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Personal Finance and Money Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
27
votes
3 answers

If a startup can always issue new shares, what value is there to stocks/options?

Since in most startups the board can issue more shares at will, what does it mean for an employee to own X% of the shares? When signing up, can an employee protect himself from the company printing more shares after he leaves the company in a few…
ripper234
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4 answers

Daily interest calculation combined with monthly compounding: Why do banks do this, and how-to in Excel?

I often see banks advertise (for accounts with fixed yearly interest, let's say 1.5%) – "interested is calculated daily, and compounded monthly". I have 2 questions: Why are they calculating it daily?? If the compounding period is monthly, what is…
Saideira
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27
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5 answers

How can life insurance possibly work as investment?

Every here and there I hear about the following investment option: There's an insurance company that is willing to take my money and hold it for some very long time (like 5 years or more) and then repay it together with some rather conservative…
sharptooth
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27
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3 answers

Ask mother to pay off entire student loan, then pay her?

To avoid paying additional interest on my student loans, I want to ask my mother to pay off the entire loans with by lump sum, and then I would pay her back with interest. Are there any issues regarding taxing for this? (In NJ)
user
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27
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5 answers

How does the government shutdown affect tax returns?

Has a government shutdown in the past affected tax returns? In terms of refunds, is there anything to be expected differently based on historical precedent?
Paul Sweatte
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27
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4 answers

Can I start 529 plans for my niece & nephew without my sibling knowing?

If I wanted to start a 529 plan for them now to give to them at the end of their high school career as a surprise to both them and their parents, is it possible to do so? My niece and nephew are both under two years old, so I would have a…
Lil' Bits
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26
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8 answers

Fee-only financial advice vs. asset management (which includes advice)?

My wife and I are looking for a financial advisor. I am 52 and she is 48. We have a million plus in assets, with most of that in 401k... about 500,000 in a brokerage account. We have found a company/person we like. Our choices seem to be financial…
moscafj
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26
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2 answers

Credit card number masking - good practices, rules, law regulations?

Usually when I enter and save my credit card number in online shop or mobile app, only last four numbers are shown as a reminder. Example (not actual digits): Your card: **** **** **** 1234 Recently I used an app, where card number was shown as…
tomash
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26
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1 answer

How can a retailer automatically get details of my new payment cards

I recently found out I got tangled into some sort of scam which I wrote about it this question. The other mysterious bit of it is that the scammers were able to hold on to my new card details even though the old card details takeover had taken place…
matewilk
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26
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9 answers

Is it legal to invent "artificial" bills to build credit?

EDIT: This question was based on a misunderstanding of how credit is built. However, the concept of moving money on a credit card without spending anything still has other potential benefits (such as gaming a rewards program), which are still…
Lord Farquaad
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26
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10 answers

18 years old and unsure how many bank accounts to create and what types

this is my first question so I apologize if I don't provide enough information or my description seems vague. I'm 18 and live in the Midwest of the US. My parents helped me set up a bank account last year before I went to university, also in the…
Alex B
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26
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9 answers

What does one typically use as a money reservoir for stocks, when they are "on sale"?

I've read about people who claim to have made a lot of money investing in stocks (or funds) after a crash. They say the stocks were "on sale". But I wonder, where did they get the money to buy these stocks? Certainly they didn't use their emergency…
Ken - Enough about Monica
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26
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8 answers

Should I pay loan balance down early even if I can't pay the whole thing off?

I have a home mortgage with an outstanding principal balance of $150,000 and a fixed interest rate of 3%. My loan was a 15 year loan, of which I have 13 years left. However, I plan to pay my loan off within the next 2-3 years, and have amassed a…
user73317
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26
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6 answers

Potential debt collection scam from National Credit Systems?

Yesterday I received a letter in the mail from an organization called National Credit Systems. In the letter, they say that I owe them $230 to the apartment manager that I rented from 3 years ago. I have 30 days to contact them. I googled this…
bf109k4
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26
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4 answers

What is the difference between these two S&P 500 ETF?

I wanted to invest in the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF which has the ISIN code US9229083632 However I just discovered it is not available in my country. As an alternative I am considering investing in Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF which has the ISIN code…
Octoplus
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