Personal Finance and Money Stack Exchange
Personal Finance and Money Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
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4 answers

Why is there a cap on 401k contributions?

In theory, the government wants everyone to save up as much as possible for retirement so that citizens don't end up starving when they're no longer able to work. But in practice there is a limit of how much you can contribute to your pension fund…
JonathanReez
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What does "Its cash flow is deeply negative" mean?

Does "Its cash flow is deeply negative" mean "Netflix makes a big loss"? Netflix is profitable, but only on an accounting basis. Its cash flow is deeply negative as it pours cash into content. Apple will need to be just as aggressive with content…
haile
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9 answers

'For Sale by Owner' - who pays the Buyer's realtor?

If I list my home and hang a sign out 'for sale by owner', and a realtor brings a buyer in, who wants to buy it, who's going to pay the realtor? I did not hire him, so I don't want to pay for him. The buyer will assume that it is covered with his…
Aganju
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9 answers

Is it legal to “mine” dividends?

Dividends are paid to share holders based on ownership of shares before the “ex-dividends” date. Example: Stock A has an ex-date of July 1st Stock B has an ex-date of July 15th Stock C has an ex-date of August 1st Is it legal to buys Stock A on…
Eliot G York
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Would compound interest work better if all my accounts were combined into one?

My wife and I currently have three retirement accounts from different jobs. The only one currently getting paid into is my TSP account. Would we realize better gains if we combined the other two accounts into the TSP? Say they are all earning 10%…
IEnjoyEatingVegetables
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9 answers

Why would the bidding on a foreclosed property start at the outstanding amount of the loan?

I've read from several reliable-looking sources that if a foreclosed house goes up for auction, the bidding usually starts at the outstanding amount of the loan (plus fees, etc.): Example Money Talks, Consumer Affairs, Biggerpockets. My question…
Bennett
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8 answers

Do I have to explain the source of *all* income on my taxes?

I live in the US. A complete stranger knocked on my door, gave me a pallet of $20 bills (which in total amount to several hundred thousand dollars), and left without saying a word. As far as I can tell, this money is legally mine. What do I do…
Ken - Enough about Monica
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13 answers

Is Amazon's offer of a $50 gift card a scam?

I was about to buy something on amazon.com, and the website showed this: It's from amazon.com, and everything looks okay. But a free $50 looks too good to be true. Should I get this card for the $50? Why and/or why not?
mou
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13 answers

Is there a good rule of thumb for how much I should have set aside as emergency cash?

I'm buying my very first home, and should be receiving the $8,000 first-time home buyers tax credit. A majority of my savings are going to the down-payment of the house, but we still have a pretty solid reserve. How much money should I hold in an…
Jeffrey
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2 answers

Car insurance (UK) excludes commute to and from work, will not pay on claim during non-commute

My girlfriend was recently involved in a crash where both parties are claiming it was not their fault. She took out a policy with an insurance company called GoSkippy whose brokers are Eldon Insurance. Unbeknown to her is when she took out the…
dagda1
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Infrequent car rental vs. lease/buy

I live in a large city and do not currently own a car. I use public transportation, ZipCar, Uber, and a bike to get everywhere I need within the city. For bigger trips outside the city, I have been renting a car on weekends here and there, but have…
Nuclear Hoagie
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3 answers

In USA, can I set up a one-person corporation and pay myself mainly through dividends?

In the UK an IT-contractor can save in taxes by opening a company, paying themselves a minimum wage as a salary and then taking a larger amount of income as dividends. Is this possible (for a single-person corporation) in the United States? If yes,…
x457812
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Money transfer scam

I live in Croatia and my family breeds dogs. When we have puppies we list them for sale on a Croatian website similar to eBay. Every once in a while for the past year or two we get a message from a US based phone number wanting to buy our…
Mario Plantosar
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9 answers

Storing gold and silver

Apart from midnight-gardening, what are some of the truly safe and cost-effective storage methods for gold and silver bullion? This is for core bullion with no numismatic value. I am looking specifically for bullion storage so any suggestions…
SR10N
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5 answers

Should I dump my savings into my student debt?

I've got about $5000 saved up in my savings account. At the same time, I've got about $8500 left to pay off on my student loan, with all the interest that includes (6%/year, compounded monthly). I want to pay my student loan off as fast as…
Zibbobz
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