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

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1500 questions
26
votes
6 answers

Does it make any sense to directly contribute to reducing the US national debt?

As an American citizen, does it make any financial sense to donate money in hopes of helping to reduce the US national debt? Thanks.
Latency
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26
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7 answers

Peer to Peer Lending Sites - Good Investment or Insane?

Does anyone have personal experience with lending on sites like Prosper.com? Do they have a handle yet on what the yield and default rates are? Last time I looked at it, they didn't have a ton of data because none of the loans had gone to term. If…
John Shedletsky
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26
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8 answers

To pay off a student loan, should I save up a lump sum payoff payment or pay extra each month?

I am a new college graduate with a student loan of $17k at 6.8% interest. The monthly minimum payment due is $193. I have been paying the minimum amount, and then taking that same amount and placing it into a savings account. My original idea was…
Mike M
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26
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7 answers

Start a business or remain an employee?

I am a web programmer with a family and all the accompanying expenses. I am trying to decide whether to: develop my dream start-up (which will take at least 7 months) with no guarantee of success, or continue with my current occupation making…
Mohsen Elgendy
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26
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5 answers

What does it mean to run my debit card as credit?

I've been advised to (and have been) running my normal debit card transactions as "credit" transactions. What does this mean in terms of my security, the time a charge takes to settle, and the fees for the vendor?
C. Ross
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26
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6 answers

I've often heard of the "snowball" method for paying off credit card debt. How does it work?

How does the "snowball" method of paying off credit card debt work? In what ways is it superior over other ways of reducing one's debt?
bms2
26
votes
8 answers

What's the catch with biweekly mortgage payments?

I just bought a house. Now I'm getting ads in the mail every day or two trying to get me to sign up to pay my mortgage bi-weekly (every two weeks) or weekly instead of monthly. In their words I could cut seven years and thousands of dollars off what…
New homeowner
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26
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3 answers

Frequency of investments to maximise returns (and minimise fees)

If I have a certain amount of money to invest regularly, how do I calculate the amount to let accumulate in my bank before I make that investment, assuming there is a fee associated with each additional investment? For example, I might put aside…
codebeard
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2 answers

How to find historical stock price for a de-listed or defunct company?

With services like Google Finance or Yahoo Finance it is very convenient to find the historical stock price metric of a listed company, but if the company is not listed, I can't find the data. For example, I want to see the price metrics for…
AGamePlayer
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4 answers

What happens to depositors at Silicon Valley Bank?

Today, Silicon Valley Bank is bankrupt, the second largest bank failure in American history. What happens to its depositors? Will they be able to withdraw (some of) their money? How long will they have to wait? In what form will they receive it?
user253751
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26
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9 answers

What do the scammers do when they get access to someone's online banking?

Lately all the banks around here (Latvia) have been sending out warnings about scammers that try to get access to your online banking. Fair enough. But what confuses me is - so, what can they do after that? I mean, obviously they can transfer my…
Vilx-
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5 answers

Why would scammers use PayPal?

I've been getting tens of ads in Instagram lately, about GPUs and PCs selling at 1/10 the normal price. The method of payment from is PayPal. I am wondering how would this work in any way for the scammer. I can just pay via PayPal, wait for the…
Snow
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26
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4 answers

How do I report a gain in bitcoin that I received as reimbursement for buying a waffle iron?

In 2016 I was visiting a friend in another country and he asked me to bring him a waffle maker (~$35). He paid me back for the waffle maker in Bitcoin. I sold that Bitcoin in 2020 for ~$740. I believe that I need to declare that on my 2020 US Taxes.…
Michael
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26
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7 answers

Dealer is pressuring me to return the leased car and lease another car

I leased an SUV for 3 years, 36K miles, and the lease is due in a month and I only used 10k miles. The car is "full-option" and the buyout price is visible in the portal where I make the payments every month. I called and also went to the dealer…
Node.JS
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5 answers

Is this check safe to deposit?

About 5 years ago, I participated in an educational training program. Recently, they sent me an envelope with a check for $300 in the mail. There was no explanation attached. The check looks okay, has their proper business address and is from a…
LN6595
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