes up, will the ETF DIA also go up automatically   although no additional buying has happened in the ETF itself? If the index rises and the ETF doesn't proportionally, then there is an arbitrage opportunity for someone to buy the DIA shares that can be redeemed for the underlying stocks that are worth more in this case. Look at the Creation and Redemption Unit process that exists for ETFs.


People still believe he'll be able to cut corporate tax rates, spurring buybacks. Expectations of a tax holiday for repatriation of overseas cash, too. Theyre probably right. but if they fail to do either or both, hold onto your butts for a correction.


"Ok, you go ahead and start a big store with high rent and high prices with better ""service"" and see how long you last. American consumers shop on price, and when they don't, they go to Apple. For information, they can get it on the internet.   The decline of all full-service airlines in the US proves this. Price is all that really matters to people who are spending their own money."


"i am personally not terribly impressed with their articles, there is one that talks about how they had to do a rebuild of their ""matching engine"", which makes me wonder what was wrong with the previous matching engine.... maybe it was broke or whatever.  one of their head people bailed out of the company a few years ago, and they said something that all of this hft stuff really started in 2008, if i read that correctly?  maybe hft is a dead dog.  then there was the article that attempts to ""debunk myths about the hft business"".... if they were profitable, they would not be talking about debunking myths, but instead they might instead be talking about their profits, lol..  bernie madoff was once the chairman of the nasdaq, and i think this is one of the exchanges that sells these high speed connections to these hft firms, which means that the exchange will eventually figure a method to put their hands onto this hft money and they might cut out the original hft firms, as they are no longer needed.  i smell a skunk, tradeworx is dead."


There would be clear ownership if not for the state taking over these resources. There would also be a profit motive and benefits for companies to do these things. Private roads exist. Private security exists. The list goes on and on. It just doesn't follow that because the state monopolizes things that it is efficient at those things or better than the market.


They don't control an entire market. They're not the only online retailer, they're not the only supplier or producer of a specific item. They do too many things to ever become a manopoly.   They're just shifting markets to their side, but they will never have full control. Think of amazon as the Roman empire taking up land. The Romans had great armies they could take almost any teritory they wanted but the bigger thier territory got the more boarders they had to protect. This essentially put a limit on their expansion. Same with Amazon they will take a great deal of the market but won't take it entirely because there is no way they can be the best at everything. The more they expand the more they have to spread out their workforce, R and D cost go up, you have to hire more specialist, they become a jack of all trades mater of none. Specialization always creates the best so unless they can specialize in everything they will cretae a mediocore product that someone else will perfect.    Dont get me wrong i think will dominate but they wont be a monopoly.   That being said, there is the posibility they try to go political and lobby for laws that stomp out their compatition similar to ISPs. If this goes down then we may have a monopoly form in the future.


Yes, there is.  I was a victim of Experian's breach last year.  The only thing these credit reporting agencies sell is their opinion.  If their opinion is not worth shit because they are compromised, then what they sell has little value.  Next time you hear a lender explaining to you this credit score thingy, ask them if they still remember how to underwrite without it, because it is going away.  They will look at you and try to carefully explain its importance, but you are under no obligation to believe them.  Tell them COBOL sucks, and so does much of the '80s music they still listen to.


Well I'm not going to bust out people who do illegal drugs (illegal in my state) and choose to actively violate their employment contracts.   Call it what you will.   One can also claim that stating pot has no negative impact on work performance is also anecdotal.


Diploma mills will sell a piece of paper to anyone who pays them, but that doesn't mean they have learned anything or will be able to get a job. They trick prospective students into taking out massive student loans for something that will bear no resemblance to an actual education. The worst part is that allegedly legitimate colleges and universities have been playing this game too for at least a decade. What is going to be done about it? Nothing. In the United States of Avarice, only those rich enough to bribe congress get their way.


Taxing divident earnings hurts bank shareholders, customers, and qualitatively impacts the equities market for the worse because it  A) Lowers the incentive to hold an equity instrument over long and intermediate periods, incentivizes short term holdings creating a more chaoticly traded stock market with more pronounced crises occurring more frequently.  B) The resulting dead weight loss of long term equities investment constricts the capital available to banks and investment firms, limiting the services they can offer their customers, decreasing product yield and increasing borrowing costs.  C) The banks, having lost business in long term equities trading, then of course make less money and return less money to their shareholders.  No such things as a free lunch, my dude.


The way offset mortgages work, you are keeping savings in an account effectively earning the rate of the mortgage. You have the ability to leave it, paying the mortgage off early, or borrowing back, any time.


"Hi Alex.  I've been alerted you're seeking a better answer to this question. ;-)  Please accept my apologies for not coming back to this question sooner – it got buried. :-/  No, in general you cannot make an early withdrawal penalty-free from a 403(b) account to use towards the purchase of a home. Withdrawals before age 59 1/2 are generally subject to the 10% early withdrawal penalty, on top of ordinary income tax. Some 403(b) plans may allow for a loan, but the availability and conditions vary by plan. If you'd consider a loan, you should check with your plan administrator or your plan's Summary Plan Description – often available at one's company intranet or HR web site.  (I do contract work for an HR consulting firm that assists others in building such sites, and SPDs are usually something made available for download in a ""Retirement"" or ""Wealth"" section of such web sites.) Note that a loan from a 403(b) would need to be paid back into the plan over some period of time, e.g. 5 years, though I have come across examples of some plans that do permit a longer pay back period of 10, 15, even 30 years if the loan is used for a home purchase.  But consider this article: The 403(b) Loan: The New Debtors Prison? Finally, to your last point:  Yes, if you have an IRA, there are rules permitting withdrawal of up to $10,000 penalty-free for use towards the purchase of a first home.  See page 53 in IRS Publication 590.  There's also a good article at Fool.com: All About IRAs - For First Time Home Buyers. Such a withdrawal from a traditional IRA remains subject to ordinary income tax.  If have a Roth IRA, you can withdraw free of income tax but you need to pay attention to the Roth IRA 5 Year Rule. Additional Resources:"


"I argued for a 15% rule of thumb here: Saving for retirement: How much is enough? Though if you'll let me, I'd refine the argument to: use a rule of thumb to set your minimum savings, then use Monte Carlo to stress-test and look at any special circumstances, and make a case to save more. You're right that the rule of thumb bakes in tons of assumptions (great list btw). A typical 15%-works scenario could include: If any of those big assumptions don't apply to you (or you don't want to rely on them) you'd have to re-evaluate. It sounds like you're assuming 4-5% investment returns? As you say that's probably the big difference, 4-5% is lower than most would assume. 6-7% (real return) is maybe a middle-of-the-road assumption and 8% is maybe an unrealistic one. Many of the assumptions you list (such as married/kids, cost of living, spouse's income, paying for college) can maybe be bundled up into one assumption (percentage of income you will spend). Set a percentage budget and as you go along, stay within your means by sacrificing as required. Also smooth out income across layoffs and things by having an emergency fund. By staying on-budget as you go you can remove some of the unpredictability. The reason I think the rule of thumb is still good, despite the assumptions, is that I don't think a ""more accurate"" number based on a lot of unpredictable guesses is really better; and it may even be harmful if you use it to justify saving less, or even if you use it to save far too much. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_bias Many (most?) important assumptions are not predictable: investment returns, health care inflation, personal health, lifestyle creep (changing spending needs/desires), irrational investment behavior. I agree with you that for many scenarios and people, 15% will not be enough, though it's a whole lot more than most save already. In particular, low investment returns over your time horizon will make 15% insufficient, and some argue that low investment returns over the coming 30 years are likely. Without a doubt, 20% or more is safer than 15%. Do consider that ""saving enough"" is not a binary thing. If you save only 15% and it turns out that doesn't completely replace your income, it's not like you're out on the street; you might have to retire a few years later, or downsize your house, or something, but perhaps that isn't a catastrophe. There's a very personal question about how much to sacrifice now for less risk of sacrifice in the future. Maybe I'd better qualify ""not a binary thing"": some savings rates (certainly, anything less than 10%), make major sacrifices pretty likely... so in that sense there is a binary distinction between ""plausible plan"" and ""denial."" Also, precise assumptions and calculations get a lot more useful as you approach retirement age. You can pretty much answer the question ""is it reasonable to retire right now?"" or ""could I retire in 5 years?"" (though with a retirement that could last 30 years, plenty of unknowns will remain even then). I think at age 20 or 30 though, just saving 15% (20% if you're conservative), and not spending too much time on a speculative analysis would be a sound decision. That's why I like the rule of thumb. Analysis paralysis (saving nothing or near-nothing) is the real danger early in one's career. Any plausible percentage is fine as long as you save. As your life unfolds and you see what happens, you can refine and correct, adjusting your savings rate, moving your retirement age around, spending a little less or more. The important thing earlier in life is to just get in the right ballpark."


It's really not an overstatement. The founders just received a massive windfall, and in the process they attempted to get drivers to waive shareholder rights and offered them meager payouts. And the mere fact that they sold to the highest bidder so early on makes their entire premise seem a bit disingenuous. [link to said false promises.](http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/19/drivers-sue-uber-rival-juno-for-securities-fraud.html)


The complexity of the side effects always amaze me.  For example - fertiziler is bad for fish.  Why?  Because it ends up entering the water table and eventually ends up on the embankments of rivers.  The fertiziler allows plants along the embankment to grow more, meaning that there are more leaves etc that fall into the river.  This in turn increases the amount of bacteria in the river because of the increased food.  The increased bacteria absorb more of the oxygen in the water, making it more difficult for fish...  Their are many such chains, and it can be very difficult to follow and understand them.


There are two key reasons: Consider a family of four, two kids and two adults, that has a net worth of $20 million. Each of these four people live in a top 1% household. But any of those four people can die, and their estate will not pay any estate tax. Both kids and one spouse can die, and still no estate tax will be paid. Only when the last spouse dies would there be any estate tax. Also, consider a person who dies but whose assets do not flow into their estate. For example, their assets could be held in an inter-vivos trust. People with higher net worths are much more likely to use trusts to avoid or minimize estate taxes.


Not sure if I follow your question completely. Re: What if some fraud takes place that's too big even for it to fund?   SIPC does not fund anything. What it does is takes over the troubled brokerage firm, books / assets and returns the money faster. Refer to SIPC - What SIPC Covers... What it Does Not and more specifically SIPC - Why We Are Not the FDIC. SIPC is free for ordinary investors. To get the same from elsewhere one has to pay the premium. Edit: The event we are saying is a large brokrage firm, takes all of the Margin Money from Customer Accounts and loses it and also sell off all the stocks actually shown as being held in customer account ... that would be to big. While its not clear as to what exactly will happens, my guess is that the limits per customers will go down as initial payments. Subsequent payments will only be done after recover of funds from the bankrupt firm. What normally happens when a brokrage firm goes down is some of the money from customers account is diverted ... stocks are typically safe and not diverted. Hence the way SIPC works is that it will give the money back to customer faster to individuals. In absence of SIPC individual investors would have had to fight for themselves.


according to their client services it is a licensing issue: Thread: OKpay didn't Accept USA clients? They do not elaborate but do suggest that they don't plan to fix that issue.


I think that the minimum wage is too low. That said the people in this article are making shitty decisions and their plight is not the reason to change the minimum wage. Perhaps if she had always worked minimum wage jobs she shouldn't have had 2 kids. There is no discussion about the father contribution. Perhaps if he can't contribute to kids, she shouldn't  have had kids with him. Perhaps if she felt  the need to quit one of her jobs (to be fair I understand that need given the ridiculous hours she was working), she should have quit the lower paying one. Instead she kept the 9.50 an our one and quit the 11 dollar one. That is almost 500 bucks a month difference for a 40 hr week. And her friends, while good example of poor people being super kind to others, are not a good case either. Like seriously 4 kids on minimum wage???  Minimum wage should change but not because of these people's poor choices.


It IS a discussion. Historically yes, A minimum wage job was able to support a family.   Do you feel that only the wealthy should be able to afford to have children? With the ever widening income gap and dwindling middle class please explain how this is not a possible reality.  Since you do not adhere to the classical definition of what minimum wage should provide. What DO you think minimum wage should be able to provide? And individual to live independently free of assistance at 40hrs a week? Do you feel they should have to work over time simply to afford to exist? Should a minimum wage worker have to depend on government assistance to get by (with or without overtime).  Do you feel so low of your fellow human being that you'd rather see them starve than increase to a living wage?


"This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jareddillian/2017/07/10/japan-has-entered-the-next-phase-unlimited-money-printing/#6251a04468a0) reduced by 80%. (I'm a bot) ***** > Quantitative easing, which involves the purchase of &quot;Printed&quot; money to buy government bonds, was widely viewed in Japan as a failure, but what most people don&#039;t understand about Japan&#039;s early QE experiments is that they were very small-less than $20 billion a month.  > Investors who traffic in JGBs have remarked that the market now functions very poorly, since so much of the market is held by the BOJ. It seems that will get worse, not better.  > What happens if yields rise further? What happens if the yen depreciates significantly? How much could it depreciate? Could Japan have a currency crisis? What happens if the BOJ ends up owning the entire bond market? These are the questions that investors are asking, and nobody really knows the answers.   ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/6n8rbs/japan_has_entered_the_next_phase_unlimited_money/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ ""Version 1.65, ~166624 tl;drs so far."") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr ""PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome."") | *Top* *keywords*: **Japan**^#1 **BOJ**^#2 **market**^#3 **bond**^#4 **JGB**^#5"


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"Yes, you may deduct the cost of building the ""noise cancellation system"" :) sorry couldn't resist. But seriously, yes you can deduct it ONCE (unless you have more cost maintaining it) and its on line 19 (Repairs and maintenance) of IRS Form 8829."


This sounds like a pretty cool idea, and upon reflection, maybe not so crazy as it sounded to me at first.  One suggestion: introduce some (probably vaguely described) rule change that makes it easy for people to contribute from their retirement account(s).  That would allow you to plausibly increase the average contribution by a lot, maybe from hundreds like aranaxon described to thousands.  If I were trying to do this right now, I'd gather as much money as I could (obviously) and try like hell to make alliances with pension funds and other major non profits that routinely buy a lot of common stock.  Then I'd pick one fairly large bank and buy as much as possible.  Be aware of [poison pills](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_pill) and similar common arrangements that exist to prevent this sort of thing.  Partnering with other institutions would help to alleviate them.  Once I controlled (with my new-found buddies) a major bank, I'd be quick to replace the board and fire senior management.  I'd do everything possible to get around paying any [golden parachutes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_parachute).  Then make all the changes I want to the bank's practices.  The general idea would be that, after this, the *threat* of doing it to another bank would be enough to get them to change, without actually having to pull off a corporate takeover.


"I am trying to set up a formula that will find interest-rate behind first pencil sheets at car dealerships. I am not a car finance expert so I need someone who is intimate with how these loans really work.   The points of data I get at first pencil are: 1) Amount Financed 2) Period 3) Monthly Payment  The data I need to extrapolate: 1) Rate in percentile so that I can compare to my bank's offer.  I have tried this and many other stock ""find rate"" formulas with no accurate results: R=(A/P^(1/n)-1)n"


I am happiest on my bicycle, but money bought the sorta fancy bicycles I ride and the ipod that plays the music. It also buys the food along the way of my trip and the camera I use to take photos of the beauty I find. I am happy without the camera, but I need music for any trip longer than 50 miles.


If you don't mind a question: you're bullish until [fill this slot] will happen?  Personally i'm not bearish but i'm out of this market and i'm waiting, aware that i'm losing some money but risk come fast and i prefer not hedging my gains of last years. Still having a small position on some ETFs USD/JPY cross..


Does that strike you as a fair solution? All the people that have made sacrifices and not spent every dime they have earned deserve to have it taken away? And I am sure they do have it 'somewhere' like low yield bonds or savings accounts...


"Having cash and bonds in your portfolio isn't just about balancing out the risk and volatility inherent in equities. Consider: If you are 100% invested in equities and the market declines by 30%, you'll be hard pressed to come up with additional money to ""buy low"". You'll miss out on the rebalancing bonus. But, if you make a point of keeping some portion of your portfolio in cash and bonds, then when the market has such a decline (and it will), you'll be able to rebalance your portfolio back to target weights — i.e. redeploy some of your cash and bonds into equities to take advantage of the lower prices."


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"Aggressiveness in a retirement portfolio is usually a function of your age and your risk tolerance. Your portfolio is usually a mix of the following asset classes: You can break down these asset classes further, but each one is a topic unto itself. If you are young, you want to invest in things that have a higher return, but are more volatile, because market fluctuations (like the current financial meltdown) will be long gone before you reach retirement age.  This means that at a younger age, you should be investing more in stocks and foreign/developing countries. If you are older, you need to be into more conservative investments (bonds, money market, etc).  If you were in your 50s-60s and still heavily invested in stock, something like the current financial crisis could have ruined your retirement plans.  (A lot of baby boomers learned this the hard way.) For most of your life, you will probably be somewhere in between these two.  Start aggressive, and gradually get more conservative as you get older.  You will probably need to re-check your asset allocation once every 5 years or so. As for how much of each investment class, there are no hard and fast rules.  The idea is to maximize return while accepting a certain amount of risk.  There are two big unknowns in there: (1) how much return do you expect from the various investments, and (2) how much risk are you willing to accept.  #1 is a big guess, and #2 is personal opinion. A general portfolio guideline is ""100 minus your age"".  This means if you are 20, you should have 80% of your retirement portfolio in stocks.  If you are 60, your retirement portfolio should be 40% stock.  Over the years, the ""100"" number has varied.  Some financial advisor types have suggested ""150"" or ""200"".  Unfortunately, that's why a lot of baby boomers can't retire now. Above all, re-balance your portfolio regularly.  At least once a year, perhaps quarterly if the market is going wild.  Make sure you are still in-line with your desired asset allocation.  If the stock market tanks and you are under-invested in stocks, buy more stock, selling off other funds if necessary.  (I've read interviews with fund managers who say failure to rebalance in a down stock market is one of the big mistakes people make when managing a retirement portfolio.) As for specific mutual fund suggestions, I'm not going to do that, because it depends on what your 401k or IRA has available as investment options.  I do suggest that your focus on selecting a ""passive"" index fund, not an actively managed fund with a high expense ratio. Personally, I like ""total market"" funds to give you the broadest allocation of small and big companies.  (This makes your question about large/small cap stocks moot.)  The next best choice would be an S&P 500 index fund. You should also be able to find a low-cost Bond Index Fund that will give you a healthy mix of different bond types. However, you need to look at expense ratios to make an informed decision.  A better-performing fund is pointless if you lose it all to fees! Also, watch out for overlap between your fund choices.  Investing in both a Total Market fund, and an S&P 500 fund undermines the idea of a diversified portfolio. An aggressive portfolio usually includes some Foreign/Developing Nation investments.  There aren't many index fund options here, so you may have to go with an actively-managed fund (with a much higher expense ratio).  However, this kind of investment can be worth it to take advantage of the economic growth in places like China. http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/04/27/how-to-create-your-own-target-date-mutual-fund/"


>You linked to an article about 1 QUARTER in 2010 -   Sorry, here's one from 4th Quarter in 2011.  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/11/gdp-revised-downward-corporate-profits-up.html  I'm sure I could find more and more that prove your first assertion to be completely false.  >If #2 is increased with NO INCREASE IN OUTPUT the cost of those goods is going up.   The cost of labor right now can't support consumption in our economy.  That is the simplest of economics.  What you're doing is claiming that businesses will be able to hike up prices without repercussions from consumers.


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I would recommend pre-paid debit cards. Every quarter a fixed amount of money is loaded onto the card (or a new card is issued). This prevents any large-scale fraud from occurring.


Market cap is basically the amount of money that it would cost to buy all of the shares of public stock in a company.  Or  share cost * number of outstanding shares. It is a measure of how much a company is worth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_capitalization


You're missing the cost-of-carry aspect: The cost of carry or carrying charge is the cost of storing a physical commodity, such as grain or metals, over a period of time. The carrying charge includes insurance, storage and interest on the invested funds as well as other incidental costs. In interest rate futures markets, it refers to the differential between the yield on a cash instrument and the cost of the funds necessary to buy the instrument. So in a nutshell, you'd have to store the gold (safely), invest your money now, i.e. you're missing out on interests the money could have earned until the futures delivery date.  Well and on top of that you need to get the gold shipped to London or wherever the agreed delivery place is. Edit: Forgot to mention that of course there are arbitrageurs that make sure the futures and spot market prices don't diverge. So the idea isn't that bad as I might have made it sound but being in the arbitrage business myself I should disclaim that profits are small and arbitraging is highly automated, so before you spot a $1 profit somewhere between any two contracts, you can be quite sure it's been taken by an arbitrageur already.


"Most states that have income tax base their taxes on the income reported on your federal return, with some state-specific adjustments.  So answering your last question first:  Yes, if it matters for federal, it will matter for state (in most cases). For estimating the tax liability, I would not use the effective rate but rather use the rate for your highest tax bracket and apply that to your estimated hobby income, assuming that you primary job income won't be wildly higher or lower than last year. As @keshlam noted in a comment, this income is coming on top of whatever else you earn, so it will be taxed at your top rate. Finally, I'd check again whether this is really ""hobby"" income or if it is ""self-employment"" income.  Self-employment income will be subject to self-employment tax, which comes on top of the regular income tax."


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Thanks for your thorough reply.   Basically, I found a case study in one of my old finance workbooks from school and am trying to complete it.   So it's not entirely complicated in the sense of a full LBO or merger model.   That being said, the information that they provide is Year 1 EBITDA for TargetCo and BuyerCo and a Pro-Forma EBITDA for the consolidated company @ Year 1 and Year 4 (expected IPO). I was able to get the Pre-Money and Post-Money values and the Liquidation values (year 4 IPO), as well as the number of shares.   I can use EBITDA to get EPS (ebitda/share in this case) for both consolidated and stand-alone @ Year 1, but can only get EPS for consolidated for all other years. Given the information provided. One of the questions I have is do I do anything with my liquidation values for an accretion/dilution analysis or is it all EPS?


Do you need to incorporate? This depends on whether the company prefers you to be incorporated.  If you are going through a recruiting company, some of them are willing to deal with non-incorporated people (Sole Proprietor) and withhold taxes from your cheques for you. If you do want to incorporate, you can do it yourself, go through a paralegal, or you can even do it online.  I did mine in Ontario for about $300 (no name search - i just have a numbered corporation like 123456 Ontario Inc.) through www.oncorp.com - there are other sites that do it as well. Things to consider - if you're contracting through a corporation you most likely need to: Talk to an accountant about these for clarification - most of them will give you an initial consultation for free. Generally speaking, accountant fees for corporate filing taxes averages about $1000-2000 a year.


Oh, you were looking for proof?  > i got a 19% raise this year. prices aren't up 19% this year.  That's a good question you asked there. It's very clear and concise what you were looking for. With your added:  > i wasn't looking for an explanation - i was looking for proof, as you provided none.  three posts later, it all suddenly becomes so clear. You should be a writer. Just yell at anyone who doesn't get your subtlety and tell them they're wrong.


Sales talent is very rare. The sales process for B2B is not like your door to door vacuum cleaner sales man. Usually, procurement puts out a sale for bid. Sales teams have to compete against one another for the business. Usually, its a 4-5 vendors competing for one spot. One team eats, the rest go hungry.


Some discussions don't need to be had.  I've had plenty of time to research and form my viewpoint.  I was in military intelligence, I am extremely interested in history and politics, and I am currently going to a school that many people consider to be pretty good.  I feel like I know the issues and the events pretty darn well, although I am always learning something new. I have come to an opinion on the matter that is my own.  Im happy to live in a society where others can have very differing positions.  However, you came across as pretty hostile in your reply, so I have no interest in talking with you about it.


You're right on the typo, I'm on my phone and meant to type in Glass-Stegal was repealed and allowed for approval of Gramm-Leach-Bliley, but can't edit now. I still disagree and would like to see any published research from a that indicates that deregulation helped to mitigate 2008 and the repealing of Glass-Steagal helped prevent a worse crisis.


The idea of education has never been to make stupid people smarter, but to make uneducated people educated and ready to serve a greater good as an educated worker and member of the political spectrum.  Comparative economics tells us that as the manufacturing jobs that used to be in the US move overseas and equalize the wealth of the world with the people working to receive it. As this happens, jobs in manufacturing will leave the US, and their educated and formerly employed workers with it. My suggestion is that Microsoft takes the already educated, and gives them training to function in a new career in return for guaranteed service in the job they have been trained for. There is no need to revamp any education system here, but only to start a training program which Microsoft would benefit greatly from.


"Well, primarily because that's fraud and fraud prevents a debtor from receiving a discharge in bankruptcy court.  Fraud would be pretty easy to prove if you didn't have an income change and you have several lines of credit opened on and around the same day with almost no payments made toward them.  Additionally, thanks to the reforms of the bankruptcy code, if your income exceeds the median income of your state you'll be forced in to a Chapter 13 and committed to a repayment plan that allocates all of your ""disposable income"" to your creditors. Now if whoever posted that will attempt to simply not pay then negotiate repayment plans with their creditors the process will last far longer than 7 years.  It takes a long time to be in default for enough time that a consumer creditor will negotiate the debt and this is assuming the creditor doesn't sue you and get a judgement which could apply liens to any property you may own.  The judgment(s) will likely cause you to pursue bankruptcy anyway; only now you're at least a few years beyond the point at which you ruined your credit."


I love seeing a couple take matters into their own hands. I don't see this as disrupting society's beauty standards. We all find different things beautiful and kids are finally getting options when they browse the doll aisle. American Dolls has a similar line.


For people who are already a Costco member. The American Express TrueEarnings Business Card is a good choice. Note: If you don't own a business, just use your name as the business. The business card is better than the regular TrueEarnings card. Pros:


"No shit. That crazy, ruthless republican notion that your credit rating shouldn't take a hit because you defaulted on the restructured home loan that you got when you defaulted on the *last* deal. Few people shed a tear for the borrowers who defaulted on jumbo ARM loans, but when a government does it we're all supposed to sit here and say ""that's ok. Take a mulligan""."


There are several issues with paying for furniture and appliances with 0% credit instead of paying with cash. When you pay with 0% credit, you might be tempted to spend more on something than you would have if you paid with cash, because it feels like free money, and you've justified in your mind that the extra you earn will help pay for the more expensive item. Businesses don't offer 0% credit for free, and they don't lose money on the deal.  When you shop at a store that offers 0% credit, you are generally overpaying for the item.  By shopping at a store that does not offer 0% credit, you might be able to get a better price. Your savings account is likely earning very little interest.  You might invest the money you intend for your purchases in a place that gets better returns, but in most of these places the returns are not guaranteed, and you might not do as well as you think. 0% loans typically come with lots of conditions that have very heavy penalties and interest rate hikes for late payments.  You can mitigate this risk by setting up automatic payments, but things can still go wrong.  Your bank might change your account number, making the automated payment fail.  As you mentioned, you might also forget to put the proper amount of money in the account.  A single mistake can negate all of the tiny gains you are trying to achieve. Ultimately, the decision is yours, of course, but in my opinion, there is very, very little to gain with buying something on 0% credit when you could be paying cash.


As much as you want. There's no tax on gifts you receive. Gift tax is on the donor, i.e.: the person giving the gift. The $100K limit is for reporting. Gifts of $100K or more per year from foreign sources must be disclosed on form 3520 attached to your tax return. But there's no tax. Read more here.


How does your comment follow? The projects are low bid, but too expensive? The problem is a bart janitor who works outrageous hours?   Which is it?  And honestly 100k, which is what the janitors seem to be making regularly, in the bay is barely adequate.


> When the headline is all that someone sees before reading the story, it's important to state explicitly the affected parties. Consumers and businesses are not the only possible parties given a regulation concerning lawsuits.  That's what you wrote, and what my reply is based on.


Former investment banker here. I joined an M&A group and then decided not to do PE, but that was what most peers did.   1) When in school, get the top grades. They want to see that you barely make mistakes. You're going to be dealing with other people's money, so very little room for error.   2) join the student finance organizations. If you can't join em, then create one. If that's too much, then go to their meetings and sit in. Do something. Get out there and don't take no for an answer.   3) do something on the side that shows your genuine interest. Start investing your own money. Come up with an investment thesis. This is going to show them you actually care about what you want to do and you're not all talk.   4) network. Network. Network. Friends of family. Family of friends. Strangers. You don't know who can help you, so know everyone. If you show that you are eager and willing to learn, people will bend over backwards to help you. Just remain humble. Don't be a snarky dick.   Stay focused. Stay determined. If something doesn't go your way, it's not the end. No road isn't always straight and paved. You might have to go on a winding gravel road to get to where you want to go, but if you want to get there bad enough, you'll make it. And maybe along the way, you might realize that it's not something you want to do, so you'll pivot. Nothing wrong with that. Do what you want, not what you think other people think you should do.   Good luck!


I think the wifi connection was so that the juice dispenser wouldn't work if you use an off brand juice bag; they put DRM on juice.   It wasn't for operating the machine via wifi. Idk how that would work anyways; you'd have to set it up and put a glass under it, then I guess use your phone to activate it later. But there wouldn't be any point, it takes a trivial amount of time to pour juice from a bag into a cup, unlike brewing coffee.


"Keep in mind, there are too many variables to address in a single post. I could (and might) write a full book on the topic. One simple way to comprehend your perceived observation. In the 25% bracket, you have $1000 of income and two choices. Net out $750, and deposit to Roth, or deposit the full $1000 to the traditional IRA or 401(k). Sufficient time passes for the investment to grow 10 fold. For what it's worth, 8% at 30 years will do that.  The Roth is now worth $7500 tax free. The traditional 401(k) is worth $10000 but subject to tax. At 25%, we're at the same $7500.  For those looking to invest more than a gross $18,000, the Roth flavor is an effective $24,000, as post tax, this is $18,000. I wrote a bit more on this in the whimsically titled The Density of Your IRA. This is really a top 10%er issue, as it takes quite a bit of income for the $23,000 combined IRA and 401(k) limits to be a problem.  In my writing, the larger case to be made is for taking advantage of the tax rate difference between the time of deposit and withdrawal. A look at the 2016 tax rates is in order.  Let's stick with 25% while working. Now, at retirement, but before social security, as that's another story, the couple has $20,600 in standard deduction and exemption, and both the 10 and 15% brackets to enjoy.  Ignoring any other deductions, potential credits, etc, let's look at a gross $80,000 withdrawal.   The numbers happen to work out to an average 10%, with the couple being in a marginal 15% bracket. A full 25% or $20,000 tax would be the break-even to the ""same bracket in/out"" analysis, so this produces a $12,000 benefit.  This issue is often treated as if there were 2 points in time, the deposit, and the withdrawal. For most people, that may be the case. Keep in mind, current law allows a conversion to Roth any time in between. This gives an opportunity to make a deposit while in the 25% bracket, and convert in any year the marginal rate drops back to 15% for whatever reason.  Last - I can't ignore the Social Security problem. Simply put, when half of your Social Security benefits plus other income exceed $25,000 ($32,000 if married filing joint) your benefits start to become taxable, until 85% of your benefits are fully taxed. This issue is worthy of multiple posts by itself. It's not a deal killer, just another point to consider. A very high income earner might be beyond these levels already, in which case the point is moot. A low income earner, not impacted at all. It's those who are in the range to navigate this that would benefit to take advantage of the scenario I presented above and spend down pre-tax accounts, while planning to use the Roths when Social Security starts. This should make it clear - it's not all or none. Those retiring with $2M in 100% pretax, or $1.5M 100% in Roth have both missed the chance to have the optimal mix."


"You can simply use the previous year's tax liability as your basis for payments. Take the amount of tax you owed the previous year, divide by four, and use that amount for your estimated payments. As long as you're paying 100% of what you owed last year, you won't have any penalty. Except if your AGI is above a certain limit ($150k for married filing jointly in 2011), then you have to pay 110%. See IRS Pub 505 for details (general rule, special rule, under ""Higher Income Taxpayers""). (H/T to @Dilip Sarwate for pointing out the 110% exception in a comment below.)"


There is usually a phone number on the side of the ATM to call for situations like this. That is where I would start. Can you pursue a legal action? Sure, you could do that even if the machine didn't eat your money. Anyone can do that for any reason. The pertinent question is whether you will win. Maybe, but even if you do it would take a while and probably cost more time/money than it is worth. It isn't like there was malicious intent from the bank, call the ATM vendor or bank, and politely explain your situation. No need to start the conversation by threatening a lawsuit. What are the chances of BOA screwing you over? Based on their reputation, probably higher than they should be.


Book keeping as a sole proprietor will seem like a headache.  Basically you have to have two accounts for everything and track specifics for any company assets that are mixed use (such as mileages).  No real downsides aside from that.   We just bought a start up kit and then modified it an then did a lot of research on proper registrations.  I found out later you can have a legal expert do it for like 250-300.  If we had known that it would have been worth it.  The state and fed registration is a boring headache. Your time is better spent earning.


I'm honestly a little surprised about where that funding came from too.  Twitter's been a monumental help in all the uprisings worldwide.    Incoming funds from a country known for human rights violations seems very suspect indeed.    Then again, if twitter goes the way of suppressed communication / biased information (Fox News (also partly owned by said Saudi prince)) then what's to stop people from building a twitter clone?   Twitter is great an all, but at it's heart it only has brand loyalty.


There is no need of the conventional advertising methods, which include cost of– Land, capital, work, and businessperson to enhance the promotion of your product. You can start with blog promotion, web-based social networking, and email advertising of your services with lesser investment.


Think of it. How does an insurance company make money? Well essentially, it tries to have more knowledge about risk than those insuring themselves. It also attempts to manage its investments better. Well to this requires a lot of knowledge of statistics and this is primarily what you will be doing over your career. One friend got into it because he liked to gamble and win (he lost about $2k as a young teenager in Hong Kong). He spent a lot of time studying probability and statistics and then became fascinated by it. So fascinated that he became a full actuary, which means a long time studying. He was willing to put the time in.


I agree with everyone that this approach is absurd. An equivalent assessment would look like this:  How much does a sandwich cost? Out of pocket expense: $5 Work time value assuming $20/hr: $10 Opportunity cost for $15 dollars that could have been invested at 33% return: $5  So a $5 sandwich now costs $20 dollars on paper.


Be careful of transferring through the large banks. They may say no/low fees, but they hide their cut in the spread, or worsen the exchange rate, to their favor. Try:  - http://fxglobaltransfer.oanda.com/


>Starting in 2014, the hiring of a company's 50th worker will cost an extra $40,000 per year.  Assuming 19 employees *do not have qualifying coverage* (FTA the first 30 are exempt)  >This is one reason the unemployment rate is still above 8 percent three years after the end of the recession. Employers plan ahead.  Reaching.   >$750 a year, is too small relative to the cost of health care coverage -- about $5,500 a year. Because insurance companies are required to take all applicants, healthy people (especially the young) would be wise to pay the penalty rather than buy the insurance. This makes the pool of insured individuals sicker and more costly, on average, and their premiums will higher. With higher premiums, more people will choose to pay the penalty, and a downward spiral will unfold.  An assumption that no healthy person wants to pay for insurance means the whole system will fall apart?  A lot of broad assumptions, although it is an OpEd.


"A market sell order will be filled at the highest current ""bid"" price. For a reasonably liquid stock, there will be several buy orders in line, and the highest bid must be filled first, so there should a very short time between when you place the order and when it is filled.   What could happen is what's called front running. That's when the broker places their own order in front of yours to fulfill the current bid, selling their own stock at the slightly higher price, causing your sale to be filled at a lower price.  This is not only unethical but illegal as well. It is not something you should be concerned about with a large broker.   You should only place a market order when you don't care about minute differences between the current ask and your execution price, but want to guarantee order execution. If you absolutely have to sell at a minimum price, then a limit order is more appropriate, but you run the risk that your limit will not be reached and your order will not be filled. So the risk is a tradeoff between a guaranteed price and a guaranteed execution."


"If you are dead set in being an analyst, just pic a sector you are interested in, read a bunch of quarterly and annual reports and do some financial analysis on their financial statements.  When you send in your resume, state quite clearly that you have no official experience in being an analyst ( in your cover letter ), but also attach your findings/work.  Even if it is amateur, you will gain some experience in a certain sector and you will up to scruff, even if they don't care about the sector you picked out, they will see that you have done some work besides just showing up with a degree.  It will help differentiate you from the rest of the pack.    If you have leisure time and not studying for your CFA, look into the book ""Confessions of a Wallstreet Analyst"".  It talks about the author going to work in Wallstreet during the telecom boom on the late 1990s.  It's interesting and you get a sense of what kind of work he actually did.  That sort of insight will help you out and hopefully get your on your path to success.  Hope this helped!"


"The $100,000 is taxed separately as ""ordinary income"". The $350,000 is taxed at long-term capital gains of 15%. Capital gains is not taxed at 20% until $415,050. Even though $100,000 + 350,000 = $450,000, only $350,000 can be taxed at capital gains. The total ordinary income tax burden will be $31,986 if single, in California. Caveat: By creating a holdings corporation (C-corp), you can section 351 that $100,000 into the C-corp for tax deferment, which won't be taxed until you take money from the corporation. Since you will hold 100% of the voting stock, all distributions will be considered pro rata. Additionally, you can issue yourself a dividend under the rules of 26 USC §§243-246 (a greather-than-80% shareholder who receives a dividend can write-off 100% of said dividend). As long as that dividend doesn't trigger §§1.243-246 of The Regulations by keeping the distribution just under 10% of E&P i.e. $10,000. Wages are deductible against basis so pay yourself $35,000 and keep $55,000 in the corporation and you can decrease the total liabilities down to $22,000 from $31,000, which includes the CA franchise tax. You don't have to pay yourself any money out a corporation to use the money."


You need an accountant and/or a lawyer who is familiar with the US tax code and the rules in South Korea (assuming from your tag). As the interest will be money generated in the US, you could be required to withhold some of the interest and remit it to the IRS (I believe 30% withholding rate). Since South Korea is a treaty country, your friend can complete and sign a form W8-BEN and give it to you, so you may withhold a lower amount. Your friend would need to file a return if too much was withheld. They may also get taxed in South Korea. There are probably rules in South Korea about minimum interest that must be charged, similar to Applicable Federal Rates for the US, so check with your accountant or lawyer for this. If you craft it correctly, you will be able to have a loan as a mortgage (with the house properly secured), which then would allow you to deduct mortgage interest rates from your return. As far as I am aware, there is no maximum amount for loans.


"En Cornwall butikken har lagt en [t franchise](http://www.swspar.com/about/newspage.php?newsid=75) til sitt detaljhandel tilbud.  Butikk Helston, drevet av Chris og Sue Sharrinton, har innført t for å utfylle sin eksisterende vellykkede mat på farten drift og tiltrekke seg en bredere kundebase.  ""Vi har vært på utkikk etter en tid til noe nytt og annerledes å tilby våre mat på farten, og vi valgte t som partner fordi det er så sterkt merkenavn,"" sa Chris.  ""T har en trendy appell og vil tiltrekke seg yngre kunder til butikken, i tillegg til å forbedre vår totale tilbudet. Vi har opprettet 300 sq ft plass til t-drift, og fortsatt skal selge vår egen populært utvalg av varm mat, pasties, pølse ruller og bacon baps, sammen med kassett smørbrød, sikrer at våre eksisterende ikke er drastisk redusert.  Chris og Sue jobbet sammen [Appleby vestover](http://www.swspar.com/) for installasjon av t tilbudet. Appleby vestover også jobbet med en annen av sine forhandlere, Julian Holliss når han installert franchise i hans bensin forecourt butikken i Dartmouth."


Makes sense from a business standpoint.    Chances are if you didn't vote for Trump, you probably hate his guts and are blacklisting him.    Anyway, that's the vibe I get from the 15 separate, unconsolidated anti-trump subreddits that keep popping up on my feed.


"Something kind of like that, but geared more towards professional content providers.  For example, if you were going to do everything with an automated plug-in - the plug-in would open up ""premium content"" on sites that support it (e.g. New Yorker, etc.) and would be used by a ring of professional content publishers.  I mean, this is something that I haven't fully thought out yet - it's not even close to my industry - but it'd be nice from an end-user perspective to get access to all the premium sites on the internet, not by paying individual subscription fees, but by being 'metered' when I'm on those sites so my billing is an accurate indicator of my interest level in their content.   I mean, this opens up all kinds of problems of course - like how it would be easier to just set up an API to rapidly download all the content into an offline browser/format - but we're just brainstorming right now."


">One key aspect of that is that -- via the ""in the door ahead of time"" -- even IF the company requires the HR process to be followed, the job spec can be ""constructed"" to match the pre-qualified candidate, and his/her resume can go to the top of the stack (already being in the manager's hands with a hearty recommendation/endorsement from one of his critical team members: i.e. ""HIRE this guy/gal!"")  I've seen that happen many times. It happened with the position I'm in currently. I started out as a temp. Originally the job ad  was some aimless posting about needing a new accountant, the accountant didn't even need a college degree if they had equivalent work experience. Then all of a sudden one week the posting changed to a copy-paste job of my work and educational experience (much more demanding than the previous ad)."


Not sure about the UK, but if it were in the US you need to realize the expenses can be claimed as much as the income. After having a mild heart attack when I did my business taxes the first time many years ago, a Small Business Administration adviser pointed it out. You are running the site from a computer?  Deductible on an amortization schedule.  Do you work from home?  Electricity can be deducted.  Do you drive at all?  Did you pay yourself a wage?  Any paperwork, fax communications, bank fees that you had to endure as work expenses? I am not an accountant, but chances are you legally lost quite a bit more than you made in a new web venture.  Discuss it with an accountant for the details and more importantly the laws in your country.  I could be off my rocker.


> Then there’s taxes, and not just federal. There will be state, local, real estate, school, tolls, export, import, duties and those hard-to-understand fees on your cable bill  Of those, the only thing I don't pay are export, import and duties. Which, if you're going in to business for yourself you'd probably know about these already.


"This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-housing-idUSKBN1A91RU) reduced by 81%. (I'm a bot) ***** > The National Association of Realtors said on Monday existing home sales dropped 1.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.52 million units last month.  > At June&#039;s sales pace, it would take 4.3 months to clear the stock of houses on the market, up from 4.2 months in May. A six-month supply is viewed as a healthy balance between supply and demand.  > Annual wage growth has struggled to break above 2.5 percent, sidelining first-time home buyers, whose share of home sales has barely shifted.   ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/6p944z/us_home_sales_stumble_as_prices_hit_record_high/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ ""Version 1.65, ~174354 tl;drs so far."") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr ""PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome."") | *Top* *keywords*: **percent**^#1 **month**^#2 **market**^#3 **sales**^#4 **Housing**^#5"


"JoeTaxpayer's answer is dead on... but let me give my own two cents with a little bit of math. Otherwise, I personally find that people talking about diversified portfolios tends to be full of buzzwords.  Let's say that Buffett's investments are $10 million. He would like to earn ≥7% this year, or $700,000.  He can invest that money in coca-cola//underwear, which might return: Or he can invest in ""genius moves"" that will make headlines: (like buying huge stakes in Goldman Sachs), which might return: And he makes plays for the long haul based on the expected value of the investments. So if he splits it 50/50... ($5 million/ $5 million), then his expected value is 822,250: By diversifying, he does reduce the expected value of the portfolio... (He is not giving $10 M the chance to turn into $1.5 million or $2 million for him!). The expected value of that shock-and-awe portfolio with all $10 million invested in it is $1.2M. By taking less risk... for less reward... his expected return is lower. But his risk is lower too.  Scale this example back up into the $100 million or billion range that Buffett invests in and that extra margin makes the difference.  In the context of your original article, the lower-risk 'cake and underwear' investments let Buffett go big on the things that will make 20%+ returns on billions of dollars, without completely destroying his investment capital when things take a turn for the worse."


$1160 per month, lets say you only have one kid.  Oh, wait, taxes are taken out.  You really only have about $1,000 to work with.  Cheapest rent in my area is about 400 a month, and then you're living in the ghetto.  Seriously, a really not great place to raise a kid but I'm being generous here to prove a point.    What's this?  Walmart is not within walking distance of the ghetto?  Damn, you need a car.  Lets say you have about $100 a month in car payments for a pretty cheap car that just goes from A to B.  Liability only insurance (being generous since if you're making payments you probably need more than liability only) also for another $40 a month.  So we're already at 540.  But since you need to drive to work, we need gas, too.    Let's say you live between 5-10 miles from work.  That means you drive about 20 miles a day, at least.  Your car only gets about 20 miles to the gallon, probably less with city driving, and gas is about $4 a gallon, so $4 per day times 20 days a month (we'll assume you only work $5 a day) and there's another $80.  $620 dollars so far.   Assuming you actually cook at your house instead of eating out.  $75 dollars is average for two people for food for a week, so that's $300 a month (4 weeks.)  $920 so far.  $80 left.  Let's average your utility bill out.  Lets say you don't even have AC, as you can go without it and just be incredibly uncomfortable in a temperate climate.  Just normal electricity and heat in the winter, we'll GENEROUSLY make that a $50 a month bill to average out for the entire year.  $30 left.  In one full year, you've saved up $360!  You're rich!  No, wait...that kid you have probably needs school supplies.  They're growing, too, so they probably need clothes.  For that matter, you also need new clothes.  Even used clothes from Goodwill can be costly over a year.  I really hope your car doesn't break down because that can set you back at LEAST $200 most times.  Also, better hope you don't get sick, because you don't have insurance and a doctors visit or emergency room visit could EASILY break that budget.  No preventative care, either, so your risk of getting sick is substantially hire to begin with than the insured.  I also have not included ANY luxury utility bills, let alone any kind of phone at all or especially internet.    Also, all of this assumes that you work full time, which at WalMart most employees do NOT because Walmart wants to avoid being forced to give benefits to employees.  Do you REALLY want to continue to sit on your high horse and tell me that people can make it raising a family on minimum wage?


Democracy doesn't mean you automatically have free and efficient markets.  India has many structural and regulatory roadblocks set up for businesses and for people. India should study what China did to transform their country.    To me, it's crazy that even Indians can't buy land in their own country.  (in J&K, for example.)  Or the heavy FX rules. Things like that.


The City of London economy is entirely dependent on total, unhindered access to the EU. Any blockages and it's over. No deal, no matter how good is going to replicate the City of London being in the EU. It may be a substantial financial centre for a few years after Brexit but that will very quickly evaporate. Libor would have been something keeping banks there, but with that now gone there is nothing else.


Paul supports multiple competing currencies, not just gold backed dollars. From his standpoint and predictions about the governments actions his investments are predictable and have quite certainly turned him a very nice profit. The fact that he doesn't have bonds is a no-brainer. He doesn't support facilitating increased US debt and spending even if it's to his own benefit. I think the fact that he doesn't hold bonds is actually pretty honorable. He also was one of the few people to predict the current economic situation we're in and he invested accordingly. The article talks about how he's lost some money in the last few months but that's a terrible way to look at it since he's held most of these positions since 2006 and gold and silver have skyrocketed since then.  Yes this is a less diversified portfolio than most would have, but it just further solidifies my opinion that Paul really believes what he says. He put his money where his mouth is in the face of many doubters screaming that he's a crazy idiot and was not only proven right but made a good bit in the process.


They take in a *lot* through Corporation Tax, so it'd be relatively unfair to non-business owners and non-shareholders to put it onto VAT and income tax. In the Starbucks case, they'd still want to get the money out of the country so would end up paying no more tax than now.  One alternative along the lines you state, though, would be to crank up capital gains and dividend taxes to match what's taken in by Corporation Tax now. After all, those are the other ways (than income) for owners and shareholders to extract value from corporations and would be tricky to dodge unless you're outside of the EU.


Leverage is when you borrow in order to invest. Mind you, most people aren't going to just give you money to gamble on the stock market completely unsecured; rather, you deposit (say) $10,000 and buy a stock... and then you have $10k in assets which you can borrow against, so you can buy another $10,000 of that stock. Now if the stock goes up you'll make twice the gain (2x leverage). However, if it goes down, you'll lose twice as much as well. If the value of your stock falls, your line of credit will be reduced as well; in this case, since you used all your credit and are now over your limit, your broker will issue a margin call (they will demand a deposit of additional funds, or they will sell some of your stock at their discretion). This protects you from owing more than you invested, but it's still sometimes possible (for instance, if a company spontaneously goes bankrupt and becomes worthless, and your stock becomes worthless). There are also things like leveraged index funds and commodity funds which aim to return some multiple of the market's earnings. These are designed for intraday trading, though, and usually end up underperforming significantly over the long term. [edit] Mose people who accept borrowed funds should generally accept real cash as well. However, if you're trying to short sell, i.e. borrow shares and sell them (in the hopes you can get them back cheaper later after the stock falls) you will need a margin line of credit to do so as well. [edit 2] clarified margin calls


>It's a nice park  No it's not. It's a blight on Niagara. The park is [constantly under investigation for animal cruelty](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/marineland-charged-with-6-counts-animal-cruelty-1.3927659), but somehow always seems to skate with a slap on the wrist (politicians love tourism dollars!).  Also, it's all owned by a [known psychopath who is known to threaten, stalk, and physically abuse people he doesn't like, or those who protest against his way of doing business](https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2011/10/03/the_man_behind_marineland_50_years_of_controversy.html).   Please don't encourage people to spend their money here.


The advantage of an IRA (or 401k) is you get taxed effectively one time on your income, whereas you get taxed effectively multiple times on some of the money in a taxable account. You have to consider it from the perspective of time value of money -- the concept that an amount of money now is the same value as a greater amount of money in the future. And in fact, if you put your money in an investment, the principal at the start can be considered the same value as the principal + earnings at the end. In both Traditional and Roth IRA, you pay taxes on the entire value of money once (remember that the principal when depositing is the same value as the principal + earnings when withdrawing). The only difference is when (year deposited or year withdrawn), so the main difference between the two is the tax rate when depositing vs. tax rate when withdrawing. I'll give you an example to demonstrate. We will assume you invest $1000 of pre-tax wages, it grows at 5% per year, there's a 25% flat tax now and in the future, you withdraw it after 20 years, and withdrawals are not subject to any penalty.